Praevian Tax... worth it?

[RoadRunna]

Ok - So running castellax in your 30k legion army could be cool.  The model is cool and having something monstrous with a variety of loadouts is great but... is it worth it from a points cost when you have to run a Praevian?  

 

A Praevian with a few toys is going to be around 100pts so with running a squad of 2 Castellax this adds another 50pts to each of them... this moves the Castellax from being balanced from a points cost to being pretty hefty when compared to other weapons platforms already available to legion armies

 

Convince me they are worth it as I have 2 Castellax unbuilt and want to know if I should bother.

[Slips]

If you think a Praevian is too much of a tax, just take a Forge Lord with a Cortex Controller and take a unit of Castellax in Heavy Support.

 

You lose out on the Praevian buffs he provides to his unit of robobuddies but you get a Forge Lord - one of the most versatile HQ options while not being a Support Officer.

Edited July 9, 2021 by Slips

[RoadRunna]

If you think a Praevian is too much of a tax, just take a Forge Lord with a Cortex Controller and take a unit of Castellax in Heavy Support.

 

You lose out on the Praevian buffs he provides to his unit of robobuddies but you get a Forge Lord - one of the most versatile HQ options while not being a Support Officer.

 

Yeah but a Forgelord is going to cost you over 100pts (incl the 15pts to get him a cortex controller) in which case you are really only swapping out the Praevian buffs for the Battlesmith buffs.  I am not sure this makes Castellax in your list more attractive.

 

For those players that do run Castellax in a Legion list... why?

[Excessus]

Historically, if I've run a praevian it's because I need more heavy firepower than my heavy slot allows for. Imho the benefit of a praevian is to run heavy support units in a HQ slot.

[Slips]

 

If you think a Praevian is too much of a tax, just take a Forge Lord with a Cortex Controller and take a unit of Castellax in Heavy Support.

 

You lose out on the Praevian buffs he provides to his unit of robobuddies but you get a Forge Lord - one of the most versatile HQ options while not being a Support Officer.

 

Yeah but a Forgelord is going to cost you over 100pts (incl the 15pts to get him a cortex controller) in which case you are really only swapping out the Praevian buffs for the Battlesmith buffs.  I am not sure this makes Castellax in your list more attractive.

 

For those players that do run Castellax in a Legion list... why?

 

You might be underestimating a Cataphractii Forgelord with a 3++ thanks to Cyber Familiars and Rad Grenades and any other gear they can bring. Sure, theyre a bit more expensive but if you're not running a RoW theyre sometimes all you need in the HQ slot.

 

Also, Battlesmith lets him heal the Castellax.

 

But, people mainly take Castellax because theyre Monstrous Creatures meaning unless the weapon has Instant Death, they wont die to failing 1 save like any vehicle can. So they're a tough blob of wounds to displace.

[Gorgoff]

 

If you think a Praevian is too much of a tax, just take a Forge Lord with a Cortex Controller and take a unit of Castellax in Heavy Support.

 

You lose out on the Praevian buffs he provides to his unit of robobuddies but you get a Forge Lord - one of the most versatile HQ options while not being a Support Officer.

 

Yeah but a Forgelord is going to cost you over 100pts (incl the 15pts to get him a cortex controller) in which case you are really only swapping out the Praevian buffs for the Battlesmith buffs.  I am not sure this makes Castellax in your list more attractive.

 

For those players that do run Castellax in a Legion list... why?

 

Because those two robots have :cussed more tanks with their Darkfire Cannons than the HSS with Lascannons of my buddy. 

[Charlo]

Yeah, Castellax are absolutely a unique thing in the Legion's list (MC!) that you just don't see elsewhere.

[Trokair]

What about taking an allied Cybernetica force?

 

 

Magos and one or two squads of Castellax, with room for some additional robots if you so desire.

Thanatar anybody?  

[Chaeron]

For those players that do run Castellax in a Legion list... why?

 

I think as others have alluded to, it's normally to fill gaps that either a Legion or list build may not accommodate.

 

I've not done it myself - but have faced it before, and it's definitely something to think about! It adds another dimension of unit to deal with and that can in itself be tricky to oppose. 

[Mogsam]

I'm building a pair of them for representing the Legion running low on manpower.

 

They're nails tho, so I've seen people take them as anti tank/infantry. The Monstrous Creatures rule is so incredibly strong, it makes a mockery of dreads.

[Dagoth Ur]

Personally, I run Castellax in many of my HH forces (Dark Angels, Blood Angels, Iron Warriors) just because they are so horrifically effective. If I have the points - particularly when I play Blood Angels - I'll happily shell out for a kitted out Forgelord just because he can be so killy on his own. Seriously, people sleep on the Forgelord when it comes to wrecking face.

[Cadmus Tyro]

Castellax are brutal and points efficient. I tend to run a squad of three with maulers and two siege wreckers. I use them as a line breaker or to counter charge units that assault my line, they work incredibly well, probably too well.....

 

I run them with my iron hands, so there’s a variety of ways to fit them into a list.

 

1) HoG - run Head of the Gorgon, they can run in elites and you don’t have to take a Cortex controller. It’s the cheapest option but a clever opponent can manipulate them and they lose their ability to run down units they defeat in CC which can be irritating.

 

2) techmarines - probably the cheapest model you can put a cortex controller on, take some cheap servitors and you’ve got a support unit. There’s also the option of using servitors with rad missiles and an augery scanner on the tech marine. You can make this unit useful, and if you run castellax on your back line with darkfire cannons they can be reasonable at intercepting potential threats.

 

3) forgelords - as has already been said, forge lords can be quite good HQs. I tend to run them in low points games, when losing the ability to take a RoW doesn’t matter too much. This is an efficient option because you need a HQ tax anyway, so you are not bringing anything extra in your list to run the castellax. Forgelords in Cataphractii with a cyber familiar are running 2+/3++ defensively, which is pretty brutal. There’s a fair chance they will survive to swing against an opposing praetor, and will double him out with their chainfist/power glove.

 

4) praevian - these guys bring a bit more utility to the castellax, preferred enemy is very useful, as is adding additional rules to the unit such as scout. This is all at the expense of being a support character. One thing people forget though, they have a cortex controller, which allows you to bring a second unit (as well as the praevian unit in HQ) in heavy support. So if you want multiple castellax (or potentially Vorax or thallax) they become more useful.

 

5) special characters - Autek Morr, enough said. Also, iron warriors can equip their warsmiths with cortex controllers.

 

Hope that helps!?

 

Cadmus

[Brofist]

The value depends on your list, really. If you want to run a praevian to buff up a vorax / casti deathstar by stacking your unique legion rules onto them, its a valid way to get them into your list and do something unique..

 

If you just want mechanicum units there are other ways to get them for less points.

[Lucien Eilam]

2) techmarines - probably the cheapest model you can put a cortex controller on, take some cheap servitors and you’ve got a support unit.

 

How are you putting cortex controllers on Techmarines? I thought it was only an option for Iron Warriors and RoW: Brethren of Iron?

[Cadmus Tyro]

 

2) techmarines - probably the cheapest model you can put a cortex controller on, take some cheap servitors and you’ve got a support unit.

 

 

How are you putting cortex controllers on Techmarines? I thought it was only an option for Iron Warriors and RoW: Brethren of Iron?

You are correct sir, I could have sworn I read techmarines had access, perhaps I’m just confusing the iron warriors rules.

 

Cadmus

[Lucien Eilam]

Kind of hoping I was wrong about that one. Ah well.