10 man Warriors are still fairly cheap, and 5 man Immortals are tough against anything not AP3/AP2. But they can't bring threats like before, no more Haywire sticks or multiple Eldritch Lances. Our HQ options to stick with the squads don't really bring special weapons (Staff of Light or Flamers), so it's really not the same as 5e Royal Court fun. So, what are our MSU choices?
3 man Destroyer Squads with 1 Heavy (or 3 man Heavy Destroyers)
Why 3? That's 130 points for the Destroyers or 150 for the Heavies. Relatively cheap, 6 wounds with 3+ and RP. Plus, the Destroyer Squads in the Destroyer Cult have to be 3 man at a minimum, and after thinking about it, it felt about right. Once you start to max out the squads, it's a lot of points in one place.
Taking the Destroyer Cult for example, given that you have three 2 Destroyer/1 Heavy squads and one 3-man Heavy squad, that's relatively reasonably priced for Lascannons that can shoot at 4 different targets. Adding on more regular Destroyers is good, as AP3 is never a bad thing, but not necessary if you're just bringing them for the special weapons. Once you get to 200 points per squad, it's starting to get a bit expensive. I think running it like this, with extra points to pass around the army, is a fairly good strategy.
Praetorians
Praetorians are quite a bit better than last edition. Cheaper (though still fairly expensive), with both weapon options being worthwhile, though I'm more a fan of the Rod of the Covenant. A min squad of 5 has the mobility to get to where they need to be, and they can be variable threats in both Shooting and Assault. If taken as part of the Formation, they gain Move Through Cover, which makes them nearly as mobile as Wraiths (though they lack Fleet).
However, while T5/3+/Reanimation is relatively tough, they're still fairly expensive for single wound models and will go down easily to focus fire and AP3 or lower weaponry. To combat this, they have Fearless, so even losing 2 out of the 5 won't force a Morale test. It makes me feel that they should be taken in slightly larger squads, but 140 for the base 5 is about the right points for a MSU squad.
Shield Lychguard
Obviously suffers from the stigma of being a slow Assault unit with no shooting. But, with the 3++ they're extremely hard to remove from the board. Give them Orikan to reroll 1s and have a 4+ Reanimation even without the Decurion, and you'll have a squad that's saving something like 89% of wounds. If taken as part of the Reclamation Legion and put with the Overlord from that, it's more like 91% of wounds via rerolls of 1 on Reanimation. (If my math isn't horrible, that is).
A Veil can move them where they need to be, but that's unreliable. Stick em in a Night Scythe and put Orikan and an Overlord with them. Even if they're not part of a Decurion, having a Warscythe or Voidreaper with them is never a bad idea. Or a Solar Staff if you really want to screw over shooting.
Immortals
Not bad for MSU, but not fantastic either. They don't have special weapons like last edition, and their Transport got more expensive. But hey, Reanimation made them tougher now and 3+ saves are always good. Gauss Blasters and Tesla Carbines aren't bad guns, but they're not really threats to many things that aren't Infantry. Gauss can threaten Vehicles sure, but I don't think my opponent would be particularly scared by 4 Squads of 5 man Immortal teams.
If you attach Szeras to them for the boosted Stats and Eldritch Lance, they make a good MSU squad, but that's just one, and it'll really suck if you get the +1S.
Tomb Blades
Tomb Blades with Shield Vanes are Immortals on speed. Literally. Jokes.
The issue with running Tomb Blades in smaller unit sizes is that T5/3+/RP will only last you for so long. Focus fire, or AP3 or better shooting - 3 models won't stand up to that for very long. In the Decurion, they have Move Through Cover, so that helps by giving Cover saves even without Jinking, but 3 Wounds is nothing in the long run. 3 Destroyers can stick it out because they have 2 Wounds each, but 3 Tomb Blades are just asking to give up First Blood. Bump it up to two squads of 5, though, and we might be talking. Better than 5 Immortals, at the very least.
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There's a solid list to be made here. Tomb Blades, Praetorians, and Destroyers make up a fast, resilient, MSU army with lots of 3+ saves on T5 bodies. Putting them all into one list would take some crunching - Blades and Destroyers are both Fast, and if you take either of the Formations with them (Reclamation or Cult, respectively), they both have some tax. Well, I suppose you could do something like:
5 Praetorians
5 Praetorians
5 Tomb Blades
5 Tomb Blades
3 Heavy Destroyers
3 Heavy Destroyers
And use Heavies in the Heavy slot, you really want the Lascannons over the Fast Attack anyway. That's only 800 points (assuming Shield Vanes and Nebuloscopes on the Blades) for 6 decent squads before HQ tax, Troops, etc. Not terrible.
I'm very much in love with the idea of Lychguard with ICs as a tough, killy squad, but it's not inexpensive - 5 Shieldguard and a Scythe are 280 before adding in the HQs - not a price you can easily ignore. But, you do still get a Scythe, and an Assault squad that can land anywhere and threaten a Turn 3 charge (assuming good Reserve Rolls), so maybe it's not impossible to make work. Adding to the above list, something like:
Orikan
Overlord (Warscythe)
5 Praetorians
5 Praetorians
5 Shield Lychguard + Scythe
5 Tomb Blades
5 Tomb Blades
3 Heavy Destroyers
3 Heavy Destroyers
That's 1300. For an 1850 list (assuming general Tournament stuff), that leaves 550 for Troops, support units, and upgrades to the Overlord. I think that's somewhat workable.
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