Building Your Menoth Army: Step 1 - Choosing a Warcaster (Part 2)

Continued from yesterday, we jump right back into our overview of Menoth Warcasters! Up today are the final six casters, broken out just like they were before!

High Exemplar Kreoss (aka pKreoss or Kreoss1)

Spells: pKreoss comes with a good assortment of spells. His only buff spell (Defender's Ward) affects a friendly faction model or unit.

Feat: pKreoss' feat affects enemies.

Special Rules: pKreoss has no Special Rules himself.

Stats: pKreoss boasts 7 Focus and offers 5 Warjack Points, solid Defense/Armor/Damage Boxes. He carries only a melee weapon, but it is Magic, has Reach, Dispels any upkept effects on a model it hits, and has the Chain Weapon rule. It is also no slouch at P+S14.

Results: pKreoss holds a special place in the Menoth Warcaster Lineup as a very straightforward caster, and one of the most feared in our arsenal. He lends himself very well to new players, and he comes in our Battlebox, so can't complain there. One of the reasons pKreoss is so easy to work with is his 0 restrictions on army makeup, he has the Focus to handle some 'jacks and/or to unleash some pain of his own, and his spells lend themselves just as much to Warjacks as they do to troops. Commonly, pKreoss wants to hang in the middle unless he needs to run up to feat; but we will talk more about "Pop and Drop" when we work on his 25pt list.

Grand Exemplar Kreoss (aka eKreoss or Kreoss2)

Spells: eKreoss' spell list is just a hair more troop focused, and I say that because of the loss of Defender's Ward (+2 Def / +2 Arm) in exchange for Inviolable Resolve which is +2 Arm / Fearless.

Feat: eKreoss' feat affects units and 'jacks equally, but I think to get the most bang for your buck, you want more troopers than Warjacks.

Special Rules: eKreoss offers three special rules; first he is immune to Continuous Effects, second he passes on that immunity to other Exemplar units, and finally he heals one point of damage when a friendly faction model in his control area is destroyed by an enemy attack.

Stats: eKreoss keeps his former version's 7 Focus and jumps to 6 Warjack Points, and his Def + Arm + Damage boxes bring him to 47 (the toughest Menoth casters get). He also carries only a melee weapon, it has Magic and Reach, but trades Dispel and Chain Weapon for two Special Attacks - Armor Piercing and Smite.

Results: eKreoss leans a little more toward troops as a Warcaster, Inviolable Resolve is very nice for about half the troop choices Menoth offers (keep in mind that the Fearless aspect is wasted on all Exemplar and Warjacks, so they only benefit from the Armor bonus). His Elite Cadre ability, which passes on the Continuous Effect Immunity to other Exemplar, his ability to heal when Faction models are destroyed, and his feat all put him solidly in the arena of a Troop Caster, but with 7 Focus and 6 Warjack points, we definitely can bring some 'jacks along for the ride!

High Executioner Servath Reznik

Spells: Reznik's spell list is pretty heavily weighted toward 'jacks. Between Iron Aggression, the supplemental affect of Perdition, and the catchall of Ignite; he likes his 'jacks, but can offer some support to his troops as well.

Feat: Reznik's feat affects enemies.

Special Rules: Reznik has two, one of which affects an enemy model that he boxes, and one which affects his battlegroup.

Stats: Reznik is our third and final Warcaster with the Terror special rule and is highly defensible (reaching that 47 number we talked about earlier) to boot. He carries a single weapon, which while keeping the Magical Weapon and Reach Properties we are used to seeing, offers a new effect - Purgation, this allows Reznik to gain an additional die to attack and damage enemies who are affected by an enemy upkeep spell - Note that this is not boosting, it is an additional die.

Theorymachine: So if you cast Engine of Destruction on yourself and then charged a target who was affected by an enemy upkeep spell and boosted to hit and damage you are looking at a MAT 11 + 4d6 (avg. total result 25) followed by P+S 18 + 5d6 (avg. total result 35.5)

Results: Reznik loves his battlegroup - that means he works very well with 'jacks, but also that he is an incredibly formidable opponent in Melee. His ability to turn a model he boxes into a Wrack allows him extra focus in later turns of the game, helping him to maintain 'jacks with his normal focus pool of 6, and Iron Aggression let's him turn any 'jack he has into a chainsaw with the right support. That all said, Reznik can't rely on Wracking people, so bringing some troops (augmented with Ignite) will certainly help him to get his groove on.

All in all, Reznik wants to be close to the front of his lines, just remember that he is a medium base, so he will need Vengers, Bastions, Cinerators, or 'jacks to screen him.

Grand Scrutator Severius(aka pSevvy or Sevvy1)

Spells: pSevvy's assortment of beneficial spells have generic target requirements, allowing him to cast any of them on any friendly faction model he wants (within range).

Feat: pSeverius's feat affects enemy models, it certainly causes some issues for them, but doesn't really affect his army composition.

Special Rules: pSevvy carries no special rules.

Stats: pSevvy is one of our least defensible casters (from a strictly stat point of view), he and eSevvy offer the lowest Def + Arm + Damage score of all our 'casters (44). He offers one melee weapon, running off a Mat of 4 so he isn't there to cause frontline damage either. Of particular note, pSevvy has the Special Action "Convert" - it allows him to turn a living enemy non-character trooper into a friendly faction solo for the rest of the game, however it does prevent them from activating that turn. He also comes with 8 Focus and 6 Warjack points.

Results: pSeverius carries a VERY solid spell list to help protect his army but he is absolutely a back line caster. His high focus and spells like Ashes to Ashes make him a solid Warcaster, but he wants to be as far from any threat as reasonably possible. He will crumple quickly under assault and poses almost no threat in Melee.

Hierarch Severius(aka eSevvy or Sevvy2)

Spells: eSevvy's spell list is a bit different, he offers a battlegroup buff, a self buff, and a general model/unit buff; he also loses Ashes to Ashes from his former incarnation.

Feat: Like pSevvy, eSevvy's feat focuses on enemies, and causes some new issues for them, but like pSevvy it shouldn't affect list building.

Special Rules: There are some special rules which eSevvy gets to take advantage of, the first is Admonisher. Admonisher is basically a light version of Ashes to Ashes, but now eSevvy gets it for free anytime he hits with a melee or range attack. The second special rule he gets allows him to Bond a Warjack, his particular bond ability allows that 'jack (once per turn) to spend 1 Focus when hit by an attack to not suffer damage from that attack.

Stats: eSevvy is again, one of our least defensible caster (from a stat point of view), he and pSevvy offer the lowest Def + Arm + Damage score of all our 'casters (44). You get 8 Focus and 6 Warjack points with him, and he carries both a Melee weapon and a Ranged weapon. His Melee weapon is nothing special, P+S 13 Magical Weapon with Reach; his Ranged attack on the other hand is pretty solid. It is a Fire Attack, counts as a Magical Weapon, and although it is only POW 10, it can be channeled through an Arcnode. This allows eSevvy to drop quite a bit of destruction from a fairly solid range (keeping in mind that each attack that hits benefits from Admonisher).

Results: eSeverius loses some of his protective power but gains quite a bit offensively himself. The addition of Admonisher and a ranged weapon which can be channeled is a huge advantage, and I would say that he definitely made up for what he lost. He is still VERY squishy, and while Admonisher and Creator's Wrath make him a bit more useful in melee, he is still made of glass. eSevvy, like pSevvy wants to sit back and support his troops or use his Arcnode to attack with his ranged weapon or Hex Blast.

Vice Scrutator Vindictus

Spells: Vindictus' list of magic is very solid, he has attacks, unit buffs, and Sacrificial Lamb.

Feat: A lot of folks on the forums find Vindictus' feat to be lacking, I think he is a very worthwhile caster and that if his feat was any stronger it would lead to him being the goto guy. His feat does makes use of your army composition, but we will discuss that a bit more as we build his list.

Special Rules: Vindictus has Pathfinder and two other special rules, both working around the Holy Zealot model. The first lets him add a Holy Zealot Grunt to a unit in his command range after he destroys a living enemy model with a melee attack; the second lets him redirect a hit from an enemy ranged attack to a non-Incorporeal Holy Zealot within 3" of him. Essentially he makes 'em and he breaks 'em.

Stats: Vindictus isn't too shabby, he is fairly defensive, has two melee weapons, one Blessed, and the other a Chain Weapon (both Magical) both running off his MAT 7. He is a 6 focus caster and brings 6 Warjack points to the list creation table.

Results: Vindictus is a solid caster, the doom and gloom of the forums be damned. I don't expect him to replace either version of Kreoss, Feora, or Severius in frequency of appearance, but he offers a playstyle we didn't have (fast Pathfinder troop based army), and should be able to hold his own in our ranks. He should probably play mid field, sneaking out to melee snipe a trooper here or there to help replenish the ranks of Zealots if he has been making heavy use against them. All in all, as a defensive denial caster, he does well.

That wraps up Step 1 of building your army. Whether you are new to the game, new to Menoth, or just looking for where to start on a new Menoth list, I hope this has been helpful. During the next step we will talk about Warjacks and categorize them into general fields, noting any specific advantages when used with a given Warcaster!

Building Your Menoth Army: Step 1 - Choosing a Warcaster (Part 1)

So you have seen the light and accepted the Creator of Man as your one true god. Congratulations and welcome to the team!

Over the next week or two, I will be chiming in with this reoccuring segment on how to build a basic starter army for any Warcaster in the Protectorate. To keep things simple these will be 25pt lists with no specific interest toward theme tiers. These articles are designed at helping those new to the game, or to the Protectorate get their lists under way.

Building an Army is always the first step in getting ready to play Warmachine, and versus other wargames, the leader of our army, our Warcaster, plays a pretty big role in how the rest of the list will turn out. Warcasters range from back field to front line, and from jack enthusiasts to troop generals. Spells, Feat, Special Rules and Stats will all play a part in helping us see where each 'caster like to play, and what they like to play with.

Here are our first six Warcaster choices (the next six will be in Part 2):

High Allegiant Amon Ad-Raza

Spells: Every spell Amon gets affects 'jacks, himself or his Battlegroup.

Feat: Amon's feat affects only 'jacks.

Special Rules: Amon's special rules affect only himself, deal with movement and defenses against Combined Attacks, Free Strikes, Back Strikes, and curb some disadvantages of being knocked down.

Stats: Amon is a 6 Focus Caster, offers 6 Warjack Points, a high Defense for a Protectorate Warcaster, a low armor for a Protectorate Warcaster, and a solid damage pool. Amon does not have a ranged attack besides his spell Convection.

Results: Amon loves 'jacks, LOVES them. If Amon and Warjacks were in third grade the other kids would be singing about them sitting in a tree. Amon's spell list allows him to turn 2 focus into 1 focus for each 'jack (if he can kill a model with Convection), offers them Pathfinder and +2Spd, and the unique spell Synergy which gives models in his battlegroup +x on attack rolls and +x on damage rolls where x is equal to the number of models who have hit an enemy model with a melee attack while in Amon's control area.

Amon wants to stick close to the front line, and move with his group. The speed increase and his lack of range weapons makes him really shine mid army or front line, just be aware of assassination attempts if he is forward.

Feora, Priestess of the Flame (aka pFeora or Feora1)

Spells: pFeora has only one spell which requires 'jacks but not troops, that said she only offers one buff to her troops (Ignite).

Feat: pFeora's feat affects all enemy models.

Special Rules: Flameguard Units never flee and immediately rally while in her command range.

Stats: Double Flamethrowers (SP 8) and Double Melee weapons make pFeora a solid threat in general combat with a 16" threat range on the Flamethrowers, 11" on the Melee Weapons. Ties for second highest Defense and ties for highest Armor of the Menoth 'casters, solid Damage Boxes (16). Offers the 6 Focus, 6 'jack points that are completely average for Menoth 'casters.

Results: pFeora wants troops on her side, the Flameguard work well with the addition of pseudo-Fearless, but don't fall into a trap of only taking Flameguard Units. Exemplars hit hard, if the Temple Flameguard are your shield, let the Bastions/Errants/Knights Exemplar be your sword. She runs well with a few jacks, as Burning Effigy will provide an auto-hit Pow 14 to every enemy within 2" of a 'jack she casts it on; we don't want to overload her list with 'jacks though. pFeora plays well forward, she ties the highest total base survivability (Def + Arm + Dam) of our casters with a 48 total score.

Feora, Protector of the Flame (aka eFeora or Feora2)

Spells: Versus her Priestess version, this Feora offers a spell which is beneficial to 'jacks giving them extra movement and herself +2 Arm if one of her jacks are within 3" of her. She also gains Convection which we saw on Amon. All in all, the weight shifts from supporting infantry and using jacks that we saw with pFeora to supporting jacks and using infantry.

Feat: eFeora's feat requires enemies to be on fire, popping her feat will allow her to gain a decent amount of focus and allocate it immediately to her Warjacks if she chooses. After that, she can rearrange the Fire continuous effect, moving it from any number of enemy models to an equal amount of enemy models.

Special Rules: Caustic Presence means things stay lit on Fire in her control area, she keeps the pseudo-Fearless for Flameguard units, snags an ability that causes any enemy model who ends their activation within 2" of her to suffer the Fire continuous effect, and gets a bonded Warjack whose weapons will now cause the Fire continuous effect.

Stats: 6 Focus and 6 Warjack points, she trades the two SP8 Flamethrowers of pFeora for a single SP10 Flamethrower and ditches her wrist blades for a Magical Reach weapon with Critical Fire.

Results: eFeora also plays well forward, as her base survivability (Def + Arm + Dam) stays at the best we get (48). Add in the +2Arm from Escort and you are looking at a very VERY tough Warcaster to crack. SP10 on the Flamethrower lets her sit back a bit more than pFeora's Flamethrowers, but you still want this lady toward the front. A bonded Redeemer helps get a lot of Continuous Effect: Fire out on the board, and eFeora's feat helps reposition those effects if need be. eFeora wants a solid set of 'jacks to make use of Escort, Convection, and her feat.

The Harbinger of Menoth

Spells: The Harbinger's friendly spells target models/units making them suitable for casting on Warjacks or Troops.

Feat: The Harbinger's hits any enemy who ended their activation closer to her than they were when they started with a solid Fire attack (assuming they are in her control range).

Special Rules: Harby's special rules revolve around her, except for Martyrdom which lets her take a d3 damage to heal a warrior model in her control range who has just become disabled.

Stats: Here is where the big guns come in, The Harbinger may only offer 5 Warjack points for list building, but she totally makes up for it with an unprecedented 10 Focus! She only carries a melee weapon, but it is magical and automatically hits.

Results: Harb runs well any way you slice her. Because of Martyrdom she is ever so slightly more troop focused, but her 10 Focus stat plug generic targeting on her beneficial spells makes her a solid 'jack support caster. She has a fairly low Def + Arm + Damage score, but makes up for it with the ability to overboost to 24 Armor and living models being at -2 to attack her while in her command range (10). Harbinger probably wants to stay toward the back, just keep in mind that with her large base you are going to need a Heavy Warjack to break LOS.

The High Reclaimer

Spells: High Reclaimer's spells are mostly without bias, though Sacrificial Lamb does require a trooper sacrifice to allocate each 'jack in HR's battlegroup 1 focus.

Feat: HR's feat allows him to bring some friendly faction trooper models back to life as long as their unit is still on the board.

Special Rules: The High Reclaimer's Special Rules all affect him, though it is worthy to note that for Reclaim and Soulstorm to function properly, he needs friendly Faction warrior models to die in his control area.

Stats: 5 Focus / 6 Warjack Points, The High Reclaimer carries only a melee weapon, but it is magic, has reach, and sets people on fire.

Results: HR wants troops, LOTS of troops. The more friendly Faction warrior models that die in his control area, the more Soul Tokens he gets. The more Soul Tokens he gets, the more Focus he has next turn, this helps to facilitate assassination of your enemy 'caster and helps to prevent assassination of the High Reclaimer. A common tactic with his feat is to resurrect troopers behind the enemy Warcaster, bypassing models between the Warcaster and the rest of your army and giving them a charge with backstrike. High Reclaimer's Def + Arm + Damage Boxes are fairly standard for Menoth, but Souls converted to Focus overboosting him makes him one of the most defensive casters under ideal conditions. Terror also adds to survivability against a solid number of units in the game, though it should not be relied upon.

Testament of Menoth

Spells: Testament's spells are all defensive with Dust to Dust providing his damaging spell and Hallowed Avenger requiring a Warjack as its target.

Feat: Testament of Menoth gives friendly faction models Incorporeal.

Special Rules: Testament still gets Reclaim, giving him a Soul Token for each friendly living faction warrior model destroyed in his control area. He also gains Omegus, preventing any enemy model from gaining souls in his control area and he also gains a short range teleport (3").

Stats: 5 Focus / 6 Warjack Points, like his former incarnation, the Testament of Menoth carries only a melee weapon, which is also magic, also has reach, and also sets people on fire.

Results: Like The High Reclaimer, the Testament of Menoth wants lots of troops so he can have lots of souls (for the same reasons). Due to his gaining of Sacrificial Lamb, Testament can run Warjacks a little easier than The High Reclaimer and comes in just a tad more survivable than him with a slightly higher Def + Arm + Damage Boxes plus Souls converted to Focus for Overboosting plus Terror.

High Pimp Servath Reznik!

Well The Wrack is off and rolling with the first battle report up and some video commentary! I wanted to take a moment to showcase my High Executioner Servath Reznik model. BWats, friend of the The Wrack, is the one who got me into Warmachine and as a favor to me, painted my Warcaster so I would have a pimpin' model leading my armies.

The model is showcased in the site banner, but here are some more pictures just to show the incredible paint job BWats did!

Menoth vs. Skorne by Proxy!

So on May 7th, myself and my good friend Brian, known on the PP Forums as "BWats" and known to the Skorne board as "the guy who plays Mordikaar and doesn't take Molik Karn", headed up to our LGS to play a little Warmachine/Hordes.

The pictures may be confusing as BWats was proxying just about everything. I believe that the Titan Gladiator was the only model which he owned that was on his list.

His list:

Supreme Aptimus Zaal & Kovaas (*5pts)

* Cyclopse Brute (5pts)

* Titan Gladiator (8pts)

Immortals (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)

Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)

Praetorian Swordsmen (Leader and 5 Grunts) (4pts)

Ancestral Guardian x3 (9pts)

Extoler Soulward x2 (4pts)

Total: 35pts

My list:

High Executioner Servath Reznik (*6pts)

* Crusader (6pts)

* Guardian (9pts)

* Vanquisher (8pts)

Choir of Menoth (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)

Exemplar Bastions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)

Exemplar Errants (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)

Vassal of Menoth (2pts)

Wracks (1pt)

Total: 35pts

BWats Pregame Thoughts:

My Pregame Thoughts:

Deployment:

Turn 1:

As the videos state, we rolled Mosh Pit for our scenario, Turn 1 found us both running all of our models toward the center. I went first, which put me solidly in the control area, however it did prevent my Vanquisher from being able to light anything on fire. All in all, pretty boring round as BWats had no real range threats in his list.

Turn 2:

The image above is the end of the second turn. At this point all I had managed to accomplish was running my Errants further up the left side. My goal there was to distract some troops from the control zone by providing a flanking threat. BWats met it with an Ancestral Guardian and Soulward. With the Soul Tokens he had gotten from Zaal, the AG managed to devastate the unit of Errants, but they did hold up that AG and Soulward for the rest of the game, so it was a solid trade in my mind.

BWats managed to drop my Guardian that turn with the Immortals:

This proved to be his undoing however, with all those magic attacks I was able to move my Crusader and Reznik around (he had tied up my Vanquisher with his Titan Gladiator) quite a bit.

Turn 3:

Round 3 was actually fairly boring, some blows were exchanged, the Vanquisher and the Titan Gladiator remained deadlocked, and the Immortals which had felled the Guardian decided to take the Bastions to task, killing all but the one of them.

Turn 4:

Turn 4 ended the game - a quick move on the part of the Crusader and two boosted attacks with the Inferno Mace ended the heretical Zaal's chances of winning...

BWats Postgame Wrapup:

My Postgame Wrapup:

The List (35)

So here is the 34+1pt List which will be used in the battle reports, provided for reference!

High Executioner Servath Reznik (*6pts)

* Crusader (6pts)

* Guardian (9pts)

* Vanquisher (8pts)

Choir of Menoth (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)

Exemplar Bastions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)

Exemplar Errants (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)

Vassal of Menoth (2pts)

That totals 34pts, the last point is a floater which I use for starting with Wracks on the board, maxing the Choir, or (when he releases) adding the Vassal Mechanik to the list. As the list changes and evolves I will make sure it is noted. Models I have which are not listed include pKreoss, High Reclaimer, Repenter and Revenger.

Introduction

The Wrack is a blog that details my time in Warmachine/Hordes.

My name is Dave, I live in NH, and I will be the primary poster here at The Wrack, oh, and I am a brand new player to Warmachine/Hordes. How new do you ask? This post is being written May 7th, my 35pt army arrived May 5th.

This blog is intended as being the average player's thoughts on this game. From the first real game to who knows when, this will be a testament of my time with this hobby. Some quick things to know about me:

• I have played WH40k, and possess ~3000pts of Tau.
• I am not a super competitive player; I like to win as much as the next guy, but I am much more about myself and my opponent having fun over boot-crushing mayhem. I respect Page 5, but I don't think it needs to come with an unsportsmanlike attitude!
• I am a mediocre painter, note that I will have a fully painted list, but if you are looking for amazing painting, this probably isn't the blog for you.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you will comment and contribute!