Editing Warmachine/Tactics/Protectorate of Menoth

This page is now up to date with all models that have seen full release. With the release of ''Reckoning'', there are a handful of upcoming models which have had their information fully released but are not yet generally available. These will be added after they hit public tabletops and more data on what they're actually good for is available.

==Why Play Protectorate?==

Do you like fire? Do you like gigantic robots? Do you like fire ''AND'' gigantic robots? How about knights? Gothic imagery? The Spanish Inquisition with giant Gothic robot knights that are on fire? Protectorate is a perfect army for you then.

These guys are all about working together and wrecking shit. Their warjacks are generally subpar if you look at their basic stat line, but that's okay - they have the support units to back them up and take their 'jacks from "meh" to "OH MY FUCK ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS". 

The Protectorate is the most synergistic of factions in Warmachine.  They have support units that buff friendly warjacks by making them immune to shooting or spells for a turn (or can just make them absolutely murdertastic), allowing them to advance unscathed into otherwise lethal gunlines. They can make units immune to knockdown or have them dance out of melee range when hit, making their units surprisingly durable. Warjacks can get free attacks due to the ministrations of the Vassals, infantry can take hits for one another to keep vital charge lanes blocked or squishy units screened from attack, and so on. Menoth is all about your units working together as a cohesive unit.

It's also got a hell of a lot of denial in its pocket. "No" is our favorite word - no, you can't knock that guy down.  No, that dude isn't gonna die - my caster is going to take d3 damage instead, which it can just heal up next turn. No, you can't target my 'jacks without magical weapons.  No, you can't cast spells at my infantry. And no, your continuous fire on your warcaster doesn't go out, and yes, he's going to die from it.

A well-played Menoth army is a wondrous sight to behold, with legions of knights advancing across the field, protected by the strength of their faith and the blessing of their god. Behind them come the holy warjacks of Menoth, belching columns of smoke and ash that choke the sky and fill the hearts of infidels with fear as their mighty guns rip apart the opposing infantry with volleys of molten metal and flame. And, above it all, the sound of the faithful priesthood and attendants marching along, chanting the holy litanies of their faith and weaving righteous enchantments around their armies to provide a shield stronger than any mortal could ever fashion.

==General Strategy==

The basic idea for Menoth, as you might have gathered from the above, is that their units all work much better as a group than individually. As a general rule, Menite warjacks are rather lackluster if examined in a vacuum; they're as slow as Khadoran 'jacks, but not as heavily armored and not as crushingly strong in melee, and their guns aren't awful, but don't have the range or firepower of Cygnar's. They make up for this by fielding hands-down the best support units in the game. No other army comes close to a Menite line's buffs, and these take Menite 'jacks from subpar to incredible - so long as you can keep your support units alive. 

As such, Menite strategy generally revolves around forming a solid core of units which synergize well with your chosen supports, turning this army into a brick, and then throwing it at your opponent's face. It's simple in theory, but takes some serious thought in practice, as Menite support units tend to be very vulnerable and require protection in order to stay on the board for long. 

Fortunately, this is where Menoth's ''other'' strengths come in: tarpits and denial.

On the more mundane side of things, Menoth has some of the best tarpit units in the game. Even its basic infantry tend to be pretty damn tough to remove from the board. They tend cheap and reasonably durable, and usually come with a selection of special abilities which can make them difficult to dislodge from crucial positions (and if you want to spend a few more points, they can get incredibly 'ard - thirty-five damage to kill a single model 'ard, in fact). Menoth is almost spoiled for choice when it comes to infantry that are practically designed to walk in front of your important units and soak a frankly ludicrous amount of hits for their cost. Slap them down in front of your main army and send them forth to die, secure in the knowledge that those bullets aren't going into your warjacks or supports. 

Looking at the more magical side, Menoth has some serious denial capability that can often outright eliminate one or more of your strategic options. To start, many of the Protectorate's warcasters have feats which, whether directly or indirectly, make their control areas a no-fly zone for most vital enemy models. Add on to this the fact that many of its units can make friendly models immune to knockdown, magic, shooting, or any number of other things. Whatever tricks your opponent has up their sleeve, odds are that Menoth has a way to shut it down. 

On the other hand, the Protectorate does have its fair share of weaknesses. First and foremost, Menite units tend to be fairly immobile. Low SPD stats abound, and there's precious little Pathfinder to spare, so Menite forces have to negotiate terrain carefully. This also leaves them vulnerable to outflanking, which is especially dangerous because of the Protectorate's desperate need to protect its backline. If the support units are placed under fire, the rest of the battle line suddenly becomes much weaker - and this is even without considering that Menite warcasters tend to have somewhat subpar statlines. It's vital to always keep an eye on your flanks, lest a rogue Mage Hunter Assassin suddenly dive in and steal the game from under your nose.

Ball up, protect your support units, and watch your flanks. It might take you a while to get where you're going, but if you get there with your buffs in place, your opponent is going to have a bad day.  

==Unit Analysis==

As with all Warmahordes armies, more detailed information on each unit discussed below can be found on the [http://battlecollege.wikispaces.com/Protectorate+of+Menoth BattleCollege wiki]. It is highly recommended that you check both articles for any given unit to get a more complete picture of the community's thoughts on it. BattleCollege also has a useful article on [http://battlecollege.wikispaces.com/mkiiMenothstart where to start with Menoth], for those looking for easy entry into the faction.

===Warcasters===

*'''Anson Durst, Rock of the Faith:''' The most recently released Protectorate paladin warcaster, Anson is a long awaited gift from Menoth. Big, tanky, and with a lot of emphasis on defense, Anson is early enough in his career than no list has yet unlocked his ultimate potential. What ''is'' known is that he can actually survive some heavy firepower, which is pretty much unique among Protectorate 'casters. He is blessed with the highest base armor of any Worcester in the Protectorate's and a weapon which has earned him the moniker "Butcher's little brother." Two distinct play styles seem favored. One levies Deflection to deliver our infantry to frustrated ranged armies. The other allows some of the largest battlegroups in the Protectorate. Access to Boundless Charge  gives the Protectorate 'jacks a non-Amon option for difficult terrain and a bonus movement bump. Focus support is need as his mediocre (for Protectorate) Focus stat makes running jack heavy tough. Reclaimer solos and Sanctifiers have increased stock due to this need. Anson's feat basically keeps everything important alive and even the most potent of attacks become nothing more than scratched paint when our 8-point jacks can get up to 14/24 stats under this paladin's holy guidance. He is not, however, of the Order of the Wall so Vilmon does not grant him immunity to all but magic attacks. Standing base to base with a pair of Reckoners with his stance up does give him a 17/24 stat line vs living melee, 17/25 vs shooting and magic, and neither he not his jacks b2b can be pushed, placed, moved, or knocked down. Watch for throws.
*'''High Allegiant Amon Ad-Raza:''' One of the Protectorate's premiere 'jack casters. Amon puts crazy amounts of emphasis on light warjack play, particularly Dervishes and Devouts, because he has a spell called Synergy which applies a ''cumulative'' bonus to attack and damage rolls for all 'jacks in his control area. This can let even your lightest 'jacks hit like a Khador heavy. He also makes his 'jacks much more mobile than they would otherwise be, since he has another spell that gives them a SPD boost and delicious, delicious Pathfinder. Even his feat makes his 'jacks more mobile and more choppy, so the basic idea is to get a big pile of Dervishes together and then mince your way across the table. Unfortunately, he does nothing for infantry, and his FOCUS is fairly low, so he needs to be dangerously close to the front lines in order to keep his 'jacks murdering efficiently. As he's not particularly durable (he wants to spend a lot of his Focus points, especially on his feat turn), this makes him risky, but he can certainly do a lot of damage.
*'''Feora, Priestess of the Flame (pFeora):''' Aggression, aggression, aggression. pFeora is all about murdering everything, generally up close and personal. To facilitate this, she has a much more solid statline than your standard Menite 'caster, and her signature spell, Engine of Destruction, makes her an absolute monster on the charge. It's a rare turn that you won't want to pay for the Engine. On top of this, she has access to Ignite, which gives a solid +2 to damage rolls and Critical: Continuous Fire to a unit, so she can pump out even more damage. Oh, and also fire. Lots and lots and '''lots''' of fire. Seriously, there will be ''so much fire'' on the table if pFeora is in play. Even her feat just ''sets everything on fire''. Take her with some Temple Flameguard and some heavier solos, cast Engine of Destruction, camp the rest of your focus to keep yourself at a comfortable ARM 21, and just get stuck in to burn some heretics.
*'''Feora, Protector of the Flame (eFeora):''' And you thought pFeora was bad. This crazy woman loves fire more than her Prime self. So much so, that she can GAIN FOCUS AND TRANSFER FIRE ON HER FEAT. She can also be bound to a jack to make its attacks cause fire as well. Perfect with fire spray warjacks and can be used to create fire shenanigans. Get within her feat range with an enemy warcaster, put a tough thing on fire, pop feat, put said fire on enemy warcaster, watch as the warcaster runs around, flailing his arms around while slowly figuring out that that fire isn't going out anytime soon. Her spell list is also pretty beast, with escort giving all warjacks in her force <strike>+3 speed</strike> +2 movement (there IS a difference, people). Fiery step is also a very good way of getting out of combat and still killing or hurting something before she can even move. And, if a single damage model comes within two inches of her, they combust into flames that can't be taken off in her command range. Lull the enemy warcaster into a false of security then fire step before you move and charge his smug prick face. Unfortunately, she lost her double sprays in favor of a SP10' spray. She can also make flameguard fearless in her command range, which is also a godsend at times.
*'''Harbinger of Menoth:''' Hands-down the most popular Menite warcaster in tournament play, and for good reason. Harby is an absolute monster on the tabletop, taking the Protectorate's philosophies of support and denial to their absolute extremes. She sits on an absolutely monstrous FOCUS 10 - the highest FOCUS stat in the game - and it comes with the attendant 20" control radius, which lets her lock down almost the entire board with ease - and all without having to get near the front lines. That range advantage is good because she's very fragile unless camping at least half her focus and she has a large base, so she's hard to screen effectively, and she has Martyrdom, so she's often going to be sitting at pretty low health. Not that Martyrdom is bad, though - she can take d3 points of damage any time a friendly warrior in her control area is disabled to save their life, so your vital solos just got that much harder to dislodge. She also inflicts a penalty to all attack rolls made by living enemy models in her (massive) control area, making your army even harder to remove from the board. Her feat turns her entire (again, ludicrously huge) control area into a no-go for your opponents, as any enemy model moving towards her gets to eat a POW 14 hit to the face. And is is entirely without getting into her actual spell list. The Harbinger has her rep for a good reason.
*'''High Reclaimer:''' An odd duck, but definitely not a bad choice. The High Reclaimer has a low FOCUS stat and a correspondingly small control area, but can gain bonus focus from collecting the souls of any loyal Menites that fall in battle. His feat then recalls a few of these models from their deaths, ideally to make a game-winning charge. The ability to reclaim souls can briefly boost his poor focus pool, but this implies that you just lost a hell of a lot of infantry, and it won't stick around for long. Letting your infantry die for no reason, and then counting on the Reclaimer's briefly-boosted ARM to save him, is a poor strategy. Other than Reclaim, his signature ability is Sacrificial Lamb, which lets you off an infantry model to give a free focus point to all your 'jacks. Like most Menites, he's a support 'caster, not a frontliner, and should be kept back accordingly. Give him a solid infantry brick, a Choir, and a few warjacks (not too many, because, again, his focus pool is pretty small), then have him hang back and use his Burning Ash spell to give your army some cover. 
*'''Testament of Menoth:''' For all intents and purposes, a slightly more aggressive High Reclaimer. He still isn't a frontliner himself, but he does allow your army a bit more freedom of movement, and his feat - which turns all your models incorporeal - can be great for assassination runs. He trades the ability to place concealment-granting ash clouds at will for the ability to shove that cloud on a unit, and the ability to revive a bunch of models all at once for a single turn for the ability to bring one grunt back forever (albeit with one health). Other than that, he's pretty much the same. 
*'''High Exemplar Kreoss (pKreoss):''' Our battlebox caster, and not half bad at that. His spell list is well-rounded for both defense and offense, his FOC stat of 7 is pretty good and ties in well with his feat, which knocks down every enemy model within his control area.  This makes assassinations very easy as it can free up models to move in for the kill, or more frequently, give LOS to ranged models (often a Redeemer with full focus) to gun the enemy warcaster/warlock down.  Be warned though; the moment you put pKreoss on the table, people will know what you're doing, and will plan accordingly.  Also, if the opponent has knockdown immunity, that can throw a major wrench in your plan.  His defensive stats are also kind of ass (DEF 14 ARM 15).
*'''Grand Exemplar Kreoss (eKreoss):''' eKreoss is an infantry lover. He brings them a couple of useful passive abilities, a supportive spell list, and one heck of a feat (granting all friendlies in his control area auto-hitting attacks, as well as an extra attack for free). The feat is one of the two big things that he brings to the table, the other being the ability to make a P+S 14 armor piercing attack, though truth be told, he might not get too many chances to use it.
*'''Intercessor Kreoss (Threeoss, Kreoss3):''' The Intercessor is a bit hard to get a solid handle on. Like pSeverius, there isn't much that he doesn't work with, and he can field almost any kind of army and do so fairly well. He'll have a little bit of trouble with larger groups of 'jacks, though, because he's fairly focus-hungry. He also quite likes Exemplar Vengers, but Vengers are such a rarely-used unit that it's hard to know whether or not this is a good thing. He himself is also mounted on a large base, which makes screening him hard and makes him deceptively squishy - his ARM is high, but he's big and likes to spend a lot of focus, and as such vulnerable to massed fire. On the other hand, he does solve a lot of Menoth's mobility issues with his Warpath spell, and between Holy Ward and Ignite, he can both keep his units safe and allow them to pump out some serious damage. 
*'''High Executioner Servath Reznik (pReznik):''' While not balls-crushingly competitive, Reznik is still fun to play.  Purgation+Engine of Destruction can be utterly terrifying against a warcaster/lock who has an upkeep on him/herself, and Witch Hound can definitely throw a wrench in your opponent's plan.  Laugh as someone with Telekinesis tries to pull your warjack forward to be charged, only for you to turn them right back around and end up FURTHER back than when they started.  However, his buffs are entirely offensive in nature, and he doesn't really have much to support infantry other than throwing Ignite on them.  You will typically win by assassination, or die trying.
*'''Servath Reznik, Wrath of Ages (eReznik):''' Reznik decided walking is for heretics and got himself a giant chariot. His spell-list is at odds with his focus pool of 7, containing a weird mix of 3-cost spells. He's got hands down the coolest model in the faction, but unfortunately he's barely playable in more competive circles. However, he has some niffy things that are often overlooked: One is that even though he has only 7 focus to cast his 3-cost spells, all of the spells minus Flesh is Weak (a POW 12 AOE 4 meh spell) are upkeep spells. The Iron Aggression is extremely powerful buff when upkept, since you give one warjack boosted attack and damage rolls, and warjack can charge, trample, slam or run without spending focus. This means that Reznik basically spends 1 focus after turn 1 to give 3 focus to warjack, and also means that if you "overboost" the warjack by giving him 3 focus on top of Iron Aggression, you're looking at a warjack that charges, hits his base attacks with boost and attacks 3 more times with boosts (plus anicilliary attacks from Vassals etc...). Gettign the 'Jack into combat might prove difficult though, and you might want to hold eReznik back until he gets his upkeeps up and the buffjack gets into position. Oddily enough, Guardian is okay choice for the buffjack as while you won't get much use out of the Arc Node, the Critical Pitch (remember that all of the attacks are boosted) can help to shove 'jakcs off eReznik's charge lane, plus Guardian has enough boxes to not die as easily as other heavy jacks. Alternate would be Reckoner to help eReznik survive his charge and to just straight out blast the obstructions out of the way instead of trying to dislodge them. Also keep in mind that the Death March is not neccessary in most cases, and Lamentation is extremely powerful upkeep to shut down heavy spellcasters or casters that rely on focus (Butcher3, for example loses 50% of his potency by just being close to Reznik). Some units that specifically benefit eReznik are Wracks, which help him get his upkeep spells up in time, as well as gain additional focus for those moments that you need to gain more attacks, and Vassal Mechanicks since being a battle engine, they can repair him for D6 points of damage. That can be lifesaver if eReznik's charge goes tits-up. eReznik's base offensive is lackluster with only P+S 13 Verdict that has magical weapon, Reach and Flame Burst (models within 1" of model boxed by reznik burst into flames), but if you combine that with Creator's Wrath (other upkeep that you should keep on all the time) you have +D6 to attack and damage rolls, meaning that there is very few models that you cannot hit (note that it applies to mount impact hits), and you can further boost the damage of the attack as the Creator's wrath does not say "boosted" but "additional die" so you're looking at impact hits with average P+S 13+10 (23), and weapon hits with boost to P+S 13+14 (27). Given good rolls, eReznik can hit like runaway train on stereoids. But! There is one big, stinky But! in the cogs: Huge base, Def 13 and Arm 17. Quite literally, once the eReznik does his charge, it's all in: either you kill everything in cascade of fire and shrapnel, or you fail to kill that one model who gets free strike at eReznik and kills him in few hits. Also Huge base means that his mobility is extremely predictable if you were not planning on ploughing through your own troops in order to get into combat with the enemy (not bad idea, by the way, to charge your way through thin line of friendlies since with back strike bonus, you can gurantee passage). Tier 1 list is advisable to get unlimited wracks to overboost the focus of Reznik and get all of his upkeeps at turn 1, and to make that one "do or die" feat+ charge turn even more devastating. All in all, eReznik is like his younger counterpart in the role he plays: All in, do or die.
 
*'''Grand Scrutator Severius (pSevvy):''' The Protectorate's answer to Lord Voldemort, Sevvy is Menoth's premiere blasting mage. He has an absolutely brutal spell list that can pump out solid damage to all types of targets, an excellent FOCUS of 8, and a feat that can completely crush the enemy in a single stroke (it completely denies the enemy warcaster their focus allotment for next turn). If you want a warcaster than can throw fireballs with the best of them, he's your man. On top of this, he comes with two of the Protectorate's best buffs: the Eye of Menoth, which grants +1 to attack ''and'' damage rolls for ''all'' friendly units in his control area and should be upkept every single turn, and Defender's Ward, which grants a +2 bonus to both DEF and ARM for a single model or unit, turning your Exemplars Errant from "annoying tarpit" to "OH GOD WHY WON'T THEY JUST GO AWAY". His primary weakness is that he's made of paper even by Protectorate standards, so he absolutely must be kept back. As such, at least one arc node is mandatory for any pSevvy army, and two is more common - in particular, it's a rare Severius list that isn't sporting the Blessing of Vengeance, which is his signature warjack. Other than that, though, there really isn't anything that Severius doesn't work with. Between Defender's Ward and Eye of Menoth, he simply makes everything that the Protectorate has better all around. 
*'''Hierarch Severius (eSevvy):''' The Dumbledore to... well, his own Voldemort. eSevvy is not the fireball-tossing murder machine that pSevvy was. He's turned in his blasting spells for a more utility-oriented toolbox set, but he's no less powerful for it. He retains his previous FOCUS 8, which is a good thing, since he ''also'' kept his toilet-paper armor and he needs that massive control area to keep himself alive. He still has a few ways to deal damage at range, but they're no match for what he was sporting in his previous incarnation, so don't expect him to do all the heavy lifting himself. Fortunately, he's gained the ability to enable everyone else to do it for him. He can enable your models to ignore cover, concealment, and intervening models when calculating LOS, disable any special abilities or orders that an enemy unit might want to use, and briefly take control of enemy units to disrupt battle lines. Much trickier to use than pSevvy, but not weaker by any stretch.
*'''Vice Scrutator Vindictus:''' A bit of a mixed bag. He gives you a free Holy Zealot any time he kills an enemy warrior, and lets aforementioned Zealots take the bullet for him any time he gets hit. On top of this, each of his weapons allows you to ignore a certain type of defensive buff, so he looks like a 'caster who wants to wade in and mix it up, but he suffers from the fact that he is a Menite warcaster who isn't Feora, and thus doesn't actually want to do that because he'll probably explode. He's got the High Reclaimer's ability to sacrifice infantry for warjack focus, but he's focus-hungry himself and so can't actually allocate much to the rest of his battlegroup. If you take any more than a couple of fairly focus-efficient 'jacks, he's going to be overloaded. His feat is also highly matchup-dependent: it deals one point of damage and knocks down any enemy models that hit your guys, which means that it will devastate armies which are heavy on light infantry and do jack-all to everyone else. His spell list is also a bit schizophrenic, with no clear emphasis on any one strategy. So, on the whole, he's not really the best 'caster the Protectorate has to offer, but he's definitely unique and a hell of a lot of fun, particularly if you like Holy Zealots.
*'''Thyra, Flame of Sorrow:''' The closest thing that the Protectorate has to a true assassination 'caster. Thyra is fast and hits like a truck on the charge, and has high DEF to keep her safe. The problem comes when you notice that she has abysmally low ARM, so if the enemy can knock her down, she's going to get squished. Also anything that sets things on fire automatically (que p/eFeora) kills her outright. As such, the Covenant of Menoth is practically mandatory with her, as it can keep her from getting locked down. She also loves her some Holy Zealots and Daughters of the Flame, the former because of their synergy with her feat (another round of ranged attacks after your opponent thought they closed the gap, yay) and the latter because she grants them Vengeance. She sports a lot of tools to grant herself more mobility, along with Stealth, so, as a general rule, she wants an army that can clear a path to the enemy 'caster so she can dive in and secure the kill. High risk, high reward.

===Warjacks===

As mentioned above, Protectorate warjacks tend to be slow, but surprisingly durable, and bring a lot of Fire weapons to the table. Sprays and blasts are extremely common among these 'jacks, but, again as above, Menite 'jacks tend to have subpar MAT and RAT, with strictly average DEF and ARM on top. They can put in a lot of work for you, but be sure to keep them buffed if you want to do any real damage.

====Light Warjacks====

*'''Dervish:''' A cheap light with access to either two attacks of middling strength or one really big hit with Combo Strike.  A little bit of mobility once it gets stuck in with Sidestep means that it can shift to get another model in melee range, or get out of the way to let something else charge what it charged.  Most often seen in an Amon Ad-Raza list, these little assholes can build up the Synergy chain very quickly, but generally aren't used by other warcasters.
*'''Devout:''' The single most common Protectorate warjack of any type in tournament lists. It's a rare Menite list that doesn't count a Devout amongst its ranks, and for good reason: Protectorate warcasters tend to be squishy and vulnerable to assassination runs, and the Devout is designed explicitly to play bodyguard. It can intercept ranged attacks intended for your warcaster, and anybody trying to get close will have to try and force their way through a surprisingly durable little 'jack with Reach and Shield to take its ARM up to a solid 18. It can also render your warcaster immune to enemy spells so long as you have it base-to-base. It's solid, it's cheap, and it mitigates one of Menoth's most pronounced weaknesses. The Devout is plainly awesome.
*'''Redeemer:''' Most famous for its application in the pKreoss "pop'n'drop" ranged assassination technique, this relatively expensive light can put out up to 3 small AOEs, even though they are Inaccurate, for an unbuffed RAT 1, at HUGE range and dealing some very serious damage.  Very popular with any list can can produce a knockdown effect at range (pKreoss, eeKreoss with Force Hammer, etc), and also commonly seen bonded to eFeora for 3 continuous fire AOEs to fuel her feat.  The pop'n'drop is done as such: 1) load up the Redeemer with 3 focus.  2) sing Hymn of Battle on the Redeemer.  3) Pop feat on enemy caster; all screening models and the caster are knocked down (thus DEF5) and the screening models don't block LOS. 4) Demolish the caster with POW14's from up to 16" away.  Follow up with Reckoner or Vanquisher shots if you need moar dakka.  This can also be done with Deliverers, but Redeemers have the distinct advantage of not sucking. They are, however, extremely focus-hungry if you want them to be able to hit the broad side of a barn.
*'''Repenter:''' A very cheap flamethrower with legs.  Has a very good ranged weapon, but is kinda slow, not very durable, and is probably best for solo hunting or setting fire to lots of people.
*'''Revenger:''' One of 3 arc nodes in faction, this is by far the cheapest.  Its shield is also worthy of mention, as when it his someone with the shield, or is hit by an enemy attack, the enemy is bumped 1" backwards.  Really trolly when a fully loaded jack charges it, hits it once and is bumped back. Because of this, it can be surprisingly survivable, and it's generally the best option for an arc node (unless you're pSevvy, in which case you'll probably take the Blessing of Vengeance as your primary node, and maybe one of these on the side).
*'''Vigilant:''' A seldom used light jack, the Vigilant has two shields, putting him up to ARM21 as a light.  He's quite pillow-fisted, but Daughters of the Flame like him for blast immunity, and he can toss around other light jacks with his two open fists.

====Heavy Warjacks====

*'''Castigator:''' A nifty 8pt heavy that is unfortunately outshone by our other 8pt choices. Has two open fists with Continuous Fire, and a special attack that causes a POW 12 damage roll and Continuous Fire effect to anything within reach distance of him.
*'''Crusader:''' Simple, straightforward, cheap, effective. The Crusader clocks in at an extremely affordable 6 points, making it one of the cheapest heavy 'jacks the Protectorate can field. For those 6 points, you get a straightforward, solid beatstick of a heavy. The Crusader brings with it a giant fucking club with which to beat things into paste. Its mace swings at P+S 18, which means that, with a Choir backing it up, it's going to put the serious hurt on anything unlucky enough to get into melee with it. It also brings an Open Fist for added utility, though most of the time you're going to be spending any focus on boosting and buying mace swings. The aforementioned straightforwardness is also its biggest weakness, however; while it's a real danger in melee, it's often going to have issues getting there due to its low speed and complete lack of any special abilities. 
*'''Guardian:''' Clocking in at 9 points, this is the only heavy jack in the game with an arc node, which is awesome. Unfortunately, it's of debatable use, since it's so goddamn huge and easily gets caught up in infantry blocks. The moment it gets engaged, that arc node becomes useless, which means that you basically just dropped 9 points for a slightly weaker Crusader. The Revenger is almost always a better arc node option. His Spear has critical that lets you throw the enemy, which can be useful to get enemies into positions or clear of charge lanes. Specifically those annoying Tough units that refuse to die. He is also little sturdier than regular heavy 'jack with more hitpoints. Nevertheless, unless you have list that can make use of this jack's arc node and pitches, it's usability is questionable. 
*'''Reckoner:''' Our best non-character jack, and only 8 points! He has a great big stick to beat people with, but his utility comes from Ashen Veil and his Condemner flaregun. Ashen Veil grants him Concealment, putting him at effective DEF 12, and causes living enemy models within 2" to have -2 to attack rolls.  His flaregun really seals the deal though. POW 15 with the Choir's buff, Critical Fire, Assault (so you can fire it during a charge) and if it hits, applies a -2 DEF debuff to enemies for the entire turn, making them a sitting duck for other attackers. On top of that, his giant bat swings at an intensely terrifying P+S 17, making him even more terrifying than the Crusader on the charge. Flat-out one of the best ways to destroy heavy 'jacks in the game. He's in just about every Menoth list ever, and there are reasons for that.  
*'''Templar:''' Another 8pt heavy beatstick. P+S 17 Reach flail, a Shield, and the Beat Back rule to push deeper into enemy lines. Slow but powerful. The main downside of taking a Templar is that you aren't taking a Reckoner instead.
*'''Vanquisher:''' The last of the Protectorate's 8 point heavies, and the only one generally considered to be as good as the Reckoner for the cost. Its flail is far from awful, but let's be perfectly clear here: you take the Vanquisher for its Flame Belcher. POW 14, 4" AOE, Continuous Fire. Yeah. And that's ''without'' factoring in the buffs you'll be pouring onto it. This thing absolutely wrecks whatever you point it at, ''especially'' if what you point it at is infantry. The only real issue is that it only gets one shot per turn, but this is easily fixed by having a Vassal tag along with it for regular injections of Ancillary Attack.
*'''Sanctifier:''' 9 points for a mediocre heavy, the Sanctifier is pretty cool but rarely used. It brings a magical P+S 17 Reach weapon, takes away Incorporeal from enemies within 5", and most importantly, vacuums up your friendly units' souls and converts them to focus. Run it up behind some Temple Flameguard, and watch as it uses their souls for fuel the next turn and scraps something. A solid choice in troops-heavy armies, or armies with low FOC (like Silent Bob and Silent ToM) - but once again, if you're taking one of these, you're not taking a Reckoner or Vanquisher instead.

====Colossals====

*'''Judicator:''' Basically a gigantic Redeemer. It needs a lot of support to keep it protected and pumping out those rockets, but it's certainly far from a bad choice, and forms the centerpiece of a good number of Menite armies - mostly because the sheer number of AOEs it puts out means it's basically capable of leveling a city.

====Character Warjacks====

*'''Avatar of Menoth:''' God's own personal robot. Unlike other 'jacks, the Avatar can't be part of a battlegroup, and actually doesn't have a Cortex subsystem at all, so it couldn't be allocated focus even if you did find a way to attune it to a 'caster - but that's fine, since it gets 2-4 focus each turn, straight from Heaven itself. It's huge, it's tanky as seven kinds of hell, it swings even harder than the Crusader, and it can spend focus to vacuum in unfortunate enemy models. Whatever you point it at is going to die. It clocks in at an eye-popping 11 points, but you get what you pay for.
*'''Blessing of Vengeance:''' Old Man Severius's personal arc node. Its Affinity with Sevvy gives a +2 to the damage rolls - ''all'' of them, which is especially important for Ashes to Ashes - of the first spell arc'd through it every turn, which turns Severius' blasting spells from "annoying" to "AVADA KEDAVRA". Otherwise, it's functionally identical to the Revenger, save for the addition of Bushwhack, which lets him take his combat action before his move action. Useful to stab something and then back up to let spells arc through him. Practically mandatory in any pSevvy list, but generally not included in anything else.
*'''Fire of Salvation:''' Kreoss's personal Crusader.  Gains +1 SPD and Continuous Fire on the mace, as well as a MAT increase. 9 points, required for most of Kreoss's theme lists, and a freaking expensive model. Worth every penny, though. He has Vengeance, so if stuff dies around him, he can make a full advance and smack something during the Maintenance Phase. He finds his home in Kreoss2's excellent Theme List, Crusaders of Sul, where he's often the only 'jack.  
*'''Blood of Martyrs:''' Thyra's personal angerbot.  Has two swords, gains Sidestep when in Thyra's Battlegroup, and is pretty cool overall.  Not much to look at normally, but fielded alongside Thyra it's a murder death machine that can take a long, nonlinear path to some juicy bits and murder them. Blood of Martyrs suffers from the relative slowness in most Thyra lists (and those lists are the only ones that field BoM) and lack of reach can mean that in order to get the most out of this 'jack you need to calculate your moves carefully, and in some scenarios slow down the rest of the battlegroup to let BoM keep up. Choir is mandatory to take with BoM since P+S 16 is not much to write home about, but if he get his vengeance proc up and choir gives him Battle-hymn buff, BoM suddenly becomes rapetrain with MAT 10 and P+S 20. Because of this, all opponents who know of the BoM will take caution not to kill allies close to him. One thing to note as well is that because of the side step and immunity to free strikes, you should use Trample with BoM to clear paths over swathes of medium-defence infantry for free
*'''Scourge of Heresy:''' Reznik's personal smiter 'jack.  Has a HUGE melee damage potential, gains bonus dice to hit and damage on things with upkeeps on them (hello, Arcane Shielded Stormwall!) but suffers from low threat range, no Reach, and having this huge crosshair right on his boilerplate.  He can also negate spells cast near him, and by far his scariest ability is the ability to ignore focus points overboosting a caster's shield.  If you get him within 0.5" of a caster, they die horribly, but good luck getting him there.

====Battle Engines====

*'''Vessel of Judgment:''' Strange, but not entirely awful. It eats its own health in order to perform miracles, which wouldn't be too bad if the miracles it has access to weren't so damn situational. It's definitely usable, and a fun little unit, but if you're looking to build a competitive list, the Covenant of Menoth is a better support unit all around. You can stick a vassal mechanik to fix the engine as it takes damage, so you can use the health of this thing more free-handedly

===Units===

It's worth noting that the Fearless, Magic Weapon, and Weapon Master abilities are extremely common in Menoth. Every Exemplar unit has all three, so you don't have to worry about them breaking and running, and they can throw down with some surprisingly durable units due to the bonus damage from Weapon Master. 

*'''Choir of Menoth:''' '''The''' Protectorate unit. This is the unit that makes Menoth what it is, and it's not an exaggeration to say that almost every Menite army list, outside of themed ones, will run ''at least'' a minimum unit of Choir. They are flat-out, indisputably, inarguably the best 'jack support unit in the game. If you're taking any warjacks at all, odds are that your list would be made better by the inclusion of a Choir, and here's why: every turn, the Choir chooses a Hymn to sing, and then each Choir member can individually apply that Hymn's effect to a friendly warjack within 3". The three Hymns you have access to make your 'jacks immune to non-magical ranged attacks, immune to magic, or ''absurdly'' killy (to the tune of +2 to attack ''and'' damage rolls) for one round. The power of the Choir cannot be overstated. This is the unit that makes Menoth ''work''. You will use them, you will love them, and you will watch them die ''en masse'' because everyone and their grandmother has it out for these unlucky sons of bitches. Being single-wound infantry with tissue paper for armor, they're fairly easy to kill, too. Keep them safe, and they will bring you victory.
*'''Daughters of the Flame:''' Fast, fragile, chew through single-wound infantry faster than blinking. They ''can'' use Combined Melee Attack, so ''technically'' you could use them to crack a heavier unit open, but they're probably going to die if you try it. They're generally considered situational at best, unless you're running Kreoss2 as your warcaster. His feat makes them absolutely brutal, and he can bump up their pathetic ARM to a level where the enemy will at least have to do more than look at them funny to get them off the table. He loves these ladies. Thyra also gets use out of Daughters, but refrain from placing too much pressure on them since these girls are extremely fragile. However, a cunning warcaster uses that to her advantage since Daughters get vengeance while in Thyra's battlegroup, which lets you do 3" advance and melee attack if one of your models gets destroyed. Also Thyra's Carnage means that they do not neccessarily need to get their enemy Knocked Down in order to hit them. There is one thing that makes daughters really not worth the time or effort outside pKreoss or Thyra lists, and that is their low MAT 6: In anti-infantry role, an unbuffed Mat 6 is not up to snuff against most one-damage infantry that you might want to send these girls against.
*'''Deliverers:''' Basically the infantry equivalent of the Redeemer light warjack, these guys exist to throw incredibly inaccurate AOE attacks in the enemy's general direction and pray. Reasonably effective, but there are also generally better options, including the Redeemer itself. The only caster that wants to take Deliveres is pKreoss due to his knockdown ability, which in turn makes the deliverers hit most of the time. Well, half of the time. Who came up with the idea to hire drunk Khaldorian gunners into Menoth's Blessed artillery corps?
*'''Deliverer Sunburst Crew:''' A rather cheap artillery unit that's basically just a Deliverer rocket platform. Really, these guys aren't worth using most of the time, since their role is just to eat through infantry, which Menoth already does plenty well. You'll generally be better served by leaving them off the list and just letting your masses of other AOE and Continuous Fire weapons do the work.
*'''Exemplar Bastions:''' Our medium-based infantry. They're badass. Good P+S Blessed magical weapons with Reach and decent DEF and ARM. What makes them special is their Sanguine Bond rule, which allows you to divide damage received between the units in the unit. So if Bastion A takes five wounds, you can choose to give one wound to each Bastion, which means the unit can take 35 wounds before having to off a single model. Slow as all hell, but durable enough to make Plague Marines blush. They're gonna take a while to get where they're going, but once they're there, nobody's movin' 'em. Period. Propably best units that eKreoss can take, beside Errants. Also due to sanguine bond splitting damage, a Exemplar Bastion Sensencal is good pick since you can potentially heal 5 points of damage from your bastions each turn, making them even more of an pain to lodge from objective or zone.
*'''Exemplar Cinerators:''' The second flavour of Bastions. They exchange the halberds for shields for one extra point of armour and swords without anything that makes Bastions good. Instead they've got Flame Burst, which sets enemies within 1" of slain enemies to be set on fire. They also exchange Sanguine Bond for Relentless Advance, which gives them a SPD boost when they take damage. They're not awful, but they're vastly overshadowed by other units. Cool models, though. Generally not advised outside Amon Az-Ra lists, since the slow speed and the lack of reach can be circumvented by Amon's Mobility spell (+2 SPD, making the awful SPD 4 to okay-ish 6, and to awesome 8 shoud the enemy be foolish enough to attack Cinerators)
*'''Exemplar Vengers:''' Generally considered pretty much useless in every respect, in most lists. Expensive, and for a unit that relies so heavily on charging in order to deal damage, they just don't actually deliver - not to mention the lack of Pathfinder and their large bases making terrain absolute hell to navigate. Kreoss3 has some use for them, though. They can get Pathfinder, however, by either getting damaged by enemy attack (not likely, as the vengers want to stay away from the for until their charge) or by having Piper of Ord sing a song to them. The Piper can do that since the Vengers want to use their full mobility only once in the game, during the charge. Kreoss3 tier list makes Vengers UA:U, but you generally only want 1-2 small units of vengers at the most to clear clusters of enemies with ride-by attacks and charges. Thyra is also good caster for Vengers, as she can buff the Inpact attacks with her AoE Carnage buff, and her normally lackluster Feat can be useful to lodge Vengers off melee should they get bogged down.
*'''Exemplar Errants:''' Along with the Devout and the Choir, the Errants are nearly omnipresent in Menite tournament lists, and it's not hard to see why. They are a frankly amazing tarpit unit/general purpose infantry. They don't hit as hard as Knight Exemplars in melee, but they have one more point of ARM, come in a larger unit, and have POW 10 crossbows that ignore spells that buff DEF and ARM. Plus, their Self-Sacrifice makes them amazing at blocking charges against your warjacks.  Cackle in glee as your opponent devotes a huge amount of resources to clear a path, just to have one Errant still blocking his beatstick's way. 
**'''Exemplar Errant Officer & Standard:''' Absolutely mandatory if you're taking the Errants. The officer gives your unit Pathfinder, which is worth the price all on its own, along with Quick Work, which is a nice bonus even if it isn't as game-changing. On top of this, the Standard Bearer prevents enemy spells from targeting them - but not yours, so slap that Defender's Ward on them and enjoy your DEF 14, ARM 18 twelve-man unit that only dies when you want them to. This UA takes the Errants from "good" to "incredible". Errants are good in any Menite Warcaster list.
*'''Flameguard Cleansers:''' Flamethrowers on legs. Not strictly awful, but Menoth has better options for clearing massed infantry.
*'''Knights Exemplar:''' Menoth's premiere elite melee infantry. The Exemplars Errant exist to screen your valuable troops. The Knights Exemplar exist to ''be'' those valuable troops. They're fairly fragile (to start), but will rapidly chew their way through anything that they get into melee with, so stick them behind a screening unit and escort them to the fray. Once they reach melee and start dropping, their Bond of Brotherhood ability kicks in - every time one of them hits the dirt, the rest of them get a cumulative bonus to STR and ARM, so the more of them that have died, the harder the rest are to kill, and the harder they hit. Basically, if they reach melee, they ''will'' put in work. It's getting them there that's tricky.
*'''Holy Zealots:''' Cheap and capable of putting out a lot of damage with their thrown firebombs, the Zealots' main downside is that they lack Fearless and will evaporate in just a round or so if anything gets into melee with them. Their stat line is abysmal, but they can choose to recite one of two prayers during their turn to mitigate this, granting themselves either increased damage (which you'll be doing most of the time) or rendering themselves immune to spells. Their firebombs are short range and can deviate back into their lines, so watch out for that, but despite all of this, the Zealots are actually a fairly solid unit - because, again, they're cheap, and they're capable of putting out a ''lot'' of damage unless your opponent has an answer. [[DISTRACTION_CARNIFEX|Put them on a flank and watch the opposing battle lines crumble while they try to gun the Zealots down before they get within grenade range.]]
**'''Monolith Bearer:''' Want Fearless Zealots that can also become immune to all non-spell damage for a turn? Of course you do. The Monolith Bearer is your man. There's really no reason ''not'' to take him if you're running a unit of Zealots. He makes them a hell of a lot better for just 2 points. 
*'''Idrian Skirmishers:''' You'll almost never see these guys used. They're fairly standard ranged infantry without any frills, which means that they don't really do too much at range and they die instantly in melee against anyone competent.
**'''Idrian Skirmisher Chieftain & Guide:''' This add-on makes the Idrian Skirmishers a reasonably powerful unit, but it's simply not worth the cost. Even a minimum unit of Skirmishers plus the add-on runs 9 points, and the maximum clocks in at a jaw-dropping 13. There are always, ''always'' better options.
*'''Temple Flameguard:''' This is your primary alternative to the Exemplars Errant as your frontline screening unit. The Flameguard are an incredibly well rounded, tough unit that truly shines when combined with their UA. Using Shield Wall, their mini-feat, and Defender's Ward, they can reach an incredible DEF 15 + ARM 23 for one round, which is of debatable practical use but is absolutely hilarious anyway. Their damage output is more on the low-to-average side, although the UA gives them the Fire continuous effect, which boosts their damage potential substantially. All in all, the unit excels as a tarpit, as it can withstand tremendous punishment. Definitely a very solid unit that comes at a very good price. 
**'''Temple Flameguard Officer & Standard:''' Like the Exemplars Errant, there's really no excuse for ''not'' taking the Flameguard's UA. It provides the unit with Ranked Attack, Combined Melee Attack, Continuous Fire, and Terror, which turns them from a respectable damage-soaking unit into a truly monstrous tarpit that will chew up and spit back out whatever the opponent wants to throw into it. It also comes with a mini-feat that allows you to gain +4 ARM for one round, which can turn the course of the game all on its own. Very cost effective, and an absolute must-have.

====Character Units====

*'''Visgoth Juviah Rhoven & Honor Guard:''' Kinda schizophrenic, really.  Rhoven wants to stick back and use his special actions to support your army, but the Exemplars want to charge shit and kill it. Still good if you're up against an army with a lot of Stealth, as Menoth doesn't really have any other way of dealing with it other than throwing templates at it and hoping one stays on target. Furthermore, he can make continuous effects and animi expire and remove Focus and Fury from enemy models. These three abilities makes him a fairly versatile support unit that can cover up some holes in a list.

===Solos===

*'''Allegiant of the Order of the Fist:''' Sort of an assassin equivalent for the Protectorate. Not bad, as such - it just doesn't really work well with any other Menite units, which is a real problem for a faction that's all about synergy.
*'''Exemplar Errant Seneschal:''' Basically a second UA for Exemplars Errant. Like the Officer in the regular UA, he's just a slightly more dangerous Errant. The real reason you'd take him is for Hunter, which he grants to any Errants in play, effectively making cover useless against them. Situational, but useful against armies that like to spend a lot of time camping terrain.
*'''Hierophant:''' Another incredible support unit. This one is intended to buff your warcaster directly. Technically speaking, he has the ability to heal your 'caster (nice, but situational) as well as boost the range of their spells (so long as they aren't channeling through an arc node, which makes this essentially useless for any 'caster that actually cares about slinging spells), but you're taking this guy for Harmonious Exaltation. Basically, the Hierophant is one free focus for your warcaster to spend on spells every turn. Well worth the cost.
*'''Knights Exemplar Seneschal:''' Like the Errant Seneschal, this is basically just an extra Knight Exemplar that is slightly more dangerous than the rest. He'll do some ''serious'' damage if he gets into melee, and is surprisingly durable due to the fact that he can heal (and gains STR and ARM, like regular Knights) when a friendly infantry model dies nearby. The Testament of Menoth in particular loves these guys. 
*'''Paladin of the Order of the Wall:''' Arguably one of the best non character solos in the game. Has a high damage weapon on top of the ability to sacrifice its movement or action to increase its ARM to an incredible 21 for the round. Use them to hunt other solos, clear out light infantry, or just sit on an objective - it's not like anything's gonna kill 'em.
*'''Reclaimer:''' A slow infantry solo that can take soul tokens from any friendly infantry that die nearby, then shove those into friendly 'jacks as bonus focus. Not awful, but the 'casters that most often need the extra focus are the High Reclaimer and Testament of Menoth, who are going to be collecting souls anyway, so this unit is usually left unused.
*'''Vassal Mechanik:''' Menoth's primary 'jack repairman. Not a unit, unlike most equivalents in other armies, which comes with its own set of pros and cons. On the one hand, there's nobody to help him keep your warjacks in working condition. On the other, he's actually got some health boxes, so he's a little less fragile. He's still mostly unused, though, because, if there's one thing that Menoth is spoiled for choice on, it's 'jack support.
*'''Vassal of Menoth:''' The Choir of Menoth is the single best warjack support unit in the game. The Vassal is the second-best. It's a must-have in almost every list with warjacks, and, combined with a Choir, will turn the Protectorate's rustbuckets into absolute monsters. It has the ability to throw a middling-power magic missile, but you'll never use it. The Vassal exists to use Enliven or Ancillary Attack, depending on whether you need defense and mobility or sheer damage output this turn. Enliven allows your 'jacks to move after being hit, ignoring free strikes, which makes them incredibly hard to kill in melee, while Ancillary Attack allows the target 'jack to take a free swing or shot with any weapon it has, ignoring ROF. Stick this guy to a Vanquisher's ass and watch the murder happen.
*'''Wracks:''' Three crucified people for a single point. They're unarmed and immobile. Their only function is to grant an extra focus to your Warcaster upon demand (with a 50/50 chance of exploding in a massive fireball afterwards). They're either an auto-include or something to throw in when you've got points to spare, depending on the warcaster you're using. Both Reznik's love these guys like no tomorrow.
*'''Attendant Priest:''' A unit attachment solo which is added to any Mercenary unit, turning them into a friendly faction unit and allowing them to benefit from some of the Protectorate's buffs. Situational, but it has its place.

====Character Solos====

*'''Covenant of Menoth:''' One of the Protectorate's top-tier support units, the Covenant is another of those models that manages to find its way into a staggering number of tournament lists - and, again, it's easy to see why. It's cheap, it's durable, and it brings incredible utility that you can't get from anything else. It can grant the Continuous Fire ability to a unit, stop all enemy spellcasting within its command range, or render your army outright immune to knockdown and stationary effects. The last one alone is generally considered well worth the cost of admission, with the rest just being gravy. It also makes Butcher3 cry tears of salt.
*'''High Exemplar Gravus:''' Functionally an Exemplar Venger, only not terrible. For starters, he's a Dragoon rather than Cavalry, so he doesn't die immediately if the horse gets shot. The main draw, though, is that he gets soul tokens from any Exemplar units that die near him, which he can then use to boost his attacks (or by extra ones, of course). He hits like a truck, but is of debatable actual use due to his cost - an intimidating 5 points. There are generally better options available for less, but he's not completely irredeemable if you want to field an Exemplar-themed force.
*'''High Paladin Dartan Vilmon:'''  A beefed up Paladin that hits even harder in melee, and brings Reach in to boot. Also brings a new stance for him and his Paladin buddies to use, making them immune to all non-magical melee and ranged damage. This ability makes them even more of pain to get off of any objective that they've set up camp on. Like the regular Paladins, he's an excellent solo, both as a character hunter and as an immovable body to hold an objective - but also like the Paladins, if you want him to do any damage, you need to get him into melee first.
*'''Nicia, Tear of Vengeance:''' Nicia is a true assasin equivalent for the Protectorate. She's extremely squishy, but incredibly effective in hit and run tactics. Her initial attacks with Quick Work and Sprint effectively allow you to charge with a threat range of 12", kill whatever needs to be killed with Weapon Master and the charge boost, get a free shooting attack just 'cause you killed someone and then make a full advance of 7" back to safety. Works very well with Flameguard as they can provide solid cover for her. In general, she seems more effective when she's working with the rest of the formation rather than going by her self on a flank, which is a bit odd for an assassin, but is certainly effective. She's somewhat situational, though, because there are generally better options for 3 points.
*'''Initiate Tristan Durant:''' The Protectorate's Journeyman Warcaster. While not being the best of the lot, he definitely has a place in many Protectorate lists. He was a decent nuke spell in Immolation and an armour buff in Fortify. Usually his only job will be to fuel one of our warjacks with three focus, spending the fourth to upkeep Fortify. He works especially well with a Redeemer, as it's a very focus hungry warjack that can quickly drain your actual Warcaster, which means he has a solid spot in many pKreoss lists. He can also works well with a Templar or, of course, a Reckoner. His main problem is that the more warjacks you give him the larger a target he becomes, as he's very easy to kill. But that goes for almost all of the Journeyman Warcasters. Stick him with a Redeemer, or possibly two, and blast template your enemy into submission.

[[Category: Warmachine Tactics]]