Protectorate of Menoth

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Glory to Menoth.

The Protectorate of Menoth is one of the eponymous Iron Kingdoms and one of the main factions in Warmachine. They serve the role of religious fanatics/terrorists, combining elements of the Catholic Church and Islamic extremists.

History of the Protectorate (and also the Church)

The Menofix

Menoth is the original god of mankind and civilization and the creator god of the human race. However, he's also kind of an asshole, with all kinds of obscure laws that must be followed to the letter to get into the City of Man (the Menite equivalent of heaven). The chruch rule began to falter with the rise of the Twins Morrow and Thamar, two humans who believed any one can rise above their stature to a point of even ascending into Godhood (which they did). But it really didn't didn't start to fall until the Orgoth invaded. Killing priest and burning Temples and yet Menoth did nothing (this may have been because Menoth also supported the Orgoth at least this is hinted at in the books so he stepped back to not take sides or as the Severis puts it to test mankind who had strayed from the True Law, so take your pick). His lessons became to feel hollow, while the Twins had a message of hope. Combine with Thamar's gift of magic allowed Immoren to drive the Orgoth out. Resulting in the Menite church being a shadow of its former self.

However few still remained faithful slowly growing more and more resentful of living under Cygnar's rule (namely its capital was founded by the Twins) they faithful rebelled in 500 AR ending in a treaty. The Menith will still be part of Cygnar but have control of half the capitol (they call Sul and what's east of it is the mostly resource poor desert, but it was Menite Holy Land so they didn't mind.

The other clause was they weren't allowed to have any warjacks or a standing army, they were however allowed a defensive militia (which they uses as a loophole).

However after converting the locals and Re-founding Imer things started to look up. They found oil and rare jewels which they used to bribe Cygnar officials to look the other way, combined with Cygnar internal problems (namely their King was a dick and his younger nicer brother overthrew him) allowed the Protectorate to build an massive army.

Their first goal was fully take Caspia but that didn't work out too well...

Now they're currently fighting Khador over Llael whose locals are now finding the Iron Fist rule of Non-Russians to be much better than the Iron fist (that's on fire) rule of Menoth.

Life in the Protectorate

The nation is strictly ruled by a theocracy. The hierarch (read: Pope) of the church is also the political leader of the nation, although most of the time the day-to-day operation of the nation is done by the Synod of visgoths (read: cardinals).

According to Cygnaran propaganda, life is shit in the Protectorate. This is only partially true. Yes, citizens of the Protectorate live in an extremely-hot desert, they're regularly conscripted to become terrorist fanatic meatshields holy warriors (although most actually volunteer), and they follow a religion that demands total obedience (public flogging is the best thing that can happen to you if you break a crime). However, if you labor for a short portion of the day, follow the commands of the priests, and, of course, you're Menite, you'll do very well, especially as the nation is growing richer and richer.

For Menites outside the Protectorate, things are... not well. Members of the "Old Faith" in Khador are treated fairly well, but Khador isn't exactly an amazing country to live in. The Cygnarans are occasionally quite religionist, throwing Cygnaran Menites into a terrible prison (although they released most of them after the civil war). And yes, they are the Mary Sue good guys of the setting. And the wilderness is all run by the Devourer Worm, who's the mortal enemy of Menoth, so... yeah, that's not really an option. In short, for a devout Menite, the Protectorate is probably the best place to be... plus, if you refuse to live there (for whatever reason), the Synod might send the High Executioner to hunt you down.

Even the church isn't as bad as is sometimes said. Refusing to worship Menoth makes him weaker, which is bad for everyone, as he's the only one that can fight the Devourer Worm... or at least that's what the Church claims. Also, the church of Morrow broke its promise of honoring Menoth aside Morrow, although Morrowans point out that Menoth did nothing during the Orgoth invasion and so he isn't a "real" deity, and that they do worship Menoth alongside Morrow. Then the Scrutator petulantly says they don't do it enough and has them all crucified, because Scrutators argue like that fifth grader who used to punch you whenever you disagreed with him.

Also, with the fight against Cryx ramping up, the Protectorate is pretty much the only nation that can count on their souls being saved from the Cryxian necromancers. The Protectorate's Reclaimers literally channel Menite souls through their bodies to the City of Man on Urcaen. With this process, devout Menites know that they won't be turned into zombies or used to power bonejacks.

The Protectorate & Non-Humans

Suffice it to say that Menoth has a very poor track record with non-humans. Menoth (besides being an asshole) is a very clear god of Humanity, Fuck Yeah!. This is, to be fair, slightly justified, since non-humans used to worship the Devourer Worm, or at least that's what the Church thought (Rightly so when they where the morgoth). Because of this, ogruns, trollkin, and gobbers were killed on sight for much of the Church's early history. The Protectorate has mostly cooled off on this (although plenty of ogruns, trollkin, and gobbers are still killed in armed conflict), but these non-humans are banned from living in the Protectorate.

The Church and the Protectorate as a whole have a much better relationship with the dwarves and elves, although they're still not well-trusted. For instance, the Protectorate will hire dwarf and elf mercenaries (especially elven mage hunters, whose goals line up very well with Menoth's), but they're still fairly unwelcome in the Protectorate proper.

This stance is changing however. The dwarves and elves are one of the few races that are free to worship their own pantheon in the Protectorate. This comes from the fact that they did not spring from Menoth. The Protectorate is seeking to also establish closer ties with Rhuhl and Ios

Canon of the True Law

• There is no god above Menoth.
• There is no labour unendurable in the name of Menoth.
• There is no pain unendurable in the name of Menoth.
• There is no fear unassailable with faith in Menoth.
• There is no object that cannot be given up for Menoth.
• There is no word other than the Word of Menoth.
• There is no end. There is a place for us all at the feet of Menoth.
• There is no third n in Canon. Spelling it otherwise will get yourself tossed up on a Wrack. All glory to Menoth.

Cool things about the Protectorate

• You have the protection of some of the best Paladins in the setting. What's that, Sword Knights? You don't work for an organization whose moral standing is iffy (at best), and therefore don't question your own ethical position? Yeah, I'm sure there'll be plenty of dramatically engaging stories to tell about you special snowflakes.
• While it is hot as balls in the desert, the Priests only have the people work part of the day.
• While other countries' economies and territory are shrinking, ours are growing richer. Thanks to the local Bloodstone Marches deposits, why not go with the diamond standard over gold.
• You literally have your god at your side via the Harbinger and the Avatar. My deity has incarnated as a Decepticon. Your theological argument is invalid.
• You will not be under constant attack by the Skorne, Cryxians, Trollkin, and Legion of Everblight

Things that suck about the Protectorate

• The Scrutators are trying to get rid of said Paladins.
• The Scrutators are total assholes and pissing one off will get you crucified.
• The Priests and Scrutators don't let you have any of the riches. This is doubly insulting when you realize said money is made of clay, and food is often rationed with vouchers.
• Your God is a HUGE asshole who might kill one of your loved ones in order for him/her to serve in his real army. Best not invite a Reclaimer to dinner. He could make things awkward.
• No one likes you.
• You'll be sent to fight Skorne and Cryx forces. The latter is apparently capable of stealing your soul and using it to fuel their killbots. One assumes this means you won't be dwelling in the City of Man if they do this to you. Somehow, "Where is your god now" doesn't summarize the metaphysical dread you should be feeling if they raid you.

Characters

Kreoss' Epic incarnation. One magnificent motherfucker.

• Mikael Kreoss: Kreoss is the warcaster for the Exemplars and the "default" 'caster for the Protectorate, seeing as how his Prime incarnation appears in both the Protectorate starter box and the Warmachine two-player starter box. He is the first Protectorate warcaster to have three different forms (Prime, Epic, and Cavalry Epic), as he is closest to a "main" character for the Protectorate. He originally wanted to be a Paladin of the Order of the Wall, but eventually joined the Exemplars instead. Although he prefers to protect the common man, he does not let his principles get in the way of orders. Of course, there aren't many people that can order him around; as of now, he's among the most powerful individuals in the Protectorate, answerable only to the Hierarch and, to a lesser extent, the Harbinger of Menoth (she's the voice of Menoth, after all). However since they share his views and are bros with Kreoss they don't mind.

• High Paladin Dartan Vilmon- He is one of the top paladins in the Protectorate and the personal protector of the Harbinger. His actions have brought great honor to his order which is now having a resurgence in recruitment, an action not totally supported by the head priests (namely due to said actions he was stopping the late Hierarch for killing thousands of unarmed Protectorate civilians when he went mad with power). Kreoss has said himself that he is one of the best fighters in the Protectorate. Gameplay wise he is arguably the best solo you can get.

• The Harbinger - aka Magic Girl Jesus! Voice of Menoth's good side, the biggest reason for why the Protectorate lunched the Northern Crusade, its because the mainland Cyrx base is there. She's blind and "too holy to touch the ground" so as a result priests have to drag her around by a chain, making her making her a magic girl Jesus balloon. She succeeded in stopping a Cryx plot to siphon souls from an old Orgath soul well at the cost of her life. She got better. Worst fighting stats in the game (she's an untrained 14 year old) but has TEN FOCUS and some pretty good spells and powers to allow Paladin Dartan to NEVER DIE!

• Severius - The Old man. Long time missionary who was able to convert whole towns with nothing but his voice. Famous for being banned for ever entering Khador due to the last time he went there he left with thousands of newly converted. Currently the Hierarch and getting too old for this shit.

• Servath Reznik - The High Executioner of the Protectorate. His job consists mostly of hunting down heretics (Read: Pretty everyone who isn't a Menite) and burning or crucifying them. Or both. Considered one of the most fanatical fanatics in a country full of fanatical fanatics, which is saying a lot. He is also completely loyal to Vindictus and Severius. Kreoss dislikes him because he's too blunt, and likely because of his tendency to wrack people. Reznik the Wrath of Ages, his Epic incarnation, puts him at the reins of a giant, burning war chariot with a bunch of crucified heretics on the flatbed, making him the most metal Warcaster in the game.

• Testament of Menoth - Originally the High Reclaimer until he journeyed into Uncraen (the afterlife for the Iron Kingdoms), where he fought his way to a holy city of Menoth. Their he found the Omegus. After that souls of dead menites helped him come back to the mortal world. Overall this guy is pretty cool and is a good commander, all without saying a single word, for as a reclaimer he is forbidden to talk, so-much-so that they bolted a metal mask to his face. Typically forces that travel with him adapt mainly black attire to reflect the Testament's journey through Uncraen.

• Feora - The first of the two most ambitious warcasters in the Protectorate. She has overall command of the Flameguard which puts her in charge of one of the largest forces of the Protectorate. Extremely ambitious, she is striving to be the next leader of the Protectorate and is forming the Flameguard to respond to her commands alone. Currently she has overall command of the southern garrisons including Sul. Hasn't been very smart with how to become the next leader, she has pissed out the current leaders and even disreaguard her job, namely burned down a temple in an attemped to kill a Cygar warcaster.

• Vice Scutator Vindictus - The second most ambitious warcaster of the Protectorate. While Feora is using her ambition to try to lead the Protectorate, Vindictus wants to bend the Protectorate more in line with converting people to Menoths banner. Where others see heathens he sees potential candidates for conversion.

• High Allegiant Amon Ad-Raza -One of the leading members of the Order of the Fist (Menoth monks/secret police) Amon is one of the Idrian tribesmen. Originally as a youth he tried to keep away from menoth but eventually he overheard a priest giving a sermon and decided to join the church. Overall he has a very dull backstory at least compared to the other Warcasters. In battle he swings around a giant ball and chain while performing martial arts making him a bit weeaboo but pretty awesome regardless.

• Thyra, Flame of Sorrow - Thyra is the crazy suicidal character for the protectorate. She started out normal but when Cygnarian mercs murdered her whole family and her children her Warcaster potential awakened causing her to go slightly crazy. From there she became the leader of a band of zealots who wrecked Cygnar's shit. Eventually a priest tried to put a stop to her but she struck him out of belief that her purpose was divine in origin. So this being the protectorate she was arrested and prepared for execution. Feora seeing her potential saved her and then trained her into the leader of the daughters of the flame.

Warjacks

Protectorate warjacks are defined by being heavily armoured and slow, but being fairly good at hitting things hard. Cygnar forbidding them from making advanced weaponry at the end of the civil war combined with Menoth's ban on magic makes their warjacks generally worse than the other factions, but units such as the Choir of Menoth and Vassal of Menoth serve to buff them up and make them on par or even superior to their heretical counterparts.

Light warjacks

• Dervish - Very agile and running around with two swords they're excellent at clearing infantry. It can also put a dent into heavier stuff if it needs to. Works well together with Amon.
• Devout - A slower but slightly more armoured light warjack designed to work as a bodyguard for warcasters and other weaker units. It can poke things that come too close with its spear.
• Redeemer - Armed with a mace and a rocket launcher. It is like most other Menoth rocket weaponry ridiculously inaccurate, but it has a higher rate of fire so it's all about quantity over quality. Because of that it is pretty good at killing stuff that's normally hard to hit.
• Repenter - Slower and more armoured, the Repenter is armed with a flail and a flamethrower. Thus it's great at clearing hordes of smaller stuff, but the flail allows it to ignore shields and Shield Walls, making it a threat to most units.
• Revenger - One of three arc nodes available to the Protectorate. It also has a halberd and a repulsor shield, that makes it good at both stabbing and defending things.
  • Blessing of Vengeance - Severius' character jack. Mostly the same but with slightly better MAT the ability to attack before moving.
• Vigilant - An heavily armoured light warjack armed with two shields mounted on the forearms. This leaves both hands free, allowing it to make the full range of power attacks available. It's great at protecting squishy stuff from blast weapons.

Heavy warjacks

• Crusader - The first warjack used by the Protectorate. It was designed to be concealed as a labourjack, and because of that doesn't have any permanent weapons attached. It has an open fist and it's signature weapon the Inferno mace. It is cheap enough to throw away but with just a buff or two it can smash much more expensive stuff to scrap. It also has an hilarious amount of both regular and Character warjacks based on it.
• Castigator - The Castigator is based on the Reckoner, but it was actually supposed to be the other way around. A problem with its weapon systems prevented it from being finished in time, and the crew working on it were wracked to the point of death before released and put back to work. The problems were solved almost immediately. It is armed with two flame fists, which are kind of like having flamethrowers for hands. It's great at killing hordes of small stuff, and since the flame fists count as open fists it has access to the full range of power attacks. Hilarity ensues.
• Guardian - The Protectorate's only arc node that's mounted on a heavy 'jack. It has a giant burning spear, making it quite a formidable fighter alongside its Crusader-esque statline. It is a bit expensive though, so if all you want is an arc node you're better off taking the Revenger.
• Indictor - A Guardian armed with a big magical sword and a shield, as well as having some abilities that prevents enemies from casting spells nearby it, as well as being untargetable by spells itself. Released in the latest expansion, Vengeance, so it doesn't have an official model as of yet.
• Reckoner - The first warjack completely built by the Protectorate. It has a fuckhueg bat and a cannon. Its Assault rule and built-in defensive buff makes it very good at close combat, and two or three of them can kill a Colossal in a single round. It does all this and only costs two points more than a Crusader.
• Sanctifier - Also based upon the Reckoner, it generates its own focus from soul tokens of nearby friendly units. It also has an aura that makes nearby enemy models lose incorporeal. It also has a giant Menofix-shaped mace named the Grave Maker for showing heretics the errors of their ways.
• Templar - A Crusader armed with a flail and shield, making it a bit tougher and better at killing more heavily armoured targets. Simple but effective.
• Vanquisher - The Vanquisher is based on the Crusader, but instead armed with a big flail and a cannon. While the flail is a decent weapon (It lacks Reach, but it gains Thresher) the Vanquisher excel as a ranged unit, its Flame belcher cannon making short work of packed infantry and can severely hurt bigger targets too.
• Avatar of Menoth - Literally a walking incarnation of Menoth, it generates its own focus and doesn't have a cortex. It has some nice abilities built in, a big ol' shield and a hard hitting sword that, despite it being tiny on the official model, has reach. It's a bit expensive, but you get what you pay for.

Colossals

• Judicator - When the Protectorate learned that the other factions were building Colossals, they weren't far behind to make their own. The result is a four-storey walking mausoleum with flamethrowers and rocket launchers. Like all Colossals, it's big, expensive and hard-hitting in melee. Even though the Judicator is the pinnacle of Menite weapons technology, the rockets are still hilariously inaccurate. It's really fine though, because each rocket creates a secondary blast away from the first one, resulting in ample amounts of dakka, especially when combined with Epic Fiora's Warjack Bond ability which sets every model hit by the rockets on fire.

Military

As mentioned the Protectorate forces are mostly part of the Church or local town guards.

• The Exemplar: The Exemplar Order is the backbone of the Protectorate forces. The Order is well known for their unbreakable bound of Brotherhood, fighting harder when they see their brothers fall in battle and not questioning the priest's commands. The Orders are.
  • Knights: The main forces fight harder and ignored pain more and more as the squad dies, meaning the last guy is as strong and tough as a heavy warjack.
  • Errant: Scouts armed with anti-magic crossbows. Known for self-sacrifice.
  • Bastions: Some Exemplars feel the need to carry even more weight than the normal heavy armor of the order and so wear Terminator like armor only without the "power" part and train until they can move as if a ton of armor is not even on. They also wear some of the finest pauldrons in the setting.

• Temple Flameguard: Dudes who guard the temples and other holy stuff.
  • Daughters of the Flame: An elite all-female group within the Flameguard. Unlike the normal group, the Daughters must be the Wife/Daughter/Sister of a Flameguard who has died in combat. Basically Ninja nuns.

• Zealots: Just normal townsfolk who answer the call to arms.
  • Delivers: Zealots armed with Rocket Launchers that, while inaccurate, devastate enemies when they hit

The Protectorate gets shit done

The Protectorate is arguably one of the few factions whose goals are getting accomplished. While Cygnar and Khador fought each other and made Cryx stronger, the Protectorate marched its forces and stopped the Cryxian forces from stealing an Orgoth soul well. In order to fight Cryx's mainland base the Protectorate launched an attack on Llael and stole it from Khador (well half). All in all they are starting to get an extremely good track record of victories over Cryx and Cygnar which is getting even more people to join the Protectorate.

That said their luck seems to be running out as they failed to claim Caspia, their main goal since Day 1 (Arguably because this would effectively kill off Cygnar as a faction so you will not ever see this happen ever fluff wise, it could also mean that letting Cygnar fall will empower the Devourer wurm too much so on the Cusp of Victory Menoth takes the leader. Eventually it could be said he will only let Caspia fall when he can convert all of Cygnar in one fell swoop), a civil war is brooding and their zealot mindset is preventing people from wanting to join, and the few that do only do so because of protection from Cryx.

Crunch

On the tabletop, the Protectorate is mostly about synergy, to an even greater extent than the other armies. Thanks to Menoth's sort-of ban on magic, their warjacks are shit; they have the slow speed and inaccuracy of Khadoran 'jacks and the fragility of Cygnaran 'jacks in one mediocre package. However, they can quickly become really, really good when aided by a Choir of Menoth, which make warjacks either bulletproof or murderiffic. They also love fire; although their ranged weaponry is about as accurate as a bottle rocket, it will set everything around it on fire when it lands. They also have access to the most weapon master attacks of any faction. Rolling 4 dice on a charge can really ruin anyones day

Gallery

• 
  Giant robots, rockets and flamethrowers. This is why we worship Menoth.
• 
  It is written in the Canon of the True Law that PROMOTIONS is the best way to serve Menoth.

Links

• Warmachine/Tactics/Protectorate of Menoth
• Battle College page [1]