Menoth
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Les Menoth en général
The Protectorate of Menoth are a group of fanatical worshippers of an old fire and brimstone god called, predictably enough, Menoth. The land is called a Protectorate because they're technically a part of Cygnar, but for all intents and purposes are the masters of their own destiny. As a result the warjacks look very similar to the warjacks that Cygnar has. In fact, the two forces have a very different play style While we're on the subject of fire and brimstone all of the Menoth warcasters, two of their units, one of their solos, and one of their warjacks are capable of setting things on fire. At the start of each turn a model takes a POW 12 hit unless the fire goes out. This is a lethal ability, and usually more powerful than a similar ability called corrosion that Cryx can use. Secondly, most of the Menite warcasters can shut down magic used by enemy warcasters. They also have an arsenal of spells that protect and enhance your own troops and warjacks. Finally, there is the theme of "that which kills us really ticks us off." Several of the units in this army either self-destruct taking the enemy with them or grow stronger as other models in your army are removed from play. Many games will be wars of attrition, you want your opponent to kill off your troops, but not so many that you don't have a force to fight with any more. If you want to have an army that consists of a legion of frothing religious fanatics who's first solution to most problems is along the lines of "Burn heretic! BURN!" then I suggest you pick up Menoth.
Bon c'est dit en anglais et c'est bien résumé. Pour faire bref; La force de l'armée du Protectorat c'est sa polyvalence. Elle est, en caratéristiques pures moins efficace que les trois autres factions principales. Mais sa force vient de sa capacité à entrecoiser les améliorations des diffêrents warcasters, solos, Jacks et Unités. Ces améliorations ne sont pas constantes, et peuvent être choisies en fonction des besoins du moment.
Cependant, on doit le reconnaitre, l'effet "fire" est un épouvantail pour votre adversaire. Comme expliqué ci-dessus ce sont des dommages presque automatique à chaque tour. Depuis, l'apparition de Feora en version expérimentée cette touche a la possibilité de ne pas être de force 12 mais 14. Et cette petite diffêrence est plus qu'importante.
Battre les Menoths
Il faut réflêchir, réflêchir, encore réflêchir ou se réfêrer à la page 5 du "Prime".
Warcasters
High Exemplar Kreoss
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Voilà un caster qui est certainement un des premiers à prendre en main. Il est, aux dires de ses adversaires une plaie, un fléau. Il est vrai qu'au début avant le grand tout quand il n'était pas question d'avoir plus que 6 ou 7 réfêrences par faction, un bon usage de kreoss vous assurez une partie à coup sur. Seule mademoiselle, Sorscha pouvait être génante. Pas besoin de vous faire le coup de la description simpliste du môssieur qui avance avec son warjack Redeemer joyeusement fourni en focus. Une fois tout le monde au sol, prenez pour cible le caster adverse et pan. Bon c'est sur aprés sont arrivés les scénarios plus complexe, les tables longues, les unités, bref tout le bonheur. alors que dire qui puisse vous faire encore prendre Kreoss. Son sort qui oblige votre adversaire à multiplier le cout de ses sorts ou le cout de ses entretiens dans sa zone de contrôle. Son boost de +2 sur la déf et l'armure. Ses bonnes stats de combat? En fait Kreoss est un caster assez facile à prendre en main et qui a une efficacité reconnue. On entend ici et là quelques rumeurs depuis la sortie du Prime Remix, dernier ouvrage paru à ce jour. Il semble qu'en effet Kreoss soit le grand bénéficiaire des altérations portées aux diffêrents Warcaster. Sa prise en main en est d'autant plus agréable car ceux qui pouvaient lui donner du fil à retordre sont amoindris.
Aprés ces considérations généralistes il vous faut prendre en compte le fait que Kreoss ne bénéficie pas d'une défense exceptionnelle (14) ni même d'une armure exceptionnelle (15). Aussi, si vous comptez l'utiliser en force de frappe, ne tentez pas le diable face à des daversaires trop résistants, Car le retour de baton peut être terrible |
Grand Scrutator Severius
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Pour 66pts, voilà un warcaster plaisant à jouer. Issu du premier supplément il faisait envie à tout le monde avec une valeur élevée de focus (8). Ceci impliquant donc une Zdc importante. Il a aussi pour lui de ne pouvoir être pris pour cible directe d'un sort adverse. Ceci le rend donc extrêmement compétitif. Cependant, il ne faut pas voir en lui un Caster, prompt à combattre au corps à corps. en effet ses valeurs de défense (14) et armure (14) assez faibles en font une pièce fragile. Cependant, son panel de sorts le rend trés trés polyvalent. Dés le premier tour il y afort à parier que "Eye of Menoth" sera activé. Ce qui donne +1 aux jets d'attaques et de dommages aux figurines Menoth dans sa Zdc. "Holy Vigil" aussi sera qui procure à une figurine/unité un bonus de 4 en défense tant que cette dernière ne bouge pas ou se trouve KO. Que du bon quoi! Pourtant le meilleur est à venir. En effet "Death Sentence" un sort qui pour 5 pts de focus permet de toucher automatiquement la cible du sort. Vous l'aurez compris; avec l'aide d'un arc Node c'est potentiellement une cible à 24" qui peut subir ce sort. Par ailleurs, Severius posséde deux sorts offensifs à dégats directs qui peuvent servir pour nettoyer les troupes adverses. Son Feat est à utiliser dans un bon timing, car il est redoutable. Priver l'adversaire de foucs pendant tout un tour, c'est le priver de sorts, de charge pour ses jacks et tout ce qui s'ensuit. Bien placé, du fait de sa grande Zdc, il peut achever la partie. Pour finir, Séverius peut procurer beaucoup de possibilités autant aux anciens joueurs qu'aux nouveaux. Il peut agir dans des compositions fortes en Jacks car il à une reserve de focus suffisante, mais il peut aussi être soutenu par des troupes. C'est selon l'envie et les objectifs visés. |
The High Reclaimer
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Pour 52pts, ce caster fut longtemps délaissé par les joueurs Menoth car sa faible valeur de focus, occasionant une moindre Zdc, une plus grande difficulté à atteindre des adversaires par des sorts, représentait une difficulté importante. Il a pour autre diffêrence notable de ne pas pouvoir donner d'ordres et de ne pas transmettre son cdt aux troupes alliées dans la dîte zone. Quand on observe attentivement ses capacités, on constate que ce caster n'est pas la pièce centrale de votre groupe mais plutôt un soutien. Il est intéressant de l'intégrer à un groupe format de deux ou trois jacks légers, entourés de troupes. Premiérement il "bénéficiera" des morts dans vos rangs, pour augmenter sa réserve de focus. Deuxièmement il pourra ramener à la vie des troupes "plus ou moins" sacrifiées. troisiémement il pourra sacrifier des troupes pour accroitre la réserve en focus des jacks de son groupe. Et enfin, il pourra permettre à vos troupes d'avancer sous couvert grâce à "burning ashes". Aprés vous l'avez compris ses caractéristiques n'en font pas un "Caster de contact", car il ne posséde ni défense énevée, ni armure conséquente. Pour finir, je réaffirmerai, que c'est un caster de soutien qui se dédie à l'approche de l'adversaire pour laisser faire ses troupes et ses jacks. |
Feora, Priestess of Flame
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Feora est résolument un caster de contact, une exception chez les menoths. Ses caractéristiques lui permettent de se rapprocher au plus près des corps à corps. Ses sorts sont assez variés: soutien de troupes(Ignite), "contre magie" (hex hammer), gene des mouvements (Wall of fire) et le grand classique projectile menoth (Immolation). On en notera spécialement deux : machine de destruction, pour 2 focus elle peut bouger à 8pas et cause 2 touche de force 17 avec 8 en ACC et Blazing Effigy qui cause des touches de Fo14 Boostable 2" autour d'un jack ami. En raison de sa proximité des combats elle sera souvent accompagnée d'un devot pour la proteger des sorts et projectiles. |
Harbringer of Menoth
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Pour 107 pts, l'annonciatrice de Menoth est le Caster du protectorat le mieux fourni en Focus (10 pts). Malgré cette apparence brutale, sa prise en main n'est pas des plus faciles car Harbringer offre de nombreuses possibilités, autant de styles de jeu possibles, le plus dur étant de faire un choix.
Harbringer en fond de cours: Très efficace en fond de table, l'annonciatrice est une véritable plaie si on l'accompagne de quelques solos du protectorat qu'elle relève quasiment à volonté dans sa zone de contrôle (cf. sort Martyre). En effet, tant qu'elle est hors de portée de l'ennemi et n'est pas obligée de conserver du focus pour sa protection, l'annonciatrice est un très bon Caster d'appui pour les solos et les troupes.
Harbringer au contact: Si elle arrive entière au contact, Harbringer est également redoutable. Au corps à corps, peu d'ennemis résistent à un potentiel de 5 attaques boostées (toucher automatique). Sans aller jusque là, il suffit d'une attaque de sa part pour booster celles de toutes ses troupes. On peut aussi rajouter la possibilité de lancer le sort cataclysme, d'autant plus meurtrier qu'il est lancé de prés. Le plus dur pour elle est néanmoins de survivre et Harbinger doit être protégée. Pour ce faire, plusieurs possibilités, un ou deux Dévots, Gorman di Wulfe et son écran de fumée, garder des points de focus en défense, voire tout à la fois...
Harbringer et les jacks: L'annonciatrice n'est pas réellement un Caster à Jacks. Néanmoins un ou deux Dévots lui offrent une protection efficace. Avec 10 pts de focus, Harbringer peut se permettre d'en allouer quelques uns à des jacks, mais ce n'est pas là (à mon avis) que réside sa puissance. Par contre, une association, Harbinger / Avatar en 750 pts est un pur bonheur...
Amon Ad-Raza
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Warcasters Epiques
Kreoss Epic
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Testament of Menoth (Epic)
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Jacks
Redeemer
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Though the Redeemer looks like a waste of points it's not. In particular, if you use a Redeemer with Severius and a Choir of Menoth and shoot without moving it has a +5 to hit and a +3 to damage. This cancels out the -4 hit penalty of the Skyhammer and a single Redeemer can arc off three shots a turn for only two focus. It functions reasonably well with Kreoss, but I'd not use one with the High Reclaimer or Feora. If you want to fire a barrage of inaccurate rockets with those warcasters use Deliverers. With Severius you could take a pair of them and fire off six 15+2d6 damage rockets that are 5+2d6 to hit or fire four rockets that have boosted to hits or damage. |
Revenger
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Armed with a shield that's guaranteed to annoy and an arc node the Revenger is vital to Severius and Kreoss, but not so useful to the High Reclaimer or Feora. Feora and the Reclaimer can make good use of the Revenger, but it's more helpful to those that want to stay out of combat. The Revenger is great because you can charge in with it in combat and attack and then bonk enemies that don't have reach weapons away from it so that it's Arc Node can still be used. The repel effect happens after the Revenger is hit and takes damage.Unless whatever attacked it has reach weapons and got very close they'll only be making a single attack against it. |
Repenter
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The most notable thing about the Repenter is that it's the only warjack in the game that has a weapon that uses the spray template. If you line up the shot right you can take out several models in a unit, or tag a model that's cowering behind a unit of troops or a warjack. The Repenter is a focus hog, but works equally well with any of the four warcasters. It is the Rodney Dangerfield of warjacks. It gets no respect. For it's low RAT and generally unimpressive hitting power you are paying the same number of points as for a Revenger, and a Revenger has got an arc node and two very good weapons. |
Devout
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First, an important point about it's Spell Barrier when playing against warcasters that have powerful area of effect spells that knock down models caught in the area of effect. Just because the protected warcaster can't be targeted by spells does not mean it can't be affectedby spells. If playing against a warcaster that has powerful AOE spells have a Choir use theShielding Ward ability so the Devout can't be targeted by spells either. Have the Devout behind your warcaster so nothing can slip behind your warcaster and avoid the Defensive Strike. There isn't a Menite warcaster yet that won't benefit from one of these in one way or another, but you might not need it for Severius. Severius will be hiding most of the time, and can't be targeted by spells anyway. |
Crusader
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A generic warjack, the Crusader is one of the best that Menoth has. It can dish out almost as much damage as a Khador warjack, more if there's a Choir, but it costs fewer points. Because it has an open fist it has access to the full array of power attacks like grab and throw. It's only real problem is that it's a bit slow. |
Vanquisher
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Like the Crusader the Vanquisher can deal out a lot of damage, but where it really excels is in killing enemy troops. It's flame belcher can kill a lot of lightly armored models in a single hit, and for infantry trying to gang up on it the Blazing Star is pretty good, though Magnus' Mangler exceeds it in melee. It works equally well for all the Warcasters. |
Guardian
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Wow. A heavy warjack with an arc node. This should probably be at the top of the list for Severius and Kreoss, and it's Battle Standard makes it a good option for fielding with the High Reclaimer if you choose not to use Seneschals. Don't fail to activate it's Ward of Retribution every turn. This is a fearsome spell, and being able to have it on this warjack for only one focus a turn is a steal. When you attack with this thing in melee put a focus into the attack whenever attacking "hard" targets like warjacks to improve your chance of getting a Critical Pitch. Throw is not the best power attack, but to be able to use it without deviation is plenty powerful. Feora needs this warjack like a submarine needs a screen door if all you're going to use with her areFlameguard units and warjacks. |
Reckoner
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The Reckoner is unique. It's statistics are a little different from other heavies, it moves a little quicker, and it has an incredible ranged weapon. It's also harder to hit thanks to it's choking veil. It's assault ability, and the Condemner's ability to set up enemy models by lowering their DEF, means that you'll be using this jack in armies that have a mix of ranged and melee units. Feora for example. |
Avatar
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L'Avatar, incarnation de Menoth dans un warjack. Le seul warjack autonome de tout Warmachine (pour le moment). Il est auto-alimenté de 1D3+1 point de focus par tour, donc au minimum 2 points de focus par tour ce qui est largement suffisant pour charger et faire une attaque supplémentaire. Ai-je oublié de vous préciser qu'il possède une ACC impressionante de 7? Oui, ce warjack est le roi du Trample mais aussi la némésis de bien des warjakcs avec son attaque de cout.. euh d'épée à P+F19. Son bouclier le portège fort bien des sorts en lui conférant un bonus de +3DEF quand il est la cible de sorts adverses, agrémenté d'une Protection de Menoth de Kreoss, notre brave Avatar passe à 15 en DEF contre les sorts et 21 en ARM. Je ne vous parle même pas des interactions possibles si un choeur de Menoth le suit... De plus il ne possède pas de cortex et n'est donc pas affecté par certains sorts (n'en déplaisent aux joueurs cygnars...), avantage supplémentaire à cette absence de cortex : l'Avatar ne possède que 4 systèmes (coque, bras doit, bras gauche, mouvement) avec une grille de warjack lourd, le gaillard se révèle être dur à déssouder. Un petit effet "KissCool" tm, sa capacité Regard de Menoth qui lui permet d'empêcher tous les adversaires présents à moins de 8 pouces de lui, de ne pas pouvoir s'éloigner de sa carcasse de plus de 8 pouces (c'est bon, vous suivez?^^), cette capacité coutant un point de focus et surtout utilisable même si l'Avatar est immobilisé ou au tapis. Bref, l'Avatar du haut de ses 147pts reste un investissement sûr quelque soit le format et pour peu que vos recruitez un choeur de Menoth... Note : l'Avatar n'est attribué à aucun Warcaster lors de la constitution de votre phalange, il ne bénéficiera donc pas des sorts ou effets affectant la phalange d'un warcaster (comme Amon Ad-Raza) |
Castigator
Solos
Exemplar Seneschal
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A powerful theme throughout Menoth since the release of Escalation is "whatever kills us makes us stronger." The Seneschal thrives on the death of his allies. Smart opponents will try to make sure that the Seneschal is the last thing that they kill in any turn, so don't get too overconfident of the Restoration ability. Keep him as sheltered as possible, screened among Knights Exemplar, Holy Zealots, or Temple Flameguards. Get him into melee with a warjack and try to get the angle right for a Chain Attack Smite. This solo is ideal for the HighReclaimer, not only because they both benefit from the death of allies, but because the Seneschal patches over the High Reclaimer's inability to command troops. |
Paladin of the Wall
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The Paladin is an oddity. I've never seen anyone get good use out of him. On the one hand you can plant him somewhere and use his Stone and Mortar Stance to make him an immovable object, but he can't initiate attacks or make free strikes when doing so. For games where you need to take and hold objectives he's theoretically useful. On the other hand, he's a combat monster in melee and can move a touch faster than Knights Exemplar. In theory, you can get him into a combat with the enemy, and after one round of being attacked by them he can go into Stone andMortar to carry on the combat, but smart opponents will just ignore him and walk away or knock him down somehow. |
The Wrack
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At first you might take the Wracks for focus batteries to be hidden behind your own lines to power up your warcaster. However, they can mess up your opponent's own advance deploys if you field them forward. They stall up the enemy army, and you can pull focus from them with the intention of making them blow up. The trick is figuring out exactly where to deploy them to most mess up your opponent's plans. Using these models is self-explanatory. Pull focus from them when there are enemy models near them. Otherwise don't tap their focus unless your warcaster really needs the power for an important attack. The best thing about them is they're worth no victory points and are super cheap, so any amount of trouble they cause your opponent works out to a big benefit, but if they don't do anything you're only out fifteen points. |
Unités
Choir of Menoth
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Though you could take three of these for each warcaster you can't stack their effects on a single warjack, so it's not often that you'd take more than two of these units for even the largest games. For the High Reclaimer you should always have one Choir at full size. Not only to enhance his warjacks, but act as "ammo" for his powers. The Choir can also shore up a weak spot that exists with the Devout. It needs to have the Choir's "Shielding Ward" on it to prevent opponents from hitting the Devout with an area of effect spell and hitting it's protected warcaster in the blast. |
Deliverers
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An unintentionally hilarious unit their inaccurate weapons they can be used in one of two ways.With warcasters like Feora and the High Reclaimer you can keep them on the move and blanket an area with blast templates. This won't mean much to warcasters or warjacks, but will turn most troops into bloody chum. The other way to use them is to plant them somewhere and have them not move to gain an aiming bonus and an extra bonus from spells like Severius' Eye of Menoth, or to take advantage of Kreoss' feat to repeatedly blast knocked down models. Don't avoid using them because they blow up from time to time, but do keep them in skirmish formation! |
Sunburst Crew
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This is probably one of the most powerful of the new artillery weapons introduced in Escalation.It's fragile as fine china, but can pack a wallop. It's main purpose is heavy jack hunting, but if you need to fire at other targets so be it. If you do hit a medium or large based target the secondary blasts can range in effect from useless to devastating depending on what sort of army your opponent is using and how the dice favor you. Don't use a Sunburst because you have any hopes pinned on the secondary blasts. Use it because a pair of them costs only 36 points and can put sizable dents into any model with a low DEF. |
Knights Exemplar
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One of the most powerful melee units available to Menoth players. There are two rules clarifications related to them. First, area of effect attacks are considered simultaneous, so their "Bond of Brotherhood" bonus doesn't kick in until after damage is calculated from an AOE or Spray weapon. Second, when they are brought back to life by the High Reclaimer their bonus for the Bond of Brotherhood goes away. Keep them spread out, and get them into melee as quickly as possible. The weapon Master ability stacked on top of the Bond of Brotherhood makes them fearsome. A lone surviving Knight Exemplar can go toe to toe with some warjacks and win. |
Errants Templars
Temple Flameguard
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The Flameguard are similar to the Paladin, but with less extreme restrictions. They can advance under shield wall and if charged or slammed are difficult to hit. With Holy Vigil cast on them the Flameguard are DEF 19 and ARM 18 when receiving a charge and in shield wall formation, but cannot move; the ideal bodyguards for Severius. With Protection of Menoth cast on them they are DEF 17 and ARM 20, and can advance in front of Kreoss. Feora can do all sorts of things for them. Under her leadership they are fearless, and her spell Ignite makes them able to cause a bit more damage and set things on fire with their spears. Because they are a troop that uses combined attacks you're usually better off taking one large units rather than two small units. |
Flameguard Cleansers
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They don't really hit all that well, they blow up when hit from behind, cause fire only on critical hits, and are meek in melee even though they must get close to be able to hurt the enemy with their Purifiers. Why take them? Well for starters you can shoot them in the backs yourself when they're caught up in melee. Secondly when fielded with Feora they'll never flee and compound her ability to set things alight. Mostly, it's for the Incineration ability, which can deep-fry just about anything if you can get the Arms Master and enough Cleansers close enough. Because the effect is a cloud it will also provide you a way of blocking line of sight to the cleansers by troops on the other side. |
Holy Zealots & Monolith
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Religious fanatics armed with napalm hand grenades that as often as not will hit themselves. If you don't take at least two full squads of them with the High Reclaimer you need to have your head examined. Don't forget the Prayers of Menoth, and KEEP THE PRIEST ALIVE!!! If the Priest dies then they'll be running away like little girls. For only 60 points for a full squad of ten there's really no reason to not take them if you've got the points. As far as the Prayers go, most weapons in the game are at least POW 10, so the Prayer of Protection won't do squat without another protective power layered on top. In most cases keep up the Prayer of Warding until you attack with them, and then use the Prayer of Fervor to make the Firebombs hurt even more than they do already. |
Monolith Bearer
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This is one of my favorite models in the whole range. It oozes character, and should be included even if it weren't useful, which it is. Boy howdy is this a useful unit attachment! It reinforces the "killing us just ticks us off" theme of the Menite army. For one round the unit is indestructible, and any time your opponent kills one or more Zealots they'll be DEF 16 and ARM 14 for a round. Even the Monolith Bearer itself is hard to kill, and will get back up after being killed one third of the time. While the Monolith bearer is alive the unit won't flee, and if it is killed the zealots will run AND perform a combat action every turn after. A full size unit of Zealots with a Monolith bearer DOES cost as much or more than any other troops that you can field, but it's much more able to deliver it's POW 16 napalm grenades. |
