Knight Exemplar Officer (painted)

The Protectorate of Menoth Command Attachment for the Knights Exemplar Unit:

Knight Exemplar Officer

Avatar of Menoth (new sculpt) (painted)

This is my third Avatar. I had an intense dislike of the original model (the pose is awful and the sword is double awful), so I bought a second one and modded it last year. The new sculpt arrived recently (pre-ordered with a birthday gift card), and I spent the last few days painting it and assembling it (in that order).

Group Shot of all three

Purple Protectorate of Menoth - The Colossals

I have been working to repaint my Protectorate of Menoth models from their original "fire truck red!" schema over to a more nuanced purple and copper. I have made a ton of progress since the fall of 2015. I have a bunch of models I need to finish up and I'll continue to update as I complete new ones.

The Colossals

Judicator I

Judicator II

Purple Protectorate of Menoth - The Solos

I have been working to repaint my Protectorate of Menoth models from their original "fire truck red!" schema over to a more nuanced purple and copper. I have made a ton of progress since the fall of 2015. I have a bunch of models I need to finish up and I'll continue to update as I complete new ones.

The Solos

Wracks

High Paladin Dartan Vilmon

Vassals of Menoth

Reclaimer I

Pyrrhus, Flameguard Hero

Paladin of the Order of the Wall I

Paladin of the Order of the Wall II

Vassal Mechanik I

Knights Exemplar Seneschals

Covenant of Menoth

Purple Protectorate of Menoth - The Units

I have been working to repaint my Protectorate of Menoth models from their original "fire truck red!" schema over to a more nuanced purple and copper. I have made a ton of progress since the fall of 2015. I have a bunch of models I need to finish up and I'll continue to update as I complete new ones.

The Units

Holy Zealots + Monolith Bearer

Exemplar Vengers

Temple Flameguard I + Officer and Standard Bearer 

Temple Flameguard II + Officer and Standard Bearer

Knights Exemplar I

Knights Exemplar II

Knights Exemplar III

Idrian Skirmishers + Chieftain and Guide

Exemplar Errants + Officer and Standard Bearer

Daughters of the Flame I

Daughters of the Flame II

Choir of Menoth I

Exemplar Bastions I

Exemplar Bastions II

Warmachine Battle Report: Feora, Protector of the Flame vs. Kreuger the Stormlord

I was able to get a pair of games in with one of my local friends, Kevinbakon, who runs around with great looking Circle models that constantly make me want to buy into Circle. The first match we played was Feora2 vs. Krueger2 and then we swapped to our other lists and played Anson Durst vs. Morvahna1. This is the battle report for the first game.

I won the initiative roll and elected to go first. Kevinbacon selected the side of the table with the forest. The scenario was Recon. Here are the lists:

Krueger the Stormlord

- Druid Wilder

- Megalith

- Ghetorix

- Gorax

- Warpwolf Stalker

Maximus

Gallows Grove

Gallows Grove

Tharn Bloodtrackers (max)

- Nuala the Huntress

Shifting Stones

- Stone Keeper

Objective: Fuel Cache

Feora, Protector of the Flame

- Judicator (bonded)

- Hand of Judgment

- Reckoner

The Covenant of Menoth

Vassal of Menoth

Vassal of Menoth

Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord

Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist

Choir of Menoth (4)

Temple Flameguard (10)

- Temple Flameguard Officer & Standard

Objective: Fuel Cache

TURN 1: PROTECTORATE OF MENOTH

The last few times I have run my Judicators into Circle, I have not been aggressive enough with them. This game I plan on shoving the Judicator straight down his throat. Feora activates, gets Escort up and puts Ignite on the Hand of Judgment. She moves up to the wall. The Judicator runs forward then the TFG advance under Shield Wall. The other warjacks run. Gorman advances and drops a cloud. The Choir shields my jacks from spells. One Vassal Enlivens the Hand, the other runs into base to base with the Judicator. Rhupert advances and puts Dirge of Mists on the TFG. I want to make the math curve as hard as I can in my favor. Hopefully a few of them will live to do something.

TURN 1: CIRCLE ORBOROS

The Bloodtrackers run forward and spread out a bit. Krueger brings up Storm Wall to make my ranged game miserable. Everything else shuffles around and gets into position.

TURN 2: PROTECTORATE OF MENOTH

The one thing I really don't want is both Megalith and Ghetorix getting into the Judicator. I figure it will survive one of them but not both. Therefore I need to jam up the path a bit with the TFG and make him spend some activations clearing a path for the Ghetorix. I would like to have a glory turn from the Hand spraying down the Bloodtrackers, but he has fouled things up by spreading them out.

The Choir starts with Battle. The Judicator advances and starts lobbing rocket shots downrange. It is hard to see from the picture, but I have a line on Krueger, even off the hill (the Stones are stealthed). I roll mostly garbage, but manage to drop a pair of Blast templates onto Krueger, light him on fire and force a couple transfers to the Gorax. I also manage to kill the Stone Keeper with some hot dice. The TFG mini feat and run, trying to jam up the center and the charge lane to the Judicator. The Hand advances and fries a couple Bloodtrackers. Enliven is more important than a couple more dead Bloodtrackers, so that is what the Vassal gives him. The Reckoner sets up in the middle, preparing to be the last piece in the upcoming trade-fest. The Book is pushing the Lawgiver's Creed and Gorman steps over the wall to add some concealment to the Hand and coverage for the group behind him. Rhupert keeps piping the Dirge.

TURN 2: CIRCLE ORBOROS

Kruegar shunts the Fire Damage over to the Gorax again. The Stalker jumps out of the woods and ices a pair of TFG. Megalith has to spend his activation clearing the path for the Ghetorix and also raises Undergrowth. Kevinbakon makes a pair of mistakes this turn. He forgets about Enliven and the Hand walks away after the first Charge. Then he TK's Ghetorix for the charge, but ends up placing him more than 4 inches from his Fuel Cache. So Ghetorix has to spend a Fury to Charge. He does manage to cave in the entire left half of the Judicator, however.

TURN 3: PROTECTORATE OF MENOTH

The Choir Battle the warjacks again. I make a couple mistakes this turn. I should have juggled Ignite. This is the first time I have really used the spell on a warjack … don't ask me, I have been playing for a few years and I always throw it on my infantry. Surprise surprise, POW 22 is a thing. Anyway, the Judicator manages to severely wound the Ghetorix but rolled snakes on one of his good attacks (left arm was out). I spend the rest of my activations on that side trying to do enough the dirt the thing and come up about 4 or 5 boxes short (this includes a free Assault from the Reckoner than manages to land and a CMA from the TFG that I think failed to break armor). Ghetorix gets a bonus to his ARM when engaged. Ignite would have made the difference. Oh well. The Vassal Enlivens the Hand and the Hand charges the Stalker. Like I said, POW 22 is a thing and the Stalker goes down quickly. I spend his last bought attack annihilating a Stone and stopping some serious Teleporting shenanigans. I am prepared to lose the Hand. I am a little annoyed I had to commit the Reckoner. There is a chance he is going to take all of my Heavies off table next turn. Gorman steps up to the disappointed Bloodtrackers and drops a no deviation acid bomb on the three of them. Feora heads central again. The Hand is out of support range, but there is fire on the table now.

TURN 3: CIRCLE ORBOROS

Fire burns Kreuger for a handful of damage. Ghetorix frenzies and hammers the Judicator again. Kevinbakon has learned from previous games against me to block Enliven when he can (he just blanked on it the previous turn). He surrounds the Hand with a Gallows Grove and a Bloodtracker. Another Bloodtracker manages to spike Gorman and put a point in on the Book. The Stones heal the Gorax for a point (restoring his broken aspect from all that fire damage) and Krueger for a few more. The Gorax charges the Hand (for free from the Objective) and hammers it nearly into junk, however, it still had 5 boxes, including a Cortex and a Right arm. Megalith charges the Reckoner and rolls the worst garbage dice I have seen in months. Four attacks later the Reckoner has taken about 6 boxes of damage. Megalith raises Undergrowth again. Maximus charges in and whiffs on a TFG (I think he should have charges the Reckoner, but looking at it later, we didn't think he had the distance without taking a Free Strike). Krueger advances forward into the zone. I think he is setting up for some kind of spell assassination (since he has rough terrain locking down charges).

TURN 4: PROTECTORATE OF MENOTH

Somehow I managed to make it through the turn without losing my heavies. The plan now is to attrition and keep Feora safe. The Choir manage to Battle the Judicator and the Reckoner. I was planning on juggling Ignite this turn, but I forget to activate my Hand before I activate Feora. So Feora feats, allocates a spare focus to the Reckoner to fill it, drops Ignite on the Reckoner and camps a bunch. The Judicator splats Ghetorix and Maximus. The Reckoner advances a touch into Megalith and smashes him into garbage. The Hand misses the Gorax. The Book pushes No Spells again.

TURN 4: CIRCLE ORBOROS

Kevinbakon starts his turn and we start resolving fire. It fails to go out on Krueger. I look over at the Hand and realize he is about four and a half inches from Krueger … suddenly the fire damage roll is a POW 14. I roll an 11 on the dice and Krueger is staring at a POW 25 Fire Damage roll … and the Gorax is full on Fury. Ouch. Ciao Krueger. That will teach you to tempt me with pretty models.

VICTORY FOR MENOTH!!

Thanks for reading.

Hand of Judgment (sealed)

Forgot to glue the banners into place when I took the previous pictures. Here is the finished and sealed model.

Warmachine Battle Report: Anson Durst vs Butcher Unleashed

Another week, and my Khador friend and I are able to get another game in. This time, he pulls out his favorite Butcher Unleashed plus multiple Heavies list. I received and painted my second Judicator in the past week (wooo), so I wanted a chance to see both of them on the table in a non-proxy form.

Here are the lists:

Anson Durst, Rock of the Faith

(Tier 3: DEFENDERS OF THE WALL)

- Judicator

- Judicator

High Paladin Dartan Vilmon

Paladin of the Order of the Wall

Paladin of the Order of the Wall

Vassal of Menoth

Vassal of Menoth

Vassal Mechanik

Choir of Menoth (4)

Temple Flameguard (10)

- Temple Flameguard Officer & Standard

Tier Benefits:

1: Paladin solos gain FA +1 for each unit

2: Free Temple Flameguard Attachment

3: Paladin solos gain Advance Move

Kommander Zoktavir, The Butcher Unleashed

- War Argus

- Juggernaut

- Juggernaut

- Ruin

Iron Fang KOvnik

Ragman

Ogrun Bokur

Koldun Lord

Greylord Ternion

Ironfang Pikemen + Black Dragon UA

Kayazy Eliminators

Widowmakers

We rolled up Destruction as the scenario and set up the table. I won initiative and elected to go first. Khador selected the side with the linear obstruction and the forest. My deployment was similar to the last time, except I spread the Judicators out a little further. The put the IFP on one flank and his battlegroup just off center towards the other flank. The Marksmen took station in the woods and the Koldun Lords set up shop in the backfield.

DEPLOYMENT: KHADOR

DEPLOYMENT: PROTECTORATE OF MENOTH

THE BATTLEFIELD:

We used a linear obstacle, a trench, two hills, and a forest. There was a horizontal zone in the center and we were each using the Fuel Cache objective.

TURN 1: PROTECTORATE OF MENOTH

The Paladins advance moved from the Tier bonus. No allocations, because the Judicators generated the one they needed. The Paladins advanced and stanced with Impervious Wall. Then the TFG ran forward and spread out. I intensely dislike the Widowmaker Marksmen (and anything with Sniper), so I wanted to do what I could to avoid losing 4 models a turn. The Judicator's ran forward, the Vassals advanced and gave each Judicator an Ancillary Attack. None of the deviations went my way. The Choir advanced and Passaged the Judicators because they didn't have anything else interesting to do. The Mechanik ran forward. Durst advanced, cast Deflection, cast Wall of Steel, sacrificed his attack to Rampart Guardian Stance and ended his turn base to base with the purple Judicator.

TURN 1: KHADOR

Butcher allocated a focus to Ruin and one of the Juggernauts. The Koldon lord Power Boostered the other Juggernaut. The Kovnik Shield Marched the IFP. The IFP advanced under Shield Wall along a straight line towards the purple Judicator. The Heavy Warjacks ran forward, then the Greylords put clouds around them. After that the Butcher energized everything into a cleaner wall of clouds and advanced. The Marksmen moved up and snipered out two TFG. The Kayazy ran down the flank.

TURN 2: PROTECTORATE OF MENOTH

The TFG attempt to command check the Marksmen by running. They also minifeat and spread out to screen. My goal this turn is to prevent a large alpha and hold my feat until Turn 3. The Paladins advance and stance again, Vilmon parks it in a trench with a double stance. The Choir Battle the Judicators. The Kayazy are getting closer and the Choir are starting to sweat. The white Judicator advances and shoots. Deviations go all over. One settles on Ragman, it gets boosted, and Ragman dies. Two Marksmen are killed, but the rest pass their command check. The purple Judicator advances and shoots. That one kills a TFG and three IFP. Unfortunately, that TFG was supposed to be the stumbling block for the IFP. Now there is a lane for them to get through without having to have something else spend an activation freeing them up. Durst advances and casts Deflection again. It isn't the most useful spell right now, but I am feeling safe enough to spend the focus. I am comfortable enough with the board state that I can hold my feat. Both Vassals use Ancillary Attack but absolutely nothing interesting happens.

TURN 2: KHADOR

(no picture)

The Kovnik Shield Marches again and the IFP trickle in with a Shield Wall advance and Iron Zeal. They scalpel out a number of TFG, opening up the front lines a bit. Ruin charges the Objective and destroys it. The Kayazy engage the Paladin and clutter up the lane for the Judicator to get access to Ruin. Then the Butcher energizes and the Juggernaut and Ruin effectively swap places. Now Ruin is tucked away and the only thing that can get to him is a Paladin, however the Juggernaut is exposed. The Marksmen attempt to free themselves from the TFG but can't get it done. More clouds go down from the Koldun Lords.

SCORE: PROTECTORATE 0, KHADOR 1

TURN 3: PROTECTORATE OF MENOTH

Durst hands out four focus, two to each Warjack. He upkeeps Wall of Steel and camps one. This is going to be feat turn. The Choir battle the Judicators. I try to extract the Paladin by having a Vassal Ancillary Attack the White Judicator who attempts to spray down the Kayazy. He fails to hit, but manages to fry the TFG holding down the Widowmakers. Off to a great start. The Paladin decides to risk it, and charges Ruin. The Kayazy free strike kills him. The other Paladin sacrifices his movement to Impervious Wall and attempts to kill an IFP. He fails to break armor (mistake: I should have waited to see if the Judicator could use extra attacks to free the target from Shield Wall before activating the Paladin). The White Judicator charges the Juggernaut. He opens up with two massive hits, but then his dice cool off a bit and it takes all four attacks to remove the Khador Warjack from the table. The TFG light two IFP on Fire. Then the other Judicator charges the enemy Objective and takes it off the table in one hit. He spends his other focus smashing IFP. Durst advances into the back of the Judicator, gains Cornerstone, and feats. The Mechanik is a fit of idiocy, decides he should, on feat turn, run halfway between each Judicator and ends his activation hanging in the breeze. The Vassal advances towards the purple Judicator, doesn't quite make base contact, and Ancillaries the warjack. The Judicator should have sprayed down the IFP and lit them all on fire … however … for some reason I cannot identify, I choose to shoot a meaningless rocket, meaninglessly off into the distance. Vilmon advances into the white Judicator and sacrifices his attack to gain Impervious Wall.

SCORE: PROTECTORATE 1, KHADOR 1

TURN 3: KHADOR

The Kayazy dive into the back ranks of the Protectorate support staff. The Mechanik dies. The Vassal is just out of reach. The Widowmakers advance and plink a Choir Member. Butcher casts Energizer to move some things around, and get an Argus forward far enough to advance on the Judicator. Ruin comes in with a charge and hammers the colossal for a pile of boxes even through feat. Several TFG die to load Ruin up with souls, and he swings and swings into the Judicator. After all the attacks, about half of one side is caved in. The IFP murder the TFG bannerman and fail to break armor on the Judicator. One IFP winds his way past the Paladin on the flank and tries to kill the Vasal, but misses. Clouds go up and Khador passes turn.

SCORE: PROTECTORATE 1, KHADOR 1

A Closer Look at the Zone at the end of Turn 3:

The zone contains Ruin and four IFP. It should be relatively straight-forward to clear the zone, as long as my dice on Ruin are average or better.

TURN 4: PROTECTORATE OF MENOTH

I have a couple issues. One is that I would like to score 2 points this turn by dominating the zone. The danger there is the risk of giving Butcher an opening pre-feat. If I place Durst at the wrong spot, the Juggernaut and Butcher and remaining support could suddenly shift to the purple Judicator, wreck it, feat, and smash Durst down. But I fully expect to lose at least one of my Judicators next turn. Even then, effectively trading a Judicator for Ruin, a Juggernaut, and I suppose Ragman means I made my points on the model. Second major issue is something sneaky from the Kayazy. Third thing is the Kovnik. My opponent has a lot of small tools littered about the battlefield that could present a serious danger to Durst if left unchecked. I decide to unleashed the second Paladin and have him occupy the Kovnik. Durst is going to load up the Judicators again and attempt to screen himself from the Kayazy with a cloud. This means settling for only one control point, unfortunately. Not ideal, but safe. A little voice in the back of my head is trying to remind me that "safe" against the Butcher is an ephemeral state. The Choir Battle the warjacks. The TFG moves deeper in to the enemy ranks and spikes an IFP. The white Judicator sidles away from the Argus (who scratches the untarnished side for two boxes), and smashes Ruin into junk. The Vassal on the purple Judicator ancillary attacks it and a spray takes two more IFP out of the zone. Then the Judicator advances and pastes the remaining IFP in the zone. Vilmon goes off leash, at charges a Widowmaker in order to buy the Choir at least one more round of life. The other Vassal misses an Arcane Bolt at the remaining Marksman. The remaining Paladin charges the Kovnik but rolls complete garbage on four dice and fails to kill. Durst slides up near the IFP who was harassing the Vassal, explodes him and creates a cloud that should deter the Kayazy from charging. The zone is clear, but it is only controlled for one point.

SCORE: PROTECTORATE 2, KHADOR 1

TURN 4: KHADOR

(no picture)

At this point, I again forget to take a picture. This appears to happen the most when I am excited to take my next turn. Oh well. My opponent commits everything except the Butcher into destroying the white Judicator. The remaining Widowmaker advances and shoots the TFG Officer. He spikes the damage roll and takes the model off the table. The assault on the Judicator is open, but with all the wreck markers in the way, it takes an energizer to adjust the angle of the Juggernaut. This forces his warcaster unit to make a charge/run, forcing the Butcher to charge off through the woods. He had to charge because he cast a spell. Butcher feats to stay safe in case the Juggernaut can't get it done and heads off towards the remaining Marksmen (A small mistake we probably made at this point in that I am not sure the Butcher could see his charge target). To make matters worse, we realize at the start of my next turn that Butcher is out of the killbox. Well, if he had charged towards the zone, a full loaded Judicator would be there to hug him. Between the Argus attacks, The Juggernaut, the Bokus, and the last remaining IFP, the Judicator gets scrapped. One of the Argus charged Vilmon, but missed. The Kayazy charge and kill a Choir. One of them runs to stay in formation and to face back upfield looking for a new target. Damn. I was certain he was coming for my caster. I feel like I really wasted an opportunity to score an extra point now. Then again ... Butcher. Oh, the Kovnik absolutely one shots the Paladin, so I still have that threat off the starboard bow.

Unfortunately for Khador, by killboxing himself, the score has now shifted dramatically in my favor.

SCORE: PROTECTORATE 4, KHADOR 1

TURN 5: PROTECTORATE OF MENOTH

I kept my Choir alive which means I can fully load a Hymn of Battled Judicator and complete the last trade. Because I think maybe I might live to meet up with my Judicator again, I upkeep Wall of Steel. The Choir battle the Judicator and the warjack advances up behind the Juggernaut, also trying to close off any weird charge angles towards my caster. Another pile of attacks and the Juggernaut is wrecked. The Vassal ancillary attacks the Judicator, and the spray kills two Greylords hanging out in the back of the zone. Vilmon walks around the War Argus and swings at Butcher but fails to do any damage. However, it is one more thing for my opponent to have to deal with. The other Vassal attempts to Arcane Bolt a Kayazy but misses. Durst charges the Kovnik and puts him into the ground. Hilariously, this means he is facing away from everyone, because I wanted to be toeing the hill for the defense and I had to avoid the killbox. I should have ditched the hill and kept my front arc towards the fight.

SCORE: PROTECTORATE 4, KHADOR 1

TURN 5: KHADOR

(no picture)

Surprise, surprise, I forget to take a picture again at the end of my opponent's turn. He is trying to figure out how to get Butcher onto the Judicator, but all of the math is coming up about a half inch short. He is in a forest. The straightest line to the Judicator is through the forest edge, meaning a three inch Energizer would give him one and a half inches. He is pathfinder on the charge because of Relentless Charge, which means his maximum threat range is ten inches. The Judicator is twelve inches away. If he Energizes out of the forest on the best angle, he is still going to come up about eleven inches away from the Judicator. It is frustrating, but he can't commit the Butcher to the zone and a failed charge. The first thing that happens is the Kayazy charge Vilmon and put him down. Then the IFP gets out of the way, then the Boker charges the Judicator and hammers him for ten boxes. The warcaster unit activates, Butcher charges a Kayazy and the Argus charge the Judicator. They combo strike for tons of damage, leaving the colossal on about a third of its boxes. A mistake we made at this point is that the Argus were way outside of command, Butcher would have had to commit to the zone to keep them in. The Argus attacks take out the left arm of the Judicator and the Reliquary. Khador passes turn.

SCORE: PROTECTORATE 4, KHADOR 1

TURN 5: PROTECTORATE OF MENOTH

Durst loads up the Judicator, the Choir battle (one swings at the Bokur but rolls snake-eyes). The Judicator splats an Argus with his right arm. Boosts to get to two dice and splats the other Argus with his left arm. I couldn't adjust his facing without risking a free strike from the remaining IFP. Actually, looking back on it, the smarter play would have been to advance Durst to the IFP, turn him into a cloud, THEN adjust the facing of the Warjack to put his good arm in reach of the Bokur and other Argus. As it turned out I had to spend the rest of my focus buying and boosting to hit. However, three attacks, three enemies, three splats and the zone is clear. After the fact, my opponent realized that he should have flooded the zone with the rest of his models. It was pretty late at this point, and we were both getting tired. All that aside, it was an awesome game and a ton of fun to play.

SCORE: PROTECTORATE 5, KHADOR 1

Victory for Menoth!!

Thanks for reading!