WarmaHordes: Lost Crusade 350

Lost Crusade 350, by Chris

Ah, I love the smell of Menoth’s Fury in the morning.

The Challenge is a wonderful opportunity for me to build and paint up a playable force, to focus my painting efforts and to take a bite out of the pile of unpainted figures I have in my storage box. Being that the bulk of said pile is Protectorate figures, it was awfully convenient for me to play a Menite force for the challenge.

To my mind, the forces of the Protectorate of Menoth can be divided into three categories: Exemplars, Flameguard, and the non-elite. This last category, I generally refer to as the Faithful – those that are willing to fight for what they believe in (or what they’re told they believe in by those charismatic Scrutators), despite lacking the kind of training possessed by the Exemplars and Flameguard.

I love an army that fits together thematically… but I’m not 100% sure which direction the army will go in the 500pt stage. Since the part of me that simply loves certain sculpts is currently in a fist-fight with the part of me that is more concerned about taking models that actually work well together, it may well just end up with an odd melange. For my starting 350, I decided to build a more generic core of ‘essentials’ to help me out whichever direction I went in the end.

 One day, while sitting in Imer checking his emails, Severius gets the hint from Menoth to get off his keister and go out and convert some new believers. Like a good little Grand Scrutator, Severius puts down his steam-powered laptop, hefts his staff and starts to get his poop in one sock to make it happen…

The first model chosen was, of course, Grand Scrutator Severius. I had in mind an image of a pilgrimage out of Imer, my warcaster and his entourage travelling from settlement to settlement, preaching and converting and purifying by flame were required. Being that Severius is destined to become the Heirarch of the Protectorate, it seemed only fitting that he lead, his charismatic side warring with the grumpy-old-man side to draw new believers into the Menite faith.

It certainly didn’t hurt that Severius has 8 focus and a mighty fine arsenal of spells to sling around, including Ashes To Ashes to decimate infantry, Eye Of Menoth to buff his own troops, and tricksy things like Death Sentence and Holy Vigil. His Feat, Divine Might, may be of incredibly reduced functionality against the Hordes factions in the challenge, but it should wreak some havoc amongst Joe’s Cryx at least.

Next, I turned to Warjacks, and the choices were, for me, pretty simple.
Where walketh Severius, there walketh…

… Blessing of Vengeance. Bov, to his friends.

Any Menoth player will tout the Revenger as being one of the top three warjacks available to the Protectorate, primarilly thanks to the arc node. Bov takes all the joy of a Revenger and *BAM* kicks it up a notch, especially when paired with Severius.

Higher MAT? Sure! More powerful Repulsor Shield? Absolutely! Able to attack THEN move? Whee! A defensive strike similar to the Devouts?
Crikey! Extra damage for a channelled spell from Severius? That means POW12 Ashes to Ashes… The Blessing of Vengeance is an awesome model both in terms of sculpt (even if it does swivel on its hips if you don’t double-pin it) and in terms of gameplay.

Of all the generic heavy warjacks available to the Protectorate, the Reckoner is my favourite. It may not be flawless, but I love the look and feel of the Reckoner, and its rules play nicely into a list that needs something to puncture armour or to combo with things that otherwise have difficulty hitting. Recently featured in a No Quarter Guts & Gears article, it wouldn’t surprise me if we see more Reckoners on tables in general.

Packing a 20″ threat range thanks to Assault, the real joy of the Reckoner for me is the Condemner cannon. Anything that can cause an extra 6 damage with a critical hit roll on both warjacks and warbeasts is worth a look, and the DEF debuff on its targets triggers from hits, so there’s even value in dropping a Flare shot on targets with armour too high for the Condemner to pierce. With the Choir chanting and Severius’ Eye of Menoth, an assaulting Reckoner is still operating on effective RAT7, making hitting opposing heavy warjacks and warbeasts almost a foregone conclusion.

That all Warbeasts, in addition to all living enemy infantry, will have an attack penalty when in melee with the Reckoner is just gravy.

Severius smiled and patted Blessing of Vengeance on the head as the warjack bobbed impatiently at his side. Knowing that he could hardly hold tent revival meetings without someone to make coffee and biscuits, someone else to take up an offering, and some backup singers for when he was struck by the urge to do his Paula Abdul tribute, the Grand Scrutator called down to Human Resources and ordered a few interns…

The rest of my 350 pts wasn’t an easy choice; Most starting forces will have their leader, a heavy and either two light warjacks or one light warjack and a unit. In my case, however, I’ve opted for support pieces.

The big question is whether the boosts and extra abilities from the support squad will be worth the loss of a third warjack or a unit of some sort. That said, the plan here is to make a force that can escalate to larger point levels, and there’s no way I’d want to be playing larger games without a Heirophant and a Choir, at least, so may as well squeeze ‘em in right out of the gate

 Everything that makes Severius an excellent spell-slinging warcaster, got a little bit better with the addition of the Heirophant. Severius won’t need LOS to friendly models to target them with spells. Ranged spells gets a 2″ bump, expanding Severius’
effective threat radius without needing an Arc Node. These abilities are static, and then there’s the Harmonious Exaltation and Holy Restoration.

One reduces the cost of a spell, meaning Severius will be able to cast two Ashes to Ashes while still maintaining Eye of Menoth, while the other does wonders to improve the old man’s survivability. When you’re a frail old git like Severius, having your own personal field medic is a good thing. 

While the Heirophant is the quintessential companion for the discerning warcaster, the Choir are the must-have unit of the warjack-loving Menite. Admittedly frail, this little unit of humming acolytes take the otherwise comparatively mediocre warjacks of the Protectorate and charge them with chants until they’re a true force to be reckoned with.

Nothing like watching that Cygnaran Defender leveling its ridiculously-long-ranged cannon at your warjack, only to discover that the hymns of the faithful are providing a ward against shooting with Safe Passage. Haley trying to scramble your Vanquisher? Oops, Shielding Ward means she can’t target it! And of course, once melee is joined, nothing like providing every warjack in range of their chant with +2 to all attack and damage rolls.

Worst comes to worst, let’s not forget that each of those prayer poles is a 2″ Reach Weapon that’ll take out a Stormsmith on a good roll quite readily on a charge, and they can always act as a screen for Severius.

Other than a Choir Warpriest, the Vassal is the ranged warjack’s best friend, and it’s what makes the Reckoner worth taking in smaller battles. Being able to shoot the Condemner twice will do wonders to make up for the lack of a third warjack in this force, while Enliven can either improve the survivability of the ‘jacks, or help them move into position for an assassination strike. Either way, the Vassal’s well worth his cost. If it comes to it, the ability to provide a ranged zap that’ll hurt incorporeal targets is a bloody good thing too.

 Finally, the penultimate point filler (the ultimate being a 2pt choir acolyte, of course). Menite players have no excuse not to be within 5 pts of their point limit in a game, thanks to the Wracks. Not only do they strike fear into the heart of the heretic, but the additional focus they can provide their warcaster can be the difference between a second Ashes To Ashes and sitting there wishing you had a way to get rid of some more infantry. The fact that they make an earth-shattering kaboom when they’re destroyed doesn’t hurt either

Severius surveyed his little team, smiling to himself as the wrack censers swayed like so many doomed wind chimes. There were a lot of heretics out there, and converting them wouldn’t be easy… why, he fully expected that he’d simply have to smite them all for their unbelief… but then, what’s a few smouldering corpses when there are souls at stake?

- Chris