Amon... I'm not sure I get it, properly

[Schno]

I bought Amon and three Dervishes for a Mangled Metal tournament. Play testing went poorly, so I didn't end up fielding him. And since, he's been hanging out with his dervishes doing push ups or whatever High Allegiants do with their spare time.

So... here's the question:
High Allegiant Amon Ad-Raza +6
^Blood of Martyrs 9
^Dervish 4
^Dervish 4
^Dervish 4
^Repenter 4
^Hierophant 2
Choir of Menoth (Leader and 5 Grunts) 3
Daughters of the Flame (Leader and 5 Grunts) 5
Holy Zealots (Leader and 5 Grunts) 4
Holy Zealot Monolith Bearer 2

I've got just about all of the models in our catalog (barring Vengers and Cinerators). Is the proposed a decent list? Should I drop out a Dervish for a Vigilant?

And most importantly... how does one actually pull off a synergy chain? How do you position your army? Which model hits first? Which model goes for the caster kill? What's the best way to use side step? And where in the world do you put Amon?

[Lanz]

For the list. I'd add a Devout. It's always good to have a Devout with Amon to evade crucial ranged attacks and to receive Spell Barrier. Outside of that, it's still got good threat range and 2 attacks. I also think you have too much infantry, and I'm not sure what the BoM is doing in there. Without side-step, you're probably better off with a more practical heavy, like a Templar(beatback), or Reckoner(versatility and threat range), or a Sanctifier (once it's available).

I think you can ditch the daughters, but keep the zealots, and should add a Reclaimer, since Amon can't really handle focus needs himself, even on his feat.

I think it'd be helpful if you detailed what exactly seemed to be going wrong in the lists, though.

As for Synergy, that's a very complex question to answer. Synergy is literally a whole-turn investment in the cases where it matters. Generally start off with something that will get hits in, and just throw what you can at what is worth attacking, then finish it off with a Dervish(usually) with full focus, which can scrap warjacks and drop casters with reletive ease after a +5 or higher synergy chain and choir buffs.

[Schno]

Ah, right... I forgot that BoM only gets side step with Thyra. So yes, dropped for a Templar with Beatback.

High Allegiant Amon Ad-Raza +6
^Templar 8
^Devout 5
^Dervish 4
^Dervish 4
^Dervish 4
^Repenter 4
^Hierophant 2
Choir of Menoth (Leader and 3 Grunts) 2
Reclaimer 2
Holy Zealots (Leader and 5 Grunts) 4
Holy Zealot Monolith Bearer 2

Or do I drop the Hierophant for another unit of choir or max choir + mechanic? Wracks would be outpaced, I suspect, before they became useful.

[Lanz]

The heirophant would be outpaced too. Amon is speed 8 after Mobility, which you'll usually have going every round. With the Heirophant only moving 5, he'll fall behind rather quickly. A second choir is meta-relevant. I don't think you need 10 choir boys on the table, and not all your 'jacks will even need the buffs at the same time, however you have enough to justify it if you expect you'll lose a lot of them quickly. I generally find the 'jacks are in my opponent's face too quickly for them to dedicate assets to killing choir.

A vassal would be useful. The repenter can't always clear a space large enough to fit a dervish through on its own single spray, but 2 do the job very well.

[Silverstar843]

Wracks are super helpful as is the hierophant. Remember the Wracks have advance deploy and you can position them out a bit where you expect a fight.

[jandrese]

I generally prefer Wracks with Amon over the Hierophant because they're half the price and they work better with his feat.