Warjack Compilation and Quick Reference.

[Alzer]

Alright, at Lanz' mention I decided to take the initiati...ok fine I'm bored at work and put together a thread discussing the function of each of the Protectorate's warjacks in an army. As I'm a very casual player I'm just going to be organizing and throwing in my 2 cents every so often, but I'll do my best to keep the firsts couple posts updated with ideas as the thread grows.

Looking primarily at the basic functionality of a jack (i.e. Crusaders are beatsticks, vanquishers are everything). Also ideas for "most efficient upkeeps to add"/ best synergies* will be added to each.
(* everything is assumed to be using a choir)

On to the jacks!

Castigator: Power Attacker. Anti infantry, Anti light. Focus efficient
-Ignite -Iron Agression -eFeora (cont. fire)

Crusader: Second wave Beatstick. Anti-heavy
-Mobility. -Escort

Dervish: Anti infantry. Anti light. Assassin.
-Ignite, Iron Aggression, Mobility, Synergy

Devout: Bodyguard. Anti light.
-Defender's Ward

Guardian: Beatstick. Anti-heavy. Arc Node.
-Iron Agression -Perdition

Reckoner: Assassin. Anti-heavy. Debuff
-Ancilary Attack (Vassal), Iron Agression, Menoth's Site (Rhoven), Awareness (eSevy)

Redeemer: Light Artillery jack, Anti-infantry. Anti-Heavy. Assassin.
-Bond (eFeora), Flare (Reckoner), Menoth's Wrath (pKreoss)

Repenter: Light gun jack. Anti infantry, Anti-light. Focus efficient. Flanker
-eFeora (cont. fire)

Revenger: Light (heavy) Arc Node. Anti-light. Tank. Flanker. Focus efficient.
-Defender's Ward

Sanctifier: *Heavy beatstick. Focus Efficient
-Holy Zealots/Temple Flameguard (cheap bodies)

Templar: Heavy beatstick. Anti-heavy. Anti-Infantry. Tank.
-Defender's Ward/ Inviable Resolve. -Iron Agression

Vanquisher: Versatile. Anti-infantry. Focus efficient
-Ancillary Attack (Vassal) -eFeora (cont. fire)

Vigilant: Bodyguard. Tank. Power Attacker. Focus efficient
-Defender's Ward

[Alzer]

Avatar of Menoth: Beatstick. Tank. Focus Efficient. Anti-everything forever
-Defender's Ward -Iron Aggression - Enliven

Blessing of Vengance: Arc Node, Anti-light. Movement Shenanigans.
-Affinity (pSeverius) - Defender's ward

Blood of Martys: Anti-Heavy, Assassination, Unexpected Threat Angles
- Thyra (sidestep), Infantry (+2 to ATK/ DMG rolls)

Fire of Salvation: Beatstick. Movement. Anti Heavy
-Infantry

Scourge of Heresy: Beatstick. Anti-heavy, Anti-Colossal.

Colossals________________________________________________

Judicator: Anti Infantry, Anti Colossal, Focus Efficient, Power Attacker

__________________________________________________ _______________________________
Terminology Overview: This is all reasonably self-explanatory, but just to make it clear.
Beatstick: Tough jack with heavy melee damage
Anti- : Most efficient against this particular type of target
-Infantry (massed infantry, single-wound)
-Light (Light jacks/beasts, multiwound medium-based infantry)
-Heavy (Heavy jacks/beasts or REALLY beefy characters)
-Colossal (And Gargantuan too, we're equal opportunity in our heretic-crushing)
Assassin: Particular advantage for taking out Warnouns (generally involving increased ability to hit/threat range/Movement abilities)
Power Attacker: A jack with the full range of options for power attacks by having an open fist (usually two)
Tank: A jack that can sit up front and soak charges while expecting to survive (generally w/ defensive buffs)
Focus Efficient: Can run on 0-1 focus and fulfill it's primary function.
Flanker: A jack that excels at guarding a flank and takes advantage from being on the sidelines and stepping in/ being a distraction.

[Snipafist]

I would also add that Reckoners like Ancilary Attack for applying Flare to multiple targets. I tend to use it more on my Vanquisher(s), but it's a very handy trick. On that note, Flare combines well with a Redeemer to help it directly hit more often, and Redeemers love knockdown (pKreoss). Reckoners also enjoy Rhoven's Menoth's Sight to single out and eliminate annoyances like Tartarus. The Vigilant can be very competently run as a power attack champ that's a hassle to remove, and can also benefit from Defenders Ward to bring it up to DEF14 ARM23. The Dervish and Castigator both love Ignite to up their POW, and Iron Aggression works well on both Reckoner (free assault charges and melee boosts) and Dervishes (free charge, boosted melee hits helps them trigger Side Step on their initial attacks).

[Vedrial]

Since Blood of Martyrs does not have it's down description, I suppose I'll contribute.

Blood of Martyrs: Anti-Heavy, Assassination, Unexpected Threat Angles
- Thyra (obviously, for sidestep), Infantry (for +2 to ATK and DMG rolls)

[Alzer]

Cheers guys. I've updated the posts to reflect new changes.

One thing I'm looking at is there are just so darned many options for buffs on our jacks that it's almost difficult to not say "Works with everything" (I'm of the personal opinion that Revengers are in this category, but I'm crazy)

[Vedrial]

Cheers guys. I've updated the posts to reflect new changes.

One thing I'm looking at is there are just so darned many options for buffs on our jacks that it's almost difficult to not say "Works with everything" (I'm of the personal opinion that Revengers are in this category, but I'm crazy)

I think there's definitely a good amount of truth to that, especially in this faction. When you look at 'jacks such as the Vanquisher or the Reckoner, it's actually a difficult task to find a 'caster that they don't compliment (Amon perhaps being the exception for these two). Granted, they work well with some 'casters more than others, but I think it's impossible to look at the Vanquisher and say "that caster doesn't need focus-efficient infantry clearing."

That speaks more to the excellent nature of many of our warjacks than anything else. It's more-or-less common sense, but one can't but reiterate that Menoth really is the 'jack faction. Between Choir, Vassasl, Reclaimers, and our excellent lineup of varied and specialized 'jacks, combined with a select few 'caster who make them just plain nasty, it is quite simply undeniable.

Oh, and the Avatar, and stuff.

[Snipafist]

While all melee jacks benefit from Iron Aggression, I can't say I'd recommend putting it as an entry under every melee jack (primarily, the Crusader entry has it and I don't see why it's especially good there - critical fire is really poor on the Crusader anyways and most enemy jacks will be hit by MAT8 and that's what the Crusader goes after). For some it really shines because they have on-hit effects or critical effects. The same is true of Menoth's Sight (not Site) on the Vanquisher - sure, it helps, but it's not nearly so useful on a Vanquisher as it is on a Reckoner. It might also help to explain WHY you're recommending certain buffs so this can be a more noob-friendly resource. Similarly, Eye of Menoth is good for everyone, but it's better for others. It would muddy the waters to put it as a buff for every jack, but can help to list it for jacks it particularly helps.

Just to continue with suggestions for additions:

Crusader:
Escort (eFeora) and Mobility (Amon)
All jacks benefit from the improved speed from these casters, but considering that the Crusader's poor threat range (7.5" by default) is his primary downside, it benefits substantially from these spells. Crusader's Call (Harbinger) also helps him here, but to a lesser degree. The Crusader also does well with Harbinger's theme list, as a 5 point Crusader is criminally cheap.

Dervish:
I'd remove "Amon ad Raza" as it's very vague. I'd include the following:
Synergy (Amon ad Raza) because the Dervish gets two melee attacks and is cheap. He can get to interesting positions due to Side Step and apply some mean attacks with the Synergy bonus or just "level it up" if you activate him earlier in the chain.
Mobility (Amon) and Escort (eFeora) because the Dervish can't really take a charge well at all and loves to get the charge himself. These spells add 2 crucial inches to his threat range and Mobility gives him Pathfinder.

Also, Eye of Menoth. Anything that can increase the Dervish's odds of hitting increases his odds of pinballing all over the place, and the boost to damage (up to POW16 with Hymn of Battle) can result in him easily dicing up anything but heavies, which is handy when he manages to bounce into a solo and/or UA.

Guardian:
Iron Aggression (Reznik). With Critical Pitch, anything that helps him insta-boost his attack rolls helps. He also runs well with Reznik because Reznik likes casting Perdition occasionally and an arc node can be handy for cycling Iron Aggression and Ignite.

Reckoner:
Crusader's Call (Harbinger). The Reckoner loves charging at targets just to pop off shots with his Assault cannon, so Crusader's call really helps him there even when he's not charging into combat.

Redeemer:
You mislabeled the Flare ability as coming from the Castigator. It's from the Reckoner.

Also, I'd add Eye of Menoth (pSeverius). Anything with blast damage benefits well from Eye of Menoth, as the +1 to damage rolls can get applied against several different models. On top of that, if you stack buffs and aiming, Eye of Menoth makes him that much more likely to direct hit, which will be POW15. Ouch. To that end, I'd also include Death Sentence (pSeverius), which helps him reroll misses.

Repenter:
Eye of Menoth (pSeverius). This helps him hit more models under his flame template AND makes the flame hurt more. Combine this with Death Sentence (pSeverius), and you're rerolling a RAT8 POW15 spray 8 on targets. Extra crispy.

Revenger:
I'm not sure why you have him listed as an Assassin, unless you're counting arc-node spell assassinations. I'm also unsure why you have Ignite, as he doesn't benefit from it any more than any of the other light jacks do. I would add:

Vision(pSeverius) or bond (eSeverius). With the Revenger's Repel shield, the attacking model is still pushed away, even though the damage roll doesn't happen. This is equally applicable to Blessing of Vengeance, by the way.

Templar:
Inviolable Resolve(eKreoss) is also handy with the Templar, as the primary benefit of Defender's Ward on him is the improved ARM, which Inviolable Resolve also provides. I'd also include Iron Aggression(Reznik), because Beat Back triggers on hits. I know some people enjoy bonding him to eSeverius as well, because it allows him to ignore one damage roll per turn and you can always load him down with four focus and go nuts with Beat Back on your turn.

Vanquisher:
Eye of Menoth (pSeverius) because adding 1 to the damage rolls of the AOE4 likely-double-blapped (thanks, Vassal!) pie plate is great. With Hymn of Battle, you're up to a POW17 direct hit and POW10 blast hits, all with auto-fire. Escort (eFeora) also helps him extend his threat range far enough that he's very unlikely to get engaged before dropping a pie plate or two.

Vigilant:
I would add focus-efficient. Honestly, this guy can usually get by on one focus per turn. RARELY you will need two if you're really worried about hitting something with a crucial power attack. Synergy (Amon) also works well with them - much like Dervishes, they are cheap light jacks with a pair of attacks, which works well with Synergy. If they're starting the chain, they get two pillowfisted attacks that will likely connect at least once, and by the end of the chain, Synergy has likely boosted them up to a pretty decent POW. On a side note if you're feeling a bit goofy, Vigilants play a mean game of "toss the paladin," two-handed throwing paladins in Stone and Mortar stance without having a chance at hurting them and not knocking them down. The same is true of slams against said paladins. I'm not sure it is worth including in the overall guide, but it's fun to do and occasionally quite handy.

Avatar of Menoth:
I'd add Enliven (Vassal of Menoth) specifically. All melee jacks benefit from Enliven, but the Avatar can pull off some downright goofy Gaze of Menoth tricks with Enliven, moonwalking into an unexpected place to mess with your foe's plans. I'd leave Iron Aggression here, though, because it lets the Avatar effortlessly murder everything in the game, no questions asked.

Blessing of Vengeance:
Given the +2 to damage rolls on the first spell he arcs/turn, I would add "assassin," as pSev can launch some mean spells through him. Specifically he also combines well with Ashes to Ashes for this reason. It's a bit more specific than just "pSev everything."

Scourge of Heresy:
Carboard box (in your basement) is a great place to store Scourge of Heresy.

[Alzer]

I find revengers to be reasonably solid for assassination runs against high-def/low-arm casters. The bonus to hit on powerful charge means they almost don't need to boost if they get a charge off, even against pSorcha or the like. Also their medium base and "light jack" status usually mean players view them as less of a threat. "That's just a tough arc-node, it can't hurt my caster alone!"

There are some caster/jack match ups that are just so meant-to-be that listing out all the individual synergies there just seems wasteful.

Also I'm trying to avoid anything that's just great no matter what you add it too. I.e. Eye of Menoth. Granted it is better when more numbers are thrown around.

[PG_WolfpackEE]

Great list. I need to save this info somewhere for future reference.

[Alzer]

I want everyone's opinions, should I go into "this warjack is good with x caster?" or just the buff/ability synergies?

I'd hate to have a block of every warcaster in our army under the Avatar (Ok with the possible exception of Amon and eKreoss) but some jacks just really go well with certain casters (and some jacks just go really well with MOST of them).

[Hansel]

For a new player, this is so, so great! Thank you, and please keep it up!

With the Revenger, what does light (heavy) mean? I know it's a light jack, so...

[Vedrial]

For a new player, this is so, so great! Thank you, and please keep it up!

With the Revenger, what does light (heavy) mean? I know it's a light jack, so...

It's a reference to how the Revenger has, in most cases, the same ARM as one of our heavies due to his shield. Even with him fewer boxes, Repel on his shield means that most enemies typically only get one hit on the Revenger, which, combined with his slightly higher DEF and equivalent ARM as compared to our heavies, means that the Revenger is a pretty durable Arc Node.

[TBT]

I'd like to focus (uhahahah) on the reznik/templar coupling, that is my favourite way of playing, actually

Iron Aggression is the perfect spell for the templar, and the templar is the perfect jack for that spell. That's because, as someone said, beatback triggers on hit.
This terribly increase templar melee range that reaches 12" excluding witch hound, enliven and perdition movement!!

a templar with three (four if bonded i guess) focus and iron aggression can:

charge 4" + 3" = 7"
reach +2" = 9"
initial attack of chain weapon, hit autoboosted, dmg boosted, beatback 1" = 10"
initial attack of shield, hit autoboosted, yes there is also the shield, sometimes helps in clearing the "beatback line"
1st focus, additional chain attack, hit autoboosted 1" = 11"
2st focus, additional chain attack, hit autoboosted 1" = 12"
3st focus, additional chain attack autoboosted at P+s 17 + 2 (choir) on that damn warcaster!!!!!!!

i love this. i swear, i really love this.

[NukaCola]

I'd say Redeemer deserves an Assassin tag... I've done wonders with it!

[Alexemplar]

I'd say Redeemer deserves an Assassin tag... I've done wonders with it!

Agreed, and not just with pKreoss's feat.

pSeverius's Eye of Menoth, a Reckoner flare, choir boosts, and aiming bonus, and 2 focus give you 3x RAT7, POW15/9 AOE3 shots from 16 inches away. (Especially) If the enemy lacks blast damage protection or has protection from spells then the Redeemer is a great substitute for Blessing of Vengence.

[chunky04]

I would add in Crusader's Call alongside Escort and Mobililty.

I would add anti-infantry to Templar, as Beatback fairly reliably allows it to make 5 swings a turn at them when loaded up.

I'd add anti-Heavy to Redeemer, as its RAT7 when aiming against a Reckoner flared target and allows two boostable POW 14's.

I would consider adding a line for Cons of the various jacks. For example, a Reckoner might have Focus Hungry.

[Alzer]

Cheers Chunky

Which jacks do you feel specifically benefit from Crusader's call? I figure Templar, Crusader, Sanctifier and Reckoner would be first up. Mobility and Escort could probably be taken out because ALL of our jacks benefit from them, where Crusader's Call is best on jacks that want the charge.

After having a Bronzeback eat half a unit of Zealots using beatback, I can only imagine how sweet that ability is against infantry with reach.



I suppose I could add in Focus-Hungry, though I'm already pointing out focus-efficient specifically, and all of our jacks like getting a full-load every once-in-a-while. I find the Reckoner to be moderately focus-hungry, but no more so than any other jack when I want to get something done in melee.

[BTNeophyte]

It might be worth pointing out that (IMO) SoH gets a chunk of its colossal killing power from colossals being favorites for enemy upkeeps (and SoH ignoring the defensive ones MUAHAHAHAHA). I might actually buy a plastic kit to put my upgrade kit on depending on how things shift in my meta.

As to the crusader's call question, the ones you listed, the guardian, and pretty much all the character jacks if they were with Harby. Lastly, I think that a bit more detail on how FoS's movement gimmick works, as well as how he synergizes with infantry, especially the importance of not gumming yourself up and making sure you stay in your control area for righteous vengeance if you need the focus. On another note, walking FoS 5 in maintenance and 5 during activation, then sitting by their caster after they think stranglehold has crippled you is priceless.

[chunky04]

Yeah it would definitely be fair to call the movement buffs good for every jack.

The reason the Reckoner in particular is focus hungry is because of the gun. Its so tempting to give it one to make sure you hit or go for the crit, and then so easy to add the second for damage. Then of course, the preferred target looks to be 19" away, I guess we need one for the charge. All on a turn when there's no plan for melee.

Another potential add - Awe + Ashen Veil for Templar and Avatar - cos 14-21 is brutal for Hordes to deal with.

[stupidmonkey]

I think SoH has come into his own with colossals. It was hard to justify paying the points for him, if your opponent knew better than to put 2 jacks with upkeeps side by side. But now there are two jacks on a 5" base with an upkeep on them on 3/4 of the tables in the world.... I say "Get Her".

[stupidmonkey]

I have pulled off some sick FoS tramples with Kreoss 2. Walk up, line enemy up like bowling pins with a jack or caster at the end of the lane, kreoss feats, FoS tramples, Auto hits, xtra attack at the end, Auto hit, still have 2 focus (attacks) left!! that auto hit.

[DaNDeMeNTo]

I think SoH has come into his own with colossals. It was hard to justify paying the points for him, if your opponent knew better than to put 2 jacks with upkeeps side by side. But now there are two jacks on a 5" base with an upkeep on them on 3/4 of the tables in the world.... I say "Get Her".

Well, the fact remains that SoH is still SPD 4 and no reach, ie threats 7,5" prior to speed buffs. Colossals threat at the very least 9". Even IF you can deliver SoH to a colossal (which is not very likely against a skilled opponent) you most likely have to spend a focus to charge. If you also activated the imprint, you have 1 focus left to buy an attack after your initials. You do about 30 boxes to an average colossal. All of the above does not sound very enticing to me.

EDIT: Seems better not to activate the imprint. Then you do ~35 boxes on the colossal. Still, you are far away from one-rounding it. That means you still need to deliver 2 Jacks, which in turn means SoH is probably not a good choice.

Or is my math off here?

[Snipafist]

Well, the fact remains that SoH is still SPD 4 and no reach, ie threats 7,5" prior to speed buffs. Colossals threat at the very least 9". Even IF you can deliver SoH to a colossal (which is not very likely against a skilled opponent) you most likely have to spend a focus to charge. If you also activated the imprint, you have 1 focus left to buy an attack after your initials. You do about 30 boxes to an average colossal. All of the above does not sound very enticing to me.

EDIT: Seems better not to activate the imprint. Then you do ~35 boxes on the colossal. Still, you are far away from one-rounding it. That means you still need to deliver 2 Jacks, which in turn means SoH is probably not a good choice.

Or is my math off here?

No, you're pretty much right. Scourge might be usable with casters with speed buffs, but otherwise he's still just an overhyped Crusader, effectively. He's gone from a grade of F to a C- due to colossals, but that's still not saying much.

[Alzer]

I'll be trying Scourge of Heresy out with Kreoss 3 one of these days and let ya know how I feel about that idea, however this is a list for identifying which of out jacks do what, not to grade their effectiveness or viability. Scourge is notably the only Heavy jack with the "Anti-Colossal" tag however.

Also, took some time to update and add in the Judicator to the thread.