Forces of Warmachine Protectorate: Review
The holy warriors of the Protectorate have a new weapon at their disposal. The latest Forces of Warmachine book provides 144 pages of rules, fiction, art, and beautifully painted minis to instruct and inspire any who fight in Menoth’s name. This is really the book I’ve been waiting for as Protectorate was the first Warmachine army I picked up, way back in 2003.
The Protectorate Force book continues with the high level of quality we’ve seen from all of Privateer Press’s MkII releases. Every entry receives a piece of full color art and a dedicated written background piece. The book opens with the continuation of the ongoing story arc that began in legends and has since been expanding throughout the previous 2 force books. It explains Vlad’s capture at the hands of Vice Scrutator Vindictus, and the ongoing machinations of the Cryxians now lurking underground in central Immoren. The background sections on the Protectorate’s military summarize the nation’s deeds as first described in the fiction sections of the MkI books, and also tell of the nation’s early years and how it grew into the military power it is today.
While some of the Protectorate’s Tier Lists offer useful benefits, the majority emphasize background and fluff over strategic superiority. For example, the High Reclaimer’s Tier 1 list makes Reclaimer solos FA U, and you’ll need to take 3 of them to unlock his Tier 2 benefit. Amon Ad-Raza’s Tiers focus almost exclusively on Idrian Skirmishers and Order of the Fist solos. As a lot of Protectorate players have no doubt been expecting, many facets of the army’s vast support structure are unavailable in most of the tier lists. Both versions of Severius have the only tiers with access to the full range of choir, vassals, and Hierophant and Hierarch Severius has the only tier with access to the Covenant. With his Tier 1 reducing the cost of Crusaders and Templars by 1 point the Hierarch’s Northern Crusade force is one of the most attractive tiers available to the Protectorate. But I’ll definitely also have to give Grand Exemplar Kreoss’s Crusaders of Sul list a try. All those Exemplars are going to be a lot of fun and look great on the table, Choir or no Choir.
The book also includes rules for the following unreleased models: the Vigilant light Warjack, Vassal Mechanik Solo, Exemplar Errant Seneschal Solo, and the Exemplar Errant Officer and Standard. The Vigilant is another terrific four point jack option for the Protectorate, with its high armor and the ability to protect nearby friendlies from blasts. The Vassal Mechanik‘s repair ability fills an obvious void that has thus far always existed in the Protectorate’s armies. Finally the two new Exemplar Errant options combine to really bring this often overlooked unit into its own. The Errant Seneschal‘s ability to grant the hunter ability lets the Protectorate’s armies behave in a whole new way. The Exemplar Errant Officer and Standard give the unit Tactics: Pathfinder, allowing them to cover the battlefield in a whole new way. In addition, Tactics: Quick Work, greatly increase the unit’s damage potential allowing them to make a ranged attack if they destroy an enemy model in melee. And if that weren’t enough as long as the standard bearer is in play, models in the unit receive Purity, meaning they cannot be targeted by enemy magic attacks. All for the bargain price of 2 points.
In the gallery section, alongside some beautifully painted minis and some fantastic painting tutorials, this book gives us our first look at the upcoming Protectorate plastic warjacks like the Vigilant seen here.
I find it difficult to see how anyone couldn’t find these new models to be vast improvements over their old counterparts. I for one can’t wait to get my hands on them. Check out our video review here:
~ Hope you enjoyed this preview of the latest Forces of Warmachine book. While a few stores managed to get their hands on it already, for those of you haven’t already spotted it in your LGS the official release date was Friday April 30th. Hope some of these spoilers were still news to some of you!
