Warmachine: Menoth Battle Box Tactica #2
Part II of how to crush and burn your foe’s with the Menoth battle box! You’ve cracked open the box & are ready to find an opponent and play! Here’s what you can expect from your Warjacks.
Crusader
The Crusader is your basic heavy Warjack. It’s cheap, uncomplicated, and effective. SPD 4, MAT 6, DEF 10, ARM 19, a P+S 18 mace, and P+S 14 open fist with a large damage grid makes it more similar to a Khadoran Juggernaut than a Cygnaran Ironclad. The Crusader is a solid heavy, but it is a focus hog. It will normally require 3 full Focus to get the most out of it; 1 to charge (you’ll need to extra movement), and the other to to purchase additional attacks or to boost your to-hit rolls. Here’s something to keep in mind- assuming you get the charge off on an Ironclad, use your other two focus to buy additional attacks, and hit with all four attacks (needing 7’s) you’ll do an average of 27 or 28 points of damage. That is NOT enough to kill the enemy, so make sure to either send in help or to use shooting and magic to damage it first.
Revenger
The Revenger is Menoth’s main light Warjack Arcnode. The Revenger is an awesome ‘jack. It’s got ARM 19 with it’s shield, has reach on it’s halberd, get’s +2 to charge attack rolls, and has the Repel ability on its shield. This means that whenever an opponent hits the Revenger, after the damage is resolved the opponent is pushed 1″ directly away, meaning that enemies without reach will often end up out of melee and leaving the Revenger free to leave melee in its next turn and Arc more spells.
Repenter
The Repenter is a cool little ‘Jack. It’s got a 8″ flame thrower that causes Fire, and a P+S 13 chain weapon that ignores shield bonuses and shield effects. This means that a Lancer will be using its base ARM 16 instead of the normal 18 and you won’t suffer the Arcnode damage that will affect other Warjacks. That means more damage to the target and a quicker kill. Also keep in mind that the spray attack ignores cover, which is useful even in battlebox games where wreck markers will create quite a bit of cover.
Tactics
As I said in my last article, I feel that Kreoss should stay back in the 2nd wave where he can be better protected. Then he can come forward to use his Feat and allow the Warjacks (and army) to make the kills. The Lamentation and Purification spells will often make your opponent keep his own Warcaster farther back, so it will often be easier to win by destroying all of your opponents’ ‘Jacks than by assassination. The short range of your single gun means you’ll need to get in close. Kreoss’ spells can sub in as a poor man’s long ranged guns, but they’re too Focus expensive and not powerful enough to rely on. Against an opponent with lots of good melee, like Khador, try to use your lights to bait your opponent into bad charges and into spots where you can counter charge with the Crusader or Kreoss himself. The Revenger makes a good candidate for this because of its repulsor shield and because it’s Arcnode often makes it too good a target to pass up.
Just remember, Menoth doesn’t come into its own until you start adding additional units that can buff the rest of the faction. Because of that, Menoth Warjacks tend to be a little weaker at face value than those of other factions. As you expand out and begin adding the Choir, Vassals, and Wracks, you’ll see the performance of your Warjacks increase several-fold.
Expanding your Force
The Choir should probably be your first purchase. You already own three Warjacks, and the Choir will make them much, much better on the battlefield. After that, you have many different themes to choose from. Kreoss works will with the Exemplar units. Flameguard and Zealots don’t boast quite the same stats or abilities, but make up for it with cheaper point costs, and therefore, numbers. Menoth has fewer long ranged attacks than Khador or Cygnar, but the Deliverers and Sunburst artillery can provide multiple AOE’s at 16″. Vilmon and Gravus are both solos who are widely feared and hated by other factions.
If you really like Warjacks, try Amon ad-Razza, who tends to work best with lights. Most of the other Warcasters are pretty balanced, and do do well with several Warjacks since they have the Choir, Vassals, and Wracks to help them. Reznik, Kreoss, Feora, and Amon tend to be better in melee. Severius, The Harbinger, The Testament, Vindictus, and the High Reclaimer work better supporting their army from a distance.
The key with Menoth is to learn how to fully utilize your internal synergies. They are what make the faction work at top potential. That said, it is all too easy to fall into the trap of spending half of your points on supporting units and not having enough troops and Warjacks to win the battle. This faction has a steeper learning curve than say, Khador, and can take time to master. Be patient, and keep with it, and you’ll have your opponents dreading to face you on the table as you wield the unstoppable power of the Creator.
