Vassal of Menoth

I have decided to paint up a few more support pieces to build my prime and epic Severius lists up to 50 points, the first of which was a second Vassal.  Below are a few snaps of the finished Vassal as well as the original, it is painted almost identically to the other one, though I changed the hair and shoulder guard colours to differentiate them a little (latest one is has white shoulder guards).

Vassal left

Vassal front

Vassal right

Vassal rear

I thought I’d add a small tactical section on this solo, mainly on how I play this support piece and why I value it so much.

Tactica Vassal of Menoth:

Overall:  The Vassal has average defensive stats, DEF and ARM 13 and five boxes of damage so it is relatively easy to pick off should it be placed in harms way.  The Vassal has the Iron Sentinel advantage, which grants it +2 ARM and DEF, as well as can not be knocked down, when in B2B with a warjack.  This mitigates its average defensive stats and allows the Vassal to progress up field relatively safely, any focused attempt will however still kill it, but the odd cheeky hand cannon shot will find it difficult.  The obvious threat is blast damage when the low DEF jack is hit and the B2B Vassal caught, again Iron Sentinel plus five damage boxes will help, but the enemy may boost this damage if it gets the chance.  The Vassal has speed 5 and its special actions are both RNG 5”, meaning it can keep up with the jacks it supports.  Its MAT and RAT are irrelevant as it has no usable weapons!

Arcane Bolt:  The Vassal has Magic Ability [7], so will hit DEF 14 on average, to be honest this ability is seldom used, but best to remember it as it could help in a pinch.

Ancillary Attack:  One of the two reasons to take the Vassal.  It grants a warjack an immediate out of activation melee or ranged attack.  It could be used before the jack activates, say to clear an intervening model prior to activating (freeing up a charge lane for example) or an extra melee attack after the jack has pounded an enemy and you need to hit it one more time.  Ranged attacks are also permitted, so a Vanquisher could lay down two 4” AoE’s.  It should be noted that the Vassal makes the warjack’s Ancillary Attack out of activation so it can’t pay to boost attack or damage rolls, nor could it benefit from sacrificing its movement to gain the aiming bonus for example.  It does however benefit from the Hymn of Battle and other spells etc that buff its accuracy and damage.

Enliven:  The second great special action the Vassal grants.  This time the target friendly faction warjack can make a full advance ignoring free strikes the next time it suffers damage.  This ability can be great for re-positioning your jack out of harms way when it would almost certainly be destroyed from a fully loaded enemy jack on the charge.  It can simply move out of the attacking models melee range and thus end the melee.  The extra movement that Enliven grants might allow the jack enough distance to charge on its following turn, or get a new angle of attack for example.  This movement is very powerful in the Hordes and Warmachine game and can catch unwary opponents out.  On the other hand canny opponents who know how the Vassal works will try and counter its effects, it could be as simple as boxing in the Enlivened warjack preventing it disengaging, knocking it down with a headbutt etc (you can’t advance when knocked down) or other cunning tactics – so beware!

Closing thoughts:  I chose to add a second Vassal to my lists as it brings so many options to the table and as my usual opponents try and target the Vassal early; a second can fill in for the loss of the first as well as being able to affect two jacks per turn with special actions.  I think the Vassal has earned such a reputation as a valuable support piece, my friends consider it a moral victory if it dies during the game, regardless of the overall outcome!!!