Truth & Consequence

There's been a lot of discussion after the advent of Mk. 3 about "faction identity." Everyone came out the other end of the transition wondering what that identity was, if it had been lost, if it had been redefined. Some factions had a fairly major shift; Circle, for example, I think changed quite drastically in a lot of respects (and it largely changed away from what I enjoyed about the faction.) A lot of people insist on making very vague claims about exactly what their factions' identity is, I hear lots of buzzwords floating around about "guerilla warfare" or "tricky" or any number of just general concepts or terms rather than actual, definitive specifications about what makes a given faction what it is. Protectorate, for example, gets called a "denial" faction really often, but... what exactly does that mean? There's very little specific brought up as to exactly how much of that exists, whether it's really faction defining,

It's time for the rest of the Protectorate warjacks! If you haven't seen part 1, it can be found  here. Let's not beat around the bush, it's time to start with our next Warjack. Purifier - C So as of writing this, this guy is pretty new. The thing about Purifiers is... I honestly think they're pretty damn good. The problem is we also have Dervishes. The only reason the grade is as low as it is is the existence of the Dervish, who is in most cases better for less points. The two specific instances where a Purifier will win out vs. a Dervish is when you're fighting shields or shield wall, and when Flame Trail can be used in an interesting way. Amon is the clear winner in my eyes for where to put these guys, but... Dervishes are just so amazing with him it's kind of a hard sell. If you're doing like a 5 Dervish type Amon build (or more, I guess), I could see taking a pair of Purifiers in the place of a couple of them, it gives you the Mobility + Par

The new Active Duty Roster has been spoiled! Check it out on this  recent Privateer Press Insider . This next rotation's roster is High Exemplar Kreoss, Malekus the Burning Truth, Feora the Conquerer, and the Testament of Menoth. This is actually pretty exciting for our next ADR season! Unfortunately the current season has been rather dead in the water, but this new season has some really interesting pairings available that I think can cover a lot of ground. What sort of pairings may be interesting to get that sweet Vanguard benefit? What, at least three playable casters on an ADR? What is this?

On to the hulking masses of metal that brought many players to Warmachine in the first place, Warjacks have been an important part of the Protectorate stable for a long time. In Mk. 2 we ran warjack-centric lists heavily in a world where that was almost never done, and although the ability to do that has opened up across nearly all factions, the Protectorate still boasts a very solid stable of both Warjacks and Warjack support options. Blessed machines level all that lay before them on the battlefield, enemy's shots always firing wide, spells fizzling when they touch the sacred metal... Protectorate delivers our warjacks even against terrible odds. Menoth Brings the Metal My grading rubric as before: A  is a serious powerhouse of the faction. These are the pieces that will appear in most, if not all, lists, and whose effect on the games in which they're played will be massive. B  is made up of very strong, very solid options. These are the core workhorses of the Prote

Protectorate units are a mixed bag of great options, most with quite strong roles, some more niche, and a few... appear to be missing any kind of niche to fit themselves into. Luckily, as with much of the faction, most of them do have a pretty interesting place in some build or another. Today I'm doing a letter grade breakdown of all of the Protectorate's unit options. Burn, baby, burn! My grading rubric as before: A  is a serious powerhouse of the faction. These are the pieces that will appear in most, if not all, lists, and whose effect on the games in which they're played will be massive. B  is made up of very strong, very solid options. These are the core workhorses of the Protectorate, but aren't going to shock anyone with their extreme power. C  is average (this isn't necessarily a bad thing.) These pieces pretty much do what you'd expect at their point cost, maybe fulfill too niche a role but still perform it well, or are more likely to be a