The Holy hermits of the Protectorate, part 4

Greetings oh faithful ones and many blessings of Menoth upon you!  Unless you are a Thamarite/Morrowan/Dhunian/anyone else then burn heretic!  Today is the last segment of the Protectorate changes from Mk2 to Mk3 and it's taking a look at the various solos the PoM have to offer.  Traditionally the solos have been a pretty strong factor in PoM lists, with some lists deferring units to the solos completely.  I suspect that's changed in the new edition (I could be wrong) but they are still some solid choices.  Let's take a peek!

First things first I am going to include the battle engine, the Vessel of Judgment, here as it is kind of a solo?  So it umm...didn't change at all.  Moving on!

Just kidding!

The Allegiant Monks changed a little bit.  They lost Perfect Balance and gained Parry while also gaining Steady so they will always get their Tough rolls and do not lose that nice DEF.  The Covenant of Menoth changed up a bit with the aura of Screw-KD/Stationary being reduced from their CMD to a mere 5" bubble.  Otherwise no major changes to the big book.  We have a new solo in the form of the Deliverer Arms Master.  It buffs up the Deliverers to being pretty useful where it gives a single model the choice of a single attack/damage re-roll or Arcing Fire.  Also all deliverers in CMD range gain a minor bonus to hit and damage rolls.  With the addition of CRA to the Deliverers this solo helps make them viable in my mind.

Did you know Adele served as a Deliverer of Menoth? Me neither!

E. Bastion Seneschal kept most things with a trade off from Iron Wall to Blessings of Iron which is actually pretty solid.  The ability to keep a marshaled 'jack from being targeted by enemy spells AND ignoring the effects of crippled systems is no joke.  Also healing the Bastions in CMD each turn.  The E. Errant Seneschal dropped Hunter in favor of Unyielding to help the bros stay in combat a bit longer (mind you with a Defensive Ward up, an Errant's ARM with this solo goes up to 20 when engaged).  The Knights E. Seneschal lost Aegis, kept Righteous Fury and Chain:Smite, and Restoration was renamed Inhuman Resolve.

It's the banners that give the ARM bonus...yeah...

High Exemplar Gravus stayed about the same with the addition of Reposition.  Our Journeyman caster Initiate Durant also did not change much either.  Neither did the Wracks, still torture until they explode.  Vassal Mechaniks now automatically remove d3+1 points instead of testing to maybe remove d6.  They lost Iron Sentinel however.  Reclaimers are now Jack Marshals!  I did not expect that change to happen.  They also gained Ashen Veil and can spend soul tokens to do one of the following: give Ashen Veil to another model, give a model Future Sight (boosting after rolling, nice!), or put a 3" cloud effect on himself.  Not bad!

Pyrrhus the Temple Flamguard hero did not change, still pretty nasty.  Nicia the lovely lady many PoM players included in their lists remained mostly untouched except with the addition of having Parry.  She was a nasty solo already and now she became even more useful.  The Vassals of Menoth dropped Ancillary Attack in favor of getting Empower and since my wife plays Retribution (a common ability on those Arcanists), I noticed that the caveat of not having any focus on the model prior to being given one has been removed.  Not a bad support solo, but no longer will we get 2 Vanquisher shots.

The Saving of Infant Pyrrhus who then became a bamf for Menoth!

I kept this group last because it was a big change for me since I do loooooove me some of those Paladins of the Wall.  The actual paladins themselves?  No major changes, they still get that Stone and Mortar going on so where's the major change at?  It's with the big paladin himself, Dartan Vilmon.  He used to have an ability that made paladins immune to all non-magical damage.  Immune.  To put that in perspective I once had a paladin tie up the Legion gargantuan because it didn't have any magical damage.  He would throw me away, but I couldn't be knocked down and a throw was not magical so I would get up and move in and repeat the process. A 2 point solo kept a 19pt Gargantuan tied up the whole game.  Amazing yes, but not really fair to the other guy.  So now we lost that ability and gained Righteous Vengeance and Dartan gained Shield Guard.  I will miss you Impervious Wall.

"What do you mean I am not immune to most damage? :("

Like the units I feel like the solos had some of their ridiculous denial toned down to being closer to being fair across the board.  At the same time the strength their combat prowess have stayed and in some cases improved.  As this is the final PoM article overlooking the changes from Mk2 to Mk3 I have to say I am overall pleased with my faction.  Yes there were some nerfs but we have some buffs and enough changes to bring new life into our lists.  I hope to see some new lists out there instead of the same Harbinger Steamroller list you would see everywhere.  I for one would like to try out some of these new units and see if they are as viable as I hope.  If you've got a list or some ideas you'd like to try out leave a comment below, until then happy gaming!