Nephilim Protector
Nephilim Protector |
Prime This model is available in one Prime Army, Ravens of War. It can also be used in the Unlimited game mode. You can view the other Mk3 models that made it into a Legacy Army at this page. Note that the rest of this page is about the model's Mark III rules. |
From birth, nephilim protectors obey an instinctive imperative to guard Everblight’s warlocks and will dive into harm’s way without hesitation or concern for their own lives. They are also ideal vessels for any grave wounds their warlocks shunt to them, as they are bred to endure these injuries. Ever alert to their surroundings, protectors stand with halberds ready to intercept any approaching threat.
Contents
Basic Info
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Warbeast - All warbeasts share a huge stack of special rules. The short version is they're big, furious, and beat stuff up pretty good. Click here for a newbie-friendly recap, or click here for the full rules.
Abilities
- Eyeless Sight
- Guard Dog - While this model is within 3" of its warlock/warcaster and isn't knocked down or stationary, its warlock/warcaster gains Parry and +2 DEF against melee attack rolls, and models attacking the warcaster/warlock do not gain back strike bonuses.
- Shield Guard - Once per round, when a friendly model is directly hit by a non-spray ranged attack during your opponent's turn while within 3" of this model, you can choose to have this model directly hit instead. This model is automatically hit and suffers all damage and effects. This model cannot use Shield Guard while it is incorporeal, knocked down, or stationary. The Shield Guard special rule can only trigger once per attack roll.
Weapons
- Halberd - 2" reach, P+S 12 melee attack.
Animus
COST | RNG | AOE | POW | DUR | OFF | ||
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Safeguard
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1 | SELF | - | - | Round | No | |
The spellcaster cannot become knocked down or stationary and does not suffer collateral damage. When it is slammed, reduce the slam distance rolled by 3. Safeguard lasts for one round. |
Theme Forces
- Children of the Dragon. Nephilim Protector gains Unyielding in this theme.
- Oracles of Annihilation
- Primal Terrors
- Ravens of War
Thoughts on Nephilim Protector
Nephilim Protector in a nutshell
The Nephilim Protector is a utility beast who shares many similarities with the Cyclops Brute of Skorne or Troll Bouncer of Trollbloods. Though it has a weapon, the Nephilim Protector brings very little in the way of offensive output (though its 2" reach can tie up enemies fairly well). It is the only in-faction Shield Guard, but quite expensive at 8 points when compared to options like Farrow Valkyries or the Ogrun Bokur. The value of the Nephilim Protector comes from the combination of Shield Guard, Guard Dog, and Safeguard - giving your warlock additional protection at range and in melee, preventing pop-and-drop assassination tricks, and allowing them to disengage freely on their next turn. Beyond that it is a transfer target that may fight in melee in the late game.
With that said, the Nephilim Protector is slow and lacks Pathfinder, while needing to stay close to its warlock to make full use of its abilities. This can be problematic when combined with highly-mobile warlocks. The warlocks who most need the Protector's kit are the ones who will be pushing forward aggressively, and those are often the ones that the Protector will have the most trouble keeping up with.
Since it is expensive and not designed to be spammed; and because Guard Dog doesn’t work with the Blight Archon you probably only ever want to own a single Protector that you may include in your army occasionally. If staying power is your #1 priority on a Shield Guard, the Protector can fit this task well.
Combos & Synergies
The Protector can be reliably applied to any list that may want to have a Shield Guard to fend off an unwanted shot. It also has unnaturally high ARM for his weight class, which can be leveraged with several of Legion's warlocks, and some need it more than others.
- Absylonia2 - she is midline caster that need to play forward to trigger Alpha Hunter and keep up with her beasts. Safeguard, Guard Dog and Shield guard can save her from assassination while she can up Protector melee output.
- Fyanna - no knockdown works nicely with her feat, Guard Dog gives her +5 DEF on that turn, and Shield Guard helps protect her from any shots that do make it through her high DEF. Fury allows Protector hit like true Combat Light - P+S 15 is decent for 9 point beast.
- Saeryn1 makes a Protector far harder to kill than its points would suggest thanks to its high ARM (for a light), and offers insanely high DEF in melee. On the flip-side, since her DEF is hard to come around both at range an in melee, enemies will try to do everything to knock her down.
- Thagrosh1 can really brick up with a Protector between Death Shroud, Spiny Growth from a Carnivean, and DEF 16 from Guard Dog. Safeguard can be helpful in preventing a pop-and-drop assassination if Thagrosh is near the front lines.
- Thagrosh2 - Will a warlock on large base be shot? Of course he will. Of all our warlocks, he probably most wants help against shots from quality guns. Like his previous incarnation, Guard Dog and Safeguard can help him play forward with less risk of being assassinated.
- Rhyas1 accompanied by a Protector dug into melee can get miles and miles of work out of Guard Dog, jacking her DEF up to really silly levels. Bear in mind if your opponent can knock her down, it's still basically game over, so Safeguard can be an important tool for keeping her alive.
- Lylyth3 can benefit from a Protector in order to catch magical shots that pierce her Wind Wall. Don't count on him against armies with lots of magical guns though. The Protector also struggles to keep up with Lylyth, a job better suited to a model like The Wastelander.
- Kryssa has very limited defensive tech, save for Set Defence, and putting Ashen Veil on herself. She might want a Protector more than usual.
- Vayl1 is squishy caster that sometimes need to be uncomfortably close to opponent. Guard Dog, Shield Guard, Safeguard in combination with Dark Sentinel can stop assassination run short in tracks. Try to position Protector so that it can block LoS to Vayl with Dark Sentinel move (if assailant have 2" meelee range it's possible on maximum range), while attack part can remove trooper or solo. On the other hand, Protector benefits from Incite, Leash and her Feat. Especially Incite can help him in late game to make up some of his points in meelee. More often than not Protector will be one of the last beasts alive because of pkaying close to caster while being less threatening piece.
- Currently, the Protector is allowed in all the themes. However, you get the most out of it in Children of the Dragon, the dedicated Nephilim theme, where it gets Unyielding.
Drawbacks & Downsides
- Expensive and heavily contested by Minion choices:
- If you only need a Shield Guard in your list, you can get an Ogrun Bokur for half price. Though he is no match in terms of HP, he has the same ARM against frontal attacks due to his Shield.
- The Wastelander has a pseudo shield guard that punishes enemies who can’t hit him all at a 3 point reduction.
- Farrow Valkyries for the same cost can intercept 3 shots a turn and have better melee punch, as well as higher DEF (though one less ARM).
- Not much offensive threat.
- Durable for a light, but can still crumble under pressure.
- Low mobility, no flight or pathfinder.
- If you want to use Guard Dog you might also want Safeguard up on the Protector so the enemy can't cancel it trivially by knocking the beast down first. You can't do it while running but sometimes it's the only way to keep up with a speedy caster.
- Guard Dog doesn’t work on a Blight Archon, Thagrosh0 or the Beast Mistress they'rr Battlegroup controllers not warlocks
Tips & Tricks
- Guard Dog grants a warlock Parry, and works at a range of 3". With a warlock with Flight, if you position the Protector carefully, you can maintain Guard Dog (and Parry from it) while flying over a line of enemy models to reach a key target behind them without taking free strikes. This is especially nice with Abyslonia2 since she can also Reposition back afterwards, again enjoying Parry during the movement.
- Since it will rarely use Fury for anything but running, it will almost always remain available for transferring damage.
- Safeguard won't counter pushes, and the Protector (or your warlock) can still be slammed away if the slam distance is more than 3. Watch for that if you want to keep the beast within shield guard/Guard Dog range.
- Safeguard reduces the distance of all the effects that would slam you (spells, weapon effects, etc), not just power attack slams.
Other
Trivia
Released in Hordes: Metamorphosis (2009)
Other Legion models
Rules Clarifications
Rules Clarification: : Warbeast (Edit) | |
See also the Warbeast page for a recap of the core warbeast rules.
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Rules Clarification : Eyeless Sight (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Shield Guard and/or Shadow Guardian (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Safeguard (Edit)
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