Menoth is the ancient god of mankind but, in the centuries since the Orgoth occupation, worship of Menoth has declined. Several decades ago the Visgoth Sulon called all remaining Menites to migrate to Caspia, the capital city of Cygnar. There the Menites took over the eastern half of the city, started a riot that exploded into a civil war, and the conflict only ended when they were granted lands to live in and self-govern; the eastern shores of the Gulf of Cygnar. These lands became the Protectorate of Menoth, and although self-governed were under the oversight of the Cygnaran crown.

The crown thought they were giving the Menites a valueless desert, but it proved to be rich in both oil and jewels. Over the decades the Protectorate used these riches to trade with Cygnar's rivals, secretly expanding their military might. Now the devout and devoted populous of the Protectorate has marched to war, to return humanity to its true allegiance to the god Menoth. Too many centuries of adherence to heresies has lead to the current sad state of affairs, and only the burning, undiluted flame of the True Law can preserve mankind and restore the proper course of civilisation. Blessed by Menoth's divine mandate and empowered by his holy fire, the nation marches to a war not of conquest but of redemption; one not fought for the aggrandisement of the few, but for the salvation of all. The humans of Western Immoren will remember and embrace their true master, or they will burn.

For more backstory, refer to Lore - Protectorate of Menoth

Protectorate for Beginners

Aesthetic

Reclaimer Gatekeeper

Protectorate is heavily inspired by the historical Crusades so much that they look a bit out of place in the steampunk trench warfare of the Iron Kingdoms, but it somehow works. They are the least technologically advanced of the major Kingdoms. Their armor is ornate, angular and covered in religious iconography. The priests and Exemplars all wear masks giving them a sinister look.

Playstyle

Protectorate is a slower faction with a weak ranged game and devastating melee prowess. They have more weapon master units than any other faction, and quite a few have Blessed weapons that ignore enemy buffs. Their warjacks are more on par with Mercenaries than Khador or Cygnar having lower MAT and RAT scores.

Protectorate won't close as quickly as other armies, but it is adept at stacking buffs and preventing debuffs such that it can take a punch and still crush the opponent with what's left. It also has a lot of defensive tricks to prevent losing valuable pieces on the way in. It is one of the more defensive armies in the game and it is common to face layer upon layer of defensive rules protecting the army that are often difficult to unravel.

Finally, the Protectorate has a very strong affinity for fire-based attacks, having more than any other faction. There are lots of flamethrowers and a fair number of models are immune to fire.

Starter Sets

Starter Set

Malekus, The Burning Truth

Mk3 Battlegroup Set

Contents: Malekus the Burning Truth warcaster, Repenter light warjack, Revenger light warjack, and a Castigator heavy warjack. Plus a bunch of peripheral stuff (see picture).

It is a good way to meet the defining traits of Protectorate; fire. Malekus loves it. He epitomises many of the flavours of the Protectorate: fire, denial and synergy. He can get more work done from his battlegroup with Open Fire, and can buff attacks from warriors or warjacks using Ignite (once you expand past the starter).

Theme Force Starter - Exemplar Interdiction

Contents: A 5-man unit of Exemplar Cinerators plus their command attachment, a 6-man unit of Knights Exemplar plus their command attachment, and an Exemplar Warder solo.

This one is designed to be an add-on to one of the other starter sets, rather than be one all by itself - you'll note it doesn't include a warcaster or any warjacks. It is roughly 35 points.

Other sets are out of production.

Other good early purchases

Vessel of Judgment

All new players should begin by choosing whichever caster they like best and building around them by choosing a theme force and battlegroup that plays to their strengths.

Warcasters

In addition to Malekus from the starter set, the best caster for a beginner to consider are:

High Allegiant Amon Ad-Raza - A caster who loves to run lots of warjacks. Through his Synergy spell he can make them hit harder and more accurately in combat getting better and better as each warjack activates, he also makes them move faster and has a very fast style of play that hits hard.
High Exemplar Kreoss - A caster who was the main battlebox caster in Mk 2. His feat to Knockdown enemies is very powerful, and with a good amount of focus he can spend it on a good size battlegroup, or using his very strong anti-magic spells to limit what the enemy caster can do.
Grand Scrutator Severius - An all-round support caster who can help his army, in many ways and make it fight better. He one of the most vulnerable of the Protectorate casters, and is unlikely to be picking a fight with the enemy caster, but his high amount of focus means he can take plenty of warjacks if needed and control them safely from the back.

Warjacks

The Protectorate warjacks are not particularly advanced, tough, or fast; but they tend to be inexpensive, have good armor, and hit very hard - even more so when granted a boost from Hymn of Battle from the Choir of Menoth. None of the warjacks stand out as being especially preferred for beginners, though the character warjacks are all worth considering investing in as your army grows. The 'jacks you take depends on your warcaster. For example, Malekus likes fire, so the Hand of Judgment, Vanquishers and Repenters work well with his abilities. Severius1 also likes to take his favored character 'jack: Blessing of Vengeance as Severius1 does like to take an arcnode, often a Revenger if the Blessing of Vengeance is not available.

But good warjacks for a beginner get familiar with are: The Crusader - a solid and very cheap heavy warjack with no fancy extras, which Amon can make even better with Synergy and a speed increase; the Castigator - is also cheap and with two open fists useful for making throws and can set nearby infantry alight. Even the star warjack of Mk2: the Reckoner; while not quite as amazing as it was before, still is a sturdy heavy that can hit hard, shoot hard, and debuff the enemy. The Templar is a good dark horse to consider as it's Shield Guard ability to protect key models or the caster, and the beatback on its weapon can generate opportunities or ways to score in scenarios that opponents haven't considered. For light warjacks, the Repenter is a solid utility light with a decent spray and chain attack that makes enemy shield walls tremble, the Vigilant is literally a mobile roadblock that your caster can lurk behind and be harder to hit by enemy spells or gunfire, the Dervish is fast accurate and can move into good positions with his Side Step, and not to forget the Devout a shield guard for when you don't want or can't afford a Templar, which also helps keep your caster safe from spells..

Units

The Protectorate has both large units of the faithful who are not particularly skilled but try to overwhelm with numbers such as Holy Zealots and Deliverer Skyhammers, and elite troops who are highly skilled in combat (such as Daughters of the Flame) and often are weaponmasters too, able to hit very hard in combat (such as Knights Exemplar). While there are troops with ranged attack abilities, the Protectorate favours melee combat over gunlines, and the ranged units tend to support the combat ones in a more combined-arms approach.

Special mention should go to the Choir of Menoth. These faithful priests are present in nearly every Protectorate army. Their hymns are vital to help protect the warjacks from spells or ranged attacks, or to increase their melee or ranged damage.

Line of Sight article : Brawlmachine List Building - Protectorate
In 2020.11 Phillip Melvin, one of the LOS authors, wrote an excellent article for how to start Protectorate. It is based on the newbie-friendly Brawlmachine format (25 point limit).
The article contains a different list for each Protectorate theme, and advice on how to expand those lists beyond 25 points.

Starting a Theme Force

Wracks

Players can use the Theme Force rules to construct their army list once the game size reaches 25 points. Themes restrict which models from your Faction you have access to, with different models being "locked" into different themes. In return, playing a theme force gives you multiple benefits in return. Also, models in a theme force normally have natural synergies with each other - synergies they can't use if they're paired with models from outside the theme.

Themes are considered the default way to play Warmachine and Hordes (although technically they're optional).

Regardless of whether you're starting at 25 points or lower, as a new player you have two options:

Ignore themes to begin with, buy a couple of things you like the look of, and later on figure out if they work together in the same theme.
With this approach you run the risk of buying models from a hodge podge of different themes. At some point you'll end up choosing one theme to use and expand, and shelving your models that don't fit the theme.
Figure out which theme contains models you like the look of, and limit yourself to just buying models from that theme.
This approach has the benefit of not shelving any of your purchases and you're more likely to have models that have natural synergies with each other (even if you buy things completely at random).

Theme Forces

Exemplar Interdiction

Guardian

Exemplars are among Protectorate's most elite, as the name would imply. They're warrior knights leading the crusades against the heretics.

The models allowed in Exemplar Interdiction are: [Show/Hide]

This list was last updated: 2019.07 (Edit)

Warcasters

All Protectorate warcasters

Warjacks

All non-character Protectorate warjacks
Fire of Salvation
Other character warjacks can be taken, but only if they have a bond and they're in their bonded model's battlegroup.

Units

Solos

Battle Engines

Vessel of Judgment

Structures

Shrine of the Lawgiver

Mercenaries

One solo
One unit

Here's some examples of the model aesthetic for this theme

Guardians of the Temple

The Flameguard, are the protectors of the Holy Temples, solid infantry combined with fast, ambushing skirmishing units.

The models allowed in Guardians of the Temple are: [Show/Hide]

This list was last updated: 2019.07 (Edit)

Warcasters

All Protectorate warcasters

Warjacks

All non-character Protectorate warjacks
Blood of Martyrs
Eye of Truth
Hand of Judgment
Other character warjacks can be taken, but only if they have a bond and they're in their bonded model's battlegroup.

Structures

Shrine of the Lawgiver

Units

Solos

Mercenaries

Up to one solo
Up to one unit

Here's some examples of the model aesthetic for this theme

The Creator's Might

Grand Scrutator Severius

This is the Protectorate's warjack-centred theme.

The models allowed in The Creator's Might are: [Show/Hide]

This list was last updated: 2019.12 (Edit)

Warcasters

All Protectorate warcasters

Warjacks

All non-character Protectorate warjacks
Avatar
Blessing of Vengeance
Scourge of Heresy
Other character warjacks can be taken, but only if they have a bond and they're in their bonded model's battlegroup.

Units

Solos

Battle Engines

Vessel of Judgment

Structures

Shrine of the Lawgiver

Mercenaries

Up to one solo
Up to one unit
- The unit can include an Attendant Priest

(★) Because the Menite Archon is specifically allowed, it doesn't use your "Up to one Mercenary solo" slot.

Here's some examples of the model aesthetic for this theme

The Faithful Masses

This theme holds the remaining models that do not easily fit into the other themes. It is typified by the cheap but less combat skilled units of the faithful, and the ultra elite paladins.

The models allowed in The Faithful Masses are: [Show/Hide]

This list was last updated: 2021.09 (Edit)

Warcasters

All Protectorate warcasters

Warjacks

All non-character Protectorate warjacks
Avatar of Menoth
Other character warjacks can be taken, but only if have a bond and they're in their bonded model's battlegroup.

Structures

Shrine of the Lawgiver

Units

Solos

Mercenaries

Up to one solo
Up to one unit

(★) Because Idrians and the Archon are specifically allowed in this theme, they don't use up your Mercenary slot.

Here's some examples of the model aesthetic for this theme

Warriors of the Old Faith

Dervish

This theme is shared with Khador - it allows you to mix both Protectorate models with Khador ones. And not just solos/units, you can put Khador warjacks in a Protectorate caster's battlegroup and vice versa. As a Protectorate theme, it means you can take a Khador caster in a Protectorate list pairing.

This theme is heavily focussed on Cavalry.

Important Note: This theme has a very limited selection of casters.

The models allowed in Warriors of the Old Faith are: [Show/Hide]

This list was last updated: 2020.12 (Edit)

Warcasters

Note: - You can take a warcaster that doesn't normally belong to your Faction.

Warjacks

All non-character Khador and Protectorate warjacks

Note: - Warcasters can take any mix of warjacks they like, regardless of their original Faction.

Character warjacks can be taken, but only if they have a bond and they're in their bonded model's battlegroup.

Units

Solos

Battle Engines

Mercenaries

None (other than those listed above)

Here's some examples of the model aesthetic for this theme

Models

Vanquisher

Model Gallery

Refer to Protectorate Gallery

Warcasters

Amon1	High Allegiant Amon Ad-Raza

Cyrenia1	High Exemplar Cyrenia

Durant1	Refer to Protectorate solos, below
Durant2	Sovereign Tristan Durant

Durst1	Anson Durst, Rock of the Faith

Feora1	Feora, Priestess of the Flame
Feora2	Feora, Protector of the Flame
Feora3	Feora, The Conquering Flame
Feora4	Feora the Forsaken

Harbinger1	The Harbinger of Menoth

High Reclaimer1	The High Reclaimer
High Reclaimer2	Testament of Menoth

Kreoss1	High Exemplar Kreoss
Kreoss2	Grand Exemplar Kreoss
Kreoss3	Intercessor Kreoss

Malekus1	Malekus, The Burning Truth

Reznik1	High Executioner Servath Reznik
Reznik2	Servath Reznik, Wrath of Ages

Severius0	Refer to Protectorate solos, below
Severius1	Grand Scrutator Severius
Severius2	Hierarch Severius

Thyra1	Thyra, Flame of Sorrow

Vindictus1	Vice Scrutator Vindictus

Vladimir-1	Vladimir Tzpesci, Champion of the Old Faith (Not tournament legal)