Blessing of Vengeance

Mk4 has been announced, and we need to talk about what it means for the future of this website. Please join the discussion either on the WMU Facebook Group or the Talk:Main Page area of this wiki.

Blessing of Vengeance Protectorate Character Light Warjack

Blessing of Vengeance has served for three decades as a direct conduit for the divine prayers of destruction and conversion. Zealots whisper that this 'jack can see straight into men's souls. The eyes of this 'jack glow with fervour when it beholds enemies blasted to ash or lit afire by the holy power of Protectorate warcasters passing judgement through it in the name of Menoth.

Basic Info

Blessing of Vengeance
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Medium SPD 5 STR 9 MAT 7 RAT N/A M.A. N/A DEF 12 ARM 17 / 19 (★) CMD N/A ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY N/A THRS N/A HP 26 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA C UNIT SIZE N/A COST 11 N/A N/A (★) 19 with the Shield bonus Warcaster 1 COST N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Warjack - All warjacks share the same set of special rules. Most notably being big and stompy. Click here for a newbie-friendly recap, or click here for the full rules.

Abilities

• Arc Node
• Construct
• Bond [ Severius ] - If this model begins the game in Severius's battlegroup, it is bonded to them. This model is not considered to be bonded while under your opponent's control. Once per turn, when Severius channels a spell through this model, he gains +2 to that spell's attack and damage rolls.
• Defensive Strike - Once per turn, when an enemy advances into and ends its movement in this model's melee range, this model can immediately make one basic melee attack against it.
• 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

Repulsor Shield
		RNG				POW				P+S
		0.5				2				11
Shield Repel - (1) When this model hits an enemy model with this weapon during its activation, the model hit is pushed 1" directly away from this model. (2) When this model is hit with a melee attack made by a model in its front arc, after the attack is resolved the attacking model is pushed 1" directly away from this model. (3) This model loses Repel while this weapon system is crippled.
Halberd
		RNG				POW				P+S
		2				4				13
Powerful Charge - This model gains +2 to charge attack rolls with this weapon.

Theme Forces

• When taken by Severius1 or Severius2
  • Exemplar Interdiction. Blessing of Vengeance gains Blessed melee weapons in this theme.
  • Guardians of the Temple
  • The Creator's Might
  • The Faithful Masses
  • Warriors of the Old Faith

• When taken by Severius0
  • Exemplar Interdiction. Blessing of Vengeance gains Blessed melee weapons in this theme.
  • The Creator's Might
  • Infernal players can take Severius0 + BoV in the Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Feora is leading the army. BoV gains Accumulator [Soulless] in this theme.

• When taken by anyone else
  • The Creator's Might

Recent Changes

No changes since 2021.10

Thoughts on Blessing of Vengeance

Severius0

Blessing of Vengeance in a nutshell

For 3 pts over a Revenger you get Shield Guard, Defensive Strike, +1 MAT, and the bond. Generally only worth it with any of Severius's incarnations, but he will almost always be taken with either full

The Blessing of Vengeance is all of the best bits of a Revenger & a Devout (sans magic protection) rolled into one, but that makes its job quite confused as you really need a mixed arms opponent who plays into all of your abilities to make the costed upgrade worthwhile when you could instead include a solo and the non character variant for the points difference.

Combos & Synergies

• Scrutator Potentate Severius - Sevy0 is very squishy, so a Shield Guard is very much appreciated. Arcing Immolation at +2/+2 due to the bond is very nifty as well!
• Grand Scrutator Severius - Just like on a Revenger - Casting Vision on the Blessing of Vengeance ensures that its shield arm will survive a hit and push the enemy back. This can potentially space an enemy out of melee range to avoid extra primary/additional attacks, as well as give you space to move away in your next turn if desired and utilize the arc node.
• Hierarch Severius - his Field Marshall makes this jack even more survivable, and the repulsor shield works with it. Sev2 wants to cast a lot of offensive spells so BoV is very important. Awareness allows you to arc through forests which can be a nasty surprise.

Drawbacks & Downsides

Severius1

• Relatively expensive point-wise - he's well into heavy warjack cost range and doesn't hit hard.
• he isn’t any more durable than his non character counterpart (unless you get lucky and remove a system with defensive strike)
  • without its bond It’s just a weird hybrid of a Devout and a Revenger but being 4/3 points more expensive.

Tricks & Tips

Severius2

• He's one of our most accurate warjacks - if you absolutely need to stab a high-DEF solo don't forget about his MAT9 charge.
• You can move Blessing of Vengeance past an enemy model to be a hair in the opponent models melee range and if you hit it with your shield and position right, it opens you to back strikes against it. The technique is called Biscuiting after SirBiscuit who "discovered" it.
• on models with a 0.5 melee range it’s often better to use defensive strike with the shield.

Other

Trivia

• Released in Warmachine: Legends (2008)
• Sculptor: Ben Saunders
• In the fluff, the Blessing chose Durant as its new master after Severius was killed. Unfortunately this is not reflected on the table top yet.

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification : Bond with Severius You can trigger the bonus on any one spell you arc - it doesn't have used on the first spell you arc. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Shield and/or Buckler     (Edit) The only time you lose the Shield bonus is when the weapon is crippled, or if the attack originates in your back arc. (Infernal Ruling) In other words, you still get the Shield bonus while knocked down or stationary. You don't get the Shield bonus vs stuff originating in your back arc. This includes stuff that "leaps" off models in your back arc, such as Electro Leap. (Locked thread)

Rules Clarification : Repel      (Edit) A model that starts in B2B with you will end exactly 1" away after the Repel, so their 1" melee weapons will still be in range. Similarly for 2" melee weapons and being repelled twice. Push - General     (Edit)   [Show/Hide] Pushed models do not change their facing. Pushed models move at half rate through difficult terrain. Also, Pathfinder doesn't apply during pushes. Pushed models stop if they contact anything - a model of any size, or any obstacles or obstructions. You don't get free strikes against pushed models, because it is "involuntary movement" and therefore does not count as an advance. Pushed models suffer the effects of anything they move through (such as acid clouds). If you use a Push vs a charging model (via a free strike for example), this will stop the charge movement (refer core rulebook). However, if the pushed model is in melee range of its charge target after the push, then it is considered a successful charge. (Infernal Ruling) In that scenario, you measure whether the charging model moved 3" or less excluding the push distance. (Infernal Ruling) If you push a model to a position where it regains Incorporeal (for instance you push it out of range of an Exorcist) then what happens is (Being Checked by Infernals)

Rules Clarification : Powerful Charge  and/or Brutal Charge     (Edit) If you declare a charge but move less than 3", then the attack doesn't count as a "Charge Attack" and you won't get the bonus.

Rules Clarification : Warjack      (Edit) The Cortex/Induction core rule means a warjack cannot have more than 3 focus at any time (maybe 4 if they're really special). Many abilities give out focus and don't state an upper limit (such as Convection and Empower). Despite not stating an upper limit, they are always "hard-limited" by the core rule. A warjack can have more than 3 focus during a turn, though. For instance, a knocked down warjack can Power Up and be Allocated 2 focus, then spend 1 to shake knockdown, then another model could Empower it back up to 3. Warjacks cannot spend focus outside of their activation. For instance, they can't boost free strikes or trigger Powerful Attack on Broadsides. (Infernal Ruling) Inert warjacks Abilities that say they cannot be used if the model is stationary (such as Shield Guard) cannot be used while a warjack is inert, either. Refer "Warcaster Destruction", page 59 of the core rulebook.

Rules Clarification : Construct - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Channeler  and/or Arc Node     (Edit) General It is possible to channel a spell with a range of CTRL. The control range is still measured from the caster though, so channeling it has zero effect ... unless you've got something like Empowered Arc Node or Reaction Drive. Stuff like that can trigger. (Infernal Ruling) Channeling in melee A channeler that is engaged by an enemy model can not channel. A channeler that is engaging an enemy model can channel. (For example, the channeler is standing in the enemy's back arc.) Channeler - LOS You use the channeler's abilities when determining LOS (such as whether you can see your target through a forest). If the channeler has an ability to ignore LOS or DEF bonuses (such as Eyeless Sight), then you only apply that "ignorance" to LOS (but not to the DEF bonus). Caster - Attack roll You use the caster's abilities when determining attack roll modifiers (such as whether a target standing in a forest gets +2 DEF or not). If the caster has an ability to ignore LOS or DEF bonuses (such as Eyeless Sight), then you only apply that "ignorance" to the dice roll (but not to the LOS). Stealth - It affects both LOS and the attack roll Since Stealth has both a LOS modifier (stealth models more than 5" away aren't intervening models) and an attack roll modifier (stealth models more than 5" away are auto-missed) things get a little complicated. If only the channeler ignores stealth, then all stealth models count as intervening models and block LOS, but the caster will auto-miss models more than 5" from the channeler. If only the caster ignores stealth, then only models within 5" of the channeler block LOS, but the caster won't auto-miss no matter what you target. If both channeler and caster ignore Stealth, it works as you'd expect. Stealth Examples     [Show/Hide] Caster has Eyeless Sight, channeler does not. Stealth model is within 5" of channeler LOS - The model counts as an intervening model, as per the normal Stealth rules Attack roll - If you attack it then you don't auto-miss, as per the normal Stealth rules Stealth model is more than 5" away from channeler LOS - The model does not count as an intervening model, as per the normal Stealth rules. Attack roll - If you attack it then you don't auto-miss, as the attacking model has Eyeless Sight. Stealth model is more than 5" away from channeler, and you want to target a model behind it. LOS - The front model doesn't block LOS Attack roll - Doesn't auto-miss   Caster hasn't got Eyeless Sight, channeler does. Stealth model is within 5" of channeler LOS - The model counts as an intervening model, as per the normal Stealth rules Attack roll - If you attack it then you don't auto-miss, as per the normal Stealth rules Stealth model is more than 5" away from channeler LOS - The model counts as an intervening model, because the model drawing LOS ignores Stealth. Attack roll - If you attack it then you will auto-miss, as the attacker doesn't ignore Stealth. Stealth model is more than 5" away from channeler, and you want to target a model behind it. LOS - The front model blocks LOS, so you can't target the rear model. Attack roll - N/A

Rules Clarification : Bond      (Edit) Bonds are ineffective while the model is under your opponent's control. Refer the core rulebook. Bonds & Themes If a warjack/warbeast with a bond is in that caster's battlegroup, they can be taken in any theme force. Refer the core rulebook. This is true even if the caster isn't a full warcaster or warlock (this interaction changed as of 2018.06).

Rules Clarification : Defensive Strike      (Edit) If an enemy doesn't stop in your melee range, but continue all the way through it and out the other side, you won't get to make a Defensive Strike. You will get to make a free strike as per normal, though.

Rules Clarification : Shield Guard and/or Shadow Guardian     (Edit) You can't use this ability vs spells. You shift all effects onto the new model, including stuff that triggers on "when this attack hits". When you use this ability vs an AOE attack, the template moves too. Because, with reference to Apdx A, the hit 'moves' at Step 6 and the template placement is determined at Step 7. This ability doesn't work vs Point Blank attacks. Because Point Blank attacks are melee attacks that are made using a ranged weapon. On the other hand, it will work vs Gunfighter attacks. Shield Guard only Since Shield Guard specifies "opponent's turn", it can't be used against stuff that shoots in your own turn (such as Watcher or Counterblast). The Shield Guard does not necessarily need to be in the attacker's LOS or range. The Shield Guarder is always hit even if they have an ability that makes them automatically get missed, such as Stealth. (Automatically missing is determined earlier in the timing sequence than the Shield Guard moving the hit.) (Infernal Ruling)