Initiates of the Wall

Template:Procbox This model is playable only in an Unlimited format.

Only those with a true calling can walk the path of the Order of the Wall. These men and women spend their youth honing body and soul to serve the Creator and to protect the faithful. To complete their training, initiates are sent out in small groups, tasked with guarding the Temple's servants in battle. Though still far from full mastery, several initiates standing side-by-side can withstand devastating blows from beast and machine alike. For this duty, each sets aside their sword and shield to wield blessed battleaxes instead, teaching them that the weapon they wield is secondary to each paladin's faith and resolve.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:CMA
• Template:Practiced Maneuvers
• Template:Set Defense
• Template:Shield Guard
• Template:Unbreakable Wall

Weapons

Blessed Axe
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		2				5				12
Template:Damage Type Magical

Theme Forces

• Protectorate
  • Template:The Faithful Masses
  • Template:Warriors of the Old Faith

• Other Factions
  • Infernal players can use this unit in the Template:Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Feora is leading the army.
  • Khador players can use this unit in the Template:Warriors of the Old Faith theme.
  • Mercenary players can use this unit in the Template:Llaelese Resistance. They become Llaelese and gain Pathfinder in this theme.

Thoughts on the Initiates of the Wall

Initiates of the Wall in a Nutshell

Paladins of the Order of the Wall in training, the Initiates are green Paladin recruits. Durable and hard to dislodge for their point cost (as long as they're base to base with one another), they play the role of an anchor unit in Faithful Masses while protecting vital models with Shield Guard. They pay for their durability with their mediocre offensive abilities and will do little more than scratch the paint of harder targets even with CMAs.

Combos & Synergies

• Anyone with the ability to buff their defensive scores so they become even harder to dislodge; Defender's Ward via Grand Scrutator Severius, Inviolable Resolve from High Exemplar Cyrenia, etc etc.
• Severius1, besides providing Defender's Ward, can also give one member of the unit Vision, allowing them to take any one hit in the game without a scratch. Death Sentence and Eye of Menoth also bring their offensive capabilities up from mediocre to "fair".
• Thyra, Flame of Sorrow is a general purpose infantry force multiplier. Carnage gives them elite MAT, Silence of Death makes one unit decently hard-hitting, and Occultation makes them even more difficult to dislodge with shooting. Although she'll rarely have need of a Shield Guard due to her native Stealth, protecting important models from getting shot (such as Paladin solos or Blood of Martyrs) is a good thing.
• High Exemplar Cyrenia, in addition to providing Inviolable Resolve, gives Rock Wall to improve their DEF against shooting and melee, Dash to speed them up, and Positive Charge to boost their offensive output. Her feat, in combination with Set Defense and her wall, makes them incredibly difficult to dislodge.
• The Harbinger of Menoth loves high-ARM, multi-wound models to Martyr, and they can Shield Guard her from your opponents shooting. Martyrdom lets you keep every model in the unit alive, thus keeping them at ARM 21 for that much longer. Awe gives them a respectable DEF 15 against living models, DEF 17 against the charge. Although Guided Hand is usually better on larger/harder hitting units, it can make them very accurate if for some reason you don't want to CMA.
• The Champion of the Order of the Wall gives them Girded, which can allow them to protect other models from blast damage.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Mediocre offensive output. Even with available buffs they don't hit very hard, and unit-specific buffs are usually better off on larger units or more powerful models.
• Due to all of them needing to be base to base with one another to maximize their defenses, they have a relatively small footprint on the field.
• Although ARM 21 is a great number for infantry, some models (heavy warjacks/warbeasts, weapon masters) will be able to blow right through it. Once a single member of the unit is lost, their survivability drastically drops.
• Very limited board presence - with all of them in base to base contact they don't threaten much more of the battlefield than one model would, and they are only POW 12s.

Tricks & Tips

• "Triangle Formation" with each Initiate in B2B with both of the other two is their normal formation. If you instead arrange them in a line, then as soon as the middle of the line gets sniped out the other two will lose their bonuses.
• If another model has a special ability that triggers when a friendly model dies (such as a Menite Archon's Swift Vengeance ability) then have these guys stay in range so that, if/when they use Shield Guard and die, that special ability gets triggered.

Other

Trivia

• Released at LVO (2019.02)