Harbinger Addendum: The Feat

So, when I wrote my Warcaster Study on the Harbinger, it occurred to me that I didn't mention much of anything about her feat.  To me, this isn't that big a deal, but I am sure there is someone out there really pissed off that I could do a warcaster study and leave out the caster's feat.  Well, this post is to fix the situation.

The Harbinger has a fairly straightfoward feat, but the implications of the feat make is very useful.  Basically, any model in her control area that during its own turn advances in some way closer to the Harbinger, takes a POW 14 hit.  Bam! Very straightfoward.  Don't get close to the floating lady when she goes supernova. 

Why is this useful?  For a variety of reasons.  The obvious answer would be that to win, you have to send your models towards mine and if I set this feat off, you have to pay the price if you really want to get closer to me.  This can absolutely kill infantry.  Average dice give a POW 14 hit a damage of 21.  Yikes. 

This also provides and excellent deterant in objective based scenarios.  Setting up a 20" radius bubble of "DO NOT ENTER" allows Menoth players to get the slower forces into position to hold and score on objectives.  This is a really useful feat for turn 1 or 2 for that fact.

Another great tactic for the Harby's feat includes setting up traps and encouraging your opponent to move closer to the Harby.  Using the Avatar of Menoth's Gaze of Menoth ability can help with this.  By position the Avatar correctly and popping Gaze, you can force enemy models to move closer to the Harby and take that hit.  You can also set up what appear to be lanes of approach to key models and use things like terrain and clouds to actually prevent them from reaching their target, all the while getting closer to the Harbinger and those making eat that hit. 

Finally, not only can you keep your opponent from getting closer, you can also cause them to bunch up to get away from the feat.  In subsequent turns this will allow AoEs and sprays more hits due to the compacted nature of the models. 

So, while the feat doesn't look like it requires a lot of finesse to use, it can be used creatively to provide board control and clear out lighter infantry. 

Here are some other Warmachine articles:
Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcaster Study, pKreoss
The Harbinger of Menoth: Model Review
How Important is the Front Arc, Really?
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