Post by lordbronas on Mar 2, 2017 1:59:13 GMT
as Originally written by: logan007
"Punch Monk, Don't Punch Back"
Basics:
The Allegiant of the Order of the Fist (hereafter referred to as the "Punch Monk") is a great value solo that can hold/contest zones and flags better than his 3 points would suggest. He'll also hit things like they owe him money.
Abilities:
Offensively, the Punch Monk is going places with Speed 7, Parry, and Advance Deploy. Since he has two fists, he punches twice at P+S 9 (weapon master!). Since he also has two feet, he sidesteps (for 2") everytime he hits an enemy. With MAT 7, I'd say he solidly qualifies as elite infantry while attacking.
He's even better at protecting himself. Defense 14 unbuffed is close to the upper limit of what most solos get -- and when he uses his Shifting Sands Stance ability he'll go to an unmatched Defense 18. With clever use of terrain or other buffs, he can get to a point where he's nearly unhittable. Nearly. Because he's got a black belt in both punching and roshambo, he also has both the Steady and Tough advantages.
Shifting Sands Stance:
By forfeiting either his movement or his action, the Punch Monk gains 4 defense and the ability to make a full advance if an enemy attack misses him. If this happens, be sure to do your best Zoidberg impression as you move your monk to safety.
It's more effective that way!
This out of activation move presents a great chance to disrupt your opponent's plans. For example:
- See an enemy jack loaded up with focus and about to roll up on one of your precious jacks? Zoidberg up in front of it to block the charge lane!
- Eyris about to shoot your caster with a disruptor bolt? Gorman looking to toss a rust bomb or black oil? Strider Deathstalker poised to kill two choir members? Zoidberg into melee with them!
- Zoidberg to engage cavalry so they can't charge!
- Zoidberg into the back arc of a model that charged you and missed! Get your revenge next round!
- Zoidberg into a better(safer) position to continue contesting a flag or zone!
- Zoidberg into their caster's back arc!
- Whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop!
Remember: He's got the parry advantage so no free strikes!
Caster Choices
At 3 points, the Punch Monk is cheap enough to fit into many lists and his defensive tech is good enough that he doesn't particularly need support. He's a great choice when you're looking for something to help score or contest zones/flags while the greater portion of your army is doing it's thing. In particular though:
- Harbinger: The Harbinger can martyr him, saving him from the relatively few things that can get through his high defense. If he's close enough, her aura will stack with Shifting Sands Stance.
- Vindictus: His true path spell makes him faster and gives him pathfinder. His feat can protect him on that turn before you engage.
- Thyra: He gets some nice benefits from her feat as well as carnage.
- Feora 3: A bit of theory crafting at this point since I don't own her yet, but with parry the Punch Monk makes good use of her feat (he can run around your enemy's army engaging and setting them all on fire), and he'd love incite.
- Reclaimer solo: he's not a caster, but spending a soul token to give him Ashen Veil is pretty nice. If you're already running a reclaimer in your list, he's a great recipient for that buff.
Positioning, and how to close in.
I think the best mindset to have when using the punch monk is to think of him as a guerilla fighter. His job is to sneak up, keep himself safe, and disrupt the enemy.
Unless we're talking a high value target like Aiyanna or Eyriss, or the last 2 or 3 damage boxes on an enemy heavy or something, it's usually better to survive with Shifting Sands and not make attacks than to charge in and maybe kill two models. Remember, if you don't have Shifting Stance up, your opponent will probably go out of her way to kill your Punch Monk while his defense is easier to hit.
Most of the time, I'll advance deploy the Punch Monk on the edges in an attempt to reduce the number of super accurate attacks (boostable guns, CRA, etc) that can be brought to bear on him.
You'll need to understand your opponent's threat ranges to determine if you can run first turn, or if you're better off moving up and forfeiting your action to go into Shifting Sands Stance. If necessary, I'll advance/run him up behind a forest out of line of sight of most of my opponent's army even if that means my monk can't see anything either.
The Monk isn't there to get the alpha strike (although he can if you need to), so you'll have to be patient with him. Eventually, you might be able to get him into a position where you can advance up and Shifting Sand Stance in front of some warrior models they have on the sides of the map.
Assuming he lives to the next turn, you can finally start killing things. Forfeit movement, take a swing at the enemy, side step, repeat!
What to Avoid
Now, for all his defense, he's only wearing a (presumably) cotton gi. While ARM 12 and 5 boxes might let your survive an errant blast, a wily opponent can come up with a lot of ways to disable our favorite punch monk. Electro leaps, chain lightning, setting him on fire, combined ranged or melee attacks, slamming a model into him, Boosting to hit, making him stationary with Sorscha 1's feat, dead-eyed/aiming/rangered/ gun mages, etc. Don't get cocky!
"Punch Monk, Don't Punch Back"
Basics:
The Allegiant of the Order of the Fist (hereafter referred to as the "Punch Monk") is a great value solo that can hold/contest zones and flags better than his 3 points would suggest. He'll also hit things like they owe him money.
Abilities:
Offensively, the Punch Monk is going places with Speed 7, Parry, and Advance Deploy. Since he has two fists, he punches twice at P+S 9 (weapon master!). Since he also has two feet, he sidesteps (for 2") everytime he hits an enemy. With MAT 7, I'd say he solidly qualifies as elite infantry while attacking.
He's even better at protecting himself. Defense 14 unbuffed is close to the upper limit of what most solos get -- and when he uses his Shifting Sands Stance ability he'll go to an unmatched Defense 18. With clever use of terrain or other buffs, he can get to a point where he's nearly unhittable. Nearly. Because he's got a black belt in both punching and roshambo, he also has both the Steady and Tough advantages.
Shifting Sands Stance:
By forfeiting either his movement or his action, the Punch Monk gains 4 defense and the ability to make a full advance if an enemy attack misses him. If this happens, be sure to do your best Zoidberg impression as you move your monk to safety.
It's more effective that way!
This out of activation move presents a great chance to disrupt your opponent's plans. For example:
- See an enemy jack loaded up with focus and about to roll up on one of your precious jacks? Zoidberg up in front of it to block the charge lane!
- Eyris about to shoot your caster with a disruptor bolt? Gorman looking to toss a rust bomb or black oil? Strider Deathstalker poised to kill two choir members? Zoidberg into melee with them!
- Zoidberg to engage cavalry so they can't charge!
- Zoidberg into the back arc of a model that charged you and missed! Get your revenge next round!
- Zoidberg into a better(safer) position to continue contesting a flag or zone!
- Zoidberg into their caster's back arc!
- Whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop!
Remember: He's got the parry advantage so no free strikes!
Caster Choices
At 3 points, the Punch Monk is cheap enough to fit into many lists and his defensive tech is good enough that he doesn't particularly need support. He's a great choice when you're looking for something to help score or contest zones/flags while the greater portion of your army is doing it's thing. In particular though:
- Harbinger: The Harbinger can martyr him, saving him from the relatively few things that can get through his high defense. If he's close enough, her aura will stack with Shifting Sands Stance.
- Vindictus: His true path spell makes him faster and gives him pathfinder. His feat can protect him on that turn before you engage.
- Thyra: He gets some nice benefits from her feat as well as carnage.
- Feora 3: A bit of theory crafting at this point since I don't own her yet, but with parry the Punch Monk makes good use of her feat (he can run around your enemy's army engaging and setting them all on fire), and he'd love incite.
- Reclaimer solo: he's not a caster, but spending a soul token to give him Ashen Veil is pretty nice. If you're already running a reclaimer in your list, he's a great recipient for that buff.
Positioning, and how to close in.
I think the best mindset to have when using the punch monk is to think of him as a guerilla fighter. His job is to sneak up, keep himself safe, and disrupt the enemy.
Unless we're talking a high value target like Aiyanna or Eyriss, or the last 2 or 3 damage boxes on an enemy heavy or something, it's usually better to survive with Shifting Sands and not make attacks than to charge in and maybe kill two models. Remember, if you don't have Shifting Stance up, your opponent will probably go out of her way to kill your Punch Monk while his defense is easier to hit.
Most of the time, I'll advance deploy the Punch Monk on the edges in an attempt to reduce the number of super accurate attacks (boostable guns, CRA, etc) that can be brought to bear on him.
You'll need to understand your opponent's threat ranges to determine if you can run first turn, or if you're better off moving up and forfeiting your action to go into Shifting Sands Stance. If necessary, I'll advance/run him up behind a forest out of line of sight of most of my opponent's army even if that means my monk can't see anything either.
The Monk isn't there to get the alpha strike (although he can if you need to), so you'll have to be patient with him. Eventually, you might be able to get him into a position where you can advance up and Shifting Sand Stance in front of some warrior models they have on the sides of the map.
Assuming he lives to the next turn, you can finally start killing things. Forfeit movement, take a swing at the enemy, side step, repeat!
What to Avoid
Now, for all his defense, he's only wearing a (presumably) cotton gi. While ARM 12 and 5 boxes might let your survive an errant blast, a wily opponent can come up with a lot of ways to disable our favorite punch monk. Electro leaps, chain lightning, setting him on fire, combined ranged or melee attacks, slamming a model into him, Boosting to hit, making him stationary with Sorscha 1's feat, dead-eyed/aiming/rangered/ gun mages, etc. Don't get cocky!
