It's not just a Warjack. It is, in a way, the paragon of all warjacks. When people go mathmachine to calculate their success, they look for the Juggernaut as a point of reference. And if our opponents know about the values of this machine, it proves to us that we would be daft not to take it!
Pros:
- Outstanding unconditional ARM 20 on a common chassis. Only excelled by Jacks with a shield and the behemoth. This is the bar against all others measure.
- P&S 19 Crit Freeze Ice Axe.
- Open Fist: He has access to some of the even more fun Power Attacks in the game. Nothing like picking up an enemy and tossing them somewhere, or locking their shields and smacking them with said Ice Axe
- P&S 19 Crit Freeze Ice Axe. It's so awesome, it bears worth repeating. Even enemy heavies under protection will, at max, have you roll at dice-5. (And that is before you get any help from your own models) And in Mk II, he's got the MAT to use it well. His preferred targets are, however, still enemy heavies.
- Low Point Cost. The Juggernaut is one of the three cheapest Jacks Khador has, which makes it a steal.
- Did I mention the Ice Axe?
Cons:
- As every Khador Jack, he's a tad on the slow side.
- Focus Guzzler: The Crit and the Open Fist and the Ice Axe tend to make you load it with more focus than others. Charge = 1 Focus, Boost to Hit = 1 Focus, and since a single attack might not do it, +1 Focus for an extra attack. You can run it on less, sure, but then you're missing out on additional P&S 19 pain.
- No shenanigans. It's plain & simple. Not Avalancher-simple, agreed, but every other jack (save the destroyer) has some additional fanciness.
The Juggernaut has two main roles:
A) Making the enemy feel uncomfortable
B) Single-target destruction
A seems to be not so much the case? Field several Juggernauts (meaning: two or more) on a caster with Battlegroup spells. You will think again.
Because the Juggernaut is so dang cheap, it's simple to saturate the
battlefield with them. (Try and play a 15 Point Mangled Metal with
nothing but three Juggernauts under Irusk Xp, the Butcher, or Harkevich)B is obvious, it's written all over the P&S 19 Ice Axe. This weapon is so strong, boosting damage (unless you can hit only once or other stuff) is in general a worse option that buying more swings. And the open Fist is not to be sneezed at, either. You will want to boost the attack for a better chance at a critical, though, most of the time. Because then you hit automatically and at least sap 1 point of Focus or Fury from your targets max performance, should it live.
You could also add C, psychological warfare. Use the presence and threat of a Juggernaut to make the enemy make certain commitments or shove certain units his way, and out of the way of your actual plan.
His best friends:
Since it's a Khador Jack, he likes speed increases. Steady speed increases are preferred, which would rank Superiority above spells like Boundless Charge, but enormous speed kicks are very welcome. Vladimir, Butcher Xp, Sorscha have Boundless Charge, Vlad Xp has Assail; Strakhov, Karchev and Vladimir provide enormous speedboosts through feats or Tow; Irusk, Irusk Xp and Strakhov provide reliable speed increase with Energizer or Superiority; but my favourite man is actually Harkevich for both his Field Marshal ability and the Escort upkeep.
Another dream team is the Butcher of Khardov with the Juggernaut. And the reason for that is Full Throttle. It allows Jacks to perform movement related power attacks (Slam & Trample) as well as charging/running for free. And it boosts melee attacks! (*nudge**nudge* Crit Freeze, pst. *nudge*)
FT provides the Juggernaut with solutions to his most difficult situations. Tarpitted by wimpies (small-based models) or a line of those blocking the way to the enemy caster? Trample for free! Since trample attacks are melee attacks, they are boosted as well. Wohoo!
Need to take down that heavy in one go, or at least Ice axe him to kingdom come? Load him full of focus, charge in, and simply buy more attacks! Under FT, you're buying boosted attacks, and as pointed out, damage doesn't need to be boosted.
The Butcher also has Fury, which ups the damage output form "outstanding" to "outright wrong." Similiar Points go to Karchev and his Unearthly Rage.
And the other casters? Zerkova likes him for Watcher and that last-minute ice axe intervention. Karchev likes him for being a melee jack. And the rest benefit from a cheap, resilient P&S 19 Ice Axe. And: using a Man-o-War Kovnik - while a debatable choice to begin with - everyone can have a shard of Full throttle with his drive, and he can buy another attack for free due to Jack Marshal. A special mention goes out to Vladimir, the dark prince, and "Signs and Portents". Rolling another die and removing the lowest not only averages in at roughly +2 MAT, but it also increases the chance of a critical to about 30%.
And that concludes my take on the Juggernaut, our paragon warjack, who's so clean and simple you just can't go wrong with him.
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