Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Order/Kharadron Overlords

Grand Alliance Order Kharadron Overlords

Top hat, robotic monocle, curled mustache guns, and steam technology; the true essence of steampunk.

Lore Tactics General Tactics

Get ready to play some Dwarf Fortress in the sky! The Kharadron Overlords is one of the first truly new factions introduced to Age of Sigmar since the Stormcast Eternals, and are also one of the most radically different from other AoS armies in play style, with a big focus on vehicles, guns, and tech.

Why Play Kharadron Overlords?

PROS:

• Because you want to bring mad science and a lot of guns to the Age of Sigmar swords and sorcery fight.

• Because you want to laugh maniacally while you bomb melee armies to oblivion with an air navy.

• Because you've waited over 20 years for Squats, and you're gonna take what you can get.

• Because you enjoyed the Iron Man films, but thought they'd be better if Tony Stark was a 4-foot-tall sky-pirate.

• Because you love your Imperial Guard, and want to play essentially the same thing in Age of Sigmar.

• Because (and this is the important one) they are steampunk power-armored sky pirate dwarfs.

• Because you like to play AOS on hard mode.

CONS:

• The average steam-dorf absolutely SUCKS in melee. For some reason, using knives and gun butts against daemons or giants in magic suits of armour isn't quite cutting the mustard.

• Almost every unit (except heroes) has under average save rolls (5+). We're talking 4+ at best. Even your battleship is only as well armoured as a run of the mill Stormcast.

• Even with some of the best mobility options in AoS, you'll always be in danger against fast units or faster-than-average factions like Nighthaunt, Beastclaw Raiders, some of the Legion of Nagash units, etc.

• even if you have the best shoota, other armies' ranged weapons can be really dangerous, especially if they have artillery with heavy rend. You'll see that battleship going down hard in no time.

• No wizards for you, although you do have a lot of spell unbinding options, and with the introduction of the Sacrosanct Chambers, Stormcast allies can fill this hole.

• Flying around doesn't actually really help you that much.

• Enjoy cleaning metallic paint particles out of your brush bristles for literally the rest of your life.

• kharadron are really greeds gold-eaters, because their models are FREAKING EXPENSIVE! Just for have a 1000 point army you will spend something around 300-400€. Just think about the fact that arkanaut company cost 40€ EVERY TEN MODELS, they are the only battleline, and if you want them to work, you need at least 20 of them. This bring having 3 battlelines to the absurd value of 240€! Enjoy being poor for the rest of your life.

Rulebooks

The Kharadron Overlords Battletome has all the Warscrolls, Battations and Allegiance Abilities.

• This should be supplemented with the Kharadron Overlords Errata and Designers' Commentary from the FAQs.
• Matched play points are in the General's Handbook 2019”.
• Alternatively up to date warscolls can be found in the WH AoS app. Warscrolls on the GW webstore match those in the Battletome.

As with all factions you'll want:

• The core rules are either downloadable or in the Core Book.
• Games taking place in a Realm need the Realm of Battle rules from the Core Book.
• In you want to take advantage of realm specific artefacts you'll need the Artefacts Of The Realms section from the Malign Sorcery book.
• Matched play battleplans are split across the Core Book and General's handbook 2019.
• All books should be supplemented with any updates from the FAQs.

Allegiance Abilities

Battle Traits

An army that has KHARADRON OVERLORDS allegiance can use the following rule:

STICK TO THE CODE: When you choose a Kharadron Overlords army that isn't a Sky Port (more on that in a bit) Can choose an Artycle, Amendment, and Footnote from the tables below, Alternatively you can roll a dice for each table.

Artycle:

1. Defend Your Territory: you can re-roll battleshock tests for your units if they are fully within your Deployment zone. Nice for objective holders, but Kharadon's short range means you're not going to be building a lot of gunlines
2. Honour Is Everything: You can re-roll any hit rolls and wound roles of 1 for your Heroes if their target is a Hero or Monster. Given how surprisingly hard Endrinmasters can hit, this one can be nifty against monster heavy lists. Barak-Zon has this by Default
3. Master of the Skies: Re-roll hit and wound rolls of 1 for your unit if your target can fly (because fuck Idoneth Deepkin [and especially fuck nighthaunts]). Barak-Zilfin has this by default.
4. Respect Your Commanders:re-roll battleshock tests if your units are within 8" of a Hero from your army. You are a mid-ranged army and will get charged if you, use this to reduce casualties. Barak-Nar has this by Default.
5. Seek New Prospects:Re-roll battleshock tests for your units if they are within your opponent's deployment. With your boats allowing you to carry and deploy entire forces across the battlefield, this one is actually not a bad thing to have. Barak-Urbaz and Barak-Mhornar has this by default
6. Settle The Grudges:When both armies are set up, select an enemy unit. Your army can re-roll hit and wound rolls of 1 against that unit. Does your opponent have a vital unit? Not for long. Barak-Thyryng has this by default.

Amendment:

1. Always Take What You Are Owed:Your army can include one additional artifact of power. Has lost its power somewhat now that the rule of one no longer allows us to spam Aethershock Earbusters, but it still allows you to give a second hero another tool without paying for it. Barak-Urbaz has this by default.
2. Don't Argue With The Wind:When you run with a Skyvessel, you are always considered to have rolled a 6. The speedboost this gives your ship cannot be understated if you're playing your ships aggressively this amendment is almost vital. Barak-Zilfin has this by default.
3. Leave No Duardin Dwarf Behind:A unit that failed a battleshock test and is 7" of your armies Skyvessel can roll a dice for each model that flees, on a 5 or 6 you no longer flee. A 1/3rd chance per model to ignore battleshocks. Definitely not bad. Barak-Zon has this by default.
4. Prosecute Wars With All Haste:On your first turn, you can run AND shoot. Good for that first turn barrage. Barak-Mhornar has this by default.
5. Trust Aethermatics, Not Superstition:Your Heroes can try to unbind a spell just like a wizard in the hero phase. If they already have this ability (i.e. the Atheric Navigator) then they can unbind two spells instead. Definitely not to be underestimated. Every hero becomes capable of dispelling. That means you don't need a Navigator, and if you give your hero an Aethersight Loupe they can start dispelling two spells a turn. Barak-Nar has this by default.
6. Trust To Your Guns:Units from your army add 1 to their bravery as long as there are no enemies within 3" of them. As long as you Fish of Fury well enough you should be able to avoid most charges, which means this becomes a boost to tanking shooting casualties. Barak-Thryng has this by default.

Footnote:

1. Surrender is Rarely Profitable:Once per battle if you must take a battleshock test for a unit. you can replace the roll with a 1 instead. Nifty for key moments where you really, really need to not lose a ton of guys.
2. There's No Reward Without Risk:Once per battle, you can re-roll the charge distance for one of your units. Good on your Endrinriggers.
3. There's No Trading With Some People:Once per battle, if your opponent suffers an unsaved wound from one of your units attacks, roll a d3, the enemy unit will suffer that many additional mortal wounds. Remember all those times you got a model down to one wound and after that, it just won't die? You no longer have to.
4. Today's Foes Are Tomorrow's Customers:Once per battle, if one of your units retreats and runs, you can replace the run roll with a 6. Any half decent melee unit is going to catch up with that without trouble, not really worth the trouble.
5. Without Our Ships We Are Naught: Once per battle, you can re-roll the dice for an ability that heals a Skyvessel. Could be the difference between life or death, but it's only up to three wounds max. If your ships take that much damage, bring another Endrinmaster.
6. These Are Just Guidelines:Once per game, during the hero phase, you can change your Artycle by rolling a dice. If you roll an Artycle that requires you to pick an enemy you do so immediately. your previous artycle is no longer in effect. Oh sweet, sweet Guidelines. Given how powerful or weak your Articles can be depending on your opponent, this Note lets you list tailor in the middle of your match. Without a doubt the best Footnote in the list.

Command Traits

A KHARADRON OVERLORDS General in a KHARADRON OVERLORDS allegiance and has chosen to take the KHARADRON OVERLORDS abilities can choose one of the following command traits:

1. Doughty Champion: When your general suffers a mortal wound, roll a dice. On a roll of +5, the wound is ignored. A nice ability to have, but there are better choices here.
2. Fleetmaster: Once both armies are set up, but before the first round begins, redeploy a friendly Skyvessel. It's like being a mini Deceiver
3. Grudgebearer: One of your general's melee weapons gets an extra attack. Well, all our Heroes only have one melee profile each, that being said, the only ones who benefit from this trait is the Admiral or the Endrinmaster.
4. Stickler for the Code: You get to roll an additional footnote, you cannot have the same footnote twice, re-roll duplicates. If your general dies before you can use the footnote, then the footnote is lost. A free footnote is always a bonus, especially if you can get your hands on a Grand Armada Battalion. This is also the only other way to get "These Are Just Guidelines" if you're using a port city that isn't Barak-Mhornar. considering your roll is good.
5. Prospector: After both armies have set up pick a terrain feature. As long as your general is alive, your units do not have to take battleshock tests. A pretty solid choice given the armies low bravery, Pick an objective and you should be able to hold ground.
6. Rising Star: units within 7" of your general can use the general's bravery instead of their own when making battleshock tests. Best used on the Admiral

Artefacts of Power

One HERO in your army (+1 per battalion) can take a relic from the following tables:

• Aethermatic Weapons:

1. Hammer of Aethermatic Might:If you wound on a 6 or more with your melee weapon, you cause double damage.
2. Sledgeshock Hammer: Improve melee weapons wound characteristic by 1. Add 1 to wound rolls for a melee weapon.
3. Aethershock Bludgeon:Improve a melee weapons rend characteristic by 1.
4. Gattlesson's Endless Repeater: +2 attacks to a range weapon
5. Aethershock Earbuster: Pick a ranged weapon. If any units models are slain by this weapon, they must take an immediate battleshock test in addition to the test in the battleshock phase. Two Battleshock tests in a row is pretty scary, better put this on the Aetherkhemist.
6. Staff of Occular Optimisation: +1 to hit in the shooting phase

• Treasures of the Sky-ports:

1. Masterwrought Armour: Re-roll saves of 1
2. Balebreath Mask: In the combat phase, pick an enemy unit within 3" and roll a dice, on a +4 that unit suffers a mortal wound.
3. Autotinkerer: In the hero phase, you can attempt to repair a Skyvessel within 3" or one you are embarked on. on a +4 you heal one wound.
4. Aethersight Loupe:If they can already attempt to unbind a spell , they can attempt to unbind one extra spell
5. Gimlet Lens: Enemy units can never benefit from modifiers to their save or save rolls (like being in cover) from this Heroes attacks. Because Screw your cover.
6. Aethercharged Rune: Once per battle, you can change the result of a single hit, wound, damage, or save roll for this HERO to the result of your choice. Because screw your odds.

Great Endrinworks

One Skyvessel (+1 per Battalion) in your army can be equipped with the following endrinwork:

1. The Last Word: Pick a ranged weapon. If an enemy finishes a charge within 1/2" of this vessel, you can fire this weapon as if it was the shooting phase.
2. Incredible Self-healing Hull: Roll a dice in the hero phase, the ship repairs a wound on a +4.
3. Malefic Skymines: An enemy unit that can fly that ends its charge move within 1" of this ship suffers D3 mortal wounds in addition to any other ability that affects charging units.
4. Ebullient Buoyancy Aid: Your ships penalty for being overburdened is halved, rounding down. Gunhaulers must re-roll this result.
5. Prudency Chutes: If your ship is destroyed, you may re-roll any 1s when determining if the passengers survive when they bail out. Gunhaulers must re-roll this result
6. Magnificent Omniscope: Your ship can move an extra D6" instead of D3" when it uses its Aetheric Navigation ability. Gunhaulers must re-roll this result.

The City-Ports

Alternatively, a player with the KHARADRON OVERLORDS Allegiance can instead choose to represent one of the Six Major Sky-Ports. Each one has their own fixed interpretation of the code, however, the player is given access to:

• A unique Footnote to that city

• An option to select the second footnote from the table aside from "These Are Just Guidelines" (Barak-Mhornar is the exception to this rule)

• A unique command trait or artifact

• A special ability

• An additional unit to add to a Battalion

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Barak-Nar:

Uses the following Code:Respect Your Commanders, Trust Aethermatics, not Superstition

• Unique Footnote: Through Knowledge, Power: Once per battle, each of your Heroes can attempt to unbind an additional spell in the opponent's hero phase.

You may select an additional footnote from the list other than "These are just guidelines"

As well as access to the following:

• Ability: Scholars and Commanders: Add 1 to any unbinding rolls made for Barak-Nar Heroes.

• Command Trait: Champion of Progress: Friendly Barak-Nar units within 3" of your general do not have to take battleshock tests.

• A Barak-Nar Iron Sky Command Battalion can have any number of Aetheric Navigators.

Barak-Zilfin:

Uses the following code: Master Of The Skies, Don't Argue With The Wind

• Unique Footnote: There's Always A Breeze If You Look For It: Once per game, during the hero phase, one Skyvessel can move as if it were the movement phase (unless it used the Aetherspheric Endrins) It also cannot run, afterwards it is allowed to act normally, including embarking/disembarking units in the hero phase.

You may choose one additional footnote from the list other than "These are just Guidelines"

As well as access to the following:

• Ability: Superlative Sailors: Whenever a Barak-Zilfin Skyvessel suffers a mortal wound, roll a dice, it ignores it on a six. You're not gonna use this much but it's nice to have since usually, you can't save against mortal wounds.

• Artefact of Power: Aetherspheric Endrins:Basically Deep striking airships. Pick one Skyvessel It and the units it carries are now in reserve. At the beginning of your hero phases (including the first one), you can place the Ship anywhere within 9" away from the enemy units, Units inside the Skyvessel can disembark from the ship normally but must be placed 9" away from the enemy units the turn that it descends. If the vessel does not appear at the end of the game, it and the occupants are considered slain.

• A Barak-Zilfin Iron Sky Squadron can include up to one unit of Endrinriggers for each Arkanaut Frigate in the battalion.

(probably one of the better sky ports and best run obviously with lots of ships, however the fact that this Sky Port relies upon enhancing your ships which are horribly stated and points inefficient means this a real gamble. best used to skirmish foes but beware that the Skyvessels currently are not great and while this helps, you'll still struggle to get your points back if your not very careful.)

Barak-Zon:

Uses the following code: Honour is Everything, Leave No Duardin Behind

• Unique Footnote: Show them your Steel: Once per battle, in the hero phase, one of your units that is embarked in a vessel can immediately disembark and attempt to charge as if it was the charge phase (it can still attempt a second charge during the regular charge phase if the first one failed)

You may choose an additional footnote, other than "These Are Just Guidelines".

As well as the following:

• Ability: Deeds, Not Words: You can re-roll wound rolls of 1 in the combat phase for your units if they charged in the same turn. gotta make sure that alpha strike hurts!

• Artefact Of Power: Aethersped Hammer: The user can always be chosen to pile in and attack first in the combat phase no matter what. If an enemy unit has a similar ability, then the normal turn order is used.

• A Barak-Zon Iron Sky Squadron can include a unit of Skywardens for each Frigate in the Battalion.

Barak-Urbaz:

Uses the following code: Seek New Prospects, Always Take What You Are Owed

• Unique Footnote: Where There's War, There's Gold: Once per battle, in the hero phase, one of your units within 3" of an enemy can pile in and attack as if it were the combat phase, or shoot as if it were the shooting phase.

You may choose an additional footnote, other than "These Are Just Guidelines"

As well as the following:

• Ability: Khemists Supreme: Your Aether-Khemists can choose two units for it's Aetheric Augmentation Ability, rather than just one. Because you need more reasons to take this guy.

• Artefact of Power: Breath of Morgrim (Ironclad only): Immediately after you move the Ironclad that has this (and did not choose to run), pick an enemy unit within 6" and roll a dice for each model in that unit. If you at least roll one 6, that unit will suffer D3 mortal wounds.

• A Barak-Urbaz Iron Sky Command Battalion can include any number of Aether-Khemists. which is good because you want a boatload of them.

Barak-Mhornar:

Uses the following Code: Seek New Prospects, Prosecute Wars With All Haste

• Unique Footnote: Who Strikes First, Strikes Hardest:Once per battle, in your hero phase, one of your units can attempt to charge as if it was your charge phase, or pile in and attack as if it was your attack phase.

you may choose an additional footnote, which CAN be "These Are Just Guidelines".

As well as access to the following:

• Ability: Fearsome Raiders: Enemy units that take a battleshock within 3” of a Barak-Mhornar unit at 1 to the roll. Awesome.

• Command Trait: Opportunistic Privateers: In your shooting can pick an enemy unit as your target. All units within 3” of the general who fire at that target reroll misses. Amazing.

• A Barak-Mhornar Grundstok Escort Wing can include one additional Gunhauler. Meh

(the best for gunlines, and probably one of the best solely for its command trait.)

Barak-Thryng:

Uses the following Code: Settle The Grudges, Trust To Your Guns

• Unique Footnote: Honour The Gods, Just In Case: Once per battle, in any phase, you can re-roll one of your dice rolls

You may choose an additional footnote, other than "These are just Guidelines"

As well as access to the following:

• Ability: Log of Grudges: You can pick D3 enemy units for the "Settle The Grudges" artycle instead of one.

• Artefact of Power: Grudgehammer: The bearer can re-roll all failed hit and wound rolls in the combat phase if that target has a grudge on it.

• A Barak-Thryng Grundstock Escort Wing can include an additional Frigate.

Warscrolls

The common keywords for these warscrolls are: ORDER, DUARDIN, and KHARADRON OVERLORDS

Leaders

• Brokk Grungsson: Dead. Killy. 300 points of angry, overpowered dwarfen pain. Rivals a Bloodthirster in close combat, and has the amazing shooting to boot. Just about the only thing Brokk doesn't absolutely kick ass at is his defense, with fewer wounds than most monsters (only has 8), and only a 3+ armor save to keep him alive. Brokk is practically the Avatar of everything Kharadron, having the power to punch way above his weight class but being none too survivable if his opponent dedicates anything to kill him. Weirdly, despite being the Lord-Magnate of Barak-Nar, nothing in Brokk's profile is dependant on his home city, meaning you can run him in a Kharadron list of ANY Barak and get full benefit: Brokk of Mhornar for free rerolls to hit, Brokk of Thryng for rerolling 1s versus Grudge Targets, Brokk of Zilfin to give the speedy Zilfin ships some melee punch, Brokk can do it all, and he can do it in ANY Kharadron list.
• Arkanaut Admiral: His melee weapon has good hit and wound rolls (with rerolls of 1 against heroes or monsters), and good rend, but only two attacks at 2 damage... so while his attacks are quite reliable, his maximum damage output isn't great. If he's embarked in a Skyvessel then it can run and shoot. He has a choice of three command abilities, but the only really useful one is being able to allow your guys within 12" of him to disregard battleshock. You can simply wait until the battleshock phase and see if you need to spend a CP then instead, though... but to be fair, his own command ability does at least affect multiple units.
• Aetheric Navigator: Allows Skyvessels to move an extra d3". He has the ability to half the movement of any enemy unit with fly who starts their movement within 18". The Navigator is also the only source of spell unbinding without the use of a relic or Code amendment. Dubious usefulness in a competitive scenario compared to the other leader choices, but not at all completely useless.
• Aether Khemist: The main reason you take this guy - and you should definitely take at least one - is his ability to select a nearby squad, select one weapon type in that unit and then all of the guys in the unit with that weapon get +1 to its attack characteristic. e.g. you can pick your Arkanaut Company's Light Skyhooks which will give all of the skyhooks in that unit an extra shot. Good targets for this ability include Arkanaut Company with skyhooks, Endrinriggers with their saws, and Grundstok Thunderers with aethershot rifles. The khemist has a defensive ability too - in melee, enemy models within 3 inches of him suffer -1 to the attacks characteristic of their melee weapons, to a minimum of 1. He'd rather not be in melee though. Lastly, his shooting weapon is 3d6 attacks on average hit and wound, and -2 rend, a brutal anti-infantry weapon, and just all-around nasty to approach. Stick him in a Skyvessel with some Thunderers and laugh at your opponent's tears. Or treat him to the Aethershock Earbuster relic for some serious horde killing potential.
• Endrin Master:Can heal a Skyvessel for D3 wounds every hero phase (in addition to their Tireless Endrinrigger ability), a nice addition to any Ironclad. Hits pretty hard, and can try to buff himself on a 3+ to increase his damage from d3 to straight 3, letting him do a surprising amount of damage in addition to his ship-based utility.

Battleline

• Arkanut Company: Your only battleline option. They're fairly cheap, rather bad in combat and don't have great Bravery, but you're still going to need three units of them. Their pistols are okay, although short ranged, and you can also include three heavy weapons per ten dwarfs - you have a choice of: Skypike (range 2", 2 attacks, 4+ hit, 4+ wound, -2 rend, D3 damage), Light Skyhook (range 24", 1 attack, 4+ hit, 3+ wound, -2 rend, D3 damage), and Aethermatic Volleygun (range 18", 6 attacks, 5+ hit, 4+ wound, -1 rend, 1 damage). The Skypike can add a punch in melee, but that still isn't where your Arkanauts really want to be. The Skyhook has excellent range for sitting on backfield objectives. The Aethermatic Volleygun has less range but does average more damage than the Skyhook unless you are using the Khemist to buff the unit, in which case the Skyhook pulls ahead dramatically. And since you're not likely to have enough Khemists to buff every unit in your army, you might consider a sizeable unit of Arkanauts with skyhooks that you'll buff with the khemist, and then fill out your other battleline requirement with smaller units with volleyguns. As a bonus, they get a bonus to hit when attacking enemy heroes and monsters.

Behemoths

• Arkanaut Frigate: The bulk of any Skyfleet, a basic transport, and gunboat. Can carry up to 15 Duardin, but for each man over 10, it loses an inch of its movement characteristic. Armed with hull-mounted Aethershot Carbines (12" range, * attacks, 3+ hit, 4+ wound, -1 rend, 1 damage). And it can take a heavy weapon on its forecastle, you can choose between a Heavy Skycannon (18" range, 1 attack, 4+ hit, 2+ wound, -2 rend, D6 damage), and Heavy Skyhook (18" range, 1 attack, 4+ hit, 3+ wound, -2 rend, D3 damage) and if a unit is wounded by the Skyhook the Frigate can move D6" towards it. Weirdly, the Frigate is the only ship not to have fragmentation charges in melee, something both the cheaper Gunhauler has, as well as the big brother Ironclad.
• Arkanaut Ironclad: A flying Baneblade. This ship has everything: guns, armor, health, troop capacity, this ship makes the Adeptus Mechanicus shit themselves in envy. Carries up to 25 infantry in its hull, with every model past 20 slowing it, but considering the average unit size for Kharadron is 10, and all flying troops are ignored for the purposes of troop capacity, it will never be an issue. Of all the clown cars the Kharadron have, this one is the slowest (only an 8-inch move, but it's unchanged by damage), but also the toughest and hardest hitting, with three choices of hull-mounted turret: either the Great Sky Cannon, as above, the Great Skyhook, as above, and the Aethermatic Volley Cannon, essentially a minigun Cannon, with 10 shots hitting on 4s, wounding the same, and rend -1, a fantastic dakka option. As the flagship of the Kharadron fleet, the Ironclad buffs all skyvessels in a line of sight in the hero phase, either granting an extra 3 inches to shooting range, extra 2 carbine shots, rerolling 1s to hit with shooting, or retooling 1s to hit and wound against fliers. In addition, if no models get out, the ship buckles down and rerolls 1s on armor saves, making the thing even more stupidly tough. The enemy will need to bring at least a greater demon or two to kill an ironclad, more if it's even remotely supported, this skyship is nearly immortal. If you're truly feeling cruel, the Great Endrinwork Gordson's Magnificent Seal-Healing Hull lets you roll 2 d6 each hero phase, and for each 4+ you heal a wound, plus any for Endrinriggers or Endrinmasters. Let them TRY to hurt you. They will fail.

Other

• Grundstok Thunderers: Holy fuck, these got a nerf. Formerly a powerful gunline infantry that could fill up on either long-range or close range options, now they are limited to one of each special weapon per five soldiers, meaning the days of being able to take ten mortars or ten cannons are long gone. Combined with a range nerf on the mortars, the Thunderers now rely on synergy between the special weapons to do their damage at a 12 inch range, a serious nerf compared to the old "ten rocket launcher fuck you" days, but the unit still puts out a respectable weight of fire, and if everything clicks they can shred pretty much anything that doesn't have a 3+ base save. Their defenses are lacking, with only a 4+ armor save and 1 wound a piece, but honestly, it doesn't matter because they're not supposed to be in combat. One of their abilities lets them just LEAVE melee instead of fighting so that they can freely shoot their guns on your turn. Pretty cheap for the rate of fire they put out too, at only 100 points for 5, stick them in the back lines or behind your Fish of Fury and let them fire away for the rest of the game.
• Grundstok Gunhauler:A support fighter for your airfleet, has a good damage output and movement value and neither are affected by wounds taken, which is good because this thing can take wounds off of any other non-Gunhauler Skyvessel within 3" on a roll of 5+. It can be armed with either a Skycannon (18" range, 1 attack, 4+ hit, 2+ wound, -2 rend, D6 damage) or a Drill cannon (18" range, 1 attack, 4+ hit, 3+ wound, -3 rend, d3 damage, chance to spill mortals on to unit nearby your target), both are equally good choices so just pick whichever you think your army needs most. They're a little overpriced for what they do, compared to Frigates which are only 80 70 points more, and have better wounds/a carrying capacity/ more Aethershot Carbine shots.
• Endrinriggers:These are your heavy hitting assault guys. They can have a couple different ranged "upgrades", but let's be honest, you took these guys for their Aethermatic Saws. Tack these guys onto a SkyVessel with an Aether Khemist, roll up the board, unload and buff the Saws then send these crazy buggers in for 2 swings of 3+/2+ -2 with D3 damage each; ouch! As an added bonus, these guys can heal one wound off your boats each turn, for each unit of Riggers within 1". If taking multiple boats, you could equip your unit with a grapnel launcher to help get these guys where you need them. Hell, without boats the grapnel launcher can help with some major movement shenanigans, i.e. moving up to 24" at the end of the shooting phase, but you really need to make sure it's worth losing that Aether Saw attack.
• Skywardens: Okay, so, I felt a need to actually make an account so we can talk about these guys. I get it, Endrinriggers have the Saws, but the sky pike gives you some interesting opportunities as well. They give you 2 attacks each, Hitting on 4's and wounding on 3's, with a rend of -1, and the damage output of D3. The advantage that sky wardens give immediately over Endrinriggers in my mind are the potential to do more damage, even if it is harder to hit and wound the target, you have 1 more attack then the saw, making it less risky in the long run. Timed charges allow the chance for a mortal wound or two, and their own exclusive sky mines give a 1/6th chance of giving a charging fly unit a taste of mortal wounds. And if you're in matched play at all, these guys are about 20 points or so cheaper then their Endrinrigger counterparts. I'll only say the pistol is underwhelming in comparison as well, but otherwise, keep your options open. Different Author: These would be amazing if you could take them as Battleline with the right hero, but GW hates fun.

Add- They went up in points to be on the same page as Endrinriggers. Making it a very easy choice if you are not running the Grundstok Escort Wing. There is an argument that they have the potential for more damage. But Endrinriggers have a more reliable hit and wound rolls. Especially with Aether Khemist Buffs.

Add Regarding the above - if you look at said Grundstock Escort Wing's Focus Fire ability, there's nothing saying this doesn't affect melee attacks as well. Skypikes hitting on a 3+ is much more useful.

Add- Also GW made our fine moustached manly man 260 points. Making him the perfect candidate for "If Brokk Grungsson is your general Then Sky Wardens become Battle line.". Make it happen Captain!

Battalions

Aetherstrike Force

1 Knight-Venator, 3 units of Prosecutors, 1 Grundstok Gunhauler, 1 unit of Endrinriggers, and 2 units of Skywardens. 150 points. 940 points minimum.

"Marked for Destruction", if the Knight-Venator uses his Star-fated Arrow but doesn't kill the enemy unit then the other units add 1 to to hit rolls against that unit.

"Lighting-fast Volleys", in each hero phase chose a unit (besides the Venator) from this battalion to shoot as if in the shooting phase. This unit does have to be within 6" of at least 2 units.

Grand Armada

1 Arkanaut Admiral, 1 Iron Sky Command, 1 Iron Sky Squadron, and 1 Grunstok Escort Wing. 100 points. This huge formation within formations (Decurion again GW?) this will run you 4040.

"On A War Footing", In your first hero phase all SKYVESSELS can move as if in the movement phase. The ships can act normally for the remainder of your turn.

"Consitutional Experts", Keep your Admiral and another Hero from the formation on the battlefield to use your footnotes once per battle round rather then battle. Does not allow you to use These are just Guidelines though.

Grundstok Escort Wing

3 units of Grundstock Gunhaulers, 1 Arkanaut Frigate, 1-3 units of Gundstock Thunderers, & 1-3 units of Skywardens. 130 points. 940 Minimum.

"Focus Fire", at the start of your shooting phase choose an enemy, add 1 to hit rolls when shooting but all of that unit must attack that enemy. Fuck those guys in particular.

Actually, the battalion just says "Add 1 to hit rolls for any units from this battalion if all of that unit's attacks are directed against that enemy unit."  No mention of this having to be shooting.  So open fire with +1 to hit, then if there's anything left charge in with your Skywardens and enjoy the same bonus with your Skypikes!  This would go a long way towards making them a worthwhile pick over Endrinriggers.

Iron Sky Command

1 Arkanaut Ironclad, 3 heroes in any combination (Aether-Khemist, Aetheric Navigator, and Endrinmaster), 1 Arkanaut Company, and 1-3 units of Endrinriggers. Minimum points is 980.

For all this you get 2 abilities. "Lord of the Skies", friendly units within 12" of the Ironclad from the battatlion -1 to battleshock.

"Trusted Bodyguard", while a Hero is within 3" of the Arkanaut Company on a 5+ the company takes the wound or mortal wound instead of the Hero.

Iron Sky Squadron

2-10 Arkanaut Frigates & 2-10 Arkanaut Companies. 130 points. 720 points minimum.

For all this you get 2 abilities."Bold Privateers", when an Arkanaut Company disembarks from a Frigate they can reroll run and charge moves that turn. "Opening Salvo", in the first battle round add 1 to attacks for missile weapons of Frigates.

Tactics

General Tactics

• Take a Khemist. Always. +1 shots to a unit of Thunderers*? Yes please. (*Note: The Khemist only buffs the attacks characteristics of ONE weapon TYPE in a unit. This is better suited for a unit all wielding the same weapon.)
• Thunderers have been heavy, heavily nerfed, but are still a playable unit, thanks to how cheap they are. Now you can only put one of each weapon in a squad for every five soldiers, so you'll be putting out a small amount of a variety of gunshots, instead of one overwhelming blast of mortars or cannons. Still, the added synergies between the special weapons make them at least somewhat attractive if everything goes well, and if you Khymist-buff the rifles they still can put out a respectable punch at 18 inches. They're best placed in a frigate or ironclad, and marched up the board, taking part in the Age of Sigmar version of the Fish of Fury.
• Your Endrinriggers could very quickly become a very scary first wave unit. Attach them to a Frigate that you plan to send into the midfield anyway and deploy it as far forward as you dare. Now you can move 10", deploy the Endrinriggers 3" and move with them another 12". Now they can shoot with their pistols/Drillcannon and charge with their saws - both of which are very capable weapons. Add a Khemist for even more tears. now your skyvessels can disembark duardins ONLY in the hero phase, so at best you will earn 3" for the range of the disembark.
• Learn to love your clown cars. You can stuff a surprising number of duardin in each vessel, especially since skywardens and Endrinriggers both don't take up troop capacity. Zoom up the board, open up the clown car, have the shooty soldiers pile out with the skyvessel between them and their enemies, and freely shoot through your own vessel because it's flying, while being nice and safe from charges, who will have to go through the tough skyvessel first, essentially a less shitty and unbalanced version of the Fish of Fury.

Barak Nar Tactics

• All heroes may unbind spells, which they do with a +1. Once per game, all heroes may unbind an additional spell. Goodbye spell-casting; if I don't have any wizards, my opponent isn't gonna have any either!
• May also bring additional navigators, which is of dubious usefulness.
• Plenty of abilities that enhance your Battleshock tests, too. This makes Barak-Nar one of the better Skyports for never failing battleshock tests. You're still probably better off blasting your opponent into quivering jelly before they even get a chance to force Battleshock tests on you.
• Best models for Barak Nar: Heroes of any type (They get to freely try to dispell, and they gain leadership-enhancing auras), and big blobs of Arkanaut Company.

Barak Zilfin Tactics

• Aetherspheric Endrins lets you essentially Deep Strike an Ironclad. Fill it with Thunderers, a Khemist, some Arkanauts to be their meatshields and probably some Endrinriggers because this thing is going to be target priority number 1.
• There's Always A Breeze If You Look For It then gives you the ability to move another Skyvessel up the field incredibly quickly to support your Deep Striking Skyvessel (Bringing a Gunhauler 24" up to support your badass Ironclad seems like a good plan all around). Alternatively, you can use this to get your important ship way the fuck out of danger, or into a better tactical position. Never underestimate the power of rocketing your Frigate across the board to somewhere your opponent thought they were safe. Models can also Disembark after TAABIYLFI normally, making it great for quick tactical jumps from which your Endrinriggers can hop out and fuck some shit up.
• Zilfin is the thinking man's Barak. None of Zilfin's powers directly increase your army's survivability, only their mobility, making Zilfin incredibly fast, to the point that most people won't expect it.
• Best models for Barak Zilfin: Any Skyship. All your powers revolve around them.

Barak Zon Tactics

• " Show Them Your Steel: Once per battle, in your hero phase, one embarked SKYFARER can immediately disembark and attempt to charge as if it were the charge phase." - This is amazing for getting a boat-load of Endrinriggers into combat fast, at worst it is a free attempt at a large charge.
• Barak Zon's abilities all revolve around aggression. Their heroes get to reroll 1s when targeting Heroes or Monsters, you reroll 1s to wound after a charge, and you can take a magic item that gives you Always Strikes First.
• Best models for Barak Zon: Endrinriggers, Arkanaut Company with Skypikes, Arkanaut Admirals, and Endrinmasters.

Barak Urbaz Tactics

• Using Khemists Supreme, This lets your Khemists double up on their buffing, making them very useful in a gunline. Sit him next to 20 Arkanauts with 6 Skyhooks on one side, and 10 Grundstok Thunderers with Aethershot Rifles on the other. Buff them both, and let the monster-killing shots fly while anything at 18' range or less gets shredded with 32 rifle shots. If you like Gunlines, this is the Barak for you, as even in the biggest armies you'll probably need no more than 1 or 2 Khemists to buff your best weapons. Sadly, you can't buff the same weapon twice, or two weapons in the same unit, but if you enjoy MSU or even just a handful of medium-sized units this makes the hero much more efficient at what they do.
• Your Barak-specific footnote Where there's war, there's gold can also be pretty useful, as it allows you to shoot a unit in the hero phase, meaning you could buff the unit twice with khemists, shoot using the footnote, use the "There's no trading with some people" footnote to get an extra D3 mortal wounds on something, then shoot in your shooting phase for a pretty decent alpha strike.
• Best models for Barak Urbaz: Aether Khemists, Thunderers, Ironclads, and Endrinriggers.

Barak Mhornar Tactics

• Make sure you're getting the most out of Opportunistic Privateers. In your shooting phase you select one enemy unit and any of your units who target that unit and are within 3" of your general can re-roll misses. This ability is amazing. It makes weapons that seem underwhelming such as Volley guns much more viable. For example, your Arkanaut Company targets a hero or Monster giving them +1 to hit (now on 4+) then re-rolling those misses with the command trait and suddenly your 18 shot -1 rend 1 damage are going to do some serious damage. This translates well to other units, of course, Skyships normally have weak to-hit rolls, but rerolling misses makes them more reliable, and Thunderers get much more reliable if you take the full weapon array or even just Rifles.
• Our Artycle Seek New Prospects allows you to re-roll battleshock tests while in your opponent's territory. This ability is very dependent on what you are facing. Against other ranged armies, this may be useful as you move up or if you need to secure an objective on the other side of the board. Most of the time, however, it will not be very useful. Luckily we are the only Barak with access to These are Just Guidelines allowing you to swap your Artycle in the hero phase. Some people are saying you must roll for it while others say you may pick so its a bit up in the air at the moment. Either way, it gives you the opportunity to potentially get something more useful.
• Prosecute at all haste allows your units to run and shoot in the first turn. Add in an Iron Sky Squadron battalion for +1 to the attacks of all missile weapons on the frigates. You now have 2 frigates with the firepower of 4 for a turn. Add in the command ability from your general and you have some reliable and dangerous shooting for a turn.
• Best models for Barak Mhornar: Aether Khemists further your Alpha Strike and Target Deletion style very well, letting you enhance your unit's weapons with both an extra attack and rerolling failures to hit against your target. Thunderers, Skyships, and Endrinriggers all get a ton out of this.

Barak Thryng Tactics

• Settle Your Grudges lets you pick an enemy unit after everything's been set up, and for the rest of the game, you reroll 1s to hit and wound against it! Hey look, we have a Grudge to settle with Nagash/Archaon/Alarielle/Celestant Prime/Morathi/That forty man blob of Tzaangors. Great for helping troubleshoot that one thing you know will be really obnoxious, but obviously makes you a little less flexible, and if the enemy knows you're going to bully that one target, they can simply hide it all game and deny you your power (whoever wrote that said it like it's a bad thing)
• Your bravery goes up by 1 if there's no one within 3' of you. This is alright against heavy shooting armies or anyone trying to Leadership-Bomb you, but it's going to be very situational, as Kharadron are most likely to need their leadership to be good in melee.
• Oh wait, you thought you could only pick ONE target for Settle Your Grudges? Log of Grudges lets you pick d3 instead. Sometimes you'll roll a 1 or 2, but you'll have a good chance at higher because...
• Honour The Gods, Just In Case: ... This little gem. This lets you re-roll a single die, once per game. Usually not a big deal, but you could use it to reroll your d3 on Settle Your Grudges, hopefully giving you 2 or 3 units affected by your Grudges. If you roll a 3 (Or aren't feeling particularly lucky and decide to keep a 2) you can keep it for a one-time-use clutch roll. Very handy in a pinch, even if it's relatively low-impact.
• Lastly, you get the unique Artefact: Grudgehammer. This lets the hero it's equipped to reroll all failed hit and wound rolls against a Grudge'd target. Pretty nice on an Admiral or an Endrinmaster, but probably a little weak on anyone else.
• Best models for Barak Thryng: Barak Thryng doesn't really specialize in any one thing, and is a decent all-arounder who's power isn't necessarily enhancing certain units. Play what you like with this one.

Building an Army

Unfortunately, Kharadron Overlords seem to be a more expensive army to start if you really want to get your foot in the door. All Kharadron lists consist of multiple Skyvessels and of course the infantry they carry - which is a large number of kits for what can be a fairly small army, but it can be broken down into manageable chunks easily enough.

There are two sets that let you buy multiple units at a discount: the Start Collecting Kharadron Overlords, and the Battleforce Kharadron Overlords Sky-Fleet. Despite the name, the Start Collecting Box isn't a good place to start collecting, as it lacks either of the two most important units in the army, the Arkanaut Company and Arkanaut Frigate, both of which are included in the Battleforce. That isn't to say that the Start Collecting box is worthless, but it's better served as an add-on to an already existing collection. Sadly, Battleforces are always limited-time offers.

If you aren't specifically aiming for a Battalion that requires certain models, a nice and cheap starter army would consist of one of the Leaders (This author highly recommends the Admiral or the Khemist, as they require less experience and knowledge of how Kharadron work to play effectively), a box of Arkanaut Company, and a Frigate. This will be approximately 500 points, and will give you a good feel for how Kharadron play. For twenty-five bucks extra, you can get the Battleforce, which adds Skywardens/Endrinriggers and a Grundstok Gunhauler.

The Arkanaut Company are the only battleline unit for the Kharadron Overlords with a minimum size of 10, which is 1 box. So depending on the size of the game you intend to play, you'll need 2 to 3 boxes minimum (1000pt-2000pt) for matched play standards.

If you're paralyzed by choice from the faction, sit down and decide what Barak (Or Baraks, if you're feeling like swapping between them) you're most interested in playing. Obviously Barak-Zilfin wants lots of ships to take advantage of their traits, so a Frigate and a Gunhauler's probably a good place to start. If you're looking at Barak Urbaz's potential, two boxes of Thunderers and an Aether-Khemist are probably what you're looking for. Once you've got a few models under your belt, we the authors here at the glorious and perfect Tactics Page recommend a Lord Ordinator. He's just too good for the points, and works exceptionally well in most-to-all Kharadron Lists.

How to expand from there is really down to your army direction and budget. There is no real wrong way to collect them.

Age of Sigmar Tactics Articles
General Tactics	Tactics Realm Of Battle Malign Sorcery Path to Glory Skirmish
Order	Cities of Sigmar Daughters of Khaine Fyreslayers Idoneth Deepkin Kharadron Overlords Lumineth Realm-Lords Seraphon Stormcast Eternals Sylvaneth
Chaos	Beasts Of Chaos Blades of Khorne Disciples of Tzeentch Hedonites of Slaanesh Maggotkin of Nurgle Skaven Slaves to Darkness
Death	Flesh-Eater Courts Nighthaunt Ossiarch Bonereapers Soulblight Gravelords
Destruction	Gloomspite Gitz Ogor Mawtribes Orruk Warclans Sons of Behemat
Others	Monstrous Arcanum Legends Old Rules