Warmachine/Tactics/Khador: Difference between revisions
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*'''Ruin:''' The Butcher decided that he was not angry enough, so they made him a warjack that is just as angry as he is. Appropriately, Ruin is an expensive but absolutely brutal melee beatstick that will more than likely murder anything it manages to reach. It's got Reach on a Juggernaut-tier melee weapon, it dispels magical effects on anything it hits, it's almost immune to magic itself, it steals the souls of those it reaps and turns them into free focus, and it gets to charge for free (and for extra distance) when in the Butcher's control area... yeah. Basically, if you're playing the Butcher, you can't go wrong with this. For everyone else, it's still damn good. Just expensive. | *'''Ruin:''' The Butcher decided that he was not angry enough, so they made him a warjack that is just as angry as he is. Appropriately, Ruin is an expensive but absolutely brutal melee beatstick that will more than likely murder anything it manages to reach. It's got Reach on a Juggernaut-tier melee weapon, it dispels magical effects on anything it hits, it's almost immune to magic itself, it steals the souls of those it reaps and turns them into free focus, and it gets to charge for free (and for extra distance) when in the Butcher's control area... yeah. Basically, if you're playing the Butcher, you can't go wrong with this. For everyone else, it's still damn good. Just expensive. | ||
*'''Torch:''' Kommander Strakhov's personal... well, Torch doesn't really have an equivalent among Khador's normal lineup. It's as versatile as the Spriggan, as it brings a flamethrower, a decently powerful Open Fist, and a Sustained Attack murder-saw which will rip through pretty much anything to the board. It's also got Relentless Charge, smoke bombs, Gunfighter, and a handful of other special abilities that make it ideal for pairing up with Strakhov and Assault Kommandos. Since they're all immune to Fire and suchlike, Torch can just let them get stuck in and them pour napalm over the whole melee, cackling madly all the while. | *'''Torch:''' Kommander Strakhov's personal... well, Torch doesn't really have an equivalent among Khador's normal lineup. It's as versatile as the Spriggan, as it brings a flamethrower, a decently powerful Open Fist, and a Sustained Attack murder-saw which will rip through pretty much anything to the board. It's also got Relentless Charge, smoke bombs, Gunfighter, and a handful of other special abilities that make it ideal for pairing up with Strakhov and Assault Kommandos. Since they're all immune to Fire and suchlike, Torch can just let them get stuck in and them pour napalm over the whole melee, cackling madly all the while. | ||
====Colossals==== | |||
*'''Conquest:''' An artillery platform so huge it would make Patton shed tears of joy and envy. Throws out a hell of a lot of AOEs with solid POW, but due to its RAT being Khador standard (READ: fucking low) you'll probably be praying for favorable deviations most of the time, assuming that you don't want to shell out a stupid amount of focus for the attack rolls. The frequency of deviation means that it's unreliable at best - but if you don't mind being at the mercy of Lady Luck, it hits hard enough to flatten pretty much anything whenever it does connect. | |||
===Units=== | ===Units=== |
Revision as of 20:55, 25 June 2015
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Note that this page is, for the most part, a placeholder, and will be added to over the coming months. Also note that, currently, it only contains units from Prime Mk. 2 and Forces of Warmachine: Khador.
Why Play Khador?
Because you love infantry, patriotism, and patriotic infantry. Also bears, vodka, snow, and Soviet Russia.
Most people are initially drawn to Khador because of the 'jacks. You can't really blame 'em, either; Khador warjacks are big, beefy, armored to seven kinds of hell, and hit like trucks in melee. That sounds awesome. It's the rare Khador player that keeps using those 'jacks, though, because that isn't actually what the faction is about. Khador 'jacks are slow, have subpar statlines, have no arc nodes, lack ranged combat ability, and require huge amounts of focus in order to reach their full potential - something which is doubly problematic because Khador warcasters also need a lot of focus to function.
No. You come to Khador for the 'jacks. You stay for the infantry.
Khadoran infantry is everything that Khadoran 'jacks are not. They are flexible, powerful, dangerous, durable, and cheap. They're great units in their own right, and Khador packs a number of incredible support spells that can make them absolutely amazing. Khador infantry put in all the work you could ask for and more. They are the backbone of your army, and they will not rest until the job is done.
General Strategy
As mentioned above, most Khador warjacks are extremely focus-hungry and lack viable ranged options on top of being extremely slow. They can do some real damage in melee, true, but it's a rare Khador list that fields more than one or two 'jacks at a time. Unless you're playing Karchev the Terrible, the faction's dedicated 'jack-focused warcaster, you're going to be running a lot of infantry.
Fortunately, Khador has a lot of competitively viable options for foot soldiers. These range from the cheap-as-dirt Winter Guard to the heavily armored and elite Man-o'-War Shocktroopers. Iron Fang Pikemen can put the serious hurt on even heavy targets in melee. Widowmakers can chew through light infantry faster than blinking. The Assault Kommandos offer incredible board control and anti-infantry suppression. Whatever role you need filled, there is a Khador infantry squad for the job. They can shoot, they can chop, they slice and dice and if you order now you get a FREE UA. Get used to the idea of your warjacks playing support for them; most warjack selection for Khador is centered around fulfilling a role that the infantry you're taking can't, such as cracking heavy enemy 'jacks that get too close, while your infantry do the heavy lifting.
Khador's warcaster selection is as varied as its infantry. In this single faction, you have models like Supreme Kommandant Irusk, who is a purely support 'caster dedicated to buffing your infantry, and Orsus Zoktavir, the Butcher of Khardov, who just goes balls-deep in the enemy and hacks things apart on his own. As a general rule, though, Khador 'casters don't have particularly stellar FOCUS, and it's also a rare 'caster who doesn't come with at least one major buff for your infantry.
So, with such a varied faction, it's hard to put your finger on a single unified strategy, but as a general rule, Khador units prefer melee to ranged combat. While you do have some respectably shooty squads at your disposal, Cygnar is still the king of ranged combat - but that's okay, because while they cower in their trenches, your troopers are storming across the fields, bayonets fixed and pikes at the ready, preparing to crush the honorless cowards in a wave of steel and Khadoran pride.
Unit Analysis
Warcasters
- Kommandant Irusk (pIrusk): Khador is an infantry faction, and Irusk is the dedicated infantry 'caster. He's not a fighter by any means, and he doesn't have much in the way of direct offensive ability. What he does bring is a shit-ton of incredible buffs for your infantry. Fluff-wise, Irusk is a Tactical Genius who is loved by his men because he never wastes their lives; if you die under Irusk's command, it is because you could not have been saved, and your death was necessary for the glory of Khador. This relationship with his men is exemplified in his feat, Undying Loyalty, which gives all infantry in his control area Fearless, super-Tough, knockdown immunity, and bonuses to attack and damage rolls for the turn.
- Supreme Kommandant Irusk (eIrusk): Whereas pIrusk was all about buffs, eIrusk is all about positioning, with a suite of movement based spells and abilites that makes his army horrifyingly mobile. Friendly faction warriors in his CMD range gain Tough, can ignore each other when drawing line of slight, and move through each other. His Feat lets infantry ignore concealment from forests and cloud effects, gain Pathfinder, and stand up, while enemy units are slowed and cannot give or receive orders. What makes him so amazing is that he negates Khador's main weakness of being slow. Energizer gives him and his jacks an extra 3 inches of speed, Tactical Supremacy lets a unit advance 3" after everyone else, and Artifice of Deviation will let you move through rough terrain and enemy units, allowing the Kommandant to have his forces appear in places people may not expect. All while your units can move and shoot through each other, keeping them from getting in each other's way. While he's great for infantry, he doesn't have any spells designed specifically for 'jacks, so you'll have to plan accordingly.
- Karchev the Terrible: Pretty much your only option if, for some reason, you want to run Khador as a 'jack-focused army. Karchev is a crazy bastard who basically gutted a warjack, climbed inside, and now spends his time stomping around and making "brrm-brrm" noises in between bouts of murdering absolutely fucking everything. He's basically a warjack himself, only with the ability to cast spells. He makes his warjacks pretty terrifying, but they're still going to have focus issues. Hilariously fun, but not particularly competitive.
- Zevanna Agha, the Old Witch of Khador (Old Witch): One of Khador's best 'casters, but tricky as all hell to play. She's basically Baba Yaga, with Scrapjack being her little cottage, and she brings in Freddy Krueger's glove for added bonus points. She loves terrain, and has a lot of board control spells that are absurdly powerful if used properly but take a lot of thought to get right. She also has the ability to harvest souls from any infantry she kills in melee, which she can do en masse thanks to her spell Avatar of Slaughter. Just make sure you save enough focus to teleport her away again with Unseen Paths, because she's not particularly durable.
- Scrapjack: The Old Witch's personal warjack, Scrapjack is unique in a number of ways. He's the only light 'jack in the entire Khador arsenal, as well as the only arc node. Like her, he's fast and tricky, a glass cannon with a lot of tricks up his sleeve rather than an outright brawler. His main purpose is to facilitate the use of Avatar of Slaughter; when the Old Witch casts it on herself, she'll need to teleport back to him, and when she can't get into position, he's going to need to use it to teleport back to her. Be sure to keep him alive, because without him, the Old Witch loses a lot of her potential.
- Kommander Sorscha Kratikoff (pSorscha): A hybrid support and assassination 'caster. pSorscha is the warcaster included in the Khador battlebox, and she's a great choice for new players due to her flexibility. She has the spell list to supplement a wide variety of army styles, and can actually run a few 'jacks semi-efficiently. She's got solid buffs and a few strong damage sources, so she's a great all-rounder, and she's surprisingly mobile due to Wind Rush. Most players use her as an assassin, though, because her feat inflicts Stationary on everything she can see, so if your opponent slips up for even one turn, she can Wind Rush into position, lock the entire army into place, and then calmly slice the enemy 'caster to ribbons.
- Forward Kommander Sorscha Kratifkoff (eSorscha): Sorscha, ANGRY Edition. eSorscha trades in some of pSorscha's versatility for a focus on infantry and murder. She's got several of Khador's signature infantry buffs, including Iron Flesh, on top of the absolutely brutal Cyclone, which makes her incredibly hard to lock down and very dangerous in melee. She's less capable of running 'jacks due to her increased focus hunger, but her increased personal power is well worth it.
- Kommander Strakhov: The Rushin' Russian. This guy is all about speed, speed, speed. He's gotta go fast. He's not much of a threat in direct combat, but he has a lot of ways to make your guys more mobile, which is great for the usually-cumbersome Khador forces. He plays especially well with Assault Kommandos, whom he grants Pathfinder, but it's important to note that he's focus-hungry even by Khador standards, so more than one or two efficient 'jacks will overload him - and even in light combat, he's not going to have much left over to boost his own ARM, so he's going to be damn squishy.
- Vladimir Tzepesci, The Dark Prince (Vlad1): Having a hard time figuring out who you should start with? The Dark Prince is a solid bet. He's very straightforward to play: use Signs and Portents to make your models hit harder, Boundless Charge to get your warjacks into combat, and then Blood of Kings and Wind Wall to make him nearly unkillable (throw in a War Dog for added amusement) when the match approaches end-game.
- Vladimir Tzepesci, The Dark Champion (Vlad2): This is the Dark Prince, Infantry Edition. His power-up is now reactionary and contingent on being damaged, but now he can more actively support infantry with everything from his feat to his spell selection. He's still decent for warjack support and has a mean endgame, though not as mean as his previous incarnation. Otherwise, the things that were said for Vlad1 still apply here. Hand of Fate is Signs and Portents Lite - a single unit at half cost. With Blood of Kings gone, he's not quite the beatstick he used to be, but he can get free boosted melee attacks and Parry. Don't fall into the trap of letting your opponent damage him hoping to proc Might of Kings. It's not worth risking your 'caster's death.
- Vladimier Tzepesci, Great Price of Umbrey (Vlad3): Dracula, Cavalry Edition. Mobile, but not quite as durable as his previous incarnations despite increased ARM; he lacks Blood of Kings or any equivalent, so he's not as tough as he appears. He is extremely mobile, though, and helps to make the entire rest of your army mobile as well. Also hits like a truck on the charge.
- Koldun Kommander Aleksandra Zerkova (pZerkova): A Russian secret agent sexy wizard femme fatale with a sweet hat. Incredibly squishy, so you absolutely must keep her protected at all times, but she brings some incredibly powerful and flexible spells to the table. She also carries an array of artifacts which allow her to add little twists to every spell she casts, like giving it longer range or making it cost less focus. Provides a laundry list of toolbox spells ranging from pure damage to defense to area denial and more. Tricky to play, but quite powerful if used correctly.
- Orsus Koztavir, The Butcher of Khardov (Butcher1): The Butcher is the iconic melee monster in Warmahordes. He takes playing like you got a pair and cranks that shit up to eleven - he plays like he's got everyone else's pairs as well, and he's hacking them open with his trademark battleaxe, Lola. He has the highest MAT of any warcaster in the game, and can be expected to reliably connect on every single attack he makes - and anything he hits will die, because Lola swings on P+S 16 with Reach, Weapon Master, Magical Weapon, and Fury backing it up. He also brings Iron Flesh along for the ride, so he can still offer some decent support to infantry, which is good, because despite his monstrous damage output, he's still a giant target. While he's far more durable than your standard 'caster, he'll still die to concentrated fire, so throwing him in thoughtlessly is still not a good idea (but it is awesome).
- Kommander Orsus Zoktavir (Butcher2): Remember everything you just read about the original Butcher? Yeah, crank that shit up to eleven. Butcher2 hits even harder, and, as an added bonus, hits everything within 2" on all sides when he swings. Lola just got that much sexier, and the Butcher got tankier to match - and he now brings along the Homicidal Maniac ability, which lets him move forward and become a murder-cyclone again every time he kills something. On the other hand, while he's now an absolutely ludicrous personal threat, he doesn't play nice with others and offers very little support to the rest of your army. In order to seize victory as Butcher2, you must take all restraint you have and rip it out of your frontal cortex. There is no subtlety here, no tactical genius, no grand strategy. Just whip that massive dick out and beat your opponent to death with it.
- Kommander Zoktavir, the Butcher Unleashed (Butcher3): Once again, the Butcher has gone completely fucking insane. The Butcher Unleashed is so filled with RAEG that he gives Angron a run for his money. In fact, he is so filled with rage that his pathetic mortal frame cannot contain it all, and he brings a long a pair of two-headed demon dogs to act as extensions of his murder-boner - and he gets EVEN ANGRIER if they die. He doesn't have Butcher2's delicious full-circle attack arc, but he does have the Flashing Blade spell, which means he puts out almost as much damage regardless - and he's much more mobile as well, with an absolutely ludicrous threat range that will make any enemy 'caster shit themselves in terror. Again, he packs no support for the rest of your army. Fuck buffs. The Butcher will ride to victory on his massive ten-foot dick or die trying.
- Kommander Harkevich, The Iron Wolf: An alternative to Karchev the Terrible if, for some reason, you want to run a lot of 'jacks but don't want to play as a dude who gutted one and rides around in it. He brings a lot of different buffs for your warjacks, making them much more mobile and allowing them to fire their ranged weaponry more often than would normally be possible, but his main spell, Fortune, works on both infantry and 'jacks - it lets you re-roll missed attacks, which is incredible.
Warjacks
Khador does not have any light warjacks, save for Scrapjack, who is a special case covered in the Warcaster section (as he's a Companion to the Old Witch). It also has no arc nodes, and its 'jacks tend to have exceptionally low RAT and SPD as well. The only saving grace for Khadoran warjacks is that they are durable as all hell and hit like a ton of bricks in melee, but they still tend to be exceptionally focus-hungry, which means that your average Khador army will only run two 'jacks at the most - and it's not uncommon to see just one.
Your warjacks to exist to do what your infantry cannot. Most of the time, this means killing the enemy heavy warjacks. As such, most of the time what you'll be looking for in a Khador warjack is melee murder power. Your 'jacks will tend to sit around the back line until the enemy 'jacks start getting frisky, at which point you proceed to linebacker them to death. Ranged options are generally not what you need, and aren't as good at downing heavies, so shooty 'jacks don't tend to be used much - especially given Khador's abysmal RAT.
- Berserker: A big metal brute armed with a pair of battleaxes. The Berserker swings with respectable P+S and can do some decent damage to enemy heavies if it hits, and, if both connect, it can Headbutt for free. It also runs and charges for free, making it pretty focus-efficient - which is a damn good thing, because it's otherwise fucking abysmal. Low SPD, low MAT, squishy as far as Khador goes, and it might fucking explode if you try to allocate focus to it so it sucks less. Outside of some extremely aggressive 'jack-focused lists (hello Karchev), not worth the points.
- Decimator: A solid option for a combined arms weapon platform, the Decimator sports a Revolver Cannon and a fuckheug chainsaw. The cannon probably isn't going to do much, since, like all Khador 'jacks, its RAT is in the shitter, but it's a nice bonus. The real reason you take the Decimator is for the saw, which can rip through enemy heavies stupidly fast if you're willing to feed it the focus to do so. Unfortunately, focus comes at a premium in Khador, and there are more focus-efficient heavy-killers available. Far from the worst option available, though.
- Demolisher: A ranged Devastator armed with some powerful AOE guns. Also comes with Gunfighter and the ability to make base-to-base allies immune to blast damage, which is awesome. Otherwise just a Devastator.
- Destroyer: The worst 'jack in the entire Khador lineup. Expensive as all hell, because it tries to excel at both melee and ranged combat - but if it's doing one, it's not doing the other, and you're paying for both, so it's only ever worth half as many points as you paid. The only time you actually want something like this is when you're playing an army specifically built to take advantage of it, particularly if your warcaster is someone like Harkevich who can offset the thing's abysmal RAT. Otherwise, not even worth considering - and even if you do build around it, that means that you aren't building around something better instead.
- Devastator: You only need to know one thing about the Devastator: 25 ARM. Yeah, fuck you. Pain does not exist. This thing trundles around the board in an invincible turtle shell and laughs off pretty much everything thrown at it, but other than being unkillable it really just exists to push enemy models out of the way, because it can't attack without opening its shields and reducing itself to a pitiful ARM 17. It can still trample and slam while keeping the shields closed, though, so have fun with that. Not necessarily the best 'jack out there, but god damn if it isn't awesome.
- Grolar: A relatively new but much-loved 'jack option. The Grolar is based on the Kodiak chassis, so it shares the same basic statline but brings a different weapon set to the table. It's packing a massive hammer with solid P+S and auto-knockdown (awesome), an Open Fist (solid), a giant fucking autocannon with a ridiculous rate of fire (great), and Gunfighter (fucking amazing). It's also quite fast and has Pathfinder, so it's more mobile than most Khador options. On the other hand, it's extremely focus-hungry, particularly if you want to get a decent number of shots out of the gun, and the gun itself isn't any better than a standard Winter Guard blunderbuss, so it's not hitting particularly hard to back up its monstrous rate of fire. Basically, it's a few extra shots during the first few turns of the game and then a melee beatstick for the rest. A solid choice, if not quite the best.
- Juggernaut: The archetypal Khador warjack. No frills, all fury. The Juggernaut is slow, tanky, and hits like a goddamn truck in melee due to its Ice Axe. On the other hand, it doesn't bring anything else to the table, beyond the distant chance of Critical: Freeze going off. It's not going anywhere fast, but it hurts like a sonofabitch when it gets there, assuming that it doesn't get tarpitted on the way. A solid choice for heavy armor cracking.
- Kodiak: Another of Khador's primary anti-heavy options, this one trades in a bit of melee power for added speed, versatility, and focus efficiency. It's one of the most mobile 'jacks Khador can field, despite its low SPD, because it has Pathfinder and Heavy Boiler (which lets it run for free). It's hard to slow down, since any infantry without Reach that try to engage it will just explode in a cloud of steam next turn, and since both of its weapons are Open Fists, it has access to a greater range of power attacks than the Juggernaut. On the other hand, it doesn't have an Ice Axe, so it doesn't hit quite as hard - but if both of its Open Fists connect, it gets to make a power attack for free, which makes it surprisingly threatening in a brawl despite its lower P+S. One of the most popular choices for any Khador army.
- Marauder: The Marauder tries to fill the same anti-armor role as both the Kodiak and the Juggernaut, but doesn't perform as well as either. It is neither as mobile or as focus-efficient as the Kodiak, and it doesn't hit as hard as the Juggernaut. Even its Combo Smite ability is inferior to the Kodiak's melee options, since the Kodiak gets to hit with both hands and knock the target away with a double-handed throw or something similar.
- Spriggan: An extremely unusual but very effective 'jack, the Spriggan doesn't have anything even approximating an equivalent in the rest of the Khador lineup. In the right army list, the Spriggan is an irreplaceable and murderously effective machine, but it does have to be in the right list. It isn't as fantastic at cracking heavy targets in melee as the Kodiak or the Juggernaut, and since this is usually what you want your 'jacks to do in a Khador army, it certainly isn't going to fit in every list, but it does bring a powerful lance (which, uniquely among Khador's 'jacks, has Reach and is awesome) and a pair of grenade launchers. Its grenade launchers are primarily useful for their ability to shoot flares at enemies, which strips away Camouflage, Stealth, and clouds and leaves them ripe for shooting by other targets. Its lance, meanwhile, gives it one of the largest threat ranges of any Khador 'jack. It's especially powerful with 'casters that can give it increased mobility. Tricky to use, but it's an invaluable tool in certain strategies.
Character Warjacks
- Beast 09: A Juggernaut variant with an attachment for Sorscha, Beast 09 is an absolute monster in melee even by Khador's standards. It brings that delicious Ice Axe that all Juggernaut users already know and love, but sweetens the deal by throwing in Thresher and Reach, which lets it absolutely shred infantry, and a higher MAT than your standard Juggernaut, making it much more reliable. He gets to move whenever he's hit, he can spend focus for an additional die on attack rolls versus living enemy models, he runs for free, and when he's with Sorscha, he gets to re-roll charge and slam attacks, so he'll almost always connect. Expensive, but he certainly brings the tools to earn his keep. The main weakness is that Beast 09 has a rep, and as such is a giant fucking fire magnet for any enemy with half a brain.
- Behemoth: Big B. The original Colossal, before Privateer Press realized that they could make fuckheug models and charge fuckheug prices. Expensive as all hell, but an absolute terror on the tabletop. It brings a pair of Bombards on top of two Open Fists, all of which are much more powerful than their middling damage would initially suggest. For starters, the Bombards have fantastic range (by Khador standards, anyway), and the Open Fists both have Armor Piercing, so Big B can actually throw down even with high-ARM monstrosities like the Devastator. Then there's the real money: Big B can fire the Bombards while in melee, and can be allocated bonus focus just for them. He's big, he's tanky, and he's going to kill a hell of a lot of shit before he goes down.
- Black Ivan: A slightly less shitty Destroyer. More durable and less terrible at range, but really only worth taking if you're playing Harkevich, since it gets boosted ranged attack rolls while paired with him.
- Drago: Vladimir Tzepesci's personal Berserker. Drago fixes one of the Berserker's main problems by having a MAT score that isn't complete ass. It also doesn't explode if Vladimir is the warcaster controlling it and it uses focus, so that's another of the big issues taken care of, and if it connects with both of its initial attacks, it can just go fucking nuts and turn into a blender that kills everything around it. Awesome if you're running Vlad, and still works if you're using Harkevich, but isn't that great with anyone else.
- Ruin: The Butcher decided that he was not angry enough, so they made him a warjack that is just as angry as he is. Appropriately, Ruin is an expensive but absolutely brutal melee beatstick that will more than likely murder anything it manages to reach. It's got Reach on a Juggernaut-tier melee weapon, it dispels magical effects on anything it hits, it's almost immune to magic itself, it steals the souls of those it reaps and turns them into free focus, and it gets to charge for free (and for extra distance) when in the Butcher's control area... yeah. Basically, if you're playing the Butcher, you can't go wrong with this. For everyone else, it's still damn good. Just expensive.
- Torch: Kommander Strakhov's personal... well, Torch doesn't really have an equivalent among Khador's normal lineup. It's as versatile as the Spriggan, as it brings a flamethrower, a decently powerful Open Fist, and a Sustained Attack murder-saw which will rip through pretty much anything to the board. It's also got Relentless Charge, smoke bombs, Gunfighter, and a handful of other special abilities that make it ideal for pairing up with Strakhov and Assault Kommandos. Since they're all immune to Fire and suchlike, Torch can just let them get stuck in and them pour napalm over the whole melee, cackling madly all the while.
Colossals
- Conquest: An artillery platform so huge it would make Patton shed tears of joy and envy. Throws out a hell of a lot of AOEs with solid POW, but due to its RAT being Khador standard (READ: fucking low) you'll probably be praying for favorable deviations most of the time, assuming that you don't want to shell out a stupid amount of focus for the attack rolls. The frequency of deviation means that it's unreliable at best - but if you don't mind being at the mercy of Lady Luck, it hits hard enough to flatten pretty much anything whenever it does connect.
Units
- Assault Kommandos: Anti-Infantry with a few neat tricks. Ignore cloud and gas affects, are immune to corrosion and fire, can form Shield Wall and have an order that lets them run or charge after shooting. Good against light infantry but will struggle against heavy infantry. They also suffer from bad RAT.
- Assault Kommando Flame Thrower: Decent range Flaming spray weapon, explodes in an AOE that sets everyone on fire(which Kommandos are immune too) when he dies.
Additionally the key object in the so-called "Khador Handgrenade". Take a Jack with 2 open fists and throw those fuckers at the enemy frontline. Every blood spilled for the Empress is good blood. And she prefers it hot.
- Battle Mechaniks: Because the moment your bigass Jacks get scratched you can simply unscratch them. Played right your opponents will have to focus down one warjack a turn or else have the battle mechaniks fix most of the damage. Essential if you run Kharchev the Terrible as it keeps him spry and ready to headstomp bitches.
- Battle Mechanik Officer: Lets your mechaniks unscratch Man-O-Wars in addition to warjacks.
- Greylord Ternion: Three Ice spray attacks for four points? Yes please. Their other two spells are situational, though handy when you need them. The spray attack they provide is what makes them a reliable investment, however. Ternions and Widowmakers are the two most useful units for general support in Khador. Pair them with a Koldun Lord that's marshalling a Juggernaut or Berserker for added hilarity.
- Doom Reavers: A glass cannon unit. They have high MAT and deal a ton of damage, but they lack of any armor means they're use frail as you'd expect. They also have Berserk, so they can easily devastate tarpit units, but it also means they can end up attacking something you don't want them to if you aren't careful.
- Greylord Escort: Prevents the Doom Reavers from attacking each other, very good. Also not a bad fighter on his own.
- Iron Fang Pikemen: Armored infantry with Shield Wall and Combined Melee Attack, meaning they can prove quite deadly against warrior models and jacks/beasts. If you don't have the attachments for Winter Guard, consider using these as their armor and numbers mean they can also make a good speed bump.
- Iron Fang Officer & Standard: The officer grants Iron Fangs Pathfinder when charging and lets them make a full movement and shield wall after their initial activation once per game. Overall very useful. The Standard Bearer on the other hand just stands around with a banner, and no melee weapon whatsoever.
- Iron Fang Uhlans: Coming soon.
- Kossite Woodsmen: Bleh. Fairly poor for their points, in theory you can force your opponent's deployment forward and away from the flanks with a few units. Or you could field more Winterguard or Ironfangs to kick much more ass?
- Kayazy Assassins: Sneaky fuckers with daggers, not an assassin unit like other factions roll with, but quite good at drawing attention away from your army as your opponent needs to commit anti-stealth to deal with them and they will kill any single wound infantry sent after them that aren't tarpits. Armies with solos or small units that like to camp on the flanks or the rear are prime targets for some stabbiness. Not a super important unit but good with some lists especially ones that like to have something to disrupt the enmies formation like the Old Witch. Putting Iron Flesh on them is a classic "uber-strategy," effectively rendering them immune to everything but templates.
- Kayazy Assassin Underboss: Essential upgrade as it gives a good boost and adds another set of knives to enter some one's jugular vein.
- Man-O-War Bombardiers: Clocking in with five blast AoE's per turn, the Bombardiers make a terrifying lawn mower. Point them in the direction of your opponent's infantry and watch them disappear. If somehow the infantry manage to close with them, they do almost as much damage in close combat as they do at range. Durable, eight health boxes a pop, and the many infantry-boosting casters of Khador make Bombardiers a very good choice, especially with Iron Flesh (as you don't need to worry about charging them). Combine with a Spriggan to mow down Bane Thralls, Mage Hunter Strike Force, and all the other irritating Stealthed units that see regular play.
Alternate take: Good lord do these suck. Low stats acrossed the board where a shooting model should not have them. Speed. Speed 4. Range 10. Rat 5. They cant hit the broad side of a fuking colossal. If you must run man o war take the shock troopers and an iron fang kovnick to speed them up. A max unit of these fuckers will set you back the same cost as Beast-09. And $50.00. Piss away that paycheck.
- Man-O-War Demolition Corps: Apply hammer to face, repeat. Demolition Corps can threaten everything from Heavy Warjacks to swarms of infantry. They're tough, they're effective, and if you have something like Bombardiers to force your opponents to close with you or else take heavy casualties at range, they can bring the pain.
- Man-O-War Shocktroopers: Your light warjack replacement, and a very effective one at that. Clocking in at 5 fellows for nine points, the Shocktroopers are exceptionally useful. Khador 'jack level armor (with shield wall), cannons built into their shields, Reach weapons with high POW+S, and eight health boxes a pop means that most armies will have a hard time getting past them at all, and they won't be unscathed.
- Widowmakers: Heavy Infantry's worst nightmare. All the ARM in the world doesn't matter if a Widowmaker aims at your single health box. They quickly lose efficiency against anything with more than one health box, but you have lots of other heavy-hitting options for those. Take them with a Spriggan for killing Stealthed units quickly and reliably.
- Winter Guard Infantry: Rank and file troops. Not so tough starting out, but if you invest points into their attachments and field them with the right warcaster and solos, WATCH OUT.
- Winter Guard Officer & Standard: Coming soon.
- Winter Guard Infantry Rocketeer: Adds a nice long range blast to the unit. Good for taking out high DEF low ARM models that the rest of the unit have trouble with.
- Winter Guard Field Gun Crew: Coming soon.
- Winter Guard Mortar Crew: Coming soon.
- Winter Guard Rifle Corps: Winterguard that cost more and have weaker but longer range rifles, have a special abilty that lets them pull down an AoE depending on size and either be 3" to 5" that any thing entering or existing it takes a strength ten hit automatically great for stealth units or funneling units.
Character Units
- Great Bears of Gallowswood: Fun unit of badasses, works best against infantry that aren't going to tarpit them or just squish them in one attack. Each guy gives a buff to the rest of the unit, but is lost when they die.
- Volkov: Unit Officer, grants Pathfinder to the unit when charging.
- Kolsk: Makes the unit immune to knockdown.
- Yarovich: Gives the unit Circular vision(counts every angle as front arc).
Solos
- Koldun Lord: Coming soon.
- Manhunter: Steampunk Spetznaz. Run in, hack your opponent with axes, repeat. Squishy but fun. Best used as a distraction, as the threat of them hurting and or tying up a unit can be quite annoying.
- Man-O-War Drakhun: One word. Durability. ARM 19 with 10 boxes, and immunity to knockdown while mounted is bad enough. When your opponent finally does kill him he comes back as a full 8 box solo on foot. Other than that his MAT and RAT are only one point better than traditional Man-O-Wars, and has the same gear as Shock Troops but with weapon master on the annihilator blade.
- Man-O-War Kovnik: Coming soon.
- War Dog: Khador's attachment for their warcasters. The most important part of the War Dog is that it increases the survivability of its attached caster against melee attacks. While its counter-charge ability is decent, that +2 DEF against melee attacks and immunity to back strikes is what you're paying the point for.
- Widowmaker Marksman: Sniper solo. Has a more powerful gun than the standard widowmaker, stealth, and a leadership ability granting swift hunter, which allows a 2 inch advance after destroying a model. Can really let you play your widowmakers a little more aggressively, as they get a 2 inch retreat if they make their kill.
- Iron Fang Kovnik: Support Solo with Commander, and Jack Marshall. Can buff the speed of one Shield Wall unit, and makes Iron Fangs immune to knock down while he's nearby. He's got weapon master and reach. Iron Fangs are the ideal synergy unit but MoW Shock Troops and Assault Kommandos can also benefit, Shock Troops in particular to buff their slow speed.
Character Solos
- Fenris: Holy shit the rape train is here!!! Take a Doomreaver stick him on a fuckhuge horse give him two fuckhuge swords and you have a retardedly killy model. He even chooses when to make his berserk attacks on his own and any doomies near him. Not to mention with how mount rules function he has an incredible amount of speed and additional attacks for running over models.
- Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich: For 2pts Kovnik Joe brings so many buffs to Winter Guard its not even funny. He can give one of three buffs per turn, either giving +3 STR, Tough and Fearless, or boosted attack rolls. Joe is a staple of a lot of Winter Guard 'deathstars' for good reason.
- Uhlan Kovnik Markov: Kovnik Stalin is more or less a Unit Attachment for your maxed-out Uhlan Unit who will greatly appreciate being fearless. He might be a Uhlan himself but he has no Relentless Charge. This & his semi-high cost will make him a very rare sight picked on his own.
- Yuri the Axe: Coming soon.
- Kovnik Andrei Malakov: Coming soon.
Battle Engines
- Gun Carriage: SPD 7, huge AOE cannons that make rough terrain, is a cavalry unit, Weapons Platform, and can make trample attacks. FUCK YES. Its low RAT means it has trouble hitting but the fact that the cannons make where ever they land rough terrain makes this an after thought, since it'll effectively handicap whatever it doesn't kill.
Colossals
- Conquest:
- Victor: Replaces the cannons of the Conquest with a single fuck huge siege mortar, and a pair of smaller gating guns. The big gun is inaccurate but has a large AOE with several effects, ranging from dropping DEF, creating rough terrain, or setting everything on fire.