Khador
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Khador is one of the eponymous Iron Kingdoms and one of the main factions in Warmachine. They are stereotypical "Russian" country, blending late Tsarist Russia with the Soviet Union. They like snow, bears, snow, men that act like bears, and heavy industry (like mining). Khador is a bitterly cold and icy land that is frozen five months out of the year, with few natural resources beyond metal and ore, where the land itself and the elements are likely to kill you. However this has strengthened its people, who are known to endure hardships that would break anyone else. They have a seething hatred of the Southern Kingdoms especially Cygnar, whom they believe are always plotting against them.
History
Before the Orgoth came through conquered the lands of Immoren and enslaved everyone, Khador was a massive empire with huge tracks of land, having fought and conquered many of its neighbors. When the Orgoth took over Khador got the worst of the occupation. Even after they were defeated and pushed out countless Orgoth ruins remain scattered throughout the land. After the human Kingdoms pushed out the Orgoth Khador was "betrayed" when large portions of its former Empire were given to the newly formed Kingdoms of Llael and Ord.
Khador was naturally pissed and went to war with the two nations a short time later, though they were always stopped by Cygnar. Recently however between the new Empress and Irusk they've gotten their shit together, taking over Llael and a good chunk of Ord. Recently they've postponed their war with Cygnar to deal with the threat of Cryx.
Khador has few cortexes to build warjacks. To compensate for this they use only heavy jacks which can be salvaged and rebuilt over and over, reusing the same cortex. To compensate for their lack of light jacks they have Man-o-Wars, which are basically elite warriors wearing steam-powered armour. The rest of Khador's army is primarily made up of the Winter Guard, a stereotypical "Russian conscripts" army. However, Khador doesn't just drown then enemy with bodies; in fact, the High Kommander nearly killed himself in shame for daring to think of his men as just numbers. Khador is winning the current war by fighting smart and adapting to Cygnar's tactics (as proven by the existence of the Assault Kommandos).
The High Kommand is willing to make use of nearly any advantage, no matter how inhumane it may seem, be it the use of Doom Reavers or gas and flamethrowers by their Assault Kommandos. The rarity of Warcasters in particular ensures that huge exceptions are made to accommodate them as long as the do their duty. The best example of this is Orsus, who is known to literally lose his mind in battle, but is kept in command as he continues to produce results.
Unlike Cygnar and the Protectorate of Menoth, Khador has few religious tensions*. They put far more importance in national loyalty: it doesn't matter whether you worship the Twins (Morrow and Thamar) or the Old Faith (Menoth), as long as you were born and bred in Khador. This is because, unlike the other regions (which are largely ethnically homogeneous), the "Khadorans" are actually made up of a number of different races that don't have much to do with each other outside a common cultural basis. The concept of a "Khadoran" nation is relatively recent in their history, which is why it's so important to them.
- The exception is that they banned Hierarch Severius of the Protectorate. This isn't because he caused trouble or anything; it's just that, last time he came, he left with thousands of converts.
Crunch
On the table Khador is known for being the most durable faction in the game. They're also largely close combat oriented, with a lot of melee units, with many spells based around boosting damage and increasing durability. Khador is not as advanced as some of the other factions, and their weapons reflect this, focusing less on neat tricks and doing more direct damage.
While largely close combat oriented Khador is easily capable of dealing damage at range, from the elite Widowmakers whole pick off the heaviest single HP models to Winter Guard Rockets and mortars with powerful AOE blasts.
Khador jacks are the toughest in Warmachine, with high STR and ARM. This comes at the cost of SPD and lower stats. Khador jacks can have a problem hitting their targets due to their lower MAT and RAT, and will want to given Focus to boost their rolls. Khador jacks also have a somewhat inaccurate reputation for being slow, while they all have a SPD of 4' a lot of Khador's warcasters have spells to boost this, with several jacks having traits that allow them to run or charge without spending focus giving them unexpected maneuverability.
Characters
Orsus Zoktavir "The Butcher of Khardov"- The High Kommand's pet mad man and, Rip and Tear incarnate. Infamously lost his shit when attacking a rebel town, slaying the traitors and his own men when they tried to stop him. Instead of being executed the Empress said "why let perfectly good mad man go to waste?" and pardoned him, if only to ensure loyalty by threatening to send him to any traitor's front door. As the name suggests he's monstrous in close combat, if its in his melee range its gonna die.
Sorscha Kratikoff- The postergirl of Khador and during 1st edition the postergirl of what it means to be broken beyond broken. Shes known as the Ice Queen,(or Freezing Bitch depending on which of her men you ask) to everyone but Prince Vladimir whom she is in love with. She has it in for Orsus since he killed her dad in his infamous rampage, leaving him to die in a battle, only for him to return later.
Vladimir Tzepesci- The Not-Dracula of Not-Transylvania. Has been contemplating a rebellion against Not-Russia for a long time. Oddly, despite his appearance, probably one of the better-off casters in Khador, morally-speaking.
Irusk- The Sun Tzu of Warmachine. His childhood was spent learning Khadoran military strategy from his dad before he enlisted at the age of twelve. He's a military genius and even wrote his own version of the Art of War.
Aleksandra Zerkova- Khador's resident mad scientist. Ahem, that is to say she is an occult researcher, archaeologist and historian, raiding old tombs and temples, looking for ancient secrets and artifacts that can be used against Khador's enemies. In addition to being a warcaster shes knows extremely powerful magic and carries a number of ancient artifacts augmenting her abilities.
Karchev- Karchev the Terrible is a living warmachine, a century year old warcaster who's been entombed inside a warjack. Karchev was a veteran warcaster during the Thornwood war where his body was destroyed in a struggle against a Cygnaran warcaster. He asked for a metal body to continue fighting and got it a short time(10 years) later in the form of a modified Bezerker Chassis. Since then he's chugged along getting a new body every couple years. His status has elevated him to a living national treasure, though it hasn't done his mind any favors.
Zevanna Agha- What would Not-Russia be without its Not-Baba Yaga? The Old Witch is older than the Orgoth, perhaps even the embodiment of Khador itself. Though not technically part of the army, the Empress has put out standing orders to let her requisition whatever troops and 'jacks she needs if she ever randomly shows up and asks for them. Her chicken-legged scrapjack follows her around, arcing spells and teleporting with her.
Strakhov- Not-KGB agent, turned Not-Spetznas commander. During the Llael war Strakhov crippled the nation's war effort making way for Khador to steam-rolled the shit out of them. Rusky was so impressed he put him in charge of training the Assault Kommandos. While Strakovs usually under Irusks command he's got a bad habit of going rogue and carrying out his own missions without waiting for approval. The only thing keeping him from being punished is that they usually end in success.
Harkevich- The Not-Rommel, Iron Wolf Harkevich is Khador's head of the occupation of Llael and in charge of repairing all the wreck people like Orsus caused. Unsurprising he's not very happy about the mess his countrymen left as most of the infrastructure is in ruins and mass unrest form the local, also because he's a total bro and found it unnecessarily harsh. For the most part he's been extremely successful turning the land form a WWII ruin city to better than new, with many Llaels finding Khador's new rule a massive inproment. Also helps that he's made a stance on the Protectorate of Menoth :liberation" protecting refugees form the crazed zealots. Unlike most Khador's warcaster Harkevich is a range base rather than close combat, relaying more on Warjacks than troops, which is good since his main spell allows warjacks to fire a free shot.
Khadoran Military
Khador's army is broken down in these groups.
Assault Kommandos: Cygnar's main defense is trench warfare and these guys are design to counter this. Armed with Magtek nightvison goggles shields and guns with gas grenade launchers. They sneak in a trenchline and wreak havoc allowing for the Winter Guard to safely cross no man's land. They're immune to Fire and Corrosive damage, two of the other factions main element types, and ignore cloud effects.
Greylords: Greylords are Khador's order of wizards. When Khador's king called for Khador's people to return home decades after the end of the Orgoth war many Wizard of Khadoran descent answered, taking all the secrets they had learned and most importantly the secret of cortex manufacturing with them. These wizard went on to from the Greylord's covenant, specializing in ice magic and finding Orgoth artifacts to use as weapons against Khador's enemies.
Men-O'-War: Since Khador lacks light warjack they just put the best, strongest Winter Guard in steampunk power armor, THEY DIE IN STEAM! They're relatively expensive for a squad but each one has multiple hit points. Come in three varieties, Bombardiers with grenade launcher chainsaws. Demolition Corps with giant freezing hammers, and Shocktroopers with their class axe and cannon-shield combo.
Iron Fangs: The oldest type of warriors hailing all the way back to the days before the Iron Kingdoms. Simply put they're heavily armored troops with spears, now they're used as anti-warjack units given spears with exploding tips. Come in cavalry form as Uhlans.
Winter Guard: The backbone of Khador's army. All men are conscripted while women are only volunteer, most aren't forced; they see this are a proud honor to serve their nation. Most of Khador's attempts to modernize it's army are here. Until recently they only had axes, now they carry outdated guns. A few more elite units have been outfitted with actual rifles. The cheap point costs and versatility of a fully upgraded squad has been coined as the "Winter Guard Deathstar".
Widowmakers: Khador's elite marksmen, themed after real life Russian snipers in WW2. They boast very high RAT and several rules buffing their defense in cover, however they lack armor and will die if hit. They can choose to do a point of damage rather then rolling for it making them great at dealing with armored targets.
Kossite Woodsman: Conscripts from the fiercely independent Kossite Clans woodsmen use their superb hunting skills to act as scouts and ambushers. A huge disappointment. They have no armor, and despite supposedly being good hunters have a LOWER RAT score then the regular Winter Guard. The only thing that makes them remotely useful is their ability to show up on a turn and table edge(excluding the opponents) of their owners choosing.
Doom Reavers: Khador's best close combat unit(behind the butcher of course) and true beserkers. Running into battle bare chested with no armor these guy tear apart infantry like a chainsaw through tissue paper, but as you might expect from their appearance they die like flies when attacked. After the Grey Lords uncovered a cache of powerful Orgoth swords that drove anyone holding them nuts the the High Kommand decided they were too good to pass up, and began forcing criminals and traitors to use them. Doom Reavers are infamous for killing most anything with incredible ease due to their stats, abilities, and power of their weapons. They have a tendency to kill each other or friendly units before they can get in close but its off set by the fact that just a few getting the charge can still kill half of whatever unit they hit.
WARJACKS
Berserker: The oldest jacks being employed by any army, becoming unstable due to their cortexes aging. Because of this they are known to act erratically, charging without orders, attacking with savage brutality, and if pushed too far exploding. Even Butcher has told High Kommand "Guys, these things are unstable as SHIT!". Khadors cheapest 'jack it has respectable armor and weapons and is fairly focus efficient on its own.
Decimator: Designed to tear through armor and fortifications Decimators are equipped with a Dozer cannon that lets them knock back whoever gets hit and a rip saw that can tear through any armor. Its low RAT makes it largely in effective at range sadly, though its Saw will do scary damage when boosted with focus to make it extra auto hitting attacks.
Destroyer: Another versatile 'jack, it has an AOE cannon and Executioner Axe. The Cannon makes it effective at range with its AOE compensating for its RAT. Its Executioner Axe meanwhile completely cripples any arm systems that takes damage from a crit.
Juggernaut: The workhorse of Khador's warjacks, the Juggernaut has one simple purpose, to be big scary and wreck things in close combat, completely eschewing ranged weapons. It has an Ice Axe which freezes its target on a critical hit, and an open fist allowing it to grapple with its target. For its cost, it's outright deadly, though its mostly used for tanking hits and killing other warjacks.
Devastator: Designed to be even more armored then the Juggernaut, Devastators is one of, if not the most heavily armored jack in the game. It gains extra armor when it does not attack with its shielded arms, but it loses armor when it does leaving it vulnerable. When it charges it can choose to fire its grenade launchers, making all models in B2B take an extremely powerful hit and half damage to all models within 3'.
Kodiak: Khador's fastest 'jack, the Kodiak can run for free and is not slowed by terrain. It has a pair of open fists for grappling and can make a pair of power attacks if its first two hit. It can also create a cloud affect damaging all surrounding models.
Marauder: Juggernauts who's arms have been replaced with ram pistons, letting it knock back targets it hits. Good for displacing enemy jacks, messing with enemy coordination.
Spriggan: The most expensive non-character 'jack, the Spriggan is well rounded and versatile, armed with a shield, lance, and a pair of grenade launchers. The lance can punch through most armor with ease, and the grenade launchers are good against infantry. The launcher can also be used to eliminate fog and DEF boosts.
Beast 09: A suped up Juggernaut with traits designed to make it tear apart infantry. It can run without spending focus, and make a full advance towards whoever damages it. During its activation you can spend a focus point to grant it an extra die of damage against all living enemy warriors. It has affinity with Sorscha, giving an extra die against living models.
Behemoth: The single largest jack in Khador's arsenal excluding its Colossal and the most infamous. For nearly half your army points it comes with a pair of built in Bombard cannons, and two POW 12 open fists with armor piercing. When first convinced the Behemoth was suspended due to the immense cost of making just one. The project was resurrected by the former regent when he discovered the plans, and through influence and his own fortune saw construction resumed. To this day the cost of construction has made sure that only one Behemoth has ever been made.
Drago: The oldest warjack in service to Khador. Drago is pretty much an upgraded Berserker with higher MAT and Executioner Axes, and can make an additional melee attack against all models in range if its initial attack hit. It has affinity with Vladimir allowing it to ignore its unstable rule while in his control range.