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 frozen land 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

(A word of warning before we continue, Khador has a very self centered point of view. They see themselves as being in the right 99.9% of the time and sees most everyone who is not with them as plotting against them).

Before the Orgoth came through and 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. Khador blames the south for what happened during the Orgoth invasion, as it was in their lands that they first took hold and began their invasion. Being the most powerful kingdom(Empire as it was) Khador fought the hardest against the invaders and as such received the largest brunt of their forces. After they were conquered Khador was subjugated the hardest for the stiff resistance they had put up. While the first rebellion occurred in Cygnar it was Khador that won the first true victories, wrestling back control of their city of Korsk, motivating the other Human kingdoms to rise up and form the Iron Alliance. This is where their grudge against Cygnar began.

When the alliance began work on the Colossals(titan sized warmachines), Cygnar was chosen as the construction sight while the other kingdoms pushed Khador out of the debates, forcing them to build their own colossal in secret without any aid. While the other colossal remained secret the Orgoth somehow discovered Khador's and sent massive armies to crush them. To this day they believe one of the other Human Kingdom betrayed them. After the Orgoth were finally driven out and the Kingdoms convened to draw up borders Cygnar and its allies moved that it would be easiest to maintain the lines set by the Orgoth rather then redraw the map. Khador was greatly diminished while Cygnar negotiated its original lands being given to the new kingdoms of Ord and Llael. Cygnar also carefully negotiated the borders in such a way that, were Khador to declare war on them they would have to go through two other nations to get there, effectively building a wall between them and the enraged Khador. Since then Khador has hated all the southern nations with an icy passion seeing them all as treacherous underhanded snakes.

But if theres one thing you dont do to a bear its poke it over and over expecting not to get mauled, especially when Russian bears can tear normal ones limb from limb. For the next 100 years Khador would go to war constantly with its neighbors, however it was not until the crowning of Queen Ayn Vanar XI that Khador truly regained its place. Through careful planning she united all the peoples of Khador behind her, and thanks to the efforts of the previous reagent Khador's industry boomed. When Khador marched to war, this time against Llael, it crushed the country utterly, despite Cygnar's attempts to aid them. Afterward Khador swung down into Ord and though they put up more resistance conquered them to, putting them right at Cygnar's front door. At this point Queen Vanar declared Khador an empire again. With the might of her people and armies Khador believes it is only a matter of time before they conquer Cygnar and finally take revenge for its treachery.

Unlike most of the other factions, Khador is not particularly advanced and has few cortexes to build warjacks. Most of these cortexes are used on massive heavy 'jacks. Instead of light warjacks, 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).

Khador is unique in that it has a very liberal approach to warcasters. Unlike other nations like Cygnar who have an established system by which they can test recruits for the potential to be warcasters, Khador has no such system. Because of this it can take awhile for new potential warcasters to present themselves, as such the High Kommand is willing to entertain behaviors that would see even the most distinguished warcaster discharged from any other army, so long as the warcaster does 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.

Characters

(Yeah the descriptions of the charcters are pretty long, they'll have to be until they can get their own pages)

Orsus Zoktavir "The Butcher of Khardov"- Orsus, or "the Butcher" as many call him, is a crazed bloodthirsty warrior, suffering from uncontrollable rage. Orsus got his title from an infamous massacre, where he attacked a rebel town and, in his rage, slew friend and foe alike. Rather then let Orsus be executed the newly crowned Empress gave him a pardon. He is despised by younger warcasters, and seen as nothing more then a weapon by members of the High Kommand. Orsus is a fun, simple to use Warcaster on the table, arguably the best one for new players due to his straight forwardness. He only has four spells but their buffs are nice, so its all good. While relatively weak at range, he is an absolute rape-machine in close combat. He has the highest MAT(Weapon skill) of any unit in the entire game, and the single most powerful non-warjack equipped melee weapon to boot. His feat, Blood Frenzy is simple and brutal, giving an extra die when rolling damage to all friendly units in his control area.

As Khador's wars went on however, Orsus's maddness only deepened, driving his rage to heights so great that the Angry Marines, Kharn, and Khorne himself noticed. In a moment of mad fury he led an unauthorized suicide attack on an enemy fortress where everyone assumed he died. Months later he returned as if nothing had ever happened, refusing to explain where he'd been or what had happened. When fielded as Epic Orsus he becomes the very embodiment of rage: his focus is determined randomly unless he kills something, when he makes a basic attack he MUST attack EVERYTHING in range (his range is 2 inches out from his base and he counts as having full 360 vision BTW). If a warjack starts in his control area it can charge and power attack for free. His Feat: Feel the Hate gives him rage point which he can give to friendly models for free attacks and moves. Because of how crazy he is he can only take warjacks and Doom Reavers(essentially Khorne Berzerkers).

Sorscha Kratikoff- The postergirl of Khador and during 1st edition the postergirl of what it means to be broken beyond broken. As a young girl Sorsha watched he father go off to serve in the Winter Guard only to find out he was one of the solders Zoktavir killed. She later enlisted and became a soldier in the winter guard, and during an intense battle her arcane abilities manifested, and she became a warcaster. Shes known as the Ice Queen to everyone but Prince Vladimir whom she is in love with. During the invasion of Llael she hoped to get revenge on the Butcher when she didn't help him as he fell to the enemy. Shes kept a wary eye ever since he returned alive, worried that he will try to get revenge. Sorscha is a control themed caster, with a range of spells to buff units, and damage enemies and hold them in place. Her Feat: Icy Gaze, causes all models in her control area that she has line of sight to to immediately become frozen, unable to move for one round.

Vladimir Tzepesci- The Not Dacurla of not Russia.

Irusk- Born to a prominent military family, and son to a retired soldier, Irusk's father taught him everything he knew about warfare and battle, giving him the knowledge, skill, and ruthless persistence that would make him into the military Kommander he is today. His childhood was spent learning Khadoran military strategy, and enlisted at the age of twelve. He quickly rose through the ranks, leading his men to victory after victory. So great was his genius that he published his work on tactical warfare, has become required reading at military academies throughout the Iron Kingdoms. Irusk has become the chief military advisor to the Empress, letting him begin to reinventing and modernizing the Khadoran military. During the Khadoran invasion of Liaedry his tactics and strategy decimated the enemy with such force that some parts of the country surrendered without firing a shot, earning him a spot among the greatest military commanders in history. On the table Irusk is a powerful infantry commander, focusing on buffing his units and warjacks. His feat, Undying Loyalty, gives a massive boost to infantry models in his control area for a turn. Giving them all a buff to their attack rolls, fearless, a 50% chance of not being killed when hurt, and immunity to being knocked down.

Aleksandra Zerkova- Born to a family with a long history as distinguished officers and servants to the crown, Aleksanda is 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. She once led a task force against Merywyn's Order of Wizards, where she obliterated them so thoroughly and efficiently that there wasn't even enough of them left for anyone to figure out how she did it. In game she is completely spell focused, with high focus(mana), and more spells then any other warcaster(as far as Khador's casters go anyway). However she is also the most fragile, with low HP, armor, and weak melee attacks. Her Feat: Howling Wind, prevents enemies from making ranged attacks(unless they have two), running, charging, making special attacks, giving or taking orders, or make special actions. To put it simply she opens a giant can of NOPE.

Karchev

Zevanna Agha

Strakhov- Strakov is the ruthless leader of Khador's Assault Kommandos, and the man the High Kommand goes to for their most dangerous missions. He has served the military for nearly two decades, however most of his career was spent in secret, carrying out secret missions and operations for the High Kommand. During the Llael invasion his reputation could not be contained. During the first weeks of the war he assassinated the enemy's best commanders and warcasters, and later the archduke and his entire command in a single ambush. He was also so discreet that the duke's fate and whereabouts remained a mystery until resistance fighters found him dead among a mass grave. He later led his men to destroy the enemy munitions dumps just before Khador's final assault, its destruction throwing the defenders in chaos. After the war Irusk asked Strakov to help lay the foundation and later lead the newly founded Assault Kommandos. Strakov and his men excel at brutal shock attacks, hurling themselves against enemy positions, into trenches and foxholes, slaughtering the enemy before they can react. On the table Strakov's main strategy is to rush the enemy before they have time to set up. His Feat: Iron Fist grants a MASSIVE bonus to charging models in his control range, increasing their movement, and letting them ignore slowing terrain. Warjacks in his group can also charge and slam enemies for free if they are in his control range.

Harkevich- The 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 wreck havoc allowing for the Winterguard to safely cross no mane'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. After the end of the Orgoth war Khador was devastated and many of its people left seeking a better life and opportunities, and a number of them became wizards. When the King before the current Empress called for Khador's people to return home many Wizard of Khadoran descent answered, talking 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.

Man-o-Wars: Since Khador lacks light warjack they just put the best, strongest Winter Guard in steam punk powerarmor, THEY DIE IN STEAM! They're relativly expensive for a squad but each one has multiple hit points. They come in three varieties, Bombardiers who carry grenade cannons with chainsaws attached. Demolition Corps who carry giant freezing hammers, and Shocktroopers who carry giant axes and shields with built in cannons.

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 Uhlan.

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 an proud honor to serve their nation. Most of Khador's attemps to modernized it army is here. Before Empress Ayn Vanar they were just armed with axes, now they're armed with outdated guns and axes, some of the more elite units are given better(actual) rifles. Winter Guard are known for a few things, how cheap they are, combining ranged attacks for more damage, and tar-pitting units in melee, earning them the nickname the "Winter Guard Deathstar".

Widowmakers: Khador's elite marksmen. Widowmarkers are themed after real life Russian snipers in WW2, and as far as the rules go they are the only true sniper unit in the game. They have high RAT and excel at being hard to hit with high DEF that's boosted while in cover. When they hit a target they can choose to do a point of damage instead of rolling for it allowing them to pick off enemy infantry through their armor. Despite this their armor is extremly weak meaning that if they get hit they're going to die, so they must be used carefully.

Doom Reavers: During an expedition the Greylords discovered a cache of gigantic powerful weapons. It was quickly discovered that the weapons were cursed, any man who held onto the blades for too long would start to go mad from whispering voices telling him to kill and go on a mad rampage. It was decided by the powers at be that the weapons were too good to pass up, forcing criminals, traitors, or anyone who slighted the Empire to carry them and become mad beasts. Doom Reavers are regarded as nothing more then living weapons to be thrown at the enemy sowing fear and destruction. Doom Reavers are Khador's best close combat unit(behind the butcher of course) able to tear through virtually any infantry they can get their hands. Doom Reavers are known for a few things. Due to how crazy they are they're known to kill each other before they even get into close combat, however they are so powerful in melee that even one getting there is likely to tear through half a squad like Khorne Beserkers through fire warriors.