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 came, Khador put up the biggest fight and was subjugated the hardest for it. While the rebellions started in Cygnar Khador takes a lot of pride in the fact that the first successful one was theirs. So much pride in fact that they say it was their success that motivated the other Human kingdoms to rise up and form the Iron Alliance. This is where their grudge against Cygnar began.
Khador got pissed when the alliance chose to build the Colossals(titan sized warmachines) in Cygnar. When they argued why they couldn't be built in the treacherous, icy, freezing and snow covered tundra that was their home land, the other kingdoms allegedly pushed them out of the debate. God knows why. Pissed, Khador assumed everyone else was taking the opportunity to screw them over for what they'd done before, and Cygnar took the chance to profit from it. Not one to be brought down by everyone else's insanity they decided to copy the plans in secret and build their own colossal. By chance or by someone else's treachery(give you one guess which one Khador decided it was) the Orgoth found out and tried to stomp them. Khador won thanks to a massive snow storm that froze them to death, however to this day they believe one of the other Human Kingdoms betrayed them.
After the Orgoth were 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 try to redraw their old ones. Khador ignored the fact that they'd been subjugated for hundreds of years and argued that it should be given its old rightfully conquered lands, thinking the descendants of the people they'd taken them from would be cool with it, since you know it was hundreds of years ago. Surprisingly they were again argued down. Cygnar saw Khador's old lands given to the new kingdoms of Ord and Llael. Khador, as usual, was pissed. Since then Khador has hated all the southern nations with an icy passion.
For the next 100 years Khador would go to war constantly with its neighbors. They'd get a good distance but it was never long before Cygnar intervened and stopped them. Under the leadership of their new Queen Ayn Vanar XI however they've gotten their shit together. She united the people and thanks to the efforts of the previous reagent Khador's industry boomed. When Khador marched to war against Llael, it crushed the country utterly, despite Cygnar's attempts to aid them. They 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.
Due to the scarcity of precious resources Khador is not as advanced as Cygnar and has few cortexes to build warjacks. To compensate for this they build lots of 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).
Khador has a very liberal approach to warcasters. They don't have a system to test recruits for the potential to be warcasters, so it can take awhile for them to find new ones. Because of this the High Kommand is willing to make huge exceptions 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 largely close combat oriented, with most units and jacks being geared for close quarters carnage, 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, though they will never be as efficient at it as Cygnar, focusing on AOE explosives that can hit multiple targets easier as a means of getting around their relatively low RAT.
Khador jacks are know for being the toughest in Warmachine, with high STR and ARM. However this comes at the cost of SPD, RAT, and DEF. Khador jack can have a problem hitting their targets due to their lower MAT and RAT, relying on the power of their weapons to compensate, dealing higher damage to counter their lower hit averages. Khador jacks have a somewhat inaccurate reputation for being slow, while they all have a SPD of 4' many of them have traits that allow them to run or charge without spending focus giving them unexpected maneuverability.
Characters
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. He is an absolute rape-machine in close combat.
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.
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- 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. Irusk has become the chief military advisor to the Empress, letting him begin to reinventing and modernizing the Khadoran military.
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.
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. Not wanting to be forgotten he asked for a metal body to continue fighting. He got it 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- Strakov is the leader of Khador's Assault Kommandos. He served for nearly two decades as a spec ops agent, carrying out secret missions and operations. After the Llael war where his actions all but guaranteed Khador's victory Irusk tasked Strakov with training, and later commanding the newly formed 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 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. 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 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. 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; their cheap cost, ability to combine ranged attacks for more damage, and tar-pitting abilities, 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 extremely weak meaning that if they get hit they're going to die, so they must be used carefully.
Kossite Woodsman: Conscripts from the fiercely independent Kossite Clans woodsmen use their superb hunting skills to act as scouts and ambushers, wearing motley clothes rather then armor and using archaic hunting tools as weapons. Woodsmen are a throw away unit. 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. Long story short they're kroot from the old Tau codex.
Doom Reavers: Doom Reavers are 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. During an expedition the Greylords discovered a cache of Orgoth 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 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: Berserkers are the closest thing Khador has to a "light" 'jack(excluding Agha's scrap jack). They are the oldest jacks being employed by any army. Due to their old age the cortexes in the Berserkers have become unstable. Because of this they are known to act erratically, charging without orders and attacking with savage brutality. Berserkers are cheap(by Khador standards) have respectable armor and weapons, and can run and charge for free making them very mobile. However if a Berserker spends any focus it is given there is a chance it will explode destroying the whole 'jack.
Decimator: Decimators were specially designed to tear through fortifications and destroy heavily armored targets. The Decimator is equipped with a Dozer cannon which fires oversized high impact shells that can knock back nearly any sized target while it advances towards it. Up close it has a massive Rip Saw which can tear through any warjack's armor. The Decimator is a mixed bag in game, on top of being a point sink its low RAT makes it largely in effective at range. The Rip Saw is good but needs focus to be used to full effect. In most cases a Destroyer is a better choice.
Destroyer: Another long serving warjack, the Destroyer is famed in the Khadoran military for its use as an artillery unit. For the exact same amount of points the Destroyer does everything the Decimator is supposed to do only better. Its cannon has an AOE allowing it to hit easier despite its low RAT. Its Executioner Axe doesn't match the damage the Rip Saw can do but on a critical is completely cripples any arm systems that takes damage. A solid choice in most games
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 kill other warjacks because its low MAT. Again a solid choice if you intend to do a lot of close combat.
Devastator: Designed to be even more armored then the Juggernaut, Devastators is one of, if not the most heavily armored jack in the game, to point where a lot of weaker weapons can't even damage. 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: After the costly Thornwood War the High Kommand demanded an all-terrain warjack capable of smashing through heavy foliage. The Kodiak has a heavy boiler engine, allowing it to run without spending focus, and pathfinder letting it to move through terrain without being slowed. As such, it's pretty mobile compared to Khador's other jacks. If its first two melee attacks hit it can make a pair of power attacks against the target. It can also create a cloud affect damaging all surrounding models. For two points more the Kodiak is an alternate version of the Berserker. While it cannot charge for free it ignores slowing terrain when moving. Where as the Berserk's chain attack only allows it to do a headbutt the Kodiaks allows it to make a pair of any type of power attacks.
Marauder: Marauders are Juggernauts who's arms have been replaced with ram pistons. When a Maruader successfully hit it can choose to knock the target back dealing increased damage and pushing it d6 inches away. This ability makes it 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 heavy armor with relative ease, the grenade launchers won't due much to jacks but does well against infantry. Instead of shooting the grenade launcher the controller can shoot a flare, creating an AOE that removes camoflage and Stealth to those inside and lets allies ignore cloud effects when determining LOS.
Beast 09: Beast 09 is a suped up Juggernaut with traits designed to make it tear apart infantry, possessing higher MAT and pairing it with Sorcha lets get an extra die when attacking living models. It can run without spending focus, when it takes damage it can make a full advance towards whoever caused it. During its activation you can spend a focus point to grant it an extra die of damage against all living enemy warriors. Beast has an Ice Axe with Reach and the ability to make an attack against all models in range.
Behemoth: The single largest jack in Khador's arsenal excluding its Colossal and the most infamous. For nearly half your army points the Behemoth comes armed with a pair of built in Bombard cannons, and two POW 12 open fists with armor piercing. While expensive, its two Bombard cannons are just as strong as a Destroyer's, so for its cost it's a much more efficient shooting unit. In melee, it's best at killing larger single targets due to its fist cutting medium and large based armor in half, its weakness are small base models with high armor. 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.
Draigo: The oldest warjack in service to Khador Draigo is a Berserker armed with a pair of Executioner Axes. Draigo's MAT is one point higher then standard Beserkers and should it hit with both its initial attacks it can make an additional melee attack against all models in range. It has affinity with Vladimir allowing it to ignore its unstable rule while in his control range. Draigo is the preferred warjack of Vladimir, having served all the previous warcasters of his family line.