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"- 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 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 with grenade launcher chainsaws. 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. They're infamously hard to kill with high armor complimented by shield wall giving them crazy high Arm. 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.
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!" Berserkers are the closest thing Khador has to a "light" 'jack(excluding Agha's scrap jack). 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 there is a chance it will explode.
Decimator: Decimators are one of Khadors more versatile 'jacks 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 versitile '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. 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. 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 has pathfinder, moving through terrain unslowed. It has a pair of open fists for grappling and if its first two attacks hit it can make a pair of power attacks against the target. It can also create a cloud affect damaging all surrounding models. A very maneuverable 'jack that will catch opponent off guard with its speed.
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.
Drago: The oldest warjack in service to Khador. Drago is a Berserker armed with a pair of Executioner Axes. Drago'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. Drago is the preferred warjack of Vladimir, having served all the previous warcasters of his family line.