Warmachine: Primer - Khador - The Great Bear Stirs

Khador within Warmachine in some respects are our anti-heroes. They are one of the Iron Kingdoms, formed out of the ancient Khardic Empire, and compared to the forces of Cygnar, favour pragmatic designs that can survive the harsh icy northern wilderness. Less about tricks, Khador Winter Korps is all about heavy warjacks, and light infantry who are flexible in their application.

Warjacks, in their force, ultimately are slow and have excellent close combat options and heavy armour, while their Warcasters have access to spells that further enhance that armour or help move the Warjacks closer to the enemy.

Warcasters

Kapitan Zahara Vilkul

Vilkul wants to be deep into the enemy lines, before pulling back into cover. Capable of killing many lightly armoured units in one go, each kill becomes a cloud effect, benefitting her hit-and-run attack style. Her speed and spells, in particular Cyclone, allow her a potential 17-inch move across the board to achieve an assassination of the enemy leader.

Vilkul isn't just about what she can do for herself. Her entire battlegroup gains Prowl from her, which, combined with Fog of War, means the battlegroup gains stealth. Combined with units like the Hounds and the Jackal, many of the army can move forward undeterred by enemy gunfire. Her feat can also buy further cover by placing several cloud templates, which not only block the line of sight but reduce the defense and attack abilities of the enemies caught within them. Of course, Vilkul can see through these clouds.

Kapitan Ekaterina Baranova

Baranova is no combat specialist like Vilkul or Borisyuk, with a lower defense as well. However, Baranova has a strong magic game. She boasts a higher arcane attack rating, a higher arcane rating, and a larger control range. She is a powerhouse for casting spells to enhance the army and fire off arcane attacks and has plenty of focus to maintain a large number of Warjacks.

Speaking of Warjacks, Baranova makes every one in her battlegroup an Arc Node, extending her spell range to attack and support. And on turns that she has committed Focus to her Warjacks, a few arcane attacks, either by herself or Akanists, can top her back up. Razor Wind, from the spell rack in particular, could target multiple grunts. Her feat locks down the game for a turn, as enemies in her control range suffer movement penalties, restricting charges in particular,and also hindering ranged attacks against her army.

Kommader Valerii Savaryn

Savaryn is a troop commander. Benefitting from a high ARC and Control range, his main feature is Battle Plans, all of which combine weel with the massed troops of the Winter Korps. Kill Order in particular can make a unit of Winter Korp performing a combined attack a deadly threat. Precision Strike couples well with using large amounts of troops to act as skirmish screens, tying the enemy up, while still allowing Warjacks to shoot and charge through fighters.

Savaryn has a large selection of spells that can enhance the speed of his battlegroup, while his feat allows him to use his Battle Plans 3 times in a turn - allowing for a whole host of troops to be buffed, and when they do shoot, they ignore cover and concealment.

Warjacks

Medveditsa

A character Warjack using the Great Bear chassis has a high melee attack rating for a Warjack. Each arm of the Warjack provides a +1 shield, boosting the Warjack armour to 22. Each arm is also an open fist, allowing the Warjack to throw multiple smaller based models around happily. It's head grants it a chain attack - so long as both initial attacks hit, then the Warjack can make a free headbutt or throw a power attack.

Not even other large-based models can hold the Medveditsa in place, thanks to Bulldoze's ability to push enemy models out of the way and open up charge lanes and lines of sight. It even gets buffs when friendly warrior models die nearby.

Great Bear

The base chassis of the Medveditsa is slower and not as good in melee, but it is still a close combat Warjack. Head options include Aggressive and Heavy Boiler as a single selection, so the Great Bear can charge or run for free, and if running gets +2 SPD, this allows such Warjacks to close the gap on the enemy or claim objectives. Another head allows for Reposition, giving it a free 3 inch move if it did not run or fail a charge. Slammer is a particularly fun head, allowing the Great Bear to slam targets with greater strength, and if it does slam them, the target moves a further 2 inches, which the Great Bear can follow up move towards the target, getting the Warjack further into the enemy lines, and opening up lines of sight.

For a real combat monster, the Great Bear can take a Battle Mace and Battle Axe, slamming the enemy away, and carving off entire health columns on a target. Though, if you want the Great Bear to take a pummelling, the Mace can pair well with the Sheild Cannon - which also gets it a shooting attack. In an army that can run easily mutliple Warjacks, a Great Bear that is able to Resposition and carry two ranged weapons, such as the Grinder and Dozer, is a useful asset for taking out troopers and softening up enemy Warjacks at a distance.

Dire Wolf

Compared to the Great Bear, the Dire Wolf, though faster, is not as good in combat and has less armour. But its innate Anchor ability, preventing friendly warrior models from being knocked down, makes it a good defensive Warjack, especially when those models have Tough, like Vilkhul or The Hounds. Plus the Dire Wolf can make both melee and ranged attacks in the same activation - if the Dire Wolf is able to knock away enemies with its melee attack, or kill targets in melee and then make shooting attacks the moment it is not engaged.

While not as powerful or spectacular, the Dire Wolf makes for a cheap bodyguard for warcasters. If you pick the Shield Guard head, the Ice Hammer, and either the Plow Shield or the Heavy Chain Gun for eliminating grunts.

Units

Winter Korps Infantry

These cheap grunts can be taken in large numbers, and while they are not particularly tough, they make up for it with their combined attack action, which makes their relatively weak ranged attack much more threatening. Furthermore, the Infantry have access to two support weapons, a combination of Grenades, Autocannon, and Rocket Launcher. Their grenades allow them to rapidly wipe out soft enemy grunts, while the option of a rocket launcher means these grunts can inflict some pain on heavier units, warjacks and warbeasts. Their autocannon, though, is a flexible option and can even be used in combined ranged attacks, and thus, threaten even warjacks.

Man-O-War Suppressors

While Khador lacks light warjacks, they do have Man-O-Wars. These battle suits have armour comparable to Warjacks, though they have fewer hit points. But they do come in units of three. Like war jacks, they can even be repaired, despite having a living pilot. Carrying heavy autocannons than the Infantry, and able to use them in close combat, Man-O-Wars are more than capabale of wiping out units of grunts, and thank to their Bulldoze ability, they can barge units off objectives or open up charge lanes.

The Hounds

A character unit that is challenging to eliminate, The Hounds benefit from Tough, and Shield Wall allows them to gain extra armour. Furthermore, Fedyniak provides them with Prowl, and all have Alchemical Masks, which combine well with Vilkul's spells of Fog of War and her feat. The Hounds also benefit from a combination of weapons, including a grenade launcher and assault cannon, which can happily eliminate low-armour grunts.

Solos

Winter Korps Officer

Enhancing your Infantry, the Officer has Battle Plans that either allow a unit of troops to reroll one attack or damage roll (which would combine well with the Infantry combined ranged attack), or another option provides a unit or solo Pathfinder. The Officer is also a decent fighter, with Weapon Master.

Mortar Team

Capable of blasting apart units of grunts, even those with higher armour, the Mortar Team can ignore screening models to deliver an AOE 3 blast.

The Jackal

This character solo continues the synergies of The Hounds. Like them, he has Tough, Alchemical Mask, and Prowl. Thanks to Reposistion, he can hit and run. His weapon is a rocket launcher that could cause some damage to a Warjack. However, the main feature is Critical Stagger, which means a target hit loses initial attacks and can't perform a power attack for a round.

Summary

Khador is all about heavy armour and heavy-hitting units but is held back by their lack of speed and comparatively middling ranged attack options compared to Cygnar. Khador has to rely on its units' own capabilities and spell buffs, as it lacks the Cygnar tool box to debuff the enemy. While Khador jacks can be slow, Khador does have options that allow their warjacks to move rapidly without spending focus, in particular, the spell Avenging Force, the Great Bear Aggressive head option, and the Superitority spell. Without easy access to arc nodes, Khador cannot spread out the beneficial buffs or support units at a distance. But, what Khador lacks in long range attacks, and speed, it makes up for with spells like Fog of War (grants Concealment), and Iron Flesh for an ARM buff.