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I am still trying to get into Warmachine and after doing a lot of reading about the other armies discovered that Khador is probably more to my play style. I was wondering what is the best thing to buy for someone starting a Khador army. Is the battle box worth it, are all the models in the box usable in a 500 or more point army? Also which warcaster is the best to start with from what I understand its either Vladmir the dark prince, or Sorscha, what are the big differences between the two?

The Khador battle box is worth it. Sorscha is a great caster and the two Jacks that come in the battle box are solid. You can very easily use all of them in a 500 pt and higher army. Sorscha and Vlad are both good starting casters and easy to pick up.

I'm sure some Khador players will give you more in depth starting advice, but I'd say go with the battle box and build up from there.

After looking looking more at the Khador model range the one that really caught my eye is the Behemoth, the man-o-wars, and Iron Fang Pikemen also look cool and I was wondering at one point level does the behemoth become viable and if man-o-wars or Iron Fangs were good for making up the infantry portion of a Khador army.

Iron Fangs are good for Khador. They are heavy infantry good for wrecking jacks and other heavier stuff. They also have Unit Attachment (UA) available, which will enhance their performance.

Man-o-wars are half jacks half men, slow but durable infantry. They are up close good, but need to be shielded from enemy shooting and or charging so they are not as universally usable as the IFs.

Behemoth is viable in 500 pts, but then it's like putting Land Raider in small SM army. Lots of eggs one basket.

Agreed. Battle Box is definitely worth it. Then get another 'caster to get a sense of the army (Vlad or Irusk would be my recommendations). Iron Fang Pikemen and UA, Widowmakers, Manhunter, mortar for starting infantry. Another warjack (Kodiak would be my first choice, followed by Devastator, Berserker, Marauder if you really like to slam things).

Id avoid the behemoth at the 500 point level. You might want to wait until you get into the 750 range before you use him. One thing that I have recently discovered. If you play agains anybody with any experience at all, widowmakers are a must have. I didn't have any and if I had, those pesky nyss hunters wouldnt have torn through my doom reavers before they could inflict their nasty, mean, damage.

Another vote for Behemoth at 750. I'm tempted to use one at 500, but only in very specific cases. While it is technically no more expensive than a destroyer and a mortar, they are much less focus thirsty.

Also, consider a MOW Kovnik. One of the best 'jack marshals in the game, and almost a light warjack by himself. Great for running a Destroyer or Kodiak.

EDIT: I've tried to fix this frelling post THREE TIMES. Yep, my math sucks

syr8766 wrote:Also, consider a MOW Kovnik. One of the best 'jack marshals in the game, and almost a light warjack by himself. Great for running a Destroyer or Kodiak.

Sooth. I've been running my Kovnik for 4 or 5 games now, and he hasn't disappointed. I've recently switched him off my Destroyer and onto my Juggernaut (can you tell I started with the battlegroup box?) however, as I find I like to boost both hit & damage at key times on the Destroyer, and the Kovnik's Drive ability suits the all-melee Juggie.

Absolute dog of a mini to assemble, however.

To answer the OP, the battle box is definitely worth it. Very few things in the game hit as hard as a Juggernaut, Destroyers are among the most versatile jacks in the game (and the only Khador jack I own two of), and Sorscha is so good, they had to nerf her twice and she's still awesome.

The differences between Vlad and Sorscha are many, but they share a few traits. They are both hard to kill, with Sorscha able to get DEF 20 and Vlad able to hit DEF 18 ARM 19. They're mobile as Wind Rush allows Sorscha to move an extra 6" and Vlad is SPD 9 with Blood of Kings and ignores free strikes. They hit hard in melee too. Sorscha is P+S 13 and can easily obtain auto-hits, while Vlad is P+S 16 and MAT 10 with Blood of Kings. They both have the spells Boundless Charge and Razor Wind, which both have their uses.

Vlad has a higher FOC stat, which makes him a slightly better at spellcasting and running jacks. Unfortunately, he doesn't have any upkeeps, which makes him less efficient, and his offensive spells aren't very great. One has a too short range, one is too expensive, and the third is nothing to write home about (Razor Wind). He can make enemy ranged attacks always miss, but that only affects himself and a few models clumped around him. His best spell is Signs and Portents which makes basically your entire army more accurate and more deadly. His feat doubles the SPD of his warjacks, so bring one or two. Vlad likes to start out spamming Signs and Portents to wear down the enemy as quickly as possible. He should use his feat early to get the drop on whatever his jacks are good at killing. Eventually, he'll start casting Blood of Kings and wading through/dodging the enemy to their warcaster and kill him in melee.

Sorscha has a mixed bag of offensive spells. Razor Wind is decent but nothing special and Freezing Grip has the same effect as her feat, so you'll probably not use it much. But Tempest is awesome. It's a 4" AOE that does full damage to all models under it, and it knocks them down. Great anti-infantry and denial/debuff rolled into one. Spells like these are why Khador doesn't have arc nodes. Fog of War provides a DEF buff for models in her CTRL area and synergizes well with models with Camouflage. She starts out with this and following her army into battle. She'll use Tempest of Freezing Grip where she can, maybe having a warjack Trample the stationary models. Eventually, the enemy warcaster will be in range. Cast Wind Rush to get a charge lane, pop the feat, and either charge him to do the deed yourself or cast Tempest and try to get someone else over to him for the execution. Oh yeah, she has a hand cannon. Don't forget it.

The Behemoth is a whopping 172 points, a full 21 points more than syr's Destroyer + mortar combo ( at syr). I think it's absolutely worth the points, and if it's your only jack, it's feasible with certain casters in 500. Probably not Sorscha. Maaaaybe Vlad.

The MoWs come in two varieties: ultra killy (Demo Corps), and ultra hard-to-killy (Shock Troopers). IFP hit somewhere in between the two for damage, are much faster (especially with the UA), and probably as durable as the Demo Corps, though it's hard to compare, really. Regardless, these guys all fill the same role; they are the front line that's supposed to withstand the enemy's attacks, then dish it back out. You can't wrong with any of them, IMO, though I think IFP goes better with Sorscha and Vlad because of their comparable speediness.

hi, im also strongly thinking about starting a khador army. is the best way to start is to go with the battlegrouop box?

Unless you have a specific playstyle in mind, imprezsion,
then yes, the battlebox is really good.

thanks for the help. I was also thinking about buying another caster who should I buy. my friend said to get Irusk and a kodiak or 2. so i would have 2 caster 4 jacks then he told me to get windowmakers and MoW Demo

After the battlebox, I'd say one kodiak would be fine for
starters. You need to start saving money for infantry.

I think your experience with Sorscha will guide what you
get next. If you want to start fielding infantry, then Irusk
is your man. If you really like the Warjacks, then Vlad can
help them out. And if you want a Warcaster that can fight
(if anyone ever lets him get into hand to hand range), then
you want the Butcher.

Listen to Malfred. He pretty much has it summed up. The other casters are either Epics (and therefore not usable until 750 points) or 'specialist' types (Old Witch, Karchev). Sorscha, Vlad, Irusk and Butcher are your mainstays.

I'll be curious to see how this Greylord (lady?) 'caster turns out, rules and sculpt wise (yes, I know we've seen a pic, but it was pretty blah).

syr8766 wrote:Listen to Malfred. He pretty much has it summed up. The other casters are either Epics (and therefore not usable until 750 points) or 'specialist' types (Old Witch, Karchev). Sorscha, Vlad, Irusk and Butcher are your mainstays.

I wouldn't call them specialists, exactly. They're more just unorthodox. It's takes some time to adjust to their playstyles. I still haven't completely figured them out yet, but then again, I rarely play them.

I'll be curious to see how this Greylord (lady?) 'caster turns out, rules and sculpt wise (yes, I know we've seen a pic, but it was pretty blah).

You've got to keep your ear to the ground, syr. She's had her sculpt posted for a while now.

oomiestompa wrote:

syr8766 wrote:Listen to Malfred. He pretty much has it summed up. The other casters are either Epics (and therefore not usable until 750 points) or 'specialist' types (Old Witch, Karchev). Sorscha, Vlad, Irusk and Butcher are your mainstays.

I wouldn't call them specialists, exactly. They're more just unorthodox. It's takes some time to adjust to their playstyles. I still haven't completely figured them out yet, but then again, I rarely play them.

I'll be curious to see how this Greylord (lady?) 'caster turns out, rules and sculpt wise (yes, I know we've seen a pic, but it was pretty blah).

You've got to keep your ear to the ground, syr. She's had her sculpt posted for a while now.

As I said, we've seen the pic (see above in parenthesis), but it's either like the pic of Alexia for WM that doesn't do the sculpt justice, or it's really fugly. Likewise with the Kayazy's: everyone said they looked awful based on the pics, and in person they're not so bad. So I want to see either a better pic of the sculpt or in person.

Ah. I gotcha. I thought you were refering to the concept art or the GAMA pic.

I understand where you're coming from too. I didn't like how the IFP looked until I got my hands on them. A lot of PP's models are like that.

definatly the khador battlebox. you get a more then decent caster and 2 of khador's best warjacks.

oomiestompa wrote:Ah. I gotcha. I thought you were refering to the concept art or the GAMA pic.

I understand where you're coming from too. I didn't like how the IFP looked until I got my hands on them. A lot of PP's models are like that.

Word. I'm also curious about her rules. From what it sounds like with the fluff, she'll be infantry oriented (albeit in an...aggressive kind of way) but that doesn't really fit the Kuldrun model, at least as I've used Greylords...

So yeah. Battlebox. Sorscha.