powerslave84 wrote:Yeah I just ordered them. I kind of want epic Butcher, it seems he works well with a Jack heavy list no?
pButcher is a much more reliable caster than e. Variable focus is a huge issue in a game that generally requires you to 'set up' your army for the win 1-2 turns out. Focus is your primary resource. Not knowing how much you'll get is a far greater disadvantage than it probably appears to you, right now. Also remember that in 99% of games, you automatically lose if your Warcaster dies, so
eButcher's in-melee bonuses are difficult to take advantage of without a huge amount of risk. For the majority of games, your caster is going to spend a lot of time in the back ranks.
pButcher (p stands for 'prime', or non-epic) is still a very potent jack caster with Full Throttle boosting all melee attack rolls (a distinct advantage for the largely MAT6 Khador lineup). He's also got one of the scariest feats imaginable with a +1 damage die across the board boost. This plus Fury puts weapon masters lilke the Great Bears or MoW Demolition Crew at an "average" damage of 34-35 per swing while charging on feat turn. That's easily enough to utterly crush even the most heavily armored jacks and casters with 2-3 swings. It's also enough to make your 'swarm' infantry, like Winter Guard, very considerable in close combat, able to threaten most heavies.
Khador, as a faction in general, does most of its heavy lifting via its infantry. Even though Khador has the most durable jacks in the game with 34 boxes on average at ARM20 or higher, the faction offers almost nothing to its jacks in terms of synergy or speed boosts. This makes Khador jacks hugely vulnerable to getting charged--and even at ARM20 with 34 boxes, other faction heavies can easily turn you into scrap 1v1 if you receive the charge.
Jacks are still integral to Khador play, but while Menoth can effectively run 3-4 warjacks in a list with almost no infantry presence beyond those that buff jacks, Khador simply cannot do the 'jack wall' as well as some other lists while also maintaining a well rounded army. The two notable jack casters for Khador are Karchev, the Man in the Machine, and pButcher.
You've got the starter box, so you own Sorscha, Juggernaut, and Destroyer. I would recommend the following for your next big purchases:
Winterguard plus Winterguard Unit Attachment -- cheap crapfintry that can find a use in almost any list. Screens are invaluable, and you almost always need one as Khador simply to prevent your opponent from getting the charge on you as you compress distance. Their shooting attack is actually very, very potent when they combine their fire.
Great Bears -- cheap, elite stone killers. Each model gets two attacks, which is good for damaging jacks and clearing out infantry, and at Spd6 with reach they can 'threat' out to 11 inches by themselves, which is unusually good for Khador units in general. Sorscha can also pull shenanigans like Bounding Charge cast 3 times, one for each Great Bear, to give them 13 inches threat.
Drakhun -- Drakhun is yet another Khador weapon master, and a cavalry model with good
MAT and high P&S. He can threat out to 12 inches by himself, but he's also got Countercharge, which means that when your opponent moves within 6", you get a free charge attack with Drakhun on your turn. He's good speed and area denial, which are both things that Khador generally lacks.
Above all, however, I would really examine what you want from your army in terms of playstyle. I got into Warmachine and Hordes for the giant robots and monsters, so even though I started with Khador, I eventually sold it off because I grew tired of the constant secondary role that my jacks were playing. Khador warcasters are not weak, but they are not as awe-inspiring as Cygnar warcasters. Khador warjacks are durable, but they do not on average stand up to Menoth warjack/unit/spell synergies for spell defenses and offensive power.
You have to play to the strengths of the faction, which in general is going to be high quality infantry. If that's what you're looking for, then Khador is good for you.
