Khador Infantry

[Mod_Plarzoid]

So, I really want to snag some infantry to 'flesh' out my Khador army. Here's what I have thus far:

Sorscha / Butcher
Juggernaut
2x Destroyer
Man-O-War Shocktroopers (full)
Widowmakers
War Dog
(Manhunter soon)

I am finding it difficult to convince myself anything but IFP is worth taking/buying...

Can anyone explain the best use(s) for our infantry choices and which would best fit my current brick of models?

Thanks,
- Plarzoid

[saxondog]

A full winterguard unit with all the bells and whistles worked well for me in MKI and has only become better in MKII.
Kovnik Joe,rockets,and the improved spray capabilities have a decent amount of punch and iron flesh on these guys makes for an excellent all around unit.

SFK

[Mayhem1979]

I'm personally fond of the Doomreavers, they're a bit trickier to get into the action, but even two or three getting into an enemy infantry formation or ganging up on a beast can cause some serious pain. Abomination, spell ward, berserk, weapon masters, and a p+s 13 reach weapon... add Fenris to the mix and you have psychopathic joy.

[tneva82]

If you have eIrusk the IFP are just great. Tough shield walled infantry is just hard. I recently had them engage 10 praetorian karax+10 immortals from skorne with 9 of those coming back from the dead and emerge victorious!

Also the winter guard with bell's and whistle's is then pretty neato as well. Irusk provides tough ability, jozef provides 3d6 for hitting(eat rockets! Too bad extra damage dice went away in mk2). Splendid.

(also non-infantry wise mortars are just awesome for eIrusk. Boosted hit and damage rolls for all models under AOE? Oh yea! And by switching fire for effect target after first one has fired you can fire BOTH with such strenght. 2 mortars hitting on 3+3d6 and on hit 16+3d6 damage is just _brutal_.)

Been playing following list for a while:

eIrusk
destroyer
10xiron fang+UA
6xwinter guard+2xrocket+jozef(ran out of points which is why not full unit)
3xuhlan(recently have switched these for Yuri and 2xman hunter)

Pikes hold the main combat job with jack providing support. WG goes around firing(and occasionally have actually charged into combat. Surprisingly effective if DEF isn't too high on target). Mortars try to fire on toughest target they can find(beasts/jacks are great. Even fired at not-so-high def warcasters few times).

Demo corps are also pretty decent. Not as tough as shock troopers but boy do they attack. Another list I have tried recently is man-o-war themed butcher list. Demo corps have ran over light and heavy beasts quite nicely. Shock troopers take the initial charge with warjacks and demo corps(plus kovnik and butcher) move in for a kill.

Demo corps is pain to assemble though...

[Tevesh]

Iron Fang Pikemen + UA
Winter Guard + UA + Kovnik Joe
Doom Reavers

I think those are the easist troops to get used to, in that order. Everything else in the faction has a specific role or purpose, while those three infantry squads are more of an "all takers" that can deal with anything fairly well, including killing Warcasters. Doom Reavers fall between "all takers" and specalty troops, but they are killing machines that you'll need to learn the term "acceptable losses" because if you've ever seen a Doomie in action, all you need is one or two to get to the enemy squad and they're dead.

[Yeti's Yell]

I agree with Mayhem and Tevesh on the Doomies. I put them up in the 1 or 2 slot for me though.

I got them early on (becuase they look cool) and when I started playing them I found them intuitive. In 40k I was used to low model count elite units. Their stats are obviously good and faction spells can boost them as long as the spells don't target them (Full Throttle, Signs and Portants, etc.) Their low model count and skin armor makes it obvious they need protection. For me they are usually in the back rank, not advanced deploy, unless I can get them in behind some woods. From there they will counter charge or pile into a combat already going between two jacks, to dig my jackout of that combat. Even dying they usually serve their purpose. They are expensive as mentioned but I've never looked back. They scare the hell out of most opponents and if your succeed in your goal to just deliver them to the enemy then the rest is on rails. Just remember to mind the Doomies facing so they don't chop each other up from beserk attacks. Also, the spells that do magically boost their MAT (Full Throttle, Signs and Portents) are as likely to kill each other faster as much as they kill the enemy faster. Direct and indirect fire ends their day fast.

Managing what each models LOS is, what their Reach reaches and the order you activate them for attacks takes practice and constant thought.

Myself, I haven't seen too much synergy with Fenris. It exists for sure but I usually have Fenris flanking and not babysitting the Doomies. To me, he is a more mobile, almost full-strength Doomie squad and he'll go out, tear up stuff and probably die much to the same effect, his mobility is just more forgiving due to his fast speed.

Doomies are a wave motion gun and not lasik. Remember that and you'll be fine.

As far as the OP list goes, Doomies would be fine in a Sorcha army as she can be run more like a solo than a support caster, Fog of War helping the Doomies a tad in all the open ground an army with a lower model count typically crosses. Her feat wouldn't hurt either but Doomies hit most stuff on average. If needed, they can block LOS for Sorcha.

The Butcher list ends up sorta the same in my eyes, he's medium base and so isn't asking for much out of his Doomies. His 3 focus Full Throttle means he's going to have a jack or two and they can provide some cover for the Doomies as well, just watch the blast damage targeting jacks. I won my last game with Butcher vs Darius when the Doomies, under Butcher's feat, recycled Darius on the charge. Effective.

The IFP bring a tough brick of troops that have a different role.

Talking money and paint it is cheaper to get Doomies and you may find you like them even in low point games.

[Khador247]

Great Bears are pretty sweet.

[Karazax]

To me the most obvious front line infantry are the Winter Guard with Kovnik Joe, rocketeers, and UA, especially with eSorscha, or the Iron Fangs with Unit attachment, both of which can fit in with just about any caster easily. You can't go wrong with either one.

I like the doom reavers, but I usually think of them more as a support infantry, than a core unit due to their relative fragile nature. Of course alot depends on what size game you are playing, what role you want your infantry to fill, and who your most common opponents are as to what will be most effective.

[whats82]

Great Bears are pretty sweet.

By pretty sweet, we mean, it goes in almost every khador list.

[Uehen]

Great bears are in every one of my lists.

Since they came out in mkii I have played one game with out them.

[Hangedman]

I vote for Kayazies, they are a great tarpit unit that with the underboss can disingage at anytime to strike at a caster. With a caster with Iron flesh they are really really tough to take down.

My second vote goes to Doomreavers. They are a fun face wrecking unit. You get 6 models for 6 points which is not to bad. They cause abomination are weaponmasters and have the potential to destroy everything within thier two inch reach.

[rvrchamp]

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the Khador troopers with the sole exception of MoW Storm Troopers (sorry but I don't like them at all). I don't have any experience with Kossites or Assault Troopers so I'll just relate my experiences with the models I do have and use.

People have mentioned Doom Reavers quite a bit already, so all I'll add is that in a tournament today they were pretty clutch to each one of my victories.

MoW Demo-Corps are also fairly decent. They're generally not considered "1st tier," but I think they're still good. They're fairly straight forward, and easy to use because... well... all they've got is giant hammers to hit people with, so your only real option is to run them forward until they're close enough to charge. Easy right?

IFP are great, as are the great bears... but you already knew that.

Lastly the Kayazies were FANTASTIC in MKI. I have yet to use them in MKII, but can see that their role is essentially the same. The make a great addition to Khador because they've got stealth, and they're pretty quick. They definitely offer a great quick flanking force that can put some 'urt on the enemies' infantry.

I hope this helps!

[Tevesh]

If you are going to pick up only one Infantry choice, I would advise against the Great Bears. If you're going to pick up more than one, the Great Bears are a fine addition.

One of the primary purposes of Infantry is to screen for your Warcaster, and we need to do that moreso than most factions because we lack Arc Nodes meaning that our Warcasters are played to the front much more than any other faction. The Doom Reavers act as a long distance screen, typing up enemy resources when they get into melee while WG or IFP are a direct line.

The Great Bears are good, but they have a small foot print. This is both an advantage and disadvantage, as they are very maneurable because they're small but you need an Infantry screen so the small foot print in this case is a disadvantage. As you get better at the game, it becomes less of a disadvantage which is partly why I recommend the Great Bears later on. That and they might become a crutch for you, which is a bad thing.

[Karazax]

yes, alot of what determines what unit is going to be good for your particular army is what other models you are going to use, and what role you are looking for them to play. Asking what infantry are "good" or worth using is a bit too broad. Asking which infantry to use to fill a specific role will give more useful feed back.

[The Captain]

Kossite woodsmen are probably the most underestimated unit in Khador's arsenal. Yes, they're mostly rubbish, but that's exactly what makes them so dangerous - your opponent doesn't expect them to contribute anything of significance. Then you can pop in behind his lines to kill a couple of supporting solos or hamstring a shield wall. Even though they're not likely to hit too well with RAT4 (with back strike bonus and potentially aiming bonus if your opponent hugs the table edges for effective max RAT8), a couple of hits is all you need to take out a decent solo or unit officer, and you can easily whittle down units of long gunners or choirs of Menoth or assassinate the Monolith bearer. Don't count on them to survive the round after they arrive, though. Another use for Kossites is to capture objectives from sneaky angles, but bear in mind that they are not going to hold the objective...