Thanks to Games Workshop for sending us these rules and the Skaventide box set for review. Over the coming weeks, we will be having experts provide insight into how they are building and running lists with each faction in Age of Sigmar. For this overview, we’re looking at what stands out for each faction, how much has changed, and how we might approach some key challenges on the tabletop.
Merchants, traders, privateers, or pirates? Why not a bit of each? The Kharadron Overlords travel the skies of the realms to barter and plunder where they see fit. Travelling in flying ships engineered through pure science (totally not magic) they prefer to make war from a safer distance pelting enemies with barrages of firepower before getting out pikes, axes, and cutlasses for hand-to-hand fighting.
On the tabletop Kharadron Overlords are an incredibly mobile army that you need to place and move well to pick fights carefully and not get charged by the big-bads on the other side. In many ways they’re a glass cannon and elite force with ships transporting units around the board to get into position before pulling back to avoid getting hit!
In the past my Kharadrons have sat on a shelf for the majority of editions but this pack makes them look incredibly fun to play with and also against. Having played a bit with them already it’s a force that finally feels “right” to how I’ve imagined they might after reading Overlords of the Iron Dragon series and Drekki Flynt novels. This might be the army I am most excited for going into the new edition.
Army Rules
As with most of these focuses Warhammer Community has shown off the army’s main battle traits so won’t repeating them word for word but returning players will have already noticed the biggest change: all Kharadrons are on the table all of the time. Except for the one boat and some crew that will be in the clouds arriving mid-game. Gone are the days of just placing boats on the table and nothing else!
The new transport rule has you pick up and drop off friendly Kharadron models wholly within 6” of a boat when it moves. You do this during any move that the boat makes except for Charge moves; so that includes Redeploy moves during your opponent’s turn! However, ferried units are not allowed to make Charge moves later in the turn themselves. The amount of units and models you can ferry around depends on the boat:
- Ironclad: 3 units, 22 models
- Frigate: 2 units, 12 models
- Gunhauler: 1 unit, 5 models
For the most part that will be 1 hero + some units except for the Frigate which might ferry around multiple units of 6 Skywardens due to its Assault Boat rule allowing you to ferry units during a Charge. I was surprised to see Gunhaulers on this list too but happy with that, it means you can tote around an extra hero alongside a Frigate or Ironclad as needed or nice minimum sized unit of Thunderers.
That all sounds nice and easy and good, and it is! But the more you get to playing with this you’ll catch on sooner or later just how much movement this gives you, and it’s kind of absurd in the best way possible. Typically being able to move a unit of Thunderers within 12” of an enemy to blast them would put your models in harms way…but being able to Redeploy and slingshot that unit of Thunderers over 12” away with your boat as the anchor point is massive. This army will win or die on the ability of the player to position and move units well, which will absolutely take some practice.
Battle Formations
Iron Sky Attack Squadron
All of your boats ignore the first point of damage that they would suffer in each phase. That might not sound like a lot at first but across a game that can easily keep your ships alive and kicking. Consider that damage can happen across the Hero phase from magic, shooting phase, and combat phase and then remember that all of that can happen twice per battle round; shrugging off up to 6 points of health is huge and as long as you have at least 2 bigger boats it’s great.
Aether-Runners
Your boats gain +2” to their Move Characteristic for the whole game. Like I’ve said (multiple times) already this is a big movement faction so getting there that much faster will make more of a difference than you might expect. Don’t discount this at a glance, it’s quite good and pairs very well with Frigates especially to get your units in combat that much fast, crossing an insane amount of board in one turn.
Endrineers Guild Expeditionary Force
During deployment you get to give one extra Hero an artefact of power which I’ll be covering just below. These are all 1-use items so getting to choose another after seeing your opponents army is very good but I’m not sure if it’s better than one of the other sub factions.
Grundcorps Wing
Thunderers and Gunhaulers gain an extra 3” of range on their weapons. If you’re really going all-in on Thunderers then being able to keep them a bit further back is helpful. Unfortunately you still need to actually get to objectives to hold them and win the game, so playing keep-away only works for so long.
Heroic Traits
Endrinmaestro
I think I’ll be taking this simply for the name. It rules. But also all infantry wholly within 12” of the Endrinmaestro adds 2” onto their ranged weapons. This isn’t a lot on its own but combine with the Grundcorps Wing and you’ve got Thunderers shooting 15” range with their shortest-ranged guns.
Grudgebearer
…ok this name is also just classic and good for a dwarf. Pick an enemy unit during deployment as the target and double the damage of this hero’s weapons against it for the game. Not huge but whack this on an Endrinmaster in Dirigible Suit and suddenly that’s 3 different weapon profiles (2 at range!) doubling damage against something; if they all hit/wound/fail save then that’s 30 damage against something you really want dead. Sadly we live in a world where dice do fail sometimes so don’t rely on this guy nuking a Mega Gargant in one go.
Cunning Fleetmaster
While not the most-fun name it’s easily the best ability here. When a Skyvessel within 12” uses Redeploy you roll 2 dice and take the highest. Considering you can use Redeploy every turn regardless of enemy unit proximity and can ferry units as part of the move you’ll be happy to have the ability.
Inventions of the Sky Port
Many of this edition’s artefacts are once-per-game abilities however most factions at least have an option of one that works all-game-long. Not the case for the sky dwarfs as these three are all once-per-game, albeit powerful, and none of them require a dice roll they just work!
Blazebeard and Sons ‘Drakk-Hobbler’ Mag-Bolas
Pick an enemy monster within 12” and it subtracts 1 from the number of dice it rolls for all charge rolls. This effect lasts until the Kharadron’s next turn and can be used in any shooting or combat phase allowing you a lot of freedom in redeploy moves and opponent movement to trigger it. It’s just good so long as you’re playing against a Monster, great second choice if you’re using the appropriate trait above.
Celestium Burst-Grenade
In your own shooting phase pick an enemy unit within 12” and turn off their wards for the rest of the turn. That’s right, not just for the shooting phase! So line up your shot and charge headlong with your Skywardens: this is the best chance they’ll have to take out that incredibly-tough enemy unit. Wards are in just about every faction this edition so you’ll just about always be happy to have it.
Voidstone Orb
Unbind an enemy spell. It’s that simple. You don’t have to be a wizard or otherwise able to unbind a spell, just have to be within the normal 30” unbind range. Careful on your timing but very powerful to have up your sleeve.
Warscroll Spotlights
Since Kharadron Overlords don’t have spells, prayers, manifestations, or faction terrain I’m going to talk about a couple more Warscrolls than we have in other focuses because this is really where the army shines. No tricks, just good ol’ fashioned duardin craftsmanship and stubbornness. Love to see it.
Let’s start with the coolest model in the range and what I know every Kharadron player wants to know about: the Ironclad. The biggest ship of the bunch and it’s a meaty (well, metal, really) beast on the tabletop. Ironclads are the only ship that gain a Great Endrinwork and has the choice between three when deployed. A simple +2” move taking it to 12” or 14” in an Aether-Runner detachment. Can ferry up to 4 units and 32 models, a ludicrous amount of Arkanauts if you ask me. Count as a Wizard (1) to be able to Unbind an enemy spell each turn. Of the three I prefer the last with the army’s otherwise lack of ability to unbind spells; it’s a welcome addition and makes the Navigator sitting in the top endrin actually do something!
You still get the choice of a great sky cannon, great skyhook, or great volley gun and yes, thankfully, the volley cannon still rolls a very fun 4D6 number of shots and now with extra rend against Infantry.
From the largest of the bunch to the lowliest let’s look at the humble Arkanaut Company and what their role is in the army. They’re a solid little unit with Control 1, Health 1, and 4+ save firing off two pistol shots per model that can also shoot in combat; 1 per 10 can wield a volley gun which gets Crit (2 hits) with its 2D6 shots making it a nice little gun against other infantry. When they’re contesting an objective they get +1 to all hit rolls too in melee make two whole attacks each, too! Honestly nothing about this is overly incredibly by any means but for what is your basic infantry option and can be carried around in boats with ease they’re a solid unit.
I’ve mentioned Skywardens a few times now throughout this article so it’s probably only fair that we go over what they actually do now. I think they’re great, actually, and depending on what they end up costing you may be eyeing up 12 or more in a list with a couple Frigates to deliver them! You’ll be wanting them with all skypikes and pistols so you don’t miss out on their great melee attacks but those pistols are solid with 3 shots each and a point of rend, can shoot in combat, and even have 10” range. With skypikes they’re making 2 attacks each at rend 1 damage 2 and Crit (Mortal) and at the end of the turn when they’re in combat they roll a D3, dish out some mortal wounds and retreat without suffering any mortals themselves. Pick a fight, get in, get out (next to a ship preferably!) and get ready to slingshot around the table somewhere else. That said, I might actually prefer Endrinriggers who instead make 3 attacks each with rend 2 damage D3. No mortal wounds on those attacks and they hit slightly worse on a 4+ but an extra attack, pip of rend, and averaging same damage with chance to spike higher makes them a mean melee threat; they can’t retreat end of turn but they do heal your skyvessels.
I’ll finish off this section with a couple key abilities on a couple heroes. The Admiral gives a unit of Arkanauts +D6 Control score which is the only random bonus I think I’ve seen so far, odd. They also get a Command Ironclad or Frigate which gets a free All Out Attack every turn. Navigators have always been popular and can Read the Winds rolling 6 dice; each 1 you roll deals mortal wounds and slows an enemy within 18” and each 6 also adds 3” move to a Skyvessel within 18” making your fleet that much more mobile. Taking a Khemist will be key for most lists giving an extra point of rend to an Infantry unit’s shooting on the roll of a 3+ so that those Thunderer or Arkanaut shots really stick. Lastly, and sadly, is the Codewright who I still need to pick up for my own collection but who’s rules aren’t making me want to rush to do so. He has an unimpressive shooting and melee profile (literally a Battletome to whack you with) and each of your her phases you an pick 3 visible Kharadron units to gain an effect; the nice part I suppose is there’s no range on this, I guess they have pretty effective comms systems in those suits? I’m not a lore guy. You do have to roll a 3+ to gain an ability between +2 control score, +1 run and charge, or to avoid any mortal wounds from retreating.
Sailing Around Battle Tactics
All of this movement and being able to pick and choose your battles frankly makes Battle Tactics relatively simple. Be mindful where you’re moving but typically Kharadrons won’t have an issue scoring throughout the game. Small units of Skywardens or Endrinriggers can be hyper mobile to get to various spaces on the board and bringing down a ship mid-game right where you need will be a big help as well.
You’ll likely notice that a savvy opponent is going to try and stop you scoring these by, at the very least, giving you difficult choices about either being able to score or staying at a safe distance from their weapons.
Grungi’s Guile
As I started this article this is by far the most interesting iteration of Kharadron Overlords that has existed. I am very excited to get them back out on the table and slingshot units of Endrinriggers, Arkanauts, and heroes around scoring battle tactics and being a general nuisance to slower enemies. That said, even with all this movement and these tricks I do believe this is also the most interesting they’ve been to play against as well. They might be fast but they can’t just teleport every turn and shorter weapon ranges will force them to get close, too. Definitely interested to see how it all pans out with points though and just how much you’ll actually get to field!
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