Learning how to play with Kharadron Overlords
While I’ve only played one real life game with my Kharadron Overlords (KO) army so far, I’ve now got six or seven Tabletop Simulator (TTS) games under my belt with them. In this post I’m going to talk about my experience of learning how to use the army.
The list I’ve used for most of my games is below. I’ve come
to the conclusion it’s not a very good list, and I’ll explain why later. But
it’s been fun to use, because it gives me a lot of options, and has given me
experience of using a lot of different warscrolls.
Allegiance: Kharadron Overlords
Aetheric Navigator (100)
- Artefact: Svaregg-Stein Illuminator Flarepistol
How have I got on?
I’ve done pretty well in casual games with KO, but went 1-2
at the only tournament I’ve taken them too. They’re very match-up dependent, in
the only game I’ve played with them against Idoneth Deepkin I got utterly
crushed.
I’ve enjoyed playing with them a lot, their mobility means
there are always a lot of options for what to do, and I’m able to be very
flexible and change my game plan to react to what my opponent has done.
However, in some games they’ve been a bit of a negative play
experience for my opponent, as KO can do a lot of things (moving anywhere on
the board, retreating out of combat with no real downsides) that most armies
can’t do. So once lockdown ends and face to face gaming resumes, I can see
myself using them mainly for competitive games and taking more fun to play
armies for casual match-ups.
What mistakes have I made?
The way I learn best is to make mistakes and then try not to
repeat them. So with that in mind, here are some of the mistakes I’ve made so
far with KO.
1.
Not making the most of my battalion ability. The
Iron Sky Attack Squadron allows Arkanaut Company to leave the frigates in the
same battalion after the frigate has moved (though I’ve recently realised it can’t
be used after they have Flown High, apologies to the people I’ve accidentally
cheated against), and if they then charge, to make a 3D6 charge. After watching
a stream of a tournament match where one of the players was using KO, I
realised I’ve not been using this ability very effectively. I’ve mainly been
using it to cap the odd unattended objective, or to deploy the arkanauts as a
screen for my frigates. But I think I should be looking for opportunities to
use it more aggressively, and make long charges with the arkanauts to grab
objectives in my opponent’s territory. The best use of the ability is likely to
be very scenario and match-up dependent, but I need to make it more of a
consideration when developing my battleplan.
2.
Not playing the objective game. KO have a lot of
alpha strike potential, so in most games my battle plan has been focused on
trying to take out one or more of my opponent’s key pieces on turn one. But one
of the main weaknesses of KO is that they’re not very good at holding onto
objectives, so I think in some games I should have focused more on taking my
opponent’s battleline units and reducing their ability to cap objectives. A
good example of this is the final game I played at the Hammertime 7 tournament,
against Tzeentch. I was able to take out my opponent’s Lord of Change on turn
1, but he then used his horror units very effectively to get complete board
control. So potentially, I’d have done better to ignore the Lord of Change and
focus on taking out one of the units of horrors as early as possible. I need to
be better at developing a game plan based on the specific scenario I’m playing,
and understanding when it’s better to focus on board control rather than
killing the scariest thing in my opponent’s army.
3.
Forgetting the rules. KO are a fairly technical
army, and there are a lot of rules to remember, which I frequently fail to do.
I’m particular guilty of forgetting that Barak Zilfin allows me to reroll 1s to
hit against flying units, but in one game I even forgot to use the key Barak
Zilfin ability that allows one of my ships to make a move in my hero phase. The
solution here is probably just practice, practice, practice. And make sure I
check my AoS Reminders list more often.
What’s gone well?
1.
I’m really enjoying using the endrinriggers.
They’re a nice all-rounder unit, they can shoot a bit and also fight a bit, though
they’re pretty fragile with only 12 wounds for 200 points so they need to be
looked after. They can hitch alongside the boats to get to where they need to
be, and they’ve ended up being my main damage dealers in the games when I’ve
done well. Often the games I’ve done badly in are the games where one or both
units has been taken out before I was able to make good use of them. I do regret
including a skyhook in each unit, the default loadout is much better for how I’ve
been using them. The endrinmaster with dirigible suit has been similarly
excellent, he’s pretty tough for a small hero and can dish out a lot of damage.
2.
I’ve been doing a reasonably good job of
focusing the shooting power of my army to take out key units turn one. My army
is 10 drops, so I rarely get choice of turn, and in most games I end up going
first. While KO have a lot of guns, some of them are pretty short range, and
the amount of damage they dish out can be very swingy depending on dice. I’m
getting better at understanding what order to shoot with in order to make the
most of the different weapons depending on range and stats, to use my shooting
as efficiently as possible.
3.
With a few games under my belt I’m pretty
comfortable with the stats of the different weapons now, which speeds up the
shooting phase a lot. I find that I often need to take some time at the start
of my turn to figure out a plan, particularly on the first couple of turns, so
being able to get through the rest of the turn as quickly as possible is quite
important.
What have I learned about the list?
1.
Thunderers aren’t worth it. An ok unit, but because
I’m running them in fives they don’t get an aethergold share, and that means
they can be very swingy. The way I’m playing the list I think I’d do better to
drop the thunderers for more endrinriggers. The endrinriggers often do as much
in the shooting phase as the thunderers do, and they can contribute in the combat
phase too. I think the way to go with thunderers is probably to fill an
Ironclad full of then, but that’s not really what I’m looking to do with this
list.
2.
I need another hero. Having only two small heroes
has hurt me in some scenarios, so I’m going to look to add a khemist into the
list.
3.
I’m not making enough use of the arkanauts to
justify having three units of them. They’re
nice for screening and grabbing objectives, but they rarely earn their points
back, and I don’t think I’ve been making very effective use of them.
I think what I’m going to do next is drop the gunhaulers, the
thunderers, and one or maybe even two units of arkanauts to fit in an Ironclad
and an aetherkhemist. That will let me try out some new things, including the
Spell in A Bottle artefact which I’m keen to have a go with.
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