Warhammer AoS: My 3 Favorite Kharadron Sky-Ports
Sky-Ports are what separate the various factions of Kharadron Overlord from one another. Each one has its own flavor–and here are a few favorites.
The Kharadron Overlords will be descending from their sky-ports to join the Soul Wars anew very soon, with a host of new and exciting rules. Hearkening back to their origins, a Kharadron army can pick one of six sky-ports to hail from, each with their own specific artefact, command trait, and army abilities just like all the other subfactions. Here are my three favorite sky-ports, and some thoughts about how they might work on the battlefield.
Barak-Zilfin
Known as The Windswept City, this sky-port is renowned for their skill with aeronautical warfare, so if you like skyvessels then this is definitely the subfaction for you. First off, they can take the midsize skyvessel, the Arkanaut Frigate, as battleline, which is a terrifying thing to face, especially with the new Fly High and Flying Transport rules. To add to the sky supremacy, an additional skyvessel in your army can take a great endrinwork, making your armada of steampunk dirigibles even more powerful.
Your Artycle, Amendment, and Footnote are all predetermined for you, like a command trait or artefact of power for other subfactions, but the Zilfin ones are well worth it.
The Artycle, Master the Skies, gives all your skyvessels the ability to re-roll 1s to hit against models that can fly, so you’re going to decimate Nighthaunt and any Tzeentch armies that rely heavily on Screamers or disc-mounted Tzaangors. The Amendment, Don’t Argue With the Wind, lets any of your units that choose to run add 6” to their movement rather than making a roll, meaning you can get your shooters into a more advantageous position quickly and circumvent the otherwise low movement of the Duardin on the ground. The Footnote, There’s Always a Breeze If You Look, also plays into the increased movement, allowing a single unit to make a normal move, which can include a run, retreat, or disengage action, once per battle in your hero phase.
Note it does not say you can’t move an additional time later in the turn, so this will get your massive sky boats into good shooting position almost immediately. The command trait is only for Admirals, so if you take an Endrinmaster or other hero as your general, you can still choose one from the respective table, but the trait is well worth consideration. It allows you to roll a d6 any time your general uses a command ability, adding another to your pool on a 5+. Considering the number of options for abilities an Arkanaut Admiral has, this command trait could allow you to buff your entire army in a single turn with some lucky rolls. The required artefact lets you pick one of the bearer’s missile weapons and add +1 to hit, which is certainly not BAD on an Admiral but would probably be better on an Endrinmaster with Dirigible Suit and all his ridiculous shooting attacks or an Aether-Khemist’s Atmospheric Anatomiser. All in all, this is the faction for delivering massive firepower on the backs of gunships, so if that’s your bag, this is your army.
Barak-Zon
On the other side of the aethergold coin is the City of the Sun, Barak-Zon, the militaristic arm of the Kharadron cities. This is the army of loading your skyvessels with massed infantry and disgorging them on your foe like an angry swarm. The army wide ability lets you add 1 to wound rolls for any Skyfarer unit that charged in the same turn, and add 1 to hit rolls should the unit also be Skywardens. This means you’ll want to be very aggressive, and get your fellas charged in as quickly as possible.
Your Artycle, Honor is Everything, lets your entire army re-roll hit rolls of 1 against Heroes and Monsters, so you’ll want to bury those types of units in your standard guys to make the most use of the boosted hits. Your Amendment, Leave No Duardin Behind, lets you add 2 to the Bravery of any of your Skyfarers wholly within 12” of a friendly skyvessel, so you’ll want to keep your escort vehicles close after they spit out your duardin death squads. Your Footnote, Show Them Your Steel, allows you to drop a unit from a garrisoned skyvessel in your hero phase rather than the movement phase once per battle, allowing you to move later in the movement phase or reposition your gunboats with impunity to really lay down the damage.
Your general’s required command trait allows him to roll a d6 the first time he is slain in a game, returning to life with d3 wounds on a 2+. This is huge, especially if your battleline is relying on an Admiral’s bubble of no battleshock to stay in the game. Your compulsory artefact allows to to add 2 to the Attacks characteristic of one of the bearer’s melee weapons. This is extremely strong on an Admiral or foot Endrinmaster, the former for consistent damage, the latter to increase the chances of rolling a 6 and dishing out 3 mortal wounds. Whichever you choose, if you want the army that takes standard KO shooty tactics and laughs in their face, take a Barak-Zon army.
Barak-Thryng
Known as the City of Ancestors, this sky-port combines the considerable strength on the Kharadron Overlords with all the benefits of the other Duardin factions. Mirroring the Vulkite Berserkers of their angry ginger cousins, a Thryng Skyfarer that is slain within 3” of an enemy unit can roll a d6, fighting before it is removed from play on a 4+. This can make an otherwise innocuous unit of Thunderers very dangerous very fast.
The Thryng Artycle, Chronicle of Grudges, lets you pick 3 enemy units before the battle begins as the target of your anger. Your entire army gets to re-roll hit rolls of 1 when targeting those three units, both shooting and melee, meaning you’ll almost certainly decimate whatever you picked in a turn or two. The Amendment, Take What Help You Can, allows you to take one non-Kharadron Duardin unit in your army for every three KO units you take. They become Thryng, can’t be your general, and don’t count as battleline, but backing up your Thunderers with some Ironweld cannons or loading up a Frigate with some Hearthguard Berserkers is certainly worth considering. Your Footnote, Honor the Gods, Just in Case, allows you to give a single unit exploding hits once per battle, meaning that each hit roll of 6 scores 2 hits instead of 1. Y
ou can use this in either the shooting OR combat phase, meaning you can designate a gunline to lay down a withering hail of fire or an allied melee unit to saw through a stubborn enemy. The command trait allows your general to use the army ability to fight before dying on a 2+ rather than a 4+. Considering the amount of damage your heroes can deal, this is a huge ability for your army, and can make your Admiral the rival of a Grimwrath Berserker. To further augment the killiness of your general, the Thryng artefact of power lets you pick one of the wielder’s melee weapons and give it +1 to hit. In addition, should you roll an unmodified 6 to wound against one of the units picked by your Artycle, you deal an additional d3 mortal wounds. My pick for the strongest wielder of this artefact is either an Admiral or, should you ally in some Fyreslayers, a Runefather or Grimwrath Berserker. If you want to diversify your force and keep your opponent guessing, this will be your favorite faction.
Which sky-port is your favorite?
