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So I've ordered up mechanics, a Man-O-War Kovnik, and a Koldon Lord to start getting in games that strongly feature jackmarshals as I continue to practice and learn my Khador list.
I'd like some list suggestions, or casters you think go well with the rule mechanic from you vets out there.
Help a fledgling Khador Kommander out!
The idea behind a jack marshall is that they give you the durability and hitting power of a 'Jack without being a focus burden. To that end, when you are deciding whether or not to pay the extra points for 'jack marshalls, check to see how many great spells you really want that focus for, but also make sure you're not losing out on any good battlegroup abilities. Both Butchers seem like they should be great with jack marshalls since they can use that focus to wreck house themselves, but they also have really great battlegroup abilities and spells. I see Epic Vlad as possibly the best choice for Marshalling with Khador. He has spells and abilities that mostly help infantry, and his assail spell will let a marshalled jack slam that normally couldn't. Then the kovnik who is marshalling it can reap huge benefits from his feat.
I'd add both Sorschas, regular Vlad, and even regular Irusk to the list of good jack marshalls in Khador. All three have great spell lists, and really want to keep their focus themselves so they can cast those awesome spells.
One or two destroyers marshalled with pSorscha synergize very well with her feat turn. She can feat, cast tempest on the enemy caster, and then you've got two POW 14 boosted damage roll shots coming their way in addition to the rest of the army. If you're not boosting with her, she'll still have enough focus to Wind Rush away for the DEF bonus.
Vlad can work well, since his feat affects all warjacks, not just his battlegroup, and his spells, especially Signs & Portents, work for any model.
Irusk has superiority, and that can be put on any jack, as can battle lust, iron flesh, etc. A marshalled berzerker with superiority on it is a great cheap jack that can do some real nice damage, all without needing any focus. It charges for free at SPD 6, has 2 MAT 7 attacks and then a combo attack, and then you can use the marshall ability for an extra attack. A kovnik lets you do even more with the Drive ability.
Just make sure that the warjacks you want to marshall don't need a lot of focus to run well. Normally, that'll mean Destroyers, Berzerkers, Devastators, and maybe Kodiaks. The other Khador jacks all like/need the focus.
Lux
Thanks guys,
That's exactly the kind of help I needed to wrap my head around this.
-bigred
Personally, I'm a big fan of Kodiaks. I can't recall which (if any) of the Khadorian Jack Marshalls grant bonuses to hit (i.e. boosted attack rolls), but with their chain attack, vent steam, pathfinder and heavy boilers they are great for inconveniencing enemy heavies and clearing out enemy infantry. As (primarily) a circle player, I really really dislike seeing them.
Just to be clear a Warcaster is a Battlegroup Commander and therefore controls any number of Jacks allocated to him/her, a Jack Marshal is a non-character model with the ability to contol up to two Jacks.
Fluff wise a Warcaster controls Jacks using magic and the jack cortex, whereas a Jack Marshal uses verbal commands or hand signals.
For Khador the Jack Marshalls include the MOW Kovnik and the Koldun Lord, who can use the Jack marshal abilities listed in the book plus whatever ability is on their cards.
However Jack Marshalls are not as versatile as Warcasters in controlling Jacks and wherever a spell/feat says 'affects Warjacks in his Battlegroup' it will not include any Jacks in your force under a Jack Marshall's control only those allocated to the caster.Other spells/feats can be used however if they aren't specific.
They frequently do get neat Drives (special enhancements to jacks that are marshaled) though, which casters can't really duplicate. Many times a Jack Marshal's Drive will make a warjack worth fielding just based on that alone.
So I've been havein some success with using a Koldun Lord JMing a destroyer, and a MoWKovnik heading into battle with Kodiac.
Those two pairing seem to work fairly well. Now to play around with the ideal caster to support the entire enterprise or just be a monster all my himself...