Revision as of 12:18, 9 January 2022

Kommander Harkevich, the Iron Wolf Khador Warcaster

Khador’s Iron Wolf has earned a reputation as a peerless master of heavy armor on the battlefield, a war hero beloved by his men and respected even by the enemies of the Motherland. He is famous for his ability to move large numbers of warjacks at an unprecedented pace to arrive where the enemy least expects him. Where Harkevich and his iron army stride, the enemy finds itself hounded, outmaneuvered, cornered, and eventually obliterated by overwhelming firepower.

Basic Info

Harkevich1
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Small SPD 5 STR 7 MAT 7 RAT 6 M.A. N/A DEF 14 ARM 16 CMD N/A ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS 6 FURY N/A THRS N/A HP 18 F. Field N/A WJP +28 WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA N/A UNIT SIZE N/A COST N/A N/A N/A N/A Warcaster 1 COST N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Warcaster - All warcasters come with a stack of standard special rules - most notably being awesome. Click here for a newbie-friendly recap, or click here for the full rules.

Feat: Hour of the Wolf

1. While in Harkevich's control range, models in his battlegroup gain +3 ARM.
2. Models in his battlegroup beginning their activation in his control range can charge or make slam power attacks without spending focus.
3. A model in Harkevich's battlegroup that declares a charge or slam against an enemy model while in his control range can make a basic ranged attack before advancing.

Hour of the Wolf lasts for one round.

Abilities

• Field Marshal [Reposition 3"] - Warbeasts/warjacks in this model's battlegroup gain Reposition 3". (Reposition [3"] - At the end of an activation in which it did not run or fail a charge, a model with Reposition [3"] can advance up to 3", then its activation ends.)
• Iron Sentinel - While B2B with a friendly Faction warjack, this model gains +2 DEF and ARM and cannot become knocked down.

Weapons

Hand Cannon
		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW
		12			1			-			12
Minister
		RNG				POW				P+S
		1				7				14
Damage Type: Magical Stagger - Models hit by this weapon lose their initial attacks and cannot make power attacks or special attacks for one round.

Spells

Theme Forces

• Armored Korps
• Flame in the Darkness
• Jaws of the Wolf
• Legion of Steel
• Warriors of the Old Faith
• Winter Guard Kommand. In this theme the caster gains Sacrificial Pawn [Winter Guard trooper model].
• Wolves of Winter

Thoughts on Harkevich

Harkevich in a Nutshell

Harkevich is a close-to-the-line warjack support warcaster that excels at speed and attrition. His spell Mobility lets normally slow Khador warjacks strike first for once, and Field Marshal : Reposition[3"] gives them an unusual amount of adaptability. His feat gives his battlegroup incredible durability. He has excellent defensive stats and abilities, making him difficult to assassinate. He lacks any infantry support and plays best with a warjack-heavy list, often in the Jaws of the Wolf or Winter Guard Kommand theme forces.

Feat thoughts

Of the two Feat effects, the +3 ARM is the most important. There are only a few abilities in Khador that increase the ARM of our already tough jacks, and for good reason. Armor 23 for most jacks or ARM 26 for closed "clam" jacks (like the Devastator and Demolisher) can be very difficult for an enemy to crack. This lets you weather the inevitable counterattack after rushing your jacks in with Mobility. Also remember that Harkevich does benefit from his own feat, and can be very difficult to assassinate on feat turn.

The second effect, an additional ranged attack before charging, is controversial. Like the spell Broadside, it encourages you to take ranged 'jacks, but our low RAT jacks rarely make the additional attacks count. Remember that you can shoot things other than your charge target, and look for opportune targets like knocked down models or clumped up infantry. Treat it as a nice bonus, but don't feel obligated to build your whole list or strategy around it.

Spell thoughts

• Bombshell - AOE attack with a great critical effect. Expensive (especially if you boost to hit, maximizing the chance of a critical hit) but situationally useful. Use against something you really need to move, or against difficult infantry that is normally immune to blast damage.
• Broadside - Expensive but potentially powerful ranged attack generator. You will want to either take 3+ ranged jacks and cast this every turn, or mostly ignore it in favor of casting Mobility or allocating focus to your battlegroup.
• Jumpstart - Very situational, but incredibly useful for making sure your battlegroup doesn't get shut down by things like Disruption, Telekenesis, knockdown, ect. You likely won't need to cast it much, but you'll be glad to have it when you do.
• Mobility - Hark's "other" signature spell. Makes Khador heavies as fast as most infantry. Great for extending your threat range or getting an additional 4" up the field. If you run a melee-focused Hark list, you will likely cast this every turn, at least until you're stuck in with the enemy.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Harkevich has a relatively low amount of Focus for the amount of jacks he wants to run.
  • On top of that, most of his spells are pretty expensive. Playing into anti-magic tricks like Arcane Suppression can be annoying, while Lamentation might cripple your battle plans altogether.
• He doesn't have any spells to support non-battlegroup models directly. This means his infantry has to be completely self-sufficient.
• Broadsides generally needs at least 3 warjacks to justify the focus cost of the spell and the shots from the spell cannot be boosted - a hard pill to swallow on low RAT Khador Warjacks.
• The Pathfinder aspect of his Mobility spell is redundant in the Khadoran jack theme, Jaws of the Wolves.
• Harkevich is not a very "active" warcaster, usually handing out focus and casting 1 or 2 spells a turn. His big spells and passive abilities are effective, but he might feel boring to play for some people.

Tricks & Tips

• Harkevich is a model in his own battlegroup, so he benefits from Broadsides, Mobility, and his feat.
  • However, he is not a warjack so doesn't benefit from his Field Marshal:Reposition ability.
• There is a skill in knowing when to cast Broadsides or not. If you cast it, you double your amount of fire and can drift more AOEs, do more damage to low ARM models, etc. If you don't you can instead allocate the focus to boost the shots the Warjacks make during their activation.
• Bombshell is a great charge lane opener. Cast it into the middle of the enemy line and stick a Decimator or Demolisher in the new hole to disrupt the enemy line with a high ARM threat.
• Remember to Reposition your jacks after their melee actions. It's a great way to clear charge lanes, fit more jacks in, and generally get better positioning.
• Trampling gets you further than running turn1 due to reposition (4+2+3+3) vs (4X2 +2)

List Building Advice

Strategy

There are two major schools of thought with Harkevich: running a ranged-focused jack list that relies heavily on Broadside, or running a melee-focused jack list that relies heavily on Mobility. Either way, you want to pressure the enemy into committing the models that can actually deal with a large volume of high armor warjacks. Once you take those out, you should have no problem bullying the enemy caster for a scenario, attrition, or even assassination victory.

A ranged-focused list should look for ways to knock down or otherwise reduce the DEF of enemy models, since the low RAT of Khador warjacks is the biggest challenge for this strategy. Repositioning backwards can help you get more rounds of shooting in, and the additional shot when charging on feat turn should help when you do eventually close to melee.

A melee-focused list relies on the fact that Khador jacks are already awesome, they just need a little help getting to the enemy. Mobility helps with +2 SPD and Pathfinder, hopefully letting you engage the enemy on your own terms. Make sure to bring jacks that can handle screening models (Like Kodiaks, Berserkers, or Ragers) so you don't get bogged down with cheap infantry, and can prioritize the enemy models that can actually hurt you.

Theme Thoughts

    Jaws of the Wolves    
He's a battlegroup caster, so at first glance one might think to run him in Jaws of the Wolf. On the other hand, the main theme benefit (Pathfinder for jacks) is redundant with his Mobility ability, so he's by no means tied to the theme. The main draws here are probably access to the big bad Behemoth, Sorscha0 for even further threat ranges, and Ambushing Kossite Woodsmen.

    Wolves of Winter    

Another direction to go in could be Wolves of Winter. In this case, the DEF debuffs that set up your shooting come from Greylord Ternion, along with ARM debuffs from Koldun Lords and Void Archons. Koldun Lords can also copy the Empower spell of the Forge Seers, giving you a total of 4 focus per turn if you run them at max FA.

    Various Themes    

• Adding a War Dog and keeping in Iron Sentinel range can take Harkevich to very good levels of defense and ARM in melee. With pathfinder from Mobility, it's also easy to put him in ranged DEF boosting terrain. He also becomes immune to knockdown and back strikes, making him all around difficult to assassinate.
• Greylord Forge Seers can use Empower to help take the focus strain off of Harkevich.
• Greylord Adjunct - Mandatory, as Guidance helps ranged jacks against clouds, stealth and incorporeal.

Battlegroup

Black Ivan is his pet warjack that he can take in any theme.

• Harkevich and one or more Demolisher can be a potent combination. Since they only "open up" when making melee attacks, they can close in while making many high powered (if inaccurate) shots under Broadsides. Under feat, they go up to a ludicrous ARM 26, making them an amazing first wave for your opponent to try and overcome.
  • Demolishers also have Gunfighter, allowing them to take advantage of Broadside even when engaged.
• Kodiaks synergize very well with Field Marshal : Reposition[3"]. They can Trample up 9" under Mobility, use Vent Steam, then Reposition backwards 3", just enough to get them out of their own steam cloud. The cloud will block line of sight, protecting them from ranged attacks/charges. Use several of them to create a cloud wall for the rest of your army.
• Marauders usually only need their 1 Power Up focus to do their job, which is good for the focus-hungry Harkevich.
• Decimator - +2 Speed and Repo 3" does a lot to mitigate the low range on their guns and since they have Batter, they can set up knocked down targets to shoot at for their brothers if you run them in multiples.
• Black Ivan is a souped up Destroyer that is worse in melee and a bit more effective at range thanks to the bond. The main draws are supposed to be Dual Attack & Bulloze, which you can get from a Spriggan for a similar price point.
• Spriggan - Flare helps the low RAT Khador jacks land their mark, which especially helps on Broadside attacks. It's no slouch in melee either. The main strike against it is RAT 4, so you will need to aim, Guidance and boost to hit to reliably apply it in the first place.

Other

Trivia

• A common fan-joke is that one must grow a prodigious beard in order to cast Broadside, because both the casters with access to the spell, Harkevich and Bartolo both have magnificent facial hair.
• Released in the Warmachine: Wrath expansion (2011)

Video Battle Reports

• 2019.03 Guerilla Miniature Games, vs Magnus2
• 2019.03 Tiny Men, vs Helynna1
• 2019.03 Tiny Men, vs Abyslonia1
• 2019.01 Guerilla Miniature Games, vs Helynna1
• 2018.04 Guerilla Miniature Games, vs Amon1
• See also Category: Video Battle Reports for more casters with videos.

Other Khador models

Khador Index       (Edit)
Battlegroup & Similar
Warcasters	Butcher1 - Butcher2 - Butcher3 - Harkevich - Irusk1 - Irusk2 - Karchev1 - Karchev2 - Kozlov - Malakov2 - Old Witch1 - Old Witch2 - Sorscha1 - Sorscha2 - Sorscha3 - Strakhov1 - Strakhov2 - Vlad1 - Vlad2 - Vlad3 - Zerkova1 - Zerkova2
Warcaster attachments	Khador: War Dog - Greylord Adjunct Mercenary: Madelyn Corbeau - Reinholdt - Wyshnalyrr
Other Warjack Controllers	"Junior" Warcasters: Malakov1 - Sorscha0 'Jack Marshals: Man-o-War Kovnik - Greylord Forge Seer
Heavy Warjacks	Beast-09 - Behemoth - Berserker - Black Ivan - Decimator - Demolisher - Destroyer - Devastator - Drago - Grolar - Juggernaut - Kodiak - Mad Dog - Marauder - Rager - Ruin - Spriggan - Torch
Colossal	Conquest - Victor
Units, Solos, & Battle Engines
Units	Assault Kommandos - Battle Mechaniks - Black Dragons - Doom Reaver Swordsmen - Great Bears of the Gallowswood - Greylord Outriders - Greylord Ternion - Iron Fang Pikemen - Iron Fang Uhlans - Kayazy Assassins - Kayazy Eliminators - Kossite Woodsmen - MOW Atanas & Standard - MOW Bombardiers - MOW Demolition Corps - MOW Shocktroopers - Widowmaker Scouts - WG Field Gun - WG Infantry - WG Mortar Crew - WG Rifle Corps Ranking Officer CA : Koldun Kapitan Valachev
Solos	Bulkhead - Fenris - Greylord Adjunct - Greylord Forge Seer - Iron Fang Kovnik - Jozef - Koldun Lord - Malakov1 - Manhunter - MOW Drakhun - MOW Kovnik - MOW Strike Tanker - MOW Suppresion Tanker - Markov - Sofya - Sorscha0 - Ol' Grim - Underboss Vizkoya - War Dog - Widowmaker Marksman - WG Artillery Kapitan - Yuri1 - Yuri2
Battle Engines	Gun Carriage - Man-o-War Siege Chariot - Man-o-War Assault Chariot
Theme Forces
Armored Korps - Flame in the Darkness - Jaws of the Wolf - Legions of Steel - Warriors of the Old Faith - Winter Guard Kommand - Wolves of Winter
Mercenaries
Refer to Who Works for Whom and/or Category: Khador Mercenary
This index was last updated: 2021.11

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification : Stagger      (Edit) A Staggered model can still declare a charge. (Infernal Ruling) If that charging model can then buy a melee attack, that bought attack will count as its charge attack. Stagger prevents "free" Power Attacks, such as Smash & Grab. If you manage to free strike a model that is in the middle Slam move, and cause a Stagger, it will not prevent the slam that is already in progress. Stagger does work vs Colossals/Gargantuans.

Rules Clarification:  : Magical Damage      (Edit) (Click Expand to read)

* The "Damage Type: Magical" is not inherited by "secondary" damage from a weapon. That is, stuff like arcs (Electro Leap) or hazards (Scather). (Infernal Ruling) All spells have "Damage Type: Magical" (refer errata). This is inherited by "immediate" secondary damage (such as Eruption of Spines). (Infernal Ruling) and might be inherited by "lingering" secondary damage (see below). If a spell leaves a template in play that does damage to models that walk around in it, then: if it is not described as a hazard it will do magical damage to models that walk around in it. (Example: Razor Wall) if it is a hazard then it will not do magical damage to models that walk around in it. Instead, it does whatever damage type is specified by the spell description. (Example: Breath of Corruption). (Infernal Ruling) If a weapon/spell includes Magic Damage and another kind of elemental damage it will still damage Incorporeal models. Incorporeal models are not affected by the rule "if an attack does multiple types of damage and a model is immune to at least one it is immune to the entire attack." The phrase "immune to non-magical damage" should be interpreted as "immune to damage that doesn't include Damage Type: Magical" (not interpreted as "has immunity to Corrosion and Electricity and Cold and etc.")

Rules Clarification:  : Warcaster      (Edit) (Click Expand to read)

General Damage from a feat is neither an attack nor Damage Type: Magical (unless the feat says it is). FOCUS (uppercase) is the stat printed on the warcaster's card. Focus (lowercase) refers to focus points a model currently has. Your CTRL area is double your FOCUS stat, not double your focus points. (Infernal Ruling) Casting spells or using feats is an anytime ability with the added restriction that you can't use them on the same turn you run even before you run. See also the clarifications on Any Time abilities (below). Some warcasters are also Battle Engines and thus follow all the Battle Engine special rules. There is no particular interaction between the Battle Engine rules and the Warcaster rules. Work out all damage modifiers (such as Decapitation doubling the damage that exceeds ARM) before reducing it with the Power Field. (Infernal Ruling) Restrictions on "Any Time" abilities     (Edit)         [Show/Hide] "Any Time" abilities can be used at any time during a model/unit's activation, except: Before any compulsory forfeiture of movement/action. See step 2 of the activation sequence, appendix A. After the model with the "Any Time" ability has had their activation end "prematurely". By this I mean you resolved something which includes the phrase "its activation ends". Examples include: Running, failing a charge, or failing a slam. Abilities that include "then its activation ends" (such as Reposition and Teleport). In between declaring your charge target and making your charge movement. (Infernal Ruling) In between completing your charge movement and determining whether it was a successful charge. (Infernal Ruling) When you're in the middle of moving. (Note: Impact Attacks count as being in the middle of movement). When you're in the middle of an attack. Which also includes effects that occur "after the attack is resolved". (Although the attack is "resolved" at Step 11, in terms of using an "Any Time" ability the attack is not "finished" until after Step 14. Refer to the first paragraph of Apdx A.) Your opponent interrupted your activation to trigger one of their own abilities (such as Countercharge). Warcasters/warlocks/etc can normally cast a spell or use their feat "At any time". However, there is a core rule saying they cannot do so on the same activation that they run. So, they are subject to all the same restrictions listed above, plus they can't cast/feat before running. Units: See below. In general you can use "Any Time" abilities while you're knocked down or stationary (except Spells and Feats which specify you can't). If you have a gun with a random ROF, you can use an "Any Time" ability inbetween rolling the number of shots and actually making the first attack. (Infernal Ruling) Units with "Any Time" abilities You cannot use an "Any Time" ability before issuing/receiving orders. See step 1 and 2 of the activation sequence, appendix A. A model in a unit can't use an "Any Time" ability after they run (Infernal Ruling) or fail a charge. Because that makes that specific model's activation to end even though the unit's activation is still ongoing, and you can't use abilities on models that are not active. You can use an "Any Time" ability before running, however. A model in a unit can't use an "Any Time" ability after anyone in the unit has begun a Reposition move. (Infernal Ruling) Warcaster/Warlock Cavalry ( Edit ) Warcasters/Warlocks can't cast spells or use their feat while resolving Impact Attacks. Because Impact Attacks occur during movement - you can use spells or feat before moving, or after moving, but not during movement. Exception: If your Impact target(s) include your charge target, then your movement has ended (refer rulebook, last paragraph of 'Impact Attacks') and thus you're fine to use "any time" abilities before starting the Impact attacks. Rules Clarification:  : Warcaster Unit or Warlock Unit     (Edit) (Click Expand to read) This summary is specific to Warcaster/Warlock units. You may also want to check the Warcaster and Warlock pages respectively, for the "regular" rules clarifications. All models in the unit count as part of the battlegroup. So, for instance, Butcher3's argus can be moved via his Energizer spell. Warcaster units can have attachments. They can even attach units (such as the WSC). (Infernal Ruling) The non-caster models are trooper models but are not normally Grunt models. Therefore they're not normally eligible for stuff like Revive. If any member of the unit start to do their reposition movement, the warcaster or warlock in the unit would no longer be able to feat.(Infernal Ruling) Press Forward Order vs Spells cast at Any Time (Edit) You must issue orders before anything else. If you issue a Press Forward order, you must run or charge. If you cast spells before moving, you can't run so you must charge. If you cast spells before moving, then start the spellcaster's Normal Movement but have no valid charge targets, you are in a situation where you must charge but cannot charge. In this situation the spellcaster must either: forfeit their Combat Action, use their Normal Movement to make a full advance, then their activation ends. (Note that you cannot cast more spells after the full advance). forfeit their Normal Movement, then their activation ends. (Infernal Ruling) Steamroller 2018 The non-caster models can contest scenario zones & flags. The caster model cannot contest. The caster model can control zones and flags by itself, but: to control a zone, the entire unit remaining in play needs to be in formation. to control a flag, the entire unit remaining in play must be within 4" of the flag. Units Buying Attacks (Edit) If you make attacks with model [A], then start making attacks with model [B], you cannot 'go back' and buy more attacks with [A]. Because: A model can only buy additional attacks during its Combat Action. A model in a unit must complete its Combat Action before the next model starts theirs (with some exceptions, like CMA). Rules Clarification : Unit of Warcasters or Warlocks     (Edit) Even though they're warcasters, if they're out of formation they suffer the normal penalties (can't make attacks, actions, spells, etc). They can't upkeep each other's spells. They can only dominate one SteamRoller scenario element at a time. Each warlock/warcaster can have different upkeeps on them if those upkeeps are "target SELF" or "target model". If you cast an upkeep that is "target model/unit", that is the only upkeep any of them can have. Units Buying Attacks (Edit) If you make attacks with model [A], then start making attacks with model [B], you cannot 'go back' and buy more attacks with [A]. Because: A model can only buy additional attacks during its Combat Action. A model in a unit must complete its Combat Action before the next model starts theirs (with some exceptions, like CMA). The Legion Twins Rhyas cannot dominate a zone while out of formation. Rhyas can use the feat while out of formation. Haley3 Only Haley Prime is an 'actual' warcaster model, and as such she is the only one that can dominate a scenario element. The echoes can Control/Contest scenarios like a normal unit. Haley Prime can dominate an element even if the echoes are out of formation.

Rules Clarification : Field Marshal      (Edit) Field marshal only grants the ability to warjacks/warbeasts in the battlegroup, so (normally) the caster does not have the Field Marshal ability. However if it is listed on the caster's card separately, such as on Magnus2, then they do have it. (Closed thread)

Rules Clarification : Reposition      (Edit) Models out of formation cannot move via Reposition. Refer to the "Out of Formation" rules in the core rulebook. End of Activation (Edit) You cannot resolve two end-of-activation movement effects (refer to "End of Activation Movement" in the core rulebook). For EOA stuff that doesn't involve movement, though, it gets a bit more murky: Some EOA abilities explicitly state your activation ends as part of resolving the ability (like Reposition), and some don't (like Refuge). Whether it is explicit it or not, by definition an EOA ability is the last thing you can do for that activation. For instance, if you resolve Refuge and then continue your activation to cast more spells, then you have not used Refuge at the end of your activation. You cannot do an "at any time" ability during or after triggering an EOA ability; you cannot cast spells, purchase additional attacks, use a mini-feat, etc. If you start resolving an EOA movement (such as Reposition) then you cannot trigger abilities that occur "at any time" (such as Go To Ground). Because you can't trigger it while resolving the EOA movement, and after the EOA movement your activation has ended. (Infernal Ruling) For units: if any model in the unit starts resolving the unit's EOA movement, then no model in the unit can trigger an any-time ability. (Infernal Ruling) See also the training article: LPG - End of Activation.

Rules Clarification : Iron Sentinel - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Bombshell and/or Full Battery Fire     (Edit) See also the throw rules recap. If any two models (or more) in the AOE are B2B before the throw, then when you move the second model it is going to re-contact the first. This means you'll get an extra damage die vs the second model, or collateral damage (depending on who is larger than whom). If the first model can't move the full throw distance (because it contacts an obstacle, or an equal/larger based model) then the other model(s) in the AOE are going to smack into him when they get moved. Thus you'll get extra damage die/collateral damage. Incorporeal models won't be thrown, because "can't be thrown" trumps "is thrown". (Infernal Ruling) Bombshell only The sentence "instead of suffering blast damage" only relates to what happens on a critical hit. If it's not a critical, you apply blast damage as normal. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Broadside and/or Abattoir     (Edit) A model which can do something "instead of making a ranged attack" (such as the Spriggan's Targeting Flare) then they can do that as a Broadside attack. And similar logic for melee + Abattoir. (Infernal Ruling) Warbeasts/warjacks cannot spend focus/fury to boost these attacks (because the attacks occur out-of-activation), but the caster can boost their own attacks (since it happens during the caster's activation). Secondary effects of the warjack's gun can still trigger (as long as they're not limited to "activation only" or "Combat Action only"). For instance, the Galleon can drag stuff in with its harpoon and get its free melee attack. And similar logic for melee + Abattoir. Once per Activation (Edit) These sorts of rules can be triggered in different model's activations. For instance, Infection can be triggered on free strikes. (Infernal Ruling) Battlegroup members (Edit) Spells that target/affect "models in the battlegroup" can also target/will also affect the caster, the caster's unit (if they have one), and the caster's Companion (if they have one). It won't target/affect models which are Attached, though.

Rules Clarification : Jumpstart      (Edit) A warjack that stands up via Jump Start can still forfeit movement to aim and etc during their normal activation. Basically, it's as if you were never knocked down at all. Jump Start does not allow you to shake Blind or Shadow Bind. A warjack knocked down earlier on the same turn, cannot stand up via Jump Start. This is not a typo. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Mobility      (Edit) Pathfinder (Edit) - Pathfinder does not apply to involuntary movement (pushes & slams). (Infernal Ruling)