Sunday, May 12, 2019

Horus Heresy Review: Jaghatai Khan


Background.
The Great Khan was the laughing killer. The one who scouted ahead of the Great Crusade, unsung, largely un-noticed, but categorically vital to the success of the Emperor's vision for humanity at large. Like his brothers, he had his preferences (lightning swift strikes), likes (psykers / storm seers, Horus, Vulkan), and dislikes (Mortarion?). Underestimated by many, unknown to most, but far more than a berserk barbarian -- he was cultured, and knew precisely what he was doing.

Strengths.
There are two options to consider with the Khan. The first is known as "The Khan Afoot" and the second is "The Khan Mounted". They are precisely what you might expect: one version on foot, the other on a special jet bike.

The jet bike version costs more, but obviously provides bonuses in terms of speed, and heavy bolter fire. 1d3 hammer of wrath attacks with this is very nice, but whether you take him on this, or on foot depends on the build of the legion force he takes with him largely.

His bonus rules are nice overall though. He always (always!) strikes first in combat. No matter what (barring hammer of wrath and other "always strikes first" models). He has shooting that can actually take down opposing space marines and (as you might expect) is good in close combat (and won't be tar-pitted like some of his brothers thanks to permanent hit and runs, which he also grants to accompanying units). His weapon (the White Tiger Dao) is an AP2 with a bonus to strength on the charging turn. Although not unwieldy, it is not as fabulous as some of his brothers (cf. Russ).

The Khan also provides a buff to the army (not as good as Alpharius, to be clear), but giving everyone the scout rule will also provide the outflank rule which can lead to all kinds of fun for the White Scars player.

There's a few other bits and bobs here as well (move through cover, etc.) that I won't go in to detail with. Instead, I wanted to end the strengths by noting his relatively cheap points cost. He is one of the lower points value primarchs. Crazy deadly against regular marines, to be clear. Not one of the stronger primarchs though, but perfectly sufficient in his own way -- for instance he can tank very well indeed when on his bike. And no doubt the White Scars player will be positioning him very well indeed and running circles around their opponents. Play to his strengths and you will not be disappointed in my opinion.

Weaknesses.
He is a Primarch. Enough said.

Overall.
Cheap enough. Not the best Primarch in the game. Good army wide buff. Good with hit and run. Fast on his special bike if needed, and tanky to boot. Very nice indeed, and flavourful too. 

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