Chaos review #26 "Why so serious?!"

Where Lucius is better than average as a close combat/challenge character HQ unit, Kharn succeeds.

Kharn is the Khorne Berzerker. There was Angron the Primarch and after he went away, there is only Kharn. He is the go to for crazy close combat killing.

Kharn is still a melee monster. He comes with a WS 7, BS 5, strength 5, toughness 4, initiative 5, 3 wounds, 4 attacks, a leadership of 10 and 3+/5++ save. He comes armed with a plasma pistol, frag/krak grenades, a Mark of Khorne, the Aura of Dark Glory (5++) and Gorechild. He has the Warlord Trait of Hatred Incarnate and has the champion of Chaos, fearless, independent character, furious charge, veterans of the long war, Blessings of the Blood God and The Betrayer rules. He costs 5  points less than Lucius, and that is a bargain for a super kill crazy HQ.

Hatred Incarnate- is a Chaos only warlord trait. It gives Kharn and his unit the Hatred rule. They are just real pricks and hate everyone!

Gorechild- is a delightful name for a weapon. It is also this crazy chainaxe that always hits on a 2+. It also grants +1 strength and is AP 2. It also has the Armorbane (2D6 armor penetration) rule. This is a very nice weapon.

The Betrayer- is the minus that Kharn has, but it isn’t really much of a minus. In close combat if you roll 1 to hit then Kharn goes nuts and slaughters a friendly. A random model within 6” of Kharn must take the hit on a 1. If there are no friendly models nearby, then the hit is discarded. Hitting on 2+ isn’t without a minor bit of risk. Still if this happens on a charge round, then Hatred Incarnate kicks in and you can re-roll those 1’s in the first round. Right?

Blessings of the Blood God- gives Kharn a bit of psy defense. His deny the witch rolls work on a 2+. Also, if he is wounded by a force weapon it will cause a wound and will not do the whole instant death bit.

Kharn is a beast on a normal day. If you do get a charge off with him, then he will really shine. He will throw down 7 attacks at strength 6  AP 2 and re-rolling misses in the first round. How awesome is that? Very! I guess it is better to charge him, instead then? It will negate the furious charge, but he will still have the attacks with counter-attack activating. 

Kharn looking like a great album cover for a crummy death metal band.

I am surprised Kharn doesn’t get more love around the 40K universe. He is a melee beat stick and makes the challenge master Lucius seem like a purple ponce. Kharn leading your army along with some Berzerkers looks like a very solid bit of close combat. The only issue is getting him there alive in 6^th edition, just like every other close combat face beater.