Man-o-War Drakhun

Only the most powerful Man-O-War soldiers—gifted with uhlan blood and born and raised in the saddle—may petition to become drakhuns. Each one trains his powerful Karpathan destrier to be as much a weapon as the mechanikal axe and cannon he bears into battle. Uniting the ancient traditions of uhlan heroes with the armor of the Man-O-War, the drakhun is a mechanikal force of destruction able to fight even if his mount should fall.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Dragoon

• Mounted
  • Template:Repairable
  • Template:Cavalry
  • Template:Countercharge
  • Template:Reposition 3
  • Template:Steady

• Dismounted
  • Repairable - As above

Weapons

Mounted	Shield Cannon File:Gun icon.jpg  RNG   ROF   AOE   POW  6 1 Template:- 14 Template:Shield Annihilator Blade File:Sword icon.jpg  RNG   POW   P+S  2 5 14 Template:Weapon Master Mount File:Mount icon.jpg  RNG   POW  0.5 14 Template:Critical Knockdown
Dismounted	Shield Cannon - As above Annihilator Blade - As above Template:Si

Theme Forces

• Khador
  • Template:Armored Korps
  • Template:Warriors of the Old Faith. This model gains Line Breaker in this theme (while mounted)

• Other Factions
  • Infernal players can use this model in the Template:Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Malakov2 is leading the army.
  • Protectorate players can use this model in the Template:Warriors of the Old Faith theme. This model gains Line Breaker in this theme (while mounted)

Thoughts on Man-o-War Drakhun

Man-o-War Drakhun in a Nutshell

The Armored Korps' Man-o-War are elite combined-arms combatants who trade agility for strength by fighting in steam-powered armor. They exemplify both Khadoran strength and resilience, and favor battles of attrition over mad scrambles. Slow and methodical, Man-o-War thunder up the battlefield as an indomitable wall of iron, crushing everything in their path.

Towering on their Karpathan war horse, the Man-o-War Drakhun stands tall even among his peers in the Armored Korps. They're a super-heavy mounted melee combatant who combines the signature elite Man-o-War strength and toughness with quite a bit of mobility. They're at their best while flanking the enemy formation to hunt troublesome solos, ride down support units, finish off key targets or capture and hold far-flung objectives. The Drakhun's attacks are equally accurate and devastating but their cost is high enough that they should not be considered a fire-and-forget missile but rather a constant threat that can direct a vital blow at a critical juncture.

The reality of the Drakhun is that they have a lot of trouble making enough of an impact to justify their cost when they're treated as a general-purpose combat piece. If that's what you need, there are probably more powerful options out there. But when played to their strengths in a force where they're needed, the Drakhun is a powerful inclusion.

Combos & Synergies

• Kommandant Arconovich: His Tactician ability is invaluable for setting up (counter)charges through your own lines.
• Valin Hauke: Valin's a fellow cavalier and a Tactician.

Template:Header Man-o-War function well under a wide range of warcasters and the Man-o-War Drakhun is no different. Any 'caster that can improve their mobility, further emphasize their defenses and/or boost their threat projection work well with them. Look for spells like Fury, Iron Flesh and Tactical Supremacy among many others. Khador boasts so many devastatingly powerful warrior-supporting warcasters that this section refers only to those that work well with the Man-o-War Drakhun specifically. Refer to the Armored Korps page's "Casters of Note" section for more information.

• Intercessor Kreoss: Death Sentence makes Drakhuns' impact attacks extremely reliable.
• Wrath of Ages Reznik - Under his feat the Drakhun clears infantry like nobody's business. Also, Spellpiercer is always useful if you are into buff-heavy targets.
• Kommandant Kratikoff: As Khador's resident Man-o-War 'caster, Sorscha boasts numerous synergies with Man-o-War, but Drakhuns are especially useful for her because they're great at enabling her Field Marshal: Flank, as Drakhuns have an easy time being exactly where you need them to.
• Great Prince Tzepesci: Strong cavalry solos work amicably under Dash and his Feat, while Wind Wall prevents them getting shot to bits.
• Kommander Andrei Malakov: They are the perfect targets for his feat, as they are prone to not getting one shot due to the Dragoon rule, and are then able to walk out of combat. His fighting dirty Battle Plan allows them to set up knocked down targets for the rest of his army.
• Lord Kozlov, Viscount of Scarsgrad - Fast Gang Fighter triggers are what Kozlov loves and they hit light fright trains under his feat.

Drawbacks & Downsides

Like most Man-o-War, the Man-o-War Drakhun has no way of dealing with rough terrain. They're especially vulnerable to any impairments to their mobility or positioning, and while they're very tough, a few solid hits can still take them out before they've accomplished anything of note; do not make the mistake of thinking your Man-o-War are immortal. For the Man-o-War Drakhun specifically, consider the following:

• The Drakhun doesn't get any of the Armored Korps' Theme Bonuses.
• The Drakhun's attacks are terrifying, but they don't put out one big Weapon Master swing with the Annihilator Blade every activation.
• Outside of Warriors of the Old Faith, the Drakhun's MAT is júst low enough that it's risky to ride them into an enemy unit.
• The range on Countercharge is fixed at 6", which hurts because it only gives the Drakhun a 3" band to make a full countercharge attack, and makes it easy for the opponent to just move into their melee range to prevent the attack entirely.
• They'll barely ever fire that Shield Cannon, and they don't even get Assault.
• The Drakhun is technically Repairable, but in practice you're just about never going to benefit from it.
• While mounted, the Drakhun is a big target on a large base.
  • When dismounted, they lose almost all their abilities and become significantly less powerful.
• Because they have a Shield, the Drakhun is especially vulnerable to attacks from the rear, and they're often in position where their rear arc is vulnerable.
• For whatever reason, their Mount has one less P+S than the destriers pulling the Man-o-War Chariots.

Tricks & Tips

• Read the rule clarification for Cavalry to make sure you're fully informed about how they work, and pay special attention to the rules for Impact Attacks.
  • Never forget that you can safely make an impact attack against the Drakhun's charge target before making the charge attack, which also gives them a shot at a Critical Knockdown.
• While you're at it, also study up on the Dragoon rules so you understand how they work.
  • For instance, any spells and effects on the mounted Drakhun carry over to the dismounted version.
  • When placing the dismounted Drakhun, you can sometimes position them out of the enemy attack range.
• Countercharge is not as intuitive as it may seem, it's a good idea to read up on it as well.
  • For example, a Countercharge works just like a charge during the Drakhun's normal activation, which means they get to make impact attacks on the enemy turn!
  • But even more curiously, it's not limited to happening on enemy turns, which is relevant against enemy models that move away as you approach them, such as those with Admonition or Enliven). In those cases, you can countercharge them as a response to their movement, and then continue the original charge. It goes like this:
    • Make the charge movement, resolving any impact attacks along the way.
    • After finishing the charge movement but before getting the attack, the enemy model leaves melee range due to their defensive spell effect.
    • The amount of enemy movement involved will typically keep the model within 6" of the Drakhun, which triggers Countercharge.
    • Resolve the Countercharge movement, (more) impact attacks, and the Countercharge attack. Then,
    • Resolve the original charge attack, as the Drakhun still ended its charge movement in melee range of its original target.
• You'll find tons of targets to make that delicious weapon master charge against, but be selective. If you squash a 4 point solo but then die horribly, that's a trade your opponent won.
  • Try flanking it out wide where it can terrorize softer targets.
• Use Reposition to move the Drakhun slightly out of enemy retaliation ranges and set up Countercharges.
• If you can make the Drakhun Tough, it doesn't get knocked down thanks to Steady, allowing it to try and pass successive Tough rolls.
• Watch out for effects and attacks, which find their way through your ARM; Corrosion, Puncture, Snipers and Anatomical Precision attacks can usually clip off a single damage point at a time, but can still finish off your wounded troopers. Deadly Shots are dangerous even for undamaged models.

Other

Trivia

• Originally released in Warmachine: Superiority (2006).
• In Mk1 and Mk2 you could add the Drakhun to your army as either the mounted or dismounted version, and the reason for that is how the model was originally packaged. You see, the Man-o-War used to be sold in individual blisters. By releasing a "dismounted" option it allowed PP to throw an existing Man-o-War model in with a new horse model and call it "done".
• The horse is anatomically correct. And it's a boy horse.
• A "destrier" is a medieval-era war horse.
• "Drakhun" is likely a homophonic Russian-ized adaptation of the word "dragoon."
• Its insignia signify its rank of Korporal, just one rank up from Privat.
• Curiously even while riding its steed, it is more accurate with the shield cannon than Man-o-War Shocktroopers on foot.
• The Man-o-War motto is "When I die, I die in steam!"