The Ghar live only for battle and conquest, expending their entire energies on war. This savage race is descended from genetically adapted slave soldiers programmed to a single focus: the destruction of humanity – though when or why they were created is a mystery and it is a long time since their creators disappeared from the Antares Nexus.
The Ghar rule over a sizeable empire that borders the Algoryn Prosperate, with whom they have been at war for many centuries. Neither the Panhuman Concord nor the Isorian Senatex have taken much interest in the Ghar, possibly because Ghar culture is relatively primitive and their worlds resitant to nanosphere based technology, but more likely because, until recently, the Prosperate acted as a buffer between the IMTel nations and the ravages of the Ghar.
Untl recently, the Ghar were involved in a civil war that sapped much of their focus and energy. This arose due to the mis-breeding of one of their leaders, Karg 12-40-9, who diverted a great deal of Ghar resources to his own whimsy, but the war has now been resolved with the leader of the rebel faction, Fartok 12-40-13, killing Karg and becoming the new Supreme Commander-in-waiting. Fartok pardoned all his Rebel’s and also the splintered groups of Exile Ghar that fled Karg’s depradations – though some groups may still be far afield and unlikely to return.
The Ghar themselves are repulsive creatures with hunched torsos, bulging guts and what look to be spindly arms and bow legs – but they are rarely seen out of their huge, armoured battle suits. Though bulky and lacking the clean or organice aesthetic the IMTel nations might consider attractive, the battlesuit’s appearance reflects its brutish strength and a tremendous resilience to damage: they are feared throughout the determinate.
Rumours that there is a Freeborn house that deals with the Ghar are constantly dismissed, other houses pointing out that the Ghar would kill panhumans on sight.
When in exile, Fartok’s rebel army had to rely on what they could capture, repair or fabricate using the modest resources available to them. This resulted in a force with a wide variety of troops and equipment, at least compared to the relatively homogenous armies of the Ghar Empire. On his restoration to power, Fartok’s rebel troops, the core of which was his Battle Group Nine, are now reintegrated with the Empire adding a mix of capabilities and hybrid machinery.
Given the names of Fartok 12-40-13 and Nurk-27, we have an explanation of Ghar hatchery numbers and names in more detail.
Military – On the Table
The Ghar rely heavily on their clunky Battlesuits supported by waves of lightly-armed infantry and drive outcasts before – those who are denied privileges due to some infraction against the Ghar Rule.
Free Online Army Lists complete with all stats and weapons for each faction are available from the A2 PDF Army List page.
There is a useful article on Ghar weapons.
Ghar units are grouped together by general type as follows:
- Ghar Battlesuit Squads: Scourer, Assault, Command and Bomber
- Battle Group Nine Veteran infantry and command squads and weapon teams, including bomb flitters
- Outcast Squad, Outcast Weapon Teams and Outcast Command, including and Dismounted Pilots/Pardoned Exiles
- Attack and Munitions Scutters
- Wrecker Scutters and Battle Group 9 Veteran Wrecking Squad
- Creepers and Heavy Crawlers (Command, Attack, Bombardment and Scourer Crawlers and BG9 Creeper)
- Flitter Shards
- Tectorist Shard
Characters
- Fartok 12-40-13, Senior High Commander
- Fartok, Dismounted, fleeing for his life on Ephra (direct link but the same article as that above)
- Fartok, Leader of the Outcast Rebellion (direct link, but the same article as those above)
- Nurk-27, Ghar prophet or spokesghar
How does the Ghar Empire play?
The Ghar are one of the messiest armies around, simply because of the number of rule exceptions they bring: Plasma Reactors (which might explode on a lucky hit and wipe out a squad) to Outcasts (who are vulnerable) to the Distort Dice (which forces units Down), to disruptor weaponry (that cause an extra pin) and to the battle suited squads; almost everything is different.
In play, the core Ghar suits are pretty tough, but not invincible. Their scourer cannons can put out a lot of firepower at close range, but it is their variety of disruptor bombs and weapons that others find are the most deadly threat. These are able to put lots of pins on units and damage equipment (drones and probes) but have short range.
Ghar are often outnumbered in order dice and the heavy squads are expensive in points. The suits can also be pinned or negated by good or accurate long-range fire. As a result, the Ghar player typically needs to get in fast and hard.
Visually, the Ghar look brutal and bulky, even intimidating. In general, they win big or lose terribly, so are not suited to players who like control or who are tentative or defensive in outlook on-table. They are, however, one of the most enjoyable armies to play!
Antares Nexus 
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