Starting Kharadron Overlords: hobby essentials and a first 1000-point list
We had one of those very relatable hobby chats recently: someone is about to jump in, the shopping cart is already filling up with paints, basing stuff and glue, and then comes the big question — what do you actually need at the start, and what kind of list can you realistically build from what you have?
This time the conversation drifted toward Kharadron Overlords in Age of Sigmar, with two threads happening at once: practical painting gear, and a first 1000-point army concept.
The hobby side: what is actually worth buying?
The first answer, as usual, was: it depends on how you want to paint.
Michał broke it down in a very sensible way.
If we want to paint with regular acrylics
The recommendation was to invest in:
- a wet palette
- natural hair brushes, for example Kolinsky-type brushes
That’s the more classic route. Good natural brushes need proper care, but they reward that effort with really nice control and sharp detail work.
If we want to go the slap-chop route
This was Michał’s preferred method, and the shopping list changes a bit:
- a makeup brush for drybrushing
- very cheap synthetic detail brushes
The reasoning is simple: contrast-style paints are much more fluid and can be rough on brushes, so there’s no point pretending every detail brush has to be a precious artifact. Michał mentioned using small synthetics like Italeri size 0 and 00, replacing them regularly once they’re worn out. If Italeri isn’t available, Mirage Hobby brushes also got a thumbs-up.
Honestly, we like this kind of advice a lot, because it’s practical rather than romantic. Not every hobby purchase has to be premium — sometimes the best tool is the one that works, is cheap, and doesn’t make you sad when it dies.
Show us the paints and the glue
Another very real part of the exchange was the classic follow-up:
show us which paints you picked and what glue
And yes, that’s exactly how these things go. Before anyone can give truly useful advice, we usually need to see the actual basket. “Paints” can mean anything from a carefully planned set for a specific scheme to a chaotic mix of colors that somehow made sense at 1 AM.
So while we didn’t get the final list in this chat, the takeaway is clear: the best recommendations depend on the exact paints, glue and technique you’re planning to use.
Rules detour: shooting while in combat
In the middle of all this, we also had a small rules clarification moment — because of course we did.
The key point was this:
If a unit can shoot in combat, it can only shoot the unit it is in combat with.
That cleared up an earlier question around Kharadron play and whether shooting could be directed elsewhere. It also triggered the traditional post-game joke about whether previous matches should now be invalidated.
They should not. Probably. Maybe. We move on.
For reference, this was the relevant rules snippet discussed:
A funny Kharadron idea: simplify the weapon loadouts
Then things got interesting from an army-building perspective.
One idea raised was that, in matched play, Kharadron Overlords can often swap in special weapons quite freely for the same points, which creates a temptation to optimize every unit. But what if we did the opposite?
The suggestion was to try a deliberately simplified build:
- Arkanaut Company with just their standard pistols
- Endrinriggers with only pistols
- Thunderers with only rifles
In other words: reduce the fancy weapon variety, make the army easier and faster to run, and see what happens.
Would the game flow more smoothly? Almost certainly. Would the list get noticeably weaker? Also probably yes.
But honestly, we love this kind of experiment. Sometimes it’s worth trading a bit of raw efficiency for cleaner gameplay, especially while learning an army.
A first Kharadron Overlords list at 1000 points
The most concrete part of the chat was a proposed 1000-point list that could be assembled right away, assuming one model stands in for another:
- Arkanaut Company — 100
- Arkanaut Frigate — 320
- Endrinmaster with Dirigible Suit — 180
- Arkanaut Admiral — 140
- Endrinriggers — 120
- Grundstok Thunderers — 140
That lands at an even 1000 points, which is always satisfying.
What we like about it
Even without diving into a full tactical breakdown, this feels like a very natural Kharadron starter force:
- a Frigate as the centerpiece
- a couple of solid foot units
- mobile support from Endrinriggers
- character support from the Admiral and Endrinmaster
It sounds like an army that would actually feel like Kharadron on the table, rather than just being a random pile of available models forced into a legal list.
The important caveat
The list depended on Khemist pretending to be an Endrinmaster.
That’s a very normal early-army situation, and honestly one of the healthiest ways to test a faction before committing to more purchases. We’re big fans of trying things on the table first and buying later, rather than locking ourselves into a build we haven’t actually enjoyed playing.
The eternal problem with 1000 points
There was also one very relatable conclusion from Michał:
at 1000 I don’t really have a strong team I only start shining at 2000
And that’s such a classic Age of Sigmar feeling.
Some armies just don’t fully come together at 1000 points. Sometimes the synergies are thinner, sometimes your favorite pieces are too expensive, and sometimes the faction simply feels more “complete” once it has room for all its moving parts.
Kharadron can definitely give that impression too: at 1000 points, every inclusion matters a lot, and cutting one key piece can change how the whole army functions.
Final thoughts
What we took from this conversation is pretty simple:
- choose hobby tools based on how you actually want to paint
- don’t overspend on brushes if your technique will destroy them anyway
- clarify rules early, especially with armies that bend the normal flow of the game
- and when building your first list, aim for something that is not only legal, but also feels like the army you want to play
And honestly? A neat, round 1000-point Kharadron list with a Frigate in the middle sounds like a pretty great place to start.
If we end up testing the simplified all-basic-weapons version, we’ll definitely want to report back — partly for science, partly because watching Kharadron voluntarily give up their best toys sounds like exactly the kind of experiment friends should encourage.