seems like this faction is getting all the love here. I personally chose them because they fullfil two needs of mine:

1) Wanting to start Warmachine
2) Wanting to paint something like the Vostroyans (but not quite)

I just picked up the following:
Khador Battlebox (sorsha + juggernaut + destroyer)
1 box of Widowmakers
1 alternate sculpt of the Manhunter
Terrion Grey(somethings)
a set of BattleMechanicks

I've got everything pinned, bases built and i'm just about to deal with the Khador gap :) (god i love brushthralls.com)

Any tips or lists for a budding player? My 350 list look something like:
Sorsha
Destroyer
widowmakers
manhunters
terrion
battle mechanicks

(funny that :) )

People love Khador simply because we're the best!

I chose Khador because I liked the russian theme, and loved the idea of a few super-heavy 'jacks walking forward to turn my enemies into a bluddy pulp. Also, after collecting Word Bearers I had a lot of extra red paint... so that worked out as well.

What I can suggest is that Sorscha is a great caster to start off with. She can take a beating (you should be casting windrush every turn you even *think* she might be attacked) and has some great spells to disrupt the enemy. Her feat is also an amazing boon for you, and has set up many a caster kill for me. On the flipside, what I've found around here is that everyone has played against Sorscha, a LOT. If you find this I might suggest switching to another caster to keep it fresh for you and your opponents, as they will undoubtably have figured out a way to deal with her.

Another thing I'm going to throw out there for you, the Juggernaut and Destroyer, although good 'jacks, are noware near some of the quality 'jacks Khador has to offer. Among some of the more notables in our forces include the: Kodiak, Devestator, Behemoth and Scrap jack (as I love the Old Witch :P). I would suggest picking up a few of these (more notably the Kodiak and Devestator) at some point.

Khador, doing nothing small, has some of the heavyest troops in the game. Iron Fang Pikeman, although not the heaviest, are definatly one of the most effective, and would be a great addition to any force. (probably minimum 8 with standard)

Post a blog to show your progress!

i'm kind of torn between getting more 'jacks next or a unit of either man-o-wars or pikemen. I like the idea of MOW (i love the shieldcannons) though the idea of fielding an all winter guard army could be fun.

A new warcaster will be in my future, though from looking at the rules, sorsha looks like the most straightforward to start with.

i'm really looking forward to painting these bad boys. some new ideas i have:
1) priming with gray rather then my usual black and white. I'm curious to see how this works with red as a base
2) battle damage! Tyranids and eldar don't really leave me with much to work with there. I'm looking forward to trying out the salt chipping to give them some nice looking chips. It's described here:
http://www.swannysmodels.com/Salting.html
3) a winter camo theme!! I love WWII tanks and planes that had been whitewashed, my khador army will be a rag-tag mix of different units so that i can try a gray and red, a straight red, a green / red and a whitewashed scheme on each jack.
4) snow bases: a first for me. I know it's almost cliche at this point, but i think khador looks best on white.

Just finished greenstuffing tonight. A little more basework and then i'm ready to mount them on the bases :)

Any tips or lists for a budding player? My 350 list look something like:
Sorsha
Destroyer
widowmakers
manhunters
terrion
battle mechanicks

(funny that :) )

Nice start. in all honesty. A wee bit jacklite for khador, but it will teach you how to use your units and solos well. That said, i really, really suggest getting in at least 5 games with just the battlebox first. This will get you used to the change of turn phases, to model/unit activations. But yor 350 list has the crunch, the pow, and the means to absolrb some damage, and whittle down your opponent. It just doesn't play AS straight forward as most Khador lists (not a bad thing).

The Widowmakers are great fun, as are the manhunters. The battle mechs are great for fixing your jacks 9now that they can repair the same turn you get to activate the jack (verse vice actually).

All in all, should be a fun game.

i'm kind of torn between getting more 'jacks next or a unit of either man-o-wars or pikemen. I like the idea of MOW (i love the shieldcannons) though the idea of fielding an all winter guard army could be fun.
I'm just gunna throw this out there (to save time later). Man-O-War Demolition Corps are a much better all round, and offensive unit when compared to Shocktroops. Shocktroops are good for keeping things alive (I might get some later so that I can: Shieldwall in front of Irusk and cast Iron Flesh on them). So Demo Corps = offensive Shocktroops = defensice

A new warcaster will be in my future, though from looking at the rules, sorsha looks like the most straightforward to start with.
If you're going winterguard-heavy use the 701st 'Iron Rain' Company with eSorscha, Grigorvich and a Standard in every unit (if you don't know what I'm talking about you need the faction deck). With these your Winter Guard will have the following special rules:

Desperate Pace
Elite Cader
Bob & Weave
Combined Melee Attack
Grape Shot
Coordinated Attack
Field Promotion
True Patriotism
Cross Trained
Mark Target

Just to name a few :P

i'm really looking forward to painting these bad boys. some new ideas i have:
1) priming with gray rather then my usual black and white. I'm curious to see how this works with red as a base
2) battle damage! Tyranids and eldar don't really leave me with much to work with there. I'm looking forward to trying out the salt chipping to give them some nice looking chips. It's described here:
http://www.swannysmodels.com/Salting.html
3) a winter camo theme!! I love WWII tanks and planes that had been whitewashed, my khador army will be a rag-tag mix of different units so that i can try a gray and red, a straight red, a green / red and a whitewashed scheme on each jack.
4) snow bases: a first for me. I know it's almost cliche at this point, but i think khador looks best on white.
Haha, all of these things (except for the priming grey, which I do btw) can be found on BrushThralls.com What I can tell you is that priming grey works amazing for everything, it's dark enough for mettalics, light enough for off whites to go on in 1-2 layers, and mediocer enough for reds, yellows, flesh tones and oranges to go on with little problem! Also, I would suggest against the salt battle damage, it seems like too much work (if I understand it correctly) for what it does. For nice paint chippege, paint a black spot, then paint a mettalic (Boltgun or Tin Bitz) over top of this leaving a tinny bit of black outside.

Hope this helps!