Great Bears of the Gallowswood

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Khador Logo.jpg Great Bears of the Gallowswood

Khador Iron Fang Character Unit

Mk4 icon.png
Unlimited Only
This model can only be used in the Unlimited game mode. You can see the other models with / without mk4 rules on this page.

Note that the rest of this page is about the model's Mark III rules.

Kapitan Joreslev Volkov, Lieutenant Moskor Kolsk and Sergeant Kartov Yarovich are heroes of the Iron Fangs, survivors of a company which became legend. In the last fifteen years they fought in every major Khador battle, always serving the Empire where the fight gets brutal and the morale is falling. They are an icon for the Khadoran people. They embody the willpower and resilience which lie within every son of the Motherland.

Basic Info

Great Bears of the Gallowswood
Missing Info
GreatBears.jpg
COST {{{cacost}}}
UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}}
FA {{{cafa}}}
Warcaster 0
BASE Small
SPD 6
STR 7
MAT 8
RAT N/A
M.A. N/A
DEF 13
ARM 14
CMD 6
ESSENCE {{{essence}}}
FOCUS N/A
FURY N/A
THRS N/A
HP 5
F. Field N/A
WJP {{{wjp}}}
WBP {{{wbp}}}
IHP {{{ihp}}}
FA C
UNIT SIZE 3
COST 9
N/A
N/A
N/A
Warcaster 1
COST N/A
N/A
Understanding
the Statblock

Abilities

  • Tough symbol.jpg Tough
  • Flank [ Another model in this unit ] - When this model makes a melee attack against an enemy model in the melee range of another Great Bear, this model gains +2 to attack rolls and gains an additional damage die.
  • Rapid Strike - This model can make one additional melee attack each Combat Action.
  • Wall of Steel - While this model is B2B with one or more models in its unit, it gains +2 ARM.
  • Relentless Charge - While advancing as part of a charge, this model gains Pathfinder.

Weapons

Great Axe
Sword icon.jpg  RNG   POW   P+S 
2 4 11

Theme Forces


Thoughts on Great Bears of the Gallowswood

Great Bears of the Gallowswood in a Nutshell

The Iron Fangs represent an ancient Khadoran tradition of elite warriors stretching back to even before the founding of the Khardic Empire. They are history walking, a caste of elite soldiers who eagerly face the most indomitable of machines and the most ferocious of beasts with only the flats of their shields and the exploding tips of their pikes and lances.

Each individual Iron Fang warrior is a formidable fighter, but their true strength derives from their strict adherence to their legacy tactical formations. Iron Fang units operate as if they were entities with a singular mind, working together to shore up their weaknesses and amplify their strengths.

Among elite soldiers, the three Great Bears of the Gallowswood--Kapitan Joreslev Volkov, Lieutenant Moskor Kolsk and Sergeant Kartov Yarovich--are living legends in the Legions of Steel. Swinging their massive Great Axes in unison, they can fell just about anything. With their effective six attacks at MAT 10 and P+S 11 +3-4d6 they excel at taking down heavy infantry and cavalry, and light 'jacks and beasts. Their natural home is as part of the second wave of a Legions of Steel theme force, directly behind a line of Iron Fang Pikemen.

Compared to something like an unassisted Berserker warjack, three Bears put out significantly more damage and at no Focus cost, but are immensely fragile while costing a point more. The Bears absolutely need protection for long enough to actually connect, but if they do they'll earn back their points, provided you enable their Flank ability.

Combos & Synergies

  • In Legions of Steel the Bears get the powerful Countercharge ability. Only use it if you can get multiple Bears to connect with an incoming opponent, and make sure the target is worth their likely demise!
    • Do be aware that the fírst countercharging Bear will not get the Flank benefit.
  • Screening the Bears with Iron Fang Pikemen or a warjack is pretty much mandatory.
  • Iron Fang Kovnik: The Kovnik grants them both No Sleeping on the Job to make them immune to knockdown (which lets them make consecutive Tough rolls!) as well as Unyielding, which bumps their ARM against melee attacks. Both are excellent boons, and the Kovnik is a solid combat piece as well.
  • Uhlan Kovnik Markov: His Tactician bubble is especially valuable for Bears because it lets them Countercharge through Pikemen.
  • Kapitan Skirova: Her Veteran Leader ability makes them even more accurate, though they likely won't need the help.

Drawbacks & Downsides

  • Even under the effects of Wall of Steel, they're not especially survivable.
  • The Bears rely on B2B contact to survive and fight, so they're vulnerable to blasts and any displacing effects.
    • It also means the last Bear alive isn’t very frightening.
  • Rapid Strike doesn't work on Countercharges, and doesn't get charge bonuses.

Tricks & Tips

  • It's optimal to keep the Bears in a 'triangle' formation where each Bear is in B2B contact with both other Bears unless you know for a fact the opponent is unable to touch them. ARM 16 is way better for keeping them alive against small arms fire and blasts.
    • For visual reference, the Bears might be set up as follows:
0 0 <--- Kolsk & Yarovich
 0  <--- Volkov
  • Looking at their ideal unassisted damage output while Flanking, each charging Bear will generate two hits that deal a low average (11 + (4 x d6) =) 25 and (11 + (3 x d6) =) 21 damage. Going after an ARM 18 target, they'll collectively do a low average (3 x ((25 - 18 = 7) + (21 - 18 = 3)) = 3 x 10 = 30 damage, which is just barely enough to total a Cygnaran Ironclad. Alternatively, you can split the six attacks between a few squishier targets, but the point here is that under ideal conditions, the Bears shouldn't have trouble making their points back. The trick, then, is in keeping them alive and connecting all three of them to that kind of target. Generally, being a little less ambitious is going to work better; sending them after two lighter targets is often more likely to pay off. But now you should have a decent picture of what kind of damage they can do.

Other

Trivia

Released in Warmachine: Legends (2008)

Other Khador models

Khador Logo.jpg       Khador Index       (Edit)
Battlegroup & Similar
Warcasters

Butcher1 - Butcher2 - Butcher3 - Harkevich - Irusk1 - Irusk2 - Karchev1 - Karchev2 - Kozlov - Malakov2 - Old Witch1 - Old Witch2 - Sorscha1 - Sorscha2 - Sorscha3 - Strakhov1 - Strakhov2 - Vlad1 - Vlad2 - Vlad3 - Zerkova1 - Zerkova2

Warcaster attachments

Khador: War Dog - Greylord Adjunct
Mercenary: Madelyn Corbeau - Reinholdt - Wyshnalyrr

Other Warjack Controllers

"Junior" Warcasters: Malakov1 - Sorscha0
'Jack Marshals: Man-o-War Kovnik - Greylord Forge Seer

Heavy Warjacks

Beast-09 - Behemoth - Berserker - Black Ivan - Decimator - Demolisher - Destroyer - Devastator - Drago - Grolar - Juggernaut - Kodiak - Mad Dog - Marauder - Rager - Ruin - Spriggan - Torch

Colossal Conquest - Victor
Units, Solos, & Battle Engines
Units

Assault Kommandos - Battle Mechaniks - Black Dragons - Doom Reaver Swordsmen - Great Bears of the Gallowswood - Greylord Outriders - Greylord Ternion - Iron Fang Pikemen - Iron Fang Uhlans - Kayazy Assassins - Kayazy Eliminators - Kossite Woodsmen - MOW Atanas & Standard - MOW Bombardiers - MOW Demolition Corps - MOW Shocktroopers - Widowmaker Scouts - WG Field Gun - WG Infantry - WG Mortar Crew - WG Rifle Corps
Ranking Officer CA : Koldun Kapitan Valachev

Solos

Bulkhead - Fenris - Greylord Adjunct - Greylord Forge Seer - Iron Fang Kovnik - Jozef - Koldun Lord - Malakov1 - Manhunter - MOW Drakhun - MOW Kovnik - MOW Strike Tanker - MOW Suppresion Tanker - Markov - Sofya - Sorscha0 - Ol' Grim - Underboss Vizkoya - War Dog - Widowmaker Marksman - WG Artillery Kapitan - Yuri1 - Yuri2

Battle Engines Gun Carriage - Man-o-War Siege Chariot - Man-o-War Assault Chariot
Theme Forces
Armored Korps - Flame in the Darkness - Jaws of the Wolf - Legions of Steel - Warriors of the Old Faith - Winter Guard Kommand - Wolves of Winter
Mercenaries
Refer to Who Works for Whom and/or Category: Khador Mercenary
This index was last updated: 2021.11

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification : Tough - None yet. (Edit)

RC symbol.png

Rules Clarification : Flank      (Edit)

  • You can gain the Flank bonus vs knocked down/stationary models (refer to the latest Errata).
  • Melee range is measured from your front arc so you cannot trigger Flank on models in your back arc.
  • The target enemy doesn't need to be in the Flanker's LOS, just their melee range.
    • Most of the time if something is in your melee range then it is so close it's in your LOS too, and the difference is meaningless.
    • But if you have 2" reach and you're jammed up in B2B with a bunch of closely-spaced enemies, you'll find your LOS is blocked. In this case, you might be able to trigger Flank on an enemy model that is "hiding" behind that front row of jammers, even though you don't have LOS to it.
  • Flank is not tied to a specific weapon, so Mount attacks and Power Attacks can benefit as well.
  • If you have two sources of Flank they are still giving you the bonus from the Flank rule so do not stack. (Infernal Ruling)
  • If the target moves in/out of the Flanker's melee range between the attack roll and the damage roll (for instance if you throw it) then you need to reassess whether you get the Flank bonus for the damage roll. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Rapid Strike - None yet. (Edit)

RC symbol.png

Rules Clarification : Relentless Charge      (Edit)

RC symbol.png

Rules Clarification : Wall of Steel      (Edit)

  • If you're slammed or thrown into a model with Wall of Steel, you'll immediately benefit. So you'll get the ARM bonus vs the slam/throw damage, too!
  • It's not possible to be B2B with someone at the same time you move, so you can't gain Wall of Steel at the same time you enter a damaging template (such as Covering Fire).
    • No, you cannot move an infinitely small distance and thus travel in an arc. This is Warmachine, not calculus.
    • However, if you can move through a model, ignore the above.