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.
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Khador’s heavily armored Iron Fang pikemen are charged with hunting down and destroying enemy warjacks, carrying explosive-tipped blasting pikes designed to tear through the thickest armor of man or machine. The most veteran of these pikemen are welcomed into the elite Black Dragon kompany, where their experience and precision make them brutally efficient on the attack and unbreakable in defense.
Rally the Iron Fang Pikemen behind the standard of Khador and lead them to glory at the command of their brave Kapitan.
Basic Info
| Iron Fang Pikemen |
| Missing Info |
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| COST |
{{{cacost}}} |
| UNIT SIZE |
{{{casize}}} |
| FA |
{{{cafa}}} |
| Unit / Officer |
| BASE |
Small |
| SPD |
6 |
| STR |
6 |
| MAT |
7 / 8 |
| RAT |
N/A |
| M.A. |
N/A |
| DEF |
12 |
| ARM |
14 |
| CMD |
8 |
| ESSENCE |
{{{essence}}} |
| FOCUS |
N/A |
| FURY |
N/A |
| THRS |
N/A |
| HP |
1 / 5 |
| F. Field |
N/A |
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| WJP |
{{{wjp}}} |
| WBP |
{{{wbp}}} |
| IHP |
{{{ihp}}} |
| FA |
U |
| UNIT SIZE |
6 or 10 +2 CA |
| COST |
8 or 13 +3 CA |
| 1.3 pts each |
| N/A |
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| N/A |
| Warcaster 1 |
| COST |
N/A |
| N/A |
Understanding
the Statblock |
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Abilities
- Leader, Grunts & Officer
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Combined Melee Attack
- Shield Wall (Order) - Until the start of their next activation, each affected model gains +4 ARM while B2B with another affected model in its unit. When receiving this order a model can forfeit its Combat Action to gain +3” movement as part of its Normal Movement this turn. This bonus does not apply to damage originating in the model's back arc. Models in this unit can begin the game affected by Shield Wall.
- Officer only
- The Officer has a +1 MAT and 5 hit boxes.
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Officer
- Defensive Formation [ Minifeat ] - This model can use Defensive Formation once per game at any time during its unit's activation. This activation, models not affected by the Shield Wall order in this unit currently in formation gain Reposition [5"]. Additionally, at the end of this activation any previous orders this unit was issued expire and this unit is affected by the Shield Wall order. (Reposition [5"] - At the end of an activation in which it did not run or fail a charge, a model with Reposition [5"] can advance up to 5", then its activation ends.)
- Tactics: Relentless Charge - Models in this unit gain Relentless Charge. (Relentless Charge - While advancing as part of a charge, a model with Relentless Charge gains Pathfinder.)
- Standard only
- Standard Bearer - While this model is within 5" of its unit commander, the unit commander gains +2 CMD.
- Take Up - If this model is destroyed, you can choose a Grunt in this unit within 1" of it to be destroyed instead. Effects on this model expire, and it gains the effects on the chosen Grunt. Remove the Grunt from the table instead of this model. This model has the same number of unmarked damage boxes as the chosen Grunt.
Weapons
| Leader, Grunts, & Officer
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| Blasting Pike
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RNG
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POW
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P+S
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2
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7
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13
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| Standard Bearer
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- Unarmed - This model has no weapons.
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Theme Forces
Thoughts on Iron Fang Pikemen
Iron Fang Pikemen 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.
Tough and hard-hitting, Iron Fang Pikemen are the gold standard for Khadoran single-wound melee infantry when it comes to fighting mid-weight threats like cavalry, battle engines, 'jacks and beasts. They can comfortably handle a wide range of targets, provided they can reach them. Their high MAT combined with Combined Melee Attack lets them punch waaay above their weight while also threatening nimble combatants under the protection of their Shield Wall and some external support they can generally survive the journey. Thanks to the 2" reach on their Pikes, the Pikemen boast an impressive base 11" threat range, and the base P+S 13 on their Pikes should scare any charge target they come across. If you're looking for a powerful, affordable and reliable unit, then look no further than the Iron Fang Pikemen.
Thoughts on adding the CA
The Iron Fang Kapitan and Standard Bearer should be considered auto-inclusions with the Pikemen. Both Relentless Charge and Defensive Formation are stellar additions to the unit. Relentless charge helps you out if the enemy hides behind rough terrain and Defensive Formation offers a crucial, one-time bonus for your advance (see tips & tricks). The Officer also has an elite MAT, making him an ideal conductor for combined melee attacks against especially elusive targets.
Combos & Synergies
Iron Fang Pikemen are at their best in the Legions of Steel theme force, which is dedicated to Iron Fang models of all kinds. The theme includes all the models with synergies that really matter to them, and promotes forming battle plans around them.
- Iron Fang Kovnik: The Kovnik grants them both No Sleeping on the Job to make them immune to knockdown as well as Unyielding, which bumps their ARM while in melee with an enemy model. Both are excellent boons, and the Kovnik is a solid combat piece as well, particularly with the addition of Countercharge, which is added by the theme.
- Uhlan Kovnik Markov: His Tactician bubble makes combat maneuvers all the more easy and enables you to set up powerful two-punch combos where the Pikemen form the first wave and Iron Fang Uhlans the second as they (counter)charge nearby enemies.
- Kapitan Skirova: You'll hit Cryxian bonejacks on average rolls, and start your CMA on effectively MAT10 in her aura.
Drawbacks & Downsides
- Corrosion and attacks that cause fixed damage (Puncture, Deadly Shot, Sniper, Anatomical Precision and so on) kill them all the same, whether or not they're in Shield Wall.
- Rough terrain outside charges and SPD de-buff in general will decrease their efficiency a lot.
- With all the base-overhang it is a real pain in the back to put them into actual base-to-base contact on the table.
Tricks & Tips
- Defensive Formation is a deceptively powerful Order. You can of course use it to reform your formation into Shield Wall after a successful charge, but it can also be used to massively speed up the unit without leaving them exposed. SPD 6 + 3" Shield Wall Move + 5" Reposition + 2" reach = 16" engagement range. Depending on the opponent, you can even use this trick to jam up an opposing unit (like Long Gunner- or Crucible Guard Infantry) while maintaining Shield Wall, and ideally bolstering it with Unyielding for a massive 20 ARM.
Shield Wall 101
- You cannot run/charge and enter Shield Wall, as both are tied to orders, from which a unit can receive only one.
- Consequently, things that forbid orders (Zerkova1's feat, Rebuke, Wailing, the Pandemonium Arcana, etc.), forbid Shield Wall as well.
- Generally the arrowhead/triangle formation is the most often used way to marshal your IFP. If an enemy pushes away a model, the other two still receive the Shield Wall bonus in their front arc.
- For visual reference, a max unit of twelve Pikemen might be formed up as follows:
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 <--- front line of eight, all in base contact from left to right
0 0 0 0 <--- rear line of four, each touching both Pikemen ahead of them
If you want you can stretch the formation back to make it even harder to disrupt and more narrow:
0 0 0 0 0 <--- front line of five, in base contact with all surrounding Pikemen
0 0 0 0 <--- middle line of four, in base contact with all surrounding Pikemen
0 0 0 <--- rear line of three, in base contact with all surrounding Pikemen
- Read the rule clarification for Shield Wall when you will get the bonus.
- Units with Chain Weapons are natural predators of Shield Walls - try to get them first, before they charge you.
Other
Trivia
- The unit (not including CA) was originally released in Warmachine: Prime (2003).
- The CA was released in Warmachine: Escalation (2004).
- The CA's Officer has the rank of Kapitan.
- This unit, and especially the older metal casts are quite notorious about their bending/breaking pikes. It is advised to exchange the shafts of their pikes to stronger metal (usually brass) rods.
Other Khador models
Rules Clarifications
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Rules Clarification : Knockdown (Edit)
- Knockdown (Edit) - Remember, knockdown only prevents what it says it does. Refer to the Knockdown page for a recap of what a model can/can't do.
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Rules Clarification : Unarmed (Edit)
- Since this model has no weapons it does not have a melee range.
- This means it can't engage other models, declare charges, or make free strikes
- Also it can't gain abilities that require a melee range (such as Ragman granting this model Dark Shroud).
- However, other models that do have melee weapons can engage this model. So this model can still gain the "target in melee" shooting bonus.
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Rules Clarification : Combined Melee Attack (Edit)
- Each CMA only counts as a single attack, no matter how many participants are involved. This means, for example, that if Satyxis Raiders damage a warjack and trigger their Feedback ability, the enemy warcaster will only take 1 damage total, not 1 for every Raider.
- Any bonuses (such as back strike) or penalties (such as intervening terrain) are determined according to the model leading the CMA (the attack leader).
- If the participants have buffs/debuffs but the attack leader doesn't ... then the CMA doesn't because only the attack leader matters. Simple as that.
- A single unit can perform multiple CMAs, utilising different groupings of models. eg a unit with 10 models could make one 10-man CMA, or two 5-man CMAs, or five 2-man CMAs, or etc.
- CMA for units that have more than one melee weapon (the short version)
- Once you have more than one melee weapon, charging becomes a bit complicated. There are two important rules:
- A model which charges must use its first attack to make a charge attack. It can't "skip ahead" to contributing its second non-charge attack before it's resolved its first attack.
- For a CMA to gain the charging bonus, then all contributors must be contributing a charge attack.
- These two rules have a few, slightly confusing implications. Click the expand box below for a full breakdown.
| CMA for units with more than one weapon (the long version) (Edit)
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The following example is about Satyxis Raiders, but is equally applicable to other units with two CMA:
- Each Raider gets two attacks. Both, one, or neither can be a CMA as you choose.
- If you are doing two CMA in a row, then you should note that the second CMA doesn’t have to use the same “primary attacker” or the same “participants” as the first CMA.
- For instance, you could have the first CMA with raider A being the "primary attacker" and raider B being the "participant",
- then for the second CMA have raider B the "primary attacker" and raider A the "participant".
- Or leave A alone for a moment and use B plus C. Whatever takes your fancy.
- Primary attackers and participants don't have to use the same weapon. So, continuing with the above example, you could have primary A use lash and participant B use horns, then primary B use lash and participant A use horns. Effectively granting you two lash attacks with CMA bonuses!
- Combined Melee Attack and charging
- Remember the 2 rules above?
- Rule 1 means you cannot contribute your second, non-charge attack before you have resolved/contributed your first attack.
- Rule 1 means you cannot "skip ahead" to resolving your second, non-charge attack before you have resolved/contributed your first attack.
- but wait, there's more!
- However, thanks to the "Units with Combined Melee Attack ignore the rule that one trooper's combat action cannot begin until the previous model's combat action ends" rule, you can "pause" your second attack if you want to do a CMA with it later. For example:
- Model A performs its charge attack.
- Model B performs its charge attack. (Interrupting A)
- Model C performs its charge attack. (Interrupting B)
- CMA using A, B & C's remaining attack.
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Rules Clarification : Shield Wall (Edit)
- You don't need to have the entire unit in B2B to get the bonus. Even just two models in B2B will give it to each other. Which way they're facing doesn't matter, either.
- You can still get Shield Wall while knocked down.
- Shield Wall works against all damage except damage originating in your back arc.
- If a damage roll doesn't have an origin point (such as Scather, Old Witch1's feat, continuous fire, etc) then by definition it can't originate in your back arc, and you'll get your bonus vs it.
- It won't work vs stuff that "leaps" off models in your back arc, such as Electro Leap. (Locked thread)
- If you start the game in Shield Wall, it will expire when you activate the unit. It doesn't let you run and be in Shield Wall on turn 1.
- Since models move in straight lines, it impossible to keep two models B2B while advancing. Thus you cannot benefit from Shield Wall while moving through acid clouds etc.
- Unless you have something that lets you move through models, like Tactician.
- Orders affect unit attachments, even if that attachment doesn't have the order on their card (such as a Soulless Escort benefiting from the Shield Wall order). (Infernal Ruling)
- You get your Shield Wall bonus vs continuous fire in the Maintenance Phase. Shield Wall doesn't expire until the unit activates. (Locked thread)
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Rules Clarification : Officer (Edit)
- Even if they're not on the Officer's card, an Officer can give (and benefit from) any non-standard orders that are on the unit's card (such as Shield Wall). Refer main rulebook.
- When the Officer dies, the Leader model becomes the new Unit Commander (you don't get to choose).
- But if your unit doesn't include a Leader model, then you do get to choose any of the remaining models to be the new Unit Commander. You don't swap the model, but it may be worth putting a token down so you can tell that grunt apart.
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Rules Clarification : Defensive Formation (Edit)
- Defensive Formation doesn't actually issue/receive a Shield Wall Order, it just causes the whole unit to be affected. This means two things:
- It doesn't interact with stuff which works on issuing/receiving orders (such as Rebuke or the Pandemonium Arcana).
- Models out of formation will also gain Shield Wall.
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Restrictions on "Any Time" abilities ( Edit) [Show/Hide]
- "Any Time" abilities can be used at any time during a model/unit's activation, except:
- Before any compulsory forfeiture of movement/action. See step 2 of the activation sequence, appendix A.
- After the model with the "Any Time" ability has had their activation end "prematurely". By this I mean you resolved something which includes the phrase "its activation ends". Examples include:
- Running, failing a charge, or failing a slam.
- Abilities that include "then its activation ends" (such as Reposition and Teleport).
- In between declaring your charge target and making your charge movement. (Infernal Ruling)
- In between completing your charge movement and determining whether it was a successful charge. (Infernal Ruling)
- When you're in the middle of moving. (Note: Impact Attacks count as being in the middle of movement).
- When you're in the middle of an attack. Which also includes effects that occur "after the attack is resolved".
(Although the attack is "resolved" at Step 11, in terms of using an "Any Time" ability the attack is not "finished" until after Step 14. Refer to the first paragraph of Apdx A.)
- Your opponent interrupted your activation to trigger one of their own abilities (such as Countercharge).
- Warcasters/warlocks/etc can normally cast a spell or use their feat "At any time". However, there is a core rule saying they cannot do so on the same activation that they run. So, they are subject to all the same restrictions listed above, plus they can't cast/feat before running.
- Units: See below.
- In general you can use "Any Time" abilities while you're knocked down or stationary (except Spells and Feats which specify you can't).
- If you have a gun with a random ROF, you can use an "Any Time" ability inbetween rolling the number of shots and actually making the first attack. (Infernal Ruling)
- Units with "Any Time" abilities
- You cannot use an "Any Time" ability before issuing/receiving orders. See step 1 and 2 of the activation sequence, appendix A.
- A model in a unit can't use an "Any Time" ability after they run (Infernal Ruling) or fail a charge. Because that makes that specific model's activation to end even though the unit's activation is still ongoing, and you can't use abilities on models that are not active.
- You can use an "Any Time" ability before running, however.
- A model in a unit can't use an "Any Time" ability after anyone in the unit has begun a Reposition move. (Infernal Ruling)
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Rules Clarification : Reposition (Edit)
- Models out of formation cannot move via Reposition. Refer to the "Out of Formation" rules in the core rulebook.
- End of Activation (Edit)
- You cannot resolve two end-of-activation movement effects (refer to "End of Activation Movement" in the core rulebook). For EOA stuff that doesn't involve movement, though, it gets a bit more murky:
- Some EOA abilities explicitly state your activation ends as part of resolving the ability (like Reposition), and some don't (like Refuge).
- Whether it is explicit it or not, by definition an EOA ability is the last thing you can do for that activation. For instance, if you resolve Refuge and then continue your activation to cast more spells, then you have not used Refuge at the end of your activation.
- You cannot do an "at any time" ability during or after triggering an EOA ability; you cannot cast spells, purchase additional attacks, use a mini-feat, etc.
- If you start resolving an EOA movement (such as Reposition) then you cannot trigger abilities that occur "at any time" (such as Go To Ground). Because you can't trigger it while resolving the EOA movement, and after the EOA movement your activation has ended. (Infernal Ruling)
- For units: if any model in the unit starts resolving the unit's EOA movement, then no model in the unit can trigger an any-time ability. (Infernal Ruling)
- See also the training article: LPG - End of Activation.
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Rules Clarification : Tactics vs Granted (Edit)
- Granted = The unit loses the ability as soon as the model that grants it is taken off the table. (think "G for Goes away")
- Tactics = The unit keeps the ability for the entire game, regardless of who dies. (think "Tac-Tick = K for Keeps")
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- Granted [ Vengeance ]
- If the model granting Vengeance dies, the unit will not get any Vengeance attacks.
- It is "If you have Vengeance, and you were damaged last turn, you get a move+attack."
- It is not "If you get damaged, you get Vengeance next turn."
- If you lose Vengeance halfway through resolving Vengeance, then you stop resolving Vengeance immediately. (Infernal Ruling)
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Rules Clarification : Standard Bearer (Edit)
- If the Officer dies, the Standard Bearer can give the CMD bonus to the Leader model.
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Rules Clarification : Take Up (Edit)
- If you use Take Up the attacking model cannot trigger anything that needs the attacker to "Destroy" a model (such as Alpha Hunter, Killing Spree, Berserk, etc). Although the model that was attacked reached the Destroyed step of the timing sequence, Take Up negates that entirely. (Infernal Ruling)
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Note to Editors
To edit the CA's tagged abilities, Click here
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