Ironback Spitter

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Ironback Spitter Minion Gatorman Heavy Warbeast

The ironback spitter is a reptilian monstrosity from the deepest reaches of western Immoren’s swamps and marshes. A towering, turtle-like creature, the ironback is armed with a fearsome beak and two mighty claws, each capable of rending flesh, bone, and even steel. Its most dangerous attack, however, is a blast of corrosive venom that can reduce enemies to bubbling pools of noxious slime in a matter of seconds.

Basic Info

Ironback Spitter
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Large SPD 4 STR 10 MAT 6 RAT 5 M.A. N/A DEF 10 ARM 18 CMD 6 ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY 3 THRS 9 HP 29 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA U UNIT SIZE N/A COST 14 N/A N/A N/A Warcaster 1 COST N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

• Warbeast - All warbeasts share a huge stack of special rules. The short version is they're big, furious, and beat stuff up pretty good. Click here for a newbie-friendly recap, or click here for the full rules.

Abilities

• Amphibious
• Carapace - This model gains +4 ARM against ranged attack damage rolls.
• Retaliatory Strike - If this model is hit by a melee attack made by an enemy model during your opponent's turn, after that attack is resolved this model can immediately make one basic melee attack against that model. This model can make only one Retaliatory Strike per turn.

Weapons

• Spit Blast - 12" range, 4" AOE, POW 14 gun
  • Damage Type: Corrosion
  • Continuous Corrosion
• Bite - Range 1, 15 P+S melee weapon. A respectable backup!
• Claw (x2) - 1" reach, P+S 13 melee weapons. Very low P+S for a heavy.
  • Open Fist

Animus

	COST	RNG	AOE	POW	DUR	OFF
Counterblast	1	SELF	-	-	Round	No
When an enemy model advances and ends its movement within the spellcaster's command range, the spellcaster can make one basic melee or ranged attack targeting that model, then Counterblast expires. Counterblast lasts for one round.

Theme Forces

• Minions
  • The Blindwater Congregation
  • Will Work for Food

• Other Factions
  • Skorne players can use this warbeast in the Disciples of Agony theme.
  • Also, if taken by a Gatorman Lesser Warlock (ie Wrong Eye or Underchief Mire), it can be in dozens of theme forces. Omitted here for brevity.

Recent Changes

No changes since 2017.12

Thoughts on Ironback Spitter

Ironback Spitter in a nutshell

The Ironback Spitter is a solid ranged heavy. A medium AoE doing continuous corrosion gives it a good game against infantry while against heavies it has a solid POW, and a Carapace to deal with return fire.

Combos & Synergies

• Blackhide Wrastler - its melee game needs beefing up, and the Wrastler does just that.
• Jaga-Jaga, the Death Charmer. She wants a warbeast within 3" to trigger her Battle Host ARM buff, and the Ironback likes to hang back and shoot and give her the buff.
• Calaban the Gravewalker likes ranged attacks; they combo well with Parasite.
• Croak Raiders are immune to its shooting so you can use them as 'targeting beacons' to clip otherwise untargetable enemies, or just use the Ironback to clear out whoever the Raiders jammed up.
• Bloody Barnabas-Pop N Drop lets it threaten just about anything. Warpath can help it to sneak into some otherwise unexpected firing lines.
• Targ can give him an extra shot each turn with ancillary attack- it's pretty good, but whether that's worth forgoing the utility of the Gatorman Soul Slave is debatable, boiling down to which warlock you take.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Slow
• Easy to kill in melee.
• Extremely pillow fisted.

Tricks & Tips

• With Counterblast affordable you can now play a bit more forward, behind your skirmish screen, and expect to get counterblast off for two shots in a turn.
• Conversely you can also keep him parked near your caster where counterblast and his native combat skills will scare away most missile solos looking for a shot at assassination.
• Corrosion against single-wounds is mean enough and your spitter's AOE big enough that you can try to scatter into blobbed infantry seemingly beyond your range. Half damage won't outright kill much, but getting corrosion on the better chunk of a unit is enough to cause it lasting problems.

Other

Trivia

• Despite the big shell and the rule Carapace, he gets no protection against attacks originating in his back arc.
• Released in Forces of Hordes: Minions (2011)

Who can take this warbeast?

With the way Minion battlegroups work, this warbeast can't simply be taken by any Minion warlock, and instead it must be controlled by one of the following:

Gatorman Warlocks (Edit)
Warlocks	Barnabas1 - Barnabas2 - Calaban1 - Jaga-Jaga1 - Maelok1 - Rask1
Lesser Warlocks	Underchief Mire - Wrong Eye

Alternatively, a Skorne warlock can take this warbeast in the Disciples of Agony theme.

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification:  : Warbeast      (Edit) (Click Expand to read)

See also the Warbeast page for a recap of the core warbeast rules. Forcing If an ability doesn't specify how much it costs to force, it costs 1. (Infernal Ruling) Animi A single Animus can be on several models at the same time. (Infernal Ruling) Unlike in Mk2, in Mk3 if a model has an animus on it from any source and then another animus is cast on that model, it will lose the first instance of an animus and will be replaced by the second. It does not matter if either the first animus or the second animus is from a warlock or warbeast. (Infernal Ruling) An animi cast by a warlock is an animi and a spell. (Infernal Ruling) Transferring Damage If both the warlock and the warbeast are damaged by the same attack (such as an AOE), then you need to apply the 'normal' damage to the warbeast before the transferred damage. This distinction can be important when you're working out who/what actually destroyed the beast. (Infernal Ruling) Frenzy You cannot trigger optional abilities during a Frenzy (such as Cleave). (Infernal Ruling) You must trigger compulsory abilities during a Frenzy ... unless that ability generates an extra attack (like Berserk). In that case, you don't get the Berserk attack. (Infernal Ruling) A warbeast may not make an Assault shot as part of a Frenzy activation. (Refer latest errata) If the closest target to a warbeast resolving a Frenzy cannot be charged, then the warbeast will forfeit movement and action (as per the rules of having to charge and not being able to). (Infernal Ruling) If a frenzying warbeast can't reach its charge target (because the charge lane is blocked by terrain, etc) then it will make a failed charge and end its activation. (Locked thread)

Rules Clarification : Amphibious - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification : Carapace - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Retaliatory Strike      (Edit) "Basic melee attack" also includes Mount Attacks. Refer to the definition of 'Basic Attack' in the rulebook. You can't make Retaliatory Strikes vs free strikes, because the free striker is defined to be in your back arc (regardless of the actual model's facings) and thus you don't have LOS to it. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Counterblast      (Edit) What does trigger Counterblast Counterblast triggers off any advance, not just in-activation stuff. You can trigger Counterblast during your own turn, if your opponent has an ability to move during your turn (such as Admonition). Standing still but changing facing is an advance. What doesn't trigger Counterblast Aiming, or forfeiting your movement, is not advancing. If a model doesn't move, doesn't change facing, doesn't aim ... does nothing but skips straight ahead to its Combat Action, this is not an advance. (Infernal Ruling) Being placed (such as Teleport) is not an advance. Involuntary movement (being slammed, thrown, or pushed) is not an advance. Models can trigger this by walking into your back arc or out of LOS, but you still need LOS to make your attack. Unless you have something like Ghost Shot.

Rules Clarification : Corrosion      (Edit) If you deploy in corrosion hazard terrain (Acid Pool), then you get corroded before the game starts. Deploying a model in a hazard counts as being "put into play" in the hazard. Being put into play counts as "entering". When you enter a hazard, you trigger the hazard. A weapon can inflict continuous corrosion without itself being a corrosion damage weapon (for example, the Acidic Touch animus). In this case, the attack can hurt models with Immunity: Corrosion it just won't apply the continuous effect.

Rules Clarification : Corrosion      (Edit) If you deploy in corrosion hazard terrain (Acid Pool), then you get corroded before the game starts. Deploying a model in a hazard counts as being "put into play" in the hazard. Being put into play counts as "entering". When you enter a hazard, you trigger the hazard. A weapon can inflict continuous corrosion without itself being a corrosion damage weapon (for example, the Acidic Touch animus). In this case, the attack can hurt models with Immunity: Corrosion it just won't apply the continuous effect.

Rules Clarification : Open Fist  (aka, Power Attack Throw)     (Edit) Throw - General ( Edit ) See also the Throw article for a recap of the core Throw rules. Because you move the target model between the attack roll and the damage roll, you can get different buffs applied to the two rolls. For instance, if you throw the target in or out of a Flanking model's melee range. Throw - Power Attack When you make a Throw Power Attack, no other abilities of the Fist weapon (such as Chain Strike) are applied unless they specifically mention Throws. (Locked Thread) If you do a Power Attack Throw and you choose to throw the target directly away, no deviation is rolled to determine the final position of the model. (Locked thread) A model that cannot be targeted by melee attacks (such as Una2's feat) cannot have models thrown at them, either. (Infernal Ruling) Since throwing Model [A] at Model [B] involves making a melee attack roll vs Model [B] which is out of your melee range, it technically breaks a whole bunch of core rules. (Infernal Checking) Even though you make a "melee attack roll" vs Model [B] you don't actually make a melee attack vs it. Also, the damage it suffers is from Collateral damage, not from the original attack. So you can't trigger stuff like Snacking from damage you did to Model B.