Iron Fang Uhlans

Template:Khadbox This model is playable only in an Unlimited format.

Serving as the forward fighting arm of an Iron Fang contingent, Iron Fang Uhlans are often the first to ride into the enemy. These mounted Iron Fangs fluidly ride together and meld classical horselord cavalry tactics with the shoulder-to-shoulder fighting formations customary of Iron Fang assaults. The armored horses are so powerful they have been known to knock warjacks to the ground, and they can easily crush an enemy’s skull under their spike-shod hooves.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Cavalry
• Template:Relentless Charge
• Template:Reposition 3
• Template:Steady
• Template:Wall of Steel

Weapons

• Template:Critical Knockdown

Blasting Lance
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		Template:Star				10				16
Lance	Melee	RNG POW 2 14	[[:Category:{{{1}}}|{{{1}}}]] {{Category:{{{1}}}}} [[:Category:{{{1}}}|{{{1}}}]] {{Category:{{{1}}}}}
Pommel Spike
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		1				4				10
Template:Close Combat
Mount
File:Mount icon.jpg		RNG						POW
		0.5						12
Template:Critical Knockdown

Theme Forces

• Khador
  • Template:Legion of Steel
  • Template:Warriors of the Old Faith. They gain Line Breaker in this theme.

• Other Factions
  • Infernal players can use this unit in the Template:Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Malakov2 is leading the army.
  • Protectorate players can use this unit in the Template:Warriors of the Old Faith theme. They gains Line Breaker in this theme.

Thoughts on Iron Fang Uhlans

Iron Fang Uhlans in a nutshell

Iron Fang Uhlans are Khador's big, stompy cavalry. Devastating on the charge and extremely middling outside of them these knights hit as hard as a buffed light jack, or an average heavy. Their job is to run the enemy's key models to the ground, and change the tide of battle by getting you ahead of the attrition. They excel in taking down big threats with a lot of health, helped along by their Crit Knockdown effect - from which they have two on the charge. They are also big and expensive targets, so you must position themselves carefully to avoid being shot to pieces, before reaching their target.

A good rule of thumb is that a cavalry unit needs to be able to charge twice per game in order to be "worth their points". In other words, they need a fair amount of support so that they can charge, reposition, and charge again. This can either take the form of direct buffs (iron flesh), mobility enhancement (parry and sprint from Vlad3), or simply threat saturation (giving your opponent so many dangerous targets they can't kill them all). What you DON'T want to do is to run them out in front of your slow army and get bogged down and cut to pieces by a tarpit unit half their cost.

Combos & Synergies

• The Legion of Steel theme has all the support solos for Iron Fangs:
  • Iron Fang Kovnik grants them Unyielding.
  • Kapitan Sofya Skirova to give them +1 to hit.
  • Uhlan Kovnik Markov to give them Tactician to make their larger bases easier to move around, or even through, your other Iron Fangs. He is also on a horse, so he has no problem keeping up with the Uhlans.

• Casters
  • Butcher1 - A support caster in his heart, a charging Uhlan unit under his feat and Fury is perfectly capable of evaporating an ARM 20 colossal.
  • Irusk1 and Irusk2 - Both version prefer sturdy, hard hitting units, and there are few better recipients for Battle Lust than an Uhlan unit.
  • Vladimir2 - Hand of Fate helps mitigate their post-charge weakness and they are great candidates for Vlad's feat (threat range of 16", P+S 19).
  • Vladimir3 - Still a good Hand of Fate choice, but more importantly they love Dash and his feat. With parry, sidestep, and sprint it's much easier to pull off that second charge. Try sprinting behind enemy lines to break their line of sight and force them to turn backwards to deal with you!
  • Strakhov1 - You can't shoot what you can't see (save for a few exceptions). His feat also adds considerable charge distance boost for the Uhlans.
  • Strakhov2 - If you need to survive, cast Inviolable Resolve which stacks nicely with Wall of Steel. If you need to hit first and hard, cast Quicken, and run them up ASAP. In the latter case you can try to protect them with your feat, giving them the sweet Tough+Steady combo, and a decent ARM swing.
  • Zerkova1 - It is hard to find a good army for her, but she can screen the Uhlans with Freezing Mist, and Ghost Walk goes a long way of helping them through terrain even when outside charges. Her feat also shuts down the enemy's attempt to counter-charge or jam them. A preliminary Hex Blast can also help to remove pesky upkeeps which provide ARM and/or DEF buff for your target.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Usual cavalry flaws - big, expensive and high-priority targets
• Costs more than twice as much for half as many models as their pikemen brothers. Make sure you're making the most of all the cavalry rules!
• Their damage dealing capacity and Pathfinder is all tied to charges, thus badly hurt by jamming units, and tricks that deny charges and/or orders

Tricks & Tips

• Run them in pairs to benefit from Wall of Steel and keep them out of harm's way until you're ready to charge.
• Between impact attacks and boosted charge attack rolls, you've got a decent shot at knocking things over.
• Also be careful, Reposition movement does trigger free strikes!
• If you didn't kill your target, you might want to use your Reposition move to get closer to the enemy, and keep it engaged.
• Remember, your horse is a melee weapon and thus can make free strikes. Surprise crit knockdown!

• See the Cavarly article for a refresher on How to do Impact Attack Correctly, which is one of the things that even veteran players struggle with.
• Generally, you're better to declare a charge vs a frontline target, move into B2B, and do an Impact attack then a charge attack vs it.
  If you instead declare a charge vs a backline model, planning to Impact attack the frontline to get it out of your way ... odds are that the dice will fail you.
• You'll often want several uhlans charging into one hard target. The best way to do this is to send Uhlan A charging to the left side of the enemy, get into B2B and make an Impact attack.
  Then Uhlan B charges into the right side, make another Impact attack, and be far enough away that he doesn't Impact Uhlan A.
  Then, if necessary, Uhlans C D and E do normal charges into the middle (they can't Impact without hitting A or B). Since they won't be impacting they can stay at 2" reach.
• Don't worry too much about finishing your charges with the unit in B2B, you'll Reposition at the end.

Other

Trivia

Released in Warmachine: Superiority (2006)