Theme - Legions of Steel
This mk3 Theme Force has no equivalent in mk4. You can build a similar army in Unlimited Khador (if/when the models in this theme get ported to mk4 rules) |
The brotherhood of the Iron Fangs maintains traditions arising from ancient warriors who battled the beasts of the north armed only with spears and the indomitable courage all true Khadorans possess. Iron Fang assault forces are tasked with breaking enemy lines regardless of whether those lines are composed of towering warjacks or masses of infantry. Surrounding a hard center of warjacks, an Iron Fang legion marches in lockstep behind a wall of shields, supported by swift and brutal cavalry to protect their flanks.
Theme Rules
- For the core rules on how Theme Forces work, see this article.
Theme Restrictions
An army made using the Legions of Steel theme force can include only the following Khador models:
- Khador warcasters
- Non-character warjacks
- Template:Iron Fang models/units
- Battle Mechaniks units
- Greylord Adjunct solos
- War Dog solos
- This army can also include one Mercenary solo and one Mercenary unit that will work for Khador.
- These models/units can be included even if they have the Partisan [Khador] rule.
- Mercenary units can have non-Ranking Officer attachments.
Full Model List
Requisition Points
You can spend each Requisition Point on either:
- One Khador command attachment
- One small- or medium-based Khador solo with a point cost of 5 or less
Theme Bonuses
- The Great Bears and Iron Fang solos in this army gain Countercharge.
- You can reroll your starting roll for the game. Your starting game roll can be rerolled only once as a result of this special rule.
Thoughts on Legions of Steel
Legions of Steel in a Nutshell
Legions of Steel is Khador's official Iron Fang theme force. It optimizes a highly exclusive, Khadoran warrior-centric and melee-focused play style, boasting a table stuffed with elite, strictly regimented Iron Fangs. Legions of Steel are all about rushing up the battlefield to mix things up in close quarter combat, where they reliably deliver devastating amounts of damage, and take a punch to do it again. If you enjoy fielding an elite force of medieval-style pikemen and lancers that crushes the opponent with a single overwhelming charge up the field, you've come to the right page.
Iron Fangs are tied together by some very strong common through lines. They have a lot of movement abilities like Reposition, they ignore rough terrain on their charges with Relentless Charge, and they boost their Armor by maintaining base contact with their allies or targets, using Shield Wall, Wall of Steel and Unyielding. They are deadly in melee through generous applications of Combined Melee Attacks with reach weapons, Flanking, Rapid Strikes, Precision Strikes and Weapon Mastery. And finally, they often times refuse to go down, due to No Sleeping on the Job, Steady and similar abilities and knock others to the ground with Critical Knockdown on their lethal polearms.
In addition to being extremely thematic and satisfying to play, Legions of Steel is an excellent theme force for new players because it is a straightforward theme with a manageable amount and complexity of models to assemble and paint. Furthermore, Iron Fangs are extremely self-reliant, which means that they are compatible with a wide range of Khadoran warcasters. The downside to this is that they generally can't be played in other theme forces, so investing in them doesn't help you flesh out other forces.
Theme Weaknesses
- As an almost entirely melee force, Iron Fangs can be extremely vulnerable to opponents with superior mobility or the ability to frustrate your movement, and those with powerful attacks at range. If you can't reach your targets (quickly enough), you can find yourself doing a whole lot of nothing and then losing.
- Be especially aware of enemies that ignore Armor; most of your force has one health.
- A reliance on base contact for protection also means a vulnerability to blasts and to effects that move or displace your troops.
- Additionally, Legions of Steel can crumble if you fail to effectively connect charge; Iron Fangs typically aren't very survivable on the back swing after a charge turn, and simply tying them up with disposable jamming models can be very problematic for them.
- The lack of ranged weapons and abilities that let Iron Fangs move past enemies means that it can be difficult to dislodge troublesome support models, or push past a skirmishing force to get to the actual opposing threats.
- Iron Fangs don't carry weapons that do magical damage, which means that Incorporeal foes can be a big problem if you don't prepare for them.
- It's a straightforward theme, and therefore quite predictable. It can be difficult to catch an opponent unawares.
List Building Tips
There are many viable warcasters for this theme (see Casters of Note), but Lord Kozlov comes highly recommended as a starter, not only because he's a battlebox 'caster and thus comparatively easy to learn, but also because he's the superlative Iron Fang warcaster who works well with everything they offer. Looking beyond the battlegroup, Legions of Steel generally function best with a very singular game plan. You divide your force into a first- and a second wave, and set them up to have a wide front line. Typically, you'll run two units of Pikemen up front along with the relevant warjacks, closely followed by your Battlegroup, perhaps Great Bears and any solos. Any Uhlans will be on the flank or separate from the main formation, looking to charge in from the sides, or perhaps through your own troops if supported by Kovnik Markov's Tactician ability.
A full unit of Pikemen with their Officer & Standard and supported a Kovnik represent the core of a Legion of Steel; from there you can expand in various viable directions; Markov and Skirova are both safe early buys if you're having trouble deciding. The only inadvisable early picks are the Battle Mechaniks (it's hard to Repair front-line 'jacks) and the Black Dragons: they look awesome and they're still good, but they're only superior to the default Pikemen when you're specifically facing another melee-centric force, especially if it boasts a lot of 'jacks and/or beasts. The superior mobility and flexibility on the standard Pikemen are better for all-comers lists. And finally, if you're specifically interested in building a core of Uhlans it is recommended to look to the Warriors of the Old Faith theme force instead. Here, consider them supplemental to the infantry contingent.
Countercharge is the major theme bonus, and it's a big one. It's currently granted to the Great Bears, Kovniks, Skirova and Markov, and they all benefit from it substantially because they're all great melee combatants who hang out close to the front lines. In practice, it makes it very difficult for the opponent to either charge you first or to retaliate the turn after your charge. Markov's Tactician is especially valuable here. Be careful about overextending your expensive solos however; it is often more beneficial to keep them safe for another turn.
Warcaster Attachments
Both in-Faction options are viable depending on the 'caster and match-up. The Greylord Adjunct is great for providing magic support extra Focus and a portable cloud. The War Dog is a great guardian against melee assassins (although you already have a lot of Counterchargers), supports your 'caster's attacks by granting them Parry, and is just a powerful model for its cost generally.
Mercenaries
There are quite a few options, but only a select amount of especially interesting ones:
- Alexia1, Alexia2 and Alexia3: She generates more troops for you, and adds magic support.
- Croe's Cutthroats: They're a great flanking force that is hard to stop.
- Eiryss1 and Eiryss2: Eiryss is great at hunting (Incorporeal) solos that are hard to reach.
- Gobber Tinker: The Tinker is very good at holding far-flung objectives, especially at that cost.
- Kell Bailoch: Just parking a reliable sniper with a magical weapon in a bush is worth its weight in gold.
- Ogrun Bokur: Bokurs provide protection against ranged assassination and a powerful melee combatant to combat 'casters.
- Orin Midwinter: Orin denies enemy spellslingers and clears out low-ARM chaff with lightning.
Starting a 25 point Brawl list
In 2020.10 Phillip Melvin, one of the LOS authors, put together this list for the Brawlmachine format. It was then updated for the 2021.10 errata. He even wrote about it's playstyle and expanding it beyond 25 points, which you can read here.
- Lord Kozlov, Viscount of Scarsgrad: [+28 WJP]
- Spriggan: [17 pts]
- Juggernaut: [13 pts]
- Greylord Adjunct: [3 pts]
- Iron Fang Kovnik: [4 pts]
- Kapitan Sofya Skirova: [Free] Template:Grey
- Iron Fang Pikemen (Max unit): [13 pts]
- Command Attachment: [3 pts]
Casters of Note
There are two types of 'casters that work well in Legions of Steel: those who support Iron Fangs, and those who prefer to do their own thing. Iron Fangs are highly self-contained and don't require support to function so there are a lot of viable options. Only Kozlov1 warrants extensive discussion because he's specifically optimized to lead an Iron Fang army.
Lord Kozlov, Viscount of Scarsgard is Khador's unofficial Iron Fang warcaster, and he's quite the beginner-friendly powerhouse with them. His battlegroup gets Gang Fighter, which lets him and his 'jacks wreak some absolute havoc in melee. His spell list supports both warriors and warjacks, and his Feat--Onrush--exemplifies the Iron Fang creed. He prefers to run about 3-4 cheap melee warjacks: evergreen picks like Juggernauts and Marauders won't steer you wrong, but if you want to go whole-hog with the theme you could even consider two pairs of archaic Berserkers and Ragers. Kozlov runs them extremely well thanks to Gang Fighter and Jackhammer, and several of the other thematic warcasters for Legions of Steel do as well (eg Vladimir and Zerkova).
- (Mostly) Supporting Warcasters
- Butcher1: It's classic Butcher, he's a perfect fit. Just screen him with his 'jacks.
- Irusk1: The original Khadoran warrior support 'caster does his thing with Iron Fangs.
- Irusk2: The sequel somehow does it even more, and brings ranged threats with his battlegroup.
- Vladimir1: It's the Dark Prince, he works with just about anything. And he's a great thematic fit.
- Vladimir2: Another great thematic fit, and the Dark Champion is competent with Iron Fangs.
- Zerkova1: The Koldun Kommander can deny incoming ranged attacks, and her spellslinging is quite the asset to a Legion.
- (Mostly) Independent Warcasters
- Butcher2: Iron Fangs love Feeling the Hate and work with Orsus' battle plan.
- Butcher3: Again, Butchers and Iron Fangs are great things that go great together.
- Old Witch1: Zevanna's quite the melee assassin who can creep behind a shield wall and devour souls.
- Sorscha1: Fog of War and her Icy Gaze play well with Iron Fangs, and she's a melee assassin to boot.
Other
Trivia
- Released 2017.03
- The 2017 Khador All-in-One Army box contained a Legion of Steel force led by Irusk1.