Iron Warriors Iron is only as strong as the flesh that wields it - The Arkifane

[TrawlingCleaner]

A good result for the Iron Lads this weekend, 4th place overall and Best painted!

The first game was against Harlequins using Light Saedeth. At the end of Turn 2 they only had 2 members and a Shadowseer left alive. As it turns out, they had mistakenly thought the tournament was a 1250 point list not 1k. I still won handily and it was only an ego boost for me! No harm no foul, he was a lovely guy! The Defiler dropped 2 Vehicles, a Troupe master and 7 Troupe members in 2 turns!

The second game was against Orks. Again, basically over by Turn 2. He rushed everything forward and my Daemon Engines were all too happy to abide. Only Grots were left Turn 3 which the Defiler was only too happy to squish. The Obliterator also made a 12" charge to smash some meganobs

Third game was Vs Space Wolves all Wolf list.  4 unts of thunderwolves, some normal wolves and a couple of characters. Up until this point, I hadn't really seen a huge benefit of the No Re-Roll part of the trait until Thunderwolves with Lightning Claws charged the Terminators wih the Black Rune. The took no wounds from a unit of 3 and killed 2 in return. The Defiler was once again putting out so much firepower.

Fourth Game was versus another Iron Warriors list. Theirs was: Terminators with Black Rune, Dual fist Helbrute, 5 marines, 5 Havocs, 5 Possessed and Abaddon. I made a mistake with this game and devoted too much resources into trying to kill abaddon and also forgot to charge a Helbrute with the Lord Discordant. This game ended in a Boardwipe for me but not before I managed to kill Abaddon with the Defiler as a personal victory. I could have played it much better and just ignored Abaddon for most of the game and taken the rest of the board as I had the speed and firepower to do it.

 

4th overal is great for me and I had an absolute blast. Best painted was very humbling too, the only person to not vote for my army as best painted was me  The Harlequin army was genuinely gorgeous!

 

I also thought it would be about time to get one of the more iconic Iron Warrior units on the go too. Still much more to do:

[Prot]

Awesome job.

I do think Abaddon is a little overrated, especially in non-BL lists. And I think it's a bit of a trap to think you gotta kill him. That's an amazing finish. I'm pleasantly surprised to hear the Defiler had a good run! I would never have guessed.

[Dr_Ruminahui]

I expect the defiler, like many expensive units, will do a lot better in lower point games, which is likely why if performed so well for TC.

Anyway, great show TC!  And don't feel bad about the lack of votes for best painted - when there is an army that is absolutely gorgeous it doesn't matter how nice your army maybe, the gorgeous one will soak up all the votes.

Edited July 25, 2022 by Dr_Ruminahui

[TrawlingCleaner]

23 minutes ago, Prot said:

Awesome job.

I do think Abaddon is a little overrated, especially in non-BL lists. And I think it's a bit of a trap to think you gotta kill him. That's an amazing finish. I'm pleasantly surprised to hear the Defiler had a good run! I would never have guessed.

 

18 minutes ago, Dr_Ruminahui said:

I expect the defiler, like many expensive units, will do a lot better in lower point games, which is likely why if performed so well for TC.

Anyway, great show TC!  And don't feel bad about the lack of votes for best painted - when there is an army that is absolutely gorgeous it doesn't matter how nice your army maybe, the gorgeous one will soak up all the votes.

 

Thank you both! 

DR, I just meant that I was the only one that didn't vote for my for Best Painted. It was just my poor wording!. It was incredibly humbling to get voted for it!

 

Abaddon and the Defiler (as well as a lot of units in the codex) are entirely contextual. Abaddon is a liability in every legion bar Black Legion for sure. The Defiler is good but contextually far better as Iron warriors due to WLTs, relics and strats. Also the Legion trait is fantastic for survivability and also more reliable shooting (ignoring the effects of dense).  Thousand sons and Death guard Defilers don't have any support, they don't really have access to healing or reducing damage or getting better quality attacks. Helbrutes are in a similar situation at the moment I think too.

 

For me, every unit choice is entirely down to what the Legion can do for them specifically 

[Prot]

Very true. I have to admit as someone who's been playing this game for such a very long time, I am having a blast with my Landraider. Does it always pay for itself? Nope. Do I over buff it? Yup. Do I over protect it? Yup Do I love watching it mow down loyalists and renegades alike? Heck yea.

The LR is our "Abaddon" in my opinion. 

[Khornestar]

It’s also awesome to have one - at least for now - that’s better than the loyalist equivalent.

[TrawlingCleaner]

I was very very tempted to run my Landraider and it might be something that I do in next Month's tournament. The Lord Discordant is an absolute weapon but I may drop it out for another HQ or two to see how they do. I'm thinking a Warpsmith and a Dark Apostle and seeing what the two of them can do. A Dark Apostle with the Black Mace seems pretty great at smashing through units!

I'm also trying to figure out if I want to run a Forgefiend with all Ecto Plasma cannons or keep running the Maulerfiend. The Maulerfiend did some great work for me, just diving in head first into whatever it needed to, although a Forgefiend sitting on my home objective blasting the whole game would be pretty useful I think. I need to do some testing, there's so many things I want to try!

[TrawlingCleaner]

"It was rather ironic, he supposed, that the Tech Priests of Mars would pray, praise and appease a Machine Spirit. Yet here he was cursing, battering and spitting at one under his charge. They bent to his will all the same"

The Warpsmith is done! He's looking pretty great! MY HQ slot is definitely looking quite full though:

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Love your warpsmith - great job on the dark skin tone and the contrast you got with the purple scar.  His hammer head from a Genestealer aberrent?

And at least with the move of the Master of Executions to elites, that puts a bit less pressure on your HQ slots.

And congrats on your best painted award - sorry I had misunderstood your original comment.  I guess the thing to remember when the winner is chosen by the various participants, it tends to be a matter of what army they like best rather than a strict question of which has the best paint job.  Yours has, on top of a good paint job, a ton of characterful conversions, great basing, and good use of contrasting colours, which together generate a great visual appeal, which is obviously how the various voters felt as well.  The one tourney I got best painted, there were definitely armies that were better painted, but the others in the tourney seemed to like my prison striped IG conscripts with their arbites minders.

 

Edited July 27, 2022 by Dr_Ruminahui

[TrawlingCleaner]

Thank you Dr! It is indeed a Abherrant hammer, his head is also from the Khorne Chaos warrior kit from AoS with the topknot trimmed off. The GSC range has so many fantastic bits for a more industrial feel to weapons, which is something I'll be leaning more into with the Chosen when I eventually get around to them

The best painted was definitely a surprise, the Harlequin player's army was absolutely gorgeous, It's a shame I didn't get some photos of our game as it looked very cinematic! I'dlove to see your IG conscript army, that sounds rad!

 

I got the Chaos lord with Maul/Hammer done as well as a Forgefiend. The Lord was very easy to paint this time round and only really took me half a day:

 

The Forgefiend was also quite a quick process as Vehicles tend to be very quick for me!

With all of these plus the Landraider, Predator and Havocs the Heavy support slot is getting mighty full. As it should be of course

 

The current WIP is 10 cultists and an Obliterator daemon prince

[Prot]

Great job. The Lord is really cool and unique. Talk about redefining the 'ol' ball and chain'. :)

 

[TrawlingCleaner]

Cheers Prot! He's definitely a bit more flashy/finesse-y than his other counter parts

 

I only originally had 10 planned to paint but decided to batch paint all 20 of them due to how quickly the scheme was coming together. The greatcoats are done with Garaghak's Sewer contrast, Leadblecher with Basilicanum Grey over the top, Gorgrunta brown for the boots and leather straps, Steel Legion Drab for the shin straps, backpacks and Dark reaper for the gas masks and trousers. All in all, it's really bloody simple and quick! The only downside was that the Mechanicus Standard grey spray went a bit bumpy with the last pass of the can. I'm not overly fussed to be honest as it doesn't really take away from the model entirely

[TrawlingCleaner]

Still very rough around the edges but the Leviathan is taking shape. With the banner, he's rather large

 

[TrawlingCleaner]

Quote

"Darmuk Gatebreaker, The Prince of Obliteration. A Lord of the Iron warriors, infected with the Obliterator virus and later elevated to Daemon prince by the dark gods. With such power he could make his flesh into any weapon but prefers to fight tooth and nail"

 

I've had this conversion rattling around in my head for a good while now as soon as I saw the Water Guild models I knew that was what I wanted to do. I didn't really have a plan for most of the model, I only knew that I want to make the water tank into a Jet pack of some sort and the rest has come together from my bits box(es)

With this guy done, it leaves me with only a Terminator sorcerer to do to have all the options for the HQ slot, although the Termie Sorc isn't something I'm overly fussed about at the moment. I've currently got an old metal Vindicator and an old Plastic Deimos predator that I plan on getting done at some point. I am considering doing an Armies on Parade board this year. I've got to decide what army I want to make the board for, but I think the Iron Warriors might be a great shout, although I am strongly considering the Corsairs too!

[TrawlingCleaner]

This big guy is still WIP but I'm finally getting back to him. Still plenty to do but he's looking pretty great!

[Pearson73]

Love the chaos lord with the flails, it's full of character. Speaking of which, so is that Defiler, so twisted and crazy! 

 

Solid job on the banner bearer too, both the build and the paintjob, the highlights on the hammer are crisp!

[TrawlingCleaner]

Thank you Pearson!

They're the army I've gone to town on the conversions and basing, I'm glad they've translated across from the ideas in my head rather than being a hot mess!

[TrawlingCleaner]

Right then, I've finally gotten the Leviathan done (Middle Earth had been calling my name for a little while) aftre he'd been sat on my painting desk unfinished for a month.

 

 

I also got a reminder from my local GW that it's Armies on Parade at the end fo the month. I last participated in 2018 with my Loyalist Space marine army (ironically, my cannon for them was that they're Iron Warriors stock) and this year I'm fully down to get my board ready to go for my Siege Mongers.

 

I've got the board and I've got the models, what do I need to do? Well, I need to:

1) Build a breached wall on the front of the board. Make it look like they've just made a huge breach in the wall and are racing towards it

2) Paint the board in the darker brown I use for their bases as well as get more sand and rubble in there

3) Get some ruined buildings in there. They'll mostly be just a wall and rubble or a small part of a structure but it should help with the elevation on some of the models. As so much of the army is vehicles, I need something to boost some of the infantry up a little.

4) Get Transfers on everyone. I've got too many bare left shoulder pads on infantry and I've also got some space on some vehicles. Also finish the Dark Apostle's helpers too

 

I think with a few ruined buildings in there, I should be able to sort out the elevation on some of the infantry as I realise that some units (namely the Havocs and the Legionnaires behind the Landraider) are difficult to see and it should add a bit more personality to the board.

[TrawlingCleaner]

'bout time I get these two done, much like the Leviathan they've been sat on my painting desk waiting their turn. Quol the Vox Corruptor and Gug the Counter are Warsmith Malock's attendants. As Malock (Dark Apostle) is more Logistically orientated over the usual God Worshipping Apostle, I figure he needs a couple of Utilitarian attendants. In my (head)cannon, Quol is a Vox Corrupter and destroys enemy Vox networks as well as the occasional friendly/ally squad that starts getting too uppity. Gug is able to count to the millisecond, which doesn't sound particularly helpful but timing is everything in a warzone. Like throwing a Limpet charge out the window in exactly 4.53 seconds so that it hits the top hatch of that Chimera rolling up

 

At the end of the day, they're Dark Disciples so they'll die to a seak breeze but thinking about their character is a cool thought experiment at the very least

[Prot]

Fantastic as usual. I love how much work you’ve put into this army and your love of the IW really shows. All those chevrons drive me nuts but you are super consistent with the theme.  
 

and the Warsmith Apostle is awesome. The attendants are brilliant….of course IW would have martial direction over ‘prayers’…. What a great idea and one I admit will wholeheartedly steal one day!

Edited October 12, 2022 by Prot

[TrawlingCleaner]

Thank you Prot! There's no such thing as stealing ideas in the hobby, it's just borrowing and taking inspiration from others. I'm not the first to have the idea and I definitely won't be the last!

Honestly, the chevrons and hazard stripes are so easy because I lower my standards when painting them

If the lines are some what straight, great! If not, I can cover it up with a highlight or a wash. When I attempted to paint the scheme a few years ago, I absolutely hated doing it as I couldn't get the hazard stripes to look perfect or the scheme to look right. It's one of the reasons why I fell out of the hobby until I came back and lowered my standards. Weirdly, my painting got way better after that, not sure if it was because of the pressure I was putting onto myself!

Anyways, enough of the rambling

 

I got some more work done on the board last night, got some buildigns built for the back side of the board and a good smattering of rubble, destroyed walls etc. I need to get sand down to sell the rubble look and I should then be good to start painting the board properly

[TrawlingCleaner]

The "Slapchop" method of painting (drybrushing greys and whites over black to mimic Zenithal) works pretty well for buildings. 25 minutes work nets me this:

 

 

The board is now spraycoated too. Next up is sand then painting!

[Tallarn Commander]

Very nice.  I especially like the graffitti.

[TrawlingCleaner]

Thank you Commander! Even in the 41st Millenium, there's still graffiti

 

The board is starting to come together. The base colours are down and so is the sand, just the details, washes and drybrushing to go:

 

I finally found an excuse to use these guys too!

 

 

I've mixed up a batch of wash using Gashrak's Sewer contrast, Agrax Earthshade and a small amount of Medium. The whole board will get a coat to try and tie the colours together once the PVA has dried

[TrawlingCleaner]

  

Please excuse the horrible lighting, it's on the to do list:

 

 

These guys are having horrible days:

 

And it's only getting worse:

 

The board is nearing completion now, I had a great few days of hobby progress! The actual board is done, all I need to finish is:

1) The breached wall on the front of the board. It currently has a base coat down on it, I just need to weather it

2) Transfers on most models. This is thankfully quite easy, just time consuming!

3) Sort out my lighting/lightbox. My local GW is doing Armies on Parade but Warhammer Community are also doing an online version which I would need to submit photos for. All I'd need is a uniform  coloured background (Preferably black I think) large enough to coverthe area behind and around the board.

 

Easy... right?

Edited October 17, 2022 by TrawlingCleaner