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

[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

[madlibrarian]

Love your style bud - really unique! 
 

you going to go the microset / microsol route for the transfers? That stuff when followed up with a brush on varnish works wonderfully!

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Love every model you've added to this army - its got such a gritty, distinctive look that really works with your paint style.

[TrawlingCleaner]

Thank you both, it means a lot!

I've got Micro Sol+Set on the way now Librarian, I've only ever used water and it left a lot to be desired

 

There's also going to be two late editions to the board in the form of the WH+ Terminator and Bayard's Revenge. The plan with the WH+ model is to remove the Khorne symbols and possibly some other bits , Bayard will be spearing an Imperial Fist with quite a bit of conversion work

[TrawlingCleaner]

Work begins on the new Warsmith, I had to make some modifications to him of course. I can't leave a model well enough alone

 

 

He's a beefy ol' lad!

 

II gave him a headswap, servo arm and cape, scrapped off the Khorne symbols and also swapped the shoulder pads around. It's not a big thing but the big skull works well as an Iron Warriors symbol, so works better on the left shoulder!

[Kythnos]

The cape and different viewing direction do add a lot to this miniature. Good choices!

[TrawlingCleaner]

Thank you Kythnos! The original mini is fantastic but a bit too stationary for my liking!

 

A busy weekend and end of week so I've not got as much work as I'd like on my AoP board or the remaining to models. I have gotten started on Bayard the Profane:

 

I think I've got the right level needed to fill the lettering in on the sword, so that should be good to go. The GS was still curing fully  so he needs some clean up work to tidy the trim but we're defiitely getting there

[TrawlingCleaner]

"He wasn't sure when he'd lost his eye. Decades, Centuries, Millennia, time had become another useless resource to him. The only thing that mattered was hate. Hate he felt for the Imperial Fist that took his eye and the hatred they would feel for the lives he slaughtered in kind"

 

There's a new Warsmith on the block

 

I always love to roll the Old Girl out for a photoshoot

 

I'm very proud of how this guy has come out! I didn't actually spend that much time on him either, only about 6 hours all in!

 

I've also gotten a good chunk of the way through Bayard. Still loads of tidy up and highlights to go:

 

[Kythnos]

Awesome looking miniatures again! The Warsmith turned out great and the Champion is sure to follow 

[Prot]

Awesome job on the termie cloak. And I can't imagine doing that to my own Emperor's Champion... lol But he looks great. 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Both of them look great - not a fan of that terminator sculpt, but with your paint job it works for your army.  Only suggestion would be to paint that strip near the bottom a different colour - gold maybe? - as it looks strange to have it modeled on the figure but not differentiated in the paint scheme.

 

What do you intend to field Bayard as?  Love how you swapped the ork for a terminator, and making it imperial fists provides a nice contrast to your own models, but your understated yellows keep it from outshining Bayard.

[TrawlingCleaner]

Thank you all! The terminator and Bayard were a bit risky when converting because there were times for both where I thought I had ruined the model I'm very glad that I carried on going and got them finished off. There's often steps that really complete the model and take it from a disaster to something I'm proud of

 

I finished Bayard last night:

'You die as your Weakling Father died. Alone. Hopeless. Weeping. Ashamed'

 

I wanted to keep the role reversal theme going  too with the Imperial Fist losing his hand as Rogal Dorn did

 

This was the last model I needed to finish for the Armies on Parade board, the latest two additions should all fit on the board... hopefully. They all somehow fit into the crate, ready to go for my local GW's Armies on Parade event tomorrow. I'll then get them back and take proper photos for GW's online event and also post them here

 

 

[TrawlingCleaner]

Got some proper shots of the AoP board finshed up. I've sent them off to GW for their online submission too and I should find out in the next couple of days how I did in my local Store's one too (they're a tiny store so had to do everything over 2 days).

 

"Iron is only as strong as the flesh that wields it"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm super proud of the army as a whole, it's really cool to see it all come together

I've got plenty more in the backlog, however I do have some other projects I'll be cracking on with in between stuff for this army. Perhaps I'll even get back to those breacher Chosen!

[Kythnos]

Really amazing stuff! Good luck with the competition :-)

[TrawlingCleaner]

Thank you Kythnos! My board actually came first, I was very surprised to be honest! The quality of the other boards were immense and one even had a Warhound titan! I've not even seen one in the flesh before

 

 

 

A surprise to be sure but a welcome one!

 

I've got more to go in the backlog, namely Chosen and some vehicles and I'd also like to figure out a way of making some possessed that aren't overly Chaos-y at some point too! Some other projects are calling my name in the mean time (Gondor calls for aid and Chaos of a slightly different ilk too)

My local FLGS also has their monthly 1k tourney in a couple of weeks that I'll be taking my IW to. Time to test out how many mortal wounds my Warpsmith can pump out

 

So far my list is looking like:

 

Lord Disco, Baleflamer, Undivided Daemon weapon

Warpsmith, Axe, Techno Venomous mechatendrils, Hatred Eternal, MoS

 

10 Cultists

 

5 Terminators

 

Defiler, Twin Heavy bolters, Havoc launcher

Maulerfiend

Forgefiend, 3x Ectoplasma

 

The two thoughts I had on the list were:

Drop the daemon weapon on the Lord Disco and give the Terminators the Black Rune or Double down on the Lord Disco and also give him Flames of Spite

Maybe drop the Forgefiend? I could take a Venomcrawler or a Helbrute instead, which would free up some points as well as mean that I could take a Patrol instead of a Spearhead and free up some CP.

 

Choices, choices

[TrawlingCleaner]

So this month's 1K Tournament is this Sunday at my FLGS, I think I've finally fully settled on a list:

 

Patrol Detachment

Lord Disco, Flames of Spite, Ul'o'cca the Black and a Blaeflamer

Warpsmith, Hatred Eternal, Tecnho-Venomous Mechatendrils and Exalted Axe

 

10 Cultists

 

5 Terminators

Leviathan, Siege Claw, Graviton Bombard, Volkite

 

Defiler, Havoc launcher and Twin Heavy Bolter

Maulerfiend

 

This starts me on 1CP, which isn't great but it's not awful either. I can use it if I don't get first turn either on Infernal Engine or the IW specific one to be -1W on one of the big lads. I have plenty of 3 Dmg weapons as well as plenty of Mortal Wounds. The Lord Discordant is the most obvious nasty unit, however, with Hatred Eternal the Warpsmith should be doing about 8MW a turn in combat which is quite a lot!

 

We'll see how things go, scoring may be where the army falls down!

[TrawlingCleaner]

It was a set of games with many firsts for me. The first time playing Votann, the first time getting a maximum score in 40k (100 points) and also the first time coming second!

 

A rough run down of how the games went:

 

Game 1 vs Space Wolves:

Their list was:

Ragnar

Arjac

5 Auto bolt rifle Intercessors

5 Assault Intercessors

2 Cyber wolves

5 Bladeguard

3 Eradicators

3 Snipers with las-fusils (their name escapes me)

 

This was a rather quick match with my force being incredibly well adjusted to deal with Space Marines (Dmg 2 and 3 out the wazzoo). With the WLT, the Lord Discordant's Baleflamer killed a unit Wulfen outright and a unit of Intercessors the next turn. 2D3 +2 with full rerolls to wound is mad! (EDIT: What a numpty! I just reread the Flames of Spite rule for the Lord Discordant discussion thread and I've gotten the two parts of it mixed up. The Full reroll to wound is only in melee and the MWs go off for any attacks. I've been playing his Baleflamer wrong ) I only lost 7 cultists and the maulerfiend, with the Warpsmith being incredibly clutch and healing the Levi 3 wounds constantly, even after being barraged by the las-fusils for several turns on the trot. I drew the secondaries I needed when I needed them and kept my opponent off objectives the whole game.

Game ended: 100 - 40

 

Game 2 vs Votann:

Their list was:

Kahl

10 Votann with medic, rail rifle and missile launcher

10 Votann with medic, rail rifle and missile launcher (split into 2 5 man squads)

2 Saguitar, 1 with beam weapon 1 with autocannons

6 bikes with the high yield autocannons?

 

As this was my first game vs Votann, I was a bit wary of their prowess from word of mouth. I got the first turn and shot with my Leviathan first and killed 2 bikes. It turns out Votann have a strat to let a unit shoot back at an enemy unit that shot them at full balistic. Ouch. I don't begrudge my opponent for "Gotcha"ing me with this one, it was their first competitive experience and also their fourth game with Votann, no harm no foul! Although with some poor rolling my Leviathan was knocked down by 10 wounds, so some in game harm

I threw the Lord discordant into the bikes with gusto wiping them and leaving him to be the target of what was left of the army. It worked as planned, the sponged the entire of my opponent's army's shooting with some lucky rolling. The next turn was open for me to just plow up the board and blast what was left on the board, the Kahl lasted slightly longer before being cleaved in twaine by a Defiler claw. Also MVPs go to the Cultists who knocked 3 wounds off a Sagitaur to get me Bring it Down

Turn 3 board wipe

Game ended: 100-35

 

Game 3 vs Death Guard

Their list was:

Lord of Contagion, can only be wounded on 4-6 and also rerolls hits

Plaguecaster

Spewer character with the Fight last aura

5 Plaguemarines

10 Pox Walkers

5 Blight lords

3 Deathshroud

1 Blight Hauler

 

Death Guard were the army that I didn't want to fight at all, so it's sod's law that I pair into them . Their damage reduction makes the vast majority of my firepower not that great with only really my mortal wound output being the reliable killer. They're also, largely, tougher than my Iron Warriors which has what as won me games most of the time. Being able to reduce incoming dmg by 1 or make one of vehicles -1 to be wounded make my attrition game much better.

The key mistake that I wish I hadn'y have done was charge the Defiler in Turn 1. Due to deployment type and board size, Death Guard got onto the point early and I wasn't able to totally clear off the obsec. I charged the Defiler in alone and got Heroic interventioned into by the LoC. Although I managed to hold my own, my opponent had 3 turns with 3 objectives and also drew nicely on the Secondaries. Another round of shooting with the Defiler would have put the hurt in enough to clear the central objective sooner. This was also the only game where the Warpsmith got to do his thing and promptly did 10 MW to the Lord of Contagion and then 9 on the next turn to the Plaguecaster

Game ended 55-100

 

Game 4 vs Votann (paired into the same Votann from earlier)

Same list as before

 

I queried with the organiser about playing the same opponent again and due to the numbers of players, whichever way they paired people there would always be one table that had played each other. I feel a bit at odds with this one as I knew exactly what each unit could do and last game had been a stomp but my opponent  also knew what my stuff would do. His first turn he drew 2 cards that meant he wanted to take the central objectives and also got 1st turn. This actually turned out to be a (Dark) Godsend as he catapulted his bikes forward with the Sagitaur behind. The bikes whiffed hard and my Leviathan only took 3 wounds and nothing else took any. The Levi was healed to full and I surrounded the bikes with the Levi, Lord Disco, Terminators and Warpsmith. All my shooting went into his vehicles and troops and I didn't shoot the bikes at all. I did this as I knew they'd shoot back, so instead took the overwatch on the Levi and let the Lord Discordant loose on them. Although his WLT's reroll wounds doesn't function against Votann, I still rolled 4 6s and a 5 to wound the bikes meaning that he did 9 MW on top of the Chainglaive dmg after they failed their saves. 5 3 Wound bikes crashed and burned so the opponent just removed the other one before anything else attacked, we had a good laugh about that. The game went my way very quickly with all transports dead and some nice saves, I didn't lose anything else. MVPs again goes to the Cultists who killed the Kahl with a quick volley of autoguns

100-45

 

So second overall was very cool, I was only pipped by 3 points by first place so it was incredibly tight! I'm not sure if I would change anything in the list, the only potential would be to swap the Leviathan for a Decimator (something I've been thinking about kitbashing) and a Master of Possession or more Cultists. The question would be Dual soulburner petards or a claw and one petard. Having something up my sleeve that can pump out mortal wounds and has 3dmg in combat could be quite nice. At the very least, I'd like to swap the Volkite out for Heavy flamers on the Leviathan, Volkite is nice in theory but I only got 1 or 2 MWs over 4 games

 

Something to think about!

 

 

 

Edited November 21, 2022 by TrawlingCleaner

[Tallarn Commander]

It looks like you had fun!

 

Yes, wheneverI go up against Volkites, they don't seem to do much.

 

The Levi might be better for 1500 or 2000 point games. I think you might get more mileage from a Decimator and Master of Possession.

[TrawlingCleaner]

Cheers TC, it was a blast!

 

I think Twin Heavy flamers would be the way to go, a bit more anti infantry on the Levi wouldn't be a bad thing!

The Decimator definitely seems like a path I'd like to go down, looking at the stats, Levis have 2 extra wounds and that's about it. I could potentially shift my list around to take a Master of Possession too as you mentioned. This would definitely make the list fit together better and have a tad more synergy.

 

 

[Prot]

Great showing TC. And grats on the board and getting the Gold Award... well deserved!

 

So after this amount of time, and plenty of reps with both armies (I think?) what is your take on IW/RC's?  I also have a fair amount playing both, but I'd really like to hear your thoughts.

[TrawlingCleaner]

Thank you Prot!

I haven't had as many games with my Corsairs as I would have liked but have plenty with my Iron Warriors, so I can give my thoughts on them.

IW are definitely one of the weirder subfactions in that their Trait and a lot of their strats don't do much for the close combat army CSM was built to be. We have plenty of tools to boost shooting units but no tools to boost our melee output (except against Imperial Fists ).

In saying that, I think a lot of our shooting options are good/almost good and with things like Methodical Annihilation and Tank Destroyers plus their trait making them ignore cover (and dense).

Methodical Annihilation is such a huge boost to things like Forgefiends, Defilers, Dreads of all flavours. I used it most turns with the Defiler or the Levi to great effect, it would definitely get a lot of uses with Forgefiends too. A Forgefiend with Ectoplasma shooting into a 3-5 man elite infantry squad gets all 9 shots into them, it's brutal! Unfortunately, I don't think IW can make Oblits good, poor ol' Oblits. Payinf for the sins of their fathers

While cool that you can boost shooting units, it doesn't really gel with the book that's built around combat.

The usual good stuff is good in IW and we are able to make the most tanky Obsec unit in the game

 

We also have one of the best Relics in the game on one of the worst vessels for it. Techno-Venomous Mechatendrils is legitamately amazing, turfing out a ridiculous amount of attacks and with Hatred Eternal, is absolutely mad. If it was on a model that was a bit tougher or had a bit more movement it would definitely be the best combat relic. Healing 3 wounds a turn on already tough Engines makes it incredibly difficult for some armies to chew through.

 

As I've only played Tempest of War games, I've not really tried out the CSM secondaries however, just reading the Iron Warriors one makes me never want to take/try it

 

Are they a good subfaction? Not really. Some good bits but they definitely don't push all the boundries like CoB or EC

Can they be made to work? I think so, the right list and play style would definitely do well. I think IW's no re-rolls to wound potency is neutered somewhat by Votann and Guard's ability to ignore that step all together. Similar to our trait and Deathguard I suppose!

Are they fun? Hell yeah! I love chucking down loads of Daemon Engines back up by Terminators and slowly plowing it up the board. Chaos Space Marines are the army I have the most fun with, even back when we had 8th ed rules vs 9th ed rules

 

I'm not a competitive wizard so perhaps not the most in depth thoughts on Iron Warriors

[Prot]

I just wanted your take.... and that's a great answer. 

 

I'd agree with a ton of it... except Oblits. I do agree as IW we are able to leverage better options with our Strats and Traits.  But and this is just personal, but I think people are still using Oblits like the did in the old days. That is to say, when I want to maximize the Mechatendrils and go big time aggressive, I find the 3 Oblits hit very hard, shoot hard, and keep coming back for more (A MoP with certain WL traits along side make these a bit better).

 

Again, it's definitely something were I feel almost obligated to use Oblits with my Iron Warriors, so I'm admittedly biased.

 

I did try the Forgefiend trick many times, but for some reason I don't think I've had more than a turn of shooting with it. It usually gets wiped pretty quickly. 

 

I've even used the Chaos  terrain thing... that Blackstone thing (yes I actually bought one when they came out) and the 4++ around a shooty list as well as the ability to farm CP does actually make it fun for IW to run; perhaps not super competitive but I like it.

 

I agree thought we are not geared towards close combat and that's what pushes me on to Black Legion or Red Corsairs when I really want to flex some of those great new models and be more aggressive. 

[Relic]

I'm no Iron Warrior expert by any means, but they are my one Legion that I play. The above thoughts concur with mine. I think the 4th are missing a few small additions that would have them up there with Black Legion/Emperors Children/Creations of Bile. The Legion is not particularly mobile outside of the datasheets themselves, nor does it boost your offensive power outside of shooting which is not a strong point of the Codex. Arguably even then, Emperors Children have better shooting then Iron Warriors because of Noise Marines and Black Legion can buff one unit to the 9's with Abaddon. 

 

That said - the legion trait is solid, we have some good warlord traits (Bastion/Daemonsmith/Unyielding Mettle) and good stratagems (especially dour duty!) - underpinned by a decent Codex so I am not complaining. 

 

I'm playing an RTT this weekend and running a fun Iron Warriors Rhino rush list. Not my idea of competitive but it can hit hard and doubles down on the close combat aspect of the Codex rather then trying to fight the tide and build in shooting elements which the Legion trait promotes. 

 

I don't want to derail TrawlingCleaner thread but the list is below if anyone is interested. It plays fast and is based on the Storm of Iron book. 

 

Spoiler

Dark Apostle: Warlord (Eternal Vendetta), Relic (Mantle of Traitors), Mark of Slaanesh, Dark Zealotry, Blissful Devotion, Illusory Supplication
 
Master of Possession: Gifts of Chaos (Liber Hereticus), Mark of Slaanesh, Delightful Agonies, Mutated Invigoration, Pact of Flesh
 
Warpsmith: Aspiring Lord (Hatred Incarnate), Gifts of Chaos (Techno-venomous Mechatendrils), Mark of Slaanesh 

 

10 Chosen: Chaos Icon, Mark of Slaanesh, 1x Combi Melta, 2x Powerfists, Trophies of the Long War (Black Rune of Damnation) 

 

10 Chosen: Chaos Icon, Mark of Slaanesh, 1x Combi Melta, 2x Powerfists

 

10 Khorne Berzerkers: Chaos Icon
10 Khorne Berzerkers: Chaos Icon 
5 Khorne Berzerkers: Chaos Icon 

 

5x Chaos Rhinos 

 
10 Chaos Cultists w/ cultist firearm 
10 Chaos Cultists w/ cultist firearm 
10 Chaos Cultists w/ cultist firearm 
 
Secondaries tend to be Banners, Assassination or Bring it Down and No Prisoners or the Long War. Realistically the plan, like a lot of CSM armies is kill the opponent, get whatever secondaries you can in the process whilst chopping them in combat and hope you do enough damage to win before getting largely tabled!  
 

 

[TrawlingCleaner]

14 hours ago, Prot said:

I just wanted your take.... and that's a great answer. 

 

I'd agree with a ton of it... except Oblits. I do agree as IW we are able to leverage better options with our Strats and Traits.  But and this is just personal, but I think people are still using Oblits like the did in the old days. That is to say, when I want to maximize the Mechatendrils and go big time aggressive, I find the 3 Oblits hit very hard, shoot hard, and keep coming back for more (A MoP with certain WL traits along side make these a bit better).

 

Again, it's definitely something were I feel almost obligated to use Oblits with my Iron Warriors, so I'm admittedly biased.

 

I did try the Forgefiend trick many times, but for some reason I don't think I've had more than a turn of shooting with it. It usually gets wiped pretty quickly. 

 

I've even used the Chaos  terrain thing... that Blackstone thing (yes I actually bought one when they came out) and the 4++ around a shooty list as well as the ability to farm CP does actually make it fun for IW to run; perhaps not super competitive but I like it.

 

I agree thought we are not geared towards close combat and that's what pushes me on to Black Legion or Red Corsairs when I really want to flex some of those great new models and be more aggressive. 

Oblits definitely serve a different role (that I'm admittedly still trying to get my head around), they're no longer the drop in and kill something (or often times whiff) unit. To my view they fill the same role as Terminators, walking up the board and blast away at stuff with Volume of shots before charging. In my opinion there are two main barriers to their role:

Their weapons are Heavy and they lack CORE. Their weapons being heavy means that they're only getting exploding hits for 1 turn + Turn 3/4 onwards for melee vs the Terminators who's shooting is active until Turn 3/4 then are still active in Massacre. If they had Core they would benefit from many bonuses that would mitigate some of their negatives but I can understand why they don't have CORE

 

I love Oblits and will always try to take some however it can be a bit tricky to slot them into a smaller game's points. I'm looking at my list for December's tournament and looking to shake things up, so may take some then!

 

 

12 hours ago, Relic said:

I'm no Iron Warrior expert by any means, but they are my one Legion that I play. The above thoughts concur with mine. I think the 4th are missing a few small additions that would have them up there with Black Legion/Emperors Children/Creations of Bile. The Legion is not particularly mobile outside of the datasheets themselves, nor does it boost your offensive power outside of shooting which is not a strong point of the Codex. Arguably even then, Emperors Children have better shooting then Iron Warriors because of Noise Marines and Black Legion can buff one unit to the 9's with Abaddon. 

 

That said - the legion trait is solid, we have some good warlord traits (Bastion/Daemonsmith/Unyielding Mettle) and good stratagems (especially dour duty!) - underpinned by a decent Codex so I am not complaining. 

 

I'm playing an RTT this weekend and running a fun Iron Warriors Rhino rush list. Not my idea of competitive but it can hit hard and doubles down on the close combat aspect of the Codex rather then trying to fight the tide and build in shooting elements which the Legion trait promotes. 

 

I don't want to derail TrawlingCleaner thread but the list is below if anyone is interested. It plays fast and is based on the Storm of Iron book. 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Dark Apostle: Warlord (Eternal Vendetta), Relic (Mantle of Traitors), Mark of Slaanesh, Dark Zealotry, Blissful Devotion, Illusory Supplication
 
Master of Possession: Gifts of Chaos (Liber Hereticus), Mark of Slaanesh, Delightful Agonies, Mutated Invigoration, Pact of Flesh
 
Warpsmith: Aspiring Lord (Hatred Incarnate), Gifts of Chaos (Techno-venomous Mechatendrils), Mark of Slaanesh 

 

10 Chosen: Chaos Icon, Mark of Slaanesh, 1x Combi Melta, 2x Powerfists, Trophies of the Long War (Black Rune of Damnation) 

 

10 Chosen: Chaos Icon, Mark of Slaanesh, 1x Combi Melta, 2x Powerfists

 

10 Khorne Berzerkers: Chaos Icon
10 Khorne Berzerkers: Chaos Icon 
5 Khorne Berzerkers: Chaos Icon 

 

5x Chaos Rhinos 

 
10 Chaos Cultists w/ cultist firearm 
10 Chaos Cultists w/ cultist firearm 
10 Chaos Cultists w/ cultist firearm 
 
Secondaries tend to be Banners, Assassination or Bring it Down and No Prisoners or the Long War. Realistically the plan, like a lot of CSM armies is kill the opponent, get whatever secondaries you can in the process whilst chopping them in combat and hope you do enough damage to win before getting largely tabled!  
 

 

 

I love that list idea Relic! It's kinda barmy but it should work wonders, good luck with your RTT!