Wargames Gallery: Former Allies

The Emperor's Children champion soars ahead to confront his former ally in the Iron Hands. The Salamanders are close, but not close enough to join in. Can he defeat his former ally before the Salamanders can join in? 

[Spoilers: yes]

Painted Iron Hands Praetor / Siege Breaker

One painted Iron Hands Praetor or Siege Breaker (to serve as either)

. 

Standing on a broken las cannon, this praetor features a thunder hammer and bolt pistol. The paint scheme is the same matte approach that I've taken previously with the black actually being dark grey in colour and liberal amounts of Nuln oil also being used. The hammer has an accent of some blues, and the decals round out the miniature along with some edging and chipping on the model. 

Originally, I was going to have this marine as part of my Shattered Legions force. But having seen the new rules, it is deeply unlikely I will field any Shattered Legions forces now in Second Edition - its just a mess from what I've read. That's a review for a different day though. Maybe I'll just field them as Black Shields and be done with it. Equally, I do have enough miniatures for allied detachments regardless so I'll probably stick with that. 

Wargames Gallery Showcase: Shattered Legions

The image below showcases my (very modest) Shattered Legions forces to date. 

I find myself in a bit of a quandary about what to do next in the absence of the new rulebook! Hopefully that should arrive sooner rather than later though. I have a bunch of Iron Hands that I have assembled, but I don't know if to configure them as a Veteran Squad, or a regular heart of the legion tactical squad just yet. 

Regardless, the image shows a complete Raven Guard and Salamanders tactical squad, a double melta gun contemptor for the Salamanders along with a terminator character; a More Deythan squad, and vigilator for the Raven Guard, and a freshly painted Iron Hands praetor. 

The gaming mat and terrain accessories are from Game Mat EU for the curious. 

Wargames Gallery: Iron Hands Push

Pushing out from the forge, the Iron Hand breachers squad demonstrates their stone-like grim intent. 

One Day Painting Challenge Outcome: Iron Hands Heavy Support Squad

It was a long day with lots of things in between the painting and drying cycles. But here is the final product! What do you think?

The painting recipe follows the standard approach that I take with Iron Hands. I don't want them glossy like the Raven Guard recipe that I use, so I have a black undercoat followed by Eshin Grey base coat. Then washes are applied with a combination of nuln oil and black. Highlights are in greys and the trim done in silver.

The decals come from a mixture of Alpha Legion (the "X" on some shoulder pads) as well as cogs from mechanicum decals which I think work well. I've even sneaked a Word Bearers decal on the top of the tank hatch that one of the marines is standing on just for flavour! Although the red eye lenses could do with more work, I am very pleased with this outcome overall! 

One Day Painting Challenge: Iron Hands Heavy Support Squad

Welcome to the "One Day Painting Challenge" that I've challenged myself to complete! The idea is simple. Take a squad. Paint it up. And complete it in one day. The main issue with this kind of challenge is allowing sufficient drying times between layers to ensure the next one is nice and smooth. But let's get to the subject of the challenge itself. 

This is a Horus Heresy Iron Hands heavy support squad. I have assembled them with autocannons from the plastic kit upgrade range. The miniatures themselves contain a mixture of parts from Forge World resin Mk 3 armour, the same in plastic, Forge World Iron Hands upgrades (torsos, legs shoulder pad), and a single head from the character heads produced very recently for a bit of variation. The bases are custom with a lot of grit, some cork, a sawed in half tire, and spare tank bits. 

I want to go a bit beyond just the paint job. I want to also have time to apply decals in select places on the miniatures - although I completely lack the dedicated Iron Hands decals, so this might be interesting. Time for the undercoat!

Iron Hands Siege Breaker / Praetor

It is not the new siege breaker model. Not sorry. This miniature is a bit of a kit bash to produce a Siege Breaker - or possibly praetor - to lead my Iron Hands detachment (or indeed lead a Shattered Legions contingent -- really looking forward to those new rules now!). 

Clearly the thunder hammer and the bolt pistol are from the plastic range, whereas the torso and legs are resin parts from the Forge World resin range for the Iron Hands. The shoulder pads are similarly bespoke from Games Workshop. 

I've also gone a bit of a adventure with the basing. The las cannon on the base is from the Imperial Guard range and sources from the sentinel if memory serves. Balancing the miniature on top of the cannon was a bit of trial and error (which is to say: lots of dry fitting!). The base otherwise has Armageddon Dunes painted on to it ready for undercoating. I think it has worked well enough though and communicates - arguably - some of the desperation of the drop site massacre which it what I originally intended when I set out. This miniature is meant to be a survivor and a leader for the scattered and shattered forces that he has been able to gather around himself following that campaign. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Iron Father

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars -- a great HQ choice for the Iron Hands player and a solid upgrade for a Praetor assuming the player is fielding armour. Not as essential as having a praetor in the first place, but worthy of consideration for the upgrade depending on desired play style.

Background.

The Iron Fathers of the Iron Hands legion are gifted smiths. Unlike the Salamanders Legion though, they don't really care much for the looks of things -- just how hard they can smash stuff up. Function before form. Outcomes over style. 

Strengths. 

The Iron Father is an upgrade for a Praetor of any type -- for a cost.

They gain access to Battlesmith at 3+ which is very nice (and therefore favours more tanky armies) alongside a machinator array (also very nice, and comes with some ranged weapons), feel no pain (always welcome) and a cyber familiar for an extra pip of invulnerable saves and certain re-rolls. 

To my mind, the Iron Father is worth the extra points cost when the Iron Hands want to field a large number of vehicles and dreadnoughts, or when a certain single vehicle is critical to remain in action.

Weaknesses.

Praetors are essential. This upgrade might not be so essential to your army though.

Difference to First Edition.

Neutral. The rules are comparable overall, but note the steep cost versus what is gained here. Worth considering what sort of build is desired...

Builds.

Iron Father in Cataphractii Armour, Thunder Hammer, Grenade Harness (220 points).

Getting expensive, but cannot look beyond the combination of cataphractii armour with cyber familiar! Upgrade to Gorgon Terminator Armour to taste depending if you like sweeping over a better save. 

Iron Father, Graviton Shredder, Paragon Blade (225 points).

Surprisingly more expensive than a terminator, this power armour build is intended for being on board a transport. Not sure if the terminator is simply better or not at this point though hence this build is included for completeness and illustrative purposes here. Remove the Shredder if you feel you have enough weapons already?

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Medusan Immortals Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars, but rounded down. A solid choice for the Iron Hands player, but competing for a cramped Elites slot. 

Background.

Failures. Whether in the eyes of the Primarch, or due to the fickle whims of battlefield fate, and perhaps grievous wounds too great such that they need massive cybernetic rebuilds, these marines were cast into the Immortals Squad to earn some token of redemption. Pretty bleak stuff and just underscores the dark fury contained within this legion. 

Strengths.

The Immortals are basically an enhanced type of breacher squad. The main difference here is the addition of feel no pain which serves this squad well and is representative of the cybernetic rebuilds that the marines underwent before joining the Immortals.

There are a variety of different ways to build the squad depending on personal preferences and this flexibility should also be seen as a strength.

Finally, note the Ld=10 statistic. This can be massive.

Weaknesses.

As an upgraded breacher squad, they have the same pros and cons as regular ones, but come at a notably higher points cost. Due to the Bitter Duty rule, they cannot be joined by a squad without that same rule either, hence they're largely on their own on the battlefield too. Finally, this squad is under the Elites entry which makes it compete against potentially more effective squads (although for Zone Mortalis and similarly cramped playing boards they will do very well indeed). 

Difference to First Edition.

Neutral. The new rules are very comparable to the old rules. Note here again the addition of graviton shredders to the Iron Hands. 

Builds.

Plenty of different options to consider for the Immortals as I will illustrate with a variety of builds that are possible.

10 Immortals, 2 Graviton Shredders, Sergeant with thunder hammer and artificer armour (275 points).

Something of a baseline build. Put in a land raider proteus and go hunting. 

10 Immortals, 2 Flamers, Sergeant with artificer armour (225 points).

For holding on to back line objectives. Cheap-ish and functional.

20 Immortals, 4 Melta Guns, 10 Chain Bayonets, Sergeant with power fist, melta bombs and artificer armour (500 points).

For 20 marines, the points cost of this aggressive build is surprisingly palatable. Note the footslogging problem here though and solve it in your own manner.

10 Immortals, 9 Volkite Chargers, Sergeant with Volkite Serpenta, artificer armour and power fist (253 points).

The Volkite squad option. Deploy from their land raider and spout Martian death rays to your enemy infantry units. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Gorgon Terminator Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. A great choice for the Iron Hands player.

Background.

The Gorgon Terminators were a work in progress by Ferrus Manus to improve on terminators armour. They work by converting incoming energy and weapons into light and heat. In turn, this can blind enemies who are too close. A great idea, but comes at the cost of having to bond the wearer to the armour and outfit him with a lot of cybernetics to withstand the toxic energy discharge involved.

Strengths.

The Gorgon Terminator Armour grants feel no pain, and forces enemies to take blind tests if they pass an armour save and then roll 4+. This is an interesting effect and the use of close up blind tests is fairly unseen (pun not intended) outside of Gorgon Terminators and specialist units with blinding weapons and accessories (more or less). Indeed, facing off against Gorgon Terminators is about one of the few times I recall taking blind tests in the Horus Heresy game.

Weaknesses.

Other than the Gorgon Terminator armour itself, these terminators are standard fare. They come with 2 wounds, stubborn (which is good) and a combination of thunder hammer (for the sergeant) and power axes and combi bolters for everyone else. Although there are some nice upgrades, for the points cost it is just about worth it - but only just. At least they can still make sweeping advances like Tartaros terminators, and this swings it to being worth it. 

Difference to First Edition.

Neutral. The unit is about the same, but do note the graviton shredder option here. 

Builds.

Gorgon Terminator Squad (6 members), Legion Vexilla, 2 Graviton Shredders, 2 Chain Fists (315 points).

Note that graviton shredders can be bought as an upgrade to graviton guns by Iron Hands infantry. This squad is an interesting vehicle killer, and adequately kitted out for taking on any onboard a transport too,

Gorgon Terminator Squad (9 members), Legion Vexilla, 3 Reaper Autocannons (395 points).

A ranged option.

Gorgon Terminator Squad (5 members), Legion Vexilla, 1 Heavy Flamer, 3 Lightning Claws pairs (230 points).

More points efficient, and intended for deployment right out of a land raider. 

Gorgon Terminator Squad (5 members), Legion Vexilla, 1 Plasma Blaster, 4 combi-plasmas (265 points).

Plasma rain squad!

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Ferrus Manus

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars. An excellent Primarch and similarly excellent choice for the Iron Hands player.

Background. 

The Gorgon. The Great Iron Father. And also the first Primarch to be betrayed and perish at his brother's hands during the opening phases of the Horus Heresy. In some ways Ferrus is a tragic figure, but in others, he is a stern and uncompromising leader of the Great Crusade. To me, it is a surprise that the Iron Hands stayed loyal to the Emperor. They were so close to Horus that many in the legion displayed the Eye of Horus on their armour. They also had a surprisingly close relationship with the Emperor's Children. The man himself is noted as a craftsman whose equal might only be found in Vulkan. And of course, he had a highly unusual physiology himself with those silvery hands and eyes. He prized physical strength above all things and despised weakness. The kind of excess that caused a fall from glory for his brothers. 

Strengths.

Of course, he is a primarch. And everything that comes with that is here. He grants an army wide buff of feel no pain (for infantry) and it will not die (for vehicles). This alone makes Ferrus worth taking if the points cost allows. The added reaction whilst he is on the battlefield to assaults is similarly strong.

Forgebreaker, his personal weapon, is truly amazing at S=12 (yes, you read that correctly) with great exo shock and brutal rules that befits its station. The usual 2+/3++ save is similarly amazing. This is therefore a primach that wants to be in close combat and smashing stuff up close and personal if at all possible.

At modest range he is arguably the best primarch of them all since he carries a small armoury of weapons on his person. The plasma blaster and graviton shredder (new for this edition!) is a great touch and will keep enemies on their toes regardless of if they're wearing terminator armour or not. As if that weren't enough there's a heavy flamer, a grenade harness, a servo arm, firing protocols and battle smith to boot. In short, Ferrus Manus can be played in a variety of roles but I suspect the main one will be as the tip of a spear and carried by something like a land raider into battle, or maybe a drop pod. But he'd be equally good on foot if needs must (probably using some tanks as his personal screen). He is a versatile primarch that comes with many boons and items of equipment and could be used in several difference ways, but the best one is as a front line smasher - make no mistake about that.

Weaknesses.

None. He is a primarch. At T=7 he's also incredibly tough in comparison to some of his brothers. And a good one at that, all things considered. He's tremendous in close combat and short range exchanges and provides a huge boost to the army.

Difference to First Edition.

Neutral. The rules are just about the same. Great that the graviton shredder has been added - this is a nice, positive touch.

Overall.

Take him if you're allowed to play Lords of War and have the points cost. He can probably win against many of his brothers (I haven't run the numbers - NB), but is categorically out-matched by Horus. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Iron Hands Armoury

Iron Hands Armoury.

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3/5 stars. (The rules are average). 

The Iron-Father.

For a modest points cost a praetor can be upgraded to an Iron Father. This gives battlesmith and feel no pain along with a machinator array and cyber familiar. This is a nice upgrade and one that I might review distinctly as a unit entry.

Blessed Auto-Simulacra.

Vehicles can gain a notch of It Will Not Die for a small points cost. Very much recommended if you have spare points after building an army.

Cyber-Familiar.

An increase in invulnerable save is a good thing and worth the points investment, although the re-rolling of none leadership tests is a mixed bag. Almost worth the points, but best spent on a HQ choice. 

Gorgon Terminator Armour.

It is now the case that this mark of terminator armour can be given to any praetor or centurion. For free if they are already in terminator armour. Take it if you have a retinue of the same.

Graviton Shredders.

In brief: very good. The main difference is Assault 2 instead of pistol. 

Armatus Necrotechnika.

An auto-repair system for a vehicle for when units die nearby. Almost dark eldar in some ways! Its nice, but situational, and potentially a really pain (pun not intended) due to its cost and drawback (Ld implications). I suspect people are not going to select this outside of fluffy armies.

Difference to First Edition.

Neutral. (The rules are comparable). 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Iron Hands Legion Traits and Rites

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. (The rules are strong). 

Warlord Traits.

From Hel's Heart (Loyalist Only).

The first entry for Iron Hands warlord traits represents the general grief and failure felt within the legion after the dropsite massacre.

The warlord and his unit get Fear(1) alongside the ability to inflict 1d6 hits against the unit that wiped them when and if that happens in a frenzy of death dealing. This is a reasonably strong trait and perhaps should almost be default for many games where the player is a loyalist. 

The Eye of Vigilance (Traitor Only).

The second one is a similarly interesting option and is one for the traitors of whom there will be a surprising number to those unfamiliar with the background. Indeed, of all the legions who turned traitor, it is often surprising that the Iron Hands did not follow the Warmaster down that route -- although clearly many of them did.

With this trait, the player gets a bonus reaction (very strong!) along with preferred enemy against loyalists. For the traitor Iron Hands player, I think this should be the go-to trait.

Silver-Iron Will.

With no allegiance restriction, this is the trait that many will see on the gaming table. The Warlord and his unit basically never take negative modifiers. They laugh at rad phage as much as fear. Counter balancing this is the fact they cannot make reactions in the movement phase, but gain an additional reaction for one of the other phases. The Iron Hands player should see this as a boon.

Rites of War.

Company of Bitter Iron (Loyalist Only).

Take Medusan Immortals as troops, and they gain Line and Heart of the Legion. All models hate traitors, and can be upgraded with Bitter Iron for free as well. Can't take Ferrus though - he's gone.

The Head of the Gorgon.

Take stubborn when in your deployment zone, and gain access to graviton weapons! Nice. Also the option to take units from the Mechanicum (also nice) with cortex controllers. What shines here is the outflank rule gain which makes this amazing. The negatives are just a shrug by the Iron Hands veteran player. You will see this rite of war very frequently with the Iron Hands all things considered.

Difference to First Edition:

Neutral. (On balance, the rules are about the same).

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Iron Hands Legion Rules

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. (The rules are strong). 

Background.

I am deliberately choosing to start the reviews of the second edition of Horus Heresy by looking at the Iron Hands. The reason for this is both personal and simple: I regarded them are one of the best and toughest legions in first edition - simple as that. 

The Iron Tenth in second edition are presented in the same manner as the first edition of course. Smashed at the dropsite massacre, and then forced into guerrilla warfare against the traitors later on in the heresy. This facet appears more integrated with the new rules to my mind, but there's plenty of options to talk through here. 

Legion Rules Review.

The Medusa's Scales.  With candor, this is the rule that makes the entire legion shine. The ability to take incoming fire with a -1S modifier is simply amazing. The boost of It Will Not Die is similarly attractive for the Iron Hands' vehicles. Sure, it won't work in close combat, but who cares. Players will want to shoot their enemies off the board before that ever happens, and exploiting the new reactions for your own advancing units will make this even more attractive. The Iron Hands therefore remain one of the toughest armies.

The other rules provide access to war gear (The Keys of Hel) which we will review later. The Iron-Fathers is an upgrade for certain characters. And the Sons of Medusa provide access to the legion's warlord traits (of course). 

Advanced Reaction.

The Gorgon's Spite is powerful. In brief, a unit that is about to be charged gets to shoot back not once, but twice at the charging unit, but with the negative of gets hot added to their weapons. This will categorically be super powerful and potentially game changing in the right circumstances. My thought is to play it against a death star unit, or to simply use it early and get it out of the way and done (i.e., don't be precious about it since you will find yourself never using it). 

Difference to First Edition:
Improved. (The rules are stronger than first edition).

The removal of the need to have more infantry is good for the Iron Hands (i.e., rigid tactics is gone). Stand and fight is similarly gone. The Iron Hands were ever a shooting legion, and the rules in second edition tilt toward this style very strongly still, but they don't have some of the previous drawbacks and have the addition of a very strong advanced reaction. This makes the legion a contender for the strongest out of them all, and it retains the place in Warpstone Flux for the benchmark against which others will be judged!

Iron Hands Medusan Immortals Squad

The squad is altogether now, and here's an image to do them some justice. 

I like the gritty feel of the squad overall. They really communicate the likely conditions on the sands of Isstvan after being betrayed and suffering the massacre of their allies. At their feet lie some remains of the third legion (Emperor's Children) as they muster for revenge against the traitors. These marines will join my breacher squad to form a full 10-marine breacher squad for use as a Shattered Legions force. I still have some work to do on the rest of the Iron Hands contingent, but this is a great basis for expanding the force. 

Iron Hands Medusan Immortals 5/5

Rounding off the squad of Iron Hands Medusan Immortals at number 5 is this marine. Along with his brothers, he is also a survivor of the massacre by the traitors in the opening moments of the Horus Heresy. As befits such a survivor, he has battle damage in places, and plentiful mud scattered over his feet, lower legs, and shield. 

I enjoyed painting the battle damage on to this one in particular as it offered a chance to experiment with a couple of techniques. On the shield, one of these techniques is visible: a silvered surface surrounded by scorched black marks suggestive of explosive tipped ammunition shattering on the shield (i.e. bolt gun rounds). Once more, I'm happy that I didn't glue this one together before managing to paint his left shoulder pad. Although some of it is obscured by the shield, I'd know it was unpainted if I left it in there undone. 

A post featuring the full squad in all their glory will be made soon enough. Stay tuned. 

Iron Hands Medusan Immortals 4/5

Number four in my squad is this battle brother. Sporting a requisite amount of mud on the feet and lower legs, this marine has been through hell and back on Isstvan and now only exists to extract revenge on the traitors for the massacre. 

Mud aside, the red parts that can be seen just below the ammo feed on the bolt gun is part of the scanner that is attached to the waist of the marine and is simply poking through due to the line of sight of the image. The numeral ten on the left knee pad is a decal from the standard space marine range (although for a few of these, I did decide to kit bash -- decal bash -- the XX from the Alpha Legion to obtain some smaller ones for the Iron Tenth!). 

I like the way that this one has turned out, especially the wiggly iron pipework on the left shoulder pad that is partially hidden behind the shield. I decided to paint this first, prior to gluing together the shield on to the arm. In hindsight, this was the right choice, and it also allowed some painting on the interior of the shield as well. 

Iron Hands Medusan Immortals 3/5

The third marine in the Iron Hands Medusan Immortals is muddied after seeing serious action against the Emperor's Children. Although following the same painting scheme as the others in this series, the mud is turned up a notch and features heavily on the shins and feet of the miniature, with a touch on the shield too, let alone the third legion shoulder pad that can be seen on the ground in front of him. 

Anomalously whiter than the rest of the miniature, and seemingly relatively untouched by the mud, is a bolt gun with the numeral "X" on the side. The narrative here is that this marine recovered the bolt gun from a fallen battle brother when his own bolt gun failed him. It also gives a touch more diversity to the squad overall and I feel it is a nice addition. Overall, I'm happy with this even given how much the alternate colour bolt gun stands out. 

Iron Hands Medusan Immortals 2/5

The second marine in my Iron Hands shattered legion Medusan Immortals is nominally the squad leader and armed with the usual bolt gun and shield. 

The base and lower part of the marine have been spray painted with darker muddier tones to present the suggestion of wear and tear on the fields of the Urgall Depression, including a tire that has probably been blown off some Emperor's Children biker. 

What I'm particularly pleased with on this miniature is how the red and orange eye pieces have worked out. They provide a nice contrast to the dull black of the Iron Hands scheme used here. Some edging in gold offsets this and combined with the weathering around the lower edge of the shield provides the final overall tone for the miniature. For the head, I attempted a few-day-growth effect for the receding hairline by subtly applying a grey colour in a male-pattern balding outline. Very happy overall with this one. 

Iron Hands Medusan Immortals 1/5

Painting progress report today. I have decided to round off my Iron Hands Breacher squad by filling it out with Iron Hands Medusan Immortals. This will take their number up to a total of ten, packed out with two flamers as their selected special weapons. 

This is the first Medusan Immortal that I've painted. It follows the Iron Hands recipe that I worked out for the rest of the Breacher squad earlier on: muted black colours (as opposed to the shinier Raven Guard slick black) combined with Nuln Oil washed metallics and battle damage applied to various locations. The trim of the armour is picked out in the washed silver colour itself as well, whereas the lenses are a combination of reds and oranges to create a reflective (refractive) lens appearance that complements the otherwise darker colours. The base has a rhino door sporting Emperor's Children colours to represent the battles that took place in the Isstvan system as is thematic with the Shattered Legions approach that I'm taking here. 

This particular marine sports a flame gun held on to the shield. In hind sight -- and if I had the time over again -- I would have put the flamer on one of the other models that did not hold the gun in place on the shield. The fit was fiddlesome to say the least and not a task I'd want to do again in a hurry. I will remember this for next time. Otherwise, this is the first of 5 marines that I will be presenting over the coming days (hopefully not weeks!).