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Iron Within, Iron Without: The Iron Warriors in 6th Edition

Submitted By: Koval, Master Verispex Date: January 13, 2013, 12:17:29 PM Views: 5809
Summary: A brief exploration of how to assemble an Iron Warriors army using the 6th Edition Codex: Chaos Space Marines.

Preamble
Iron Warriors, as far as I'm aware, seem to be one of the more interesting and well-documented Traitor Legions, and they're also pretty easy to get one's head around. Who doesn't like the idea of blasting one's foes to kingdom come with giant guns, after all? And isn't there something that's just a bit different about Space Marines -- the ultimate rapid-response shock troops that strike anywhere at any time -- being masters of siege warfare? But there's more to the Iron Warriors than big guns and sieges. This article sets out to explore the many ways of fielding an Iron Warriors-themed army under the 6th Edition Codex, and give budding Warsmiths ideas for their own armies.

DISCLAIMER: As always, the views I express are entirely my own.


A Few General Notes About The Iron Warriors
This section of the article will give a general outline of who the Iron Warriors are, how they operate, and what would make sense for a player to use. Remember that these aren't hard-and-fast restrictions, so feel free to put *your* army together with things that *you* want, but nonetheless the intent of these notes is to serve as guidelines, indicating what would be appropriate for an Iron Warriors theme.

  • First and foremost, the Iron Warriors are renowned for siege warfare. I don't want to provoke any Internet Backdraft over this, but the novel Storm of Iron goes into quite some detail about how the Iron Warriors carry out their sieges and wage war. So the best place to start with unit selection is by asking "can I see this unit being used in a siege?". Remember that a siege is about more than just bashing fortifications until they fall apart -- there will generally be infiltration and fast recon elements to a siege as well -- so fortunately, the majority of units will fit in nicely.
  • The Iron Warriors are an unaligned Legion and are somewhere towards the secular end of the scale. They have more reverence for Chaos than the Night Lords do, but at the same time they're too cynical to be Word Bearers, and according to their Index Astartes article, worship Chaos only as a pantheon but have more loyalty to their Primarch. I'd therefore avoid Cult Troops and Marks of Chaos here, as they don't quite gel properly with their fluff (neither do Dark Apostles, for that matter), although Cultists are perfectly fine as cannon-fodder. On the other hand, don't shy away from Chaos Rewards or Artefacts at all if you want to use them. For example, you know that Sigil of Corruption your Lord's wearing? How about the Burning Brand of Skalathrax your Warpsmith just used to torch a squad of Imperial Fists, or the Black Mace your Daemon Prince is swinging around? Check for the Made On Medrengard stamp underneath, as the Iron Warriors are sufficiently savvy with Warp-tech that they probably made their own versions.
  • Something else I should point out is that they don't like mutations at all, so if you, a mighty Iron Warrior, wake up one morning and find that your arm is a big gribbly tentacle, you're going to have it amputated and replaced with cybernetics. So if you've got some suitable mechanical bits for your models, put them in.
  • Iron Warriors players should gravitate towards the Heavy Support section of the army list, and will in fact be either spoilt for choice, or lamenting the lack of Heavy Support slots available (unless you double-up on FOCs in 2000pts or bigger games). Time now for a history lesson: back in 3rd Edition, Iron Warriors armies actually got four Heavy Support slots to everyone else's three, and were the only Legion to get Vindicators. We didn't have Forgefiends and Maulerfiends back then either, and Obliterators used to be Elites, so it was a lot easier to have your cake and eat it. Nowadays, the problem is that you want everything, but have to be brutal in what you choose and what you cut out. On a much more positive note, every Heavy Support choice fits the Iron Warriors theme brilliantly. Obliterators, in particular, are highly appropriate because of their obsession with technology and their (possible) connection with the Dark Mechanicus, whereas Vindicators are dedicated siege tanks (which the Iron Warriors still field en masse according to their Codex entry), and to further compound this mess, all of the various Daemon Engines are suitable because they're the end result of daemonic science and unholy technological advances. On the other end of the scale, even the humble Havoc squad has its place -- someone's got to man the guns. Ultimately, what you use is up to you, but you're not going to be running out of thematically appropriate options any time soon.
  • Following on from the above, Warpsmiths are an obvious HQ choice. Shatter Defences can easily represent a preliminary bombardment or orbital strike intended to weaken enemy fortifications. Master of Mechanisms, on the other hand, is a pretty characterful way to demonstrate their proficiency with all things technological. The Warpsmith is hardly a slouch in combat either, courtesy of his mechatendrils and default power axe. However, don't rule out Chaos Lords or Sorcerers, as both have their place -- the Lord, in particular, could in fact be the Grand Company's Warsmith leading the army, acting in more of a leadership/combat role, with a Sorcerer or Warpsmith-with-a-P taking on a support role.
  • A note about Iron Warriors and siegecraft: Their Index Astartes article (from way back in 2001, although their background's not changed a great deal since then) mentions the extensive use of fortifications, which sounds pretty obvious but gives you a brilliant excuse to use at least an Aegis Defence Line; the article goes on to tell us how the Iron Warriors prefer to keep the number of troops defending said fortifications fairly low, so that the main part of the army can advance without being tied down behind loads of gun emplacements. However, that's not to say "buy an Aegis Defence Line but put only five guys behind it". Yes, use a chunky squad to hold those fortifications, but don't get so hung up on them that you ignore the rest of your army, which should ideally be well-equipped to smash your enemies.
  • Allies are useful. I'd consider allied Imperial Guard before anything else with an Iron Warriors army. Maybe it's these guys, rather than a Cultist unit, that comprise the Iron Warriors' "human resources"; we had captured Jouran Dragoons in Storm of Iron serving as slaves and cannon-fodder, literally in this case as the Iron Warriors used them to get a better measure of the Imperial citadel's defences. Or maybe they're just straight-up Traitor Guard. In either case, Blob Guard platoons would be more appropriate than Veterans, and I'd also avoid Commissars as the Iron Warriors won't exactly care much if they die or run away. I'd also be inclined to make full use of Conscripts and Penal Legionnaires. Behind the meat-shield screen, I'd consider putting Heavy Weapon Teams down behind cover, and using your allied Heavy Support slot for things like a Basilisk or Colossus battery. If you want Daemon allies instead, that's fine -- Iron Warriors are Chaos, after all -- and equally, you don't even have to have allies at all if you don't want to.

How Do I Assemble An Iron Warriors Army?
In the same vein as my Night Lords article, itself borrowing heavily from Irisado's discussion on the Word Bearers, I'm going to suggest options for a "traditional" Iron Warriors army and a "non-traditional/warband". Unlike with the Night Lords, however, I'm not going to centre either style around a "core" and branch out, as Iron Warriors are a surprisingly adaptable army with a lot of valid options. This is also why I'm merging the "non-traditional" middle ground with the "warband", as although Iron Warriors look inflexible at first, their archetype is sufficiently versatile that the "traditional" approach can still justify having almost anything in it.

The traditional approach to Iron Warriors will centre around a Lord (or indeed Warsmith), or a Warpsmith-with-a-P, and a couple of squads of Chaos Space Marines. It's your call how to arm these guys; plasma gun and heavy weapon will work best as a static unit to sit behind cover or fortifications, whereas two special weapons would suit a more mobile squad down to the ground. From there, consider buying an Aegis Defence Line (and why wouldn't you?), and looking at Heavy Support choices as every Warsmith should. As far as other units go, Terminators are pretty cool, as they're nails and can do a bit of everything, but Dreadnoughts Helbrutes can also be kitted out for siege warfare quite easily; on the other end of the scale, the less-than-obvious choice of a Sorcerer as a second HQ could be there as a psychic coordinator, or the Warsmith/Warpsmith-with-a-P's advisor, and a Daemon Prince (who admittedly has to break away from Iron Warriors Are Unaligned) can very easily be a former Warsmith who has ascended to immortality but still leads mortal armies. There aren't really any hard and fast rules here as long as you remember the basic ideas behind the Iron Warriors. If you think a unit could perform well in a siege, then by all means put it in -- again, remember that sieges aren't just about smashing walls.

A non-traditional army and a warband are more likely to have broken away from the general principles of the Iron Warriors Legion, but will still generally adhere to what makes Iron Warriors tick. I'd be much more open to using marked units (don't overdo it, though) to represent their different specialisms, or unorthodox technological upgrades -- the Mark of Nurgle, for example, could represent some extensive and exceptionally sturdy bionic augmentation, though make sure that's represented properly rather than just having "Iron Warriors of Nurgle". Units with an Invulnerable save could similarly have the Mark of Tzeentch, indicating advances in personal shielding (or, if you've got a Sigil of Corruption, it could be a way to sneak in a storm shield under the radar!). This sort of army is also more likely to have Possessed, if you're so inclined, as long as you remember to represent them properly as biomechanical chop-jobs rather than gribbly mutated things. If you're aiming more for "warband" than "non-traditional", feel free to add some Cult Troops as well; these could be a smaller group teaming up with the Iron Warriors warband and following their lead. Of the various Cult Troops, I'd say Plague Marines fit the least well, but that's just my personal gut feeling (no pun intended; however, as Plague Marines are fat, mutated and diseased, they just don't strike me as a natural fit with a bunch of Traitor Marines that hate mutation and physical degradation).

Of course, you could take "warbands" to their extreme, and have a Warpsmith and a squad or two of dead 'ard Iron Warrior über-bastards (Chosen?), plus obligatory fortification, as a component in a "gathered warbands" type of army (such as the Warriors of Aggannor, which I mentioned in my Night Lords article as an example of a lot of different warbands fighting under one banner). As far as the Iron Warriors are concerned here, they're the ones holding the line, while those Blood Disciples over there are moving in for the kill.

Conclusion
If you're a prospective Warsmith looking to build an Iron Warriors-themed army, then I hope that this article has given you some ideas for putting your army together. The guidance presented is, of course, meant to be just that -- guidance -- rather than a strict set of rules to be followed, and it's entirely possible that you'll come up with something I've not covered or even considered. In that case, as long as you think it fits the Iron Warriors' theme, then take it and run with it. It's your army, after all.

Happy gaming!


Koval
22/02/13

Rating: ***** by 4 members.

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