Today, we are talking about Iron Warriors Tactics. So, If you’re interested in starting an Iron Warriors army you will learn everything you need to know below We will talk a little bit about who they are, their play style, and end with a solid 1,000 pt army list with some Iron Warriors tactics.
Who Are the Iron Warriors?
The Iron Warriors are a legion of Space Marines that turned traitor during the Horus Heresy. Furthermore, they are a legion that specializes in siege warfare and grinding down their opponents. In this way they are like a dark mirror to the Imperial fists, excelling at tearing down fortifications as opposed to building them up. As a result, This has put the Iron warriors at odd with the imperial fists, and the two now consider each other mortal enemies.
When waging war the iron warriors are absolutely ruthless and implacable. For example, one of the standard Iron Warriors tactics, when they approach a minefield, is to send out waves of slaves to “find and disarm them”. Life is cheap to an Iron Warrior, and they will often use waves human fodder to find the weaknesses in their opponent’s defenses, only to follow it up with earth-shattering volleys of heavy weapons fire. As such, they also tend to field a ton of heavy weapons, vehicles, and even daemon engines when waging war.
Iron Warriors’ Play Style
This results in the Iron Warriors favoring a very specific play style that contrasts against the other Chaos Space Marine legions. Firstly, their legion trait lets their weapons ignore cover, allowing them to stand their ground in a firefight against opposing armies. At a glance this might not seem all that powerful, however, ignoring cover can be like having an extra -1AP in a lot of situations. Particularly against opponents that gain extra abilities for having cover like Eliminators, and Eldar rangers. Additionally, with the updates, they gained from faith and fury they can now operate like the ranged powerhouse they were always meant to be. So if you like hazard stripes, big guns, vehicles, and Daemon engines then this the army for you!
The List
++ Battalion Detachment +5CP (Chaos – Chaos Space Marines) [62 PL, 999pts, 7CP] ++
+ Configuration +
Battle-forged CP [3CP]
Detachment CP [5CP]
Legion: Iron Warriors
+ Stratagems +
Gifts of Chaos (1 Relic) [-1CP]
+ No Force Org Slot +
Dark Disciples [1 PL, 10pts]
. 2x Dark Disciple: 2x Close combat weapon
+ HQ +
Chaos Lord [5 PL, 81pts]: 5. Siege Master, Combi-bolter, No Chaos Mark, Power axe, Warlord
Dark Apostle [5 PL, 72pts]: Illusory Supplication, Mark of Khorne, Siegebreaker Mace, Wrathful Entreaty
Sorcerer in Terminator Armour [7 PL, 123pts]: Combi-melta, Force stave, Mark of Slaanesh
+ Troops +
Chaos Cultists [3 PL, 40pts]: No Chaos Mark
. 9x Chaos Cultist w/ Autogun: 9x Autogun
. Cultist Champion: Autogun
Chaos Cultists [3 PL, 40pts]: No Chaos Mark
. 9x Chaos Cultist w/ Autogun: 9x Autogun
. Cultist Champion: Autogun
Chaos Cultists [6 PL, 48pts]: No Chaos Mark
. 11x Chaos Cultist w/ Autogun: 11x Autogun
. Cultist Champion: Autogun
+ Heavy Support +
Havocs [7 PL, 150pts]: Mark of Slaanesh
. Aspiring Champion: Boltgun, Chainsword
. 4x Havoc w/ reaper chaincannon: 4x Frag & Krak grenades, 4x Reaper chaincannon
Havocs [7 PL, 150pts]: Mark of Slaanesh
. Aspiring Champion: Boltgun, Chainsword
. 4x Havoc w/ reaper chaincannon: 4x Frag & Krak grenades, 4x Reaper chaincannon
Obliterators [18 PL, 285pts]: Mark of Slaanesh
. 3x Obliterator: 3x Crushing fists, 3x Fleshmetal guns
++ Total: [62 PL, 7CP, 999pts] ++
Iron Warrior Tactics and Army Breakdown.
Today’s army is very straightforward but is nonetheless incredibly strong. In essence, this list is specifically designed to play to some of the iron warriors’ strengths and features plenty of heavy weapons.
First off we have the core of our army, which features a Chaos Lord, Dark Apostle, Cultists, and Havocs. As such, the Cultists have the very important job of screening the rest of the army, and occasionally soaking up gunfire for our havocs. We can use the 2CP stratagem “cannon fodder” to protect one of our havoc squads by forcing our opponent to kill a nearby cultist squad first. Additionally, we will have our Dark Apostle that will use illusory supplication to give our nearby units a 5++ save. This all but doubles our cultist’s durability and gives our havocs a nice invulnerable save to fall back on. However, the army isn’t just about being durable.
Going on the Offensive
So, our offensive power is incredible for a 1,000pt army! For starters we have our havocs wit reaper chaincanons that we can spend 2CP to fire twice, giving us a total of 64 strength 5 ap-1 shots from one squad. Plus, our warlord will allow them to re-roll hits and wounds of a 1, making them even better! As such we will handily rip apart any infantry units we can get in range of our guns. However, we also have a contingent of the army solely dedicated to dealing with our opponent’s durable units, tanks, and assorted heavy hitters.
Which is going to be our squad of 3 obliterators and accompanying terminator sorcerer. Remember, you should always put these units in reserve so you can deep strike them wherever they are needed. The obliterators will come in with 18 shots at strength 6+d3, AP-d3, and damage d3 all rolled when the unit is chosen to shoot.
This makes them a powerful if an inconsistent unit that can sometimes struggle against the very things its meant to counter. Luckily the Iron Warriors can spend 1CP to re-roll any or all of the dice for the characteristics of their weapons, making them much more reliable. Also, we do have the option to spend 2 Cp to fire them twice in case we have to deal with multiple tough units or a Knight.
Last but Certainly not Least
Lastly, we have our Sorcerer in Terminator armor who will be deep striking in to support our obliterators. The two powers we have given him are Prescience and Death Hex. The first one adds a nice +1 to hit rolls for the unit it targets, thus making our obliterators hit on 2’s. Meanwhile, the other power, Death hex, can strip away the invulnerable save of one of our opponent’s units. After all, those big scary guns won’t do a whole lot if our opponent is allowed his 3++ save.
In conclusion
Well, that will wrap up our Iron Warriors Tactics article for today! This Army brings a lot of Dakka to the table and is great in 1,000pt games and I know you will enjoy playing it. Also, why not check out some of our other articles by clicking here and here?
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As always thanks for reading!
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