Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hello, I have been told that for my style of play and conversions and what sort of lists I run for my space marines that I should try my hand (excuse the pun) at iron hands. I feel this may be fun as a small aside, but I like to know a lot about armies I collect, yet the only fluff I can find is on the lexicanum, and there isn't an awful lot! Are any of the Horus heresy books on the iron hands or is the something major I am missing, but they are hardly mentioned in C:SM! Any help, links or fluff would be greatly appreciated, as I only know the basics!

There's not really much about them. There's an Index Astartes article from back in the day, but that's about it.

Basically: they're very much a...unique Chapter/Legion. They removed their flesh in favor of augmetics.

Yeah, I'm struggling even to find many names of significant characters, there isn't anything! But as you say, they're very unique and that should give me a lot of opportunities to convert and make stuff up!

Basically: they're organized into Clans. They're led by an 'Iron Father'. They have lots of augmetics and hand-forged weaponry.

So make 'em classy?

Make them shiny...
There is a small notable battle in the SM codex involving them.

Kanluwen wrote:Basically: they're organized into Clans. They're led by an 'Iron Father'. They have lots of augmetics and hand-forged weaponry.

So make 'em classy?

And that they despise "weakness" with a passion. Basically they are a loyal chapter that went nuts and suffers from a severe fixation with being strong of mind and body to the point of gradually replace parts of their bodies with bionic implants over their entire lives. I only wonder why don't they replace all their bodies out once and for all from the very start and stop lashing themselves...

Right, that's a start anyway! Do you know any more about this small notable battle? And tactics and whatnot? Thanks so far guys!

Kanluwen wrote:Basically: they're organized into Clans. They're led by an 'Iron Father'. They have lots of augmetics and hand-forged weaponry.

So make 'em classy?

Cue in some necron, skeleton, or 3rd party bony bits and you're good. the Chapter Leader should be Hal, the 9000th Iron Hand inducted into the host.

They lost most of their Dreadnought and terminator armour in the dropsite massacre. But, even though they don't feild them that often, a fluffy choice would be to take a small amount and say they are elite members of the Ironhands. They also have very close connection to techmarines and Adeptus Mechanicus.

Ah, thank you @Robbyraidar. I didn't know that, and will take that on board!

There is a black library book dedicated to the Chapter called Iron Hands. It does a pretty good job of showing some of the chapter organization as well as the closeness they share with the Adeptes Mechanicus.

Essentially they are divided into Clan Companies, with each clan having their own 'crawler'. The crawlers are pretty much some sort of super heavy tank that each company lives in. Also, from what I understand
they are lead by a Council instead of a Chapter Master. Their Chaplains and Techmarines are blended into 1 position within their chapter, and that is the Iron Father.

As was stated by others, they have almost an obsession with replacing their squishy bits with bionics and mechanical replacements. Although each member upon initiation has their left hand removed and replaced
with a bionic to start.

"in the retaking of the Contqual Subsector, one third of the population was summarily executed after a successful campaign simply to demonstrate the price of weakness."

Yeah, they're pretty hard-core. Take that Grey Knights haterz!

They don't have any apothecaries or techmarines, or chaplain models. They have Iron Fathers fulfilling all of those roles.

"iron gathers" ....... keyboard vs iproxtaco 1:0

The iron father is a chaplain/techmarine combo and had a mechanicus protectiva instead of the rosarius ( still 4+ invul ) and the option to
have servitors and any equipment that was techmarine only when codex SM had wargear for IC's just marked with * or ( techmarine only )
etc. in 3rd ed. Iron Hands also had a HQ dread option ( IA and WD ) of a venerable dread ( 0-1x ).
Actually the MotF list is considered the most likely representation of the IH.
As for known characters, the WD had a clan-commander who was interred into a dread ( Bannus ) and is part of the clan council.
And a Iron father, paullian blantar who was their example of a mostly bionified and venerated Iron hand.
None of those had rules or more than his small entry in WD/IA.

The IH do not follow the codex to the letter. There is no scout company, and all 10 companies are like battlecompanies of codex chapters.
Ferrus Manus provided some of the personal weapons of his brethren ( vulkan, lorgar, ...) and the close ties to the mechanicum and the relics of the dark age on medusa make them tech-friendlier than other chapters.

Curse you keyboard! Tricked again!