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I've been away from the game for 2 years but I'm making a return and need some advice on my SM list:

Chapter tactics Iron Hands

HQ

Chapter master 260pts
Artificer armour, bike, digital weapons, the shield eternal, thunder hammer

Captain 170pts
Artificer armour, bike, power fist, storm shield

Command squad 320pts
Apothecary, bikes, 3 power fists, 1 lightning claw, 4 meltaguns, 4 storm shields

TROOPS

Bike squad 140pts
4 guys and veteran sergeant. 2 flamers, power weapon

Bike squad 140pts
4 guys and veteran sergeant, 2 flamers, power weapon

Tactical squad 290pts
10 men. Veteran sergeant with power fist and combi-melta. Lascannon, meltagun, razorback with TL assault cannon

Tactical squad 275pts
10 men. Veteran sergeant with power fist. Lascannon, flamer, razorback with TL assault cannon

Scout squad 84pts
5 men. Camo cloaks, 4 snipers, missile launcher.

HEAVY SUPPORT

Devastator squad 170pts
5 men. 4 Flakk missiles

You could probably do with a unit that can reliably deal with fliers.

As a mainly Bike army, White Scars have better Chapter tactics for that style of play then Iron Hands, imo. You may want to look into Khan as a HQ choice too, if you go that route.

As for the Tac squads, Power Fists are almost a waste. Your characters will get challenged out and either killed before they get to swing, or you refuse and they don't get to swing anyway. If you want a power weapon on them, your better off with a Sword/Maul and Melta Bombs. Though even then, anyone likely to challenge them will probably beat them anyway.

Personally, I prefer a Combi-Weapon and melta bomb on my Sarges.

I would drop the captain and command biker squad and take another 10 man bike squad for the Chapter master to ride around in. With the option to combat squad, your getting more Objective Secured units in the process. And whatever bikers that are with the CM are just ablative wounds to get him where you need him to be, so you don't need anything super fancy like a command squad.

A 5 man scout squad can be nice for holding objectives in your own deployment. However, there are so many cover ignoring weapons in the game these days, I feel like the Camo Cloak upgrade is a inefficient use of points.

As above, too much bling.
Put more boots (or wheels) on the ground

I would consider dropping the razors and add another dev squad

I would add either add more vehicles (which in 7th are now pretty good, and I just personally love predators) so you benefit more from IH chapter tactics, or split the army up and use the ch master and two tacticals with razors in the allied detachment, and the rest as something more appropriate to the units, like white scars if going for bikes.

Also dump all the extras. If you got rid of all the upgrades (flakk, veteran sarge, power weapons of all varieties) save for maybe a combi melta on the sarges, you could afford a full tac squad, or a las predator, or a devastator squad with las cannons, or a stormtalon, you get the idea. Boys before toys.

The Chapter Master and Captain on bikes are solid. I'd give the Captain a combi-grav though rather than the 10 points for digital weapons on the Chapter Master; might as well, it's another 3 grav shots on a relentless model (the storm shield doesn't replace a weapon like the relic Shield Eternal does). ICs with IWND are a lot of fun!
Side note - you may want to consider using Clan Raukaan for the Gorgon's Chain relic rather than the Shield Eternal. It can be better at times because it increases your FnP and frees up another hand to put a LC in it or something if you want another attack... just a thought.

Bike squads are already good at killing light infantry thanks to the bolters on them and being twin-linked so flamers aren't a great addition. If you want them to be shooty, give them grav guns and a combi-grav on the sgt. However, as stated before, they can also be a way to get your ICs into combat with stuff, so are just ablative wounds... both are viable strategies. I would give the sgt. melta bombs though at least so he can contribute to the fight if up against a MC or vehicle.

The Command Squad is good because it really puts out lots of grav shots... but deathstars aren't as effective right now since you need lots of Objective Secured units all over the place... but don't get me wrong... IC's with IWND and boosted FnP + tons of grav shots coming up the field is epic! Don't bother with storm shields, you have beefy ICs.

As for the Tac Squads, they should be playing cleanup and objective holding, so a simple melta gun + bombs and rhino with dozer blade are often enough. You just want them to harass enemy objective secured units and survive. I'd keep it simple.

I wouldn't bother giving the Scouts a missile launcher; they suck at shooting anyway. Scouts are best used in a land speeder storm to deep strike late game and burn something with a heavy and combi flamer, then get out and reclaim the objective. That costs 110 points to do so and is pretty effective. Plus in 7th edition, you need to be able to move frequently and quickly, so reduces the effectiveness of camping sniper scouts.

Exchange the devastator squad for a TFC and Hunter.

Hope that helps!

Sorry for a nooby question but I haven't followed the game for 2 years after all but why are grav-weapons so good?

Thing is I have this command squad all kitted out from 5th edition and I can't just not use it/scrap it... are meltaguns and power fists really so useless now?

 Drinkgasoline wrote:
Sorry for a nooby question but I haven't followed the game for 2 years after all but why are grav-weapons so good?

Thing is I have this command squad all kitted out from 5th edition and I can't just not use it/scrap it... are meltaguns and power fists really so useless now?

Grav-guns are similar to Plasma weaponry without the Gets Hot! rule, and increase in efficiency (easier to wound) against targets with better armour (i.e. Terminator and MC hunting, usually wounding on 2+/3+ with AP 2). Grav-guns on bikes provide the Salvo weapons with maximized shots and range.

Meltaguns and Power Fists are good, but it depends on how they are used... like what was recommended earlier about using White Scars Chapter Tactics to capitalize on the amount of bikes you have vs. Iron Hands and vehicles. But, if you have Iron Hands (painted, collected, etc) and want to play as Iron Hands, you can still play as Iron Hands Chapter Tactics. Your infantry will have FNP, and Razorbacks will be slightly more resilient which can offset the increased cost of TL Assault Cannons.

I think melta guns on the command squad might be nice now with the return of so many large vehicles, the appearance of Titans, and Knights!