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Trying to round out my IW. I want a melee unit that isn't Khorne Berserkers. My initial thoughts were Chosen with power weapons or Terminators. Thoughts?

Mutilators would be a fluffy choice, although I think they might be terrible in terms of rules.

I remember way back when it was common to model Iron Warriors possessed as having excessive amounts of bionics rather than tentacles and whatnot.

You could also do Hellbrutes and Daemon Engines like Maulerfiends and Defilers.

If you're looking for something to use in a highly competitive setting I don't know if there is anything that's all that good other than Berserkers.

I think the Daemon Engine route is a good direction to go for a fluffy oriented Iron Warriors.

I have personally have had great experiences with my Defiler in 8th Edition. He costs 169 points and he is armed with a Reaper Auto Cannon, Combi Bolter, and a Defiler Scourge. He has 7 attacks in melee when he is healthy, all at ludicrously high strength and his accuracy isn't that bad when paired with daemonforge. Overall he is pretty cheap for 14 wounds with a 5++, and depending on his mark of chaos a Sorcerer can buff him to make him even more durable.

Maurlerfiends are also really fast and benefit from having the same 5++ and regeneration the Defiler does. If you have other vehicles in your IW list like Rhinos, having a Defiler and some Mauler Fiends could be a nice way to round out your melee and continue pushing the field with daemon engines.

The only real problem with this is the meta and specifically Imperial Knights have ruined it for everybody, and now most all comers armies are packing loads and loads of anti tank- often enough to reliably sink one or two knights in a turn. In this environment even a Defiler with Delightful Agonies isn't guaranteed to see the next turn. Still he is really cheap for the amount of bullets it can take to bring him down, and every shot he absorbs is a shot not going into more important elements of your list.

I'd love to use a couple of Decimators. The 184 points is pretty steep though. I'll have to test that out since I have them. For some reason I never considered daemon engines lol.

Berserkers are not totally unfluffy, Khorne used to be the only god the Iron Warriors would really dedicate themselves to, though such individuals were seen as lost, disposable and crazy to their comrades, albeit useful.

That said, Daemon engines like Defilers and Maulerfiends would generally fit the bill best.

 Vaktathi wrote:
Berserkers are not totally unfluffy, Khorne used to be the only god the Iron Warriors would really dedicate themselves to, though such individuals were seen as lost, disposable and crazy to their comrades, albeit useful.

IIRC, even in 3rd edition, with all the strict legion rules that stated that cults units were for the vanilla Legion (Black) or for dedicated legions like EC, WE, DG and TS, Iron Warriors could sport a 0-1 Berzerkers choice, useful for the decisive assault during a siege.

I also can totally see reflluffed Berzerkers with fantasy Chaos Warriors bits. One could even go further and use the shields to re-fluff Plague Marines, where the Shield is the T5 + DR.

In Storm of Iron, I believe they detail a squad who has slipped into the worship of Khorne and have the bloodlust descend on them, so it's not an unreasonable choice for your army. I see it as the squad was already a breaching squad, and because they're constantly engaging in hand-to-hand combat, they've fallen under Khornes influence - not that they have sat down one day, had a squad meeting and said "let's worship Khorne".

Maulerfiends are described in the background as being used to attack fortresses and fortifications like trenches, they bound forward and climb the walls, using their magma cutters to slice through bulkheads and the lasher tendrils to climb and slaughter their way through the ranks.

Ditto for a Defiler, I can picture the chains being dropped in the Iron Warriors backline and the Defiler rampaging forward to the enemy. Keep the upgrades minimal and keep it cheap and it's either going to be a Distraction Carnifex for the rest of your army, or it's going to connect and start splitting heads.

Back in 3rd/4th edition, I used to run a unit of Iron Warriors in a Rhino with BP/CCW, two meltaguns and an Aspiring Champion with power fist. The idea was they were the squad that went into the breach when the rest of the army cracked it open. Obviously that's WAY down the list of competitive options, however it does fit the background, so YMMV depending on your local gaming group.

Possessed are pretty bad, but it would look pretty sweet to see a unit converted up with bionics instead of Mutations.

Possessed we're on my radar. I run them occasionally in WE. They're not bad in that function. But probably not great in any other legion.

I'm gonna look into robots a little more. I don't own and of the dinobots, and honestly I don't really want them. I do have 2 Decimators, 2 blood slaughterers, 2 hellbrutes, a Contemptor Dreadnought, defiler already.

40x Cultists with MoK and Brutal Assault Weapon is going to be your most powerful choice and also your fluffiest. If you want something that hits harder, Dreadnoughts of some sort, tho stylistic IW rarely has troubles with that.

Already got a few Daemon Princes?

spawn! they are pretty good in CC and you can literally go wild with conversions.

Some ideas of models to use / convert:
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Dark-Eldar-Grotesque
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Kastelan-Robots-2017
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Kataphron-Battle-Servitors-Breachers-2017
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Necron-Canoptek-Wraiths-2018
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Varanguard-Knights-of-Ruin
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Skaven-Stormfiends
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Ogre-Kingdoms-Ironguts

Defilers are pretty good in a mech list. Preferavly multiple of them.

meleti wrote:
Already got a few Daemon Princes?

I own 3, but only 1 in my list (maybe). I do like the idea of a DP with the Fleshmetal Exoskeleton.

If Fw is no issue, why not get a Decimator.
Probably not the most competitive unit but very customizable.
Melee defiler works good as a distraction carnifex.

Why not consider a melee spearhead with a warpsmith, some defilers and decimators? make them cheap and saturate your enemy in robots.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Multilators were brought up, and they got cheaper in the ca, they suffer however from slow movement.
They are not terrible, but also not great.

Not Online!!! wrote:
If Fw is no issue, why not get a Decimator.
Probably not the most competitive unit but very customizable.
Melee defiler works good as a distraction carnifex.

Why not consider a melee spearhead with a warpsmith, some defilers and decimators? make them cheap and saturate your enemy in robots.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Multilators were brought up, and they got cheaper in the ca, they suffer however from slow movement.
They are not terrible, but also not great.

FW is not an issue. I already have a couple of Decimators. My only issue with the melee version is they are very expensive points wise. For only S9, hellbrutes are cheaper and S12. I guess the trade off is being a daemon engine and 2W flamers.

What's wrong with raptors and/or warp talons?

Firstly they're not very good, also OP seems to be building a fluffy list and raptors/talons don't exactly fit the Iron Warriors aesthetic.

Primortus wrote:
Firstly they're not very good, also OP seems to be building a fluffy list and raptors/talons don't exactly fit the Iron Warriors aesthetic.

I can understand if those two units aren't worth their points but what makes them unfluffy for an IW theme?

The Iron Warriors had jump pack equipped assault troops back in the Great Crusade, even though their reputation was for mud-slogging.

Plus being able to appear inside enemy fortifications seems like the kind of thing Iron Warriors might appreciate, in terms of Warp Talons.

 chimeara wrote:

Not Online!!! wrote:
If Fw is no issue, why not get a Decimator.
Probably not the most competitive unit but very customizable.
Melee defiler works good as a distraction carnifex.

Why not consider a melee spearhead with a warpsmith, some defilers and decimators? make them cheap and saturate your enemy in robots.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Multilators were brought up, and they got cheaper in the ca, they suffer however from slow movement.
They are not terrible, but also not great.

FW is not an issue. I already have a couple of Decimators. My only issue with the melee version is they are very expensive points wise. For only S9, hellbrutes are cheaper and S12. I guess the trade off is being a daemon engine and 2W flamers.

Well you could do the sensual thing and give a distance weapon and a melee weapon?
I run Mine with a butchercannon and a siegeclaw with flamer.
Still get's it's pts back.
Especially after the pricedrop of butchercannons.

Have you thought about flail hellbrutes?

Relic Contemptor Dreads would be your best bet. Their movement doesn't degrade, they're durable-ish, and with a gun you get to still benefit from the Iron Warriors trait. I know I even had mild success with Loyalist Scum versions using a Twin Heavy Bolter and Chainfist, and knowing CSM you'll have more luck on the melee end of things.

 Raichase wrote:
In Storm of Iron

Yes, this is when I added some Khorne Berserkers to my Iron Warriors. Normal color scheme but with a hazard striped pads and sometimes leg sections.



Or could go the other way with it;



Perfectly fluffy IMO.

You could always do normal IW btu with dual\slung melee weapons and use the KB rules.

I also had a unit of Berserkers in my 3rd Ed Iron Warriors army (and a Basilisk )

That's a great paint job but by golly those models are showing their age. I love them!

 Kaiyanwang wrote:

 Vaktathi wrote:
Berserkers are not totally unfluffy, Khorne used to be the only god the Iron Warriors would really dedicate themselves to, though such individuals were seen as lost, disposable and crazy to their comrades, albeit useful.

IIRC, even in 3rd edition, with all the strict legion rules that stated that cults units were for the vanilla Legion (Black) or for dedicated legions like EC, WE, DG and TS, Iron Warriors could sport a 0-1 Berzerkers choice, useful for the decisive assault during a siege.

I also can totally see reflluffed Berzerkers with fantasy Chaos Warriors bits. One could even go further and use the shields to re-fluff Plague Marines, where the Shield is the T5 + DR.

I had the chance to check the actual books. The 0-1 was in the white dwarf article pre-3.5 codex, describing the rules for Chaos Legions. In the subsequent 3.5 codex, cult units are outright forbidden for IW, berserkers included.
My apologies for the confusion.
I still think Berzerkers can lead to fantastic conversions.

 Kaiyanwang wrote:

 Kaiyanwang wrote:

 Vaktathi wrote:
Berserkers are not totally unfluffy, Khorne used to be the only god the Iron Warriors would really dedicate themselves to, though such individuals were seen as lost, disposable and crazy to their comrades, albeit useful.

IIRC, even in 3rd edition, with all the strict legion rules that stated that cults units were for the vanilla Legion (Black) or for dedicated legions like EC, WE, DG and TS, Iron Warriors could sport a 0-1 Berzerkers choice, useful for the decisive assault during a siege.

I also can totally see reflluffed Berzerkers with fantasy Chaos Warriors bits. One could even go further and use the shields to re-fluff Plague Marines, where the Shield is the T5 + DR.

I had the chance to check the actual books. The 0-1 was in the white dwarf article pre-3.5 codex, describing the rules for Chaos Legions. In the subsequent 3.5 codex, cult units are outright forbidden for IW, berserkers included.
My apologies for the confusion.
I still think Berzerkers can lead to fantastic conversions.

On a related topic... does anyone know the # of the White Dwarf that featured Kharn on the front?! Pretty sure it was his introduction to the setting. Had a great short story in there too. Any help?

Iron Warriors legion trait works okay with Raptors. I used to drop 2 plasma, combi-plas on IW Raptors for a while (till i painted them AL instead).

Legion trait wont help any CC units, so pretty much anything you pick can be done better by another Legion.

I do like the Spawn idea. They always seem to do decent in CC with their rend and damage

Double fist Helbrute with heavy flamers or 2 twin bolters could work and benefit from legion traits.

Well even Berserker Marines get mild benefit from their dudes that carry Plasma Pistols.

I am pretty sure that the IW's, in fluff, have zero beserkers. It kinda goes against the whole presentation of the army. It is like trying to shoe horn in plague marines into the 1ksons.

Now as for adding them into a game? Nothing is stopping you from playing them, just have them be mercs (using the iron warriors keywording and chapter trait.),

I think helbrutes, defilers and Mauler Fiends are the order of the day here fluff wise. Mauler Fiend fitting in perfectly.