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Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





I'm in the middle of reading the Iron Warriors Omnibus. My friend asked me what the appeal of Iron Warriors over other legions is, and I... I can't find one. They don't have a shiny gimmick like the geneflaw chapters or the cyborg Iron Hands. As far as I can tell, their "thing" is siegecraft, which was already taken by Imperial Fists thus the rivalry. (And also, none of the other legions seem to have trouble winning sieges, so are they really that much better at siegecraft?)

The omnibus isn't doing them many favors, making them out to be among the annoyingly childish of the chaos marines out there. And that's honestly pretty impressive.

So what am I missing? What's the appeal? I'm sure there are some die hard Iron Warriors fans out there. What do you see in them? Give me some awesome bits of lore that I can reference in the future instead of all those pessimistic complaints I wrote above.

tldr; Iron Warriors appear to be dumb and lame. Change my mind.


ATTENTION
. Psychic tests are unfluffy. Your longing for AV is understandable but misguided. Your chapter doesn't need a separate codex. Doctrines should go away. Being a "troop" means nothing. This has been a cranky service announcement. You may now resume your regularly scheduled arguing.
 
   
Made in gb
Gore-Drenched Khorne Chaos Lord




It's the stubbornness and self certainty, they know what they do well and they won't borker argument or problems on their way to doing it. Honestly I thought the same upon reading the iron warriors stories in there (although they tied to the ultramarines book series). What did it for me was the siege of terra books, it really pads them out and fleshes the character of the legion nicely.
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka




NE Ohio, USA

It really has nothing to do with any of thier fluff I've read over the years.

For me? Its:
1) the paint scheme. Nice & simple, really stands out on the table with the hazard stripes.
2) I really like the couple of IW specific minis that exist.
3) once upon a time (4th?), when I built my force, they could take a Basilisk & an extra heavy choice.
4) f memory serves, they're just Chaos Marines, not really tied to one of the gods.
   
Made in de
Contagious Dreadnought of Nurgle





I haven't read much fluff about the Iron Warriors outside of Chaos Codizes and The Beast arises, nevertheless they're one of the legions that I'd consider to collect.
Why?
They're these no-gak CSM. They don't need fancy spikes or stupid mutations (they cut these off!), they don't revere Daemons or Chaos the way others do it, in fact they enslave Daemons in their Daemon engines and they use Damons as Cannon fodder.

If you want to do WW1 with Marines, you either go Iron Warriors or Death Guard in 30K, but I'd say in 40K definitely Iron Warriors. Use all the artillery and throw squads Khorne Berzerkers, Daemons or mortal troops into the meat grinder. Thinking about it they might be the most "reasonable" marines on the CSM side in 40K.

Their color scheme is nice and good looking.
   
Made in pl
Regular Dakkanaut




They rose in popularity since very late 3rd edition because they could take additional Heavy Support choice.

Other than above its the colour scheme. Easy and good looking at the same time.

Yeah when you think about it this must be the colour scheme.
   
Made in gb
Preparing the Invasion of Terra






The Iron Warriors are a very easy Legion IMO.
I started 40k with Space Marines and then started CSM in 6th choosing Word Bearers before swapping to the IVth after reading Storm of Iron. All of my Space Marines and CSM went into that army to create a mishmash of armour patterns all tied together in steel and bronze. When I started HH I did a similar thing where I reused large portions of my Emperors Children for my Iron Warriors there.
Being able to slap a coat of Leadbelcher and a wash of Nuln on almost any Space Marine model and call it an Iron Warrior is what I like about the Legion. Ornamentation is a personal choice, looting is encouraged and mixing armour doesn't matter.
I recently fixed up two old Deimos Rhinos that were battered to high heaven but with the Iron Warriors, it doesn't matter. Fixing up old broken gear to be just serviceable is the character of the Legion and I don't have to worry about perfection with my models.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/06/10 12:00:17


 
   
Made in gb
Mad Gyrocopter Pilot





Northumberland

Honestly it was the colourscheme, in quite a garish array of Chaos Marines, the dull metal and the hazard stripes looked awesome. Simples.

Also there was a lot* of good conversions of old imperial armour brought the Iron cause. I seem to remember in 3rd they were most closely associated with the traitor guard.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/06/10 12:57:02


One and a half feet in the hobby


My Painting Log of various minis:
# Olthannon's Oscillating Orchard of Opportunity #

 
   
Made in us
Terrifying Doombull




Honestly, its that the come across more as professional soldiers not maniacs with a bizarre mono-focused obsession.* Which is frankly a rarity among loyalists and traitors alike (though especially loyalists).

Perturabo actually drags them down a bit (at least for me), when he shows up and decimates them for no reason other than to prove his evilness to the readers.

The color scheme is a nice bonus, though.

*or idiots pretending to be stealth and/or terror troops in heavy armor that can't sneak and is perfectly obvious to anyone with horrid cataracts and 80% hearing loss.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2022/06/10 12:56:07


Efficiency is the highest virtue. 
   
Made in us
Been Around the Block




I don't know their lore exactly but from what I've heard it's that they are a pretty cool variation from other CSM.

Chaos is terrible, but a part of the theme of Chaos is freedom. CSM don't have as many strictures or dogmatic structure in their beliefs compared to loyalists. If you got a strong enough will, a glib enough tongue, a powerful enough fist, you can push trough your own views in your warband. While most will fall and die or worse, some will rise in stature trough their own power. There's at least the possibility for greatness.

But not with the Iron Warriors.
With the Iron Warriors you are a piece of fuel. And if you are not spent, but allowed to live, and given resources and men and power that is only because they need to spend you wisely. And it doesn't matter if you are a mortal cultist, chaos space marine, lord, champion or even daemon. You are a piece of the machine, you will obey, you will do what you are supposed to, nothing else about you matters.

Even the slaves of Khorne have a better deal than Iron Warriors. At least their master holds them on a long leash. Khorne cares not what blood they spill, only that they spill it. Iron Warriors would never stand for that.

Also a faction that is less grandiose can be refreshing. Horus or Abaddon or any other chaos champion might kill you, but they will likely hold some great speech about it. If not about you specifically at least about the world their invading. They'll cackle in glee. They'll enjoy their spoils. They'll have some fun with it. Iron Warriors will kill you because you are in the way, bury your corpse because it is in the way, then trample over your unmarked grave because they need to get to their next target.

It's a nice variety from the other factions. Nurgle warbands seem like their polar opposite.

Also their color scheme is lit.
   
Made in us
The Marine Standing Behind Marneus Calgar





Upstate, New York

They have iron without, and iron within. That’s like twice the iron of other marines!

Plus hazard stripes. Mmmmmm.

   
Made in us
Banelord Titan Princeps of Khorne




Noctis Labyrinthus

Iron Warriors are the reasonable Marines of Chaos, being the only Legion that actually still conducts themselves as soldiers.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/06/10 18:07:19


 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






1. They’re an absolute doddle to paint in large numbers, in a short amount of time, with only middling skill at best needed, and not look like I painted a large number in a shot amount of time with only middling skill at best.

That matters!

2. 3.5 Codex. Utter, utter filth.

3. I genuinely have some sympathy with Perturabo. For all his many flaws, he and his Legion were poorly treated during the Crusade. Given the gruelling siege work, and rarely being allowed to finish the job they’d done adeptly and bloodily started.

   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





 Void__Dragon wrote:
Iron Warriors are the reasonable Marines of Chaos, being the only Legion that actually still conducts themselves as soldiers.

How do you feel about the way they're depicted in the Iron Warriors Omnibus stories? Because the squabbling children in there keep making me want to ground someone.


ATTENTION
. Psychic tests are unfluffy. Your longing for AV is understandable but misguided. Your chapter doesn't need a separate codex. Doctrines should go away. Being a "troop" means nothing. This has been a cranky service announcement. You may now resume your regularly scheduled arguing.
 
   
Made in us
Mekboy on Kustom Deth Kopta






Genuinely can say the Iron warriors are one of my favorite chaos legions.

Authors go a little wierd on writing him, but good moments for Perturabo are things like smashing in Fulgrim's face as he tries to sacrifice him for power but still letting him live out of loyalty to Horus.

He truly loved his brother Magnus and had a lot of good moments in there. I honestly think based on the books the Iron warriors would not have gone traitor if the imperium had not given him the worst jobs and even then if Russ had not broken magnus he might not even then have gone there.

As for the iron warriors themselves they build amazing fortresses and their warsmiths make for some great characters (even if some are only interesting as villains' you hope fall). They also tend to do interesting things liek cutting off chaos tainted limbs preferring to stay human which is neat. They just seem like the least chaos of chaos marines more akin to renegades who happen to work with the dark gods

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/06/24 17:57:02


10000 points 7000
6000
5000
5000
2000
 
   
Made in us
Malicious Mutant Scum




They used to be the most popular Legion.
   
Made in us
Ancient Venerable Dark Angels Dreadnought





After reading Storm of iron (is that in the Omnibus), how can you not like them?
   
Made in us
Been Around the Block




Wyldhunt wrote:
I'm in the middle of reading the Iron Warriors Omnibus. My friend asked me what the appeal of Iron Warriors over other legions is, and I... I can't find one. They don't have a shiny gimmick like the geneflaw chapters or the cyborg Iron Hands. As far as I can tell, their "thing" is siegecraft, which was already taken by Imperial Fists thus the rivalry. (And also, none of the other legions seem to have trouble winning sieges, so are they really that much better at siegecraft?)

The omnibus isn't doing them many favors, making them out to be among the annoyingly childish of the chaos marines out there. And that's honestly pretty impressive.

So what am I missing? What's the appeal? I'm sure there are some die hard Iron Warriors fans out there. What do you see in them? Give me some awesome bits of lore that I can reference in the future instead of all those pessimistic complaints I wrote above.

tldr; Iron Warriors appear to be dumb and lame. Change my mind.


They're Thanos if done right.

They know they are, themselves, inevitable. when done correctly. There's a despair and a strength about it, hard an unyielding.

The old Index Astartes Catechism of Iron

From iron cometh strength, from strength cometh will, from will cometh iron.

They win not through their strength, like Iron Hands, or their dedication to duty, like the Fists. They don't endure, they adjust- bring in more guns, push harder, endure, push harder. They win without caring about winning- it's a particular nihilism.

And the paint scheme is good.
   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka







Moorecox wrote:
They used to be the most popular Legion.

Strange how that began to change once Codex: Who Cares About Balance? was replaced, though.

2021-4 Plog - Here we go again... - my fifth attempt at a Dakka PLOG

My Pile of Potential - updates ongoing...

Gamgee on Tau Players wrote:we all kill cats and sell our own families to the devil and eat live puppies.


 Kanluwen wrote:
This is, emphatically, why I will continue suggesting nuking Guard and starting over again. It's a legacy army that needs to be rebooted with a new focal point.

Confirmation of why no-one should listen to Kanluwen when it comes to the IG - he doesn't want the IG, he want's Kan's New Model Army...

tneva82 wrote:
You aren't even trying ty pretend for honest arqument. Open bad faith trolling.
- No reason to keep this here, unless people want to use it for something... 
   
Made in ch
The Dread Evil Lord Varlak





 Dysartes wrote:
Moorecox wrote:
They used to be the most popular Legion.

Strange how that began to change once Codex: Who Cares About Balance? was replaced, though.


You mean replaced with codex " bland and even worse balanced" because lashwhipp Daemonprince 3x3 obliterators was far more toxic imo.

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/766717.page
A Mostly Renegades and Heretics blog.
GW:"Space marines got too many options to balance, therefore we decided to legends HH units."
Players: "why?!? Now we finally got decent plastic kits and you cut them?"
Chaos marines players: "Since when are Daemonengines 30k models and why do i have NO droppods now?"
GW" MONEY.... erm i meant TOO MANY OPTIONS (to resell your army to you again by disalowing former units)! Do you want specific tyranid fighiting Primaris? Even a new sabotage lieutnant!"
Chaos players: Guess i stop playing or go to HH.  
   
Made in nz
Infiltrating Broodlord





R'lyeh

I read Storm of Iron in 2002 or early 2003, and it was my first real insight into CSM, full of you-love-to-hate-em characters.

Having said that, my Chaos army for EoT not much later was Black Legion so while the Iron Warriors left a lasting impression, they aren't my favourite.
   
Made in us
Nasty Nob




Cary, NC

Not only are the Iron Warriors the professional soldiers of Chaos, they are also the 'get gak done' guys. I can't remember which book it was now, but in one, a major, high-ranking IW goes into the trenches, and the guy running the siege hands him an entrenching tool and he fething digs trenches. My favorite parts of the Iron Warriors are the determination to get the job done.

Even in Storm of Iron, things turn bad for them when someone starts working for personal glory or personal ambition. When they keep their heads down and just DO THE WORK, the IW seem unstoppable.

 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut






Springfield, VA

Sounds like people like them because they are the Imperial Guard of Chaos (with cool paint)
   
Made in us
Terrifying Doombull




BrainFireBob wrote:
Wyldhunt wrote:
I'm in the middle of reading the Iron Warriors Omnibus. My friend asked me what the appeal of Iron Warriors over other legions is, and I... I can't find one. They don't have a shiny gimmick like the geneflaw chapters or the cyborg Iron Hands. As far as I can tell, their "thing" is siegecraft, which was already taken by Imperial Fists thus the rivalry. (And also, none of the other legions seem to have trouble winning sieges, so are they really that much better at siegecraft?)

The omnibus isn't doing them many favors, making them out to be among the annoyingly childish of the chaos marines out there. And that's honestly pretty impressive.

So what am I missing? What's the appeal? I'm sure there are some die hard Iron Warriors fans out there. What do you see in them? Give me some awesome bits of lore that I can reference in the future instead of all those pessimistic complaints I wrote above.

tldr; Iron Warriors appear to be dumb and lame. Change my mind.


They're Thanos if done right.

They want to date Death?

Efficiency is the highest virtue. 
   
Made in ch
The Dread Evil Lord Varlak





 Unit1126PLL wrote:
Sounds like people like them because they are the Imperial Guard of Chaos (with cool paint)


they also "have" an equivalent that seems to be equipped like IG and fight like IG as supplementary force (and bullet catchers) for them.

probably also with a good paint scheme.

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/766717.page
A Mostly Renegades and Heretics blog.
GW:"Space marines got too many options to balance, therefore we decided to legends HH units."
Players: "why?!? Now we finally got decent plastic kits and you cut them?"
Chaos marines players: "Since when are Daemonengines 30k models and why do i have NO droppods now?"
GW" MONEY.... erm i meant TOO MANY OPTIONS (to resell your army to you again by disalowing former units)! Do you want specific tyranid fighiting Primaris? Even a new sabotage lieutnant!"
Chaos players: Guess i stop playing or go to HH.  
   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka







 Unit1126PLL wrote:
Sounds like people like them because they are the Imperial Guard of Chaos (with cool paint)

...please don't insult the Imperial Guard like that, Unit.

2021-4 Plog - Here we go again... - my fifth attempt at a Dakka PLOG

My Pile of Potential - updates ongoing...

Gamgee on Tau Players wrote:we all kill cats and sell our own families to the devil and eat live puppies.


 Kanluwen wrote:
This is, emphatically, why I will continue suggesting nuking Guard and starting over again. It's a legacy army that needs to be rebooted with a new focal point.

Confirmation of why no-one should listen to Kanluwen when it comes to the IG - he doesn't want the IG, he want's Kan's New Model Army...

tneva82 wrote:
You aren't even trying ty pretend for honest arqument. Open bad faith trolling.
- No reason to keep this here, unless people want to use it for something... 
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




I kinda liked the IW for a while, but actually respected them, are at least perturabo, for the iron warriors action at the seige of terra during the HH.

Some people are calling them childish, and that might apply to honsou considering that tantrum throwing little xxxx caused a civil war among the IW that devastated their forces. But during the HH perturabo seemed to be the adult in the room when the chaos forces were holding court.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2022/06/24 17:41:31


 
   
Made in us
Depraved Slaanesh Chaos Lord




Inside Yvraine

They're a butt-monkey legion. It's an army filled to the brim with unlikable socially awkward man-babies. They have zero redeemable qualities as people, ranging from completely amoral to cartoonishly evil. They have a really cool method of warfare but they get their asses kicked 99% of the time anyway by the far more good looking, charismatic and morally righteous good guys. They have literally spent thousands of years seething at their good guy counterpart legion for the absolute most petty of reasons and their entire motivation for going traitor was pure pettiness and constant seething and coping.

If you think of the putties from power rangers that's basically the iron warriors in a nutshell. Every story needs a bad guy that's so pathetic they are actually pitiable, and the iron warriors fill that niche to a T (though not as good as the Death Guard). God damn I love them, they genuinely are one of my favorites.

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2022/06/24 17:48:56


 
   
Made in gb
Preparing the Invasion of Terra






I just wanted to drop in a bit of lore that is in the Liber Hereticus book regarding the IW and hazard stripes. It suggests that the Legion adds the hazards as some form of joke, sort of like "lol look how dangerous we are".
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




 Gert wrote:
I just wanted to drop in a bit of lore that is in the Liber Hereticus book regarding the IW and hazard stripes. It suggests that the Legion adds the hazards as some form of joke, sort of like "lol look how dangerous we are".


No, I think the joke is that some people are so stupid they need black and yellow striping to tell them a 7' fully armored man with a huge gun us dangerous...
   
Made in gb
Preparing the Invasion of Terra






Agentdenton wrote:
No, I think the joke is that some people are so stupid they need black and yellow striping to tell them a 7' fully armored man with a huge gun us dangerous...

Wut... my guy that is the joke. Obviously, 7 foot tall super soldiers with micro rocket launchers are dangerous so putting hazard stripes on their gear is silly. That is literally the whole point.
   
 
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