Fire and Dice Tournament: Game 1- World Eaters vs Iron Hands

 I recently attended the Fire and Dice tournament in High Wycombe, taking my new World Eaters army to a tournament for the first time. I had been playing them in the gaming club league for a couple of weeks, so wanted to see how they would perform against some different lists. 

This tournament was a tribute to Sid Sidhu, who sadly passed away earlier this year. Sid was a staple of the tournament scene and a lovely person, who was a big supporter of the tournaments that we host at the club. It was really nice to see everyone come together for a great day of gaming and a nice tribute to his memory. 

Beachhead Brawl Tournament Battle Report: Game 6- White Scars vs Iron Hands

The final game of Beachhead Brawl would see my White Scars take on Phil's Iron Hands in ITC mission 6. This game took place pre-Iron Hands nerf, so that would have a big shooting advantage throughout the game. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment

Captain on Bike- Twin Bolter, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Master of Snares, Wrath of the Heavens

Librarian- Jump Pack, Force Stave, Mantle of the Stormseer, Ride the Winds, Storm-wreathed

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols
5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

Impulsor- 2 Storm Bolters, Ironhail Heavy Stubber, Shield Dome
3 Eliminators- Bolt Sniper Rifles, Camo Cloaks
3 Eliminators- Bolt Sniper Rifles, Camo Cloaks

Battalion Detachment

Captain- Jump Pack, Master Crafted Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Chapter Master, Imperium's Sword

Lieutenant- Jump Pack, Power Axe, MC Bolter

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolt Pistol, Combat Knives
3 Inceptors- Assault Bolters
3 Inceptors- Assault Bolters

Battalion Detachment
Chaplain- Jump Pack, Crozius Arcanum, Bolt Pistol, Litany of Hate, Warlord
Phobos Librarian- Force Sword, Camo Cloak, Shrouding, Mind Raid

5 Infiltrators- Marksman Bolt Carbines, Smoke Grenades
5 Infiltrators- Marksman Bolt Carbines, Smoke Grenades
5 Tactical Marines- Bolters, Lascannon

Thunderfire Cannon- Techmarine Gunner with Flamer, Plasma Cutter, 2 Servo-arms

NEO Tournament Battle Report: Game 2- White Scars vs Iron Hands

My second game at the North East Open would see my White Scars take on Steve's Iron Hands. This tournament was using the new FAQ rules for the Iron Hands, so I would be interested in seeing how tough they would be with the new Doctrine rules. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment

Captain on Bike- Twin Bolter, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Master of Snares, Wrath of the Heavens

Librarian- Jump Pack, Force Stave, Mantle of the Stormseer, Ride the Winds, Storm-wreathed

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols
5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

3 Eliminators- Bolt Sniper Rifles, Camo Cloaks
3 Devastator Centurions- Grav-cannons and grav-amps, Hurricane Bolters

Battalion Detachment

Captain- Jump Pack, Master Crafted Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Chapter Master, Imperium's Sword

Lieutenant- Jump Pack, Power Axe, MC Bolter

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolt Pistol, Combat Knives
3 Inceptors- Assault Bolters
3 Inceptors- Assault Bolters

Battalion Detachment
Chaplain- Jump Pack, Crozius Arcanum, Bolt Pistol, Litany of Hate
Khan on Bike- Khan's Spear

5 Infiltrators- Marksman Bolt Carbines, Smoke Grenades
5 Infiltrators- Marksman Bolt Carbines, Smoke Grenades
5 Tactical Marines- Bolters

Thunderfire Cannon- Techmarine Gunner with Flamer, Plasma Cutter, 2 Servo-arms

Video Battle Report- Genestealer Cults vs Iron Hands

A new video battle report sees my Genestealer Cults take on the Iron Hands in a maelstrom of war mission. 

Army Showcase- David's Sons of Medusa

This army showcase features David's Sons of Medusa, an Iron Hands successor chapter. David recently played me in a battle report, and has a great themed force that I wanted to show off.

The army features a number of nice conversions, mixing Space Marine and Ad Mech parts to create a lovely themed and unique force. 

Battle Report 131- 2000 pts Genestealer Cult vs Iron Hands Space Marines

This week's battle report sees my Genestealer Cult army take on Yaro's Iron Hands Space Marines. We would be playing the maelstrom of war mission, Targets of Opportunity. This is the mission where you draw three cards per turn, but must discard all your current cards at the start of your next turn. This means you only have a single turn to try and score your cards. I was looking forward to this mission, as it is the way I tend to play my maelstrom games anyway!

My army consisted of:

Brigade Detachment

Patriarch- Mass Hypnosis (Pt)

Magus- Force Stave, Might from Beyond (M)

Primus- Needle Pistol, Bonesword, Toxic Injector Claw (Pr)

10 Neophyte Hybrids- Mining Laser, Grenade Launcher, Autogun (N1)

10 Neophyte Hybrids- Mining Laser, Autogun (N2)

10 Acolyte Hybrids- 2 Heavy Rock Cutters (A1)

10 Acolyte Hybrids- 2 Heavy Rock Drills (A2)

10 Acolyte Hybrids- 2 Heavy Rock Saws (A3)

5 Acolyte Hybrids (A4)

15 Purestrain Genestealers- Purestrain Talons, Rending Claws (PG)

4 Aberrants- Power Hammers (Ab1)

4 Aberrants- Power Picks (Ab2)

Scout Sentinel- Heavy Flamer (S1)

Scout Sentinel- Heavy Flamer (S2)

Scout Sentinel- Multi-laser (S3)

Goliath Rockgrinder- Heavy Stubber, Clearance Incinerator (GR1)

Goliath Rockgrinder- Heavy Stubber, Clearance Incinerator (GR2)

Cult Leman Russ- Battle Cannon, 3 Heavy Bolters (LR)

12 Command Points

I would like to say that I kept my army the same in order to test its strengths and weaknesses, but in all honesty, I simply didn't have time to make up a new list for the game, so used the same one as my last game with the Cult.
I realised when writing this up that I had played the Rockgrinder as a Goliath Truck without realising! This the problem of proxying models. Apologies to Yaro for the mistake. I really need to get the second one built and painted.

Battle Report 88- 1500 pts Deathwatch vs Iron Hands/Adeptus Custodes

This week's second battle report sees my newly started Deathwatch army take on a mixed force of Iron Hands and Adeptus Custodes, commanded by William, in the Contact Lost maelstrom mission (3 cards each turn). 

My army consisted of:
Combined Arms Detachment

Watch Master- Beacon Angelis (with V2)

5 Veterans- 5 Stalker Pattern Boltguns (V1)

5 Veterans- 4 Frag Cannons, Storm Shield, Auspex (V2)

Drop Pod (DP)

5 Veterans- Infernus Heavy Bolter, Sergeant with Xenophase Blade and Combi-melta (V3)

5 Veterans- Black Shield with Power Sword, 2 Heavy Thunder Hammers, Power Sword, 2 Storm Shields (V4)

5 Bikers- 4 Power Swords, Power Axe, Meltabombs (B)

Corvus Blackstar- Extra Armour, Auspex Array, Blackstar Rocket Launcher (CB)

Vanguard Veteran- Heavy Thunder Hammer (VV1)

Vanguard Veteran- Heavy Thunder Hammer (VV2)

For my warlord trait, I got Lord of Hidden Knowledge, giving my warlord and his unit five re-rolls. 

I started the army with the Watch Master. He is essentially a Chapter Master with an AP2 power weapon that strikes at initiative, pretty handy! I gave him the Beacon Angelis to allow me to quickly re-deploy a unit.
I took a combat tooled-up Veteran squad to accompany him; a Blackshield with a power sword, two Heavy Thunder Hammers, a power weapon and a couple of Storm Shields for defence. I planned to put them in the Corvus Blackstar for assault. 

I then took a Veteran squad with 4 Frag Cannons. Deployed in the drop pod, these should eliminate any threat on the turn they arrive. I could use the Beacon to re-deploy them quickly to support the Watch Master. I also took a unit with Stalker Boltguns for some long range firepower. A final unit with an assault Heavy Bolter and a Sergeant with a Xenophase Blade was also added. 

I took a Bike unit with power weapons, this would give them some good mobility and combat ability. With the points left over, I took two individual Vanguard Veterans with Heavy Thunder Hammers. This would give them good mobility and could hit really hard in combat.

Apologies for the "grey army", I've just got them built and am waiting on some decent weather to get them undercoated. It may be some time.....

Double Trouble Tournament- Game 3: Orks/Daemons vs Dark Eldar/Space Marines

The final battle of the tournament saw my Orks teaming up with Matt and his Daemon army. Our opponents were Luke and his Iron Hands Space Marines and Nathaniel (NafNaf from Objective Secured) and his amazing Dark Eldar Carnival army. Whatever happened in the fight, this was going to be a good looking battle!

My army consisted of (green on the maps):

Warboss- Eavy Armour, Power Claw, Shoota, Bosspole, Stikkbombs (with B1)

Painboy- Urty Syringe, Dok's Tools (with B1)

 25 Ork Boyz- Sluggas, Choppas, inc. Nob with Power Claw and Bosspole (B1)

11 Ork Boyz- Sluggas, Choppas, inc. Nob with Power Claw and Bosspole (B2)

Trukk- Big Shoota (T)

Runtherd and 15 Gretchin (G1)

Runtherd and 11 Gretchin (G2)

3 Warbikers (WB)

Warbuggy- TL Rokkit (W)

Warbuggy- TL Rokkit (W)

 Looted Wagon- Killcannon, Ard Case, Big Shoota (LW)

My warlord trait was conqueror of Cities (Stealth Ruins and Move Through Cover Ruins).

Angels of Death Codex Review- Part 3: Iron Hands

Welcome to part 3 of my review of the Angels of Death codex supplement that was recently released. This part will focus on the new rules and formations for the Iron Hands chapter.

 

I think that Iron Hands are regarded as one of the more competitive chapters in the Space Marine codex (along with my favoured White Scars) thanks to the improved durability of their forces through access to army-wide Feel no Pain (6+) and It Will Not Die. I think the new rules and formations detailed in Angels of Death will help make them an even more competitive choice for marine players.

CHAPTER TACTICS AND RULES

The Chapter Tactics for the Iron Hands are The Flesh is Weak and Machine Empathy.

 

The Flesh is Weak provides infantry with a 6+ feel no pain roll. In addition, if they have access to another source of feel no pain, they get +1 to their roll (so a Narthecium would provide a 4+ feel no pain roll).

 

Machine Empathy gives Iron Hands vehicles It Will Not Die. It also gives Iron Hands techmarines +1 to Blessings of the Omnissiah rules.

 

Angels of Death also gives the Iron Hands a couple of new special rules for army building. March of the Ancients allows Dreadnoughts to be taken in a Heavy Support slot, while Scions of the Forge allows you to take up to 3 techmarines for every HQ choice (who don't use up a slot in the force organisation chart themselves). This allows you to load up on Dreadnoughts and Techmarines if you wish to better utilise the Iron Hands' special rules.

 

I like the bonuses that the Iron Hands get. If it wasn't for the White Scars, I would consider using these as my regular marine army.