Iron Father Conversion

By a good margin, this is the most audacious, and slightly ridiculous conversion that I have attempted in a long while! But somehow, it has come together to create something very unique and fitting with the vision that I wanted, whilst having something of an over-the-top aura suited to a slightly older school warhammer vibe. 

There are two major parts to this Iron Father conversion. The first is the left arm to give the Iron Father a Paragon Weapon in the form of a chaos warrior spear. This comes from the old school mounted chaos warriors set. Here, I have used a chaos space marine left arm and pierced it with a pin right through. The pin goes a good way into both ends of the paragon weapon or spear and gives it a long length. It looks suitably deadly, but hopefully the praetor will ditch the graviton pistol and hold it in two hands when wielding it. 

The second item to tackle was a servo arm. But I didn't really want a "usual" arm for this. I wanted something to suggest that this Iron Father has plundered technologies that he probably should have. Maybe he opened those vaults once Ferrus Manus had gone. Regardless, I've used necron parts for the servo arm. Although it is clearly sourced from a ranged weapon, the front flange of the weapon is odd looking enough that it can be interpreted as a grabber of some kind which suits the arm configuration. This also gives the suggestion of plundering those long forbidden vaults as well, with a slight nod toward the Dornian Heresy storyline as well. Illegal technology indeed!

The overall miniature is certainly the craziest that I've done in a long while. And it gave me a giggle on an otherwise dull and vexing day to pull this off. Hope you like it and feel inspired!

Unboxing: Iron Hands Praetor

I picked up the new Iron Hands praetor recently as I wanted to use it as the basis for a conversion for an Iron Father. A bit ambitious maybe, but I have a radical plan! Regardless of that plan, here are the parts fresh out of the clam pack

In essence, the praetor is a simple construction composed of legs and body supplied distinctly (which I approve of!) a choice of heads (one will be used elsewhere), and the cape with three tendrils coming off the backpack area. 

The hard parts of assembling this miniature are undoubtedly the the tendrils! It is best to put down the one that attaches to the notch in the cape first, and then layer the one that slots into it next. Wisdom in hindsight is a specialty of mine it appears, so I hope readers gain something from my mistakes! I will have to use a hair dryer to help correct this later I feel. 

Horus Heresy 3e: Rhino

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5/5 stars, rounded up. More expensive in third edition than previously, but still effective. 

Background.

It is your quintessential armoured transport. In numbers they are great. Easy to maintain and easy to repair. And very much available in all your friendly STC shops today! 

Strengths. 

You have here a carrying capacity of 12. That is the main function of this vehicle. This is a full squad of ten, plus a commander, and maybe someone like an apothecary. This is about ideal. 

Oh, you will want a havoc launcher too (but I'm biased about havoc launchers, I freely admit). 

Weaknesses. 

AV=10 on the rear remains a key concern for rhinos. But. They do have auto repair on a 4+ which is very nice. Don't forget the smokescreen as well. I bet I cannot be the only player to systematically forget the existence of this one. 

Builds. 

Rhino, Havoc Launcher (65 points).

My personal favourite set up. Can't like - I love the havoc launcher. One ping from this every turn is solid enough. A fleet of rhinos with this very cheap upgrade is more than annoying to any enemy. And you get stun as well. There's nothing not to like about havoc launchers! So good!

Rhino, Dozer Blade, Search Light (70 points).

You will need the odd search light here and there in a mechanised army, and on a rhino or two is excellent. The dozer blade is also situational, but once in a while it'll really pay off. 

Rhino, Pintle Combi-Melta, Hunter-Killer Missile (80 points).

A rhino to add to your anti-vehicle complement. Getting expensive here. Shoot the missile on turn 1 and hopefully you have more than just this one elsewhere in your army to finish the job?

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Damocles Command Rhino

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

2.5/5 stars, rounded up. Its okay, but pricey and vulnerable. 

Background.

Advanced comms contained in a rhino to allow your on board commander to watch the flow of battle and better react to it. 

Strengths. 

Stat line wise, this is a rhino with a transport capacity of a measly 6. 

It does get auto-repair and some pintle bolt guns that can be upgraded. 

What shines here is the Command Vox Relay and the Mobile Command Vehicle upgrades. The former let's you manipulate reserves by +1. On a successful intelligence test, you can also apply Line (1) or Vanguard (1) to your faction on the battlefield. This is cool when played well. The latter meanwhile lets you take that intelligence test using anyone on board. Which is why you will want a smart person on board. 

Weaknesses. 

Fundamentally, it is an expensive rhino with (presumably) an expensive HQ choice inside for the intelligence tests. They will therefore either be stuck hiding in cover or on top of an objective all of the game to get the bonuses throughout, or late game charging up the field in a last moment charge for their on board men. It takes some finesse and guts to play this vehicle but it isn't impossible in third edition. Its just the fact that early game, this rhino will be a target and unlikely to survive long if your opponent knows what it can do. 

Builds. 

Damocles Command Rhino, Havoc Launcher, Search Lights (130 points).

The havoc launcher has always been a staple of my lists that run rhinos. It is cheap enough to take, and long range enough to be a mild annoyance and threat. The Search Light is more optional, but can help you sometimes at the expense of being a big bright light itself. You should probably take the search light on a very basic rhino to be honest, so you should see this as optional here. But don't skimp on the havoc launchers - take one on every rhino and you can thank me later. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Morlock Terminator Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars, rounded up. Special Request review for the Iron Hands from the Legacies.  

Background.

Even Ferrus Manus had his personal guards. These were terminator armoured men from the Avernii Clan and had responsibility to guard him in his Anvilarium and on the battlefield. They failed. However, those that were stationed elsewhere or miraculously survived Isstvan went a little bit mad on the vengeance - even more so than the rest of the Iron Hands. 

Strengths. 

If you know you will be fighting against the Emperor's Children without Ferrus on the table, then these men all gain Hatred of the Emperor's Children thanks to the Fate of the Gorgon special rule. This makes them really shine, but otherwise is highly situational. 

They have T=5, W=2, and WS=5 along with a leadership of 10 from the sergeant which is really nice. They are strictly better in the advanced characteristics department compared to ordinary Cataphractii terminator retinues to be honest. Eternal Warrior (1) is very nice to have overall and this is fundamentally why they cost slightly more than comparable squads. They are probably just worth the extra points in my opinion, but for smaller points value games where you are worried about squeezing every point of value then ordinary Cataphractii might have an edge. 

There are plenty of different builds available for the Morlocks as well. We will explore a sample of them below. 

Weaknesses. 

No real models available but you will want cataphractii terminators as the base and undertake kit bashing therein. That said, I've also seen some Indomitus terminators designated as Morlocks and they look very cool as well. 

They are, as you might imagine, slow and purposeful, and therefore you ideally want a transport solution for these terminators as well. They can also only ever be used for Loyalist Iron Hands. I suppose that is not a surprise to anyone!

Builds. 

5 Morlock Terminators, 4 Graviton Guns, Augmentor with Graviton Shredder, Nuncio-Voc, Legion Standard (350points).

Already expensive, but I do like the graviton load out version of the squad who can take care of their own conditions and make it into combat as well. Take some chain fists to taste or upgrade to artificer power axes for free all round if you want. 

5 Morlock Terminators, 4 Volkite Chargers, Augmentor with Volkite Culverin, Nuncio-Vox, Legion Standard (305points).

The volkite heavy version of the above squad. Cheaper as well, but potentially less deadly at range?

5 Morlock Terminators, 3 Chain Fists, 2 Artificer Power Axes, Nuncio-Vox, Legion Standard (325 points).

Focus here is more on the close combat rather than the shooting. I actually prefer the graviton squad with a couple of chain fists if you have the points cost available, but it is getting very expensive if you do that. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Iron Circle Maniple

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars, rounded up. Superb body guards for Perturabo after he found his sons wanting. 

Background.

Perturabo found that his Iron Warriors bodyguard was, shall we say, lacking after the Battle of Phall. Released from his oath to the Emperor, he designed and released his own automata to replace those body guards. A product of his genuine genius applied to war, these machines became known as the Iron Circle and would see use as body guards and front line troops accompanying the Primarch and other Praetors of the legion into battle. 

Strengths. 

The stat line is interesting with a base of T=7 and W=4. Although their save is 2+/5++, they will suffer at the hands of lots of high strength ranged attacks coming their way eventually. So make the most of them whilst they last.

They are armed with twin shrapnel cannons which are great (don't forget the pinning aspect here - it works so well), graviton crushers (very strong and shock and armour bane are just icing on the cake), and the Karceri battle shield which halves the damage of incoming unsaved wounds. Then there is the Shield of the Iron Tyrant special rule which prevents their charge from suffering precision hits at range. This is very nice indeed. 

Weaknesses. 

Only Paragons or Command sub types can be accompanied by these robots, but you didn't expect anything less. They are really strong in conjunction with Perturabo and you need to simply choose your targets and move up to tackle them. The only problem really is with challenges since they won't be taking part. Unless you make Perturabo a coward which given his strong close combat finesse is not something you really want to do. They can handle themselves in a fair fight though. 

Builds.

The only real build option here is how many Iron Circle automata you want to include in a unit. You can have up to 6 of them in a single maniple. One is probably going to be very nice on its own, if only for ablative wounds and also ideal for small points value games to provide a decent challenge to an opponent. Two or sometimes three is about right for most other situations and you do get a points cost discount for additional ones over the first which makes my argument for 2 or 3 being the correct value stronger - at least in my opinion. 

More than that is overkill, or you are playing a large points value game (and if you are in a large points value game, just take 6 to accompany Perturabo and be done with it - if money is no object to your hobby!).