Horus Heresy 3e Review: Iron Warriors Legion Rules

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars. The bad guy poster boys for third edition, and they return with vengeance. 

Background.

Grim. Decimated. Arguably unloved by their gene sire. But also sturdy. Unrelenting. Pragmatic. Masters of machine and siege. Bitter through being used as little more than chattel and garrison troops. They brought their fury to both sides of the war and eventually conducted the most epic siege of the war: that of Terra itself. 

Armoury. 

Plenty of carry over from second edition here!

Graviton Crushers. Exchanged from a thunder hammer for free, there's probably little reason not to take this upgrade on commanders or champions to be honest. The addition of shock is nice and armour bane comes as standard.

Graviton Mace [Legacies]. Officer and Sergeant wargear for a very reasonable amount of points means this is also an almost automatic upgrade in many circumstances.  

The Unfavoured. The ability to make a unit Expendable is actually stronger than it sounds for a prime advantage for a unit. It is also very fitting for the Iron Warriors and surprisingly effective when combined with objective sitting or front line assault. Take your pick!

Shrapnel Weapons [Legacies]. Yes it should be been in the Liber. No, that's all I'm going to say. Any unit in the Iron Warriors can exchange their bolt pistols and bolt guns for shrapnel versions for a small points cost increase. The benefit of this is to cause pinning which cannot be overlooked. A few units upgraded like this are fine to take, but it remains true that sometimes you will want the pure fire rate of the regular versions. The cannon adds shred to this and appears under the Heavy Weapons Options (added on) for the legion, as well as sponsons and pintles where appropriate. Certainly worth considering for a heavy bolter heavy support squad. 

Tactica. 

The Bitter End is fluffy and appropriate and enables the Iron Hands warriors to ignore negative modifiers to Panic, Pinning, Stun, and Suppressive special rules (i.e., Leadership and Cool tests). In third edition this is nearly unrivaled. 

Gambit.  
Spiteful Demise arises since Perturabo instructed his men that death was not an excuse for incompetence. If you lose your last wound, you get to hit back with one S=6 D=2 attack that also has breaching. This is a great way to take your opponent out simultaneously or at least inflict an added bit of damage. Play when you are about to perish yourself. It requires a bit of finesse and timing, but when pulled off can be very impactful!

Additional Detachments. 
The Ironfire Cohort is a reasonable way to add in armour and support slots, at the expense of the armour slots having to be Arquitor Bombard units. I think this probably won't see too much play unless you are a fan of the Bombards?
The Hammer of Olympia is almost a "must" for Iron Warriors running Perturabo (sometimes) or a Warsmith (you will often want to). The added heavy assault and troops are great, but the added Prime slots can swing even harder in your favour here - especially Tyrant Siege Terminators.

Advanced Reaction. 
Bitter Fury can be activated when one of your units is shot at. It gives you an increased rate of fire (+1) at the expense of Overload (+1), and even the models that were killed by the incoming fire still get to shoot back. Powerful and impactful when played at the right time on the right squad. 

Overall, I am really, really liking the Iron Warriors in Third Edition. They are a slogging, non nonsense, shooting army that can also cause severe damage up close and personal when needed. The combinations of Shrapnel, Graviton, Hammer of Olympia, and the Tactica and Gambit are brilliant, but the oh so fluffy Unfavoured has to be a stand out for your strategies here. Choose wisely and time your advantages well, and this army can really perform.