Painted Iron Hands Breacher Sergeant

The breacher sergeant follows my established method for Iron Hands painting. Explicitly: under coated in black (spray can) followed by base coating in Eshin Grey. This is followed by washed of Nuln Oil and diluted black to give it a used and matte black colour whilst retaining some highlights. The silvers are done in lead belcher with Nuln Oil shading and dry brushed silver accents. 

What I think sets this painting scheme apart from many others is the white shield. I have seen Iron Hands (and indeed Raven Guard and Dark Angels) struggle to select accent colours well. Reds, Blues, Dark abyssal hues, and others beyond have all been used. But I always seem to come back to white as being a reasonable accent for generally black armour. There was another reason for this though: the decals. A good portion of the Iron Hands decals are black. And that doesn't show on a black background of course! Hence white is a favoured accent colour here by a long way. I think this has worked very well overall. I will shortly get the rest of the squad completed. 

Building Breacher Squad Marines, and What To Do With Part 52

I recently bought the Breacher Squad boxed set, including the marines and the upgrade frame. I really like the look of these squads, even though they are probably more suited to the close confines of Zone Mortalis, I still feel that they have a good role to play in regular Horus Heresy games. The invulnerable save gives them and edge to stay on objectives and also to advance under otherwise horrendous fire. 

For this particular squad, I am aiming to build them up as Iron Hands. The first miniature, and squad sergeant is pictured below. 

Here I have done a simple head swap from the Praetor character to make him look a lot more like an Iron Hands character. The shoulder pad is also a Forge World resin upgrade. And yes: I know it should probably be on the other side, but the shield made it too bulky to fit, so too bad. He is armed with a power fist which is (presumably temporarily switched off) gripping a melta bomb ready to be attached to some enemy armour. 

The Breacher marines themselves are very easy to work with and I am impressed by their quality. They come with a lot of left over pieces as well. But the parts labelled 52 puzzled me a lot at first, as shown in the second image.

These parts are not mentioned in the slightest in the instruction booklet. It took me a little while to puzzle this one out. They are arm guards, or bracers. Effectively these can be used on other armour marks to make them more convincingly look like Breacher Squad members. I think I might use them anyway as conversion pieces on other armour marks to help pick out squad sergeants or marines who otherwise have artificer armour or similar. They are not much use with the marines supplied in the box since they already have these parts moulded on to them naturally. Hence I think this is mostly for Mark 4, 5, or 6 to take advantage of in my opinion. Puzzle solved!

Which Faction Is Easiest To Play In Horus Heresy?

Which Horus Heresy faction is the easiest to play?

It is a seemingly innocent question, but goes deeply into how the game plays and how players can learn the game. It is also the question that Gaming Gitz recently posed to me! A few conversations, and we have a new collaboration video out:

My answer here, for the sake of spoilers, is Iron Hands. 

But you are going to have to click on the video link to hear why (assuming that you can suffer my dulcet tones!). Enjoy!

Building Ferrus Manus

One of my latest projects was Ferrus Manus; Primarch of the 10th Legion: the Iron Hands. Made by Forge World a considerable time ago, this is a primarch that has a number of the hallmarks of previous primarch builds in the sense of:

(a) instructions that are no longer available;

(b) when you find the instructions, they only help a little bit, and some parts amount to "put it all together!".

I have used two pins here. The first is in the rock on Ferrus Manus' left (forward) foot -- or rather the rock that it is attached to. I have pinned the rock horizontally to the other rocks after a lot of slicing away of excess resin to make it fit. It was quite fiddly, and I still might apply some green stuff before painting. The other pin, unsurprisingly, is in the haft of the hammer and into his hands to provide stability. The hammer joint is much to flimsy otherwise in my opinion. 

Other pain points included the back pack wherein I was not quite sure what slotted where and how it would hang on his back, but I got there eventually with a lot of dry fitting. And those pturges. Exceptionally fiddlesome and tough to know where and how to slot a number of them (under the shoulder pads, and some on the waist as well. 

There is also a rock that I have left off at the front so that I can model or at least make the diorama between Fulgrim and Ferrus (their bases literally join by intent to make a duel pose and diroama possible). 

All in all, slightly better to assemble than Fulgrim, perhaps on par with Angron, but not really near the modern primarch models that Forge World have released. 

Iron Hands Tartaros Siege Squad Completed

Adding to the Iron Hands forces, a freshly completed squad of Tartaros terminators in a siege squad configuration!

Each terminator is armed with a reaper auto cannon and a chain fist (with the squad sergeant having the reaper from the chaos range with the others holding standard Tartaros reapers). This makes the squad pretty expensive in terms of sheer points value (I probably should have just used power axes to be honest), but it looks very good overall regardless. And it means that the squad can potentially have multiple roles whilst also looking like a real siege squad in my head cannon (why take power axes when you can have chain fists for a siege?). 

As with the first test model, I have replicated the red colouring on the left hand chain fist to make the models "pop" a little more on the battlefield. All legions have peculiar markings, so why should the Iron Hands be any different? Decals / transfers have been applied on to the chain fists, shoulder pads, and lower leg armour to give them a uniformity of appearance. Although the basing is simple, it does offset the matt black colour of the Iron Hands enough to make them readable at a distance without too much effort. 

Squad complete!

Iron Hands Terminator with Autocannon Conversion

In building up my Iron Hands from something of a Shattered Legions element to something a bit more viable on its own, I decided to go down the terminator route and incorporate some heavy shooting and hitting Tartaros armoured men. This is the first of a siege squad. 

The auto cannon here is borrowed from chaos space marines as can be seen by the spiked chain that is under hanging the main barrels. Some conversion work was required to get this to fit, but the connection is all but invisible underneath the relevant shoulder pad. 

For painting, this follows my standard Iron Hands formulation of a matte black colour achieved with Eshin Grey. For accents, I have opted to go for a contrasting red on the chain fist and leather between the legs. Although almost any colour could likely work for Iron Hands in this regard, the red draws the eye nicely without over-whelming the miniature. Silver accents and highlights coupled with select decal transfers rounds off the miniature and gives the final vibe of a squad leader who is ready to cause some havoc. 

Praetor Challenge: Iron Hands vs Iron Warriors

Praetors assemble! This week's challenge is one of iron: Iron Hands against Iron Warriors to be specific. They are fighting over an ancient world for mineral resources to advance their way across the galaxy. There is nothing left other than mutual annihilation to be had here though. This turn will likely decide the winner of the game. The Iron Hands are to play and the Iron Warriors have 1 reaction in hand. The Iron Hands need 2 unit kills for the game. Here is how the board looks:

[And yes - those are computer fans mounted upon some styrene - a great bit of scenery in case any one wants to copy the concept!]

Left to Right:

Iron Warriors:
1 Rhino. All hull points intact.
Tactical Support Squad: 5x Plasma Guns. 
3x Siege Tyrants (1 with 1wound remaining, the others at full strength). 
1 Contemptor dreadnought with las cannon and gravis fist. 3 Wounds remaining. 

Iron Hands:
Medusan Immortals x10. 2x Flamers. 
1 Praetor embedded in the Immortals Squad (could be detached). Thunder hammer. No wounds taken. 
5x Heavy support squad (auto cannons). 

The Iron Hands have already moved and are entering the shooting phase. 
What move gives them the best option to delete 2 Iron Warriors units from the board without losing a unit themselves? (If they lose a unit, then they will need to remove 3 Iron Warriors Units for the win instead!). 

This might seem like an obvious solution, but I'm actually not so sure the more that I look at it. 

Praetor Challenge: Iron Warriors vs Shattered Legions

Happy New Year!

A new feature for Warpstone Flux this year is the Praetor Challenge! This will largely supersede the Wargames Gallery (but I will keep the tag going all the same). The core idea of the Praetor Challenges is to suggest what you would do in a given tactical situation on (a segment of) the game board. Sounds simple enough right? But you would not believe the disagreements that arise. Not merely from pure mathematics or statistics, but also from fluff (what would Angron do, after all?), duty, honour, or anything else combined. There's no right answer to Praetor Challenges, but there might be optimal plays, and most fluffy plays, and those are the kinds of comments we'd like to see and talk about!

So here is the first of 2026's Praetor Challenges: Iron Warriors facing off against the Shattered Legions!

Iron Warriors:

Tactical squad x7 (Sergeant with Power fist and plasma pistol, bayonets all round, 1 vexilla)
Iron Havocs x3 (all with Lascannons);
Cataphractii Terminators x4 (2 with chain fists and combi bolters, 1 with heavy flamer and power fist, 1 with thunder hammer and combi bolter);

Praetor in Cataphractii Armour (Thunder hammer and combi bolter - unwounded). 

Shattered Legions:
Mor Deythan x3 (2 melta guns, 1 combi melta - spent already);

Salamanders Praetor in Cataphractii Armour (2 wounds remaining; thunder hammer and combi melta - spent);

Salamanders contemptor (twin meltas - 3 wounds remaining);
Salamanders tactical squad x4 (sergeant with power fist; standard marines otherwise);

Iron Hands Heavy Support Squad x3 (Auto cannons x3). 

The Iron Warriors have finished their movement phase. What should they do next for shooting and charging / close combat? The Shattered Legions have 2 reactions in hand. Critically, the tactical squad is already sat on an objective (the necron scenery). What is the right play? The optimal play? The fluffy play? Or just a mad play?

Over to you in the comments, Praetors!

Wargames Gallery: Lord of the Red Sands

Uh oh. It isn't looking good for the Iron Hands. 

Angron and some of his World Eaters terminator escort have reached the shield wall of the Iron Hands and are ready to charge in.

I have three perspectives of this: one from each side, and top down.

Want to know the outcome?

Spoilers ahead.

Angron and the World Eaters won. By a large margin. 

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 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: Medusan Immortals Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars. Rounded up. They are now troops and much less pressed for space compared to second edition. 

Background.

Failures. Whether in the eyes of the Primarch, or due to the fickle whims of battlefield fate, and perhaps grievous wounds too great such that they need massive cybernetic rebuilds, these marines were cast into the Immortals Squad to earn some token of redemption. Pretty bleak stuff and just underscores the dark fury contained within this legion. And people wonder why I think the Iron Hands should have been traitors. They just suffer so much abuse. 

Strengths. 

Feel no pain due to cybernetic rebuilds as standard is solid here, and this is added to Expendable (2) in third edition to make them all the better. 

There is some customization available now that the Legacies have been released as well.

Of extra note is Cool=10 which is, of course, fluffy and fully justified. 

Weaknesses. 

They are fundamentally an upgraded breacher squad. You might not need these upgrades, but so what. The models have the rule of cool (quite literally!). Excellent for Zone Mortalis style missions, and excellent objective holders to say the least. 

Builds.

10 Immortals, 2 Flamers (180 points)

My favoured build for third edition, even though I played it in second. Panic your opponent. And highly useful for Zone Mortalis as well. Take a melee weapon on the sergeant to taste. 

10 Immortals, 2 Graviton Shredders, Thunder Hammer on sergeant (215 points).

Use with a land raider?

10 Immortals, 10 Volkite Chargers, Thunder Hammer on sergeant (205 points)

Lovely martian death rays. Handy for charging out of a vehicle with. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Gorgon Terminator Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. Great terminators that flash brightly if you shoot them!

Background.

Ferrus Manus was busy at work prototyping some awesome stuff before his untimely demise. This included the Gorgon terminator armour set which converts kinetic and electromagnetic energy hitting them into bright flash of lights to dissipate. Unfortunately, it also required the users to be permanently bonded to the armour. This was not a problem though for the Iron Hands because they were already pretty grim dark and down with cyber enhancements. 

Strengths. 

Feel no pain as base reflects in a fluffy manner the sheer bionics and replacements needed to wear this armour. Vanguard (3) is very nice indeed. 

If they have suffered a volley during the combat phase then they will flash with their unique ability if they pass a saving throw. This inflicts Suppressed on a failed cool test which is fair.

The stat line is reasonable with 3 attacks base, T=5, and a good willpower oddly. Thanks to the legacies release, they also have their full range of options back (seriously, this should have been in the liber in the first place). 

Weaknesses. 

The points cost can rapidly build up if you let it. The squad is worth their points overall though. 

Builds.

6 Gorgon Terminators, 2 Graviton Shredders, 2 Chain Fists, Vexilla (295 points). 
Your baseline all comers entry - nice for transport killing and getting to their contents as well! Notably cheaper than 2nd edition as well in points cost.  

9 Gorgon Terminators, 3 Reaper Autocannons, Vexilla (395 points).

Ranged work. Exactly the same points cost as second.

5 Gorgon Terminators, 3 pairs of Lightning Claws, 1 Heavy Flamer, Vexilla (245 points).

Short range, but oddly more expensive than second edition. 

5 Gorgon Terminators, 4 Combi-Plasma, 1 Plasma Blaster, Vexilla (260 points).
Plasma-cide squad. Possibly a distraction carnifex to be honest. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Iron Father

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. A solid high command choice, but a pure praetor can be better depending on your army list and favoured play style. 

Background.

Unlike the artisans of the Salamanders, the Iron Fathers of the Iron Hands cared little about aesthetics and more - much more - about brutal efficiency. Off the battlefield, they are also used by the clans of the Iron Hands to settle any internal disputes and are thus considered outside the usual structure as a vital advisor. 

Strengths. 

You gain a few things over a regular praetor. This includes battlesmith which is very nice, a servo arm, augury scanner and cortex controller. Feel no pain is also nice.

Arguably the core reason to take them is for the Lord of Automata special rule. For this, you gain one extra slot in the force organisation chart that must be filled with Castellax battle automata maniple. This is very nice and fitting. 

Legacies update: a power armour version can be taken instead of the baseline terminator option. 

Weaknesses. 

They cost differently to a praetor, and generally the cost is worthwhile. It just depends on whether this is your play style or not. 

Builds.

1 Iron Father, Terminator Armour, Thunder Hammer (185 points). 

A straight forward set up. Take the cyber familiar to taste. 

1 Iron Father, Power Armour, Paragon Blade, Combi-Grav (175 points).

Expensive, but sound overall. Graviton Pistol might be better (upgrade to plasma pistol). Again, take the cyber familiar to taste. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Shadrak Meduson

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3/5 stars. The rules are average and a regular praetor may serve you better?

Background.

The master of the shattered legions returns to third edition with his regular panoply of war. Whole books in the Heresy series have been written about him (or maybe the Alpha Legion impersonating him).

Meduson made his escape from Isstvan and re-forced the remnants of the Iron Hands, Raven Guard and Salamanders into a new fighting force. They became guerrillas, deploying behind enemy lines and fighting as a flexible force that took advantage of each of their legion's strengths. All the while hunted by Tybalt Marr and the Emperor's Children. 

Strengths. 

The 24 inch bolt gun, Storm's Wrath, comes with breaching in third edition and FP=3. Meanwhile the Albian Power Gladius is at S+1 and AP3 which is nice, but likely you will be fighting against 2+ armour saves which you need to keep in mind. 

Battlesmith is nice to have, as is the servo-arm that Meduson comes with as standard. 

Weaknesses. 

Although he is high command and has the status of a praetor, his stat line is strictly worse than that of a praetor. Explicitly in WS and A. Keep this in mind for challenges. 

Overall.

I hope that the Shattered Legions rules for third edition will make Meduson more attractive. As he currently stands, he is strictly worse than a regular praetor, costs probably slightly more than you would hope, and is mid-range - able to do shooting and melee reasonably, but truly excelling at neither (slightly better on the ranged shots to be fair). You're taking him for the additional reaction point from Master of the Legion, the shooting, and presumably what will be re-forged Shattered Legion rules. Otherwise take a different Praetor level character such as an Iron Father or a genuine Praetor. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Ferrus Manus

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars. The first Primarch review in third edition is an excellent one. 

Background.

The Gorgon. The Great Iron Father. And also the first Primarch to be betrayed and perish at his brother's hands during the opening phases of the Horus Heresy. Ferrus Manus is a tragic figure, yet he is also a stern and uncompromising leader of the Great Crusade and Primarch to the Iron Tenth; The Iron Hands. To me, it remains a surprise that the Iron Hands stayed loyal to the Emperor. They were so close to Horus that many in the legion displayed the Eye of Horus on their armour. They also had a surprisingly close relationship with the Emperor's Children. The man himself is noted as a craftsman whose equal might only be found in Vulkan. And of course, he had a highly unusual physiology himself with those silvery hands and eyes. He prized physical strength above all things and despised weakness. The kind of excess that caused a fall from glory for his brothers.

Strengths. 

I want to firstly note Forge Breaker. This is a AP=2, D=3 war hammer that slams opponents around with an additional critical hit on 5+. Although his lower initiative when using it might prove a problem in challenges, the native +3 on strength is simply amazing. This weapon alone will win you challenges. 

His individual gambit in challenges will set his toughness to 8 for the following strike step. This is an almost must-do gambit and potentially in the first round as well. 

The medusan carapace give access to a bunch of ranged weapons that cover pinning, shock, and panic which makes Ferrus Manus an excellent inflictor of conditions. 

As Sire of the Iron Hands, he can grant prime slots to breachers and tactical squads if they fill up the primary detachment. But more importantly, all infantry in the first turn gain feel no pain to allow them to better take an even greater beating at the start of the game which when combined with their S-1 effects to incoming firepower makes them amazingly stable. 

Weaknesses. 

As a primarch, Ferrus Manus has no real weaknesses. With the ability to go to T=8 in one challenge round, and T=7 otherwise, he is a beast. Battlesmith is just the icing on the cake. 

Overall.

An excellent character and army wide boost. Excellent in challenges as well. Ferrus Manus is truthfully a combat beast. It is a good question as to whether he regularly wins against his beloved brother, Fulgrim, in challenges. Fulgrim has the initiative on him though and lots of attacks. Yet he will be hard pressed to damage Ferrus Manus with his T=8 gambit and lack of critical hits on his own blade. In return, Ferrus Manus will hurt Fulgrim for sure. Its a knife edge challenge that may come down to gambits employed and who gets the charge. Difficult to predict but arguably Ferrus Manus has the edge in S and T most of the time and should win statistically in my personal opinion. 

His points cost is also in the high bracket for Primarchs. This is well justified give his army-wide boosts and his potential in combat. He really is up there in terms of the sheer damage that primarchs can dish out. Overall then, a very, very worthwhile Primarch to take. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Iron Hands Legion Rules

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars. The Iron Hands return to third edition as strong as ever. 

Background.

As always with a new edition, the first legion that I always focus on are the Iron Hands. The simple reason is that this is the legion that I benchmark all others against. And more than this, they are one of the toughest legions out there in the previous editions, able to weather onslaughts of firepower thanks to their special rules. 

Armoury. 

The third edition contains some old staples, and some new entries. 

Armatus Necrotechnika returns with the ability to self-repair Iron Hands vehicles at 5+, but can also gobble up the remains of any casualties to boost this. Very handy, if a bit grim. 

Artificer Power Axe is an interesting one representing Medusan technology. Shred and Breaching are a good bonus for this weapon.

Graviton Pistols are nice and affordable upgrade for command and champion characters to have. 

Legacies update: Graviton shredders and guns now also appear in the special weapons chart, and Gorgon terminator armour can be selected by pretty much all command and high command choices. 

The Iron Clad adds an extra dreadnought who becomes a champion sub type if you fill a Prime Slot of a command role. This is nice as it thematically represents those Iron Hands who just wanted to keep on fighting. 

Tactica. 

The Iron Hands keep the -1 to wound of incoming firepower from previous editions via The Gorgon's Scales. This is, of course, their core strength and why facing off against them is so difficult in the early turns at range.

Gambit.  
Double the normal bonus for the focus roll from Outside Support thanks to Legion of One - the Iron Hands became very self-sufficient after Isstvan. Meanwhile, their opponents can only gain +2 as the maximum from Outside support. 

Additional Detachments. 
The Spearhead Phalanx is an excellent auxiliary option bringing in three slots (albeit that the heavy transport has to be a land raider or spartan - no problem with that - in addition to the tanks and terminators). 
The Medusan Vanguard meanwhile is an apex detachment that brings terminators, a dreadnought, and more at the price of the command slot here being a Praevian. No problem at all with that and very fluffy.

Advanced Reaction. 
Spite of the Gorgon allows you to fire back at full BS at a unit charging them. The cost is Overload (1) and no reactive volley. This is very reasonable, but obviously the overload is an issue. 

Overall then, an excellent and solid suite of rules that encourages shooting and survival of the incoming shots. The gambit is reasonable without being outstanding, and the armoury is sound as well. A worthy benchmark for other legions to be measured against indeed. 

Wargames Gallery: Caught in the Open

Somewhere on the sands of the Isstvan system, the World Eaters hunt down the dredges of the Iron Hands survivors and catch them out in the open. 

Will their reaction and over-watch be enough before contact is made on the charge?

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Shadrak Meduson

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. A great Praetor level character for the Iron Hands or Shattered Legions. 

Background.

Witnessing the devastation of the Betrayal from orbit, Meduson made his escape and re-forced the remnants of the Iron Hands, Raven Guard and Salamanders into a new fighting force. They became guerrillas, deploying behind enemy lines and fighting as a flexible force that took advantage of each of their legion's strengths. 

Strengths. 

The warlord trait here is really strong when you pull it off at the right moment. In short, once per game you can give your Iron Hands or Shattered Legions army Furious Charge and Hatred of traitors. All you have to basically do is line up 2 or more charges and it is probably going to be worth it. The extra movement reaction is a bonus.

As well as being able to flip-flop between Iron Hands and Shattered Legions rules, he comes with a rending bolt gun and a power sword from the days of the Storm Walkers that has S+1 and breaching (at a base of AP=3) which can be deadly. 

Weaknesses. 

WS=5 is okay, but not great. But more fundamentally, who would play a Shattered Legions army under the current rules? Great as an Iron Hands character otherwise! 

Overall.

A great character, but I'm still crying about the Shattered Legions rules in second edition. Play him as an Iron Hands master of the legion and he'll do well enough for the points cost that you are paying.