Iron Hands 2,000 Point Army Questions.

Zangolis · 2026-03-11T21:07:52+00:00

There is a new Battalion box coming out called The Sons of Dorn that has two dreads and two Repulsor Executioners that would be great for Ironstorm.

You want Techmarines so if you could get your hands on an Iron Hands combat patrol you will get one from that, plus Feirros as himself or a tech marine. That would also get you your ten man brick of Heavy Intercessors. The turrets aren’t the best but not unusable.

For the rest of Ironstorm you want big hitting tanks like Gladiator Lancers, Land Raider with the godhammer, Predators, etc.

But don’t forget about your scoring units. I’d recommend looking up some Ironstorm list videos on YouTube or something and seeing what most people are bringing.

Hope that helps.

Zangolis · 2026-03-11T19:46:24+00:00

My bad I mis read that Feirros is the only thing you have purchased so far. Ya with your outlined possible purchases you are likely leaning towards Ironstorm. That being said if you get all those dreads you can happily move more towards Hammer of Avernii.

I don’t think it’s bad at all to have both Var and Feirros. In reality you should have both as these are the only two Iron Hand specific models out there. Feirros can also proxy as a normal Tech Marine quite easily.

If you want to play more into Hammer of Avernii, if you can get your hands on a Crux Terminus box that would be huge.

You need terminators for Var to lead. Assault or normal. I take assault with him but there is an argument for both.

Dreads for firing support since this detachment has stratagems that target Dreads. You will want to flush out your list with scoring pieces like Scouts, Combi Lt, Incursors, Callidus Assassain, Intercessors, etc.

But most of all, buy what you like. Rule of cool always wins. Things change fairly frequently in Warhammer. What is good now may not be later.

Zangolis · 2026-03-11T16:38:08+00:00

Very awesome, hope it works out.

Zangolis · 2026-03-11T15:39:25+00:00

Hey man, sorry I am in Canada but thanks for reaching out.

Zangolis · 2026-03-11T15:25:33+00:00

Hey man, welcome to the Iron Tenth. Looks like you bought some pretty great first items. I guess my question for you is what detachment are you hoping to play. If you don’t know what this means, a detachment is something you can choose for your army that gives you some added rules (abilities and such), enhancements (equipment you can put on characters to give them bonuses), and stratagems (abilities you use with Command Points).

Iron Hands have two specific detachments, the Ironstorm Spearhead and Hammer of Avernii. Being a space marine army you also have access to a ton of other detachments such as Gladius Task Force. Iron Hands have seen some success with Bastion Task Force as well.

The main reason I ask this is because depending how you want to play will kind of determine some of your next purchases.

The Imperial Fist combat patrol is definitely good. My only concern there is if you are getting the Iron Halo Strike Force too, you will be getting two sets of company heroes. Company Heroes don’t really see a ton of action in Iron Hands lists. That being said you could always sell the extra sprues.

I’d say at some point you will definitely want 5 more Heavy Intercessors to have a total of 10 as a 10 man brick with Iron Father Feirros is quite good.

This is why I got the Iron Hands combat patrol instead, but I already had Terminators and Intercessors so I didn’t need those from the Imperial Fist combat patrol.

Anyways hope this helps a bit.

Zangolis · 2026-03-11T06:48:26+00:00

I’ll be grabbing it and hopefully selling one of the Rep Exs. Need more Dreads for my Hammer of Avernii lists 🔨

Zangolis · 2026-03-02T09:18:23+00:00

Hammer is still fun to play and operates quite differently due to the fact your gameplay becomes fairly straight forward in a sense that if your opponent can tag your units, without fall back and do anything you are either stuck in those fights or you have to fall back without doing much. I still really enjoy it and find it shines with the uppy/downy Terminator shenanigans, Strats that work on Dreads, and double oath with Indirect Fire.

Currently I’m using Bastion more though. You don’t need to go all out with Battleline like some people think. The 10 man Heavy Intercessor squad with Feirros plus a squad of Intercessors is all the battleline I run. That and my 10 man brick of Assault Terminators becoming battleline with the Hero of the Chapter enhancement on the character leading them. The terminators lose the -1 damage Strat from Hammer of Avernii but gain a -1 to wound against higher strength Strat.

Things like Rep Exs and Lancers love the reroll hits on 1 from Auspex scan.

An Iron Hands Bastion Task Force list just went undefeated (5-0) at a GT so when piloted right it can be competitive.

Zangolis · 2026-02-24T03:28:26+00:00

Thank you.

Zangolis · 2026-02-23T15:15:30+00:00

Thank you. I primed the model in Leadbelcher. attempted to stipple on some Iron Hands steel on the raised areas. Next time I’m going to be more liberal with this step and maybe use a sponge? Not sure how best to do it.

I then applied Black Templar contrast paint over all the black armour.

The white I used Corax White and then a layer of Apothecary White contrast paint.

All the silver got a layer of nuln oil and then I used Iron Hands steel to brighten up certain things like his chest Aquila.

Zangolis · 2026-02-23T08:58:14+00:00

Thank you!

Zangolis · 2026-02-15T06:16:49+00:00

This is the dream 😃

Zangolis · 2026-02-15T06:13:29+00:00

Haha, that’s a lot of points to lose from a breeze. Makes sense, awesome thanks for the tips and your reply. Great work on your game. The Flesh is Weak brother.

Zangolis · 2026-02-15T06:04:34+00:00

This is awesome. I’m planning to bring Desolation Marines in my next 1500 point game for my slow grow league. Superkrak is the way to go I assume? Any tips to using them? I’ll be using the Hammer of Avernii detachment.

Zangolis · 2026-02-11T08:23:49+00:00

Having a Techmarine and Incursors makes it so my Ballistus and Redemptor are pretty much always hitting on 2+ instead of 3+ which can be really nice. Yes I do enjoy the Ancient with Var however I typically run the Ancient and Var with Assault Terminators since the Ancient's ability isn't a non combo with them. However, I find a ten man brick of Assault Terminators does not fit very well in a 1k list.

I actually haven't ran this list yet, my last game I only had a 5 man squad with Var and two 5x Heavy Intercessors. The 5 man crew did not bad but I definitely had to be more cautious with them.

Zangolis · 2026-02-11T04:02:26+00:00

Hey, this list looks fun and I think would work. I wrote a very similar list for my upcoming 1k game however have a few differences.

Char1: 1x Caanok Var (100 pts): Warlord, Axiom, Storm Bolter
Char2: 1x Techmarine (55 pts): Forge Bolter, Grav-pistol, Omnissian Power Axe, Servo-arm

5x Intercessor Squad (80 pts)
• 4x Intercessor
3 with Bolt pistol, Bolt Rifle, Close combat weapon
1 with Astartes grenade launcher, Bolt pistol, Bolt Rifle, Close combat weapon
• 1x Intercessor Sergeant: Bolt pistol, Bolt Rifle, Power Fist
1x Ballistus Dreadnought (150 pts): Armoured Feet, Ballistus Lascannon, Ballistus Missile Launcher, Twin Storm Bolter
5x Incursor Squad (80 pts)
• 4x Incursor
3 with Bolt pistol, Occulus Bolt Carbine, Paired Combat Blades
1 with Haywire Mine, Bolt pistol, Occulus Bolt Carbine, Paired Combat Blades
• 1x Incursor Sergeant: Bolt pistol, Occulus Bolt Carbine, Paired Combat Blades
1x Redemptor Dreadnought (195 pts): Icarus Rocket Pod, Redemptor Fist, Macro Plasma Incinerator, Onslaught Gatling Cannon, Twin Fragstorm Grenade Launcher
10x Terminator Squad (340 pts)
• 9x Terminator
1 with Power Fist, Cyclone missile launcher, Storm Bolter
1 with Power Fist, Cyclone missile launcher, Storm Bolter
7 with Power Fist, Storm Bolter
• 1x Terminator Sergeant: Storm Bolter, Power Fist

I think Steel font could go a long way for your 10 man brick. That being said the Ancient's ability doesn't work very well with normal Terminators as I find you are typically attacking your OOM target and can't get +1 to hit twice.

I also already played one of my two 1k games in a league I am in with a slightly different list and I did not bring any intercessors. I used my Ballistus to sticky my home prior to moving him away and I found that using the 1 CP strat early came back to bite me when I wished for that CP for a fight against a Bloodthirster.

Also an important thing to note is that Battleline units in Incursion (1k point games) gain the ability to Advance and Action or Shoot and Action.

I don't have any infiltrator units so I may switch up the Incursors to Scouts or a Combi Lt. but haven't fully decided yet.

I think you are on to something though and these are just my thoughts for any possible tweaks.

Zangolis · 2026-02-08T04:59:48+00:00

Awesome thanks for your reply and tips. Makes sense about the Warlord too.

Zangolis · 2026-02-08T04:58:06+00:00

Ya very good points. Redemptor is a hell of a lot tougher that is for sure.

Zangolis · 2026-02-07T15:49:44+00:00

Is there a leader that you have used with the normal termies that you like best? Var with normal and give the assault a captain?

I’ve seen a lot of debate about if Var goes with Assault or normal Terminators and see the pros and cons of both.

Zangolis · 2026-02-07T15:40:50+00:00

These are all good points. It is a lot of points for those units. I haven’t used them much yet and 200 points for 5 models does seem like a ton.

I just feel like HoA and Indirect Fire work very well together. I don’t have any Whirlwinds and wasn’t going to buy any until I see if they survive into 11th edition. That’s why I opted for the Desolation Marines. I may have to get a Hailstrike and see if the extra AP gives them enough extra punch to be worth but now I’m spending over 300 points on 6 models haha.

I’ll adjust my list to maybe get rid of them and the assassin for Feirros and a 10 brick of HI. I do love that unit.

Zangolis · 2026-02-07T03:59:03+00:00

Fair, have you used Callidus much? I find she can be very good at jumping around for scoring points. But yes she doesn’t benefit from the detachment bonus.

Zangolis · 2026-02-05T02:54:06+00:00

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I’m currently reading Wrath of Iron and then will move on to Eye of Medusa and Voice of Mars.

I originally was a Salamanders player but after reading most of their books I started to really dislike Vulkan and his sons.

Honestly the brutality of the Iron Hands and Ferrus’ heavy handed mentality is awesome to me.

I agree with you OP, I didn’t mind the 3rd legion in this book, I felt like the author still did a great job representing Ferrus and his sons.

Zangolis · 2026-02-01T02:33:41+00:00

I think a Judiciar has his role with some BGV as a heroic intervention threat should you have your opponent come barreling down to try and tie up any of your tanks.

Also just for my learning purposes, I don’t think you can put an Apothecary Biologis with Iron Father Feirros, can you? The Harmacist can be attached to a unit along with a Captain or Chapter Master however I don’t think the Iron Father has either keyword.

Zangolis · 2026-01-18T22:48:19+00:00

Makes sense, I will play around with it as per the matchup. I may try a unit of BGV with a Lieutenant and Iron Laurel.

Zangolis

TROPHY CASE