Chaos Iron Warriors & Cult

I started this army as a combined Black Legion force with devotees of Khorne, Nurgle, Slaneesh, Tzeentch and Undivided. It very quickly grew to the point that each faction deserved its own webpage, especially once I added matching Lost and the Damned factions. All five factions can of course still combine to make a very large Black Legion force.

I selected the Iron Warrior chapter as my Undivided faction. The Iron Warriors are an iconic Chaos Space Marine chapter in the 40k world with a very interesting machinery theme. Unlike the wilder factions I gave them a very regimental look to match their background story.

Iron Warrior Retinues: The core of the faction force are two retinues including extra bases for all optional character upgrades (lord, sorcerer and champion). Both retinues have a full complement of Havocs and Rhinos for transportation. The Iron Warriors are the least visibly warped of the chaos warbands so most of the equipment is similar to their imperial counterparts. The paint scheme is Boltgun Metal, black detailing, yellow safety strips and a Devlan Mud wash over everything. The Rhinos are custom design from the talented online modeller “Nik”. They are colour-coded red and purple for the two retinues, with a gold top door chaos star for the Rhino of the character and black stars for the Havocs.

Iron Warrior Retinue Upgrades: Three Dreadnoughts and four Obliterator bases can be added to the retinues for some extra punch. The Dreadnoughts are old plastic models with some minor modifications. The Obliterators are converted from old plastic and metal Robot models with assorted other parts.

Iron Warrior Scouts: Two Forlorn Hope units with Rhinos provide a bit of scouting power. I used imperial scout marine models to emphasis the regimental theme. Mobile support comes from a bike retinue based on first generation space marine bikes.

Iron Warrior Tanks: The Iron Warriors field their own heavy support element in the form of eight Predators. I already had Land Raiders in the Khorne and Nurgle faction and Predators seemed like a better fit for the Iron Warrior theme anyhow. The models are converted from imperial Predators of different eras and a few plastic Rhinos with spare sponsons.

Iron Warrior Heavy Support: Two mighty Decimators, six Defilers and a Death Wheel provide the Iron Warriors with a lot of firepower. The Decimators are based on imperial super heavy tanks and the Defiler are “Otterware” (home-made casts from a hobbyist going by the online alias of “Otter”). The Death Wheel is scratch build based on the common formula of using two 4mm round bases with 40k imperial tank tracks.

Iron Cult: The Iron Cult is formed from the pathetic servant creatures of the Iron Warriors. They roam the vast Iron Warrior forge worlds, collect scrap metal and serve as labour pool as needed. In game terms they are my Lost and the Damned Undivided faction. Like the Black Legion Iron Warriors, I themed the Lost and the Damned Undivided list around machinery. The Iron Cult is just a bit rustier than the polished machines of the Iron Warriors. The core of the Iron Cult are three Cultist Covens with full fire support each. The models are DRM Ketzali and the paint scheme is inspired by the Starwars Jawa’s who have similar rust scavenger look. I colour-coded their staff icons in the same colours used for the Iron Warrior retinues (red, purple. green). The leaders came from a special Ketzali bodyguard pack. The fire support upgrades are more Ketzali models with old Ork guns painted up to look like rusted piles of junk.

The Altar of the Iron Cult is an old Squat Land Train Engine with some adornments.

Iron Cult Artillery: Unlike their Iron Warrior masters, the Iron Cult has to make due with the scrap metal found during campaigns. Their heavy equipment is therefore a mix of Imperial Guard gear of different ages, all rusted, derelict and patched together. The artillery element consist of two Basilisk units. The first is a fairly conventional mix of Imperial Guard Basiliks. The second is converted by mounting guns from the Ork Great Gargant onto old Basilisk chassis and adding some plastic card. The artillery element can be protected by two Hydra anti-aircraft vehicles which were kitbashed from old Rhino bodies, wheels from Ork Shock Attack Guns (cut in half) and the odd guns I found in my bitz box.

Iron Cult Tanks: The Cult can mobilize a single element of Leman Russ tanks and a support group of three Demolishers. The tanks are a mix of all areas and the odd “field repair” with parts from my bitz box.

Iron Warrior Air Force: The Iron Warriors have a strong air element with two Hell Talon Fighter-Bomber and six Hell Blade Interceptors. The air element also includes four Dreadclaw Drop Pods as a means of air-deploying some of the Iron Warrior retinues.

Iron Objective: The themed objective for the Iron Cult is a burned out tank, properly rusted.

The other objectives for are “generic” chaos objectives shared by the five contingents. The Chaos Portal is made from Hirst Art stones and a bit of multi-layer optical film that reflects light at different colours depending on viewing angle (across the rainbow spectrum).