Iron Hands may have one of the best Chapter Tactics out there for the meta. With that said, watch out for what these Space Marine Levithans can do now!
GW has been steadily previewing some much-needed Space Marine support in the last few days. And with that, the Iron Hands Chapter Tactic got a massive buff. Get caught up on their new function and see what unit might be the best for your army!
Iron Hands Chapter Tactic
On top of the Doctrines, +1 Attack on the charge, etc. The Iron Hands still have their 6+++ FNP. But now overwatch on a 5+ and any units with a degrading damage table now count their stats as double the number of wounds remaining. That means your Leviathan Dreads should always be hitting on a 2+ right up until they’re about to bite the dust.
Leviathan Dreads: The Good
We just mentioned Leviathans but they really are too good to pass up. Leviathans are T8 14 wounds with a 2+/4++ Sv. They’re chunky, have some mean firepower, and are even better in the Iron Hands Chapter.
Iron Hands lists could be bringing three sets of Stormcannon Array Leviathans for a whopping 60 S7 Ap -2 D2 shots. With each one capable of overwatching on a 5+ on top of 2D6 heavy flamers in overwatch, their Leviathans are going to be extra brutal.
But wait, look at the Devastator Doctrine. If an Iron Hands list runs all of the heavy weapons it can and keeps the Devastator Doctrine active, that means that three Leviathans will be lobbing out 60 AP-3 shots. That will be able to liquify a Knight or any kind of Primarch you might be facing.
Remember you can toggle the doctrine you are on up or down one for 1CP as well with Adaptive Strategy too once per game. Plus with some of the chaplain and HQ aura, chances are you will be hitting and potentially wounded far better than average as well.
Leviathan Dreads: The Bad?
There’s just one sucky part about all of this. Leviathans still have the Relic rule which essentially says that you can’t have more Relic units than Non-Relics. It’s annoying in the sense that players are forced to dump more points into three units that they don’t necessarily need if they want to take three Leviathans. However, at the end of the day, you can always take a bare-bones five-man Devastator Squad for about 70 pts. Maybe some grav devastators in drop pods may not be too bad of an idea after all…
UPDATE: Technically Forge World will have to update all the Imperial Armor:SM units to the benefit from the new Astartes rules. However, there is probably little doubt in most hobbyists minds this will happen. The real question may be “when”.
Would you like to see GW take away the Relic rule from leviathans? What is another Iron Hands unit that you think will be a meta all-star? Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group, and sign up to get your free hobby updates newsletter each morning as well!
About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials: @RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
