Space Wolf Iron Priests are the mystical tech marines of the Space Wolves Chapter. They bless the machines, appease the spirits of plasma and flame while converting failed Iron Priest aspirants into servitors and wounded Fenrisian wolves into Cyberwolves.As with all things Space Wolf, technology and the Iron Priests are surrounded by mysticism and myth. Fortunately, fielding an Iron Priest in a Space Wolves army is far more straightforward!
I can see Iron Priest being overlooked in favour of Wolfguard, Dreadnoughts, Wolf Scouts and Lone Wolves, but this doesn't mean that an Iron Priest doesn't have his uses.
An Iron Priest is essentially a Space Wolf with an extra attack in his profile, but he also comes with Runic armour (2+ save), a servo arm, a bolt pistol or bolter, a Thunder Hammer and frag n' krak grenades. He also has the Battle Smith rule that allows him to repair vehicles. So, considering his equipment, he's not bad for the points. But let's have a look at his wargear options.
OPTIONS
0-4 Cyber Wolves - Awesome units for their points!
0-3 Thrall Servitors - Essentially Guardsmen with powerfists
Heavy Bolter for servitor - Maybe...
Multimelta for servitor - Will he be in range or live long enough to use it?
Plasma Cannon for servitor - Too expensive!
Space Marine Bike - Doesn't pair with his Servitors or Cyberwolves very well
Thunderwolf Mount - Oh hell yes!
Wolftooth Necklace - Handy if you have the points
Wolftail Talisman - If you have 5pts going spare
Saga of the Iron Wolf - If riding in a Land Raider
There are only 2 really good builds for an Iron Priest because he is not an Independant Character, therefore he cannot join units.
Iron Priest 1: 155pts
4 Cyberwolves, Thunderwolf Mount
The Iron Priest build that everyone loves! A unit of 5 Toughness 5 models with plenty of attacks. The only downside is if the Iron Priest fails an armour save. He only has 1 wound, so is instantly removed and all his pet Cyberwolves along with him. But if you can't afford Thunderwolf Cavalry in your game, this is a cheaper alternative.
Iron Priest 2: 155pts
Saga of the Iron Wolf, 3 Thrall Servitors, 4 Cyberwolves
Alternatively, you could have the Iron Priest and his minions embark in a Land Raider Crusader or a Redeemer (I favour the Redeemer) and take the fight to the enemy. This unit has 6 Strength 8 power weapon attacks (10 on the charge) and 12 basic Strength 4 attacks, so it can certainly do a lot of damage. The only downside is that you need a Land Raider to deliver them. On the brightside, with 3 Servitors in tow, the Iron Priest should be able to repair his Land Raider with relative ease!
CONCLUSION
Unlike Tech Marines of regular Space Marine Chapters, Iron Priest are not Independant Characters, so they may not join other squads of Space Wolves.
Just as well really, when Iron Priests are clearly very happy by themselves, surrounded by their creations in the Space Wolves background and in the Space Wolves army list.
Servitors aren't so hot, unless you're charging them en masse (out of a Land Raider) with the Iron Priest and Cyberwolves. That way the Cyberwolves strike first, take the brunt of any retaliation, then the Iron Priest and the Servitors clobber the enemy with their servo arms and thunder hammer. Cyberwolves are fantastic for their points though! Simply surround your Iron Priest with 4 Cyberwolves, mount him on a Thunderwolf and away you go.
The Iron Priest is a great choice in either of these roles, but because of his 1 wound, he is a little bit fragile. The same has to be said of his cybernetic servants who only have a 4+ armour save.
You can create some very characterful units, but taking basic Space Wolves packs led by a Wolf Guard is a much safer, more forgiving and generally more flexible option.
Even so, I'd still like to give these units a go at some point!
But I won't be bothering with the Iron Priest joined by 3 Gun-Servitors when Long Fangs are a far more cost effective choice.
12 comments:
December 1, 2009 at 1:26 AM
THe issue is he isn't an independent character, meaning he can't join other units :(. I am hoping they FAQ this, but as is, he can only have guys with him, not let him join a unit to boost its vehicles movement.
December 1, 2009 at 3:06 AM
Okay guys, I had a think about the whole Independent Character thing while I was in the shower.
For ease it's better to say he cannot join units despite the confusion in the Codex, because the only 2 builds worth taking are when he's on his own.
Thanks for your feedback. I've made suitable amendments to the post.
February 9, 2010 at 8:01 AM
Dosen't a thunderwolf give you 1+ wound?
February 9, 2010 at 8:04 AM
+1 Strength, +1 Toughness, +1 Attack. The Thunderwolf Cavalry riders have 2 wounds for some reason. Not complaining though.
March 28, 2010 at 2:30 AM
How does Iron Priest 2 get 10 Strength 8 Power weapon attacks on a charge? I thought the servo arm only gave one attck per assault phase?
March 28, 2010 at 6:03 AM
It's not just the Iron Priest. If you include the combat servitors that's the TOTAL amount of powerfist attacks on the charge.
March 31, 2010 at 6:46 PM
Oh. Haha of course. Not sure why I didn't make that obvious connection. *shakes head.* I will be trying this out once I can get an Iron Priest up and running then =D
May 27, 2010 at 5:08 AM
How do the Cyberwolves fit in the transport? They're beasts.
May 27, 2010 at 5:15 AM
They take up 2 spaces as described in the wargear section.
May 27, 2010 at 7:10 AM
I checked that before posting, but I just did a more thorough search and the rule is on the Fenrisian Wolf page. My bad!
June 20, 2010 at 3:59 PM
Actually Peter has a good point,
the servitors don't get an extra Servo-Arm attack on the charge. The '1 attack' listed in their profile isn't the servo-arm attack, its their standard attack, the servo-arm is an extra attack, (as described p38). When a servitor charges it gets an extra standard attack (it cannot choose to use the servo-arm twice because of the restriction to one attack per servo-arm per assault phase listed on p38 of the space wolves codex).
So a single servitor gets 1 Str 3 attack at Initiative 3, and then their single powerfist-like servo arm attack at Initiative 1.
A charging Servitor gets 2 Str 3 at Ini 3 and a single powerfist-like attack.
So the unit described would have 6 Str 8 power weapon attacks, 12 str 4 and 3 str 3 attacks. On the charge/counter this would be 7 str 8 power weapon, 16 str 4 and 6 str 3.
I would say a land raider is just too expensive to give to a 150 point fragile squad, drop 1 cyberwolf and take a rhino. Unless for some reason he is unable to embark a rhino?
I agree that the 2 set-ups listed are the only ones worth taking, but not that this would make him an awful independant character. As an IC he has Runic Armour and a Thunder Hammer (with 3 attacks basic since the servo-arms profile is so similar to a thunder hammer) for 50 points!
A grey hunter with a power fist has 1 attack basic for 40 points.
And that's not including his repair ability or the other roles he could perfom if given the upgrades.
Obviously they arn't comparable but I'm just trying to show that you get alot for the points. I would love to stick him with my Wolf guard termies to keep that land raider rollin' and a little faster too.
But it is a moot point, since he isn't an IC. I presume the reason he isn't is because of the potential confusion of having him with a full retinue amongst another full squad. The variety of close combat attacks could become ridiculous and just cause confusion/slow the game down too much. They gave him extra retinue choices but removed his IC ability from the more astartes techmarine.
December 1, 2011 at 6:37 AM
Sadly i consider this unit simply not viable. Why field a 155 points 4 wounds unit or weaker thunderwolfves, when you can simply use the real thing for the same price and get 2 extra wounds 3+ save and wound alocation shenanigans?
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