I played and enjoyed the original iteration of WarZone, by Heartbreaker hobbiers back in the day, but due to a lack of clarity in their Kickstarter’s pledge manager, I never ended up going all-in as I’d planned on Prodos’ reboot of WarZone resurrection and in fact didn’t get anything at all. I did however, pick up a bunch of WarZone models cheap on clearance with an eye of using them in some form with my Iron Warriors. And of course, if I ever play 1st Edition (or second) WarZone again, I’ve got some pretty sweet models to do so with. Yes, I know people’s first reaction to skull-headed miniature terminator-ripoff models is “Necrons”, but those fuckers have their own range, and, I mean, the Icon of the Iron Warriors is literally an Iron Skull. So it makes sense to me that they would have combat servitors and mechanicals in that image. Which is why I’ve re-finished my 1st edition WarZone Cybertronic lads as Iron Warriors, as well as designated my Legions of Steel Nightmares and Terminator Genesys T-800 models as IW cultists. As well as the Atilla from the same recent range.
I should probably dig out the rest of my half-finished original Cybertronic and finish them as IW cultists as well.
Anyway, like msot of what I finished this month, these three had been sitting around, part-painted for literally years until I selected them from a tub of part-painted models and made myself finish them off. The Iron Warriors iconography is all freehand, and I feel like if I use these guys in 40k it will tie themn to that force pretty well, while also being kinda generic enough in a lot of ways to not make the models look like they’ve been ripped from 40k should I ever want to use them in (an)other game(s). They’re a bit grungier than the Atilla I painted a couple of years ago, and frankly, I think the extra tonality looks better. I may even revisit the Atilla and add a bit of the grunge to it as well, while also keeping some of those large panels clean.
Here they are alongside the Atilla. I started the four of them at the same time and finished the Atilla 2 years ago – and even then the Atilla took a couple of years to paint. Fuck me, I’m slow at this sometimes. I’ve also included an Iron Warrior for scale and for… an army visual cohesion demonstration.
As with everything else painted this month and next, it goes toward my tally for Dave Stone’s Paint What You Got Challenge.
Azazel's Bitz Box. 
I like these a lot mate, there is always room for murder-death bots in any sci-fi setting, and these dudes fit the bill perfectly. Love that big guy too – Atilla you say? I’m going to go check that out
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Thanks Alex! Yeah, there’s still a few of them floating around it seems as well – good luck on snagging one! 🙂
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Really like those- the paint job you gave them works really well at tying them all in with the earlier Iron Warriors.
Cheers,
Pete.
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Thanks Pete! It doesn’t take much for a metal man to be able to fit in witrh them thankfully. 🙂
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Yep, very nice indeed! 🙂
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Thanks very much, John!
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Very nice.
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Cheers, IMP 🙂
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Very nice, Atilla you say? looks more than a little like a certain “ABC Warrior” to me 😉
Cheers Roger.
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You’re not wrong, mate! I’ve read a good amount of Dredd but less so of the other 2000AD properties, but I still recognised it when I first laid eyes on them. You could see it in the original model, too – back in the 90’s but the newer version is even closer.
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Looks great, and very much in keeping with the Iron Warriors. Someday I’d love to see GW do a full range for them, I know that might not be for decades but they’ve got a strong enough visual identity to stand apart from the undivided Chaos Marines. Now I think about it these really illustrate that, they’d look well out of place with any other Chaos faction (although they’d fit in to almost any sci-fi setting) but they’re perfect for keeping Perturabo’s boys company.
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Yeah, my first models I did for that force are a *bit* more like those old Blanche sketches, though with less fur and a bit less generic “chaos warrior”. With the more recent updates and additions to their lore over the last decade or so, I’m much more inclined to “clean them up” when painting them. Got one on the desk right now that is essentially stock loyalist but still looks the part. Now I just need to finish it…
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That is a clever idea to tie those in with Iron Warriors! I wouldn’t have thought to do that (and would have been too hung up on the fact that they look like Necrons). The hazard stripes look great and I like the worn look you gave the metals too. These are a great looking group and I like these sculpts quite a bit. They have a lot of character.
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Thanks Kuribo. At this point, the old Necrons have plenty of models so I’ve been going with Iron Warriors. As we see more and more bronze Necrons forces now it hopefully won’t be so bad, but having the basing and flair in common with the Iron Warriors will hopefully be enough to work when (if!) I ever get them to the tabletop. 🙂
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Excellent work on the robots, can easily see these fitting in with Iron Warriors, but could easily be used in many other games as well. Fantastic freehand symbols as well
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Thanks Dave – luckily their flair is both distinctive enough for the IW if used in a 40k context, but also generic enough to work in different games and settings.
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Those stripes look epic!
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Thanks Jenn! 🙂
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These are so cool!
I didn’t think “new” Warzone models look that good!
Might give them a try if I ever see spare machinator staggering around 😉
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Thank you, DM. Yeah, the models are in fact really nice across the board as far as I’ve seen. Just a shame that there were so many issues around the game, production and fulfilment. I was just lucky to get a few of them for cheap when I did.
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These are lovely, and using them alongside Iron Warriors is a great idea. They work well and fit the theme wonderfully.
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Thank you, Mikko! I should probably paint some more actual Iron Warriors sometime. In fact, typing this I’ve just remembered another abandoned/forgotten IW sub-project….
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These are nice models and they look great with the hazard stripes.
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Thanks Subedai. They are indeed very nice, and the resin used was a pleasant one to work with as well.
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You always nail metallic dudes of all types, these are no exception. And I know you have the wherewithal to use them as you want, so I respect that too. The hazard stripes are so well done and look effective on the models. Just a question – and I do like the stripes – but why would they actually have them? Anyways, we’ll done and very cool to look at.
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Thanks Mark! The hazard stripes are part of the heraldry for the Iron Warriors, who are/were a 30k legion with an emphasis on siege warfare, building and “removing” fortifications – so lore-wise it would have started with them potentially being OH&S-minded since their decline and fall to chaos has (d)evolved into “rule of cool” (which, let’s face it – is the actual reason they have them at all!)
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Thanks as otherwise I would have continued to be stumped.
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Superb!
Regards, Chris.
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Warzone games are actually becoming the new thing and it’s exciting to see what each one will bring to the table!
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