Quote:
Here, I'll show you what Volrath usually takes and maybe you can identify what's powerful about it. He almost always takes a list like this, and does very well with it -
That's a good list, but by Iron Warriors standards I'd say it's towards the weaker end of the spectrum because it lacks the key piece that makes this army distinct from its chaos peers.
The Ordinatus Medrendard.
I have been genuinely surprised how many IW battle reports feature armies that lack this amazing unit. It's the sort of thing that shapes the game, it forces the opponents to drastically change their deployment and modify their movement and model placement or suffer the consequences. It combines beautifully with teleporting terminators/obliterators or drop pods by making the enemy spread out when under all other circumstances they'd want to castle up behind scout screens.
It provides a powerful hide-able protectable BTS that projects firepower down the battle field, and it's the main thing that makes IW different from the other Chaos marine variants. Here's a power comparison thread from a while back viewtopic.php?f=82&t=26835
I can't imagine playing IW without one, and am amazed to see how many people skip the unit.
Tell Volrath to stop playing like some generic Chaos faction and go get himself a Big Gun.
Another highlight during an otherwise ugly combat was my Iron Children lord critting Dave's T-hawk as it took part in an air assault on his already-broken company. I didn't make any saves so Dave didn't get to roll for combat resolution - ha! That showed you, Dave! 
