Solution:
On a clean install of Windows 2012 R2
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/office/en-US/37cc20db-6cc7-45e0-928c-9a1ddbdab2ae/the-tool-was-unable-to-install-application-server-role-web-server-iis-role?forum=sharepointadmin
I copied and then renamed, this also fixed my issue. "rename the file C:\windows\System32\ServerManager.exe with ServerManagerCMD.exe"
Comments: ** Comment from web user: brianlala **
On a clean install of Windows 2012 R2
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/office/en-US/37cc20db-6cc7-45e0-928c-9a1ddbdab2ae/the-tool-was-unable-to-install-application-server-role-web-server-iis-role?forum=sharepointadmin
I copied and then renamed, this also fixed my issue. "rename the file C:\windows\System32\ServerManager.exe with ServerManagerCMD.exe"
Comments: ** Comment from web user: brianlala **
OK, I'm going to leave this as something affected users can implement themselves - as ostensibly the more permanent fix is to just go with 2013 SP1. Let me know if I've misinterpreted things though.
Brian