Bad reads that you just gave up on...

[Marshal Rohr]

That's really a catch-all problem for most of the Traitor Primarchs. Angron was always the way he is in 40K (until ADB fixed him). Fulgrim was walking around with a hand rag covering his junk, being overly sexual, and being an imperious jerk. Perturabo was always paranoid. Etc, as nauseum.

 

It would've been nice for the Primarchs to actually fall from grace, instead of never having had it to begin with.

[Iron Father Ferrum]

Sooo. . . I finished Damnation of Pythos about a week ago, and I had to wait a bit before posting about it because it definitely makes this list (why are the Iron Hands so :cuss ing hard to write about?!?).

 

 

 

Some parts were pretty good.  Atticus was an awesome Iron Hand character: cold, unfeeling, methodical.  Galba was beginning to lean that way, but how does one become a Tenth Legion sergeant without understanding the need for machine-like tenacity?  Sergeant Darras was just not needed; aside from being just a foil for Galba, he was also a complete :cuss hat most of the time for no apparent reason.  The nightmare parts were well done, evoking a sense of impending doom without being gory about it (eyeballs screaming?  I love it!).  But a lot of it. . . so dumb.  Since when is a physical machine needed to open a portal to the warp?  Those sorts of rifts can be torn in realspace just about anywhere.  PLOT HOLE: every picture or description we've ever seen of a Davinite shows them as slightly mutated in certain ways, almost bestial.  Not just the priest caste, but all of them.  Yet the only ones here are the priests.  I understand that this takes place almost immediately post-Istvaan so there's none of the dawning realization that Chaotic religion is actually a thing and a bad one at that, but the Davinites were clearly practicing religion which is still a big no-no under the Imperial Truth.  Even with the Salamanders there arguing the humanist thing to do, Atticus should have either let the saurians finish them or else, later when the Iron Hands saw what was going on, killed them all themselves.

 

As for the ending. . . it had better tie in to another book, and soon.  We'd better see Madail and his daemonic strike cruiser packed full of daemons (which let's face it, will probably annihilate each other on the way to their next target) in another book, showing up to help Horus or some such.  That's just the only way to redeem that ending, period.

 

 

[Scribe]

I dont think IH are hard to write, I think stories involving them may be difficult because when IH are acting as they should...the path forward is straight. :]

 

If not for Galba, or the RG/Salamanders, Atticus would have let those folks rot pretty quickly, but then we wouldnt have had the story. I think the issue is that Iron Hands done well are (seriously) too bad ass and unyielding for their own good. THAT needs to be a weakness, because I thought Atticus was great throughout. 

 

I compared the IH characters to those in Wrath of Iron, and I thought there where several (too many) parallels. 

 

I dont know, like I said it was decent half of the way, maybe even 75%, but the ending failed to wrap it well.

[Visitor13]

That's really a catch-all problem for most of the Traitor Primarchs. Angron was always the way he is in 40K (until ADB fixed him). Fulgrim was walking around with a hand rag covering his junk, being overly sexual, and being an imperious jerk. Perturabo was always paranoid. Etc, as nauseum.

 

It would've been nice for the Primarchs to actually fall from grace, instead of never having had it to begin with.

 

 

This, so very, very cussing much.

[Tymell]

That's really a catch-all problem for most of the Traitor Primarchs. Angron was always the way he is in 40K (until ADB fixed him). Fulgrim was walking around with a hand rag covering his junk, being overly sexual, and being an imperious jerk. Perturabo was always paranoid. Etc, as nauseum.

 

It would've been nice for the Primarchs to actually fall from grace, instead of never having had it to begin with.

 

I don't know, I think some have been done better than others.

 

As you say, ADB did as good a job with Angron as can be done. He was still a psychopath, but to make him anything less would go against the core of the character, he was never going to fall that much. The same can be said of Konrad Curze. Both have always been known as severely damaged from the get-go.

 

Mr. Dembski-Bowden also did a stonking job with Lorgar in The First Heretic and Aurelian, and unlike some I really enjoyed Fulgrim's fall in his self-titled novel. Magnus' could have done with a bit more hubris, but it was along the right lines at least, and even now he doesn't feel like he betrayed the Emperor per se.

 

Mortarion we haven't really seen enough of to say, but judging by what we had in Daemonology, I'm hopeful that Chris Wraight will do more with him and give us something there.

 

While I didn't enjoy Angel Exterminatus as a whole, I did like Perturabo himself, he was much more believable than the "RAWR PERTURABO SMASH!" portrayal we'd had until then.

 

Alpharius we've never actually seen -that- much of, though it could be argued that the mystery is essential to the character.

 

Unfortunately Horus himself is probably the traitor primarch I feel has been worst done, mostly due to False Gods. The Horus we had in Horus Rising was great, genuinely likeable and astute. Then in False Gods he turned evil....because reasons? There's almost no actual explanation behind it, and thus behind the entire Heresy. It's one of the most glaring issues with the entire series IMO, and what I wouldn't give for someone to go back and do that book properly.

 

All told, I think the concern with seeing them fall from grace is less that they've been done badly, more that we haven't been able to see much of them pre-Heresy. Mortarion and Perturabo in particular really need good examinations of their characters and reasons for turning.

 

That's what I think anyway.[/Hugo]

[Hyaenidae]

While I didn't enjoy Angel Exterminatus as a whole, I did like Perturabo himself, he was much more believable than the "RAWR PERTURABO SMASH!" portrayal we'd had until then.

 

I've seen this said about Perturabo before, and I still disagree with it. He was never a 'Rawr Smash' individual, it wasn't what defined him. Instead, I've always seen him as the most divorced Primarch from human emotion and rationality. He viewed his world in angles, equations, theory, and sums; he could not understand a thought process without such cold, calculating perfection. 

 

His tragedy was that he was born cold as life. Utterly heartless, but not without soul. He came to awareness with stunted emotions, and a mind so complex and weaving that he came the closest to having a true mental evolution towards the intractability and whimsy of an actual God. None could fathom him mind, and few dared.

 

As a part of this, despite his desire to remove himself from the irrevocably theorem-confusing concept of disgusting emotion, he still has a touch of humanity in him. His 'fall', you could say, is his inability to know what to do when he feels. When his heart moves, the world moves with it, and in violent fashion. Like a confused child, he lashes out at this irrationality, this variable that throws his equations out of balance. And he doesn't stop lashing out until the equation has returned to zero, until all is balanced again, at least in his mind. Olympia learned this, in a very painful fashion. 

 

He is an autistic savant, a God half made. The Emperor's crime wasn't failing to reward Perturabo, but failing to see that his son needed help learning what a human being is.

 

I found McNeil's story to be degrading to the Iron Warriors Primarch, because he took that cold outlook, and turned Pertuabo into a bland character with the same daddy-issues as the rest of them. Not to mention, turning him into a friggin' idiot. "What's that, Fulgrim? Follow you and your trail of drugs all the way into the heart of Hell, knowing that it's an obvious trap, which I verbally acknowledge in the book? Sure, why not?"

 

Thank you so much, Mr. McNeil, for turning the my Primarch into a bumbling fool.

[Volt]

So Perturabo is basically Sauron in 40K?

 

Seems legit.

[Hyaenidae]

Sauron, Einstein, and Rain Man; but basically, yeah.

[Snickers]

I never finished Talon of Horus...... I love pretty all of ADBs work that I've read but something about Talon just couldn't suck me in and this is coming from someone who enjoyed Battle for the Abyss

[Hérétíc]

Damnation of Pythos, Blessed Omnissiah, my eyes!

[rendingon1+]

Pandorax. Worst BL book I read so far.

[The Red Thirst]

I never finished Talon of Horus...... I love pretty all of ADBs work that I've read but something about Talon just couldn't suck me in and this is coming from someone who enjoyed Battle for the Abyss

Care to elaborate brother?? I only ask as I was sucked in from Khayons introduction on the first few pages (only a few chapters in so no spoilers please), so far to me the scale of character development and their introduction is amazing...

[Volt]

Pandorax. Worst BL book I read so far.

How was Pandorax bad? In terms of characters it's been among the best books released for Space Marine Battles, plus it was full of important revelations regarding the nature of the Horus Heresy and the Dark Angels, along with some of the late Dark Angel characters appearing.

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

Pandorax. Worst BL book I read so far.

How was Pandorax bad? In terms of characters it's been among the best books released for Space Marine Battles, plus it was full of important revelations regarding the nature of the Horus Heresy and the Dark Angels, along with some of the late Dark Angel characters appearing.

Since I aint brave enough to read it, would you mind pming me these details?

WLK

[Volt]

Pandorax. Worst BL book I read so far.

How was Pandorax bad? In terms of characters it's been among the best books released for Space Marine Battles, plus it was full of important revelations regarding the nature of the Horus Heresy and the Dark Angels, along with some of the late Dark Angel characters appearing.

Since I aint brave enough to read it, would you mind pming me these details?

WLK

Nah, I'll just post them in these spoilers.

TL;DR, Horus was a sacrificial lamb that was never supposed to come out of the Horus Heresy, the Horus Heresy progressed most likely "just as planned". The immediate post-heresy era could have also quickly been shattered had it not been for the Grey Knights. Pythos was originally supposed to be the launching point for a massive Daemonic Invasion around M31 thanks to the stability of warp portals that could have been erected. Had several hundred Grey Knights not sold their lives so dearly, the Imperium would have been severely harmed, if not broken.

The Ordo Malleus also knows about the Dark Angels' Fallen due to one of the founding members of the Grey Knights being a former member of the Dark Angles. They don't care, and just use this as a bargaining chip with the Dark Angels to twist their arms to render aid. Also, said Grey Knight Dark Angel is not only alive, but in hibernation on the world, lending more credence to the whole 'space muhreens are immortal' thing.

Also, I recommend the book simply because of it containing the single most awesome Jokaero ever. He pilots a Hellhammer and blows stuff up with it. It also is one of the few 40k books to have a semi-happy ending for some characters.

My only grievance with the book is that it jumps around in time a lot. I get that the Pandorax Campaign was long, but several month or even year jumps are excessive. The book ends up feeling like it should have been spread out over two or three novels instead of one. CZ Dunn also doesn't seem to really understand what power armor or terminator is, so there's odd things like terminators folding like wet tissue paper at times.

BTW, did I mention the Kaiju Nurgle Daemon? It has a Kaiju-sized Nurgle Daemon. He eats turbolasers for breakfast.

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

wow, thats terrible.

 

WLK

[rendingon1+]

Here's the best review of Pandorax:

http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=129773&page=6

Here's an example. I hate this book.

 

‘And what makes you think you can slay this daemon, Azrael?’ Draigo said when the Supreme Grand Master of the Dark Angels had finished outlining his plan. ‘It would take the Emperor himself to best it in personal combat.’

‘Then if that’s what it takes,’ he said drawing the Sword of Secrets from his hip and pointing the diamond-sharp tip at Gabriel’s shoulder. ‘My apologies, brother. I do this out of necessity and mean you no disrespect.’ He stabbed into the Master of the Deathwing’s already cracked Crux Terminatus and broke it open, catching the tiny sliver of bright metal that fell from it. He took a bolt round from a pouch at his waist and raised it to his lips. For a moment it looked to those around him as if he was kissing the shell, but when he lowered it they could see that his acidic saliva had melted away some of the casing. Taking the fragment of shimmering metal from his other hand, he pushed it onto the shell with his thumb, fusing the two together.

‘Brother Gabriel’s armour is the most ancient of all the Deathwing’s suits, forged upon the anvils of the Rock in the days when the Emperor was already interred upon his throne but the Legions had not yet been divided. From Terra came a gift to all those Legions who had remained loyal in the face of Horus’s perfidy, a section of the Emperor’s own armour so that it may be incorporated into the newly forged Terminator suits of his true sons. The Dark Angels took delivery of the Emperor’s right gauntlet, and over the coming decades over a thousand suits of armour were fashioned incorporating metal from his battle plate in the pauldrons. Many of those suits were gifted to our noble successors when Lords Dorn and Guilliman broke the Space Marines down into smaller Chapters, and though most have been lost down the millennia, some of our brothers still go to battle in armour bearing those original Crux Terminatus.’

 

 

 

Fluff violation level is extreme. Entire book is like this.

[aa.logan]

Fluff violation level is extreme. Entire book is like this.

 

 

 

I don't see how this 'violates' fluff- it all fits in with existing information. 

 

I loved the book, mind.

[The Red Thirst]

Cringworthy indeed. Ok yes, terminator armour contains a sliver of the emperors armour, however cutting open a pauldron of Tactical Dreadnaught Armour with miniscule effort and then opening a Bolt shell with acid and resealing it once said sliver is inside just made me laugh. I dont think Dunn knows how munitions work or even 40k for that matter (but then again hes the novelist, im just a fanatic, what would I know right?) surely the editing team was away the week this was being published. 

Any more ridiculous extracts your willing to share? Spoilers are fine, dont think ill be reading it anyway.

[Prodigal Son of Magnus]

 

While I didn't enjoy Angel Exterminatus as a whole, I did like Perturabo himself, he was much more believable than the "RAWR PERTURABO SMASH!" portrayal we'd had until then.

 

 

I've seen this said about Perturabo before, and I still disagree with it. He was never a 'Rawr Smash' individual, it wasn't what defined him. Instead, I've always seen him as the most divorced Primarch from human emotion and rationality. He viewed his world in angles, equations, theory, and sums; he could not understand a thought process without such cold, calculating perfection. 

 

His tragedy was that he was born cold as life. Utterly heartless, but not without soul. He came to awareness with stunted emotions, and a mind so complex and weaving that he came the closest to having a true mental evolution towards the intractability and whimsy of an actual God. None could fathom him mind, and few dared.

 

As a part of this, despite his desire to remove himself from the irrevocably theorem-confusing concept of disgusting emotion, he still has a touch of humanity in him. His 'fall', you could say, is his inability to know what to do when he feels. When his heart moves, the world moves with it, and in violent fashion. Like a confused child, he lashes out at this irrationality, this variable that throws his equations out of balance. And he doesn't stop lashing out until the equation has returned to zero, until all is balanced again, at least in his mind. Olympia learned this, in a very painful fashion. 

 

He is an autistic savant, a God half made. The Emperor's crime wasn't failing to reward Perturabo, but failing to see that his son needed help learning what a human being is.

 

I found McNeil's story to be degrading to the Iron Warriors Primarch, because he took that cold outlook, and turned Pertuabo into a bland character with the same daddy-issues as the rest of them. Not to mention, turning him into a friggin' idiot. "What's that, Fulgrim? Follow you and your trail of drugs all the way into the heart of Hell, knowing that it's an obvious trap, which I verbally acknowledge in the book? Sure, why not?"

 

Thank you so much, Mr. McNeil, for turning the my Primarch into a bumbling fool.

I disagree I thought Angel Exterminatus was the best depiction of Perturabo that we have had so far. Compared to the stereotypical Saturday morning cartoon villain with anger management issues from Crimson Fist and the idiot whose solution to everything was to throw more bodies at it and kill his men when they failed him from Extermination, Mcneil did him very well.

[Hyaenidae]

To each their own, though i will say I see the Perturabo in AE as the one who is cartoonish and unrealistic. It broke every cardinal rule of the Iron Warrior mentality, and that is definitely a bad thing, in my book. (Except Grendel, who seemed to be the only redeemable character in the whole book)

 

And we did not need another Primarch Boo-Hoo story. It wasn't necessary. Not every Primarch needs to have severe mortal daddy issues.

 

You want to call the unpredictable anger of a mentally stunted God stereotypical of a saturday cartoon, then please let me know which shows you're watching, because I must be missing out.

[SkimaskMohawk]

I've seen people really hate on the word bearer omnibus here but as a forgone conclusion like everyone already knows why. I really enjoyed it so could someone explain why its not well received?

[rendingon1+]

Cringworthy indeed. Ok yes, terminator armour contains a sliver of the emperors armour, however cutting open a pauldron of Tactical Dreadnaught Armour with miniscule effort and then opening a Bolt shell with acid and resealing it once said sliver is inside just made me laugh. I dont think Dunn knows how munitions work or even 40k for that matter (but then again hes the novelist, im just a fanatic, what would I know right?) surely the editing team was away the week this was being published.

Any more ridiculous extracts your willing to share? Spoilers are fine, dont think ill be reading it anyway.

Exactly, and even if Crux Terminatus contains a fragment of Emperor's Armor (it's not confirmed by any other source) it should be treated as most holy relic and here Azrael literally spat upon it

Another extract? Here you go (Draigo is fighting a demon prince who teleports them to the ship's hull, so Draigo can't use true name on him ):

By the time Draigo reached the base of the comms tower, there was over twenty metres between him and the daemon prince. Finding hand-holds with the ease an ogryn finds food, Draigo clambered up the outside of the tower, his boots gripping the metal as he went. Even in a full suit of Terminator armour, he had almost traversed the structure by the time J’ian-Lo had reached the base. Looking up at the trapped Space Marine, J’ian-Lo shook his head in pity. All Draigo’s foolish gambit had done was strand him at the top of the tower leaving him at the mercy – not that it had any – of one of Nurgle’s most blessed. Not bothering to clamber up after him, J’ian-Lo started tearing at the comms tower, trying to separate it from the rest of the Revenge and send it floating off into space with Draigo still attached to it. It was only when the shadow cast by the Grey Knight kept getting larger that J’ian-Lo realised that it was the one who had been led into a trap. The magnets in his soles inexorably attracted to the vast metal hull of the ship beneath him, Draigo dropped, the hilt of the Titansword clasped between both gauntleted hands, blade-tip pointed downwards. Too quick for even a daemon prince to react, Draigo’s feet made contact with J’ian-Lo’s ribcage at the same instant the blade met its throat. Slamming the giant skeleton to the deck, the Grey Knight’s blade slipped through the top of the thing’s spine, parting its deformed skull from the rest of its frame and rolling away into a recess between two crenulations. Lifting himself from the crouched position he’d landed in, Draigo removed himself from the inert frame of the daemon prince and it drifted away from the hull, floating slowly into the depths of eternity. Steadily, the Supreme Grand Master approached J’ian-Lo’s severed head, its bulbous eyes flicking in all directions, mouth moving as if in prayer. When Draigo finally came to stand over it, he realised the head was mouthing the word ‘please’. Derisorily, the commander of the Grey Knights order flicked the daemon prince’s head away with a swift motion of his foot and looked on impassively as the skull followed the rest of the skeleton out into the blackness. He opened a vox-link to the Silver Nemesis. ‘Captain Fischer. This is Supreme Grand Master Draigo. Lock onto my position and teleport me back aboard the Revenge.’

[The Red Thirst]

Cringworthy indeed. Ok yes, terminator armour contains a sliver of the emperors armour, however cutting open a pauldron of Tactical Dreadnaught Armour with miniscule effort and then opening a Bolt shell with acid and resealing it once said sliver is inside just made me laugh. I dont think Dunn knows how munitions work or even 40k for that matter (but then again hes the novelist, im just a fanatic, what would I know right?) surely the editing team was away the week this was being published.

Any more ridiculous extracts your willing to share? Spoilers are fine, dont think ill be reading it anyway.

Exactly, and even if Crux Terminatus contains a fragment of Emperor's Armor (it's not confirmed by any other source) it should be treated as most holy relic and here Azrael literally spat upon it

Another extract? Here you go (Draigo is fighting a demon prince who teleports them to the ship's hull, so Draigo can't use true name on him ):

By the time Draigo reached the base of the comms tower, there was over twenty metres between him and the daemon prince. Finding hand-holds with the ease an ogryn finds food, Draigo clambered up the outside of the tower, his boots gripping the metal as he went. Even in a full suit of Terminator armour, he had almost traversed the structure by the time J’ian-Lo had reached the base. Looking up at the trapped Space Marine, J’ian-Lo shook his head in pity. All Draigo’s foolish gambit had done was strand him at the top of the tower leaving him at the mercy – not that it had any – of one of Nurgle’s most blessed. Not bothering to clamber up after him, J’ian-Lo started tearing at the comms tower, trying to separate it from the rest of the Revenge and send it floating off into space with Draigo still attached to it. It was only when the shadow cast by the Grey Knight kept getting larger that J’ian-Lo realised that it was the one who had been led into a trap. The magnets in his soles inexorably attracted to the vast metal hull of the ship beneath him, Draigo dropped, the hilt of the Titansword clasped between both gauntleted hands, blade-tip pointed downwards. Too quick for even a daemon prince to react, Draigo’s feet made contact with J’ian-Lo’s ribcage at the same instant the blade met its throat. Slamming the giant skeleton to the deck, the Grey Knight’s blade slipped through the top of the thing’s spine, parting its deformed skull from the rest of its frame and rolling away into a recess between two crenulations. Lifting himself from the crouched position he’d landed in, Draigo removed himself from the inert frame of the daemon prince and it drifted away from the hull, floating slowly into the depths of eternity. Steadily, the Supreme Grand Master approached J’ian-Lo’s severed head, its bulbous eyes flicking in all directions, mouth moving as if in prayer. When Draigo finally came to stand over it, he realised the head was mouthing the word ‘please’. Derisorily, the commander of the Grey Knights order flicked the daemon prince’s head away with a swift motion of his foot and looked on impassively as the skull followed the rest of the skeleton out into the blackness. He opened a vox-link to the Silver Nemesis. ‘Captain Fischer. This is Supreme Grand Master Draigo. Lock onto my position and teleport me back aboard the Revenge.’

Wooooooow Draigo's experiance with dispatching Daemon Princes seems to have no bounds.... come on, even Primarchs are supposed to have a hard time against them and he finishes one off just like that... seriously? I guess we can also mark magnets down as something Dunn doesnt understand...

While I didn't enjoy Angel Exterminatus as a whole, I did like Perturabo himself, he was much more believable than the "RAWR PERTURABO SMASH!" portrayal we'd had until then.

SNIP

I disagree I thought Angel Exterminatus was the best depiction of Perturabo that we have had so far. Compared to the stereotypical Saturday morning cartoon villain with anger management issues from Crimson Fist and the idiot whose solution to everything was to throw more bodies at it and kill his men when they failed him from Extermination, Mcneil did him very well.

The only redeeming quality of Perturabo in AE I found was his admiration of perfect mathematical architecture and his understanding of the golden ratio. What wasnt cool, and I agree with Hyaenidae on this is that McNeill flips this on its head and makes it an excuse as to why he hates Dorn and by extention their Father... get real, Perturabo doesnt get hurt feelings from his daddy not liking the way he builds things because he doesnt understand feelings at all.

This is why hes detatched from his sons, he cant empathise with them on any level. This is why he 'throws more men at his enemies' with out regard for their lives, sheer weight of numbers is a sound mathematical tactic that has been used by armies for millennia. This is why he kills his sons for failing him, in his eyes their not his sons, just broken equations that need to be rectified.

[Prodigal Son of Magnus]

 

 

Cringworthy indeed. Ok yes, terminator armour contains a sliver of the emperors armour, however cutting open a pauldron of Tactical Dreadnaught Armour with miniscule effort and then opening a Bolt shell with acid and resealing it once said sliver is inside just made me laugh. I dont think Dunn knows how munitions work or even 40k for that matter (but then again hes the novelist, im just a fanatic, what would I know right?) surely the editing team was away the week this was being published.

Any more ridiculous extracts your willing to share? Spoilers are fine, dont think ill be reading it anyway.

 

Exactly, and even if Crux Terminatus contains a fragment of Emperor's Armor (it's not confirmed by any other source) it should be treated as most holy relic and here Azrael literally spat upon it :)

Another extract? Here you go (Draigo is fighting a demon prince who teleports them to the ship's hull, so Draigo can't use true name on him<_< ):

 

By the time Draigo reached the base of the comms tower, there was over twenty metres between him and the daemon prince. Finding hand-holds with the ease an ogryn finds food, Draigo clambered up the outside of the tower, his boots gripping the metal as he went. Even in a full suit of Terminator armour, he had almost traversed the structure by the time J’ian-Lo had reached the base. Looking up at the trapped Space Marine, J’ian-Lo shook his head in pity. All Draigo’s foolish gambit had done was strand him at the top of the tower leaving him at the mercy – not that it had any – of one of Nurgle’s most blessed. Not bothering to clamber up after him, J’ian-Lo started tearing at the comms tower, trying to separate it from the rest of the Revenge and send it floating off into space with Draigo still attached to it. It was only when the shadow cast by the Grey Knight kept getting larger that J’ian-Lo realised that it was the one who had been led into a trap. The magnets in his soles inexorably attracted to the vast metal hull of the ship beneath him, Draigo dropped, the hilt of the Titansword clasped between both gauntleted hands, blade-tip pointed downwards. Too quick for even a daemon prince to react, Draigo’s feet made contact with J’ian-Lo’s ribcage at the same instant the blade met its throat. Slamming the giant skeleton to the deck, the Grey Knight’s blade slipped through the top of the thing’s spine, parting its deformed skull from the rest of its frame and rolling away into a recess between two crenulations. Lifting himself from the crouched position he’d landed in, Draigo removed himself from the inert frame of the daemon prince and it drifted away from the hull, floating slowly into the depths of eternity. Steadily, the Supreme Grand Master approached J’ian-Lo’s severed head, its bulbous eyes flicking in all directions, mouth moving as if in prayer. When Draigo finally came to stand over it, he realised the head was mouthing the word ‘please’. Derisorily, the commander of the Grey Knights order flicked the daemon prince’s head away with a swift motion of his foot and looked on impassively as the skull followed the rest of the skeleton out into the blackness. He opened a vox-link to the Silver Nemesis. ‘Captain Fischer. This is Supreme Grand Master Draigo. Lock onto my position and teleport me back aboard the Revenge.’

 

Wooooooow Draigo's experiance with dispatching Daemon Princes seems to have no bounds.... come on, even Primarchs are supposed to have a hard time against them and he finishes one off just like that... seriously? I guess we can also mark magnets down as something Dunn doesnt understand...

 

 

 

 

While I didn't enjoy Angel Exterminatus as a whole, I did like Perturabo himself, he was much more believable than the "RAWR PERTURABO SMASH!" portrayal we'd had until then.

 

SNIP

I disagree I thought Angel Exterminatus was the best depiction of Perturabo that we have had so far. Compared to the stereotypical Saturday morning cartoon villain with anger management issues from Crimson Fist and the idiot whose solution to everything was to throw more bodies at it and kill his men when they failed him from Extermination, Mcneil did him very well.

 

The only redeeming quality of Perturabo in AE I found was his admiration of perfect mathematical architecture and his understanding of the golden ratio. What wasnt cool, and I agree with Hyaenidae on this is that McNeill flips this on its head and makes it an excuse as to why he hates Dorn and by extention their Father... get real, Perturabo doesnt get hurt feelings from his daddy not liking the way he builds things because he doesnt understand feelings at all.

 

This is why hes detatched from his sons, he cant empathise with them on any level. This is why he 'throws more men at his enemies' with out regard for their lives, sheer weight of numbers is a sound mathematical tactic that has been used by armies for millennia. This is why he kills his sons for failing him, in his eyes their not his sons, just broken equations that need to be rectified.

I didn't so much think he hated his father as much as he hated the Imperum and most of his brothers in general. They treated him like a menial who was nothing more than a stepping stool for them to step over. Remember the picture of his men being stepped on by the other legions? Notice how Fulgrim commands him like a servant in the novel and torwards the end tells him that he is nothing. They treated him like garbage and he took it, he took it until he broke. Olympia's destruction was not so much a wrathful outburst as it was Perturabo deciding he had taken enough crap and he was done.

 

I don't agree with Pert not having feelings, him being abrasive has been in the fluff far longer than FW has been around. If he was perfectly logical, he wouldn't be abrasive. His relationship with Dorn is more due to the two of them being very similar in many ways. And throwing men away is not the most logical expenditure of men, it's a callous disregard for life and ultimately foolish on a strategic level. Something a genius like Perturabo would realize. That isn't to say Perturabo was afraid to waste men, but he didn't spend them frivolously. If he just threw men at defenses until they collapsed why would he bother would setting up defenses at Isstvan and Hydra Cordatus?