Which Perturabo do you prefer?

[Terminus]

Regarding Perturabo, since it's pretty much a united consensus on the Exterminatus version, was there any way things could have turned out better for him?  Although he grew in a house of political intrigue, his foster parent seemed to have made every attempt to try to bond with the young dour Primakiddo.  And while Horus gets the blame for some of the crappy garrison duty his Legion was reduced to, accounts seem to show that that was his style of combat in the first place.  Obliterate everything, put a token group in place, move on to next target.

 

Yes, he was efficient, but he was efficient in the same ways modern Imperial Guard commanders are, in seeing war as just an equation of how many lives and materiel needs to be expended to achieve an objective.  There was usually no consideration for allied elements or local populations, it was all bloody trench death for everyone.  Was Perturabo really set up with a bunch of assignments that wore away at his mental reserve, or was he the guy who volunteered to clean the latrines barehanded, and then pouts when no one wants to shake his hand to thank him?

[apologist]

I liked the character in Angel Exterminatus better than that in Crimson Fist (a rare sour note for John French in an otherwise excellent short, in my opinion), but I agree still more with ephrael:

 

I really liked his breif appearances in Tallarn Ironclad. He seems to be expanding his views and beliefs about the universe and trying to take advantage of new opportunities and weapons. I did love his Warhound face-smash moment in Exterminatus a lot though.

 

French's portrayal of Perturabo in Tallarn: Ironclad is brief but hugely atmospheric, and fantastically different. Here's a traitor Primarch who is immediately identifiable as Perturabo, but simultaneously quite distinctive as his own character. He's not a stock 'good guy dealt bad choices' or tormented anti-hero, but rather a peculiarly closed-off figure. I really got a sense of Perturabo's paranoia from his appearance in T:I, and to me that's the core of his character – a characteristic that is missing from his portrayal elsewhere.

 

Again, I enjoyed Angel Exterminatus – as usual, McNeill makes a hugely enjoyable action romp – but the glimpse at a suspicious, pseudo-mystic Perturabo we see in Tallarn: Ironclad made the character much more distinctive and interesting to me.

 

Just as Abnett made Horus and Guilliman fully-rounded and distinctive figures, and Dembski-Bowden injected the Lion and Curze with real pathos, I hope French gets the opportunity to look into Perturabo more, and develop him further along the path hinted at in Tallarn.

[lokkorex]

Out of the things i've read so far i'd have to go with AE combo'd with extermination.

 

Crimson Fist is just French's character imagination instantly dying when it came to Perturabo.

 

But having read this thread, path to Heaven, Tallarn: Ironclad and Descent of Angels is top of my to-buy list.

[Emperor's Furor]

I got Path to Heaven and I can't recall his appearance.