Horus Heresy Review: Perturabo

The Lord of Iron was as intelligent just as much as he was brutal. His conquests were efficient to the point of brutality and his loyalty to the Emperor strong. Probably at least until he had the return to Olympia to solve the crisis there. And from there, he headed to Isstvan as there was logically little alternative. Many see the act at Olympia as the final straw that pushed Perturabo and his legion over the edge after several reversals of fortune in the campaign against the Hrrud and others. But perhaps the weakness in his armour could be found much earlier due to his intelligence being cold, nearly paranoid, and almost wasted on Olympia. The gnawing darkness within finally let loose on Olympia pushed their guilt over the edge and Horus found them easy to sway to his side - as the Emperor would probably not forgive them, but Horus suggested it was justice that Perturabo carried out on Olympia.

Perturabo is a powerful figure in the game and his cost is certainly in the upper echelons for primarchs. Firstly he is a force multiplier by giving stubborn to his sons. Recall that in 30k, the stubborn special rule comes at a premium. This means that this boon is quite a big deal for the Iron Warriors. His own attacks are also capable to wrecking buildings as easily as tanks.

Much like Alpharius, he is also a masterful strategist when it comes to warfare. This reveals itself in how he gives furious charge to his army in an enemy deployment zone, and how he can start to call in reserves from turn one if required. This latter ability is amazing overall and such a huge boon to certain flavours of army.

But more than that, he can call down bombardments like Horus can, he has exception armour in the Logos that ensures his terminator armoured sons gain deep strike plus a significant wrist cannon that can help wiping out power armour enemies.

Curiously, he also has access to two unique upgrades. The first is to take Ferrus Manus' Forgebreaker hammer - a token given to Perturabo from Horus after Isstvan V. This is probably worth the points in conjunction with his ability to deep strike and should certainly be played in an aggressive style of pride of the legion assault (which is certainly something that Perturabo and his sons would excel at given furious charge and other bonuses). The second is the ability to take a personal (modified) Shadowsword transport (The Tormentor) that comes with 15 transport and a void shield. This costs more than Perturabo himself and its utility is mixed in my opinion, but could be splendid when played correctly in a very large points game. Indeed, it could be an excellent edge.

Overall, I think Perturabo can be played in a couple of ways. The first is part of a spearhead of terminators coming in within the enemy deployment zone and crippling everything around them. Coupling the first turn reserves rolling with free deep striking is amazing as it allows a mixed arms approach backed up by tanks and other elements to hurt the enemy elsewhere whilst the terminators do their job. He could also be played slightly mid to back field and damage the table with his bombardment in the early turns, only to follow through in his own personal Shadowsword. Take lots of tanks with this one and pummel the opponent from range before closing to combat.