Ferrus Manus

Ferrus "I named my Legion after myself" Manus, The Gorgon, Wyrmslayer, The Great Iron-Father. It took over twenty five years to get a decent image of him, and he ended up looking like the Punisher.

"By turns our purity inspires and our impurity casts us down."

– Henry David Thoreau

"Steel isn't strong, boy. Flesh is stronger. What is steel compared to the hand that wields it?"

– Thulsa Doom to Conan the Barbarian.

"The truth is... I am Iron Man."

– Tony Stark

"Make war, and move on. And again, and again, until nothing breathes which stands against us. All else is sophistry and pretty lies."

– Ferrus himself, demonstrating why it's so crazy that he and Fulgrim were besties.

Ferrus Manus, "The Gorgon of Medusa", was the Primarch of the Iron Hands Legion of Space Marines. He was known mostly for his hands, which are covered in a metal resembling iron. His name translates to "Iron Hand". Yes, this does mean that Iron Hand, who had iron hands, was the leader of the Iron Hands, who give themselves iron hands in honour of the iron hands of Iron Hand of the Iron Hands. GW's subtlety is absolutely astonishing. He gets really pissed off if you called him THE HANDS OF FATE.

As mentioned, his hands are made of iron... sort of. He got said hands after wrestling with a silver dragon named Asirnoth on the planet he crashed on and dipping the lizard into magma. The metallic skin of the dragon fused into the skin on his hands. Wait, living metal? That sounds oddly familiar for some reason... Anyway, his arms became so fucking hardcore that he did not even *need* a weapon to tear through dudes: his iron hands were more than enough. Although he is shown at one point wielding what looks like a power spanner.

Ferrus, using his shiny metal hands, could make epic weapons that absolutely kick ass but he only used, like, one or two of them. It's not clear as to whether he or Vulkan was the best smith. Vulkan had better aesthetics, in that he could create things that actually looked pretty instead of just ugly blocks of metal with guns haphazardly glued on, but Ferrus certainly had the better way of making weapons; by punching them into shape with his bare fists. Vulkan also had a respect for geology, whereas Ferrus thought that details of a metal ended at its usefulness. Vulkan was certainly better at forging healthy friendships.

On account of being an emotionally constipated loner that got killed just as the narrative began, he's defintely one of the less popular Primarchs - mainly on account of not being given enough time to show much character beyond the surface level. Hell, his own legion cucked him in terms of how much character development they received.

History

Young Iron Hand inspecting a sword he punched into existence. Should have also punched a helmet too in hindsight. Or at least a gorget (ha).

For a very long time this was one of only two officially produced images of Ferrus Manus, drawn by John Blanche. The other image showed only his backside. Ever get the feeling you're the unfavorite? Ferrus understands you.

Early Life

Ferrus' story begins when he crash lands on the feral world of Medusa, a craggy, stormy, generally unpleasant planet. Ferrus' formative experience was made even worse as he landed in what is implied to be a Necron tomb. Shambling around the way an infant-baby-primarch-man does, Ferrus accidentally awoke the guardian of the tomb - Asirnoth, the Wyrm. After seeing the robo-dragon (no, not that one) escape, he swore to hunt it down, ascending to the surface.

As he roamed across the surface of Medusa - a very inhospitable planet, mind you - completely unscathed, the clans of Medusa took notice of the fuck-off massive man who casually strolled through earthquakes. Instead of joining and ruling over the clans, he initially chose to stay distant from them, focusing more on himself. This was until he finally tracked down Asirnoth, and drowned the dragon in a pool of magma. And thus, Iron Hand (the hand of iron) finally got his iron hands - even though they were actually necrodermis.

Deciding that there wasn't much else to do, Ferrus finally took charge of Medusa's clans, leading them into a technological golden age. He would never interfere with inter-clan rivalries, however, preferring to let them bicker amongst each other and let the strongest emerge - a practice the Iron Hands would keep going millennia later. Eventually Big E showed up and, after fighting Ferrus for a solid week, earned his respect and got him to join the Imperium.

What can be surmised from his youth that carried onto his later life was a complete need for self-reliance. He killed the Wyrm on his own, got the clans to survive on their own, and embraced the "might makes right" mindset that would eventually evolve into the "flesh bad" mindset which would come to bite his legion in the ass later.

Great Crusade

When the Crusade began and Ferrus met Fulgrim of the Emperor's Children, the two didn't get on well initially. Ferrus thought Fulgrim was a massive ponce, and Fulgrim likened Ferrus's face to a Gorgon (hence the title). This all culminated in a competition between the two beneath Mount Narodnya, where each had to forge the best weapon that he could. After three months, Fulgrim forged an ornate warhammer, while Ferrus made a big blingy sword. After praising each other for their craftsmanship, the two exchanged weapons and became best bros for life (in Ferrus's case, quite literally).

Cuddly and friendly, however, Ferrus was not. To the people of Medusa he was a grim figure who took warriors into the crypts of the forbidden polar zone to fight archeotech nasties, and otherwise offered them weaponry and told them to fight to ensure they remained strong. Once he met his Legion, he performed a dramatic volte-face on interfering in Medusan politics. Which is to say he went from non-intervention to "Legionaries, take over their Clans. Btw they'll only understand if you do it really violently." Nonetheless there was that one guy who took that a little far, wiping out a Clan that had gone rogue and claiming their crawler for himself.

As far as military doctrine went, Ferrus wasn't crazy like Angron or cruel like Curze, but he was pitiless, perhaps even more so than Russ or Horus. On the battlefield itself he was the kind of guy who could smash straight through the legs of a Reaver-sized Titan-analogue (a barely disguised AT-AT homage). And Angron thought he was tough holding up a Warhound. Bless.

Like Vulkan, he made a point of forging gear for most of his brothers, although Vulkan was a bit uncomfortable with Ferrus' way of punching metal into shape and didn't use his dragon-headed flamer until the Heresy broke out. Examples of his work include Horus' sword (which Horus favoured until the Emperor gave him Worldbreaker), Fireblade (the aforementioned sword made for Fulgrim), and Lorgar's mace Illuminarum.

Despite his rigidness and temper Ferrus could be reasonable. When he heard that the Emperor was going to retire from the Great Crusade and leave one of the Primarchs in command; Ferrus Manus decided that it had to be him. He tried to prove the point by leading a joint force of Iron Hands, Emperor's Children, Thousand Sons and Ultramarines into battle against a technologically equivalent human empire that had been causing the Ultramarines some problems; Ferrus figured that he could take command of the campaign and be done with it before Guilliman showed up with the rest of the XIIIth legion to finish the job. Unfortunately he lost his cool after his enemies tried to sue for peace then attempted to assassinate him. Deciding that he didn't have the patience trying to fight in the same manner as his brothers, he laid the world to waste, demolishing its population and its infrastructure. Guilliman was pissed when he finally did show up since the world could have become a tremendous asset to the Imperium, but by that point Ferrus Manus had decided he was better at being a conqueror rather than a leader and chose to stand back and wholeheartedly support whoever did get promoted to Warmaster.

Despite his abrasive nature, some of his brothers appreciated him. Guilliman considered him to be one of the "dauntless few", along with Russ, Dorn, and Sanguinius. Humourously, when Fulgrim told Ferrus that Guilliman actually did consider him to be one of the greatest Primarchs among them, Ferrus responded that the thought was not reciprocated (it was, but Ferrus was too stubborn to say so).

Ferrus constantly wanted to compare himself to his brothers, turning everything into some kind of competition. He built an arena on his flagship that outsiders figured was for dueling dreadnoughts, but was actually for him to spar against other Primarchs, though was disappointed that his brothers were reluctant to test themselves against him. Even offering Vulkan a better weapon than the Fireblade he forged for Fulgrim didn't get him the scrap he wanted. No doubt this was part of his zealous drive to test his own limits, as when an enemy psyker sifted through his mind to find moments of weakness to use against him, he only found that Ferrus actually cherished his defeats since they allowed him the room to grow, and so he actively sought greater challenges to throw himself against. He even figured that if he was to get a second duel against the Emperor, the outcome would be different.

Horus Heresy and Death

It all went well until Fulgrim found a new boyfriend/girlfriend/hermaphroditic freak, and decided to make Ferrus join the dark Side. Fulgrim totally outmatched Ferrus with his HAWTNEZZ but Ferrus wasn't interested and they had a fight. Ferrus twisted apart the sword he made for his now ex-boyfriend with his own hands; in response Fulgrim reclaimed his brother's warhammer and knocked him out with it.

When the Horus Heresy officially started, Ferrus impatiently charged off with his fastest ships and his most badass of veterans (leaving the bulk of his Legion behind) in order to give his traitorous brothers the boot and arrived at the face-off at Isstvan V. Ferrus was so pissed off and eager to get stuck in that the Loyalists did so in spite of poor tactical prospects - possibly because Ferrus wasn't going to take no for an answer anyway. It started well: Ferrus brought his army down right at the edge of the enemy's shields, and forced Horus' troops into retreat despite all the shenanigans the Traitors pulled. But then they got totally fucked up by a bunch of reinforcements turning on them while Ferrus (now with a rebuilt Fireblade instead of Forgebreaker) challenged Fulgrim. The prancing ninny was on the verge of getting his ass handed to him... until he became Slaanesh's boyfriend for real and proceeded to cut Ferrus' head off (well, it depends on who's writing it, in most Ferrus was losing even before his glorious haircut). Ferrus' death was said to include great flashes of light, but the Inquisition isn't helping with research. Horus was pretty fucking pissed at this.

Ironically, Ferrus' death was caused by the same self-flagellating urge that drives his sons to turn themselves into cyborgs. When Fulgrim came to convert him to Horus' side, Ferrus thought this meant there was some flaw inside him that needed to be expunged by killing Fulgrim. This was why the Iron Hands stayed in the field when everyone else disengaged, and got screwed over harder than everyone else (well, the Salamanders taking a nuke aside).

Ferrus' death (or fridging, as some would say) is arguably more impactful than anything else he did in the setting. It catalysed his legion's descent into toaster-fucking, fully-damned Fulgrim, and showed that the Heresy was serious business. Guilliman was saddest over him moreso than Vulkan and Corax's supposed deaths, going as far as to call him "Ultramar's most stalwart ally". Despite his anger at Fulgrim, or perhaps because of it, Horus kept Ferrus's head, removing the remaining flesh and leaving it a bleached skull for his throne. Sometimes he would talk to it, lamenting that he had nothing but dishonored and broken psychopaths on his side instead of angels and strategists as his generals. Waging a galaxy wide heresy is a tough job, it seems.

Ferrus Lives?

There is speculation (in-universe and out) that Ferrus Manus somehow lives, and is hidden away on Mars by the Adeptus Mechanicus, though mentioning this to the Iron Hands gets them impressively angry, to the point that they might demonstrate how they think otherwise by using the speaker's own head. The marines who survived the Dropsite Massacre were in no doubt of his death, having seen the visual evidence from multiple angles, but apparently the Iron Hands found the files too depressing and set about wiping their hard drive with a bolter. Despite (or perhaps because) of this, one of the Iron Hands' Clans still maintains vigil near the place where he crashed, convinced that one day he'll return. Nobody has the heart to tell them that this hope is soooo horribly misplaced, so they're left alone.

That being said, the Horus Heresy book series has been sowing multiple seeds for a while that there might be a kernel of truth to the rumour...

Firstly, Fulgrim regretted not being able to convince Ferrus Manus into joining the side of the traitors, and so had Fabius Bile attempt to clone his brother with all of his memories intact so that Fulgrim might try again at turning Ferrus to Chaos. This did not work as the cloned Ferrus would become hostile at the suggestion of turning traitor and would have to be killed by daemon-Fulgrim.

That didn't stop Fulgrim from trying again and again, believing that Fabius' cloning methods resulted in "imperfect" clones and so ordered him to try harder and create more, though fortunately, each one would get angry at the attempt to turn him away from the Emperor and end up getting beaten to death by his now-ascended brother. Guess even Daemon Primarchs can stay butthurt for millennia on end.

Another thing to note is that the Ferrus Manus clones did not have the metallic arms of the original, which is obvious since the original was not "born" with them either and only acquired them later in life. This fact was hidden from the clones by making them wear gauntlets, which the clones found confusing (the original Ferrus never needed gauntlets for protection since the metal skin was protective enough) but ended up rolling with, since their lives tended to be measured in hours.

Secondly, the Iron Hands did manage to salvage one of the broken hands of Ferrus Manus from the battlefield of Isstvan V. The Iron Fathers of the Legion built a cult around it like it was some sort of relic and used it as the starting point for them constructing a mechanical golem creature that would act as a facsimile for the Gorgon that would issue orders by gesturing with its hand like some sort of paralytic invalid. Other than the hand, this new creature was unrecognisable as the Primarch that the arm had come from; Vulkan considered it an insult to the Emperor and his brother's memory and promptly destroyed it with his hammer.

It is strongly hinted that the Mechanicum may have had something to do with the personality cult of the Gorgon-Golem as the Iron Fathers of the Legion seemed to come back "changed" after receiving their mechanical upgrades from the tech adepts during the Horus Heresy. This hints that the Mechanicum might have been trying to subvert the Xth Legion to their own causes even while galactic civil war was going on around them. Even though Vulkan destroyed the creature, whatever influence the Mechanicum had on the legion likely remained, as the Iron Fathers abandoned their Terran-born warleader Shadrak Meduson not long afterwards and went their own way.

What happened to the other metallic arm remains a mystery but a number of interested parties somehow cut shavings off them (finger bones) to use in the edges of ritual blades.

Thirdly, the head of Ferrus Manus was later returned to the Iron Hands just prior to the Second Founding as part of a pact between the fractious Shattered Legion and Guilliman and Dorn to ensure their compliance with the Codex Astartes. How the two Primarchs got their brother's head when it was in the possession of Horus is yet unknown, though it's possible Dorn recovered it during the assault on the Vengeful Spirit at the climax of the Siege of Terra.

Fourthly, in "Master of Mankind," the Emperor summoned an army of black fiery space marines and flame-wreathed Custodes to hold back the tide of daemons and chaos forces from breeching the Webway and swarming Terra. Buying time for the Custodes and other Imperials to withdraw and seal the Webway entrance, they were conspicuously led by a giant with silver arms and a hammer (hell, the giant is even referred to as "The tenth son of a dying empire, so briefly reborn in his father's immolating wrath"!).

Sufficed to say there is enough evidence of Ferrus Manus's physical remains surviving in various states of cloned reanimation or ghoulish undeath that it is definitely feasible for outside observers to get the wrong end of the stick and believe that he survived much longer than he actually did. The original Ferrus Manus was hacked to pieces by traitor marines after being decapitated, with many taking away parts as trophies and Fulgrim likely taking 'some part to remember him by'. Whether GW will ever be desperate enough to bring him back (as a clone, damned legionary, or dreadnought) we have no way of knowing - although given his relatively low popularity, this is unlikely for a while.

However as unlikely as it may seem to be the case, in The Board is Set short story, as Malcador re-enacted the execution of Ferrus Manus (represented by the "Iron General" piece) under the hand of Fulgrim (represented by the "Perfection" piece) and beheading the piece representing Ferrus in process, the Emperor's reaction was picking up the remains of "Iron General" and put them back into the wooden box he used to store all of the game pieces and remarked: "Clumsy, perhaps I will fix that later when I have some time", implying that he's capable of bringing back Ferrus Manus somehow and showing interest in doing just that.

The flesh is... strong?

Artist's rendition of Ferrus Manus. Has the chin of TEN MEN!

Being the hardass flesh-haters that the Iron Hands are, one would suspect that Ferrus Manus might as well have been called Ferrus Clunis when it comes to the weakness of the flesh. In reality this is about as far from the reality as possible. The following is taken from the preface to a novel where the Iron Hands are portrayed as emotionless, flesh-hating, misanthropes:

"They are not my hands. This fact is forgotten by my brothers - inexplicably, it has always seemed to me. The hands are strong, to be sure, and have created great things for us all, but they are not mine. And that counts for something. They forget that the silver on my arms comes from a beast that I vanquished. It is the mark of a great evil that I ended, and yet it persists within me... I would struggle to remove it now... I will not remove the silver from my flesh because I have learned to depend on it. The fault is with my mind. I rely on the augmentation given to me by my metal gauntlets, so much so that the flesh beneath them is now little more than a distant memory... A day will come when I will strip it from me, lest I lose the power to master myself forever. Already my Legion's warriors replace their shield hands with metal in my honour, and so they too are learning to doubt the natural strength of their bodies. They must be weaned off this practice before it becomes a mania for them. Hatred of what is natural, of what is human, is the first and greatest of the corruptions. So I record it here: when the time comes, I will strip my hands of their unnatural silver. I will instruct my Legion to recant their distrust of the flesh. I will turn them away from the gifts of the machine and bid them relearn the mysteries of flesh, bone and blood. When my father's Crusade is over, this shall be my sacred task. When the fighting is done, I shall cure my Legion and myself. For if fighting is all there is, if we may never pause to reflect on what such devotion to strength is doing to us, then our compulsion will only grow. Already I see the madness that path leads to, and so I shall excise the silver from my hands. In doing so I shall weaken myself and my sons, but nonetheless it must be done. The hands are strong, and have created great things, but they are not mine." - Ferrus Manus, talking about how he was totally going to get rid of his silvered hands, any day now, I'm serious guys I'm going to do it, just not right now, but later, I swear I'll get rid of them.

With what the Iron Hands now do by turning themselves into cyborgs, with only part of their brains being flesh, is as big of a FUCK YOU to the Primarch as possible. If anything, they took his receiving a viking crewcut courtesy of his once best friend as a byproduct of his own emotional reactions, which only made them hate human weakness even more. In any case, it puts the Iron Hands in an interesting light. Having his entire legion pay no attention to his thoughts on cybernetics also secures his position as most ignorable Primarch in-universe. This perfectly matches how real-life fans and GW have (not) thought about him for years.

On The Tabletop

1E

Praise be to Forge World for the making of this! The head even comes as a seperate part...

Pts	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
455	7	6	7	7	6	5	4	10	2+/3++

Ferrus Manus is essentially God-King of Mars, functioning like a Tech-Priest Dominus on steroids. In addition to all the fun godly powers given to all Primarchs, he also has Relentless and Smash, and straight up all ranged weapons fire at him at -1 strength value. At T7, that means boltguns, sluggas, and all manner of S4 shooty guns as are prevalent throughout all of 40k no longer have the chance of hurting him. Bringing him also makes your Legiones Astartes Iron Hands army function a lot like the 40k Chapter Tactics, in that all models gain Feel No Pain (6+) unless it already had one better.

He has Battlesmith and passes all repair rolls on a 3+ (That becomes a lovely 2+ thanks to his servo-arm). He also makes any of your vehicles with at least 1 AV of 13 or higher gain It Will Not Die. You are going to field tanks and Contemptor Dreadnoughts with this guy. He is good to them. His crazy 2+/3++ armor includes a Nuncio-Vox so Ferrus can help direct your heaping gobs of indirect tank fire, and it gives him a servo arm. It also lets him shoot two of his guns in the shooting phase, making him the shootiest Primarch, which include a Plasma Blaster, Graviton Gun, Grenade Harness or Heavy Flamer. Still, if you're looking for a Primarch to lay back and shoot things, better look on the Traitor side, where Lorgar and Magnus can spam titan-melting mindbullets and reliably intimidate most of the Primarchs into hiding in units and/or transports - Ferrus' guns are a nice bonus things for him to do while he's slogging to a glorious melee, not his main focus.

Lastly, his hammer Forgebreaker (that one forged by Fulgrim) is "typical" Primarch stuff in that it's Sx2 Ap1 Concussive Strikedown. Not bad, Fulgrim, you pretty boy fuckhead. You make a pretty decent hammer.

Considering his bonus Primarch powers are a force multiplier for a large tank army, and Legiones Astartes Iron Hands already gain several bonuses for tanks, you're bringing him with as many as you can field. Roll him alongside your tank columns so he can repair as you roll onward, knowing full well he can capably handle most any hand to hand unit thrown his way and is an excellent shot with powerful weapons in his own right.

He's very well designed for the simple reason that he makes the Iron Hands better at what they already excel at (not dying). The 6+ FNP has great synergy with Inviolate Armor, and if you're taking Head of the Gorgon (which you should), Predators and Vindicators can Outflank and possibly regain 2HP a turn. That said, if he gets assaulted by a tarpit or if his transport is destroyed, he can have trouble making his points back. He's ultimately an average Primarch.

And yes, the model's head is detachable. (THAT WAS FUCKING AWESOME!!!)

Ferrus Manus VS other Primarchs:

Primarch fighting, while fun to see, isn't a very competitive thing to do as it'll usually tie up both Primarchs for the entire game without either of them dying (Especially with someone like Ferrus, with T 7 and 2+/3++ as saves). With that in mind this section is how Ferrus Manus fares against other Primarchs Mathhammer wise. Please note that all the various abilities are taken into accounts when possible and the match-ups assume the Primarchs are the only ones involved in the fighting, so various abilities like Angron's "The Butcher's Nails" and Rampage do not provide any bonuses. In essence, the fights are supposed to be in a "Vacuum" for simplicity, but notes are added to make things clearer in particular instances. Also all of the Primarch use their most powerful weapons (because why have a contest if you don't do your best?) so naturally Ferrus is equipped with Forgebreaker. Also, don't ever forget that he comes with Servo Arm for that ever useful +1 attack at S8 Ap 2, even if Unwieldy.

• Ferrus Manus VS Horus
  • Horus hits 4.667 times (Worldbreaker), wounds 3.333 times, 1.111 after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.778 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • Ferrus hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.0833 times, 0.694 wounds after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.361.
  • As always, the Warmaster can't be put down. Although Ferrus can put up a decent fight thanks to his resilience.

• Ferrus Manus VS Angron
  • Angron Round 1: hits 5.333 times, wounds 3.555 times, 1.185 after saves, and IWND take it down to 0.852 at the start of the next turn.
  • Angron Round 2: hits 4 times, wounds 2.666 times, 0.889 times after saves, IWND will take that down to 0.556 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • Ferrus hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times, 0.694 times after saves and FNP, and IWND will take that down to 0.361 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • Angron wins by tanking more than Ferrus can.

• Ferrus vs Mortarion
  • Mortarion hits 2.5 times, wounds 1.25 times, 0.416 wounds after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.083.
  • Ferrus hits 2.5 times, wounds 2 times, 1 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.444 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • Even though Mortarion is tough in the end Ferrus wins pretty easily thanks to his superior save and to his hammer

• Ferrus vs Fulgrim
  • Ferrus hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times, 0.694 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.361 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • Fulgrim Round 1: hits 5.629 (Master-crafted) times, wounds 3.284 times (Child of Terra), 1.094 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.761 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • Fulgrim Round 2 and thereafter: hits 3.611 times, wounds 2.107 times, 0.702 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.369 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • The infamous match! And also one of the closest, with the same outcome as the lore unless Fulgrim either has the Laer Blade or he doesn't have Child of Terra, in which case he doesn't really stand a chance. With the Hammer, Ferrus is like Fulgrim's worst nightmare, 'cause strikedown will go off even if the strike doesn't wound him, reducing his initiative to 4 and stripping him of all his advantages. In the end, Fulgrim will win on the 11th round, while Ferrus needs 12 rounds to come on top, so Fulgrim did really well to take the hammer away. Also, a really epic fight!
    • Its worth noting that in the fluff during this duel Ferrus was fighting with Fireblade and Fulgrim with Forgebreaker. Here's how well that goes: against a primarch Fireblade is only a little better than just using his bare hands, though against most Primarchs Ferrus still wounds on a 2+ so it's all right for him. For Fulgrim though Forgebreaker is a HUGE upgrade. He goes from wounding of 4+ to 2+ thanks to strength 10. Most importantly Ferrus will no longer have Concussive to mitigate Fulgrim's sublime swordsman rules so he still gets more attacks. Even worse is that since Fulgrim can concuss Ferrus down to initiative 1, sublime swordsman will generate SEVEN additional attacks whenever concuss hits and hitting so much means it should be every turn. And even worse is that since Ferrus is down to initiative 1 a lot of the time, Blind is much much more likely to hit. It doesn't even matter if we make Forgebreaker unwieldy in Fulgrim's hands because unwieldy doesn't actually reduce initiative, it just makes you fight at that initiative step, and putting out so much more damage means striking at the same time simply doesn't matter. In the first turn Fulgrim should get that first unsaved wound to concuss and after that it gets disgusting. Once Fulgrim concusses Ferrus he gets 12(!) attacks (since sublime swordsman doesn't limit the bonus attacks it can give) hitting on 3+ (8 hits) wounding on 2+ (5.3 wounds) which is a frankly disgusting 3.5 wounds after saves. IWND will take that down to 3.177 but holy shit is Ferrus screwed. He dies after 3 rounds of combat and quite frankly he gets wrecked like a bitch. With Forgebreaker there's a reasonable chance that Fulgrim could take on Horus simply because the combination of sublime swordsman and concussive is just so powerful. Turns out Fulgrim WAS the better smith, after all.
      • It's also worth noting that in the fluff Forgebeaker isn't a sword so the Sublime Swordman rule would probably not apply here or at least be amended. Fulgrim would still win anyway but not by such a big margin.

• Ferrus VS Konrad Curze
  • Curze hits 4 times, wounds 2.222 times, 0.741 wounds after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.407 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • Ferrus hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times, 1.042 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.709 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • Ferrus win.
  • Note: if Konrad use Hit and Run he can almost completely close the gap, doing 1.018 wounds on the turn he charges (counting his knives and HoW though). but when counting in Ferrus' overwatch he wins anyway. Just not so easily, making this fight akin to that of Ferrus vs Fulgrim, but a lot faster.

• Ferrus VS Vulkan
  • Vulkan hits 2 times, wounds 1.666 times, 0.556 wounds after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.222 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • Ferrus hits 2.5 times, wounds 2 times, 0.667 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.111 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • The fight between the two big tanks end in an almost surprising victory for Vulkan, 'cause even though Ferrus does marginally more damage, Vulkan is a bit tougher.

• Ferrus VS Lorgar
  • Lorgar hits 2.5 times, wounds 1.667 times, 0.556 after saves and IWND will take that to 0.222 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • Ferrus hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.0778 times, 1.389 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 1.056 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • Ferrus win.
  • Note: as always, psychic powers not included. You know how it would end anyway...

• Ferrus VS Perturabo
  • Perturabo hits 2.667 times, wounds 2.222, 0.74 wounds after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.407 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • Ferrus hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times, 0.694 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.361 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • The mirror match! (yes, I used Forgebreaker for both of them. Yeah, I know it is stupid...) In the end Perturabo wins thanks to his WS, since even with one more attack Ferrus hits marginally less times.
  • Note: without the hammer(s) Ferrus would defeat Perturabo, 'cause he would wound Perturabo on a 3+ (2+ with the Servo Harm) wounding 1.75 times, with Perturabo wounding him on 4+ and so wounding him 1.333. Guess old Perty could use Fulgrim's hammer better, in the end.

• Ferrus VS Alpharius
  • Alpharius hits 2.92 times and wounds 1.136 times, 0.379 wounds after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.045 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • Ferrus hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times, 1.042 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.709 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • Ferrus easily win.

• Ferrus VS Rogal Dorn
  • Dorn hits 2.667 times, wounds 1.481 times, 0.494 wounds after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.16 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • Ferrus hits 2.5 times, wounds 1.667 times, 0.833 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.5 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • Ferrus win.

• Ferrus VS Corvus Corax
  • Corvus hits 4 times (Scourge)/3 times (Shadow-walk), wounds 2.222 times (Scourge)/1.667 times (Shadow-walk), 0.741 wounds (Scourge)/0.556 wounds (Shadow-walk) after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.408/0.222 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • Ferrus hits 2.5/1.667 times, wounds 2.083/1.389 times, 1.389/0.926 wounds after saves and 1.056/0.592 wounds after IWND.
  • Ferrus win.
  • Note: if Corax can pull off his tactics of Hit & Run he can close the gap, doing a lot more damage on the charge, but Ferrus' Hammer has Concussive AND Strikedown, and even if Corax use Shadowalk there is a 93% chance he will receive at least one wound, making it almost impossible to rely on this tactics and assuring Ferrus victory.

• Ferrus VS Roboute Guilliman
  • Guilliman Round 1: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times (Hand), 0.694 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.361 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • Guilliman Round 2 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.778 times, 0.926 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.593 wounds at the start of the next turn.
  • Ferrus: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times, 0.542 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.208 at the start of the next turn.
  • Ferrus lose this fight. (OUR SPIRITUAL LIEGE ALWAYS WINS)

• Ferrus VS Leman Russ
  • Ferrus Round 1: Hits 1.33 times, wounds 1.11 times, saves take that down to 0.555 and IWND brings it down to 0.366.
  • Ferrus Round 2: Hits 0.666 times, wounds 0.555 times, saves bring it down to 0.2777 wounds and IWND brings it down to 0.1833.
  • Leman: Hits 4.667 times, wounds 2.068, saves bring it down to 0.6827 and IWND brings it down to 0.45604
  • A long as hell fight, since Ferrus' high saves make him very hard for Leman to damage, but at the end of the day, his complete inability to damage Leman (after round 2, every wound takes upwards of 5 rounds due to his needing 6s to hit) means that Leman will eventually win. This isn't including Sever Life however, but while Ferrus' is more resistant to it than most (due to T7), it will add on to the damage which means he'll go down faster.

• Ferrus VS Jaghatai
  • Jaghatai: hits 4 times, wounds 1.333 times and 0.444 after saves which IWND will take down to 0.111 at the start of next turn
  • Ferrus: hits 2 times with Forgbreaker and 0.5 times with his Servo Arm, wounds 1.666 times and 0.333 respectively which after saves becomes a **total of 0.666 wounds after saves which IWND will take down to 0.333 wounds at the start of next turn
  • Ferrus outdamages Khan with despite having fewer attacks and so wins, but like Morty takes a long time about it.

• TLDR version: Ferrus is a really tough Primarch that, thanks to his sheer resilience and high strength attack can put up a good fight against any other Primarch, being even capable of taking down the big melee monster that is Angron.

2E

Pts	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
465	8	7	6	7	7	6	6	6	10	2+/3++

In 2.0, Ferrus functions in a pretty similar way to how he did in 1E, but with a few differences. His T7 stacks with the Iron Hands Legion Trait giving him immunity to S4 or lower ranged attacks, and his Initiative and Attack stats have both increased to 6, making him a bit more "fighty" and harder to Tarpit. He can now fire all of his three guns thanks to Firing Protocals(3) (Grenade Harnesses don't shoot stuff anymore) making him of of the better ranged Priamrchs. His Graviton gun has been replaced with a Master-Crafted Graviton Shredder, and his Plasma Blaster has also gained Master-Crafted (but not his Heavy Flamer since it wouldn't effect it). His Warlord trait Sire of the Iron Hands has rolled some of his old rules into a single one giving all Iron Hands Infantry a FNP(6+) and now all Iron Hands Vehicles gain It will not die(5+), which stacks with the Iron Hands Legion trait to become It will not die(4+) on all Iron Hands Vehicles. Both of these rules make Ferrus a great force multiplier in a mechanised army. Sire of the Iron hands also grants his army an additional reaction during the assault phase while he's still alive.

The Medusan Carapace still give him a 2+ armour save and a 3++ invuln save, but it no longer has an inbuilt Nuncio Vox. Ferrus also has the Heavy Sub-type meaning he can re-roll his armour save against Blast weapons, but he can't run and reduces his Initiative by -1 when making movement reactions, so he is probably the slowest Primarch in the game now. Rounding off his rules he has Battlesmith(2+) which he can potentially use 3 times a turn thanks to Firing Protocols(3) and his Servo arm gives him an extra S8, AP2 attack.

But the true standout is Forge Breaker, as Fulgrim clearly put as much blood, sweat and other bodily fluids into making it this time round. It is one of the best Primarch weapons in the whole game. It's now a flat S12 with AP1, and while it's lost Strikedown, it's gain Master-Crafted, Exoshock(3+) allowing Ferrus to easily take vehicles apart. But the most savage improvement is it now has Brutal(3), which throws most fights against just about anything in Ferrus' favour since each time he wounds someone (not hard considering the hammer he's swinging) he will inflict 3 wounds on them.

Ferrus is a great Priamrch in 2.0 as he still makes the Iron Hands even better at what they do what they do best, with the bonus of getting a truly destructive beat stick at the same time. His play style is fittingly, pretty blunt and direct. Step 1; Bring him to buff all your infantry and tanks. Step 2: Drive him, and his chosen kill squad, right up the arse of your opponents army and sodomise it into victory. He's not fussy about what he fights as most things are fair game thanks to Forge Breaker. Knights, Tech-Priest Domini, and most of the other Primarchs are all well within Ferrus' capability to kill this edition (with a few exceptions). Obviously bringing a 465 point model just to kill the enemy warlord/lord of war is a bit of a waste, so a smart player would also make the most out of his Warlord trait and bring a bunch of Infantry and Tanks to really get the most out of Sire of the Iron Hands to really get the most out of what he can offer.

Ferrus Manus vs the other Primarchs: Round 2

Primarch fighting has significantly changed in the new edition. The sweeping changes to the Weapon Skill system really put those with lower scores at a huge disadvantage. While the changes to universal special rules mean that characters can often bring more attacks (like with Rage and Rampage) or newer tricks (Brutal) to the table that they never could before.

This means that Primarch vs Primarch fighting is more likely to actually resolve itself within the duration of the game, rather than taking turns whittling off small numbers from each other.

Also, because Overwatch Reactions are now done at full ballistic skill, shooting will likely play a more significant role. However, for the sake of brevity, there should be no need to include them unless they make a meaningful difference to the outcome.

Ferrus v. The Lion

• Lion with the Lion Sword & Deathwing subtype (hits on MC 2+): 5.97 hits, 4.97 wounds, 1.65 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 1.32 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.
  • Lions Choler (+1 attack): 6.81 hits, 5.67 wounds, 1.89 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 1.56 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.
  • Lions Choler (+2 attacks): 7.64 hits, 6.37 wounds, 2.12 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 1.79 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.
• Ferrus Manus (hits on MC 5+): 2.22 hits, 1.85 wounds, 2.52 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 2.19 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.

Ferrus wins- not even close, not at any point. With a 3++ save and Brutal(3) hammer, even with the disadvantage of lower WS, those hits that do land will multiply into so many saves that the Lion can't do much about it.

The Lion Sword negates Feel No Pain, so it hasn't been included.

If the Lion uses the Wolf Blade and can trigger Reaping Blow, his potential does actually outstrip the Lion Sword, starting out at 1.91 unsaved wounds for 9 attacks, then increased to 2.12 and 2.32 for Lions Choler. While his damage output is still lower than Ferrus, he can actually win the fight because he has higher initiative, and can total enough damage to kill the Primarch of the Iron Hands before Forgebreaker hits him in the third round.

Ferrus v. Fulgrim

• Fulgrim with the Laer Blade (Initiative 9, +3 attacks, hits on MC 3+): 6.2 hits, 5.17 wounds, 1.72 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 1.38 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.
  • Fulgrim charging with the Laer Blade (Initiative 9, +4 attacks, hits on MC 3+): 6.87 hits, 5.73 wounds, 1.91 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 1.57 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.
• Ferrus Manus with Forgebreaker (Hits on MC 5+): 2.22 hits, 1.85 wounds, 1.85 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 1.51 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.

Ferrus Manus wins by a little.

Ferrus v. Perturabo

• Ferrus Manus with Forgebreaker (Hits on MC 4+): 3.25 hits, 2.71 wounds, 4.07 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 3.74 at the end of the turn after IWND.
• Perturabo with the Logos Array (Hits on 4+): 3 hits, 1.5 wounds, 0.5 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 0.17 after IWND.

Fucking yikes. Ferrus Manus wins, and it's a landslide.

Ferrus v. The Khan

• The Khan with the White Tiger Dao (Hits on MC 4+): 3.75 hits, 1.88 wounds, 0.63 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 0.3 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.
  • The Khan Charging with the White Tiger Dao (Hits on MC 4+): 4.25 hits, 3.54 wounds, 1.18 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 0.85 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.
• Ferrus Manus with Forgebreaker (Hits on MC 4+): 3.25 hits, 2.71 wounds, 2.71 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 2.38 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.

Ferrus Manus wins.

Ferrus v. Russ

• Russ with the Sword of Balenight: 5.55 hits, 3.70 wounds (doubled before saves), 2.46 unsaved wounds, subtract which is reduced to 2.13 at the end of the next turn thanks to IWND.
  • Russ charging with the Sword of Balenight: 6.22 hits, 5.18 wounds (doubled before saves), 3.45 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 3.22 at the end of the next turn thanks to IWND.
  • Russ using Counter-Attack the Sword of Balenight: 6.88 hits, 4.59 wounds (doubled before saves), 3.06 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 2.72 at the end of the next turn thanks to IWND.
• Ferrus Manus: 2.56 hits, 2.13 wounds (tripled before saves), + 0.28 servo-arm wounds, 3.34 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 3.01 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND
  • Ferrus Manus charging: 2.89 hits, 2.41 wounds (tripled before saves), + 0.28 servo-arm wounds, 3.76 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 3.43 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.
  • Ferrus Manus on any turn where Russ has charged (hits on 6+): 1.31 hits, 1.09 wounds (tripled before saves), + 0.14 servo-arm wounds, 1.71 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 1.38 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.

Whoever charges wins.

Ferrus v. Dorn

• Rogal Dorn with Storm’s Teeth (Hits on 3+): 4 hits, 3.89 wounds, 1.30 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 0.96 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.
  • Reaping Blow (+2 attacks): 5.33 hits, 4.74 wounds, 1.58 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 1.25 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.
• Ferrus Manus with Forgebreaker (Hits on MC 5+): 2.56 hits, 1.28 wounds, + 0.16 servo-arm wounds, 2.01 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 1.68 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.

Ferrus Manus wins.

With Reaping Blow, it's a tie.

Ferrus v. Curze

• Curze with Mercy and Forgiveness (Hits on 3+): 5.33 hits, 2.96 wounds, 0.99 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 0.66 at the end of the turn due to IWND.
  • Curze charging with Mercy and Forgiveness (Hits on 3+): 6 hits, 3.33 wounds, 1.11 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 0.78 at the end of the turn due to IWND.
• Ferrus Manus with Forgebreaker (Hits on MC 5+): 2.22 hits, 1.85 wounds, 2.78 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 2.45 at the end of the turn due to IWND.

Once again, Brutal (3) manages to take Ferrus Manus to victory.

Ferrus v. Sanguinius

• Sanguinius with the Blade Encarmine (Hits on MC 3+): 4.22 hits, 3.16 wounds, 1.05 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 0.72 at the end of the turn due to IWND.
  • Sanguinius charging with the Blade Encarmine (Hits on MC 3+): 5.56 hits, 4.17 wounds, 1.39 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 1.06 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.
• Ferrus Manus with Forgebreaker (Hits on MC 5+): 2.22 hits, 1.85 wounds, 2.78 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 2.45 at the end of the turn due to IWND.
  • Ferrus Manus with Forgebreaker (vs. charging Sanguinius, hits on MC 5+): 2.22 hits, 1.85 wounds, 1.38 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 1.05 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.

Ferrus Manus wins.

Ferrus v. Angron

Ferrus v. Guilliman

• Ferrus Manus with Forgebreaker (Hits on MC 4+): 3.25 hits, 2.71 wounds, 3.82 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 3.49 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.
• Guilliman with the Hand of Dominion (Hits on MC 4+): 3.75 hits, 3.13 wounds, 2.08 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 1.75 at the end of the turn due to IWND.

Ferrus Manus wins. Guilliman got out-Brutaled.

Ferrus v. Mortarion

Ferrus v. Magnus

Ferrus v. Horus

• Ferrus with Forgebreaker (Hits on MC 5+): 2.56 hits, 2.13 wounds + 0.22 servo-arm wounds, 2.20 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 1.87 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.
• Horus with Worldbreaker (Hits on MC 3+): 4.89 hits, 4.08 wounds, 2.72 unsaved wounds, which is reduced to 2.39 at the end of the turn thanks to IWND.

Horus wins.

Ferrus v. Lorgar

Ferrus v. Vulkan

Ferrus v. Corax

Ferrus v. Alpharius

Gallery

• 

  During the Great Crusade

• 

  By Stephen Sykes

• 

  You are weeeeaaaaaak, Cooooorvuuuuuuuuuus...

• 

The Primarchs of the Space Marine Legions
Loyalist Corvus Corax - Ferrus Manus - Jaghatai Khan Leman Russ - Lion El'Jonson - Roboute Guilliman Rogal Dorn - Sanguinius - Vulkan
Traitor Alpharius/Omegon - Angron - Fulgrim Horus - Konrad Curze/Night Haunter - Lorgar Magnus the Red - Mortarion - Perturabo