Fafnir Rann
Fafnir Rann was a Lord Seneschal and captain of the First Assault Cadre of the Imperial Fists during the Battle of Phall and subsequent Siege of Terra, along with becoming the eventual first High Executioner of the Executioners chapter during the 3rd Founding.
Youth
Fafnir was born on Inwit, and found near the River of Life. The Rann took him in, due to his real mum being dead and his adoptive one wanting a kid. As a youth, Fafnir was taught how to cook, sew (yes sew clothes) and most importantly, fight. Fafnir was raised as the champion of House Rann, with the belief that it was his destiny to fight against the champion of House Dorn. Yes, as in Rogal's grandfather. Then, in his early to mid-puberty, his fate was changed by two things. First was the coming of House Dorn's champion, an unstoppable giant of a man who seemed destined to conquer all Inwit. Then came the arrival of the Emperor and his fleets, meaning Inwit changed, a lot. Fafnir was amongst the natives who joined the Imperial Fists. He joined the legion at the same time as Sigismund and they went through training together, forging a bond of brotherhood that would serve both men in good stead throughout their careers.
Crusade and Heresy
Not much can be said of Fafnir during the Crusade, though presumably he served with honor given his high rank by the time of the Heresy.
By the Battle of Phall, he had command of the battle-barge Blade of Perdition, which would eventually be seen with the Executioners fleet during the Badab War. He had taken the rank of Lord Seneschal, the presumed equivalent of a Centurion, and the captaincy of the First Assault Cadre. He survived this battle.
During the Battle of Pluto, he commanded Persephone, one of the Three Sisters of Spite frigates. In the Solar War, he saved Sigismund like a total bro.
At the Siege proper, he commanded the defences of the Lion's Gate space port, doing an admirable job, with even Dorn claiming that the defence had lasted longer than he had anticipated. He also battled Warsmith Kroeger of the Iron Warriors, but neither managed to kill the other. He later worked alongside Sanguinius.
Personality and other notes
Fafnir is shown to be a loyal friend and warrior, such as when he steps in to save Sigismund from Aximand. He was also shown to be a little more human than one would expect of a cross between a World Eater and Imperial Fist. During his recollections of Inwit and the lieutenant-commander of the Lion's Gate, a Terran-born Fist named Haegar, he speaks of Inwit with fondness, much to the annoyance of the other hundred Fists with him at the time, indicating he likes to run his mouth a lot. He is also shown to be a decent commander, since Dorn entrusted him with defending the Lion's Gate. He held the Gate longer than anyone had expected and even sallied out in a well organised counter-attack, much to the shock of the Iron Warriors. However, whilst he is a good commander and warrior, he still gets beaten by Kroeger of the Trident, though still managing to wound his opposite. His eventual fate after founding the Executioners is currently unknown.
In short, Fafnir is a surprisingly bro tier if not a bit kill happy commander, whose near jovial personality handily subverts the conception of the rigid detached stoicism that encapsulates much of the Imperial Fists.
Tabletop
Horus Heresy 1.0
| Pts | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld | Sv | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fafnir Rann | 200 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 2+ |
Rann is one of the first plastic characters released for the Heresy tabletop, and he got a bitchin' model with rules to match. He's a 200-point hardened artificer armour praetor with an iron halo and the option of a teleportation transponder for +10 points. He also has some very spicy rules. Firstly, there's the Executioner's Tax: any time an enemy unit charges Rann or a unit to which he's attached, it suffers d3+3 Str 5 autohits at Initiative 10. His warlord trait gives Rann and all Breacher + Phalanx Warder units in the detachment +1WS on the charge, as well as allowing a single squad of the latter to be taken as a troops choice. When the axeman cometh to combat he can choose to use his Initiative 5 axe(s) in one of two ways: a single axe with his boarding shield as a Str+2 AP2 specialist master crafted weapon with -1 Str to incoming hits on himself (suck it power fists, no Instant Death for you) or he can use both axes with no shield as a Str+1 two-handed option without the -1 to incoming hits but gaining Rampage for outnumbered fights. Rann seems like a solid close-quarters praetor option, but sticking him with Phalanx Warders like his rules want you to do may be tricky unless playing the Hammerfall Strikeforce RoW (but why would you), as the minimum squad size means he would only be able to join in a Spartan. A better option would be to pay for the teleport transponder and deep-strike him with some shield-toting Tartaros Terminators so he can get started collecting skulls for the Sku--uh, the Emperor. Or perhaps Huscarls if you don't want to sweep (though with the -1 to run charge and sweep from hardened armour this may not be much of a problem anyway).
Horus Heresy 2.0
The Stone Gauntlet Rite of War has its master in this edition, and he has a magnificent beard. With the same statline of a Praetor, for 55pts more, you get Hammer of Wrath (1), Shield Master, which reduce the Strength of incoming melee attacks by -1 (to a minimum of 1) as long as he is using his Boarding Shield (see below), and Executioner's Tax, a reversed HoW that hits any enemy unit that charge him or his unit with D3+3 S5 AP- auto-hit attacks. In combat, you can use one of or both his Master Crafted axes, The Headsman and The Hunter. "Single axe" lets you use your shield, and hits at S+2 AP2. "Twinned axe" does NOT let you use your shield, and hits at S+1 AP2 with Rampage (2) and Two-Handed. The twinned axe stance is obviously here to mop up numerous "weak" enemies, like Assault or Despoiler squads. The single axe is for "elites"; you hit with more strength, so easier wound roll, and you are protected against the inevitable counterattack. Rann is thus a versatile and killy character, especially if you put him in a squad of Phalanx Warders like his rules are all but telling you to do. His Warlord Trait, The Unbroken Wall, gives him and Breacher/Phalanx squads from your army WS+1 on any turn they charged, and now grants an extra reaction during your opponent's assault phase, meaning that Phalanx squads have virtually always WS+1 on the first round of combat, thanks to their Lock Step ability. In case you did not understand, if you are using him without "The Stone Gauntlet" RoW, you are using him wrong.