Stone and Iron: Perturabo as Mister Rogers

[Brother Lunkhead]

Greetings Brothers and Sisters,

 

Just finished listening to Robbie MacNiven's most excellent audio drama, 'Stone and Iron: A Perturabo Story'. Here we have the Primarch of the Iron Warriors (one of my favorite lost sons legions) leading the 33rd Grand Battalion, newly raised and seeing battle for the first time along side the Imperial Fists (one of my favorite loyal sons legions).

 

Here we get to see a different side of Perturabo, not just leader of the IV Legion and master of siege-craft, but teacher. It's a Mister Rogers moment.... sort of. Okay, terminator armour instead of a sweater and sneakers, and of course more murderous and hard hearted than Fred Rogers, but I think you get my point 

 

I recommend this as a fun HH listen and a great intro to anyone unfamiliar with Perturabo and the Iron Warriors. Well done RobMac 

 

So..... what did you think of this audio short?

[Roomsky]

My favorite piece thus far from the good RobMac. Really goes to show how much of a character's essence you can convey in so short a stretch, and it, alongside A Lesson in Darkness, are a welcome reminder that Primarchs can be written well by authors outside of the usual associations (Mcneill and French for Pert, ADB for Curze). 

[Brother Lunkhead]

Brother Roomsky, true words on all fronts 

[Marshal Rohr]

Did the story go into the origins of the Fist/Warrior rivalry at all?

[RobMac]

Thanks folks! I must admit I felt a lot of pressure going into this one, what with it being my first 30k story, plus Pert being one of my favourite Primarchs. Glad you enjoyed. 

 

Fun fact, the techmarine from Stone and Iron, Ferrix (no relation to McNeill's Forrix...) also stars in the 40k short story Blood and Iron. 

[Brother Lunkhead]

RobMac: thanks for the great story and thanks for the heads-up on Ferrix.

 

Marshal Rohr: not specifically, but Perturabo does talk about it and ...... well I won't spoil anything. The story is only about 20mins long and only costs a few coins.... well worth the purchase 

[Manchu warlord]

Speaking of the rivalry between Bo and Rogal, I was hoping it would be covered in the Rogal Dorn Pirmarch book. 

Just my idea, I think it would be cool if the book were to be written in the way how Rogal explains (to somebody, I don't know, Archmus maybe, or even Solomon Voss) his first encounter with Bo...  And it ends badly. 

[Marshal Rohr]

Awesome! Definitely will be grabbing it. I also think the origins of the rivalry might be a good story, but then again so much mystery is lost an unexplained event lost to time feels like it has more gravitas. I didn’t always think it would be cool if Dorn and Perturabo had a strong initial professional bond that the other Primarchs and Emperor would force a wedge between. Like if Dorn took up for Perturabo after the deciminations in the name

Of Primarchs sovereignty over there legion or something. Could be a cool inversion of the trope of never like each other because you have the same hobbies.

[Brother Lunkhead]

I would definitely like to see the origins of the rivalry between Rogal and Pert..... RobMac ...... I'm sure you're up to the challenge (just add it to your 'to do' list ).  I don't think this is one of those scenarios that would cause any spoilage, like...... revealing the story of the missing Primarchs (that's the kind of mystery that should stay a mystery imho).

 

I imagine the rivalry having something to do with Dorn being somewhat stubborn and inflexible and Perturabo being very cold, calculating, and suspicious.

[Brother Lunkhead]

At this point I'd like to open the floor for discussion without fear of spoiling the story for anyone who hasn't listened to 'Stone and Iron' yet. By that I mean go listen to it or be ready to be spoiled. I do not think we should "hide" any of the discussion at this point, otherwise we'll end up hiding just about all of it. If you feel more comfortable hiding your discussion text, you are welcome to do so.

 

As a suggestion to get things going, some areas of interest are:

 

• Perturabo as teacher
• How the Iron Hands and Imperial Fists view each other within the context of the story
• Does Perturabo respect the Imperial Fists
• What kind of relationship does Perturabo have with his sons

There are really no new revelations in 'Stone and Iron', but for such a brief story there is a surprising amount of depth. RobMac shows real talent as a story teller with this one. Aaand speaking of RobMac, if you are still lurking about I'd be interested to hear anything you might have to say on the development of this story I understand how busy you are, so if you don't have the time, I completely understand ..... ..... 

 

As a general guideline, let's keep the discussion focused on this story and not stray too far.

 

LAST WARNING to any one who hasn't listened to 'Stone and Iron' from here on BEWARE: THERE BE DRAGONS (i.e. spoilers). The floor is open.

[Manchu warlord]

I have not listened to it yet, but I am only too eager for spoilers... Bring them on!

 

 

 

Aaand speaking of RobMac, if you are still lurking about[...] ..... .....

 

 

Is that really Sar Mac?

[Brother Lunkhead]

Brother Manchu, you are more than welcome at the table Feel free to chime in with your thoughts....and yes, it's the man himself.

[RobMac]

I've actually done two podcast interviews that include a fair bit about the thought processes of Stone and Iron, one on Combat Phase (my bit starts at 1: 07) and one for Edge of Empire (at 1:33). To summarise some of their content, I wanted to tell a "classic" Iron Warriors story, which meant including the Fists, but didn't want it to be something predictable like "Perturabo goes on about how much he hates the Fists." Instead we see his subordinates assuming that's his attitude and trying to play to it in order to gain favour, when in fact the Primarch's feelings are much more nuanced. 

[Manchu warlord]

I just realized something...  Stone and Iron.  Stone, stein; iron, eisen...  Steineisen... Eisenstein.

[Brother Lunkhead]

I just realized something...  Stone and Iron.  Stone, stein; iron, eisen...  Steineisen... Eisenstein.

 

Hmmmm ........veerrry interesting...... Six degrees of Horus Heresy?

[Manchu warlord]

 

I just realized something...  Stone and Iron.  Stone, stein; iron, eisen...  Steineisen... Eisenstein.

 

Hmmmm ........veerrry interesting

 

I do not wish to derail the topic of this thread, but I couldn't tell if you were being sarcastic when you said it was "interesting".  Were you?  

[Brother Lunkhead]

Yes..... Interesting No...... Sarcastic ....... meaning, I wasn't being sarcastic.

[Manchu warlord]

I feel like I should say something, but don't know what.  So here is something...  Does this audio drama feature any important and prominent characters, aside from the Bo and Dorn?

[Moonreaper666]

I have two ideas:

 

-Perturabo's reaction to the Fists Exemplar joining the Iron Warriors

 

-Honsou meeting with Perturabo

[Brother Lunkhead]

@Manchu warlord - Bo is the only major character featured..... well you might consider Ferrix a major character, considering he's the star of the short story "Blood and Iron", a 40k Iron Warriors tale. It was interesting to see Ferrix as a young pre-Heresy Techmarine (I believe he's a Warsmith in B and I).

 

@Moonreaper666 - Interesting ideas for sure . I think you should make a post (I'd participate), but they don't really have anything to do with "Stone and Iron".

 

I was of course partially joking when I compared Perturabo to Mister Rogers, but partially not. This story is rather different in that the battle with the Orks is background for the story and not the story itself. This is really about Perturabo, the wise teacher. Here we see him taking time to observe the workings of the Imperial Fists in their strong role of defensive warfare. He is very complimentary of the IF and critical of his own sons for not appreciating their strengths. He's still the same  calculating and harsh Bo that we all love, but also reflective and honest with his observations, and fair with his praise and criticism.

 

Although this story takes place before the rift between the IW's and the IF's, one can see that it wouldn't necessarily take any one major incident to create it. Bo's little field trip teaching moment cost the IF company dearly, over 50 percent casualties dearly. A couple of incidents like this and I wouldn't want to play with Pert and his boys either.

 

Perturabo's method of warfare is calculating and brutal. The demand on his Asartes, allies and equipment is tremendous. It stagers the imagination to think about the mass of resources available to the crusade to support these kinds of operations.

 

Anyone else have observations and thoughts concerning "Stone and Iron"?

 

EDIT: Thanks to RobMac for linking two of his podcast interviews. Anyone who hasn't listened should check them out. Definitely worth your time

 

Many of you may not be familiar with my reference to Mister Rogers. Fred Rogers was the long time host and creator of the much beloved American children's television show, 'Mister Rogers Neighborhood' . It's had long lasting cultural impact on Amercan public television and education. It also spawned a nifty SNL spoof, "Mister Robinson's Neighborhood"

[RobMac]

The Mister Rogers connection did make me giggle, someone needs to photoshop Bo with his head 

[Manchu warlord]

Since the Orks are the main nemesis in the background.  Are their many mentions of Bo being able to speak Orkish?  

 

I might be the only human being alive that remembers, but in Angel Exterminatus, Bo reveals that he can speak fluent Orkish (or at least one of its dialect).

[Brother Lunkhead]

@Manchu warlord - I almost forgot about Bo's knowledge of Ork-speak.... good memory! Sadly , no mention of this is made in the story. But, to be fair, it's really not pertinent. The battle is really just background, and the Ork bashing is brief and brutal, with no time for chatting.

[RobMac]

In all honesty I also forgot he had that skill, I'll definitely make use of that if I ever get to write him again. 

[Manchu warlord]

The Mister Rogers connection did make me giggle, someone needs to photoshop Bo with his head 

 

... I tried.