With Angron bearing down on the defenders of Malakbael this Saturday, and word of his awesome destructive power spreading through the ranks, many have begun wondering whether anything in the galaxy could possibly stand up to his might. Here at Warhammer Community, we’d also like to know – and we have the distinct advantage of holding his rules in our hands.
Without further ado, let’s gather up the top dogs from the Warhammer 40,000 duelling scene for a showdown with this very angry newcomer. Some of them have already performed against other powerful foes, so how will they stack up against the Daemon Primarch of Khorne?
The Rules
Angron’s massive 16” movement range means few foes can get close enough to charge before he hits them first, so we gave him the first turn in combat in exchange for enemies getting a round of shooting at him.
Angron vs The Avatar of Khaine
The Avatar of Khaine had a serious winning streak cut short by Mortarion last time he threw down at the Warhammer Community thunderdome, but will he find better luck against Khorne’s chosen champion? Unfortunately, The Wailing Doom only has a 12” range – too little to reach the Daemon Primarch before he’s within reach.
The Red Angel didn’t earn his fearsome reputation through strength alone – he’s also a cunning fighter. Knowing that the Avatar’s Molten Form would halve the damage of any attacks it suffered, Angron opted instead for sheer volume and buried the Aeldari construct under 39* blows from his Bloodletting Sweep. Thanks to re-rolls from Lord of the Arena, only two missed, and the Avatar suffered a massive 28 wounds.
Despite a 4+ invulnerable save to fall back on, the Avatar of Khaine only managed to succeed the average number of times, and halving damage is no use against 1 Damage attacks. This round of the murder-rivalry between Khorne and Khaine goes to Angron.
Angron vs Knight Gallant
We’ve already seen him beat Titanic vehicles, so Angron was only too happy to pick a fight with the Imperial Knight that specialises in close combat, the Knight Gallant. Its ferocious damage output would likely seriously wound the Primarch, so this bout was a race against time.
The Gallant’s Stormspear rocket pod peppered Angron, dealing 2 damage, before he hit back with all 13 Attacks. Despite the toughness of the Questoris-class chassis, this ancient machine lacks an invulnerable save in close combat, and the Knight Gallant ate a whopping 43 damage – almost enough to kill it twice over.
Unarmed Angron vs Keeper of Secrets
As the story goes, Angron forged his sword Samni’arius from an unworked iron bar that he beat an offending Keeper of Secrets to death with – which sounds like a great idea for an historical rematch. Can he repeat the feat without the benefit of his weapons, striking only with his bare hands?
The Keeper of Secrets is one of the few beings able to keep up with Angron in movement, so we rolled to see who got the first turn. Angron won, clobbering the daemon for 9 damage thanks to its relatively low Daemon Save in close combat. It struck back with the witstealer sword, nicking the Red Angel for 6 damage before its ritual knife dealt an extra mortal wound at the end of the phase – a significant wound on Angron’s pride.
The second round began with another rain of big red fists, hitting with 11 and wounding with just six due to the ongoing effects of the witstealer sword. Luckily, all six made it past the daemon’s saves, leaving it on just five Wounds remaining – enough to blunt its otherwise effective return blows. Angron took another three damage in return, not enough to save the Keeper of Secrets in round three.
Angron vs His Weight in Guardsmen
Sometimes quantity can overcome quality – a time-honoured tactic in the ranks of the Astra Militarum. In light of this, we loaded up a table with as many Guardsmen as we could muster for the equivalent points value, and let them shoot their shot.
It went about as well as you’d expect. While massed infantry have many uses – capturing objectives and burying opposing light infantry under lasgun fire – 50 Guardsmen packing lascannons and plasma guns aplenty still couldn’t put out the weight of fire needed to stop the Primarch in his tracks. They shaved off a respectable eight wounds, but with 39 attacks from Angron’s Bloodletting Sweep coming their way, they didn’t really stand a chance once Spinegrinder revved up.
Angron vs Khorne Lord of Skulls
Next was a scrap with the other building-sized, axe-wielding death machine in Codex: World Eaters – the Khorne Lord of Skulls. This titanic daemon engine mounts a blistering array of firepower in addition to its great cleaver, and it would need it all to prevail against Angron’s so-far spotless track record.
A volley from its gorestorm cannon and hades gatling cannon smashes Angron for 11 damage, leaving the Daemon Primarch on the back foot with less Movement.** Luckily he successfully makes his charge, getting to work with his Skull-taking Slash and carving deep into the Lord of Skulls. Like the Knight Gallant before it, the titanic machine’s lack of an invulnerable save proved its downfall, and the Lord of Skulls explodes under the weight of 35 total damage.
Angron vs Mortarion
Brother versus brother! A showdown for the ages! If Angron is the unstoppable force, his fellow Daemon Primarch Mortarion is the immovable object, and any confrontation between the two was bound to be an absolute bloodbath. Appropriately, we made full use of Stratagems for this clash.
Mortarion’s Lantern pistol isn’t in range to begin with, but to Angron’s fury, the Primarch of the Death Guard has psychic powers to use first. A successful Miasma of Pestilence is blunted by the World Eaters’ Scorn of Sorcery Stratagem, which denies a psychic power on a roll of 4+, though Gift of Contagion still saps strength from the Red Angel’s arms.
The fight begins with 12 hits from Angron, scoring nine wounds, though only four make it through his brother’s invulnerable save. Though he rolls well for damage – 22 wounds in total – the combination of Mortarion’s Disgustingly Resilient rule and Revoltingly Resilient Warlord Trait reduce it to just 12. The Pale King swings back with his scythe Silence and hits five times, wounding with all five,*** and dealing 15 damage in return.
The second round begins with Mortarion taking a shot with the Lantern that glances harmlessly from Angron’s armour, while a cast of Smite strips two more wounds from his fellow Primarch. The attacks that follow are unfortunately enough to put an end to our hero, crowning Mortarion as this duel’s victor… but for how long?
Angron’s newfound resistance to banishing and the regenerative powers of the Blood Tithe we saw in his recent Battle Report would allow him to return again and again, while Mortarion only needs to die once. Has the Daemon Primarch of Nurgle won the battle, and lost the war?
There you have it – conclusive proof of the utterly incredible damage this mountain of rage and muscle can put out. You’ll be able to add Angron to your own World Eaters army when he comes to pre-orders this Saturday alongside Codex: World Eaters, new Khorne Berzerkers, and a lot more – sign up to our newsletter to keep abreast of the incoming releases.
* The World Eaters’ Relentless Rage rule gives him an extra point of Strength and Attacks when he charges.
** Movement and Attacks are the only thing Angron loses as he takes damage in combat.
*** A combination of Nurgle’s Rot, plague weapon re-rolls, and his own massive strength make it a doddle.