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'''<big>THEY ALL DIE. EVERY. LAST. ONE. OF. THEM.</big>'''
'''<big>THEY ALL DIE. EVERY. LAST. ONE. OF. THEM.</big>'''
Well...except Horus...probably. The problem with the original Mathhammer for the Horus vs Lemon match up is that it was done linearly; worked it out that Horus only does 0.88 wounds (not 1) in the first round of combat, which means there is a 0% chance that Disabling Strike will go off, so Leman is at full power for the second round. The problem with this is that it's not 0.88 wounds, it's an 88% chance of 1 wound; which means there is also an 88% chance that DS will go off first turn; which means it goes off a lot more times than it doesn't. The math issue also applies in later rounds, where they work out that a second DS will go off in round 4 (affecting Leman in round 5), but in reality there's a 44% chance that it could go off again in 2nd round, and another 44% chance in round 3 before you even hit round 4. This completely flips the combat on its head, because as soon as Horus does 2 Disabling Strikes, he severely out-damages Leman, and so long as he isn't really low on wounds, Horus almost guaranteed to win (because 2 DS's mean that Horus goes back to having an 88% chance to DS again, which means he can just keep nerfing the opponent down until they just can't hurt him, this is how he wins every other Primarch battle).... So the whole combat hinges on when Horus's Disabling Strikes go off.


Sever Life on The Sword of Balenight is the real kicker here. <s>Because Russ' sword triggers '''Sever Life''' [[Rape|before saves]], he can put an outright frightening amount of saves on high-wound models. And since most primarchs only have a 4++, they tend to die in short order.</s> This is a subject of some debate (see above). So if you want to add the damage for Sever Life, here's the results:
Sever Life on The Sword of Balenight is the real kicker here. <s>Because Russ' sword triggers '''Sever Life''' [[Rape|before saves]], he can put an outright frightening amount of saves on high-wound models. And since most primarchs only have a 4++, they tend to die in short order.</s> This is a subject of some debate (see above). So if you want to add the damage for Sever Life, here's the results:

Revision as of 14:53, 5 April 2017

"I am the punishment of God...If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.”
-Genghis Khan.

"Let me live deep while I live; let me know the rich juices of red meat and stinging wine on my palate, the hot embrace of white arms, the mad exultation of battle when the blue blades flame and crimson, and I am content. Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content."
- Conan the Barbarian

"NEEERRRRD."
- Leman Russ

My hand is fire, my hair is rage, my pauldrons are justice and my cock is wolf. Prepare to die!

Leman Russ, not to be confused with the tank bearing his name, is the primarch of the Space Wolves legion. A superhuman nordic king with a warrior's crude humor and a stubborn streak a mile wide. He was such a hard headed son of a bitch, that he's survived extended fights with Angron, Magnus, The Lion, and even the Emperor himself. General all-around badass deserving of much respect, but superstitious and flawed, with a serious inability to see things from other's points of view. He's blonde underneath all the blood.

Origins

When the Primarchs were lost, Leman's capsule landed on Fenris, a harsh planet of insane violence that the Norse gods shit out after a three day meth fueled orgy with a tyranid hive fleet. The locals there enjoy a life of fishing, drinking, sailing, fucking, pillaging and conquering other tribes of people for the modest little islands they all have to live on. Granted, it's also usually a very short life, because they're sharing the world with trolls, yetis, wolves the size of horses, bears the size of a house, whales that kill for fun, and krakens, which are to a squid as a Hierophant is to a Hormagaunt.

So it was that little baby Russ left his capsule in the polar mountain region of Asaheim. There, some monstrous female wolf found him and said to herself "I WANT!". So Russ was raised by a dire wolf In Spess. A few years pass, Russ growing up big and strong and hairy, having a grand old time running around the mountains and killing the sheep and such of the humans there with his wolf brothers. Eventually a king named Thengir heard of the Wolf-man, and decreed he be captured and brought to his hall. The mist of ages (and retcons) have hidden the details of Thengir's first meeting with Russ. Some stories would say that Russ was bound and gagged and dragged into the hall of the King Thengir after his Wolf family was slain, others claim a hunting party stumbled across his cave and kicked off a bloody melee in which a dozen hunters were killed, along with Russ's mother, after which the hunters somehow convinced Russ to stand down and come with them, a conversation that may or may not have included copious amounts of alcohol and whores. Thengir took a wondrous interest in Russ and ordered he be educated. In a short time, Russ was trash-talking every short bastard who dared look at him the wrong way, and had become insanely good with weaponry. When Thengir finally died, all declared that Leman of the Russ become the new high King.

The Next Step

Russ conquered and took. He bartered and traded. He united the people of Asaheim under his rule. Somehow, the Emprah heard of it and realized it all had to be the work of a Primarch. So then he attended a royal banquet in the Hall of the Mountain Ki- I mean Leman Russ. The Emprah, taking a leaf out of Odin's book, disguised himself as some old geezer, then waited until the right moment to reveal his true identity. When he did Russ refused to bow down and challenged him to several contests, he ate so much the Emprah was forced to back down. Russ drank so much the Emprah was forced to back down. By now, the Emprah was fairly surprised at finally being out-done by someone else, Russ gazed upon the Emperor and challenged him in combat, and so did the Emprah raise his Power Glove into the air for all to see, and so did he then bring it down on Leman Russ's head, knocking him the fuck out in one solid hit.

Of course fluff changes and a 1-hit KO wasn't very fulfilling, so the new lore arrived: After the Emperor revealed himself Leman Russ skipped the eating and drinking contests and just challenged the Emperor to a fight. For hours they dueled, which ended when the Emperor punched Russ square in the face, presumably he was pissy the Leman was waving his cock in his face by just straight up fighting him, (debatable as to whether or not he was in his full armour and actually had his Power Fist at the time), and when Russ awoke, he laughed it off. Presumably he did a lot better this time by virtue of not being drunk. Afterwards he ended up in command of the one Space Marine legion that knows how to eat, drink, brawl and make war upon any asshole that mocks their Thunderwolf.

Rumour has it that the Emp was so pleased with Russ' prowess, that he thereforth tasked him and the Space Wolves to be his executioners and it seems Russ is the reason the 2nd and 11th Legions no longer exist. So he has experience fucking up a Primarch, which is pretty goddamn manly. (Not confirmed by any sources and is not more than passing conversation in one Black Library novel, other than that, yeah totally definitely didn't kill the other legions. Also if you take how he acted with Angron and Magnus, he totally hated his job of being the executioner...and apparently thought Lorgar was a pretty cool guy).

(The novel "Betrayer" contradicts almost all of this. It has Russ taking it upon himself to school the World Eaters without Emp's blessing as he was disgusted by their behavior, it has Angron defeat Russ in single combat because only he was fighting to kill while Russ was trying to teach, it then ends with the Space Wolves entirely outmaneuvering the Eaters and winning a tactical victory by surrounding Angron. The Eaters believe they won due to a higher kill count and the Wolves leave disappointed that their legion brothers were too retarded to see the lesson Russ was teaching. Even Lorgar tells Angron that he was a complete tool on that night and would have been killed)

Apart from that, Russ and his Space Wolves had a goddamn good time during the Great Crusade, although it hasn't been written about so this is all we can guess. When that fag-ass Horus started whining and crying, Leman Russ and his Legion were on their way to Prospero to bring Magnus the Red to Terra for questioning. Horus intercepted the message and re-worded it to order Russ to destroy Magnus and his Thousand Sons. Russ and the Space Wolves carried out a class-10 clusterfucking on Prospero, to the point where Leman Russ himself lifted Magnus the Red over his shoulders and broke the sorcerer's back over his knee. But even so, the red bastard managed to utter one single word of power and escaped through the fucking ground. Russ was so enraged that he ordered the 13th company of Space Wolves to pursue the fleeing Thousand Sons through their pansy-ass portals.

Despite his reputation, fighting Magnus took a serious toll on Russ. He probably knew that it was a "fair fight" only because Magnus was devastated and held back his power, with which he would have easily won, being at least the third most powerful psyker humanity, and possibly the galaxy, had ever known.

Rumour has it, that during the battle between those two demigods Magnus, by psychic means, laid his heart and mind bare to Russ, revealing that he knew not only every blow that was coming from his brother, but everything that he had come to know, accepting his failure and his fate, which was defeat. (Source?)

This shook the Wolf King deeply. But of course, he decided to carry on. An Inquisitor once called it an "emo phase" in front of a Rune Priest, and was fed balls-first to a Thunderwolf, especially when the news of the Drop Site Massacre reached the Wolves. In his own words, Russ felt he'd been "in the wrong place, doing the wrong thing". Just to make things worse, the Alpha Legion turned up to batter the Wolves, and the White Scars weren't going to help them after Prospero. Russ was forced to retreat and hide in deep space. The only real plus here was that Bjorn the Fell-Handed came to his attention, setting the young warrior on the path to ironclad badassness.

Oh and Empy totally gave him a spear with every single member of his original legion depicted fighting various gribbly xenos. Including Tyranids. Yup. Said spear was tossed into a certain Daemon Primarchs single eye, thereby preventing him from manifesting in reality AND resurrecting his legion. Russ totally hated this spear btw. At one point Russ tried to hit a moon orbiting some planet (he was drunk, don't judge) and the spear was lost for months.

Russ and his Brothers

In many ways Russ can be best understood by looking at the clashes between him and his brothers, butting heads with Angron, Magnus, and Lion El'Jonson over the years. All three of them had much in common with Russ, and there was potential for great brotherhood there, but in large part his lack of tact or understanding crushed whatever relationship might have been.

His fight with Angron was his attempt to teach his brother a lesson. Both of them were penultimate warriors, both relied on their amazing athleticism and berzerker rages to triumph in battle, both were known for losing their temper when challenged, but Russ saw weakness in his brother's lack of strategy. Leman tried to just talk to the World Eater's primarch, but Angron was so uncontrollably, incredibly, "calm down son," angry that he just attacked Russ. While Russ and Angron were dueling, their retinues kicked off an open war, and in the battle that followed Russ found himself defeated by Angron, but Angron was in turn outmaneuvered and surrounded by the Space Wolves, thus proving Russ's lesson that warrior prowess isn't enough. That said, no one learned anything. Angron thought himself the victor because he'd won the duel and his sons had inflicted greater casualties than the wolves, but Russ thought himself the victor because he'd proven his point and "educated" his brother. If Russ had paid more attention and thought things through rather than just rushing forward to do things his way, he'd have used subtler methods of persuasion to calm Angron, as Fulgrim and especially Lorgar had done in the past. Russ may well have had an easier time of persuading Angron than either of them, given that he and Angron had a similar sense of brutal honor and a great lust for war. But, ultimately, it didn't occur to Russ to slow down and think it though, so he failed that day.

Russ really, really didn't get along with Magnus, even before the burning of Prospero. He hated that his brother used sorcery and warpcraft, despite the fact that Russ's legion ALSO USED SORCERY, but Russ insisted that they were just "channeling the spirits of Fenris." To add to that, other than Magnus and Lorgar, Russ was the most warp sensitive of all his brothers, to the point where Russ was a more capable warp navigator than the actual Navigators. No long explanation, Russ was just being a superstitious moron.

Perhaps most famous and most tragic of Russ's feuds was his strife with Lion El'Jonson. Both men had very similar origins, but slight differences in their upbringings drove a wedge between them. The Wolf and the Lion were both raised by the wild: both of their pods had crashed in areas with no humans, and they had to learn to survive with no lessons from other men. Both were eventually taken in when they were discovered by the men of their world, but that's where their stories differ. Where Russ was raised in the friendly, bawdy brotherhood of Thengir's men, the Lion was trained and educated in the somber fraternity of the knightly Order. While Russ had been brawling and singing with his friends, leading great hunts to destroy monsters and enemy tribes, the Lion was mastering discipline and embarking on solemn quests to destroy the Great Beasts of the forest. The battle between the two came on the world of Dulan, where the IV and I legion were fighting together to slay a tyrant who'd insulted Russ's honor. At the beginning of the conflict the two brothers had promised to work together, but as time went on the Lion grew tired of his brother's insistence on utterly smashing every pocket of resistance rather than taking a more efficient, direct method of ending the war. Eventually he just launched an assault on the tyrant's palace, and beheaded the man before Russ could reach them. Naturally, Russ was furious. Russ was an angry dickhead, the Lion was a snarky bastard, and before long blades were drawn and the two were trying to kill each other in a violent battle. After a long and bloody fight in which the two of them were beaten senseless and had fallen over the ramparts of the fortress to the ground below, Russ started laughing at the ridiculousness of what they were doing. The Lion asked if his brother would yield, a question that just confused Russ. The lion thought this was a duel? Russ had thought of the fight as a brawl between angry brothers, a quick spat that would end with both of them beaten and bloodied, something they'd laugh about over a drinks years later. The Lion however was taking it deadly serious, and while Russ was laughing, he struck a final blow, shattering Russ's skull and ending the fight. Had Russ stopped to consider his brother's mentality, or listened more closely to the Lion's words, he would have realized that the Lion saw the conflict as something profoundly different from what Russ thought it was. Again, Russ's lack of consideration was his failing.

However, while certainly abrasive, arrogant, and brutal, Russ was also every bit as loyal as Sanguinius or Dorn. The other thing Magnus, Angron, and the Lion have in common? They're all assholes. Magnus arrogantly assumes he knows best and blatantly favored psykers in his Legion. Angron is... self-explanatory. The Lion was absolutely infuriated that Russ correctly pointed out that it had been the Lion's lust for power and recognition that had led him to betray his promise to Russ. The battle took place in the days before Horus's ascension to the role of warmaster, and Russ knew his brother craved the title above all else, even above his own honor. Bottom line, his brothers all put their own feelings/goals before those of the Emperor. Not to say that Russ was tactful, diplomatic, or understanding with these three - he certainly could have handled all of these conflicts better - but Russ was never a dick just for the sake of being a dick- he was a dick because someone had to keep his brothers in line.

Post-Heresy

Although unable to return to aid the Imperium in the Battle for Terra, Russ and the Space Wolves threw themselves headfirst into the post-heresy war efforts. Aside from spanking the traitors into the Eye of Terror, he came up with the concept for the Adeptus Praeses. Though he'd told Guilliman where he could shove his Codex, Russ liked the idea of successor chapters for the Wolves. To him (or the little reformist movement within the Legion later, the fluff isn't totally clear), they were a way of maintaining the Wolves' influence alongside that of Girlyman, Dorn and the rest. Unfortunately the Wolves' gene-seed proved too unstable to set up any viable successor chapters, and as a result while the Ultramarines, Imperial Fists and Dark Angels have shedloads of descendants, the Wolves are the sole embodiment of Russ' strength and drive. This hasn't helped their situation with Imperial institutions such as the Inquisition.

One-hundred years to the day after the Emperor's internment on the Golden Throne, during a feast in the halls of the Space Wolves fortress, Russ climbed upon a table to give a speech. He was stricken with a vision, and after standing there speechless for a few minutes, he fell to one knee, issued hushed orders to his retinue, and left. He left his sons with their first Wolf Lord; Bjorn the Fell Handed, and a message.

"In the end, I will be there. For the final battle. For dinner time."

And then the winds of change blew over the fluff once again. In the audio play Parting of Ways we get a slightly different version of events. There was still an annual feast, though it wasn't just to celebrate the day the Emperor got the snot beaten out of him by Horus, but also to commemorate the space wolves that had died during the spring cleaning that followed the heresy, plus the completion of the Fang - the giant fortress of the Space wolves. Also instead of a hundred years, it was two hundred years since the siege of Terra, so unless Dorn was a really slow learner and not very bright and it took him over a hundred years to assemble the golden throne, that is a clear lore change. Then again, given how Perturabo thoroughly kicked Dorn's ass in the iron cage, forcing papa smurf and the Ultrasmurfs to come and save Dorn's sorry ass, it's a possibility that Dorn just wasn't very bright. It's also a possibility that the Emperor got the Golden Throne from an old IKEA warehouse, which would explain why even a primarch would have had trouble in figuring out how to put it together in less than a hundred years.

Also Russ wasn't about to hold a speech, instead he had at first partaken in the festivities but as the party grew sullen, Russ retreated, sensing, as Bjorn put it, "a fell wind from beyond the mountains, bleeding through the cracks of the fang". After clenching the table for a while, Russ clambered to his feet on the table, screaming “No More!” The shout silenced the Space Wolves in their brawling and made the flags of the smoke filled halls tremble, so Russ apparently also had a gift for speech, plus he had a gift for getting instantly sober as Bjorn described his face going from being ruddy flushed with mjod to looking like an ice specter. He then held a kickass speech “We come here to celebrate the allfather, we come here to remember his sacrifice and his ascension from the world of the senses and his victory over my brother the traitor.” “We remember the dead, who even now gather in the oververse, their blade sharp, their aim keen.” “They are better than we are for they perished in war to end all wars and their souls have been purified! And what of us those left behind, wallowing in the drinks the fallen gods have left us?” “We have grown fat, we have the beast within us, but is has never yet been mastered.” Then Russ grabbed his drinking horn and held it aloft and continued “So let us celebrate my father's ascension, let us remember what he was able to accomplish, let us remember what he built and what he foresaw and then what he lost and how he failed.” “Do not morn the fact that he no longer walks among us, for the galaxy was too small to accommodate such soul, he was of an age of gods! And we are slumped in an age of mortals.” “The lights of the stars will fade, this place will grow old and the ice will crack it.” “We will forget no matter how much the skalds tell the old tales, what battles are left for us like the ones before?” “My fallen brothers are gone, Malcador is gone, the leeches cluster around the golden throne and whisper of deeds done before they were born as if it where they who achieved them.” At this point Russ looked unsteady on his feet and his eyes went glassy “A doubt of all of this, one thing remains true we were not on Terra, we were not there when the palace fell and that shame will pursue us for eternity.” Then Russ dropped his drinking horn on the board and then started to speak not to his warriors, but to himself or to some presence that was unseen. “It remains unfinished… I have waited for too long, building this mountain squabbling with Gulliman, I will not grow old, feeble, limping around a crumbling inheritance, I have and Oath to keep there are beasts left to slay.” At this point Russ where fully immersed in his premonitions and he looked around the room a smile dancing on his fanged face, seeing thing from either long ago or yet to come. “Listen by closely my brothers, there shall come a time far from now, where the chapter itself is dying and our foes shall gather to destroy us.” “Then my sons I shall listen for your call, in whatever realm holds me and come I shall, no matter what the laws of life and death forbid.” “At the end I will be there for the final battle FOR THE WOLF TIME!”

Then Russ gave the mustering signal and he and his retinue left, though as Bjorn made to follow only to have Russ turn towards him saying a single sentence “Not you.” When Bjorn asked for an explanation all Russ did was repeat the words “Not you.” Then he left.

It is theorized that Russ like Magnus had the gift of premonition and knew that Bjorn would be needed in the years to come as the first Great Wolf, as it is heavily implied that if Bjorn hadn't been persuaded to take the mantle of great wolf, the chapter itself would have fallen apart in the absence of Russ.

More likely Russ just didn't want Bjorn's moodiness to poison what ever adventure he was on.

As to where Russ went and what happened to him there's a few theories given

The Russ sought the Lion out to make amends of their old feuding (if so they both forgot to tell both their chapters about it)

That he fought in eternal combat with the resurrected cadaver of Horus (no that would be Abaddon's task and he completely owned that clone of Horus)

That he searched for the tree of life to heal the Emperor's soul (if so it will be needed sorely needed, as Abaddon blasted a remnant of the Emperor's soul, watching it decay in front of him)

That he is trapped within a hollow star and tormented by his old adversary Magnus (Since Tzeentch was able to trap Sigmar in another dimension, trapping Russ in a hollow star and have his star pupil Magnus use him as a punching bag makes as much sense as anything)

That he is actually searching for Magnus, to finish the last task given to him by the Emperor and "arrest" his wayward brother.

That he had passed beyond the bounds of space and time and now roamed among the gods, ready to return when needed accompanied by the fallen of his legion sundered in a paradise of warriors (so basically he's in the Age of Sigmar at this point? somebody put him out of his misery, that's not a paradise that's hell on earth)

That he's simply lost in the galactic fjord known as the Warp and has been playing drunken pranks on daemonic villagers for 10,000 years.

/tg/ theorizes that Leman Russ may return as Horo (Implying Horo isn't just one of Leman's many, many bastard children growing up on some shithole Feudal world).

Magnus actually know where is Russ now, but he don't tell it even to his trusted sorcerer lords.

The 13th company, and a figure bearing the likeness of Russ, was spotted during the 13th crusade and the siege of the capital of cadia.

On The Tabletop

Pts WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
Leman Russ: 455 9 6 6 6 6 7 6 10 2+/4++



An impressive stat-line, even by the insane standards of Primarchs, is coupled with unbelievably powerful wargear:

  • The Armour Elavagar starts as your bog-standard 2+/4++ which is increased to a 3++ against flamer (in case that Marksmen Veteran with a Combiflamer or Heavy Flamer rolled a 6 wounding you), melta, and plasma weapons, but the truly awesome bullshit part is that it imposes -1 to hit on anyone in BtB with him, which is increased to a -2 after the first round of combat - combined with his insane WS this means nothing save WS10 can hit him at better than 5+ on the first turn (Fulgrim wishes his shiny armour was as reliable) and 6+ on the second. Anything that can't Hit'n'Run is gonna be stuck in CC with Russ with little to no chance of hurting him until he kills it. Do note however that it only works in BtB contact, so the models not directly in contact with Russ would still hit him as usual (likely on 5+ due to his insane WS).

Basically, he's insanely tanky against hordes.

  • The Axe of Helwinter is a +2 master-crafted power axe with sunder and without unwieldy for your vehicle-wrecking needs.
  • The Sword of Balenight is a Shredding AP2 power sword; oh wait, it also has Sever Life. If Russ' prey suffers one or more wounds from the sword, roll a 2d6. If this result beats your target's toughness, add 1d3 additional wounds.
    • Thanks to vague wording, when you must make the test for Sever Life is a subject of debate. Some say "suffering one or more wounds" means that the rule applies immediately before saves are made. HOWEVER, the rule clearly states that Sever Life is used only if the model "is not slain" by the initial attacks, and you HAVE to make your save rolls in order to know if they are slain or not, so one can lawfully argue that unsaved wounds are the real trigger. Keep calm and make it clear with your opponent until a FAQ is released.
  • For ranged fights he has the Vulkan-remade bolter (mentioned to be regular one until Xzibit got his hands on it) turned into a pistol for Primarch's hand, called Scornspitter which is assault 3 AP3 rending, but with pitiful 12" range (of course if you aren't within 12", then you can't charge, and if you can't charge you're running therefore even if it did have a greater than 12" range it wouldn't be used anyway).

Meanwhile, his Sire of the Space Wolves gives him Night Vision, Counter-Attack, Preternatural Senses, and Hunter's Gait: all Wolves get +1Ld and Russ gets to Awoo once per game (letting everyone in his detachment reroll run and charge for said turn). Breaker of Shields, Bringer of Ruin gives weapon mastery (like Horus and Calgar). If he's Warlord, you can take Veteran Tacticals (who may run/shoot bolters then charge instead of regular Vet tactics) and Varagyr Terminators as troops.

On paper, Russ like a very expensive torpedo that is only good at tying stuff in combat and killing it, and adds only a bit to his army. However, the LD bonus, his ability to massively increase your army's board-crossing ability, and take Veteran Tacs, who just may be the best infantry in 30k, as compulsory troops combine to make him a reasonably strong force multiplier. Unlike Angron he's tough enough to withstand ranged firepower for a while, while being much more resistant to tarpitting than Perturabo or Vulkan. However, like Angron, he isn't very mobile on his own, and as such will need a transport. However, Hunter's Gait mitigates this slightly, and he could always just Outflank with Vets. Take him with the Pale Hunters, point him at the biggest CC threat your enemy has, and if you're smart with Vet tactics and when you Howl your army will be great.

Leman Russ VS other Primarchs:

Inferno is finaly released and you came here to see how your favorite/most hated superhuman demi-god fares against the other Primarchs, because you love delicious Mathammer trolling and cautious planning before battle.

THEY ALL DIE. EVERY. LAST. ONE. OF. THEM.

Well...except Horus...probably. The problem with the original Mathhammer for the Horus vs Lemon match up is that it was done linearly; worked it out that Horus only does 0.88 wounds (not 1) in the first round of combat, which means there is a 0% chance that Disabling Strike will go off, so Leman is at full power for the second round. The problem with this is that it's not 0.88 wounds, it's an 88% chance of 1 wound; which means there is also an 88% chance that DS will go off first turn; which means it goes off a lot more times than it doesn't. The math issue also applies in later rounds, where they work out that a second DS will go off in round 4 (affecting Leman in round 5), but in reality there's a 44% chance that it could go off again in 2nd round, and another 44% chance in round 3 before you even hit round 4. This completely flips the combat on its head, because as soon as Horus does 2 Disabling Strikes, he severely out-damages Leman, and so long as he isn't really low on wounds, Horus almost guaranteed to win (because 2 DS's mean that Horus goes back to having an 88% chance to DS again, which means he can just keep nerfing the opponent down until they just can't hurt him, this is how he wins every other Primarch battle).... So the whole combat hinges on when Horus's Disabling Strikes go off.

Sever Life on The Sword of Balenight is the real kicker here. Because Russ' sword triggers Sever Life before saves, he can put an outright frightening amount of saves on high-wound models. And since most primarchs only have a 4++, they tend to die in short order. This is a subject of some debate (see above). So if you want to add the damage for Sever Life, here's the results:

  • Against T6 Sever Life will cause an additional 1.091 Wounds.
  • Against T7 Sever Life will cause an additional 0.909 Wounds.
Note that these are Wounds that can still be saved via Invulnerable saves.

Actually, far worse than Sever Life (which probably is intended to trigger after saves, hence the "Is not slain" part) is his armor, which cripples almost every Primarch's ability to damage him with the negatives to hit. Even the uber-tanks are left flailing at him, barely doing any damage, while he grinds them out. He'll win almost every fight (including Horus).

HOWEVER if you or your opponent plays him in a 40k list he can potentially be tar pitted with assault terminator with thunder hammers and storm shields. Russ is not immune to concussion and the invun save is superior than Russ. This will bring him down to an equal playing field and can quickly loose (If the dice betray him that is)

Gallery

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

See Also