Horus Vs Abaddon

Now, there is much hatred directed against Abaddon on this wiki, but now we shall show him vs Horus in a one on one duel to the death. Now, to make it fair, we are going to use Abaddon should he ever arrive at Terra- i.e hyped up on Chaos Power. Thus we are counting him as having every single chaos reward from the table.

Maxed out Abaddon vs Maxed out Horus

To make things fair (and reduce the 240pts gap between Horus and Abaddon, we will be granting himm every single attribute on the chaos boon table, assuming that whoever was using him as not a dolt and didn't stick fleshbane on the talon of Horus. This gives him the single most powerful weapon in 40K (Drach'Nyen- +D6A, AP2, Fleshbane, Instant Death, Shred, +1S, Poisoned). Also, as they are evenly matched (As seen below) we will be comparing bodyguards.

Maxed out Abaddon

WS8, BS6, S5, T6, W5, I7, A5, 2+ re-rollable armour save, 4+ Invulnerable Save

• Talon of Horus - Sx2, AP3, Shred, Poisoned, Instant Death,
  • Ranged - 24" S5 Ap5 Rapid Fire, Twin Linked
• Drach'Nyen - S+1, Ap2, Daemon Weapon, Fleshbane, Shred, Instant Death, Poisoned

• Abaddon has Eternal Warrior, Feel No Pain, Rage, Counter attack, Fleet, Shrouded, Hammer of Wrath, Crusader, Hatred (All), Preferred enemy (Space Marines), Fearless, Stubborn, Adamantium Will, Additional rules (Witch Eater, Icy Aura)

Maxed out Horus

WS8, BS5, S7, T6, W6, I6, A5, Ld10, 2+ Armour save, 3+ Invulnerable save, 3+ Save vs affects that would modify characteristics aversely

• Worldbreaker - S10, AP2, Master Crafted, Concussion, Unwieldly
• The Talon - S user, AP2, Shred, Disabling strike (Any model wounded but not slain -1WS and -1S)
  • Ranged - 24" S5 AP3 Assault 3 twin linked weapon

• Horus has Eternal Warrior, Fear, Adamantium will, Fleet, Fearless, It Will Not Die, Master of the Legion, Weapon Mastery (allowing him to split attacks freely between weapons)

Crunch

Assuming both are in a stand-up fight, so no charges, no shooting beforehand, this is just a straight-up mathhammer showdown:

• Abaddon's Round 1: 9.5 attacks (5 base, +1 for two specialist weapons, +3.5 from his sword), hitting 7.125 times, causing 6.927 wounds, 2.309 going through Horus's Invulnerable save, 1.976 after IWND.

Abaddon's Round 2+: 9.5 attacks (5 base, +1 for two specialist weapons, +3.5 from his sword), hitting 4.75 times, causing 4.618 wounds, 1.539 going through Horus's Invulnerable save, 1.206 after IWND.

Special note, Abaddon will not ever need a 5+ to hit Horus as he will be dead before his Weapon Skill drops to 3, and he always wounds on a re-rollable 2+ so that won't matter either.

• Horus (Worldbreaker): 6 attacks (5 base, +1 for two CC weapons), hitting 3.5 times (thanks to Master-Crafted), causing 2.917 wounds, 1.458 going through Abbadon's Invulnerable save, 0.972 going through Abbadon's Feel No Pain save.

Horus (Worldbreaker, after causing one wound with The Talon): 6 attacks, hitting 4.5 times, causing 3.75 wounds, 1.875 going through Abbadon's Invulnerable save, 1.25 going through Abbadon's Feel No Pain save.

• Horus (The Talon): 6 attacks, hitting 3 times, causing 2.666 wounds, 1.333 going through Abaddon's Invuln save, 0.888 wounds after Abaddon's Feel No Pain save.

Horus (The Talon, after causing one wound with The Talon): 6 attacks, hitting 4 times, causing 3.555 wounds, 1.777 going through Abaddon's Invuln save, 1.184 wounds after Abaddon's Feel No Pain save.

• So for the match:
  • Round 1: Abaddon strikes first and causes 2.309 wounds, Horus retaliates with The Talon causing 0.888 wounds, because even though he can do more damage with Worldbreaker dropping Abaddon's Weapon Skill is more important (though that won't happen yet).
  • Round 2: Abbadon strikes first and causes 1.206 wounds (for a total of 3.515 wounds), Horus retaliates with The Talon causing 0.888 wounds (for a total of 1.776 wounds), dropping Abaddon's Weapon Skill by 1.
  • Round 3: Abaddon strikes first and causes 1.539 wounds (for a total of 5.054 wounds), Horus retaliates with Worldbreaker for 1.25 wounds (for a total of 3.026 wounds), Abaddon is now concussed.
  • Round 4: Abaddon and Horus hit each other at the same time, Abaddon causing 1.206 wounds (for a total of 6.26 wounds), Horus causing 1.25 wounds (for a total of 4.276 wounds).
    • Outcome: Abaddon wins in 4 rounds of combat, though just barely and on his last wound. Attacking first with The Talon then switching weapons is the most efficient way for Horus to cause wounds on Abaddon but in the end it does not help him win the fight.

Bodyguards vs Bodyguards time

Abaddon has the Bringers of Despair

WS5 BS5 S4 T4 W1 I4 A2 Ld10. 2+ Armour, 4+ Invulnerable (with MoT) Equipped with Combi Weapon and Chainfist They have Fearless (with Icon of Vengeance), Hatred (Space Marines)

Horus has the Justaerin

WS5 BS4 S4 T4 W1 I4 A2 Ld9 2+ Armour, 4+ Invulnerable Equipped with Combi Weapon and Chainfist Stubborn, Furious Charge, Slow and Purposeful

Both attack at the same time. Both hit on 4+, both wound on 2+, giving an average of one wound each, which is saved on a 4+. By round two they will kill each other

I am giving this to the Bringers of Despair, as they would last longer with Fearless than with stubborn, can move faster, and cost fewer points. Also, while the Justaerin can have a multi melta, the Bringers of Despair can inflict 17% more damage in the shooting phase with BS5, assuming the Combi Weapons were either either Melta or Plasma. That said, if Horus is on the field, the differences become negligible, as he can boost the Justaerin to BS5 and Ld10

Conclusion

So, all in all, a fully powered up Abaddon and bodyguards vs Horus + Bodyguards would be a rough draw, although if Horus could call down the Orbital Strike, it could steal it. Mind You, If Abaddon charged, it could all be very different.

Thus, in total summary, the result of this fight will come down entirely to the luck of the individuals. One Doesn't even want to think about what would happen if Abaddon's WS and I were reduced to 1.

Also of note, a vanilla Abaddon could barely hold his own against Horus. Parallel to that, you could almost have two of him (Still a fight Horus would win).

Depending on how you read the rules, Horus also has a second 3+ save that can be applied on top of his armor/invuln, (a harsh but legitimate interpretation, since Wounds ARE a characteristic) dropping Abaddon's damage output significantly. FAQ'ed out, and rightfully so.

One further note is that this assumes that the rules for Horus represent his Final-Form; Forgeworld have stated that some primarchs will be getting different rules as the Horus Heresy series goes on, we've seen this already for Lorgar (transfigured), Corvus Corax (after Isstvan) and Perturabo (with Hammer). We know from the book series that Horus goes to Molech to get a level-up from the four Chaos Gods which at the very least could be represented by the mark of Chaos Ascendant which Abaddon has. Either way, when this happens all bets are off.