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When it came to the defence of Xana Perturabo proved his intelligence and valor in the fighting. When the Emperor walked in the North the Iron Warriors found themselves fighting an invigorated foe who knew for a fact that he should have been the weakest link.
It was here that some traits of the Iron Warriors was learned. Where someone like Mortarion would have called an organized retreat the Iron Warriors heavily practiced the action of a Collapsing Defense.
When the Rangdan Xenoforms were overwhelming a planet this planet was bombarded with little care for the Iron Warriors who were still upon the planet. Twice his brother fired an exterminatus upon a planet, shattering a world which had the bodies of three and five thousand Iron Warrior corpses upon it. The only precaution he took with these exterminations was that he cleared with Xana that the planets were fine to be destroyed.
When planet side they were just as brutal. If there was a retreat called by the commanding officer it was always covered with a bombardment directly upon the Iron Warriors who were still in the trenches. However as TalOS studied the records the amount of casualties generated by these actions became less and less.
One does not always defend when war happens though and the Iron Warriors were devastating in the charge. Lessons learned from the tactics in defense were taken to the offensive with Iron Warriors charging the Rangdan while Artillery rained down upon them.
Thus the battles continued for years with the Iron Warriors using three times more munitions than any of the other Legions. Perturabo had the understanding that the Federation had a near inexhaustible volume of production and he saw it fit that the Iron Warriors would employ it to compensate for the power of nearly four Legions.
In that he succeeded. The Rangdan only arrived in the system of Xana but failed to touch down upon the planet in their assault. It was after this moment that the tides suddenly turned and the entire Rangdan front was surrounded from the farthest rim.
In a masterful stratagem Perturabo completely encircled the Rangdan and slaughtered them.
Many of his warriors died, so many that many other Legions would have faltered. But the Iron Warriors did not route, did not dissolve, and unlike the Tenth did not allow themselves to ultimately be captured. They were the victors of this war.
>Host a parade in their honor.
>Demand Perturabo and Legion come to Lucius to rest for a week, all expenses on Lucius.
>Catch Perturabo before he leaves for his next campaign to give thanks.
>I would give an option to simply give him a message, but I know you fellows.