Fellblades-The scoop?

[Thorsson]

I am thinking of adding a Fellblade to my Space Wolves army for Apocalypse. I was wondering if I could get some knowledge about Fellblades from you fine people of the Lounge.

I know they were used by the Astartes Legions during the Great Crusade but were taken and distributed to support Guard armies after the Heresy. Something in me says that the original legions would have a hard time giving up something so powerful and revered by them and the more independant chapters would secretly maintain one if not a few on their chapter planets.

Any help on this topic is appreciated.

[Vaktathi]

The Fellblade mostly a BoLS creation. The primary inspiration is a pic from the Horus Heresy Collectible Card Game and subsequent art book of it called the "collected visions". It shows a Baneblade style superheavy in Sons of Horus Legion colors, but with a non-SM looking tank commander, when Imperial Army units wore the heraldry of their leading Legions. There is some mention of Fellblades (even less concrete than the above) in fluff from a vaguely related 40k spinoff back when Marines were T3 (with a 5+sv against lasguns) and were still merely better Army troops, the Imperial Army (not Guard yet) had Jetbikes and Land Raiders, and Squats were still in the game.

That's about all the actual info on it there is really, with only the RT era mention being anything from GW itself.

In all honesty, SM's have Thunderhawks to do what Baneblades would.

[Koppenflak]

Yes indeed, what Vaktathi said.

*wiggles little finger...*

(Marine players: :p)

[Thorsson]

Well thanks for the info guys. In all honesty I just wanted an excuse to paint a Baneblade in my SW colours.
If I had the money then a Thunderhawk would be great but the Fellblade is gonna have to do :D.

[Old_Paladin]

Well thanks for the info guys. In all honesty I just wanted an excuse to paint a Baneblade in my SW colours.

Do it anyways. It's called plunder. The Wolves often take trophies from enemies, including weapons of all sizes.
The Wolf fleet contains several battlecruisers taken during boarding actions against rebel navy units or trator fleets.
They'd likely do the same if they were able to capture a baneblade in battle.

[Vaktathi]

Well, a BB still doesn't really fit Space Marines well. A Thunderhawk Transporter can't carry one from a ship to a battlefield and back, it's humongously slower than the rest of an SM force of just about any kind, it requires a huge crew, and fitting power armored dudes into a confined vehicle that's small even for guardsmen to fit through makes them kind of silly when you put any deep though into it. Not to mention that SM chapters don't make the munitions required for the main gun, and a Thunderhawk does everything a BB would do anyway.

That said, nothing is stopping one from doing what one wants with ones models, just that from a background perspective Baneblades in Space Marine armies really don't make any sense aside from something like a Chaos Legion. Something crewed by slaves or cultists or fodder troops with a single SM in command or daemonically possessed is different, but also not really doable for loyalist marines (whos serf's do not fight aside outside of starships or defense of a chapters home base). It wouldn't be hard to see say, an Iron Warriors Baneblade, but then they also have far more extensive engineering and manufacturing resources and normal human troops under their direct command, along with regularly fielding IG equipment.

[Old_Paladin]

Well, it'd be easy enough to refit the maingun with the smaller thunderhawk pattern battlecannon (maybe that's what really makes it a Fellblade, not a baneblade).
Also, Space Wolves do use bondsmen [which are different then the serfs of most other chapters] in war.

Out of all the Chapters, Space Wolves seem the most likely to use a Fellblade.

[Machinator]

Actually the history of the Fellblade/Glaive/Hercules goes back a long way. BoLS I think was just the first to put a rule set to it. Check out the link below from some old, old fluff:

http://s15.invisionfree.com/The_Great_Crusade/ar/t252.htm

Keep in mind the Adeptus Astartes of the Great Crusade operated quite differently than they do now. At that time they numbered from the tens of thousands to the hundreds of thousands depending on the source of the fluff (I've always believed the former, the Visions of Heresy stated the much larger number) and had access to weapons and machines that no longer exist in the modern story line. If the Imperial Guard was the hammer of the Emperor during the Crusades then the Space Marines were the tactical nuke he carried around in his back pocket.

After the reformation of the Legions into Chapters it can assumed most of this heavy equipment was either dispersed, lost, or decommissioned as the Space Marines took their new role as a strike force. Just like the Stormbirds the Fellblades were no longer useful and were likely locked away in some deep vault in the armory for being too slow and heavy. But I'm sure some of these were revered and honored and as such were likely placed very carefully into storage to appease their machine spirits.

Now yes, it would be very hard for Space Marines to climb around inside of one of these tanks but I don't think it would be any different then what they would experience inside a Predator or Vindicator. Plus I think there would be less crew then you think. Advanced machine spirits of the bygone era (how's that for a backwards statement ;) ) and servitors would likely have handled most of the shooting. You probably just had a driver, two sponson and a main turret overseer, and the tank commander. If ten marines can fit into a Rhino then five can fit into a Fellblade.

So in my opinion, yes the Space Marines of the original Legions and their successor Chapters may very well have a Fellblade or two still around. Now given they are big, slow, and heavy they're not going to be used in any kind of surgical strike. However, on those rare occasions where the whole chapter is mobilized for war (such as the 2nd Battle for Armageddon) or to fend off a huge attack (such as the Battle for Macragge) I'd be willing to bet they'd dust off those babies and get them ready for war.

In conclusion, the rules say you can have them; the fluff says they had them, so go head and use them. FOR THE EMPEROR!

[Vaktathi]

The Glaive is what I was talking about earlier. It's RT era fluff from a different game that people attached to the "Fellblade" thing independently after the Collected Visions came out. There's not much on it and it's from the same time as Guard Jetbikes, Zoats, and Marine Shuriken Catapults, it's 19/20 year old fluff from when the game was entirely different, and there wasn't any IG (or actually, Imperial Army) invovled in the game at the time that was released.

[Connjurus]

R.I.P. Stormbirds. :( I loved reading about how huge they were in the Horus Heresy books...would love to see one or two of those tank on a manta.

[Machinator]

The Glaive is what I was talking about earlier. It's RT era fluff from a different game that people attached to the "Fellblade" thing independently after the Collected Visions came out. There's not much on it and it's from the same time as Guard Jetbikes, Zoats, and Marine Shuriken Catapults, it's 19/20 year old fluff from when the game was entirely different, and there wasn't any IG (or actually, Imperial Army) invovled in the game at the time that was released.

Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's not canon ;)

The Space Marines and Guards did have jetbikes at one time but they were phased out as xeno herectical (lots of backgorund on that), Mars did make a shuriken catapult (they were the only ones that did), and the Imperial Guard did exist in 1st edition (I have the rules for them). As for Zoats, well you do have me there :)

As for robots, imperial beastmen, Squats, and Fellblades- they all existed too.

[Pendragon38]

yah I own 3 robots of GWs and I havn't played them in a game yet.and I have 5 SM with web guns in may army tgo

[Renegade]

R.I.P. Stormbirds. :( I loved reading about how huge they were in the Horus Heresy books...would love to see one or two of those tank on a manta.

Would expect Chaos to have a few of those.

I can see SW having a whole load of things they shouldn't, just because they shouldn't.

[Thorsson]

Well thanks for the help and historical stuff. :)

I figured of any Space Marines, Space Wolves would definitely have a few hidden relics in the Fang.
So the Fellblade is happening, the Space Wolves are mustering for Apocalypse!!!

[Machinator]

Well thanks for the help and historical stuff. :)

I figured of any Space Marines, Space Wolves would definitely have a few hidden relics in the Fang.
So the Fellblade is happening, the Space Wolves are mustering for Apocalypse!!!

Excellent choice Thorsson and good luck! I'm hoping to start a Space Wolf Fellblade in the next couple of months too. Let me know if you need any parts :)

[AirHorse]

In the new imperial armour book the astral claws use super heavy tanks piloted by marines(because Huron didnt trust anyone else with them).

I know they went renegade but I dont see it as unreasonable that a long established chapter may have aquired a tank like this through extraordinary circumstances and kept it at their homeworld/fortress monastery as a symbol of whatever circumstances they aquired it through(assuming they were honorable circumstances :P).

[Connjurus]

I know they went renegade but I dont see it as unreasonable that a long established chapter may have aquired a tank like this through extraordinary circumstances and kept it at their homeworld/fortress monastery as a symbol of whatever circumstances they aquired it through(assuming they were honorable circumstances :P).

Exactly. Makes perfect sense for the original 18 to field them, as well as a few of the others who might need the heavy firepower - like the Chapter holding out against the Ghoul Stars and stuff.

Hell, I have a friend of mine who modded a Stormlord with the megabolter into a Greyknight one. :/ Wasn't exactly fluffy, but he relented in the end when I said that giving the Vulcan Megabolter Psycannon bolts would be a bit much. @_@

[Thorsson]

Excellent choice Thorsson and good luck! I'm hoping to start a Space Wolf Fellblade in the next couple of months too. Let me know if you need any parts


Thanks Machinator! I'm doing a standard "Baneblade" Fellblade so I probibly wont need any parts, but if i do I will let you know.