The Black Fists are a chapter that descends directly from the honored Imperial Fists. Sister chapters with the Black Templars and the Crimson Fists, the Black Fists combine both paint schemes of the chapters. The chapter badge comes directly from the Imperial Fists, with crossing triangles in the background represent both the Black Templars and Crimson Fists intertwined in brotherhood.

Founded in the year M37 from a surplus of tactical units, the Black Fists spent five decades training members to be specialized with devastator weaponry and in the form of rapid assault. Although the newly formed chapter had little to no experience in battle, Chapter Master Andre Cortola was soon to remedy that by bringing the Black Fists to battle with the dark treachery of Chaos.

After several incidents, the brothers who performed at a greater level of weaponry skill and tactics, were soon seen as the chapter’s elite. Chapter Master Andre Cortola soon made a point of forming proper companies after seeing initial performance of the marines. Following the strict Codex Astartes, Cortola soon had ten companies at full strength under his command.
Although the chapter closely followed the Codex Astartes, Cortola had put in an extra squad in his elite First Company. By doing so, he had ten extra marines to bolster the attack of the core force. The First would always move as one, soon to be known throughout the chapter and the home systems as Cortola’s Hammer was swift to bring destruction to the enemies of the Holy Emperor.

The chapter itself is a master of siege tactics. No match for the Imperial Fists themselves, the Black Fists have been known to hold citadels under siege for years, eventually flushing out the enemy from within. The commanders of the Black Fists are well versed in tactical planning, rehearsing every movement before it happens.

The Black Fists embrace the Codex Astartes readily, and receive training of all aspects of combat as written by Roboute Guilleman.

Once recruits are selected, their criminal record is examined, and they undergo a battery of tests: musculature, psychological profile, psychic level, eye reflexes, intelligence, the ability to shoot, pain resistance, and dexterity. If they manage to pass that, they face extreme heat, cold, empty space, and any other condition they may face on any warzone. The severity of testing increases along the way. If the initiate passes, he becomes a cadet and the symbol of the Black Fists is marked on his left shoulder. Then begins the indoctrination, training and the actual surgery that will make them Marines. After the initiation ceremony, the cadet's family is informed that their child has become a Space Marine to ensue a matter of pride in the families.

The 1st company always marches together as one, with the Captain of the Company always being the Chapter Master as well. As with the Crimson Fists, it is considered a bad omen to march to battle with less than a full veteran company.

The Black Fists have always had close ties with the Imperium and the Inquisition. They have contributed many warriors to the kill-teams of the Ordo Xenos, being renowned Ork fighters. Many of these kill-team warriors have made their way back into the chapter, and even into the veteran company.

War for Atalcina pt1 wrote:"Brothers, tomorrow we, the venered first of the Black Fists will arrive at Macragge, the honored homeworld of the Ultramarines Chapter to meet with Chaplain Cassius, where we will form up with the Tyranid Hunters to fight against the returning threat of Hive Fleet Leviathan.

Tonight, we must feast. This is the first time in two decades that our entire first company has been together to fight in such a tremendous battle. As one, we will show the Tyranids that they are have no place in this universe. Some of us will not return to this hall by the end of our great crusade, but fear not, as your lives will not be taken in vain!" First Company-Captain Marcus Othello of the Black Fists said aboard the great hall of The Deliverance, one of the three Battlebarges they commanded.

With a mighty cheer, Captain Othello knew that his brothers were ready for war.
~
"Steady brothers, hold fire until I give the command."

The Whirlwind batteries behind the wall of bastions, similar to that of an ancient race that had once tried to block out an invading force from their territory in ancient Terra, launched several salvos of incendiary missiles into the tsunami of Tyranid organisms racing towards them. The Earthshaker Cannons followed suit, launching barrage after barrage over the high armored wall. Screaming missiles and large shells hurled into the huge moving mass, displacing hundreds of terrible organisms with each explosion.

The entire second company of Ultramarines, under the command of Captain Cato Sicarius was formed up in the uppermost level of the bastion wall that fully circled the hive city of Atalcina. Joining them were elements of the first company led by Captain Agemman, veteran Tyranid Hunters led by Chaplain Cassius, and the Lord Macragge himself and his Honor Guard.

Mixed into the Ultramarine force was the entire first company of the Black Fists Chapter. Dwarfed by the hundreds of Space Marines at the ramparts, platoons of Imperial Guardsmen and the Adrian Planetary Defense Force were proudly looking over the battlefield, ready to die for the Immortal Emperor and their home planet. Behind the battle wall sat companies of Imperial Guard armor and Space Marine vehicles, mixed together, read to destroy the Tyranids if they spilled over the wall. Scores of super heavy tanks sat patiently, while the Macharius Vulcans and Stormlord tanks sat, guns at the ready, their Vulcan Megabolters steaming in the early morning chill.

Another several salvos of incendiaries and Earthshaker shells were launched again, one shell hitting the decrepit hull of a Mars Pattern Stormhammer, crawling with Tyranid Warriors. The thousands of gaunts around the hull shuttered as the synapse in that area was disrupted. As a flying Hive Tyrant took the extinguished brood's place, as the wave of gaunts surged forward once more.

"Aim for the leaderbeasts!" Cassius cried out.

With that, several missiles and lascannon shots descended from the ramparts into the Hive Tyrant. With a tremendous scream, the tyrant took every shot. As the smoke from the blast cleared, the Tyrant uncovered itself from behind its wings and let out a mighty roar, everything around it surged forwards at a tremendous speed.

"No… Even our heaviest weaponry can't even take it down…" muttered an Imperial Guardsman.

"Don't worry soldier, we'll take it down." Said Captain Othello to the small man. He turned his attention to one of his Sternguard squads. "On my mark, fire your lascannons at the beast" with an acknowledgement from Sergeant Polonius, Othello told one of the Whirlwind batteries to aim at the Tyrant. As another barrage went over the wall, Othello watched as the tyrant once again covered itself with its wings. As the force of the blasts threw numerous lesser creatures away, the tyrant stood anchored to the dilapidated Stormhammer hull.

As the fires died down, Othello quickly got back on his vox to talk with the Sergeant Polonius.

"Fire the lascannons now!"

As two beams quickly descended from the wall, the tyrant unfurled its wings. It was about to let out another roar of defiance, but it turned into a screech of pain as both beams penetrated right into what would seem to be its chest, and through the hull of the Stormhammer, into the ammo bay, and causing a chain reaction that disintegrated the tank and the tyrant in itself.

As the gaunts in the general vicinity started to swagger, the Imperials on the ramparts heaved a mighty cheer. One of the guardsmen looked up, taking his empty gaze off the smoldering hole.

"Holy Emperor…" he pointed out towards the horizon.

Several gaseous, spider-like shapes could be seen behind the morning sun.

"Hierophants…" Cassius murmured. "The titans of the beast… I hope Legio Ignatum and Invicta can take those down…and we still have a wall of 'Fex's to go through… Holy Emperor, watch over us."

The guardsman looked at the guy next to him and whispered, "And he's supposed to be our faith…"

"I would kill you now, faithless one, but we need every man we can get against these things." Barked Cassius.

War for Atalcina Pt2 wrote:The fighting was intense, thousands of gaunts clawed at the wall, scrambling up just to get a shot to the face by a soldier of the Imperium.

It was not even midday yet. Every hour or so, Space Marine brothers with flame throwers would lean over the wall to use the flaming promethium to clear the mass of dead gaunts piled at the bottom of the wall.

It had only been two hours since the fighting actually started, and yet the soldiers on the wall were already shouting that they were running out of ammo magazines. The Black Fist and Ultramarine brothers were more careful to save their ammo than their Imperial Guard allies. When the opportunity arose, instead of shooting every single gaunt that made its way up the wall, they would instead smash it in the face with the butt of their Bolter.

As a brother or guardsman fell, another marine would pick up the weapon to be set aside for later use. Captain Othello, Captain Sicarius, and Master Calgar were all calling to Atalcina for ammunition reinforcements. Both chapters had taken a large portion of their ammo supply from their home worlds, but yet their supplies were starting to dwindle.

The hive planet of Andrian was worth saving, because besides having a population of over 17 billion, it was classified as a minor forgeworld. While it didn't create titans or space-venturing ships, it created several of its own variants of heavy vehicles. Several large tanks sat with dual battlecannons, fastened to their hulls. Others sporting several large flamestorm cannons mounted on a rotating turret were anchored to heavy ferrocrete blocks near the wall. Not only did the forgeworld produce heavy armor, they also designed small, light missile buggies. For the confrontation with the Tyranids, they replaced the missile launchers with heavy bolters and heavy flamethrowers. The whine of their motors over the grumble of all the idling tanks could be heard as they skirted around waiting for a target.

Looking towards the city, several black specks which where ammunition and promethium trucks could be seen rushing towards them.

The claxons blared suddenly, stating that another wave of gargoyles were approaching. The soldiers on the wall didn't need the claxons though. A large ominous shuddering black cloud was approaching out in the distance.

The Invicta and Ignatum Reaver Engines fired their gatling and laser blasters into the cloud. With the distance from the mass, they were able to take down hundreds with each shot amounting to thousands before the cloud even reached the wall. Then all hell broke loose.

Several guardsmen were picked up by gargoyles to be swung around and thrown towards the assaulting Tyranid wave.

The vulcan megabolters from the Macharius and Stormlords whirred to life as they sputtered death from their barrels. Each slug punching a hole through the cloud of gargoyles.

After several minutes of the swarms attack, the entire mass shuttered as one. There was a screech among the masses of gaunts and gargoyles. The entire wave turned around and burst into the foliage from which they came.

To a great confusion of the Imperial forcers on the wall, the Tyranids had disappeared as quickly as they had arrived. Confused, brothers and guardsmen alike were murmuring amongst each other, wondering what had just happened. Captain Othello and Master Calgar immediately started shouting out orders to repair weapons and drag the dead away. The brothers with the flamethrowers made sure to clear the outer wall before refueling with the trucks that had arrived from the city. The atmosphere turned from scared chaos into confident tension.

Engineers ventured out along the outer bastion wall to plant trigger-timed melta bombs into the acid soaked soil. They were to be triggered when the large beasts appeared, hopefully timed to correctly to detonate at the best moment.

Master Calgar and Captain Othello received word that a large element of the Imperial Navy's airforce had arrived. Several wings of Thunderbolt fighters and Marauder bombers and destroyers were ready to assist in the battle, each being loaded with

Thanks Wolfshadow, Sachiel's idea.

Well, here are the promised WIPs. I added some depth to the top banner as well.


It will be cleaned up, don't worry. I'm waiting for it to dry.

And the newest project... My linebreaker squadron. Originally Dark Angels, I figured they could be redone in Black Fist colors for merit.



Keeping the tank name banners to replace them on the newly painted tanks.


To now:

They were supposed to get a spray today, but the girlfriend picked me up from school, so was over for 7 hours of my day..so tomorrow. (Class was canceled, so I don't have to go until 2, which is just to take a test, and then come home )

I realize that I now only have 2 of those circle icons left, and 4 of the lone fists...so...Milliput, here I come.
Also, I have received friendship from Mikhail of BolterandChainsword, who is shipping me a few fist icons and bitz as well. Also meeting the Milliput.
Also...I have scored several bitz orders from eBay. In the form of awesomness. so Sternguard assembly shall resume soon...hopefully after the Vanguard that haven't made any headway lately... -_-

Well, I'm sure you remember these two static guys.


Instead of cutting them up and repositioning them. I took the lazy rode, and just gave them different arms... :p


But...if you don't put them next to each other, they don't look so pathetic.



Yep, thats right. I churned out 10 marines in about 2 hours. (Sans heads and shoulderpads) I think that these fellows turned out okay. Not super actiony, but not stating either.

Sachiel wrote:Head down, shoulder barging througha door or enemy squad, i always imagined marines as being almost like tanks on legs so they'd be able to crush enemies out of their way with their own bulk and the bulk of the power armour.

Sachiel, the guy in the first group pic, second from the right. Hes the one with the pose. I tried to do it as best I could with something bigger than a normal arm.

And, if you look in the picture of the two dudes with the whips, you may see a thin strand of greenstuff. Thats for redoing sergeant big-o.


And of course...once again..I am out of 30mm bases...drat...

wolfshadow wrote:Might want to use the Dakka Gallery. All your images are showing Bandwidth Exceeded. :-)

And I found my Camera... link is in my sig.

comisarmilo wrote:These are purely awesome. The land raiders are amazing. The whips are an artwork and the...... Everything is superb. Keep it uppppppp.

Asherian Command wrote:Omg awesome army. It makes my army look like a bunch of relic.

wolfshadow wrote:GAHHHH@ Mold lines!

Right along the fingers next to the auspex.

“What was your first thought as you first laid eyes on The Glory?”

“My first thought? Hmm… Well I had seen my fair share of battleships, Emperors, Retributions, and one or two Apocalypses. I had been told that The Glory was a top of the line, unique, and massive new battleship. So when I saw the prow of The Glory, I wasn’t impressed. As my shuttle rounded the moon towards the shipyard, I first saw the massive ventral cannon, and torpedo tubes dotting the armored nose of the ship. I instantly knew that I was looking at a Retribution. I wasn’t overly impressed… As more of the ship came into view, I noticed major changes in the hull design… and the bristling weapons, the large rear hull. It was a massive work of art. I was awe inspired by the sheer mass of the ship that was larger than any mad made object I had ever seen. Even some of the hive cities I’ve laid eyes on had nothing on this colossus. I was baffled to say the least.”

“Mhmm, colossus…baffled… Alright, and how did you feel taking the role of captain of this ‘colossus’?”

“Well, I’d been captain of a small frigate and a cruiser previously, never anything over three kilometers long. Now all of a sudden I had been promoted to captain a ship that would take me hours to walk down the length of it. I was nervous, and unsure of how to handle the goliath. I was uncertain of why the admirals had chosen me to lead this castle into the void, but I wasn’t going to object. I was told that I would be responsible for nearly 10 million crew members, and even Solar Admiral Pike as well. Yeah, I was nervous. I would have been happy to take role of first officer.”

“Hmm…alright…and last one…what did you think of the firepower of The Glory?”

“The ability to not have to close in range with the enemy is the main key of The Glory. I can sit back and hit the enemy hard, and then disgorge nearly 200 attack craft at once, which is enough to wipe out nearly anything. The several lance cannons on my ship are great for long range, far enough where if the enemy comes close to hit me, they’ll already be severely crippled. Torpedos are expensive pieces of weaponry, I tend to use my energy weapons when I have the chance, and hardly ever use torpedoes, though they do make fantastic fireworks.”

“Okay, thank you for your time Captain Andrew McManus, your interview will surely be seen on every hive world in the Imperium. You are doing a fine job as captain, keeping Terra well protected."

shortsonfire79 wrote:By the way, our beer turned out kind of bitter, we'll have better luck next time

Sigh...why didn't I quit while I was ahead?