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So this is for FLUFF ONLY, I don't want to see "it makes the game balanced"
Why can't power swords/axes cut through tanks. . . . they use the same tech as a power fist, an energy field that disintegrates matter(I think)

There's a big difference between infantry armour and tank plating.

Power fists and power swords/axe's dont work the same. Power fists work on much the same principle as thunder hammers. In that they release the energy at the target upon impact. If i recall correctly that is

The simpliest answer is that the mass it cuts through still effects the blade causing a drag.
Just because it is a power weapon doesnt mean there is zero resistance felt when cutting through matter and cutting through an arm with some metal plate on it would be far different then cutting through 30cm of high grade steel.

i think it's to make sure the game is balanced.



but seriously, its because tanks are made of much tougher stuff than squishy soldiers.

Like other said tanks are much tougher than infantry and it is said that power fist when combined with terminator armor can be used to tear through the hull of a toughest tank.

A quick look at any MEQ codex will yield the answer that they both use a disruptive energy field to do their damage. I would imagine it is either a stronger energy field that allows a power fist to rip through tank armor or some combination of strong hydraulics aiding the tearing action of the energy field.

I'd like to see a bit more conformity in the rules too. Maybe have a power sword add +2 to str and a power fist add +4ish. Chain weapons are what the MEQs use to tear open armor (whether it is infantry or tanks) which is why a chainfist is better at tearing apart armor than a power fist. Not to say that a power weapon/fist shouldn't be able to get through armor as well, but I'm talking from a standardized rules point of view , not strictly fluff.

Halsfield wrote:A quick look at any MEQ codex will yield the answer that they both use a disruptive energy field to do their damage. I would imagine it is either a stronger energy field that allows a power fist to rip through tank armor or some combination of strong hydraulics aiding the tearing action of the energy field.

In the fist case when combined with the Terminator's servo systems the fist can punch through almost everything.

IvanTih wrote:
In the fist case when combined with the Terminator's servo systems the fist can punch through almost everything.

That certainly works for terminators, but regular space marines can wield them as well and I don't believe they have such a strong system. I think it might possibly be something contained within the fist itself that aids in armor piercing as well (ie something aside from the energy field itself).

Halsfield wrote:

IvanTih wrote:
In the fist case when combined with the Terminator's servo systems the fist can punch through almost everything.

That certainly works for terminators, but regular space marines can wield them as well and I don't believe they have such a strong system. I think it might possibly be something contained within the fist itself that aids in armor piercing as well (ie something aside from the energy field itself).

Ordinary human armed with power fist can do hand wrestle with a Space Marine.

Power fists combine 2 technologies.

Hydraulic empowerment of articulated parts. The Fingers are made stronger due to the compact hydraulics allowing the fist to crush whatever gets squeezed. This accounts for the Str multiplier.

Fists also incorperate the power fields used in power weapons. Power fields cause a disruption in matter on the atomic level. this make matter easier to cut through, it doesn't actually do any damage. you have to put force behind the swing to cause the damage.


The power fields make it easier to cut through armor, the hydraulics make it possable.

Grey Templar wrote:Power fists combine 2 technologies.

Hydraulic empowerment of articulated parts. The Fingers are made stronger due to the compact hydraulics allowing the fist to crush whatever gets squeezed. This accounts for the Str multiplier.

Fists also incorperate the power fields used in power weapons. Power fields cause a disruption in matter on the atomic level. this make matter easier to cut through, it doesn't actually do any damage. you have to put force behind the swing to cause the damage.


The power fields make it easier to cut through armor, the hydraulics make it possable.

Thing is, you often hear of powerfists PUNCHING through armor, not just tearing. Punching power doesn't come from the fingers so hydraulics in the fist would be moot. And the only way I can rationalize it, is that the powerfist just generates a much more powerful field due to it's size.

The power has very little-to-nothing to do with the hydraulics.
The energy fields, referred to as disruption fields by the way, are what do the bulk of the business.

The fist is a crushing type weapon.
the swords are made for slicing or piercing.

Think Light saber vs... well a thunder hammer is the only thing that comes to mind. One smashes and crushes, the other slices and dices. Thus the fist is effected by and boosts your strength, while the saber is less unwieldy. This keeps with the rules.

When I think about a sword or axe, I think of the scene in starwars episode 2(?) where anakin and, I have to pick my brain for this one......oh, Obi won are blocked off by a 'blast door' to what I guess is the bridge of the ship. They try to get in by cutting through very slowly, relying on the saber's melting... power but this goes really really slow and if I remember right they dont get the chance as some 'destroyer' droids show up. So, maybe if you gave them an hour or so, that power sword could go through a hvy tank.

The Fist is more like a, I hit you and my fist gives off a massive blast of energy, so I can also just tear you apart or smash into the side of a tank with enough force to either mess it up or outright pierce it's hull (which means this weapon is slow in the buildup and manipulation of the energy, but your strength is a factor in it). This suggests that either it has a constant field that has stored up power as well, or that the field can be better manipulated by the wearer as you wear it on your hand. Either way it fits to a logic.

I do agree with the fact that chainswords and chainfists are a bit of a double standard when you first look at them, but what if the chainfist has a powerful concentrated distruption field? I think the issue I have with this is the models from what I can recall just have a powerfist with a chainsword extending out of it....

I would agree with the bloke above, although I will add that other race's equivalent powerfists work differently to Imperial ones: Ork power klaws are effectively very powerful shears attached to an extremely muscular greenskin, for example.

Power Fists operate on the same exact principal as Power Swords/Axes. They use a matter disrupting field to slice through their armor. Power Fists only benefit from the 2x strength (and therefore their ability to penetrate a tank) due to the fact that they are so heavy (like swinging a sack of bricks). Chainfists, on the other hand, are basically Power Fists with a chainsaw strapped to them. And, as people have said before, tank armor is much tougher than infantry armor. The energy field around any of the aforementioned weapons could easily vaporize the armor of a guardsman or a space marine, but the plating on the side of a landraider is going to be much harder to get rid of. The way i see it, the energy field around a power weapon, such as a power sword or a power fist, would basically reduce the strength of most armor to that of something akin to tin foil. Then imagine trowing a 20 lb. bag of bricks at a 2" think aluminum plate. That is the kind of damage a Power Fist would do. Now imagine taking a chainsaw to that same plate of aluminum, and that would be the kind of destruction wrought by a chainfist. Does that answer your question?

I still always think of chainfists as a powerfist with a chainsaw wrapped around the knuckles/held like brass knuckles type of look. Seems far more awesome to me.

Soladrin wrote:I still always think of chainfists as a powerfist with a chainsaw wrapped around the knuckles/held like brass knuckles type of look. Seems far more awesome to me.

It certainly does, thats why I refuse to use the chainfists... at least not without a few modifications...

Halsfield wrote:Maybe have a power sword add +2 to str and a power fist add +4ish.

It's called a Relic Blade or Nemesis Force Weapon.

NFWs are beautiful, beautiful things.

The truth is that it's much more grimdark to punch an alien in the face then hit it with a sword, so they made sure powerfists were better than power swords.