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I'm guessing they can effortlessly crush adamantium, but can they do more over-the-top, superhero-like tasks such as stopping the charge of a tank or lift, even for a moment, ridiculously heavy objects (vehicles, big rocks) etc ? (for space marines specifically, not regular humans)

Probably if they're on a Space Marine. Probably not on a Guardsmen.

pm713 wrote:
Probably if they're on a Space Marine. Probably not on a Guardsmen.

Yeah, I actually forgot to mention that it was specifically for space marines, gonna edit that.

in poart there as powerful as one using it.

Ie
guardsman
Marine
Terminator
dreadnought
Titans

basicaly the bigger the sale and more powerful the systems, the more powerful they are

You could probably have grouped all your threads about wargear in one single thread, it owuld have been easier to follow.

They are sufficiently powerful to cause considerable damage to infantry and tanks alike.

In the Ultramarine Nightbringer book a guardsmen rips the side out of a leman russ with a fist, so I figure a marine with a gist could easily stop a tank in its tracks and lift heavy objects.

 Eliphas wrote:
I'm guessing they can effortlessly crush adamantium, but can they do more over-the-top, superhero-like tasks such as stopping the charge of a tank or lift, even for a moment, ridiculously heavy objects (vehicles, big rocks) etc ? (for space marines specifically, not regular humans)

They're power fists.

The fists are powered, both in the power armour sense of the word (gives you extra strength) and the power sword sense of the word (has a field around it that shreds things).
Using your power fists to punch straight through armour? Sure. You're taking advantage of that matter-disrupting field.
Using your power fists to retain your grip on something, no matter what? Sure. You're taking advantage of the extra strength it gives your hand.
Giving the rest of your body extra strength or mass? Nope. Not a chance.

The fact that your hand has the strength of the God-Emperor himself won't stop a tank. Yes, you can use the power fist to punch a hole in the tank's front armour... but the remaining 50-tonnes of battle tank is still going to retain its momentum and will ram you. The power fist won't help your legs anchor themselves in the soil, nor would it give your body enough mass to seriously reduce the tank's momentum.
A better idea would be to jump onto the tank, rip a hole in the armour, and throw a frag grenade into the crew compartment. That's how a power fist can stop a speeding tank. Such feats would probably be a normal Tuesday morning for a marine.

As for lifting heavy objects.... it's a power fist. You lift objects with the strength of your (post-human, gene-enhanced) legs. Extra strength in your back and shoulders could help a bit. Extra strength in your hands will do very little to help you, except in cases where the object is dangerous to touch (covered in acid, surrounded by destructive warp-magicks, charged with electricity, etc).

Of course, that's just my £0.02. I tend to read more about power fists when they're held by humans (Necromunda, Ravenor, etc), rather than marines - there are probably a few pieces of fluff where marines ignore momentum. Oh, and Primarchs seem to run on Superman physics, and so could do all the things you said.

Mallich wrote:
Oh, and Primarchs seem to run on Superman physics, and so could do all the things you said.

Well, if you're Vulkan, you can push a Stormsword backwards several metres with nothing but PA and lots of rage. Then again, Vulkan was the strongest of all the Primarchs and if a basic human can push a 4 tonne truck, then possibly a 10ft muscle-clad Primarch, in PA, could handle a 300 tonne tank...

As for powerfists, you have to establish how they work to judge how strong they are. In the main, BL portrays them to be wreathed in an energy field and hence more useful for punching or crushing. For example, in Rynn's World by Steve Parker, Captain Cortex of the Crimson Fists spends most of the novel punching/vaporising the torsos of Orks out in a welter of gore. However, this isn't to say they are also designed to amplify lifting strength and, as Mallich points out, you require your upper arms, back and legs to lift great weights, more than your hands alone. Similarly, if the fists are designed to amplify gripping strength then it would be possible to crush skulls and, in power assisted armour that also amplifies upper body strength, perform feats such as to 'peel' back armour plating.

In truth, I suspect there may be two designs. Your average Guard pattern fist likely uses the energy field for most of the work and would be better for punching or maybe crushing skulls, but couldn't peel back armour or lift any great weight due to the Guardsman having no PA. However, a Marine's Gauntlet would be far stronger - in combination with PA, they would be able to punch, crush, peel and lift weights far more effectively than a simple Guardsman's fist.

It's essentially a super-powered vice-grip that has a field that disrupts matter it comes into contact. You couldn't lift any more with a power fist than you could with the power armor of the arm it's attached to. Fists are for crushing, and for tearing because the power field is disrupting the target material and making it weaker.

Actually, if you tried to lift anything appreciably heavy, the fist would just rip away with a hunk of what you were tryi g to lift in it's grasp. And as said before, nothing is changing the fact that the marine in question (much moreso a regular human) only weighs so much, and simple physics will win, even with great technology.

On the flipside, I imagine a swipe at a tank as it goes by would make a helluva great hole down the side of it.

Yeah, lifting would depend on the robustness of the system upon which the fist is mounted, and the Unwieldy rule is meant to reflect the fact that a Power Fist is always scaled to the point where the system can just about move it around in a vaguely violent manner. They're more geared toward crushing, tearing and punching than lifting.

Yeah. Imagine the unwieldy rule as the fact that a power fist is a wrecking ball with powered fingers.

To stop a tank with one would be more of a dreadnought feat, and it'd still need to be a smaller tank like a rhino, for the mass to work.

 Eliphas wrote:
I'm guessing they can effortlessly crush adamantium, but can they do more over-the-top, superhero-like tasks such as stopping the charge of a tank or lift, even for a moment, ridiculously heavy objects (vehicles, big rocks) etc ? (for space marines specifically, not regular humans)

Putting on power fists will not help you lift anything. Lifting is more about your entire body. Having bigger hands won't stop you spine from snapping under the weight of a truck. Powerfists' strength comes from their power field, they don't magically make you twice as strong as you used to be.

Unless you need to crush something in your hand. Because that's exactly what they do.

I recall reading somewhere, in very old fluff, that the power field altered the consistency of what it came into contact with. Steel was rendered akin to thick cardboard and flesh was likened to jelly- cohesive enough to not simply fall apart but trivially easy for the fist/blade (the description was about power weapons in general) to sunder. Even just being close to the field, which had small electrical discharges, we enough to damage flesh. So a tank could be pulled apart, much in the same way humans might pull apart a large cardboad box for a fridge or flatscreen.

I've always liked that description. Granted it may be partly headcannon but I see nothing wrong with it.

I asked about the lifting part because I actually heard that in Fall of Damnos Marneus Calgar managed to lift a necron pylon. But seeing most replies here, I guess it's just bad writting.

 Eliphas wrote:
I asked about the lifting part because I actually heard that in Fall of Damnos Marneus Calgar managed to lift a necron pylon. But seeing most replies here, I guess it's just bad writting.

He also gained the ability to fire it when he lifted it. But don't worry, UM fanboys think its the best thing ever, so that's what Ultramarines now do in cannon.

He managed to turn the pylon while it was already firing. He didn't pick it up and cock it like a shotgun.

 Spineyguy wrote:
Yeah, lifting would depend on the robustness of the system upon which the fist is mounted, and the Unwieldy rule is meant to reflect the fact that a Power Fist is always scaled to the point where the system can just about move it around in a vaguely violent manner. They're more geared toward crushing, tearing and punching than lifting.

I'd say the platform is very important. Terminator armour is super reinforced with the weight bearing exo frame. Guard Junior officers are wearing the fist strapped to their cloth sleeve with cables running off to a small generator.

yes a power fist can punch a tank to a stop, quite easily, kos psysiks dunt matta in 4tee kay, if cool says it can, then it can.

As much as I hate that answer, its true, rule of cool is a tangible law in 40k, like gravity, orks are the only race that truly understands this!

 Selym wrote:

 Eliphas wrote:
I asked about the lifting part because I actually heard that in Fall of Damnos Marneus Calgar managed to lift a necron pylon. But seeing most replies here, I guess it's just bad writting.

He also gained the ability to fire it when he lifted it. But don't worry, UM fanboys think its the best thing ever, so that's what Ultramarines now do in cannon.

Almost as bad as the Avatar rubbish.

Just becuase you have a power fist doesnt mean you can lift anything that would break your feet from the pressure...

Unless you are an Ultramarine. Because they are ultra cool and ultra strong and ultra skilked and ultra special and ultra amazing and ultra powerful and ultra...

Uh, you know Calgar wears terminator armour now, right?
Having power fists doesn't mean you can lift more, but having a massive powered exoskeleton attached to them might…

 Mr_Rose wrote:
Uh, you know Calgar wears terminator armour now, right?
Having power fists doesn't mean you can lift more, but having a massive powered exoskeleton attached to them might…

Having the weight of a pylon pressing down onto two small areas should have sunk calgar into the ground.

It has a giant footprint for a reason.

 Selym wrote:

 Mr_Rose wrote:
Uh, you know Calgar wears terminator armour now, right?
Having power fists doesn't mean you can lift more, but having a massive powered exoskeleton attached to them might…

Having the weight of a pylon pressing down onto two small areas should have sunk calgar into the ground.

It has a giant footprint for a reason.

Probably, yeah, but apparently 40k planets have super-tough soil in general since Titans are actually viable.
Also, do we know how much a Pylon weighs?

Titan's use anti grav suspension, don't they?

Then again, the Ultramarines probably have an ample supply of them, too.

 Mr_Rose wrote:

 Selym wrote:

 Mr_Rose wrote:
Uh, you know Calgar wears terminator armour now, right?
Having power fists doesn't mean you can lift more, but having a massive powered exoskeleton attached to them might…

Having the weight of a pylon pressing down onto two small areas should have sunk calgar into the ground.

It has a giant footprint for a reason.

Probably, yeah, but apparently 40k planets have super-tough soil in general since Titans are actually viable.
Also, do we know how much a Pylon weighs?

Good point, I'd imagine necron metals weight nearly nothing, since the masters of physics could probably hand wave it away

Ingredients: Handwavium, Phlebotinum, Unobtanium (5%). May contain traces of A Wizard Did It.

Made in a 3rd world from a star.

They're a handful, of that you can be sure.

Rather handy weapons indeed.