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My friend would like to add some Imperial Fists to his DW army and was wondering if anything exists in the official lore which might explain/describe circumstances for such an alliance? I know Deathwatch recruits Brothers from just about every Chapter, but in this case the IF's would still retain their Chapter colours, instead of becoming full fledged memebers of DW.

Loremasters, your thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

Hmm, Deathwatch operating in a zone where imperial fists are already deployed and facing down a common threat seems very plausible… The deathwatch are not a secret, like the grey knights are supposed to be, so there is nothing preventing this kind of cooperation between a chapter and the Deatwatch…

nothing really prevents it, per se. the terms of service in the deathwatch vary from chapter to chapter, as its a series of bilateral treaties between the deathwatch and the contributing chapters.


It can also vary on a case by case basis, if the marines are being inducted for the duration of a specific mission, for example. And, of coruse, it would be perfectly possible for the deathwatch to reinforce an imperial fists force already fighting xenos, and fighting side by side with them.


so, lore wise, yes it is possible. mechanically, it depends if he's looking at a "Pure DW" force that happens to have some marines still in all-yellow, or a seperate imperial fists detachment fighting alongside a DW detachment (which i think is currently prohibited by the latest rules changes?).

Two forces working together in a Warzone is how that would play out.
There are examples of non-Watch Marines accompanying Deathwatch forces on missions, like when Uriel Ventris led a strike team to kill a Hive Ship or when some Mantis Warriors assisted a Kill Team on a mission, but the Marines don't become Deathwatch. In fact, Ventris was ejected from the Ultramarines and sent on a penitent mission because he violated the Codex Astartes by taking command of the Deathwatch mission and "abandoning" his company.

The Deathwatch was formed by an Imperial Fist (Koorland) during the War of the Beast - I'd say there's no better reason for them to have close ties .

Your friend could call them Brethren of Koorland or something like that to make a reference to that event.

I never understand the need to find a precedent in the “lore” for a cool idea you have. Just write your own narrative and have fun with it. Don’t be constrained by what’s “allowed”.

Andykp wrote:
I never understand the need to find a precedent in the “lore” for a cool idea you have. Just write your own narrative and have fun with it. Don’t be constrained by what’s “allowed”.

You know, that is exactly what I told my friend as well when he asked me this. But I'm still glad I brought the question up, because I learned something new about the lore by asking!

Cheers all, thanks for the insights

Andykp wrote:
I never understand the need to find a precedent in the “lore” for a cool idea you have. Just write your own narrative and have fun with it. Don’t be constrained by what’s “allowed”.

To a degree, the better question is often the opposite - is there anything significant in the lore that would act as a blocker.

We may not have heard of specific permissive events/instances, but we're more likely to have heard of things that caused prohibitions to be put in place.

It would be really easy to justify if all those Imperial Fists had Deathwatch shoulderpads. Marines retain the right to wear those even when they return to their chapter to share what they learned. I can certainly see the Deathwatch calling up former members in emergencies so a company of Imperial Fists might send all their Deathwatch trained veterans in such an emergency.

 John Prins wrote:
It would be really easy to justify if all those Imperial Fists had Deathwatch shoulderpads. Marines retain the right to wear those even when they return to their chapter to share what they learned. I can certainly see the Deathwatch calling up former members in emergencies so a company of Imperial Fists might send all their Deathwatch trained veterans in such an emergency.

Even non-DW vets.

It would be easy to picture a DW kill team/small force being sent to deal with an issue, realizing it’s a LOT bigger than they anticipated, and asking any marine forces in the area for backup. Who are glad to help.

Or flip it around.

Marine force drops in to crush some Xenos, gets bogged down/in trouble, asks the DW to send in some experts. Which they are glad to do. So they spearhead the counterattack, backed up by the normal marines, to tear the heart out of the problem.

Honestly, it works with any imperial force and the DW.

 tauist wrote:

Andykp wrote:
I never understand the need to find a precedent in the “lore” for a cool idea you have. Just write your own narrative and have fun with it. Don’t be constrained by what’s “allowed”.

You know, that is exactly what I told my friend as well when he asked me this. But I'm still glad I brought the question up, because I learned something new about the lore by asking!

Cheers all, thanks for the insights

That’s is a very positive outlook on it. Good work.