Imperial Fists



The Imperial Fists are one of the First Founding Chapters of the Space Marines. They stand out from other Space Marine Chapters since they possess no fixed homeworld, although they are most frequently based on Terra. Instead, the Imperial Fists rely on their 10,000-year-old mobile space fortress, Phalanx, to serve as their fortress-monastery. They maintain recruitment-chapels on various worlds spread throughout the Imperium. Part of the Imperial Fists' duties during the Great Crusade were to function as the Emperor's "personal praetorians", accompanying him everywhere. The Imperial Fists were usually used to strike a decisive blow against the enemies he confronted during that time. The role of the Emperor's bodyguard since he was mortally wounded during the Horus Heresy and interred within the Golden Throne at the heart of the Imperial Palace on Terra has been entirely taken over by the Adeptus Custodes.

Chapter History
The Imperial Fists' Primarch was named Rogal Dorn and is usually regarded as having been the most level-headed and fair of the Primarchs, although in the view of the Imperial Fists' great rivals, the Iron Warriors, he was arrogant and spiteful. The Imperial Fists were one of the three Space Marine First Founding Legions who defended the Emperor of Mankind's Imperial Palace during the Horus Heresy. In fact, it was only due to the intervention and self-sacrifice of a squad of Imperial Fists Terminators that the Emperor was able to strike down Horus. It was Rogal Dorn who discovered the bodies of the Emperor, Sanguinius and Horus, receiving the last words of the Emperor, instructing him to build the Golden Throne in the Imperial Palace which sustains him to this day in a state neither alive nor truly dead.

The Imperial Fists, like the Iron Warriors, were the siege masters of the First Founding Chapters and as such rely greatly on artillery and the use of heavy weapons in combat, although not to the extent of their traitorous former brethren among the Iron Warriors. These two rivals' shared specialization led to great rivalry and eventually hatred between the two Legions and their Primarchs, and after the Heresy the Imperial Fists continued to pursue the Iron Warriors for some time, culminating in the incident of the "Iron Cage" - which essentially ended in a stalemate broken by the arrival of the Ultramarines Chapter.

After the Horus Heresy, the Imperial Fists were broken up into separate Chapters, as were the other remaining Loyalist Space Marine Legions, and their more notable Successor Chapters include the Crimson Fists and the Black Templars. The Imperial Fists, however, were among the slowest of the Chapters to co-operate with the tenets of the Codex Astartes written by the Primarch of the Ultramarines, Roboute Guilliman.

The Great Crusade
The Imperial Fists were first formed on Terra, as shown by their earliest battle honour, "Roma." The Imperial Fists Legion had heavily recruited from the ice world of Inwit with over 70% of the Legion's strength having come from that frigid hive world when Rogal Dorn joined them. This means that the Legion was relatively young when it was united with its Primarch, allowing them to form an unbreakable bond, based upon their similar desires for self-discipline and total commitment to the spread of Order. The few Battle-Brothers of the Imperial Fists who originated on Terra brought with them a tradition of honour duels, practiced even to this day. No one knows where or when this form of combat originated, but it served to bond the warriors together by giving and receiving honour while maintaining their Terran heritage.

After the Imperial Fists won a major victory against the Orks on the ash wastes of the hive world of Necromunda, the Hive Lords consented to recruits being drawn from their population in gratitude. A Fortress-Chapel was duly consecrated but the Imperial Fists were there as esteemed guests, not masters. Rogal Dorn asked no special rights on the worlds where the Fists recruited. Some Primarchs, such as the increasingly mercurial Perturabo, took every opportunity to garrison a world for their Legions and claim its tithes. Dorn is famously recorded as saying "I want recruits not vassals," and was always satisfied to keep his Legion as a military unit with none of the civil responsibilities that came with governing a Legion homeworld.

During the Great Crusade, the Imperial Fists acted as the strategic reserve of the Emperor's forces due to their ability to rapidly redeploy to battlefields aboard Phalanx. They made use of detailed planning and as such were soon found to be supreme urban fighters and siege specialists. After several campaigns and thousands of conquered worlds being brought into the Imperium, the Emperor returned to Terra to build a capital from which he could run his new empire. He took the Imperial Fists with him, set them up as his praetorians and charged Dorn with the construction of the Imperial Palace, something that didn't go unnoticed by the other Primarchs. Perturabo flew into a rage upon hearing that Dorn thought the Imperial Palace would be proof against assault by even as mighty siege-masters as the Iron Warriors and he unleashed a torrent of vitriol and accusations against his brother Primarch so unfounded that the onlookers from his own Legion were dumbstruck. After this outburst was reported to Dorn, the two Primarchs rarely spoke, neither Legion serving in the same campaign again. The Imperial Fists were ever at the Emperor's side and the Iron Warriors were part of Horus' vanguard.

Mission To Mars
For those still Loyal to the Emperor on the Red Planet, their salvation arrived in the form of a great Imperial expeditionary fleet. Malcador the Sigillite, the Regent of Terra, charged Rogal Dorn with a mission of the most vital importance -- to secure the forges of Mars for the Imperial war effort. Dorn informed the Sigillite that he would send his Legion's Champion and First Captain Sigismund, 4 companies of Imperial Fists and a large force of Imperial Army soldiers to secure the forges of Mars. Within the northern hemisphere of the Red Planet lay an arc of Loyalist control -- the important munitions manufactorums of Mondus Gamma and Mondus Occulum. Within these two vast industrial complexes the Mechanicum fabricated the weaponry and Power Armour for the Legions of the Space Marines. The forges of Mondus Occulum and Mondus Gamma alone produced the bulk of the armour and weapons of the Astartes. Dorn intended for his force to strike there to capture those forges and once they were occupied, the Imperial Fists and their allies would push outwards and secure the others.

Sigismund's companies landed at Mondus Occulum as the rest of the Imperial expeditionary force was fighting all across the surface of Mars. After a rapid deployment under fire in the shadow of Pavonis Mons, 13 companies of the Imperial Army's Saturnine Hoplites advanced on the Traitors' lines surrounding the forge of Ipluvien Maximal. Further south, 2 of the companies of Imperial Fists and 4 regiments of Jovian Grenadiers (nearly 15,000 Imperial Army soldiers in total) under the command of the Imperial Fists' Captain Camba-Diaz made planetfall in the Mondus Gamma forge complex.

Nothing of the Imperial Fists' mission to Mars panned out the way it had been expected. Camba-Diaz and the Jovian regiments soon became embroiled in a fight for their lives at Mondus Gamma forge, and the Saturnine Hoplites companies tasked with breaking the siege at Ipluvien Maximal’s forge had been repeatedly turned back by the horrifyingly altered weapon-creatures of the Dark Mechanicum. Though the fighting was desperate, Camba-Diaz eventually secured the armour forges and the ammunition silos, but his company was outnumbered a hundred to one. The Traitor Chrom’s troops pushed him back to the landing fields and his losses were grievous. Sigismund knew the Imperial expeditionary force would not be able to hold the forge, but a great deal of essential supplies had been secured for transit to Terra.

Sigismund’s companies had descended upon Mondus Occulum not knowing whether they would have to fight to secure the forge, but it was a relief to find that Fabricator Locum Kane still held true to the Imperium. Sigismund secured vast quantities of munitions for transport back to Terra, including nearly 12,000 suits of Mark IV Power Armour and twice as many Astartes weapons. But the Loyalists had run out of time. Despite the locum's Servitors working at full capacity, it still was not rapid enough, for Sigismund's ship masters informed him of a sizable enemy force closing in, composed of infantry, armoured vehicles, Skitarii and at least two Traitor Titan Legions comprising nearly 60 war engines in all.

Sigismund's desire to wreak a bloody vengeance on the heads of those who had rebelled against the Emperor warred with the necessity of the mission his Primarch had given him to secure the vital armour and weapons of Kane’s forge that would be needed to defend the Imperial Palace at a later date. Reluctantly he knew he must stay true to his mission, for the forces arrayed against the Imperial strike force were simply too many and his orders did not allow for the prusuit of futile gestures of defiance. Locum Kane warned the Imperial Fists' First Captain that if both the Mondus Occulum and Mondus Gamma forges fell, the Imperium would have no way of replenishing the combat losses they would sustain in any meaningful way.

After barely a few hours worth of fighting both Mondus Occulum and Mondus Gamma were burning, with vast swathes of their industrial machinery and manufacturing capacity destroyed. The loss of such irreplaceable technology and knowledge for all time would be felt by the Imperium for many millennia to come. Like comets launching from the surface of Mars, the Imperial starships fled for the heavens. Astartes and Imperial Army vessels jostled in the sky in their haste to depart the Red Planet. Barely a thousand Loyalist warriors were able to escape from the planet's surface before the manufactorums fell into the hands of the Traitors. The desperate rearguard action of the Astartes and other Loyalists on Mars and the sacrifice of many thousands of lives at least had secured tens of thousands of suits of newly-fabricated Mark V and Mark VI Space Marine Power Armour and other vital materiel that would ultimately prove to be the edge for the forces of the Imperium in the campaign against the Traitor Legions of Horus Lupercal.

Battle of Terra
Along with the White Scars and the Blood Angels Legions, the Imperial Fists put up a heroic defence of the Imperial Palace from the Forces of Chaos during the Battle of Terra that has since passed into legend. Having originally constructed the Imperial Palace, it was also Rogal Dorn who prepared the Palace's defences at the Emperor's request to face the Traitor Legions of Horus. Then, when all hope seemed lost, they accompanied the Emperor in his last battle aboard the Warmaster Horus' Battle Barge Vengeful Spirit. It fell to Dorn to discover the bodies of the Emperor, Horus and Sanguinius after the final drama had run its course. His grief was immense. Until that point Dorn had been true, noble and enduring, but now he became an avenging son. While the Ultramarines maintained order within the battered Imperium, the Imperial Fists hunted down the Traitor Legions, levelling fortress after fortress. Dorn led them, dressed in the black of mourning, his customary mercy set aside until the guilty were punished. While others like the Ultramarines' Primarch Roboute Guilliman shaped the new Imperium's institutions during the Reformation, Dorn immersed himself in implacable justice. It was rumoured that he saw the Emperor's death as his personal failure and his crusade as penance. After all, were the Traitors not his brothers? Whatever the cause, Rogal Dorn was absent from the highest councils until he was summoned back to Terra when Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines, presented his Codex Astartes as the future of the Space Marines and the Imperial military machine.

Pillar of Bone
The Pillar of Bone is believed to be a monument raised on Terra to the Imperial Fists' courage in an unnamed campaign. But in reality it is actually a sacred holy relic to those privy to the truth within the Imperial Fists. The Pillar is the last remnant of the once-great Imperial Fists fortress-monastery on Terra. It was destroyed during the Horus Heresy in the midst of the Battle of Terra, but, to most of the huddled masses of the Imperium, the Heresy is now no more than a legend and few would dare to openly claim that the Forces of Chaos had ever set foot on the sacred ground of Terra. In the holes torn from the column by the Bolter fire of the Traitor Legions were the scrimshawed hands of Imperial Fists Battle-Brothers. Part of the sacred duties given to Imperial Fists Chaplains was to bring new relics of the Chapter to the Pillar, but at times they would also recruit those pilgrims who came to Terra from all across the galaxy into the Chapter if they were deemed worthy of becoming Aspirants. It was at this sacred site that future-Captain (and Imperial Fists' hero) Darnath Lysander was recruited after he had survived multiple misfortunes, including the salughter of his entire family, to make it to the holy soil of blessed Terra. It seemed to the Imperial Fists Chaplain that recruited him that the young pilgrim surely had the blessings of Rogal Dorn upon him. Such intuition would be proved right again and again during Captain Lysander's career.

The Second Founding
After the Heresy, the Imperial Fists were broken up, as were the other First Founding Space Marine Legions, into one-thousand-man strong Chapters, and their more notable Successor Chapters include the Crimson Fists, the Black Templars and the Renegade Soul Drinkers. The Imperial Fists, however, were among the slowest of the Chapters to co-operate with the tenets of the Codex Astartes. Rogal Dorn at first refused to countenance the splitting of his Legion into seperate Chapters as required by the Second Founding, only backing down once it became clear to him that the Ultramarines, the other Space Marine Chapters and the Imperial Navy and newborn Imperial Guard would all initiate another civil war with the Imperial Fists rather than allow them to avoid accepting the dictates of the Codex. Despite his love for the Space Marines of his Legion, Rogal Dorn loved the Imperium the Emperor had created too much to subject it to another terrible conflict in the wake of the horrors of the Horus Heresy.

The Iron Cage
The Imperial Fists, like the Iron Warriors, were masters of the siege and as such relied greatly on the use of artillery and heavy weapons in combat, although not to the extent of their traitorous former brethren. Their shared specialisation led to the development of a great rivalry and eventually hatred between the two Legions and their Primarchs during the Great Crusade, and after the Heresy the Imperial Fists continued to pursue the Iron Warriors for some time, culminating in the incident known as the battle of the "Iron Cage" on the world of Sebastus IV. Perturabo, the Primarch of the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion, was a master of fortification whose writings had been retained by Roboute Guilliman in his Codex Astartes. Dorn had always been Perturabo's match in the arts of siege warfare and combat engineering, and, what was more, his honest warrior's soul was indignant. The Iron Warriors had rebelled against their rightful lord and lost. Their master, Horus, was dead and the Emperor still ruled over the galaxy. Yet still they dared raise their heretical banners over another Imperial world as if they had some right to be there. Dorn would not tolerate this. Without his customary caution and planning, Dorn led his men into the heart of the Iron Warriors' defences, a massive set of interlocking defences designed to look like an 8-pointed Star of Chaos that was known as the Eternal Fortress. The fortress was located on Sebastus IV, a world that became known in legend as the Iron Cage. The battle should have favoured the treacherous trench-fighters of the Iron Warriors, but the Imperial Fists endured. They countered every ambush and fought their way out of every trap set by the Chaos Space Marines. Rogal Dorn was a colossus who personally turned back attack after attack. Ammunition expended, the Battle-Brothers of the Fists fought in half-flooded trenches with combat knives, giving and expecting no quarter. Eventually it became apparent that the Iron Warriors could not finish them. For all their skill and ferocity, as devotees of Chaos the Iron Warriors lacked the faith to make the ultimate sacrifice that victory demanded. While they paused, the Ultramarines intervened; Guilliman had decided that Perturabo's destruction was not worth the loss of Rogal Dorn and had brought his Chapter to drive off the Iron Warriors.

Cleansed by their sacrifice in the Iron Cage, the Imperial Fists immediately began their reorganisation into seperate Chapters as required by the Codex Astartes. For the next two decades the remaining Imperial Fists went into retreat to rebuild their numbers, their Successor Chapters taking to the field in their stead. Dorn used this time to retrain the Chapter to embrace all aspects of the Codex Astartes. When the Imperial Fists later emerged, their adherence to the Codex was matched only by the Ultramarines.

Rogal Dorn's Death
Rogal Dorn "died" fighting onboard a Chaos Space Marine starship, after attacking the First Black Crusade fleet to emerge from the Eye of Terror under the command of Abaddon the Despoiler with a vastly outnumbered Imperial force. Seeing the importance of attacking the enemy fleet while they were still preparing to invade Imperial space, Dorn relied on hit-and-run attacks until his reinforcements could arrive. Dorn "died" on board the Chaotic Despoiler-class Battleship Sword of Sacrilege after leading a desperate attack on its bridge.

According to Ian Watson's now non-canonical novel Space Marine, Dorn's skeleton, without its hands, is encased in clear amber, which is formed in the shape of the Primarch's body. Dorn's skeletal fists are kept within two shrines, the bones intricately engraved with the heraldry of all the Imperial Fists Chapter's previous Chapter Masters. Only the current Chapter Master has the right to engrave his name upon the bones. Even with minuscule script, ten thousand standard years of history have left the bones covered with names, giving a list of the Imperium's greatest heroes. Each bone corresponds to former commanders of the Chapter. For instance, the left hand first metacarpal contains the names of Chapter Masters Bronwin Abermort, Maximus Thane, Kalman Flodensbog and many others, while the first phalanx of the thumb bears the name Ambrosian Spactor, and so forth.

However it has recently been revealed that Dorn and his Veteran Space Marines stormed the Chaos starship and were cut down to a man. Later, the Imperial Fists would pick up an escape pod from one of their own ships present at the battle, which contained the weapons and armour of the Primarch when he went onboard the Chaotic vessel and a single skeletal fist of the Primarch. Where the true Rogal Dorn or his body is and what his fate may have actually been, no one yet knows.

Notable Campaigns

 * Battle of Terra (Unknown Date.M31) - After the infamous Drop Site Massacre on the world of Istvaan V, the Imperial Fists' Primarch Rogal Dorn was charged by Malcador the Sigillite to prepare the defences of Terra and the Emperor's Imperial Palace. During the closing days of the Horus Heresy, the Warmaster Horus and his Traitor Legions attacked Terra, the seat of the Emperor's Imperium of Man, in a final attempt to overthrow his father and usurp the throne for himself. During the Battle of Terra the Imperial Fists, Blood Angels and White Scars were the three Loyalist Space Marine Legions that helped defend the Imperial Palace from the hordes of Chaos. Three entire Titan Legions of the Adeptus Mechanicus and close to 2 million soldiers of the Imperial Army stood alongside the Loyalist Astartes to face the Traitors in a battle that would determine the fate of Mankind for the next 10,000 standard years. After nearly two months of constant siege, the Warmaster made one last gamble and lowered the Void Shields of his flagship, the Vengeful Spirit. Taking advantage of this opening, the Emperor, a cadre of Legio Custodes, the Primarchs Rogal Dorn and Sanguinius and a force of Imperial Fists and Blood Angels Astartes teleported aboard the Warmaster's Battle Barge. It fell to Dorn to discover the bodies of the Emperor, Horus and Sanguinius after the final drama had run its course. He returned the mortally wounded Emperor to his palace. Following the Master of Mankind's final instructions, Dorn helped inter his father upon the Golden Throne, where the Emperor has sat for the last ten millennia.
 * Great Scouring (Unknown Date.M31) - Following the end of the Horus Heresy, Dorn became an avenging son. Whilst the Ultramarines Legion maintained order within the battle-scarred Imperium, the Imperial Fists hunted down the Traitor Legions, leveling fortress after fortress during the Imperial campaign of vengeance against the Forces of Chaos known as the Great Scouring. Dorn led his Imperial Fists, dressed in the black of mourning, his customary mercy set aside until the guilty were punished. Whilst others shaped the new Imperium, Dorn immersed himself in implacable justice. Rogal Dorn remained absent from the highest councils until he was summoned back to Terra when Roboute Guilliman presented his Codex Astartes as the future of the Space Marines.
 * The Iron Cage (Unknown Date.M31) - Upon the world of Sebastus IV the traitorous Iron Warriors, bitter archenemies of the Imperial Fists, laid an ingenious trap to ensnare Rogal Dorn and his Legion. Heedless of the inherent danger, the Primarch ordered the Imperial Fists to attack the Iron Warriors' Eternal Fortress -- later referred to as the Iron Cage by the surviving Imperial Fists. The battle should have favoured the treacherous trench-fighters of the Iron Warriors, but the Imperial Fists endured. For all their skill and ferocity, as devotees of Chaos, the Iron Warriors lacked the faith to make the ultimate sacrifice that victory demanded. While they paused, the Ultramarines intervened; Guilliman had decided that Perturabo's destruction was not worth the loss of Rogal Dorn and had brought his Astartes to drive off the Iron Warriors.
 * 1st Black Crusade (ca. 781.M31) - Abaddon the Despoiler, the new Warmaster of Chaos Undivided, made his first attempt to launch a new offensive against the Imperium of Man following the Horus Heresy and when he unleashed the 1st Black Crusade and the First Battle of Cadia. Rogal Dorn "died" fighting aboard a Chaos Space Marine vessel after attacking the Chaos warfleet that emerged from the Eye of Terror that vastly outnumbered the Imperial defenders. Seeing the importance of attacking the enemy fleet whilst they were still preparing to invade Imperial space, Dorn relied on hit-and-run attacks until his reinforcements could arrive. Dorn "died" aboard the Chaotic Despoiler-class Battleship known as the Sword of Sacrilege after leading a desperate attack on its bridge. When Dorn and his elite Honour Guard stormed the bridge they were cut down to a man. Later, the Imperial Fists would pick up an escape pod from one of their own ships present at the battle, which contained the weapons and Power Armour of their beloved Primarch. The only sign of Dorn was a single skeletal fist that the Imperial Fists believed belonged to the Primarch. What fate ultimately befell Rogal Dorn, and whether he truly died or not, has yet to be determined with absolute certainty.
 * Age of Apostasy (378.M36) - At the height of the Age of Apostasy, an elite Space Marine strike force composed of the Imperial Fists, Black Templars, Fire Hawks, Soul Drinkers, and the forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus assaulted the renegade High Lord Goge Vandire's seat of power -- the Ecclesiarchal Palace on Terra - effectively ending Vandire's "Reign of Blood" and his attempts to assume dictatorial control of the Imperium.
 * Haddrake Tor Campaign (ca. 800.M40) - The Imperial Fists take part in the three-year-long campaign to recover the world of Haddrake Tor from the clutches of Chaos. In the course of the campaign, 1st Company Captain Kleitus is mortally wounded, but passes on the Imperial Fists' relic, the Thunder Hammer known as the Fist of Dorn and the command of the 1st Company to Darnath Lysander before his untimely death.
 * Nimbosa Crusade (790.M41) - The Imperial Fists took part in the Nimbosa Crusade alongside one of their Successor Chapters, the Black Templars, reclaiming the Imperial world of Nimbosa from the encroaching Tau Empire.
 * Scouring of Malodrax (966.M41) - The 1st Company's Captain Darnath Lysander leads the Imperial Fists to the Chaotic fortress-world of Malodrax and successfully scours their ages-old enemies, the traitorous Iron Warriors, from the planet.
 * Khai-Zhan Uprising (968.M41) - The Imperial Fists 5th and 9th Companies are deployed alonside four Cadian Imperial Guard Regiments to the world of Khai-Zhan to suppress the heretical Khai-Zhan Uprising against Imperial authority. The Imperial Fists force is instrumental in countering the warband of Night Lords Chaos Space Marines taking part in the uprising, laying siege to the heavily fortified citadel called the Palace of Peace.
 * Defence of Miral (ca. 997.M41) - 1st Company Captain Lysander and his battle group intercepts the Tyranid Hive Fleet Leviathan in the Miral System on the planet of Miral where defensive fortifications are established. Despite being severely outnumbered, the battle group drives off the incipient Tyranid swarm on the seventh day, one day after the defense was expected to fail.
 * 13th Black Crusade (999.M41) - Five Imperial Fists battle companies take part in the defence of Cadia against Abaddon the Despoiler and the Forces of Chaos during his 13th Black Crusade, smashing into the Traitor Astartes on the planet's surface. The 1st, 2nd, and elements of the 3rd Companies are instrumental in the defence of numerous strategic locations on Cadia, the 2nd Company winning battle honours for defeating a large horde of mutants numbering nearly 10,000 strong.

The Phalanx
The Imperial Fists are unique among the Space Marine Chapters because they have no fixed home planet and are officially based on Terra. This is because of their Terran origins, as well as their pre-Heresy role as the praetorian custodians of the Emperor, following him wherever he went in their vast, 10,000-year-old mobile space fortress, Phalanx. They have transformed Phalanx into their primary fortress-monastery, although they also maintain recruitment fortress-chapels on various worlds throughout the Imperium. It is known that the Emperor had reached the ice hives of Inwit when Rogal Dorn showed himself to the Emperor aboard Phalanx. Some thus take Inwit to be Dorn's true homeworld, although this is not proven, and the truth has long since been lost over time.

Chapter Organisation
Initially, the Imperial Fists were an inflexible formation; each company had an identical organisation and company captains tended to be unimaginative. Overall strategic planning for the Legion was excellent, however, and this, coupled with the unshakable determination of the individual Imperial Fists, made them an excellent assault formation against static defences. Through most of the Great Crusade, the Imperial Fists would be held in reserve, waiting while other Legions pinned the enemy in position and identified the keystone of their defence. Inevitably, that position would then be shattered by the Fists. They were equally valuable when resolutely blocking, and often totally defeated enemy counteroffensive breakthroughs. The Legion had a willingness to fight until they earned victory which few opponents could match. Rogal Dorn led from the front, a tireless warrior who, having set the strategy for a battle, would unerringly place himself in the front ranks of most critical engagements.

After the losses incurred in the Iron Cage, what remained of the Imperial Fists was a hardened, veteran force fully able to embrace the concepts of the Codex Astartes; alongside the Ultramarines, the Imperial Fists have become the epitome of Codex doctrine. All ranks are able to make tactical decisions and are encouraged to act on their own initiative. The Imperial Fists combine all arms in flexible balanced battle groups each of which can present an opponent with a diversity of threats, then press their attack so swiftly that the foe is overwhelmed before he can react. The Imperial Fists since the Heresy have retained their traditional skills in urban and siege warfare, although they are quite willing to engage and defeat the enemy in open battle in any environment. They will use fortifications on the defensive, but only after all of the more aggressive options have been exhausted. The Fists' only weakness is perhaps a reluctance to accept the possibility of defeat that sometimes blinds them to the risks inherent in their aggressive stratagems.

Like all Codex Astartes-compliant Space Marines Chapters, the Imperial Fists are divided into 10 companies comprised of 100 Space Marines each. Each company is led by a hero of the Chapter with the rank of Captain, who - in addition to his company command - is in charge of a particular aspect of the Chapter's logistics.

Chapter Recruitment
The Imperial Fists take their potential recruits from many worlds, among which are Terra, and the Hive Worlds of Necromunda and Inwit. On each of these worlds they maintain a Chapter recruitment fortress-chapel. However, the Imperial Fists have no special political rights on the worlds where they recruit their Neophytes as other Chapters do.

Once Imperial Fists Aspirants are selected, their criminal record is examined, and they undergo a battery of tests determined to measure their musculature, psychological profile ("psychosis level"), psychic level, eye reflexes, intelligence, the ability to shoot, pain resistance, and dexterity. Recruits spend six months in the Phalanx where they learn proper Imperial Low Gothic through the use of a hypnocasque before undergoing their initiation in the "tunnel of terror." In the latter, they face extreme heat, cold, empty space, etc. The severity of the trial increases along the way. If the Aspirant passes, he becomes a Neophyte cadet and the symbol of the Imperial Fists is tattooed on his buttock. Then begins the psycho-indoctrination, training and the actual surgery and implantation of the gene-seed organs that will make the Neophytes into true Astartes. To celebrate the introduction of the Preomnor implant, cadets eat poisonous plants, venomous animals, etc. For the Omophagea, they consume meat (some of the meat they eat is human flesh) and must divine from the meat a few details about the nature of the actual animal. After the initiation ceremony, the Neophyte's family is informed that their child has become a Space Marine in service to the Emperor so that they may rejoice at their offspring's great fortune.

Notable Imperial Fists

 * Rogal Dorn - Rogal Dorn was the Primarch of the Imperial Fists and is presumed to be deceased after leading an assault against a Chaotic flagship during the 1st Black Crusade. His remains are now sacred relics of the Chapter kept aboard the Phalanx.
 * Vladimir Pugh - Pugh is the current Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists. Whilst not a particularly inspirational leader, Pugh is considered as meticulous a planner as any Chapter Master in the Chapter's history.
 * First Captain Sigismund - During the Horus Heresy era, Sigusmund was the First Captain of the Imperial Fists. Due to his fighting prowess, Sigismund was singled out by Rogal Dorn and was given the best arms and equipment, becoming the first Emperor's Champion for the Legion. During the Second Founding, Sigismund would go on to lead the more zealous elements of the Imperial Fists and was elevated to the esteemed rank of High Marshall (Chapter Master) of the newly formed Black Templars Chapter.
 * Captain Camba-Diaz - During the Horus Heresy era, Camba-Diaz was Captain of the 2nd Company of the Imperial Fists. Due to his fighting prowess and ability to stay cool under fire, Primarch Dorn often deployed Captain Camba-Diaz beside First Captain Sigismund. The resolute and taciturn Captain was a soothing balm to Sigismund's fiery temper. They complemented one another in battle. During the Horus Heresy he played an instrumental role in the vital mission to obtain armour and munitions from the forges on Mars during the great civil war which had erupted between loyalist Mechanicum and Dark Mechanicus forces.
 * Captain Alexis Polux - Described as a giant of a man, whose physical strength belied a cold, rational and supremely logical mind. His character traits displayed the legacy of his Primarch Rogal Dorn. During the Second Founding when the Imperial Fists Legion was broken down into Chapters, Polux became the first Chapter Master of the newly created Crimson Fists Space Marine Chapter.
 * Captain Darnath Lysander - Captain of the 1st Company, Overseer of the Armoury and Watch Commander of the Phalanx. Long thought deceased. The famous Imperial Fist Captain first appeared in the Liber Honorus Imperial Fists in 567.M40 as a Sergeant in command of a unit of the 2nd Company where he was victorious over a group of heretics on Iduno at the Battle of Colonial Bridge. He was then promoted to command of the 2nd Company in 585.M40 after successfully boarding and capturing an Eldar Cruiser. During the three year siege of the world of Haddrake Tor to retake it from the Forces of Chaos, Lysander witnessed the death of the Captain of the 1st Company, Kleitus, and from him received the Imperial Fists sacred Thunder Hammer, the Fist of Dorn, which he used to go on and conquer the heretics. Lysander was soon after promoted to command of the elite 1st Company, which he led for many years. Whilst leading a force of Imperial Fists they disappeared into a Warp Storm. Afterwards the Chapter patiently awaited for his return for quite some time. The Chapter pronounced Lysander and his men dead in absentia. In truth, Lysander's starship re-emerged into Chaos-held space and were captured by the Iron Fists' bitter enemies, the Iron Warriors. Lysander and the survivors were captured and taken by the Iron Warriors to one of their accursed fortress-worlds, known as Malodrax, and were tortured for years. Eventually Lysander, without weapons or armour, effected his escaped and fought his way off the accursed Chaos world to freedom. When he returned to the Imperial Fists Chapter, many centuries had passed in the material universe. Fearing that he might have been tainted by the Ruinous Powers, Lysander was thoroughly screened by the Chapter's various specialists and found free of Chaotic taint. Captain Lysander was reinstated to his position as Captain of the 1st Company. Lysander then lead a force to raze the Iron Warriors from Malodrax and laid the world to waste, achieving his vengeance at last.
 * Captain Taelos - Commander of the 10th Company, and former Captain of the 2nd Company. Whilst in command of the 2nd, Captain Taelos played a vital role against the Tau's expansion during the Nimbosa Crusade.
 * Lexandro D'Arquebus - Former Captain of the Imperial Fists. A high-habitat resident of the Trazior Hive on Necromunda before his recruitment into the Imperial Fists, Lexandro rose rapidly through the ranks of the Imperial Fists. He is the only surviving one of the "Three Brothers" of Trazior; the finger bones of his left hand are inscribed with the names of his two deceased Battle-Brothers from the hive city of Trazior as a permanent memorial to them. He is one of the main characters of Ian Watson's recently re-released non-canon 1993 novel Space Marine, and also appears in his Inquisition War trilogy.
 * Lo Chang - This moon-faced Chaplain of the Imperial Fists has a countenance that is badly scarred by crater-like wounds incurred when his helmet failed him in combat. When Lo Chang preaches, he is swept up in devout ecstasy wherein his passion can inspire any Imperial Fists Space Marine to strive to be a true child of Rogal Dorn and servant of the Emperor of Mankind. Lo Chang appeared in the recently re-released non-canon novel Space Marine by Ian Watson.
 * Franz Grenstein - Librarian Franz Grenstein is described as dusky-skinned, with criss-crossed dueling scars on both cheeks from numerous honour duels. An intense and preoccupied Imperial Fists Librarian, Grenstein takes his responsibilities to keep the Imperial Fists safe from psychic or daemonic enemies very seriously. On the rare occasions an Imperial Fists Space Marine is in contact with Chaos, it is Grenstein who will be assigned to help them regain their mental stability and ensure they have not brought Chaos's taint with them. Grenzstein was killed during a search-and-destroy mission against Tyranids; he appeared in the recently re-released non-canonical novel Space Marine by Ian Watson.

Chapter Gene-Seed
The Imperial Fists' gene-seed is very stable and has never exhibited signs of mutation. However, over time they have lost the use of two of the special organs produced by the basic Astartes genetic template: the Betcher's Gland, which allows a Space Marine to produce poisonous/acidic spittle, and the Sus-an Membrane, which allows an Astartes to enter a state of suspended animation.

Another peculiar and unexplained quirk of the Chapter is the Imperial Fists' pathological need to scrimshaw the bones of their dead when off-duty. Sometimes, after a battle, individual Battle-Brothers who distinguish themselves on the field of battle are awarded the skeletal hands of fallen Imperial Fists. The individual bones are then adorned with delicate carvings, designs, and other ornamentation. Scrimshaw is considered a solemn undertaking to the Astartes of this Chapter. It is seen as a way to practice mental discipline, focus, and attention to detail. Oftentimes the finished scrimshaws are worn as jewelry and ornamentation, particularly by the Chapter's officers.

The only worrying trait that has attracted scrutiny is the Imperial Fists' over-zealous self-castigation. They often make use of a device called the "Pain Glove," which encases the whole body and stimulates its pain neurons. The Imperial Fists constantly feel the need to punish themselves for the smallest inadequacy, failure or infraction. The last remaining relic of Rogal Dorn, his skeletal hand, is displayed in their fortress-monastery on the Phalanx as a reminder of the ultimate dedication to their duty and the Emperor required of the Space Marines. Considering the circumstances of Rogal Dorn's eventual death, it is clear that the Imperial Fists have a drive for self-sacrifice that they must continually battle to overcome.

Although the Imperial Fists have a preference for long-range engagement and specialize in siege warfare, they are also well-known for their passion for dueling, a trait inherited from the men of Terra from whom the original warriors of the Legion were recruited before the Great Crusade, and many can display scars from this time-honoured practice.

Chapter Fleet
The Imperial Fists' Chapter fleet includes the Gothic-class Cruiser Imperial Power, as well as Cobra-class Destroyers which are used as Escorts. At least three Imperial Fists Strike Cruisers took part in the attack on the Chaos forces located at the Peleon's Belt heretic anchorage.

Known Imperial Fists vessels:
 * Capulus (Strike Cruiser)
 * Hammer of Terra (Battle Barge) (Destroyed)
 * Imperial Power (Gothic-class Cruiser)
 * Phalanx (Mobile Fortress-Monastery)
 * Shield of Valour (Strike Cruiser)(Captured by the Iron Warriors)
 * Spear of Vengeance (Battle Barge)
 * Storm of Wrath (Battle Barge)
 * Terrible Angel (Strike Cruiser)
 * Titus (Strike Cruiser)
 * Vengeance Incandescent (Strike Cruiser)

Chapter Colours
The Imperial Fists' Power Armour is a golden yellow, with trim according to the Codex Astartes' recommended company colours and a red Aquila.

Chapter Badge
The Imperial Fists' Chapter badge is an armoured, grey or black fist on a white or yellow roundel with a grey or black circular border.

Controversial Depiction
Ian Watson's novel Space Marine, the first fictional representation of the Space Marines ever written, revolves around the recruitment, training and combat experiences of an Imperial Fist Astartes. Unfortunately, the content of the book is no longer considered to be canon and in fact the tale has been deemed outright heretical by Imperial authorities.

Gallery
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