Deathwatch Custom Chapters Table of Content
Thunder FistsStoic yet mercurial, a Thunder Fist marine's mood can shift quickly, flying from rage to laughter and back to greif in moments. They are far from flighty, however, and are more cheifly known for their dogged determination and unflinching resolve. They are a Dark Angels successor chapter and were founded in the 33rd Millenium as a standing force to reinforce the defences of Tonitrum Sector.
They are masters of Siege warcraft and like the are famed for their unusual war-mounts, much like their fellow successor chapter the Space Hawks.
Benitux The glittering, airless world of Benitux Secondus is never the less almost as rich in life as it is in mineral wealth. It was targetted for settlement because of the vast reserves of exotic gemstones and heavy-earths. However, as excavation began and the mines were converted into vast subterrainian hives, the startled settlers broke through into thinly air-filled cave systems, filled with exotic xenos lifeforms.
The wildlife of Benitux is largely arthropod in nature and varies in size from the tiny to the gargantuan, with the largest examples being mile long segmented monstrosities with countless-legs that roam the larger tunnels, constantly feasting on the smaller fauna and the ever-present fungal flora. Whilst the surface is largely devoid of colour, light and activity, the tunnels and caverns beneath are bathed in light and activity. Many of the naturally accurring Funguses (some of which can grow to engulf entire caverns) bio-luminesce, but additionally many of the exotic gemstones show natural flourescence in various circumstances.
The Glittering Crystal Domes that make up the ceilings of the Grand Hives, through which the blackness of space can be seen, are made up of just such crystals. The majority of them Flouresce a gentle blue colour the majority of the time, blooming into a vivid red when the light of Benitux's sun hits it directly.
The Thunder Fists maintain stewardship of the world of Benitux, with the ruling class answering to them on certain issues but largely left to get on with it. However the various hives are largely self-contained, viewing themselves as seperate city-states, each one a nation unto itself. They make frequent war against each other for resources and the Thunder Fists rarely intervene. Such conflicts are characterised by the predominace of brutal tunnel-fighting and siege manouvers and provides a large amount of the Chapter's signature tactics. However, when the world is directly threatened, the Thunder Fists have been known to put a stop to such conflict in swift, brutal strikes. They alone have managed to domesticate the crab-like apex-predator that roams much of the subterrainian worlds most dangerous depths and it's ability to burrow through all but the hardest rock along with it's heavily armoured exterior and vast strength make it both a fearsome mount and a siege-ending trump card.
Defenders of Tronitrum Sector and the Benitux SystemDuring the early years of the 33rd Millenium, the growing wealth of the Benitux system and it's neighbors began to attract the attention of the Arch Enemy, in particular, the raiding activities of the Emperor's Children. Being located in the Ultima Segmentum but very near to the border of Segmentum Obscurus, it soon became clear that the area was simply not sufficiently defensible without significant reinforcement, and so the Thunder Fists were born.
They dedicated themselves to rooting out the secret strongholds serving as the base of these raiding actions, established numerous outposts from which they could strike to intercept piratical raiding parties and established a wide network of early-warning systems.
This provoked a strong response from the forces of chaos and the sector was soon plunged into all-out war as the frustrated Emperor's Children retaliated in force. The ensuing conflict would tie up the majority of Thunderfist forces for decades to come. So when a call for aid came from a neighboring sector, it was a company of 7th company tactical reserves that answered, many of them seconded from the Thunder Fists parent chapter, the Dark Angels.
The Legend of Lucky SebenA navigator-house ship on a vital mission from the Paternova had come under attack by unknown forces. Fearing an attack by the Emperor's Children, Three squads of the Seventh Company were dispatched to drive off the attackers.
However, upon arrival it became clear that the situation was very different to the one they had expected. The Navigator ship had been damaged sufficiently to prevent it's escaping to warp, forcing it to take refuge in a dense asteroid field while it attempted desperate repairs. However it was still being dogged by the nimble vessels of the Eldar. To make matters worse, an entire Eldar Craftworld had made itself known.
The choice was obvious, they would mount a suicide attack on the craftworld in order to give the navigator ship time to escape it's pursuers. They breifly engaged the Craftworld before ramming it at full speed, escaping in boarding torpedo's at the last minute in order to regroup and attempt to cause as much damage as possible. The Fifth squad's boarding torpedo was shot out of the sky before it could even impact. The sixth squad were cut down whilst attempting to secure a beach-head.
Only the Seventh Squad fared better, escaping into the smaller passageways before the Eldar could entirely react. Over the course of an hour of close quarters, run-and-gun combat, the squad was whittled down to it's last couple of men, the leader getting confirmation of the Navigator Ship's escape to warp just as their position was over-run. Low on bullets and outnumbered a thousand to one, the Sargeant settled for detonating a melta-bomb near what seemed to be a cluster of power conduits. The explosion whiped out the attacking Eldar security and the remaining members of Seventh Squad.
All bar one. "Lucky" Seben of the Seventh Squad of Seventh Company woke up moments later. His armour almost entirely destroyed, nearly out of ammo and stuck on a hostile Xenos installation with no hope of rescue and no obvious way out.
Sitting in the scorched ruins of the strange Eldar chamber, the glittering afterglow of the Navigator Ship's warp-jump fading outside the window, Lucky Seben straightened his moustache, lit himself a cigar and
got to work.
Tales of what followed have been passed down through generations of Thunderfists as the prime, shining example of what it means to be a space marine. Lucky Seben's campaign of bare-footed guerilla violence, hiding in air-vents and improvised use of Xenos weaponry is held up as the ultimate lesson in never-say-die grit, culminating as it did not only in the fatal crippling of the craftworld when Seben managed to activate the crashed Strike-Cruiser's self-destruct sequence but also in Seben's survival and ultimate escape, riding the blast-wave in a captured Fighter-Vessel before waiting in suspended animation for his eventual retreival.
Thunder Fists and the UnforgivenThough they were originally considered fully one of the "Unforgiven" and followed the Dark Angels command structure and levels of initiation, the Thunder Fists are no longer quite as close as they once were. Simply put, Thunder Fists make terrible liars, and those initiated had a lot of difficulty keeping the terrible knowledge from their uninitiated brethren. Rumour has it, the Dark Angels interceded in the affair directly. They aid the Unforgiven whenever and wherever they can, often sending Marines to take the place of marines from true Unforgiven chapters who have had to abandon their posts to hunt the fallen. Officially, only the Chapter Master and Cheif Librarian are privy to the secret of the fall of Caliban, in the modern Thunder Fists Chapter.
But Thunder Fists make such terrible liars and the situation is, in truth, much more complicated than that. Rumours circulate the ranks of the Thunder Fists. Those Brothers insightful enough to piece together the truth, if left in place, would invariably end up letting the secret slip to their fellows. To stop this from happening, the Thunder Fists have another secret tradition. Marines who prove driven enough to learn of the Fallen are declared killed in action, their names entered into the book of the dead. They are given their choice of weapons and provided with less conspicuous armour and sent out into the far reaches of space to hunt the Fallen just as a Thunder Fists does best; Alone, relying on their wits and their dogged determination.
Rumour has it, these individuals are left with some unknown method with which they can be contacted in times of the chapter's direst need. This way, the Chapter Master can when neccessary, massively and suddenly reinforce his Chapter's strength by recalling the so called
Prodigal Company. For this reason, an exact measure of the true strength and numbers of the Thunder Fists are difficult to come by, but if the rumours are true then they likely exceed the limits set down by the Codex Astartes considerably.
Combat DoctrineThe Thunder Fists, perhaps due to the strange nature of conflict between the subterrainian hives of Benitux Secondus, have grown to excell at siege warfare. Whether in ensuring that a structure is properly reinforced or in cracking the fortifications of the enemy, their innovative and determined approach is invaluable.
Thunder Fist Characters The tenancious and unrelenting Thunder Fists gain +5 to Toughness and Willpower.
They have no speciality restrictions, perhaps due to rumours that they are infact significantly over-strength.
Lost Zygote: Their Gene-Seed has developed a flaw since their founding and they no longer gain the benefits of having a Mucranoid Gland.
Codex Demeanor: Swift as the WindThunder Fists wear their emotions on their sleeves and their mood can change like the wind. Unlike their parent chapter, the Dark Angels, they are very open and immediate, emotionally at least. This swift, genuine nature carries through into their battle tactics. They distrust careful, academic planning and much prefer to think on their feet, throwing themselves into difficult situations and allowing their intuition to find a way through, just as their honoured ancestors so often did. All too often, this ends in large explosions.
Thunder Fists Primarch's CurseLoose CanonLevel 1 (With a Bang) - As the size of an explosion increases, the number of situations it cannot resolve approaches zero. Somehow, a mission just doesn't seem complete until the battle brother has blown something up. Should a Battle Brother at this level requisition grenades or other explosives he will be compelled to use all of them before the end of the mission. If the situation can be aided in some way by something blowing up, he is compelled to ensure that it does. He won't endanger his team unnecessarily, but must otherwise make a challenging (+0) Willpower test to pass up an opportunity to further the goals of the mission via explosives.
Level 2 (No Time For This) - Thunder Fists have little interest in carefully planning out strategy or abiding by strict operational parameters. He will frequently deviate from any agreed plan if an opportunity presents itself, and when forced to delay to strategise mid-mission must pass a challenging (+0) Willpower test or be compelled to immediately carry on without waiting for the rest of his team.
Additionally, if a Thunder Fist at this level has the chance to protect a team-mate, ally or civilian at the cost of destroying expensive material resources or causing widespread structural/collatoral damage, he will almost invariably take it.
Level 3 (Lone Wolf) - By this point the Battle Brother is convinced that they
should take most missions on their own, because it is the only reliable way to protect their allies and their friends. In their mind, it is their burden to bear. They will seek at every opportunity to take the most demanding responsibilities, they may try to convince their team that they work better solo, or try to deliberately ditch their team all in order to keep them safe.
Thunder Fists that have progressed to this level, are easy to track. You simply follow the trail of destruction and the sound of explosions. They value the lives of their allies, their friends and normal human civilians above almost anything else and will turn any and every part of their enviroment into a weapon. If there is anything in their surroundings that can be blown up, broken, sabotaged, dropped from a height or slammed into something else at speed in such a way as to further their objectives without endangering allies or civilians, the Battle Brother must pass a Hard (-20) willpower test to resist doing so, whatever the monetary values involved. If the action is likely to cost the Battle Brother his life, he instead makes a challenging (+0) willpower test.
Thunder Fists Solo Mode AbilityDie Hard. Once per combat the Battle-Brother may channel his resolve into an unflinching refusal to die. If so, he gains 6 Temporary Wounds and his maximum Movement Rate is reduced to 1/2 his Agility Bonus, rounding up. Unlike normal Wounds, these bonus Wounds are removed when affected by the Damage of any successful attack and are always removed first before applying Damage to the Battle-Brother’s normal Wounds. These bonus Wounds will also be lost if the Battle-Brother leaves his chosen location either by his own choice or involuntarily.
At Rank 3 and above the temporary Wounds increase to 12.
At Rank 5 and above the Battle-Brother may move a number of metres equal to his Agility Bonus each round without losing the effects of the ability.
At Rank 7 and above the temporary Wounds increase to 18.
Thunder Fists Squad Mode AbilitiesAttack - Lethal Weapons
Full Action - Cost: 2
Sustained (Yes)
While this ability remains in effect, all attempts to Dodge or Parry the attacks of the Battle-Brother and those in Support Range suffer a –10 penalty.
If the Battle-Brother is Rank 4 or above, the penalty to Dodge and Parry Tests increases to –20.
Defence - Death Wish
Free Action - Cost 3
Sustained (Yes)
While this ability is active, the Battle-Brother and any within Support Range of him ignore the effects of any critical damage that would not kill them until this ability is no longer active. Once this ability ends they suffer the full effects of any critical damage they recieved.
Thunder Fists Chapter Advances| Advance | Cost | Type | Prerequisites |
| Tactics (Siege) | 100 | Skill | |
| Tactics (Siege) +10 | 100 | Skill | Tactics (Siege) |
| Tactics (Siege) +20 | 100 | Skill | Tactics (Siege) +10 |
| Demolition | 200 | Skill | |
| Demolition +10 | 200 | Skill | Demolition |
| Demolition +20 | 200 | Skill | Demolition +10 |
| Hammer Blow | 400 | Talent | Adeptus Astartes, Weapon Training |
| Die Hard | 300 | Talent | WP40 |
| Strong Minded (Any) | 1000 | Talent | WP30, Resistance (Psychic Powers) |
| Last Man Standing | 300 | Talent | Nerves of Steel |
Thunder Fists Chapter TrappingsThunderGloveSimilar in design to a shock-glove, this device gives a Battle Brother in a tough situation an extra little kick to their unarmed attacks. Once per encounter, the Battle Brother may choose to add the
shocking quality to an unarmed attack. This counts only for a single roll (if the marine is capable of making multiple rolls then it applies only to the first) and must declare they are doing so before rolling the attack.
Additionally, if it has already been used the Marine may spend a full round action to recharge the Thunderglove for another use.
Crystal PendantA reasonably large chunk of semi-precious crystal, taken from the Thunder-Fists homeworld and hung on a sturdy chain. Often worn over the breastplate, tucked into the Battle Brother's Belt or sometimes looped about one wrist. The Crystal is there to remind the marine of what he is fighting for; The safety and the honour of his homeworld.
Add +3 to any Willpower Test to resist Fear effects and Cohesion Damage.
Thunder Fists EquipmentBattle Brothers of the Thunder Fists chapter will often ride into battle on top of massive crablike creatures capable of burrowing through all but the hardest rock. They are cheifly used in seige operations, but will sometimes be used for the tactical options and sheer might that they provide.
