The Fellblade is a super-heavy tank built for the Space Marine Legions during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. It’s the Legion’s answer to the Baneblade, packing enough firepower to make even Titans hesitate.
What the Fellblade is
The Fellblade is a super-heavy battle tank used by the Legiones Astartes. It’s based on the same STC as the Baneblade and the Deathhammer, but it was rebuilt from the ground up for Space Marine use.
During the Great Crusade it anchored the Legions’ heavy armoured brigades. By M41 it’s all but unknown to the Adeptus Astartes, and only a handful remain in service.
A short history
The Fellblade came out of a long development project in the mid-Great Crusade. A conclave of Tech-Magi led by Macrotek Arginoss Krown, plus reps from four other Forge Worlds, competed to design a dedicated super-heavy for the Legions. Accidents killed two of the project leaders before three prototypes reached the Fabricator-General of Mars, who picked the winner.
Early on it fought as an infantry support vehicle, often alone. As numbers grew, Legions deployed Fellblades in squadrons with free rein to hit threats wherever they popped up. Both loyalists and traitors used them heavily in the Horus Heresy.
By early M40, fewer than 100 had been produced in the previous 500 years. That tells you how rare they’d become.
Design and firepower
The Fellblade runs on a Mechanicum atomantic arc-reactor, which gives it a theoretical infinite operational range. In practice, crew fatigue, repairs, and ammunition are what stop it.
Its main gun is a twin Accelerator Cannon from the Forge World of Tigrus. It uses a vacuum-based overpressure system to throw shells harder than a conventional cannon could, and it’s more accurate too. An auto-loader slaved to the commander’s station lets each barrel fire a different shell type, so you can mix and match on the fly.
- Hull-mounted demolisher cannon
- Sponson quad-lascannons (swappable for laser destroyers or gravis heavy bolter batteries)
- Hull heavy weapons and optional pintle mounts
- Reinforced metaplas chassis, lighter than the Baneblade but just as tough
Fellblades in the 41st millennium
Chaos warbands still field Fellblades, usually as relics of the Heresy. For loyalist Chapters, seeing one is a once-in-a-lifetime event.
In 2025 Games Workshop released the Legion Fellblade in plastic for Horus Heresy, after more than a decade as a Forge World resin kit. It’s the biggest Space Marine vehicle ever made in plastic.
Key facts
- Super-heavy tank used by the Space Marine Legions in the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy
- Based on the same STC as the Baneblade and Deathhammer
- Armed with a twin Accelerator Cannon, demolisher cannon, and sponson quad-lascannons
- Powered by a Mechanicum atomantic arc-reactor for near-infinite range
- By M41 it’s nearly extinct among loyalist Chapters
- Released in plastic for Horus Heresy in 2025
FAQ
Is the Fellblade still used in Warhammer 40k?
Barely. By M41 it’s almost unknown to the Adeptus Astartes, with very few still in service. Chaos warbands sometimes field them as Heresy-era relics.
What’s the difference between a Fellblade and a Baneblade?
They share an STC, but the Fellblade was rebuilt for the Legions with an atomantic arc-reactor, a twin Accelerator Cannon, and a lighter metaplas chassis that offers the same protection.
How big is the Fellblade?
It weighs upwards of 300 tonnes, making it one of the heaviest tanks in Space Marine service.