Alexis Polux

The finest example of an Astartes who ever lived.

Alexis Polux, also known as David Duchovny in space was the Captain of the Imperial Fist 405th Company and master of the Retribution Fleet at Phall during the Horus Heresy and the first Chapter Master of the Crimson Fists after the subsequent fracturing of the legions. A giant of a man, even for a Space Marine, he was known for his cold and extremely logical mind and demeanor. Unlike a lot of the famous marines from the heresy (especially among the Fists), he was never found wanting for glory or recognition. He simply did his job to the T and got some serious shit done throughout the Crusade, the Heresy and the Aftermath. Never once failing in his duty to the Imperium. Making him the living embodiment of everything his Primarch stood for.

In a galaxy full of some truly and utterly incompetent commanders, he was one that could be relied upon to get the job done.

History

Alexis was born Inwit, the same icy hellhole that Rogal Dorn arrived at. Both he and his brother Helias were selected as potential candidates to become Space Marines, and were sent off into the wasteland with the other recruits to complete the trails. After saving Alexis from that red monster thing from Star Trek 11, Helias was left dangling off the edge of a cliff, holding onto a very badly wounded Alexis for dear life. Alexis, due to not being Christian Bale, couldn't pull him back up, but flat out refused to let his brother go. Deciding having the both of them die was not the smartest move, Helias released his grip and fell to his death. Alexis survived the trials and was made a fully fledged Space Marine. The events of the trails dramatically changed his outlook forever, believing that Helias, the stronger of the two, should have been the one to survive. Despite proving to be an excellent Astartes and quickly reaching the rank of Captain. He always worked thinking he was never as strong or as qualified for leadership as his fellow Captain, in particular Sigismund. This perspective would shape his career with a humility that made him an excellent strategist and leader of his fellow Battle-Brothers.

After the Knight-Errant Nathanial Garro told Dorn of Horus's birthday party (and subsequently tried to rip Garro a new anus with his Chainsword), Dorn dispatched a fleet under the command of Sigismund to the Isstvan system to get the leftover cake. Sigismund then decided to remain behind on Terra, so command fell to Captain Yonnad. Yonnad then pulled a Frederick Barbarossa and died on the way there before getting to do anything cool, so command fell to Polux. Despite not really wanting the command, he took up the mantle none-the-less and got to work. Despite his officers telling him they should try and get out of the Warp Storms that were pinning them in place, he chose to wait them out, suspecting that something about this seemed all too convenient and there would most likely be some kind of trap on the other end. Polux instead drilled the ever-loving shit out of his men in boarding actions in an all or nothing gamble to curbstomp the awaiting forces in space before they can react.

Despite a lot of doubt from his underlings, the plan worked and resulted in the EPIC Battle of Phall. The Iron Warriors, expecting the Fists to do the predictable thing of landing and fortifying, were completely unprepared for what came out the other end. Heavy casualties were inflicted on both sides, but the fists had absolutely gained the upper hand, despite the Iron Warriors' numerical advantage.

During the battle, Captain Amandus Tyr informed Polux that the Iron Warriors' flagship, Iron Blood, was among the attacking fleet. Polux then thought 'What would Horus do?' and ordered Tyr to send a strike right into the heart of the enemy force, board the Iron Blood, and execute Perturabo. They came unbelievably close to killing Perty (in his own bedroom no less) but ultimately didn't succeed. This did cause Perty's paranoia to skyrocket, which lead to a lot of problems for the Iron Warriors, so there is that at least.

Victory was almost at hand for the Fists, but then Dorn sent a Grindr message ordering everyone left back to Terra to help prepare for the siege, understanding that they had done what they needed to do, Polux pulled out and headed home, leaving the Iron Warriors with a hollow victory, a raging lunatic for a leader and not enough resources to make much more of a real impact.

After the siege of Terra, Roboute Guilliman had ordered all the legions to break up into chapters. Polux was given command of the newly founded Crimson Fists, comprised of the more 'level headed' Marines of the Legion. While the more zealous Black Templars went off to spank the crying traitors all the way back to the eye of terror. Polux and his legion were sent off to combat a Cabal of Dark Eldar, which would set the trend of the Crimson Fists being VERY good and killing Xenos.

800 years after the heresy (making him fucking old for a Space Marine) Polux met his end at the hands of a poison from a Scythian attack. But Polux wasn't one to die without getting the job done. On his death bed he gave to his successor Pedro Cantor instructions on how to eliminate the threat of the Scythians once and for all. Reducing the Xenos to an extremely dangerous enemy of the Imperium to an obscure race of Dark Eldar knockoffs.

On The Tabletop

Epic character. Epic rules. Epic Model. It's good to be loyal.

Polux was introduced to the Tabletop in Extermination, and Forge World did a bang up job of representing him. With his rules matching his fluff perfectly and also being a very crunchy choice for any Imperial Fist army to boot!

He's a void-hardened power-armoured Praetor with -1 BS/A (BS5 with legion tactics though and his attacks stat is redundant - see below), but with S5, a master-crafted Power Fist with a gauntlet mounted Combi-melta and a Vigil pattern Storm Shield for 3++. You'd normally need Terminator armor for that, but he's that strong. Also, as a master of void combat he lets you teleport in an Imperial Fist infantry unit of your choice via Deep strike and he allows his unit to pass/fail morale or pinning checks at his leisure. Lastly, if he is the warlord he can redeploy one unit in his army before the turn order is determined, with the option to even put it in or out of reserves. A nifty special rule he has lets you drop the Unwieldy rule from his mighty fist in exchange for dropping his attacks stat down to 1, but you still get 2 attacks on the charge! Who needs a Paragon Blade? Go around knocking characters out in one shot with his master-crafted fist, which rerolls to hit in challenges!