Ok I have been searching online and in this forum for a while now and I cant say I have found a similar question. As a noob player I might have missed something critical in the rulebook but in any case here it goes:

How do you guys handle powerfists in your campaigns? Are they easy to use/wear etc? Can they be carried and worn or taken off to free a hand - like gloves- in say a full round action? Can someone equipped with a fist use a rifle? A chainsword in the same hand?

Fluff wise it sounds too much to me. These things should be big, unwieldy, and should destroy the rifle if you try to use them together.

But ruleswise I cannot find specifics for these above questions. Besides the 13lb weight and the fist description that hints at a power pack, I found nothing else.

No they wouldn't be able to use something in the power fist hand (they would be able to pick something up, but I'd make them roll a WS check to not crush the object).

And I'd say once it's on it takes some significant work to get it off, GM discretion on that.

Old 90's 00's models of power fists were the size of a human torso, but they didn't make much sense on guardsmen. Current guard power fist fits up to, sometimes past the elbow, the person controls it like a prosthetic since they can't open their hand in the giant glove though the tech is good enough it doesn't show, nor is fine control needed. 10's power fists are about a foot across, and unless you replaced the whole arm with them can be taken on and off and slung over the back, maybe on a strap.

If you think someone can do fine manipulation with a foot across fist that has only partial fine motor control, you can have it any way. You are the boss in that respect. Some characters do have a full prosthetic power fist like iron hand Straken. That seems to have a normal level of motor control.

Thanks for the replies - seems like we are all on the same page on making these things unwieldy. But like I ask above are there any rules to back anything up? Or are people house ruling power fists and how they can be utilised?

Specific case for example:

Sniper rifle, and Powerfist/Chainsword combo. Would you allow the guardsman to carry it? And how would you rule when using both sets? Like using the long range weapon first and then switching to melee?

What about a recoil glove allowing the use of a basic rifle in one hand?

Power Fist/Chainsword combined with a sniper rifle. That is some ripe goulda you have there friend, I'd even go as far as saying thay cheese has rotten.

You wanna allow that stuff on your table? Then just go ahead, we're all houseruling stuff anyway here so its your perogative.

Ok if either of my above posts state anything along the line that I would allow such a thing I apologise.... I thought I was clear in that I DO NOT think it feasible fluff-wise. But I do NOT see any rules that say you cannot do this.

And my question remains! Are there any official rules about how to handle them? In any OW book? Maybe I need to look into other WH40RPG books for similar equipment?

The only additional thing about Power Fist that I can remember is a better picture in DH1 Inquisitor's Handbook.

There aren't any explicit rules about not using a power fist and something else in the same hand beyond not attacking with both at once. (Which derives from one attack action per hand.) But that said, how often is it going to matter whether you can hold something in the power fist? If you have time then you can either let go of whatever's in your other hand, switch off the power field, or even temporarily remove the power fist if you need both hands for delicate operations. Combat is likely to be the only instance where this matters, and in that situation I'd suggest that you just stick with the power fist in one hand plus the rifle/recoil glove in the other hand. Power fists are already top-tier weapons by themselves, so using a chainsword in the same hand is quite often going to be a downgrade for you. (There are only a few melee weapons at the same level as power fists: force weapons, other things with the same Str x2 effect, Necron weapons from Black Crusade, daemon weapons, or two battlesuit weapons.)

Thanks to all for posting