Power Armour

Power Armour is worn primarily by the Space Marines and the Chaos Space Marines. It is a completely enclosed suit of armour, made of thick ceramite plates. The armour would be heavy and cumbersome to wear but for the electrically motivated fibre bundles within the armour that replicates the wearer's movement and enhances his strength.

Power armour is fully sealed, isolating the wearer from the outside environment and protecting him from gas weapons and harsh atmospheres. It also commonly includes numerous auxiliary systems such as communicators, auto-senses, etc.

Space Marines go through an arduous process where they receive various implants culminating with the implantation of the Black Carapace which allows the Marine a direct and instinctual interface with the armour, making it in effect a second skin. The advanced systems of Space Marine power armour also monitor the Marine's biological functions, feeding the medical information to the Marine.

The backpack contains the main power plant, environmental system and additional stabilizers.

Whilst power armour is most commonly associated with the Adeptus Astartes, the Sisters of Battle and many Inquisitors also use powered armour of one sort or another. Typically however these armours may not contain the same strength enhancing properties or life-support functions of Space Marine power armour nor do they provide the same amount of armour.

Power armour has been in use since before the Age of the Imperium, from the techno-barbarians of Earth to the original Space Marines created by the Emperor. Over the history of the Imperium, power armour has developed into many different forms. Need, circumstances and recovery of new materials and technology has shaped the armour's evolution.

Mark 1 "Thunder Armour"

Ultramarine Mark 1 Thunder Armour

Mark 1 Thunder Armor

This is the type of armour worn by the techno-barbarian factions that dominated the Earth prior to the Emperor's ascendancy. When the Emperor began the conquest of Earth, the proto-Space Marines which formed part of his retinue were armoured in the same way as the warriors of the other warlords. A thunderbolt and lightning symbol was displayed on the breastplate of warriors loyal to the Emperor - this was the personal badge of the Emperor in those days, predating the Imperial Aquila which only became the symbol of the Imperium much later. The emblem gives the suit its common name – Thunder Armour.

Thunder Armour was not an enclosing suit and offered no life support functions, being unnecessary while the fighting was confined to Earth.

This early armour was produced on a completely local basis. There was no standard design, individual suits varied heavily and their exact designs were often a matter of personal taste.

The main part of the armour is the massive powered torso which encloses the chest and arms. Coiled energy cables beneath the armour plating transmit power from the power pack on the back to the arms, greatly increasing physical strength. Since fighting on Earth during the period was primarily close-quarters, the strength of a warrior's chest and arms was of paramount importance. The legs of this armour are not power-armoured at all, but are enclosed in tough padded breaches. Although uncommon, the best equipped warriors sometimes wore armoured greaves and armoured boots.

Mark 2 "Crusade Armour"

Ultramarine Mark 2 Crusade Armour

Mark 2 Crusade Armor

After the conquest of the main planets of the Solar system, the factories on Mars were set to work constructing a new type of armour for the Emperor's elite Space Marines. This armoured suit is commonly referred to as Crusade Armour, since it was designed with the planned Great Crusade in mind. It was the first fully enclosed power armour, making it suitable for conquest of space.

The Crusade Armour is fully plated, and the legs are also power armored. The plates are arranged into articulated hoops, for increased maneuverability. The chest coils, which were kept on the outside of the armour plating on Mark 1 armour for cooling purposes, have now been placed on the inside of the chest plates, so that they are better protected, thanks to more efficient cooling mechanisms. The back pack is roughly the same size as that on the mark 1 armour, but is much more efficient, and also includes extra life support, air recycling and fluid recovery equipment, as well as automated medical devices that have remained a part of space marine armour ever since.

The helmet is fitted with automatic sensory devices developed on Mars, this allows the wearer to see and hear as though not wearing a helmet, and, since all information is transmitted to a computer in the helmet before being transmitted directly to the wearer's brain via neural link, blinding lights and deafening noises can be muted so that they don't harm the wearer. The wearer is also able to see in the infra-red and ultra-violet spectrum, and images can be zoomed in and magnified.

Mark 3 "Iron Armour"

Ultramarine Mark 3 Iron Armour

Mark 3 Iron Armor

This model dates from the wars of the Great Crusade waged close to the galactic core. Many of these worlds were the Squat Homeworlds, which were not pleased to find themselves the object of galactic conquest. The Squats' independent and stubborn nature along with the conditions of the fighting spurred the creation of this new armour type. This armour was ideal when cover was minimal and combat was a matter of frontal assault.

Mark 3 was never intended to replace the previous Mark but to provide a specialized suit with heavier protection. It has more frontal protection than the Mark 2 Armour, but the weight of the rear armour was lessened to compensate. The suit uses a heavy armoured helmet with sloping plates designed to deflect shots to the left and right. The helmet inspired the Mark 4 and 6 helmet designs.

While successful in the conditions it was designed for - particularly, tunnel fighting and boarding actions - the armour is too clumsy and uncomfortable for conventional fighting. As the most visually brutal of all Marine armour, it is sometimes worn by ceremonial guards.

It is commonly called the Iron Suit or Armorum Ferrum in recognition of its great strength.

Mark 4 "Imperial Maximus Suit"

Ultramarine Mark 4 Maximus Armor

Mark 4 Maximus Armor

After the end of the Great Crusade the Space Marines found their armour wearing out. While some Legions chose to continue local production and maintenance, the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars started design new variant, which was to be the Mark 4 or Imperial Maximus suit.

At the Mark 4 stage of the power armour development, Space Marine armour began to take on an appearance recognizable as contemporary power armour, its most main change being the abandonment of the separate abutting plates in favour of larger inflexible armour casings incorporating flexible joints. This marginally reduced mobility but was far easier to produce and maintain.

Technical secrets recovered on newly conquered worlds allowed Mars to develop the more efficient armour, improving the quality of protection and reducing the suit's weight at the same time. Improved armouring of the power cables allowed the main arm and chest supply to be safely relocated to the exterior of the armour, while the use of new material reduced the size and number of cables.

The helmet was a completely new design, the basic shape inspired by the sweeping front of the Mark 3. In Mark 3 and later versions the helmet is no longer fixed, but moves with the wearer's head. This represented the constructors increasing experience with neural connector gear and the new materials which flooded into the Martian workshops as the Crusade progressed.

Mk. IV armour was envisioned at the time to be the ultimate and final type of Space Marine armour, able to offer the best protection in a variety of conditions. Many of the Space Marine Legions were entirely or partially re-equipped with it.¹ As a result of its widespread production and use prior to and during the Horus Heresy, Mk. 4 suits are the most common of the pre-Heresy armour Marks still in service during the 41st Millennium.

Mark 5 "Heresy Armor"

Ultramarine Mark 5 Heresy Armor

Mark 5 Heresy Armor

The equipping of the legions was only partially complete when the Horus Heresy broke out. Many of the newly equipped Legions turned against the Imperium while many loyal Legions had old style armour. With war damage and mobile operations resupply for damaged equipment was difficult or impossible. Marine artificers and Techmarines had to use old style equipment from older models to keep the legions fighting. The Mark 5 is commonly called the Heresy Suit. This pattern is distinguished by a studded helmet, shoulder plate and greaves. These studs are the tops of bolts which attach each layer of the armour to one another. The helmet appears to be an early version of the Mk. VII helmet, although it is significantly more low-tech in its design.

Mark 6 "Corvus Armor"

UltramarineMark 6 Corvus Armor

Mark 6 Corvus Armor

At the end of production of the Mark 4 type a long term research project began to replace the existing power armour. This lead to the production of the Corvus Suit as a stopgap measure using a mixture of new and old features.

This armor is sometimes known as "Beakie Armor" due to the beak-like shape of the helmet.

Mark 7 "Aquila (Eagle) Armor"

Ultramarine Mark 7 Aquila Armor

File:Arm mk7.jpg

Mark 7 Aquila Armor

Mark 7 armour was developed during the Horus Heresy, and remains in use as the most common form of power armour ten thousand years later. It represents the final major development of Mark 6 armour.

While the final battle for Mars was underway, the Imperium realised the planet would eventually be lost. Armour development teams were transferred to Earth to continue, incorporating their latest work into the armour type that would become Mark 7. As Mars fell to Horus, the new armour began reaching the Space Marines on Earth and Luna.

Mark 7's main improvement is the newly designed chest plastron which covers the chest and arm cabling. The chest bears the Imperial Eagle, giving the armour its common name of Armorum Impetor, or Eagle Armour. This mark abandons the studded shoulder armour plate, and replaces the helmet. As Mark 7 is a development of Mark 6, both have a great deal in common, and parts from one mark are readily interchangeable with parts from the other.

Mark 8 "Errant Armor"

Ultramarine Mark 8 Errant Armor

Mark 8 Errant Armor

The suit itself is a highly modified Mark 7, with additional fixed armour plates on the torso that now enclose all of the suits cables, which were vulnerable to weapons fire, and a new armored collar protects the helmets respirator, and also addressed the vunerability issues of the neck joint, which had been know to act as a "shell-trap", (a round could hit the chest armour and deflect up into the neck joint). The new collar required a new helmet design, which caused problems for backward compatibility with earlier helmet types .

Mark 8 armor has only seen limited production thus far, and is seen in limited numbers on the battlefields of the 41st millennium. Often, it is worn by officers or squad leaders as a symbol of rank.

Aegis Armour

Aegis Armor of the Grey Knights.

Main Article: Grey Knights Specialist Equipment

Grey Knights wear Aegis Armour, power armour that is incredibly well crafted; anointed and inscribed with prayers and wards, ritually consecrated and psychically charged. The suits are generally based on components from Mk. 6, 7 and 8 power armour designs, with a modified helmet design that is reminiscent of the Mk. 3.

Adepta Sororitas Power Armor

Sisters of Battle Power Armor.

Sisters of Battle use a lighter, less bulky version of power armor. This armor does not increase the strength of the wearer to match that of the Space Marines, but does provide the same protection.

Space Wolves Runic Armor

Space Wolves grant valiant members of their Chapter specially crafted suits of power armour inscribed with runes of protection by the Rune Priests. These provide the wearer with a defnce against psychic attacks. This armour is created by the Iron Priests and codified as Mk. 12 Lupio pattern. ³

Sources

• ¹ White Dwarf 129, Space Marine Armor by Rick Priestley, reprinted in Warhammer 40,000: Compilation
• ² How to Paint Space Marines (images)
• ³ Codex: Space Wolves (5th Edition) p61 by Phil Kelly

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