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===Development===
[[File:Terminator1wd109pg32.jpg|thumb|180px|Terminator Armour early design{{Fn|2}}]]
Terminator armour was first fielded on [[Terra]] during the late [[Unification Wars]]{{Fn|34}}, though the [[Tech-Priest]]s of the [[Martian Mechanicum]] also refined its design during the [[Great Crusade]].{{Fn|6}} Its design is a blend of [[Dreadnought]] armour, standard Marine power armour and heavy suits used by engineers working in the most hostile environments (such as micro-debris-plagued orbits or the radioactive engine cores of stellar frigates). It was first intended to provide heavy armour and firepower to troops fighting in cramped battle zones, such as the claustrophobic tunnels of [[hive world]]s and [[Space Hulk]]s, which are too confined for Dreadnoughts and vehicles. It has been stated that had the [[Horus Heresy]] not broken out, the [[Legiones Astartes]] may have issued Terminator armour as the ''de facto'' wargear.{{Fn|34}}
Several designs of Terminator armour evolved in parallel from the [[Forge Worlds|forge worlds]] of the Adeptus Mechanicus and the armouries of the Marines. Often bearing little physical resemblance to each other, these different exo-armour suits in fact have much in common. Massively armoured, sealed against any external conditions and incorporating their own armament, Terminator armour designs proved their worth from the first. Like power armour, the suits were equipped with fibre-bundle muscles and imposed few movement restrictions upon the wearer, despite their immense weight.{{Fn|2}}
===Cataphractii Pattern===
[[File:TerminatorCataphractii.jpg|thumb|300px|Cataphractii-pattern Terminator Armour{{Fn|10}}]]
This pattern was among the first issued to the [[Space Marine Legion]]s, after the introduction of [[Mk.III Power Armour]]{{Fn|37}}, and was used during the late [[Great Crusade]] and [[Horus Heresy]] by both the Space Marines {{Fn|11}} and the [[Adeptus Custodes|Legio Custodes]].{{Fn|13}} Although it was rare before had become rarer in the immediately period prior to the the Horus Heresy, some Legions, such as the [[Iron Hands]], possessed a large number of suits.{{Fn|9}}
In addition to being distinguished by its large, layered [[pauldrons]], and the pteruges protecting the elbow and thigh joints{{Fn|9}}, it was functionally distinct from other patterns, bearing additional plating and shield generators installed within the shoulder pads.{{Fn|8}} This resulted in severe straining of the suit's exoskeleton and reduced the wearer's movement speed, leading to its decline among some Space Marine Legions during the early battles of the Heresy.{{Fn|11}}
===Tartaros Pattern===
[[File:TerminatorsTartarosPattern.jpg|thumb|300px|Tartaros Pattern Terminator Armour{{Fn|10}}]]
This pattern is was issued after the introduction of the [[Mk IV|Mk IV Maximus-pattern power armour]]{{Fn|37}} to the Veterans veterans of a [[Chapter]]'s [[1st Company]] and is possibly considered the most advanced form of Tactical Dreadnought Armour, and was said to be a technological masterwork.{{Fn|25}} It shared many systems with the [[Mk .IV|Mk IV Maximus-pattern power armour]] , whilst providing greater mobility for the wearer compared to the later Indomitus Pattern with no loss in durability.{{Fn|4}} The Tartaros pattern armour is strong enough to withstand blasts a hundred times more powerful than one produced by an Astartes [[frag grenade]].{{Fn|28}} It was also known to weigh several tonnes,{{Fn|24}} yet is still more lightweight in comparison to other, more common Terminator armour patterns.{{Fn|28}} Tartaros armour is more streamlined and power efficient than its predecessors, making it more agile and providing short bursts of extra speed when needed, but was also more difficult and resource intensive to manufacture.{{Fn|25}}
This pattern was mostly used during the last decades of the [[Great Crusade]] and during the [[Horus Heresy]], and had become one of the most widely-circulated patterns issued.{{Fn|25}} In [[M41]] suits of Tartaros Armour are incredibly rare. Even so some of the Space Marine Chapters have suits in their possession and still deploy these venerable relics, giving them to the most able members of the 1st Company.{{Fn|17}}
*{{Endn|35}}: [https://web.archive.org/web/20250617170818/https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/7h1lqo8p/rules-in-the-age-of-darkness-saturnine-terminators-take-the-field/ Warhammer Community: Rules in the Age of Darkness – Saturnine Terminators take the field (posted 17/6/2025)] saved page original link: https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/7h1lqo8p/rules-in-the-age-of-darkness-saturnine-terminators-take-the-field/ (last accessed 17/6/2025)
*{{Endn|36}}:[http://web.archive.org/web/20250707140349/https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/rzbpqwiz/the-horus-heresy-round-table-the-origins-of-saturnine-armour/ The Horus Heresy round table – The origins of Saturnine armour] (archived page, posted 7/7/2025, last accessed 8/7/2025, original link:https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/rzbpqwiz/the-horus-heresy-round-table-the-origins-of-saturnine-armour/)
*{{Endn|37}}: [[Horus Heresy: Age of Darkness 3rd Edition Rulebook]], pg. 34
===Uncited===
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