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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
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clean up, replaced: armor → armour (2), Armor → Armour (5), favor → favour (3)
===Mark II "Crusade Armour"===
[[File:HHUltramarine.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Ultramarine]] in Mark II Crusade Armour{{Fn|39b}}]]
After the conquest of the main planets of the [[Sol system]], the factories on [[Mars]] were set to work constructing a new type of armour for the Emperor's elite [[Space Marines]]. The first armour based upon recovered [[STC]] information{{Fn|67}}, this armoured suit is commonly referred to as "Crusade Armour," since it was designed with the planned [[Great Crusade]] in mind. Its production led to the Thunder Armour being retroactively designated as the Mark I and quickly retired.{{Fn|67}} It was the first fully enclosed power armour, with life-sustaining capabilities{{Fn|1}}, making it suitable for combat on toxic alien planets and the depths of space.{{Fn|22}} The first suit to interface with the [[Black Carapace]] which allowed for maximum synchronization{{Fn|67}}, the Mk.II Pattern was standard for the Legiones Astartes during most of the [[Great Crusade]], with millions produced{{Fn|67}}, and its helmet in particular became a symbol for the Legiones Astartes throughout the Imperium. By the ending stages of the Crusade, Mk.II Armour had been phased out for the Mk.IV but many Legions still possessed them in great numbers. In particular, Legions not favoured by Warmaster [[Horus]] or had many units spread out on the frontiers of the Imperium retained the largest amounts of Mk.II Armour.{{Fn|3a}} Some Space Marines simply favored favoured the Mk.II over the Mk.IV for its reliability and history of service.{{Fn|67}}
Crusade Armour is fully plated, and the legs are also power armoured. The plates are arranged into articulated hoops, for increased manoeuvrability. The chest coils, which were kept on the outside of the armour plating on Mark I 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. However, this design could not be copied over to the new powered leg armour, which resulted in exposed cabling on the backs of the lower legs. The backpack is roughly the same size as that on the Mark I 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.{{Fn|1}}
This model dates from the wars of the [[Great Crusade]], when Astartes Legions were forced into deadly boarding actions and tunnel combat.{{Fn|Conflicting sources}} This armour was ideal when cover was minimal and combat was a matter of frontal assault.{{Fn|1}} The most visually brutal and imposing of all the widely produced armour marks, the Iron Armour was a heavy, modified Mark II design (itself the first mass-produced Power Armour of the Crusade era). The Iron Armour's structure has augmented frontal defence and incorporates additional ablative plates, and is intended foremost for use in boarding actions, tunnel assaults and void warfare, although it is considerably heavier and more power hungry than its contemporaries.{{Fn|2b}} The new helmet design is a heavily armoured model with sloping plates designed to deflect shots to the left and right, and inspired the Mark IV and VI helmet designs.{{Fn|1}}
Mark III was never intended to replace the previous Mark but to act as an optional suit specialised for situations where heavier frontal protection would be advantageous, such as in the close confines of spacecraft and mining complexes.{{Fn|22}} Because of this, no Legion was ever fully equipped with the Mark III. While successful in the conditions it was designed for, the armour is too clumsy and uncomfortable for conventional fighting. Nonetheless it became widespread in some Legions, such as the [[Imperial Fists]] and [[Death Guard]]. Meanwhile the [[Dark Angels]] and [[Space Wolves]] also favored favoured the design, perhaps due to its more bellicose nature.{{Fn|3a}}
The Mk.III is sometimes worn by ceremonial guards due to its visual brutality, and can also still be found used in close-quarters situations by various Space Marine Chapters. It is commonly called the Iron Suit or ''Armorum Ferrum'' in recognition of its great strength.{{Fn|1}}
At the end of the production of Mark IV armour, a long term research project began to replace it. As this remained a theoretical endeavour for some time, it lead to the production of the Corvus Suit as a stopgap measure, using a mixture of new and old features.{{Fn|1}} The Mk.VI has become infamous for its use amongst those associated with stealth and infiltration, such as the [[Raven Guard]] and [[Alpha Legion]].{{Fn|22}}
The first Mark VI prototype design (which bore the provisional designation of Mk V at the time) was field-tested during the [[Great Crusade]]'s [[Scalland Campaign]] by Legionaries of the [[Raven Guard]], whose experiences and comments resulted in improved design features in the finalised armour mark. Prototype Mk.VI was already in circulation amongst many Legions by the time of the Heresy, but it proved controversial for some of these, with the [[Iron Warriors]] flatly rejecting the design entirely in favor favour of heavier armour.{{Fn|67}} Meanwhile, the [[Alpha Legion]] was able to acquire small numbers of prototype Mk.VI Armour and modified it according to their Legion's own needs. Built in secret, the "Corvus-Alpha" pattern of Corvus Armour first saw use openly during the [[Horus Heresy]].{{Fn|19}} Production and mass issuing of the Mk.VI was interrupted by the outbreak of the Heresy and subsequent [[Schism of Mars]], with many suits being evacuated off [[Mars]] as the world fell to [[Dark Mechanicum]] forces.{{Fn|67}}
The finalised armour mark was issued just as the Horus Heresy began.{{Fn|67}} It was named Corvus Armour in honour of [[Corvus Corax]], [[Primarch]] of the Raven Guard, and the first sets of it shipped to the Raven Guard Legion ahead of all other loyalist legions, in recognition not only of their role in the design process, but of the sacrifices made by the Raven Guard in the [[Drop Site Massacre]] and their determination to rebuild and rejoin the fight against [[Horus|Horus the Great Betrayer]].{{Fn|21}} By the time of the [[Siege of Terra]] the Mk.VI was the most widely issued variant in loyalist service, with entire chapters of the [[Blood Angels]] and [[Imperial Fists]] being equipped with the pattern.{{Fn|67}}
