Tuesday 27 May 2014

Macca on Tactica: Different Armour MK's and Their Uses

I thought I would take a break from all the negativity of late to talk about something different. There is often a subject that comes up, and that is about what MK's of Power Armour an army should use. The answer of course, is whatever you feel you like most, but, if you want a more in-depth view, well, I will give you one.


MK II



This is the armour that the Legions wore most. Mark II Power Armour was developed towards the end of the Age of Strife and was used during the dawn of the Imperium by the Space Marines. This armour type was the one in majority use right up until near the end of the Great Crusade.

The majority of Legions actually used this armour as their mainstay throughout the Great Crusade, so any force set around the time of the Ullanor campaign or prior would have had the majority of their troops armoured this way, with a few exceptions.

Use this armour if:

-your force is pre-Primarch
-your force is predominantly a high attrition force (that is, suffers mass casualties) as this armour was the easiest to replace due to being so common
-your force is a higher speed force which favours lighter armour
-you are using loyalists (as Horus tried to get the Maximus MK IV armour given to Legions allied to him as a priority)

Examples of Legions which preferred this MK are:

-Dark Angels
-World Eaters
-Space Wolves
-White Scars
-Ultramarines

MK III


This armour was developed as a heavy assault armour. It is actually just MK II with extra plates attached to the front of it, and this is clearly visible when you view a miniature from behind.

MK III was best suited for spacecraft boarding actions and combat in confined subterranean tunnel complexes with little cover. This armour was ideally used by Space Marines when cover was minimal and combat was a matter of a simple frontal assault. Because of this pattern of Power Armour's great strength, it became known as the "Iron Armour".

Use this armour if:

-your force is pre-Primarch
-your force is predominantly a high attrition force (that is, suffers mass casualties) as this armour was the easiest to replace due to being so common
-your force is a frontal assault force which prefers heavy armour
-you are using boarding and Zone Mortalis tactics

Examples of Legions which preferred this MK are:

-Iron Warriors
-Imperial Fists
-Iron Hands
-Death Guard
-Salamanders

MK IV


Maximus. Supposed to be the pinnacle of armour design, 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 by the start of the Horus Heresy.

The armour is best suited to the same roles as MK II, but is designed for use late in the Crusade, so it is of little use to people fielding early crusade armies.

Use this armour if:

-your force is post-Primarch
-your force is a traitor, or a later Legion, as they were often the first to receive new equipment

Examples of Legions which preferred this MK are:

-Blood Angels
-Thousand Sons
-Sons of Horus
-Emperors Children
-Night Lords
-Word Bearers
-Raven Guard
-Alpha Legion

MK V

Ok, there is no picture for this one. MK V is a stopgap designation or term, used to cover all mish-mashes of armour combinations and home jobs built during the Heresy by both sides. Unlike the actual Forge World models, it is not of a standardized design, and would most likely have been regular MK II, III and IV armour with parts home made or taken from other MK's added to them.

Use this armour if:

-you don't care about the actual fluff and think it looks cool
-you like rivets

Examples of Legions which preferred this MK are:

-nobody

MK VI (Originally called MK V)


The finalised pattern of the Mark VI armour was named Corvus Armour in honour of the Raven Guard Legion's Primarch Corvus Corax. It looked little different from the Mark IV armour which most of the Legions already wore, with the obvious exception that the left shoulder plate was bolt-reinforced and the helmet design is the classic beaky.

This new mark of armour was Artificer-made and the first sets were shipped to the Raven Guard Legion ahead of all the other Loyalist Legions during the Horus Heresy, in recognition of not only their role in the technology's development process, but of the valiant sacrifice made by the XIX Legion during the Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V, and their resolute determination to rebuild their shattered Legion to rejoin the fight against Horus. The prototype plans seem to have been acquired by the Alpha Legion, and they seem to be sporting similar armour, as well as captured examples from the drop-site being taken in very small quantities, most likely by Sons of Horus marines.

Use this armour if:

-your force is Raven Guard
-your force is Alpha Legion
-your force is a traitor present at Istvaan V who may have captured examples in LIMITED quantities.

Examples of Legions which preferred this MK are:

-Raven Guard
-Alpha Legion

Terminator Armour

In the Heresy, we use two main types:

Cataphractii:

Tartaros:

These two armours serve two different functions. Cataphractii is the real heavy hitter, similar in function to MK III power armour, and you can even see it in the layout. Tartaros on the other hand is more like MK IV power armour, an all-rounder version.

All the Legions utilised both types, in varying numbers, but it's up to you as the player to pick which one suits your army more. If you are using Imperial Fists with lots of Breachers, Cataphractii might be the go. If you are using Raven Guard, the more subdued Tartaros might suit you better.

Afterword:

I hope this quick little guide on power armour is helpful to you, I know that in the end, we all have a theme in mind for our armies, so at least this will give you the basics you need when picking what you are going to use. If you liked this article, let me know, also, if you have any ideas on other articles you would like to read or information you would like to know, post it in the comments.

I would also like to give a big thanks to Forge World on their lovely artwork, which I have featured here. As it is hard to come by really high quality images, I have borrowed these ones for the purposes of this article. Until next time,

~Macca





14 comments:

  1. very nice but I personally see thousands sons in MK 2/3 as they stepped out of the crusade in the later stages

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    1. Yeah, I know, but the Legions who actively kept the MK II was more of the statement. I also based it on there being a lot of artwork about them with them wearing MK IV as well as the HH trading card game.

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  2. Very cool , i had my own theory also about armor types and there roles I play Iron Hands and have 10K+ i decided that as the Mk2 would have been probably the most common armor that my tactical squads and assault squads would be equiped in Mk2 this was for 2 reasons i would expect the Tactical and assault squads to be the mainstay of the legion in general and where new warriors would be added to the ranks so therefore having the most common armor would be very smple to repair and maintain but also you wouldnt give less seasoned warriors in some cases for newer recruits the harder to obtain MK4 armor types, MK3 is a heavy armor so breaching actions ect but also having larger servos ect for the added bulk i decided the Mk3 would make great heavy support armor too due to carryinf and operating the heavy weapons a legion fields so all my heavy support troopers breachers wear Mk3 Mk4 is said to be the most adavnced armor so this is typicaly for vetran squads , recon squads , and any other specilised squad such as tactical support where specilised weapons are used the troopers who make up these squads would be either the most gifted with the weapon systems in use or simply have proven themselves in the tactical rank and file, this is how i mixed armor types in my Iron hands Legion

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    1. Good feedback Simon. The Tactical marines are actually the more seasoned marines, the Devestators and Assault units are where the new marines go to learn the ropes, whilst the tactical units are where they are able to employ all the skills they have learnt in the other roles. Although this is true in 40k, no definitive answer exists yet for Horus Heresy fluff, but I don't believe they would have changed it too much. Further to this, MK III isn't anymore powerful then MK II, in fact, it's slower and was prone to 'overheating' due to the excessive weight of extra armour. New recruits were also often given the new armour as it is first issued to the newest members, much like an existing military force. This was also written down in Deliverance Lost where the MK VI armour was given to the new recruits.

      All that said, I like your ideas, after all, it is a player driven narrative, and I actually do use the MK II and III the exact same way you mention in my personal Raven Guard.

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  3. Mk5 (and more mk6) will be appropriate as we move further into the Heresy (and beyond into the Scouring). There are some nice bits of artwork showing IW and AL in FW-style mk5. It'll probably also be appropriate to see more mk2 again, as forces are cut-off and supplies dwindle.

    For early Heresy, scattering some mk6 parts through squads of mk4 could be ok, as several Legions (not just the RG) field tested the proto-mk6. (This would explain both DG and EC having mk6 helmets on early Neil Roberts novel covers, including 'Fulgrim').

    Also worth noting that the FW mk5 helmet is in use with mk4 armour in several images in the FW HH books (particularly with Sons of Horus and WE), usually without the studs.

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    1. Although similar to the Sarum Pattern Helm, the MK V one is quite different. I did make note about the traitors 'acquiring' MK VI armour from Istvaan V onwards, so it's good that you bring that up. I don't mind the look of MK V, just it seems too much like a deliberate design rather then a mish-mash of armour types as it's described. I expect to see marines wearing bits of all 6 armour types by the late Heresy, but of course, that could be quite a while away...

      Thanks for the feedback Ilmarinen, you also raise a good point about ret-con and the fact that not everything ties up neatly.

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  4. A nice little read Macca.

    I have bags of Mk2,3 and 4 sat in a drawer for when I kick off my Heresy Ultras properly - I've been waiting for a hint from FW as to their 'special units' armour style as I'm not attached to anyone mark currently but do want to try and get some coherency across the whole force.

    I did fancy mixing marks together to suggest a mid march on Terra vibe when the legions were having to scavenge parts to maintain what they have in the face of dwindling supplies.

    Given Ultras haven't been mentioned in any rumours yet, and the BL books to date haven't been full of details re maks, I'd imagine I'll be waiting a goodly while before I seriously get into build/paint phase.

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    1. Calth is slated to be book VII at this stage I'm afraid. On the bright side, Forge World will really be championing them at that stage, as most of the Legions will be out of the way, so expect something like the Iron Hands upgrade kits and Medusan Immortals etc.

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  5. I thought that Indomitus Pattern Terminator Armour was developed in the just before or during the Horus Heresy, i cant find the source for this though.

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  6. On 62 page of HH book 3. Imperial Fists have lots of Indomitus pater from Deimos forge world .

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    1. Unfortunately I don't really know an awful lot about Indomitus Armour, so rather then include it for now, I have chosen not to as I could be giving information which isn't true. I am aware they had it in the Heresy and it was the only type to survive in any significant numbers, but that's unfortunately all I really know.

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    2. world eaters are in MK IV......... there post primach and traitors....... only one that would even be close to MK II is the loyal which there stomped out at drop site

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    3. Just going off what they talk about in the books, like I say however, at the end of the day, you pick whatever you want to go with.

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