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Mark 7/8 Armour Specs

4K views 45 replies 9 participants last post by  Visitor Q 
#1 ·
Greetings my friends, a small request. Does anyone have the specs for the MK VIII Errant Pattern Armour? Or the MK VII Aquila Pattern Armour for that matter. What I mean by that is while I know that it protects from the vacuum of space and is resilient to small arms fire and so on, I was hoping someone could go into more detail as to what protection they afford. And I mean without sparing a single detail...

I need to know up to what temperatures they can be exposed, both freezing and high temperature, how much weight one can handle before breaking, such as for instance if a Squiggoth was to trample a space marine. Whether anything can corrode or erode them, basically how far can it be pushed until it breaks is my question. The more specifics I can get the better.

If you happen to know of a site that has all of these, I'd love to check it out. Lexicanum has only vague descriptions of the armour's specifics, and I'm afraid I don't have any of the Space Marine codices, just the Chaos Space Marine ones (and not the newest one in fact). So if anyone has access to any of that stuff, and I mean the more detailed and boring details the better, I'd love to have a read of it, or if you could post the facts here, no matter how small they are, if you have numbers - please do ^^
 
#2 · (Edited)
Forge World books Tarros and Siege of Vrax and Project Anphelion will have this stuff in them....


I will go check it out now.



EDIT: The info isn't quite as explicit as what you are looking for but I can glean is as follows.

Power Armour is designed to withstand most types of basic munitions up to and including auto cannon rounds. An auto cannon round will knock a marine over but not kill him.

Power armour can withstand absolute zero [ref: Tarros Campaign]

Heat level tolerance is unclear. Certainly there are cooing systems that will protect the wearer from roasting in even the most extreme heat but I don't know what level of heat the armour itself can withstand.

During the siege of Vrax the only casualty the Dark Angel strike force took was a Terminator struck by a direct melta blast. [ref: Siege of Vrax. Battle for the Space Port]

This would suggest that power armour certainly can't withstand this level of heat.

That saidexo-armour (the fore runner for Terminator Armour_ was designed to protect those working in plasma reactor shields or corrosive environments [ref: Project Anphelion pg15].

Termiantor Armour can withstand the full impact of a collision with high speed space debris (chunks of astroid and space vessels and the like) [ref: Ibid pg 15]

To me this suggests first just how strong Terminator and power armour is but also that the munitions used by the known races are extremely powerful.
 
#3 ·
Hmm well that does at least give me something to go on. Thanks Q. Just wish I had some actual figures, I'd hate to make them up myself and be wrong. I suppose a few specific questions wouldn't hurt. I wonder if there's a way I could contact someone from GW or Black Library and get them to give me the specs...

The reason I ask is for a number of futuristic scenarios, such as, is ceramite actually strong enough to withstand a chainsword slash.

If it strong enough that if a space marine stands behind or under the exhaust port of a rocket which then blasts off with a huge flame, will survive after getting thrown a few hundred feet away.

If their armour strong enough that a regularly outfitted space marine can withstand the vacuum of space if a whole is blown into his ship and he gets sucked out.

Will a space marine survive if he falls into a pit of magma and it takes him, let's say, three seconds to get out of it. Will the armour protect him long enough to get out.

And finally, couplied with a refactor field generator similar to the rosarius, how much 'invulnerability' would the Space Marine in question have?

(In case anyone has the figures though like how many temperature degrees and whatnot I'd still like to know ^^)
 
#4 ·
The reason I ask is for a number of futuristic scenarios, such as, is ceramite actually strong enough to withstand a chainsword slash.

If it strong enough that if a space marine stands behind or under the exhaust port of a rocket which then blasts off with a huge flame, will survive after getting thrown a few hundred feet away.

If their armour strong enough that a regularly outfitted space marine can withstand the vacuum of space if a whole is blown into his ship and he gets sucked out.

Will a space marine survive if he falls into a pit of magma and it takes him, let's say, three seconds to get out of it. Will the armour protect him long enough to get out.

And finally, couplied with a refactor field generator similar to the rosarius, how much 'invulnerability' would the Space Marine in question have?

(In case anyone has the figures though like how many temperature degrees and whatnot I'd still like to know ^^)

1 - Yes, by far. The joints are penetrable however.

2 - Unknown, Terminator armour almost certainly, but power armour possibly not. Of course if he is being thrown through the air there is a chance of the marine inside the armour not being entirely okay while the armour remains fine. It would probably burn out the auto-senses in his helmet too.

3 - Yes.

4 - Unlikely. If Titans get knackered by magma in a fairly short amount of time (minutes if I didnt miss a crucial line in Mechanicum) a marine would not have a good time - the armour could probably survive a few seconds exposure, but falling into a pit of it he would not be able to get out in a hurry. Moving through treacle is difficult, moving through treacle that breaks titans is probably impossible.

5 - A lot. Complete invulnerability to small arms (whereas power armour is practically impervious to most things, the joints are the problem - a force field goes a long way to solving that problem) and probably to small-scale anti-tank fire as well. Heavy artillery and up would probably leave him thoroughly dismembered however.



Unless I am completely wrong on all counts however.
 
#5 ·
Thanks Beardy, that gives me a little bit more to work with. It's just too bad there aren't any specifics out there. I wrote to GW a lengthy email, let's hope they answer. And I'll post whatever I get as an answer here. It's just frustrating that I can't continue writing until I find out those little things... like the temperature to a degree precise or even round-about. The pressure in psi needed to crush the armor and so on and so forth. I think those stats would benefit everyone in the fluff forum and satisfy a lot of curiosities.
 
#6 ·
It'll be a cold day in hell if you get any information like that. :p
Forgive my sarcasm, but GW have never released that detailed info on the different armours that the races wear. We just know they many are "really strong". Marine-related armour has a bit more info on it, but not a lot.

Question: Why would you need the *precise* specifics? It's hardly your run-of-the-mill fluff question.

I believe 'Storm of Iron' has an incident when a Terminator gets stepped on by a Warhound titan without any serious damage. Of course, this is Black Library and the authors are known to go a bit nuts with the artistic license sometimes.

Stuff like melta and plasma is incredibly hot and melts through power armour, and all other materials, with ease.
 
#7 ·
Why do I need precise specifics?

That's a really good question, and one I can't answer without sounding imensely crazy. Here goes: I need them because Desmond knows them. And how can he 'know' them if I don't write it down. Is the reader just supposed to take my word for it that he knows how many pounds per square inch it takes to crush a space marine's helmet when he's testing pressure on his new Mark 8 armour? Am I supposed to just pull some random figure out of my ass? Hehe - no. I really want the knitty-gritty of the specs and someone out there's gotta have them.

There must be some piece of literature out there, where there's a scene where the Emperor is looking over the first suit used to Crusade Pattern Armour, and the artificier is telling him. 'This suit is able to resist up to 400 °C down to -200 °C' then the pressure, obviously they can resist one 'earth' atmosphere which is 15 psi, they can also reist 0 atmospheres, space. But how much can they resist if they were in a high density atmosphere, or if they were let's say under water? Could a space marine's power armor allow him to survive let's say in the Mariana's Trench? With over one thousand atmospheres compressing him? By my calculations about 1092 - which would be 16'380 pounds per square inch. I have no clue if power armor can withstand that, heck a military submarine of today can't stand that.

But I'd still like to know. Wouldn't you?
 
#8 ·
Am I supposed to just pull some random figure out of my ass?
Well it works for BL's writers so it should surely work for you... :p

There must be some piece of literature out there, where there's a scene where the Emperor is looking over the first suit used to Crusade Pattern Armour, and the artificier is telling him.
I wouldn't count on it. If there's something I've learned then it is that GW rarely, if ever, really go down into to the "hardcore specifics" of all the tech in the 40k setting. They mostly pull the "This thing does this by applying this. Questions will be punished with death."
 
#9 · (Edited)
Aye, GW, even when they do say numbers tend to go "This sounds cool and impressive" and leave it at that. So does Black Library, for that matter.

As for PSI, in the space wolf novels (I forget which one), Ragnar survives being chewed on by the local apex predator on a catachan-style deathworld, with nothing but scratches and dents. In Brothers of the Snake, a ork crushes a marine's head (helmet and all) with his jaws. This isn't specific by any means, but I hope it helps. If I stumble across something else, I'll mention it.

Oh, and as for corrosion/erosion, the only thing I know of that comes close to doing that is tyranid bio-acids, and even they have a hard time (though they'll melt guardsmen and other poorly-armored troops very quickly)
 
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#10 ·
One thing that I would add about the magma is that even though the armor itself may survive, the weaker parts of the armor (joints, eyepieces, etc) would quickly be burned through and the power backpack would probably fry. So no, I don't believe that a power-armored marine could make it out of magma. Maybe a Terminator, but nothing short of it.

Also, as Stradius said, Tyranid bio-acid can burn through power armor. However, it can also burn through tanks so this isn't really a surprise.

One more note. In the book Angels of Darkness, an Ork Rokkit lands at the feet of a Space Marine who is blown maybe a dozen feet through the air. When he gets up, the only injury is a gash in his armor that drew blood from his arm.
 
#11 ·
Well the Tyranid bio-acid is interesting. I get that there might not be anything specific to go on, but they already went far with the whole 'how do bolter rounds work' thing that I expected there would be an equal amount of data on the armor. Still, all these stories help, so keep 'em coming guys, and thank you all of you. I'm still waiting on that email, I also figure I'll call them up, the ones in England at least and see if I can gouge an answer or two from them.
 
#13 ·
Giving exact information like this is rarely interesting for the reader...and yes if the story is interesting then the reader will take your word for it that Desmond knows his stuff (whoever Desmond is).

Also remember that there is a big difference between being combat functional and being alive.

I have heard that a Termintor can survive being stepped on by a Titan. This might mean that the Helmet's combat interface is shattered, the servo's in the legs crushed and the Marine himself in need of a new spine but, he is alive.


Thats why Wh40K may actually relate to the fluff. The 3+ armour save relates to the marine remaining combat functional.

It might be that the survival rate is more like 3+ on two dice.
 
#14 ·
Desmond Felmoor is the Dusk Phantom's Chapter Master, a Rogue Space Marine Chapter that thus far has been known to defeat a small Imperial Fleet, steal an Imperator Titan, hack into a Mechanicus network and copy a number of STC patterns and wipe out a loyalist chapter known as the Lightbringers. All for the Word Bearers, who consider them their Spear Tip.

And to not go in a lot of detail, but he's intelligent. Savant-like intelligent, to put it even simpler. He thrives on data, knowledge and information - can spend as long as it takes staking out a place before he attacks, but when he does, he tends to have flawless execution.

- And yes, I do hope to have some success with the GW guys, just hope they give me the answers I need.
 
#15 ·
In that case to kill two birds with one stone so to speak it might be easier to have him treat facts and knowledge as routine. He knows he knows and as a Chapter MAster he doesn't need to explai nhimself to anyone.

So when he sends his Marines through the Ammonia Lakes of Gallas IX instead of telling his Sergeants

"A suit of Mark 7 power armour can withstand an acidity level of Ph2 for 4.67 hours without any harm"

Just have him say

"Levels of acidity well within Powerr armour tolerance. We go through the ammonia lakes."

And leave it at that.
 
#17 ·
Yeah, in the Grey Knights novel itself they have terminators wading through knee-deep burning promethium from Sister's flamers that does nothing more than scorch the paint on his shoulderpad. Alaric himself at one point gets launched like a cannonball and survives, although the marine next to him wasn't so lucky.
 
#19 · (Edited)
I wouldn't assume that 40k-promethium is the same as real-life promethium, honestly.
40k's promethium is similar to gasoline and used for an enormous array of stuff, from the napalm-like substance used in flamers to tank fuel and can be found in vast abundance in all of the galaxy.

Real promethium is a radioactive chemical element which used in things very different from any flammable liquids (such as luminous paints, nuclear batteries and as a beta radiation source for thickness gauges) and IMO it was not the element GW was thinking of when they coined the name 'Promethium'.

And Warhound titans are 15-17m in height, per the Forge World Imperial Armour books.
 
#22 ·
Well that's news to me, what about the Imperator Warmonger Titan?
There's nothing written in stone on the larger titans. Some say 50-ish metres, some say 150. The latest info on it (the recently released Apocalypse datasheet) places it at roughly 55m IIRC, which is a hundred less than the original stats for the Epic-game.

And if that's not what they intended what didn't they just make up a new name for their imaginary chemical? Like Burnutohellanol or something.
'Burnutohellanol' - lol.

I dunno, because they were a bunch of RP-geeks when they invented 40k, with no real grasp of the massive periodic table and all the isotopes and stuff? Because the promethium of 40k is nothing like real promethium, which is usually found in uranium who has been the subject of spontaneous fission or in decaying europium. Only trace ammount can be found in nature.
 
#24 ·
As I said, there's several different sources on it over the years and they all say different stuff (if they say anything at all). I believe the first Epic ruleset placed the Warlord at over 80-ish or something like that while the Emperor titan was around 180. The only titan we really have solid specs on is the Warhound, because there's a very detailed sheet of info in the Taros campaign book IIRC.

One thing to remember is that the titans in 40k are not, and have never been, wtfhuge. Remember though, a battle walker who towers up 50m in to the sky is still very huge. 40k is a bit more "realistic" than other sci-fi/anime-settings in this aspect.
 
#28 · (Edited)
That's a good point you've made Q - I'll have to read up on those indeed. As for the Imperator Warmonger, the stats I put in my story is 400 feet, based off what I collected in bits and bobs of knowledge on the height of titans. But yes, 120-150m is more or less the height they say, which is about 400 feet.

Edit:

Got an answer from GW:

Unfortunately, we do not have that information. Below is the link to Black Library, fiction-wise, they may be able to give you information.
However they did give me an email to Black Library's customer service, so I forwarded them my lengthy email, and we'll see if they can give us some answers.
 
#33 · (Edited)
Alright here's the answer I got:

Hi there,

Thanks for your email. We have previously written background information
about each of the different marks of Space Marine Power armour and when
each entered service.

However we have never written or released any detailed technical
specifications of power armour to the extent you have requested. So we
have never stated the temperature it can withstand, its shielding
properties or how powerful an acid you would need to burn through it.

The most detailed technical drawing of power armour was published in the
first edition of Warhammer 40,000, on page 115 of the Rogue Trader
rulebook.

However with regards to your question on pressure and temperature it has
been stated in the established background history that Space Marines in
power armour can fight under water and in a vacuum.

The best thing I can advise is if you read other novels about Space
Marines to see how other authors have approached describing Space Marine
power armour and to make sure you keep in mind how weapons work in the
tabletop game. So Space Marines would not be downed by a single lasgun
shot but they would also not be able to walk unscathed through Las
cannon and Krak missile fire.

I'm sorry I couldn't have been of more assistance,

Chris Beaumont,
BL Publishing
Well at least they gave me a speedy answer. I guess you guys were right about the details there, they've never published anything of the sort. Guess I won't need to feel pressured about not putting in figures to back up my claims within the story.
So does anyone have the First Edition Warhammer 40'000 Rogue Trader rulebook so they can look on page 115?

PS. If anyone is wondering whether it's alright for my to put that email on here, I have permission. I specified in my email that I would be sharing my findings with you, and I received no argument or protestation on the matter. So no worries.
 
#37 ·
Alright here's the answer I got:



Well at least they gave me a speedy answer. I guess you guys were right about the details there, they've never published anything of the sort. Guess I won't need to feel pressured about not putting in figures to back up my claims within the story.
So does anyone have the First Edition Warhammer 40'000 Rogue Trader rulebook so they can look on page 115?

PS. If anyone is wondering whether it's alright for my to put that email on here, I have permission. I specified in my email that I would be sharing my findings with you, and I received no argument or protestation on the matter. So no worries.

Remember also that no two suits of power armour are alike. Even 'ordinary' power armour will be partially hand made by Tech Deacons.
 
#34 ·
I wouldn't put too much thought into specifics, as, well, we could go into all sorts of fluffy reasons, like differences in power armour, repairs, religious incantations, but...

...basically the fluff fits what the writers want. It's like asking for specifics from the original Star Trek, to use a different sci fi example. How many times has the enterprise broke the warp barrier of X only to go back to the lesser Y later on? Nobody really knows what the flux capacitator does, but my god is it useful. And lets not forget that backup power is so much superior than main power.

So make your own fluff. The power armour your chapter dealing with isn't mere mark 7, it's mark 7 armour that's been carefully maintained by your chapter's techmarines, customised to your uses. So while that mark 7 armour might have a faulty helmet allowing Orks to bite it off, yours might have faulty optics that let a spineworm burrow through and spine their nasal passages, rendering them only able to smell space oreos.
 
#35 ·
Fair enough, not like I haven't done that kind of thing before. I did invent a cloaking module able to hide an entire fleet, and a magnetic field emitter with the capacity to attune itself to the specific mineral frequency within asteroids to shift their orbital patterns. And I only skimmed the surface of the technology without providing a knitty-gritty explanation.

PS. I just realized your title is Kirby
 
#38 ·
Don't know if this helps, but as is said by Chris Beaumont from Adahns' post about Marines fighting with Power Armour underwater and in space, in the Space Wolf Series by William King and lee Lightner:

Book 2: Ragnars Claw - Ragnar falls off a raft when it is hit from beneath by a super-size-me Crocodile. (think of the Dinosaur era of crocodiles, i.e. BIG). he plummets underwater and is taken by the jaws of the beast around his middle (chesplate), with all that pressure from its huge jaws ragnar escapes it with only dent marks and scratches. Note also that the suit was perfectly functional underwater, and though heavy, was not overly cumbersome.

Book 4: Wolfblade - Ragnar and a few other members of the Wolfblade are "ejected" from their small spacecraft and are tasked with entering and destroying a small armed/garrisoned Asteroid Base. During this each Space Wolf Marine has standard power armour and is using a form of Jump-Pack to more accurately land on the asteroid for insertion. Thus they are in space, in a vacuum coasting onto an asteroid. Note that obviously the Helmets are on and suit is full sealed.

Hope this is helpful in some way, and perhaps proof of some sort in your quest for knowledge.
 
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