Power Armour

Biodata

Design and Operation

• Armour plates and a backpack-mounted power unit protect and assist the wearer. Peter’s MK3 suit enhances his running speed, while its thick frontal plating has repeatedly prevented fatal injuries 1 127 147.
• A Space Marine’s Black Carapace enables connection with Power Armour. James receives the implant after six years of training 186.
• Helmets can provide communications, target identification, environmental scans, and tactical and weapon-status displays 61 394.
• Armour systems include temperature control and internal air circulation. Suits can seal against external air and switch to internal oxygen reserves 130 394 417.
• Its weight and rigid plating impose limits: kneeling for extended periods is difficult, and an atmospheric dive raises internal temperatures past 100°C despite the armour’s protective coating 61 128.

Patterns and Specialized Suits

Use by the Forged Steel Brethren

• Peter’s MK3 suit accompanied him through the Taran, Terra defence, and Iron Cage campaigns. Material shortages initially led him to keep its damaged components in service so long as the structure held 1.
• After leaving the Iron Warriors, Peter removed their eight-pointed-star shoulder emblem; his armour later bore a silver kite shield wrapped in crimson flames 1 7.
• The war band selected forty second-hand MK5 suits from the Black Legion armoury, along with damaged armour parts for repairs or possible reconstruction 47.
• Ahead of the ork campaign, the Dark Mechanicus supplied 110 suits across the MK3, MK4, MK5, and MK6 patterns, allowing the war band to arm Space Marines who had lacked Power Armour 79.
• After Peter’s augmentation left him too large for ordinary Power Armour or Terminator Armour, Belisarius Cawl gave him an enlarged functional prototype made while developing the Armour of Fate 394.

Limitations and Damage

• Armour can stop or absorb hits without fully protecting the wearer: bolter impacts against Peter’s MK3 chest plate still injure him, and its front has been breached in earlier battles 1 127.
• Tiny breaches in previously damaged suits allow a specialized poison gas to enter even after their wearers seal the armour; Tryion and fourteen others die during the assault on the Fortress of Hate 417.
• Melta fire can melt through Adamantium plating, while certain xenomorph claws tear directly through Power Armour 148 178.
• Production and upkeep depend on scarce materials and specialist supply. Peter initially struggles to maintain existing gear and cannot obtain a Power Armour production line from the Dark Mechanicus 2 38.