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Best MK of Power Armour for Pre Heresy Ultramarines


daismith906

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Hello

 

After reading Know No Fear i really want to start a pre heresy Ultramarines army.

 

I know, i know these are GW's poster boys but back in the day they were a bit cool.

 

Now i think either mk3 Iron or Mk 4 Maximus would be best (not really a fan of Mk2 armour)

 

Ill be using hte maximini heads which are a spit of the ultramariens in the Horus Heresy card books.

 

Cheers

 

Dai

I'd go Mk IV solely for looks - however, if you read Know no Fear the Ultramarines had developed their own pattern of power armour, Praetor I think it was called...

 

Aye, a patter rather close to the more modern Mk7

 

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m150/Cpl_Saint/Ultramarines/DSCN0333.jpg

If your trying to stick to the the fluff, it would be better if your basic marines have mostly mk2 and 4 with dedicated assault troops wearing mk3. Mk 3 was only developed when the crusade encounter the squats and found that there was a lack of cover and fighting in enclosed spaces, mk2 wasn't up to the job. So mk3 was developed with improved front armour, but bad rear armour and had a tendency to over heat so was only ever used if a frontal assault was the only option.
There are pics of ultramarines using what is presumably the Praetor-pattern armor in HH: Collected Visions.

 

There is some insight on this and other armors from a couple of the new books. I believe Know No Fear notes that Praetor (Praetorian?) was relatively new at the time of the Battle of Clath and was for the moment only being produced for the Ultramarines and was not considered an official mk of power armor, yet. I would probably only use these for officers and such.

 

In Deliverance Lost, which is in line with fluff, Mk 5 is said to be simply a stopgap type armor - in a nutshell any armor that was patched together (from a variety of mks and spare parts) in some way is considered Mk 5. And as such, this would be completely Heresy era, not Pre, when stopgap was the only option. Mk 6 was just starting to be distrubuted during the Heresy, so that can be ruled out completely.

 

I'd agree with Tancred, though I was not aware of the squat reasoning (and it might have been retconned). Forgeworld says:

The MkIII ‘Iron’ Armour is a variant of the previous ‘Crusade’ pattern adapted with additional armour plates to the front, as well as a reinforced helmet faceplate and strengthened vambraces for the savage firefights of fleet-based boarding actions. This extra armour turns an already resilient Marine into an almost unstoppable juggernaut within the cramped confines of a ship.

 

Either explanation jives with the function. I don't think they would have jump packs though (in fact, forge world came out with a set that gives the jump packs to Mk 2). Lexicanum also notes that Mk 3 was not meant to replace Mk 2, it was simply circumstantial and was actually "too clumsy and uncomfortable for conventional fighting".

 

So, I concur with the above, I think you are most safe with 2 and 4 for Pre-Heresy (3 sparingly). More specifically, if you are talking early Crusade, Mk 2 but if you are talking later Crusade, Mk 4 (and you can mix in Praetor conversions). Mk 4 was meant to completely replace Mk 3 suits, and lexicanum notes, sourcing an old White Dwarf, that some Legions were "entirely or partially re-equipped with it" by the time the Heresy hit.

 

Better have a deep wallet for those FW models. :P

 

Jump to "Heresy-era" and you can get away with 5 and maybe 6.

I saw the bit about the squats on Lexicanum, but I've notice a note at the bottom of the mk3 section that says that the squats aren't considered canon any more :P and it is now been substituted that space battles are now the reason for them.

Cheers for the responses

 

Well ive decied to use mk2 armour with maximini heads for the standard marines

 

Mk3 legs & red scorpion torso's for the sgts (mk2 helmets with crests added for rank)

 

and for my captain im using the ultramarines honour guard champion

There is also the Iron Warriors Conversion set under Bitz on the GW site. It has five torsos which look like mkII or mkIII and some matching heads.

 

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/...dId=prod1110164

 

As for the picture, Mr Plume looks like mkVII and the rest look mkV.

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