My ideas thread, or how to justify mk ii armor during the HH

[Daylight]

Ok, so I really like the mark II armor sets that FW has put out, but I realize that in most legions it was "obsolete," as new armor marks had come out. However, I would like to make a mk II army. So, that got me thinking: I like the Iron Hands, but I don't want a ton of bionics in my army, so my idea for the IH would be to make an army that missed out on the drop site massacre because of them being sent away from the main legion due to their refusal to use unnecessary bionics (in line with that quote by Ferrus Manus in one of the BL books). Or, I could stick with my plan to do a Raven Guard army (the command set for mk ii armor is in RG colors) and have them be one of the predition forces sent away from the legion by Corax, so they never got new armor. Or I could make a mk ii Ultramarines force (the mk. II reminds me of lorica segmentata) or a Dark Angels force (the First would likely have the classic armor). Anyways, sorry for the rant, but I need to start painting soon. Thoughts on this?

[Grotsmasha]

Or you could play a Crusade force and need no further justification, just saying.... ;)

 

Cheers,

Jono

[Athrawes]

At the time of the heresy Mk II and IV were by far the most common patterns of armor (with Mk III mostly being used in specialist roles and preferred by some legions) 

 

Mk IV was relatively new by the time of the Heresy and only a few legions (mostly those favored by Horus were fully equipped with them). Honestly I would be seriously surprised if most legions weren't made up of AT LEAST 1/3 to 1/2 Mk II armor. So I think you are more than fine having a force outfitted with Mk II, seeing as Iron Hands were loyalist and so wouldn't have had nearly the kind of access to Mk IV that the Traitors did.

[Hyaenidae]

Obsolete is as obsolete does.

 

Crusade groups are consistently out of contact. The Crimson Sons of the VIII Legion were out of contact for the entire crusade.

 

Some may have a preference for it, like how old vets preferred the feel and punch of a Garand over the M-16.

 

Some may not care at all, and freely mix whatever they have sitting around the armoury.

 

Go ahead and try and tell any Iron Warrior worth their salt that their Mk III plate is obsolete.

 

I'll be standing back here with the camera.

[Dreadnova]

I could easily see the IW using a lot of Mk2 and be fluffy. Also, the M1 Garand was replaced by the M14 not the M16. Sorry but as a retired Marine that bothered me a little in a OCD sorta way. 

[Hyaenidae]

Too many nights listening to my grandfather (WWII) and uncle ('Nam) cuss each other out over the Garand and the 16. Slipped my brain, man. My baby was an M24 SWS, so I can relate, brother.

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Just so you know, with the idea of an IHs force being sent away because it wouldn't implement unecessary bionics - the 10th Legion doesn't really do so. They use bionics instead of tissue-cloned organic replacements for limbs or organs, because it gets them back into the meatgrinder faster, which allows them to utilise their entire force nearly constantly. The whole 'Flesh is Weak' thing didn't apply.

 

However, you could have a force sent away for appearing weak? In the X Legion, an Order requesting aid from other forces was a massive taboo, as most IH formations would rather face extermination than request aid.  

[Leif Bearclaw]

Given the amount of MkII around in the FW books, even the highly favoured Luna Wolves/SoH were still using it in the run up to the Heresy, despite access to MkIV. So there's no real issue. All Legions were using pretty much all the extant marks at the same time.

 

The only limitation I'm aware of was MkVI only being in service with the RG officially at the Heresy's outbreak, but the AL had some, and given the looting that took place, any other Traitors could have had it after Istvaan V. The loyalists would've had to wait a bit, but according to the Badab War FW books, the loyalists defending Terra were rocking a lot of MkVI by the time the Siege rolls around.

[zedmeister]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that MkII had certain advantages over MkIII and MKIV, mainly the wearers agility and speed were the least affected of all the early marks. 

[Marshal Rohr]

In my mind, mark 3 plate is the up armored version of power armor. So you could have mark 4 with extra plates attached for the same deal, like the Champion model.

[Reyner]

Mark 2 Ultramarines with all the gold look great. When the Calth books come out I'll have a force of them.

[Kol Saresk]

To add to the "little or no justification is needed" department, there is also the fact that as the Heresy wore on, repairing suits of power armor will become a pain. Sometimes it'll be easier to scrap a suit and salvage for spare parts while slipping on an older suit of Mk II that was maintained in pristine condition and has been sitting in the vaults.

[Marshal Rohr]

To add to the "little or no justification is needed" department, there is also the fact that as the Heresy wore on, repairing suits of power armor will become a pain. Sometimes it'll be easier to scrap a suit and salvage for spare parts while slipping on an older suit of Mk II that was maintained in pristine condition and has been sitting in the vaults.

That's my opinion as well.