Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Really it's all down to rule of cool. There's heaps of stuff in 40k that doesn't exactly have a reasonable explanation, lack of helmets is one. It just makes the models look supposedly cooler, which is good for characters in leadership roles.

Something that appears to have been missed so far in the rush to fluff is that Marine Power Armour has Autosenses to extend the range of things the marine can sense, as well as protecting the wearer from dangerous extremes of light & sound (and possible taste as well, but that would be a bit weird). What exactly that means is up for debate but you could easily propose that it allows the wearer to see in all spectra from radio through visible and into gamma radiation as well as pick up vibration and noise through a massively extended frequency range. One would imagine that this is displayed either as a HUD (holographic or otherwise) or potentially just projected directly into their brain via a neural lace or similar direct connection.

It probably depends on how much other sci-fi you've read recently

Do eldar have HUDs? What about orks?

Eldar probably have HUDs.

Its doubtful orks would have something like that, but you never know.

Here's some fluff from (nowadays) lesser known GW sources, might be interesting to some:

"Auto-senses and communicator are included, together with respirators which enable the suit to be used in any atmosphere or hard vacuum. Controls are minimal, most of the suit functions are automatic. Control messages and hazard warnings can be given by the suit either audibly or visually, and the suit's built-in computer will respond to vocal commands."
- 1E Rulebook

"The suit's helmet is fitted with automatic sensory devices which allow the wearer to see and hear quite normally, but he can also see infra-red and ultra-violet light, and hear a wider range of sound frequencies. The wearer is also able to selectively enhance a visual image or sound should he wish. If explosed to blinding lights or deafening noises, the computer processor acts as a safety valve and dampens down the stimuli preventing damage to the Space Marine."
- 2E Codex Angels of Death

"Power armour is fully sealed to provide protection against gas weapons and harsh atmospheres. It also commonly includes numerous auxiliary systems such as communicators, auto senses, etc."
- 3E Rulebook

Contemporary Marine codices and the rulebook sadly do not seem to include such technical specifications anymore, which is why I value the older books for their detail. Also, various licensed sources will take abilities away or add new ones depending chiefly on the individual interpretation, story plot and/or preferences of the author.

Most of the older fluff, and a lot of the Horus Heresy books, describe all sensory input to the marine, such as sight and hearing, being through the suits internal systems before being sent to the marine via a neural interface. Many times loud sounds are described as being automatically dampened by the suits processors to prevent the marine being deafened, and that all images are fed directly to the marines retinas so that he doesn't actully 'see' with his eyes when he has his helmet on. I think it's in 'Fulgrim' that one of the Emperors Children is described as removing his helmet and shaking his head as he gets used to using his own senses again after having worn the helmet for so long. In Fulgrim it also highlights the drawbacks of not wearing your helmet in that you lose some of the vox capabilities.

From the Lexicanum entry on power armour (Mk 2) -

"The helmet is fitted with automatic sensory devices developed on Mars, this allows the wearer to see and hear as though not wearing a helmet, and, since all information is transmitted to a computer in the helmet before being transmitted directly to the wearer's brain via neural link, blinding lights and deafening noises can be muted so that they don't harm the wearer. The wearer is also able to see in the infra-red and ultra-violet spectrum, and images can be zoomed in and magnified."

This makes more sense than just having a HUD, which I don't think would really work inside a helmet - the data being displayed would be quite small, whereas if the neural interface is doing away with the helmet, as far as the marines perspective is concerned, then you have a far larger 'view' on which to project data. It also ties in with descriptions of marines selecting items in their view and blick-clicking to select them - all picked up by the interface.

I am sorry if someone else has already posted this, but I think that the reason why the are shown not wearing helmets is that the look more epic in art and games. In the fluff, some wear helmets and some don't.

Because WH40k is based on the Roman Imperium (at least partly) and in the Roman army it was a sign of courage for officers not to wear a helmet, it may be also explained with this.

For the second question, I think that in their visor there are target finders which recognise targets and help the Marine to fire his weapon. Inside the helmet can also be found a com-link and a mechanism which neutralizes toxins and allows foor underwater/vacuum breathing. The lenses also enable night vision and neutralize smoke and bright flashes.

I imagine a Lootas HUD would simply be a post-it note with stikk figures on them, duct-taped to the brow of the Loota.

DeffDred wrote:I imagine a Lootas HUD would simply be a post-it note with stikk figures on them, duct-taped to the brow of the Loota.

It's a gretchin with a black board.