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.

so just wondering what mk of power armor the ultramarines would use during the heresy. im assuming mk 2,and 4 with a few using mk 3. I also know they have there own praetor pattern. Here is a pic from the graphic novel showing some different mks..
I can see a mk 4, and 3 helmet, and also a mk 6 helm. a couple of them im not sure of tho...

One distinct feeling I get from the heresy is that the armour, while all standardized, was still highly unique. sure, six guys might have MK II Crusade, but one guy has a helmet where the eyes are separate, like in Mk III Iron, and another guy might have a raised collar, like in Mk 8 Errant (Even though it has yet to be officially invented).

If you want to use standard suits, you can go up to Mk V Heresy, but it would be more fun to experiment.

If you wanted me to actually tell you what Mk Helmets I can see, there are:

1 Mk II
4 Mk III
2 Mk IV
0 Mk V
0 Mk VI
1 Mk VII
1 without helmet (Possibly has bionic eye and re-breather)

The Mk VII is lore breaking, but the rest should be fine. Hope this helps!

They should likely have mostly II and III, maybe some MkVs and relatively few MkIV (MkI would be unlikely as it didn't have a helmet allowing for fighting in vacuums, maybe for ceremonial purposes?).

As I recall most MkIV was ironically in the hands of the Traitor Legions when the Heresy broke out, and Mk V was mainly due to supplies being short and most loyal legions still using MkII armor.

I quote from the Warhammer 40k Wikipedia entry for Power Armor, specifically Mk V "Heresy":

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Power_Armour

The equipping of the Legions with Mark IV armour was only partially complete when the Horus Heresy broke out. Many of the newly-equipped Legions turned against the Imperium while many of the Loyalist Legions possessed only Mark II Power Armour. With the extensive amount of war damage and constantly mobile operations that defined the warfare during the Heresy, resupply for the Loyalist Space Marines Legions' damaged equipment was difficult or impossible.

so really its up to the marine on what he wears? he could choose to use mk2 plate, but swap the helmet for a mk3?

Yep, pretty much. Some pieces were preference, some were handed down, and as the Heresy dragged on, lots of suits were cobbled together from whatever they could find/scavenge.

The Ultramarines specifically used Praetor patter as their equivalent to one mark, but I can't recall whether it was IV or V that it replaced.

WayneTheGame wrote:
and Mk V was mainly due to supplies being short and most loyal legions still using MkII armor.

Actually in the original source (WD129/RT Compilation) it wasn't that the loyalists in general were 'still' using MkII (tho some were), rather that they were having to re-equip with MkII because they were unable to repair battle damage to the MkIV suits they had due to inability to fabricate spare parts.

Remus Ventanus wrote:
so really its up to the marine on what he wears? he could choose to use mk2 plate, but swap the helmet for a mk3?

Yes, actually if memory serves that seems to have been fairly common going by the CCG. I don't think armour mixing was QUITE as common pre-Heresy however, the reason for MkV existing was MkIV was incompatibility with MkII/III, you did get combinations but they would likely fall under artificer armour. You also get the odd non-standard bit in the mix - Betrayal has single examples of both a Son of Horus and a World Eater with 'Sarum' pattern helmets - which would later become the 'standard' MkV helmet, as well as a single Death Guard with an Anvilus pattern backpack - the standard Chaos backpack. As far as I'm aware 'Praetor pattern' was only a variant helmet, used on different armour marks.

Just another minor note: lore-wise, two complete MkII's could still look different because of one reason: Point of Origin. Each world that was manufacturing "MkII" armor had the same schematic, so the components were the same, but they weren't always put together exactly the same.

An example could be that a MkII pauldron built on Planet X might have had a more pronounced bolts, and the metal lip surrounding the actual pauldron might have been shorter. It was functionally identical, but aesthetically different, based on world of origin.

That could be why one of those helmets looks like a Mk VI (Corvus, affectionately called a beaky); It might be a Mk IV (Maximus), where the vents had been closed off, giving it that rounded beak shape.

Just some additional notes! Hope they help!