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In your opinion, what is the best armor a tactical space Marine who is armed with a bolter could wear? This seems like the Mark IV "heresy" armor would be the best, I'm told it was made primarily to defend against bolters, moreso than your standard Astartes armor like the current and the Mark III.

Mark X, easily. Most modern, comes with more technologically advanced systems, modular (so can fulfil a variety of battlefield roles), and has a really cool helmet design.

For older marks, Mark III had the best forward durability of pre-Primaris armour, but was also the most heavy. I think Mark IV was the best version, but was also expensive, leading to it's replacement by later marks.

Mk4 (which is maximus, not heresy pattern) was supposedly the best Armor for a Long Time, only recently to be surpassed by mk8 (the one deathwatch wears exclusively)

Mk10 is a Special snowflake pattern exclusive to primaris so it's kind of another story altogether.

To sum it up:

MkI "Thunder" : Prototype Stage. No powered legs and no void protection whatsoever.

MkII "Crusade" : First "real" Power Armor. Enclosed and powered legs!

MkIII "Iron" : Improved MkII. Superior Protection but hindered Mobility compared to all later patterns. (Terminator armor didnt exist at the time)

MkIV " Maximus" : Well balanced, good at everything.

MkV "Heresy" : Hastily pieced together to meet the demands during the heresy. Inferior in every way to mkIV.

MkVI "Corvus" : Superior Sensor Suite, worse Armor Protection compared to mkIV

MkVII "Aquila" : Your Standard issue Armor Post heresy. Good but not quite as good as mkIV

MkVIII "Errant" : Most modern non-primaris Armor and the best thus far. Noteworthy is that it's the only armor which is not completely backwards-compatible since the older helmets are too large to fit in the protective collar. So only Mk8 helmets fit onto a
Mk8 breastplate.

Mark 6 all the way. Beakies4lyfe

Mk VIII Errant armor. Love that gorget.

Morkphoiz wrote:
MkII "Crusade" : First "real" Power Armor. Enclosed and powered legs!

But, at least before FW retcon, helmet was welded to torso and you could only look forward, which made default SM pose (bolter pointed to the side) look comical.

Morkphoiz wrote:
MkVIII "Errant" : Most modern non-primaris Armor and the best thus far. Noteworthy is that it's the only armor which is not completely backwards-compatible since the older helmets are too large to fit in the protective collar. So only Mk8 helmets fit onto a Mk8 breastplate.

They theoretically don't fit, but ADB 'forgot' about this pesky little fact and tried to retcon it. Artist of that story ended up having to draw microscopic Mk III and V helmets to fit them into gorgets somehow, making both marines look like children

Anyone not saying Mk3 is wrong.

Slayer-Fan123 wrote:
Anyone not saying Mk3 is wrong.

I agree that the Mk3 is visually pleasing, but it isn't as practical as the Mark 4, Mk3 was more of a great crusade armor that could withstand standard bullets and lasguns, but not bolter shells.

Morkphoiz wrote:


MkVIII "Errant" : Most modern non-primaris Armor and the best thus far. Noteworthy is that it's the only armor which is not completely backwards-compatible since the older helmets are too large to fit in the protective collar. So only Mk8 helmets fit onto a
Mk8 breastplate.

As far as the lore goes the only Helmet that doesnt fit Mk VIII is the Mk VI because of its elongated snout.

MkX Phobos Pattern, Grav-chute, with Rievers Skull motif Helm.

 Irbis wrote:
But, at least before FW retcon, helmet was welded to torso and you could only look forward, which made default SM pose (bolter pointed to the side) look comical.

The marines could still look around within the armour at the screens displaying outside information, but the helmet was fixed, so if your autosenses failed you were stuffed.

FW changed it as it didn't look very cool...


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Slayer-Fan123 wrote:
Anyone not saying Mk3 is wrong.

Wasn't Mk3 just Mk2 with armour plate put over the frontal parts of the armour and thinned armour 'hoops' that you can still see at the rear of the suit.

Jazzylee wrote:

Slayer-Fan123 wrote:
Anyone not saying Mk3 is wrong.

I agree that the Mk3 is visually pleasing, but it isn't as practical as the Mark 4, Mk3 was more of a great crusade armor that could withstand standard bullets and lasguns, but not bolter shells.

Mark 3 had the most durable front armour of nearly all armour marks. It was definitely more durable against bolter rounds than any of the Heresy marks, and may well be even better than Mark VII, VIII, and X too.

The only drawback of III was the decreased mobility. That may influence it's practicality in open warfare, but in the close confines of Zone Mortalises, the Mark III was second only to Terminator Armour.

I'm a personal fan of MkII and MkIII armour and after that I like the look of MkVIII.

MkX doesn't do it for me.

The_Real_Chris wrote:

 Irbis wrote:
But, at least before FW retcon, helmet was welded to torso and you could only look forward, which made default SM pose (bolter pointed to the side) look comical.

The marines could still look around within the armour at the screens displaying outside information, but the helmet was fixed, so if your autosenses failed you were stuffed.

FW changed it as it didn't look very cool...

Well, yes, but it made previously distinctive armour mark become 'mini' III with a lot of people struggling to differentiate (or even spot any differences) between the two, as they are now even more similar than V, VII and VIII are between each other. II feels a bit pointless now, not only it's kinda ugly in its Michelin Man texture, why bother with it when III looks nearly the same but much better?

Mk VI. Nothing matches the sheer style of the beakie helmet and if you don't have style then why bother fighting?

In terms of style I do like the MkIII. When they brough out plastic, multipart Mk3s, I nearly started an Iron warriors army on the spot.

The Grey Knights have Plot armor, stronger than a billion Abbadons wrapped in Culuxeses.

 Sgt_Smudge wrote:
Mark X, easily. .

Least compatible with existing logistics and doctrine, however. No Rhinos, Pods, etc.

I'm a big fan of the beakies, personally. Mk 7, 6 and 4 for me.

 Insectum7 wrote:

 Sgt_Smudge wrote:
Mark X, easily. .

Least compatible with existing logistics and doctrine, however. No Rhinos, Pods, etc.

In fairness a revolutionary advance does sometimes mean your logistics and support needs to catch up, but it's useally worth it when it does

Slayer-Fan123 wrote:
Anyone not saying Mk3 is wrong.

Indeed, it is also my favorite Power Armour.

MKIV & MKVIII are better in terms of overall performance and versatility, and you can't do better than MKVI when it comes to agility and speed, but MKIII is just plain dead 'ard.

Centurions. What? They're carrying bolters; six of them right there in the chest.

 FezzikDaBullgryn wrote:
The Grey Knights have Plot armor, stronger than a billion Abbadons wrapped in Culuxeses.

Impressive, but does it compare to the glorious blueberry stained armor of my fellow Ultramarines? I think not.

Mk IV is my favorite. And by extension, since it looks like Mk IV 2.0, Mk X Tacticus is a close second. I do really like Mk III though. Easily my second favorite non-Primaris armor type. Mk X Phobos would be fourth place, since I really like those Infiltrators.

Jazzylee wrote:In your opinion, what is the best armor a tactical space Marine who is armed with a bolter could wear? This seems like the Mark IV "heresy" armor would be the best, I'm told it was made primarily to defend against bolters, moreso than your standard Astartes armor like the current and the Mark III.

Faith in the Emperor and a zealous intolerance of heretics and xenos are the greatest of all an Astartes armour.

FezzikDaBullgryn wrote:The Grey Knights have Plot armor, stronger than a billion Abbadons wrapped in Culuxeses.

That doesn't seem to be helping them much on the tabletop these days.

No love for Mk IX?