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Do high-ranking or very rich imperial servants, like planetary governors and trans-planetary syndicate bosses have access to power armour?
On table top, we see only Inquisitor lords and ig tech priests sporting power armor, and even IG super-commanders like Solar Macharius and Creed only get Carapace+some forcefield.
Any ideas?

I guess you can paint it up. Arbitrators of high rank seem to have ample supply of it, and Sororitas have very fine power armour. I would think a well-connected Imperial Commander having it. It just ain't too many models of it.

Only other humans I've heard wearing PA besides =][= and techpriests are the Adeptus Sororitas, The Sisters of Battle, main fighting arm of the Adeptus Ministorum.

Though they are an army, so not really what you're asking, besides high-ranking SoB.

Some Living Saints wear PA, too.

I can imagine it could be bought. It would be disgustingly expensive however.
Rogue traders and the like would probably have some.

Techpriests forge it on Mars, hence why they have it. Inquisitors... Well, that's that really. It isn't unfeasible, just incredibly rare. May be worth noting that in Dark Heresy, you can buy Power armour, though it's very expensive/

There is a mention of it in one of the Horus Heresy books where the mountain is dropped on Agron. Im talking about the battle where hourus is recovered and decides to purge the planet even though they want back into the Imperium peacefully. Those humans have power armor and it was very common for pre emperor armies to have it or a variation of it.

All the good stuff was more common pre-heresy!

There are other armies/organisations that have access to power armour (e.g. SoB and the Inquisition), but often it is a different form than the standard PA for Astartes. I think its to do with their advanced physiology that means only they can wear it. Kinda like the Mjolnir armour in the Halo series.

The Astartes have a direct connection to the PA through the black carapace which usually makes them more effective users.

There are specialised bodygloves that can, to a greater or lesser extant simulate this connection.

Many Imperial Agents and officials use forcefields as they are concealable and often as effective - especially against high powered weapons.

They are also, as Amberely Vail notes, not especially pleasant or indeed subtle things to wear - a jewel / ring / pendant etc concealing a force field generator, does not have the same problems....

Not only is the relative cost of maintaining power armoured regiments going to be high, iI would have thought its also likely to irritate the Astartes and Sororitas who guard their rights and privileges carefully.

MIU's might also be a viable method of interfacing with powered armour, but that's an even more esoteric method than pressure and nerve sensors and would surely require one to be on the good side with the Mechanicus.
I'm not sure that power armour would be protected by any "rights", though - it's just an incredibly valuable and complicated item you need some connections and resources to acquire and care for. Few Imperial governors would own such a suit simply because they don't actually intend to go out and use it, instead preferring to stay at their court and enjoy their privileges. Similarly, IG officers either lack the necessary contacts/funds, or (if hailing from a noble family) are hampered by what they can actually maintain in the field. Your heirloom suit of power armour won't do you much good if nobody in your regiment knows how to repair that malfunctioning motivator in your left leg, or if there's no spare parts to be had to fix that gaping hole in the chestplate. The officers in the Guard are just as limited as the basic grunt here; deployment away from home means you have to make do with standardised gear or even what reinforcements from another world bring in. It's why many veteran regiments may look like a motley collection of misfits who spent half a year looting every battlefield in the segmentum, wearing Cadian helmets to Valhallan coats and stuff.

As mentioned, I'd expect that Rogue Traders are frequently using power armour, as they "get out more" in the line of their profession.
Additionally, check out the Spyrer rules for what the offspring of some of Necromunda's nobility have access to. That stuff looks even more hi-tech than Astartes gear!

Yes, there is PA in human sizes. But it would be obscenely expensive. Depending on the planet.

 Lynata wrote:
MIU's might also be a viable method of interfacing with powered armour, but that's an even more esoteric method than pressure and nerve sensors and would surely require one to be on the good side with the Mechanicus.
I'm not sure that power armour would be protected by any "rights", though - it's just an incredibly valuable and complicated item you need some connections and resources to acquire and care for. Few Imperial governors would own such a suit simply because they don't actually intend to go out and use it, instead preferring to stay at their court and enjoy their privileges. Similarly, IG officers either lack the necessary contacts/funds, or (if hailing from a noble family) are hampered by what they can actually maintain in the field. Your heirloom suit of power armour won't do you much good if nobody in your regiment knows how to repair that malfunctioning motivator in your left leg, or if there's no spare parts to be had to fix that gaping hole in the chestplate. The officers in the Guard are just as limited as the basic grunt here; deployment away from home means you have to make do with standardised gear or even what reinforcements from another world bring in. It's why many veteran regiments may look like a motley collection of misfits who spent half a year looting every battlefield in the segmentum, wearing Cadian helmets to Valhallan coats and stuff.

As mentioned, I'd expect that Rogue Traders are frequently using power armour, as they "get out more" in the line of their profession.
Additionally, check out the Spyrer rules for what the offspring of some of Necromunda's nobility have access to. That stuff looks even more hi-tech than Astartes gear!

Isn't there something about the Sororitas being the only military body allowed to use power armour in numbers? I might be misrembering?

I think the Spyer armour is thought to be at least partially Xenos tech - likely of Tau manufacture - I recall a passage about an inquistior getting all paranoid about it, especially since it records the wearers experiences.

 Mr Morden wrote:
The Astartes have a direct connection to the PA through the black carapace which usually makes them more effective users.

There are specialised bodygloves that can, to a greater or lesser extant simulate this connection.

Many Imperial Agents and officials use forcefields as they are concealable and often as effective - especially against high powered weapons.

They are also, as Amberely Vail notes, not especially pleasant or indeed subtle things to wear - a jewel / ring / pendant etc concealing a force field generator, does not have the same problems....

Not only is the relative cost of maintaining power armoured regiments going to be high, iI would have thought its also likely to irritate the Astartes and Sororitas who guard their rights and privileges carefully.

That depends on the modus operandi of said agents. Some Inquisitors like to scare the heretic by showing off their huge gold armour, others might be more of the Gestapo flavour.

 Lynata wrote:
Additionally, check out the Spyrer rules for what the offspring of some of Necromunda's nobility have access to. That stuff looks even more hi-tech than Astartes gear!

Which could very well be true - the Spyrers aren't an army that needs to stay in the field for days or months at a time. They go out and have a fight of their choosing, then go back home for repairs. They can use any experimental, temperamental or plain dangerous module if it boosts performance - they can go home to a little army of techs and servitors to recalibrate and repair the suit.

Astartes PA has to be durable enough to survive things the Spyrers never do (or rarely do) on a daily basis and keep on ticking. Every Marine is supposed to know basic maintenance rituals for his gear, but his company TechMarines handle more difficult jobs like actual repairs - and they also maintain the vehicles, weapons and so on. They just can't have gear that needs an army of techs to keep in the field. Every component must by needs be the sturdiest and most reliable version they can get, or at least the best trade-off between durability and performance.

Yes and no - the Spyers can be expected to stay hunting in the underhive for long periods depending on the nature fo their "hunt". Their suits have some self repair capability - another likely sign of Xenos or perhaps Archotech.

but in general I agree,

Mr Morden wrote:Isn't there something about the Sororitas being the only military body allowed to use power armour in numbers? I might be misrembering?

Hum, I guess we both misremembered.

"The power armour worn by the Battle Sisters of the Orders Militant is based upon the same archaic systems as that worn by the brethren of the Adeptus Astartes. It provides the same degree of armoured protection, yet must forego the more advanced life-support systems and strength enhancing abilities used by the Space Marines, as the Sisters of Battle are not implanted with the Black Carapace that allows the Astartes to interface fully with their own armour. Despite this, the Sisters of Battle are one of the few Imperial forces outside of the Space Marines to be granted the right to wear such formidable armour, and they are trained to deadly effect to utilise its abilities to the fullest."
- 3E C:WH

It does say "one of the few", which I suppose keeps a small window open for other exceptions. Also, I'm not sure if this even applies to civilians, in addition to "Imperial forces", or if this right is a matter of law ("you're not allowed to wear it") rather than a privilege of procurement ("you may order them from us").

Mr Morden wrote:I think the Spyer armour is thought to be at least partially Xenos tech - likely of Tau manufacture - I recall a passage about an inquistior getting all paranoid about it, especially since it records the wearers experiences.

Yep! It doesn't state it as a fact, but given that this piece of fluff appears in the Tau Codex ...
Goes to show what credits can buy, if you're rich enough.

And yeah, Marines and Sisters are military infantry, the Spyrers are ... hobby hunters. With a very dangerous prey, but still. A hive may get close to being a warzone, but is not quite one yet with hazards such as artillery bombardment etc. Plus, self-repair ftw!
Lastly, military gear also means standardisation and mass production, whereas the nobility can have these suits custom-built for them just because they only have to care for the gear of that one son or daughter.

I guess the reason power armour isn't more common in the IOE is the amount of expertise required to maintain it. It's sort of easy enough with many Sororita armours in their armories. But the cost go up when it comes to the mainstream forces, and the IOM have just so many with capabilities to maintain such advanced suits. I have sort of placed them into Impractical but awesome-territory due to the upkeep, the training which is needed to use it and everything else with the powered armour.

Yeah, the Imperium barely manages to hand out lasguns - with their reliability and comparative ease of maintenance mentioned as an important advantage over boltguns, which even hive gangers could field.

Plus, I think it's also a matter of how Imperial Guard regiments are raised, exactly. The Munitorum groups a planet's military tithe into regiments based on some arcane assessment of their "overall battle value", and whilst power armour undoubtedly grants an edge over carapace or flak, it does not protect enough to allow the wearer to withstand being zerg-rushed with cheap troops. So, ask yourselves - would a planetary governor rather raise and donate regiments of a thousand men equipped with extremely expensive power armour, or regiments of ten thousand men in flak?

Remember: rather than guns and vehicles, it is human lives that are the most expendable resource in this setting ... There's a minefield in the way of your armoured assault? Send in the infantry.

I think, OP, that it's entirely possible for other high-ranking Imperial servants to have power armor. One thing that we tend to do in 40K is think of power armor as almost a patented concept, as if the only type that exists is Astartes armor.

Now, if a rich or powerful individual managed to get an exo-skeleton built, which responded to their movements or was hardwired into their nervous system - seems not too uncommon for rich and powerful types, from the fluff - and covered it in thick armor, would this not be Power(ed) Armour? it's not Astartes armor, but it's definitely armor that moves as the result of a power source.

So I guess the answer is yeah, sure, from me, since I see the term Power Armor in the same way as I see Armored Vehicle - classifying many possible designs that fulfil the same function - instead of seeing it as a specific design, like an M4 Sherman.

Rogue Trader was much more open about the shades of grey of Power Armor, and Confrontation - the pre-Necromunda skirmish game - even had table that let you eventually build a suit of Terminator armor by assembling the components, bit by bit.

 Lynata wrote:

Mr Morden wrote:I think the Spyer armour is thought to be at least partially Xenos tech - likely of Tau manufacture - I recall a passage about an inquistior getting all paranoid about it, especially since it records the wearers experiences.

Yep! It doesn't state it as a fact, but given that this piece of fluff appears in the Tau Codex ...
Goes to show what credits can buy, if you're rich enough.

And yeah, Marines and Sisters are military infantry, the Spyrers are ... hobby hunters. With a very dangerous prey, but still. A hive may get close to being a warzone, but is not quite one yet with hazards such as artillery bombardment etc. Plus, self-repair ftw!
Lastly, military gear also means standardisation and mass production, whereas the nobility can have these suits custom-built for them just because they only have to care for the gear of that one son or daughter.

The problem with a Tau source for Spyrer armor is that the Tau can't build anything approaching power armor in such a small scale, or with a stable control method: the closest they get are crisis suits, which approach the size of dreadnoughts, can only move at speed by using a jet engine strapped to their backs, and rely on a crude, highly unstable neural interface that causes the same problems that titan princeps can suffer after spending too long all but being a giant, massively complicated war machine.

Imperial tech is far weirder and more advanced than the extremely reliable, easily manufactured, and easily resupplied equipment used by troops in the field. There are also plenty of other advanced Xenos, who don't merit their own codices by virtue of being too small/extinct/weird.

It could well be that the Tau do possess this technology and simply don't mass-produce it for the rank-and-file Fire Warriors due to efficiency/economy concerns. Just like the Imperium can produce power armour but doesn't hand it out to the Guard, or even its Storm Trooper regiment.

I mean, personally I cannot believe that this isn't in any way augmented, given the size of those cannons. And that's a battlesuit.

Or they just produce it as custom gear to trade with others rather than using it themselves. Or had it produced by one of the Empire's client species.

"Equipment: Water Caste envoys almost always wear robes of office (2 armour on all locations except head), and may carry a gizmo and/or have an escort drone with them. Tau Water Caste may also have practically any item of equipment up to and including legendary items, but will not use the items themselves or loan them out unless there really is no other alternative; they are for trade, not for use in battle."
- Inquisitor RPG

tl;dr - I just don't think that it's sheer coincidence that the Spyrer bit is mentioned in the Tau Codex. That just sounds a little too intentional.

I could easily see Rogue Traders, on any humans with that level of wealth, having access to power armor like any Inquisitor.

Or bodyguards for said rich folk. Governors, Hive tower nobles, etc.

Though if it's a forgeworld, those that build power armor sometimes equip the skiitari with the cybernetics as well with it, as well as part of the planetary army elites.

The inquisition henchmen can get power armor. It is just so ridiculousness expensive that it isn't worth it.

btw no self respecting IG would ever be caught wearing power armor... You have any idea how common inquisitors are? How are they supposed to keep order when their bullets bounce off the officer's armor? I am pretty sure that would be heresy and may warrant the inquisition looking into the matter.