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I’m planning a kitbash/conversion for an Officer of the Fleet, so I wanted to glean what information I could.

From the images I’ve seen and from the official Officer of the Fleet mini, I haven’t really found any armored Naval Officers. Does anyone have any canon example of what kind of armor the proactive Naval liaison would wear when working with a guard or Militarum Tempestus regiment? Perhaps armor for a hazardous environment?

Look at modern day instances of naval or air force liaisons; they typically wear similar kit to the unit they're embedded with, both as to adopt the proper protection for the operation, and so as to not stick out like a sore thumb.

Jes Goodwin's concept art for naval officers shows them relying on a refractor field for personal protection and otherwise sticking to a naval uniform. Given the aristocratic nature of the naval officer corps, I think wearing anything short of required environmental support gear would be looked down on.

Carapace Armor, like many of the Naval Armsmen wear.

Based on the mini, information in an older Codex and current stats (5+ save), the Officer of the Fleet wears flak armour.

Bearing in mind, such liaisons aren't front line troops, they linger at the back, providing support to the HQ.

It's just that 40K has HQs running around the field getting shot, instead of being in a tent, command tank or bunker issuing orders.

Interesting question. I once tried to come up with ideas for an entire Imperial Navy army (or perhaps a "sub-army", the way Militarum Tempestus are treated a sub-army of the Imperial Guard). Although, my thinking was mostly focused on their weaponry.

I would assume they would mostly be armed with pistols, shotguns, flamers and other short-ranged guns to fight in the claustrophobic confines of the lower decks, in addition to crowd control weapons such as Tasers, stun grenades ("if it hits, the target unit cannot overwatch during the next Charge phase") or webbers in order to put down mutinies. Most of their ranged weapons would have little or no armor penetration, as they wouldn't want to accidentally puncture the hull, but they would also have access to a sort of welding torch (melta profile, but melee range) for breaching bulkheads and performing boarding actions. At least one of their units would be heavily-armored melee specialists (similar to riot police), able to effectively defend a narrow hallway from pirates or mutineers (or form the spearhead of an assault into an enemy ship).

Army-wide rules could include something that helps them in close confines, e.g. +1 to hit rolls and/or +1 to save rolls in melee when the unit is in cover.

Of course they would need more flyers, aside from the Valkyrie. Maybe an air superiority fighter, without a hovering ability or transport capacity but equipped with Assault weapons for maximum Ballistic Skill on the move. I know ForgeWorld has those, but it would be nice to make them "official", and not just a very niche thing.

And yes, I know this wasn't your question. Sorry. Got excited for a moment, as I love the Imperial Navy and I think they don't get enough attention.

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They would wear regular combat armour, same as everyone else. although, this is 40k where commisaars and other officers often wear full ceremonial style dress for combat..apparently...

I can't remember any specific mention of armor for Naval officers in the BL novels, but I might not remember it or it might just be in a book I haven't read.

-Guardsman- wrote:
Most of their ranged weapons would have little or no armor penetration, as they wouldn't want to accidentally puncture the hull,

I've read about them using shotguns (or "shot cannons") in order to avoid puncturing the hull. I also remember in one novel where some CSM used their bolters to intentionally puncture the hull. It's always made me wonder, do Imperial warships rely entirely on shields for protection from incoming fire and space debris to the point where an autogun could punch through their hull?

In other descriptions I've read that the shotguns were to protect the equipment inside of the ship from damage. I also imagine Naval Armsmen would frequently be boarding less-armored ships. Those make more sense to me. (I know the pressure hull of the ISS is very thin, but there's also not ork pirates trying to blow it up.)

I'm not too bothered about it, Warhammer often doesn't make sense and that's part of the fun, it's just something I've wondered about.

I think it depends on the type of ship. Most sources I've read up on have war ships being fairly armored outside of a few spots designed to be less so such as observation decks.

Civilian ships definitely would not want marines having a gun battle with bolters though. I could see another reason for using under powered rounds inside a ship in general is due to cramped conditions having a round rip through the wall or bouncing around would either damage sensitive equipment or potentially injure the shooter. A shotgun in such conditions sounds like the perfect weapon.

 Dakka Flakka Flame wrote:
I can't remember any specific mention of armor for Naval officers in the BL novels, but I might not remember it or it might just be in a book I haven't read.

-Guardsman- wrote:
Most of their ranged weapons would have little or no armor penetration, as they wouldn't want to accidentally puncture the hull,

I've read about them using shotguns (or "shot cannons") in order to avoid puncturing the hull. I also remember in one novel where some CSM used their bolters to intentionally puncture the hull. It's always made me wonder, do Imperial warships rely entirely on shields for protection from incoming fire and space debris to the point where an autogun could punch through their hull?

In other descriptions I've read that the shotguns were to protect the equipment inside of the ship from damage. I also imagine Naval Armsmen would frequently be boarding less-armored ships. Those make more sense to me. (I know the pressure hull of the ISS is very thin, but there's also not ork pirates trying to blow it up.)

I'm not too bothered about it, Warhammer often doesn't make sense and that's part of the fun, it's just something I've wondered about.

The hulls are thick and armoured. You couldn't punch thrugh one with a mass-reactive bolt round. But they are also full of fuel lines, power conduits, and magazine hoists, and gunfire inside a ship risks setting them off - and a secondary explosion from one of them could quite realistically breach the hull locally.

Navl security is described in the novels as wearing black carapace armour with shotguns, but a liason officer in't going to be navsec, they'll be fleet.

Why wear armor when you can dress up and get the same protection (if not better) from a refractor field?

That's the funny thing about naval depiction in 40k. Always about things that cat puncture the hull... the hull that is designed and manufactured to explicitly prevent naval bombardment weapons from being able.to penetrate... all.of a sudden a little small arms round with a bit of kick is somehow a major risk to life and limb

The idea that small arms could penetrate the outer bulkhead of a starship hull and cause decompression to... say a deck or a room is laughable. Any story worth the paper its written on is not going to include or ever hint at that. However, like another poster said there are sensitive things on a starship such as electrical equipment, computers, fuel lines, maybe even combustibles that don't like getting shot.

The perfect weapons to use in starship boarding actions include short-length melee weapons like knives and batons (full length weapons like swords and spears are too unwieldy and would get caught on stuff), and things like shotguns with birdshot/buckshot rounds.

Consequently, the best armor for naval officers to wear would be something to deal with the weapons most commonly used in those environments.

In the 40k universe, naval provosts and armsmen wear carapace armor. Officers usually wear officer dress which is fancy but likely more sturdy than it looks, probably analogous in protective ability to flak armor, just in a more inconspicuous package. Officers also carry refractor fields, which are a powerful protective device.

Officers are not usually expected to engage in combat, so making them wear the same heavy armor as the armsmen is pretty much a waste. Giving them lighter and more unobtrusive armor, and the ace up their sleeve that is the refractor field, however, ensures that if they do end up engaged in a boarding action they are not totally defenseless.