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 I’m not sure if there’s a real answer here but do you think units would be separated by armor mark or mixed in units freely?
I like all of the different marks and am thinking of getting one of each but i wondered if they should stay separate or just mix them together.

Depends on the Chapter, I guess.

Relic armour is venerated by most, if not all Chapters. A chest plate from MkIII is still compatible with Mks II-VII. And it’s entirely possible it’s been in service, in a Ship of Theseus/Trigger’s Broom way stretching back to the Great Crusade.

And so each part, whether a Chapter, Company or even single Squad can field it as part of a complete suit, is revered, and worn with honour.

Some Chapters may carry that over to the degree it’s Veterans Only. The more senior you are, the older the Mk of armour you can wear, or incorporate into your existing suit.

It’s also possible for a Chapter to only want to field The Newest Mk. It wouldn’t necessarily trade away its oldest stuff, just not field it.

Some marks also had advantages. Mk 3 was best for frontal assault/narrow battles due to better frontal protection. So you might get a whole squad of that together for a vanguard unit.

But Mk 6 had better sensors/optics. You might want to spread that around, have one or two spotters in a squad, but spread over more units.

in 40k you can work with whatever logic you want. It’s not hard coded into the codex. And even if it was, not everyone is compliant, and exceptions are made situationally.

I only do it for my HH Iron Warriors so I can track each unit of Tacticals, Mk3, Mk5 (non-production variant) and Mk6.
I even have Apothecaries that are similarly matched to each unit.

All the other units have different guns so they don't need it too much.

Between various loyalist stories and the Night Lords omnibus, I get the impression that the preference is to keep your whole chapter/company supplied with "standard parts," but that mixing and matching isn't a big deal if it comes to it. And ultimately, the preference seems to be keeping a given brother with his established unit rather than moving him around based on his armor.

So in practical terms, most of your chapter probably starts off with more or less the same mark of armor (and the same mark of replacements parts). If you go through armor fast enough, mixing and matching parts as needed is an option, and they aren't going to break up your squad by making you hang out with the beaky helmet squad or whatever.

That said, I don't know any chapters that *prefer* to mix and match parts outside of maybe the raven guard having a preference for the beakie helmets. And typically they aren't going to mix a gravis armor guy in with a phobos armor squad or what have you. (Think Death Watch Kill Team units.)

I mean, just looking at the Ultramarine 2nd Company, there is a precedent for this.