Space Marine Armour Marks

[mysterex]

Has anyone got an approximate timeline for the release of the 8 marks of space marine armour?

On one hand the fluff seems to suggest that technological advancement in the Imperium pretty much stopped at the time of the Horus heresy and that most "advances" are due to the rediscovery of STCs. On the other we have type VII and VIII armour designed for Marines that didn't exist in the dark age of technology and that doesn't seem to have been around during the Heresy.

Flicking through the Heresy collected visions book the plate with the legion colour schemes shows most of them in type VI but I thought type V (Heresy) armour was normal at that point.

Am I missing something or is the background just inconsistent.

If anyone has the details let me know.

[Old_Paladin]

Actually, the most common armour at that point was the Mk. IV.
The Mk. V was just being added at the outbreak of the Heresy.

The Mk. VII was actually supposed to be the next step (a major, longterm armour upgrade project); but with the out break of civil war, they jumped up the program.
The newest break throughs were simply added to older Mk. IV's (which were common amongst the loyalists), which is what the Mk. VI is.

If truth be told, the only real changes in power armour are between the Mk.I and Mk. II (which went from powered torso's, to a fully power suit and the addition of life-support systems). Otherwise it's simply different ways to best form and fit the types are armoured plates to the underarmour.

[AirHorse]

I dont know anything in particular detail so ill leave any accurate comments to people who do, but as far as I am aware i believe that most marks occured fairly early on and that even as the heresy took place new marks were being circled into use on a sort of "regular" basis. think there was a little mention of new armour mentioned in one of the books(might have been mechanicum?).

Post heresy it seems it takes a very long time for a new mark to be brought into circulation. As to why this is the case, I have no idea. I would assume its mostly likely to do with lots of burninating and stealing of knowledge and all that

[Gotthammer]

Actually, the most common armour at that point was the Mk. IV.
The Mk. V was just being added at the outbreak of the Heresy.

Not quite (at least acording to the Compilation, there may be a more recent thing I've not seen), mk4 was being introduced to replace 2/3 (3 being the 'heavy' version of 2) and had mostly gone to the legions that turned traitor, but was not fully issued. Mk5 was a stop-gap using some of the mk4 and terminator tech, but simplified to use the stockpiles of mk 3/4 parts as mk4 needed specialised components that were is short supply.

Mk 6 was the new suit to be built after the mk4 project was scrapped and the heresy was well underway. They came online during the Solar campaign, with the forces of Horus capturing the martian production facilities as they advanced (an interesting contradiction, with Mars devolving into civil war at the outbreak of the heresy, though I don't suppose the Emperor would let it sit that way for seven years). Mk7 is the improved mk6, rolling out during the Luna campaign and the battle for Terra


So you have:

Mk1 - Thunder Armour - Unification wars, Luna Conquest, ceremonial duties only after the crusade started.
Mk2 - Crusade Armour - Great Crusade to Heresy
Mk3 - Iron Armour - Mid Crusade to Heresy and beyond (specialist heavy assault armour developed during fighting in core worlds and for boarding actions)
Mk4 - Maximus Armour - Late Crusade to Heresy (project scrapped halfway by loyalists due to scarcity of parts and materials)
Mk5 - Heresy Armour - Early to late Heresy (upgraded and simplified using easily repairable and obtainable parts, uses a lot of Mk2/3 components)
Mk6 - Corvus Armour - Very Late Heresy - More easily built and maintained than Mk4, better quality than Mk5.
Mk7 - Eagle Armour - Very Very Late Heresy - Further improved Mk6.

[Old_Paladin]

So you have:

Mk1 - Thunder Armour - Unification wars, Luna Conquest, ceremonial duties only after the crusade started.
Mk2 - Crusade Armour - Great Crusade to Heresy
Mk3 - Iron Armour - Mid Crusade to Heresy and beyond (specialist heavy assault armour developed during fighting in core worlds and for boarding actions)
Mk4 - Maximus Armour - Late Crusade to Heresy (project scrapped halfway by loyalists due to scarcity of parts and materials)
Mk5 - Heresy Armour - Early to late Heresy (upgraded and simplified using easily repairable and obtainable parts, uses a lot of Mk2/3 components)
Mk6 - Corvus Armour - Very Late Heresy - More easily built and maintained than Mk4, better quality than Mk5.
Mk7 - Eagle Armour - Very Very Late Heresy - Further improved Mk6.

This is pretty much what I have; with the info for Mk. 5 and Mk. 6 being a little reverse to you (of course stuff like this tends to happen with GW changing fluff around... a lot).

Mk. 4 is still common (for aged armours) post heresy; look at the red scorpions.
Mk. 5 used old technology in new ways, favoured for is ease of production. Using rivited layers of armour instead of casted alloys.
Mk. 6 was the stopgap system using old, but common systems (Mk. 4 undersuit) with several upgrades (like Mk. 5 rivited blastpad), with the major upgrade being new targeting systems and hud in the 'beakie' helmet.
If civil war didn't breakout the Mk. 6 probably would never have been made; it could be equally said that the Mk. 7 is an improved Mk. 6, but also that the Mk. 6 is an unfinished prototype Mk. 7.

[mysterex]

Thanks that's helpful.

So very broadly, if I'm looking to build a pre-Heresy armour stick to types III & IV. If I'm looking for a traitor legion weight it towards IV. If I want a Heresy era army, add V and perhaps some VI.

That pretty much matches my understanding - I've been hoarding type III helmets for a while with the vague thought I may build something pre-Heresy.

This also seems to suggest that technological improvement continued post Heresy albeit very slowly, with the introduction of VIII (Errant) armour at some point. Any details on when/how this happened?