Imperial Agencies outside the military

"In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war!"

Well, that's only half true.  You see, there's a whole universe of people living their lives across the galaxy, and the war-borne nature of the Imperium is a huge inconvenience to that.  In this post, we're gonna take a look at the other huge organizations within the human empire and begin to understand more of the life of an average dude in an otherwise terrible setting...

Adeptus Ministorum
This is the largest of all the organizations in the Imperium.  On every planet and in every community is a massive number of Priests and Clerics.  Their role is to preach the word of the God-Emperor and ensure the strength of faith in every citizen.

There may be one accepted belief in the Imperium, but there is certainly not a single, unified system.  You see, the galaxy is a vast place full of humans of every possible culture and society.  Some planets are 'standard' worlds with basic freedoms and simple life, while others are crowded hive worlds too polluted for anyone to live outside the massive armored tower-cities.  Still other worlds are backwater feral planets with tribes of humans who see their world in 'naturalist' terms and believe more in the power of nature.  It must also be noted that generations of humans are born and die in grand spaceships, moons and asteroids support colonies, and any number of other environments exist where mankind lives.  All these different places must be faithful, and the priests are responsible for every soul wherever they are.

The underlying core of the Imperial Faith is that the immortal God-Emperor united all man acrss the stars and introduced them to a utopia of shared sacrifice and success.  With the great powers that he wielded, he held back the invading enemies of man, from alien to witch, and freed humankind from certain extinction.  Whether he did this as the Sun-God, Warrior-Avatar, or Benevolent Spirit is what makes each world's belief system vary from the next. 

The Ecclesiarchy, as the Adeptus Ministorum is more commonly known, is also responsible for creating more 'local' centers of worship.  Not only does this include Saints and Holy Artefacts, but they also create massive churches and cathedrals, commonly known as Basilicas.  These Basilicas serve to remind the surrounding population of the power of faith, as well as housing artefacts and bodies of Saints worshipped by the people.  In fact, the vast majority of migration in the Imperium is holy pilgrimages to these places.  The Imperial Faith serves as a driving force for the person, a protecting force for culture, and a unifying force for the entire galactic society. 


Adeptus Administratum
The second largest organization in the Imperium, this is the body responsible for the operation of the empire.  It is, by far, the most non-descript of all and yet is probably the most important in the galactic sense.

To this body do the Governors and their attendant staffs belong.  This is where the secretaries, librarians, bookkeepers, accountants, and all other manner of administrators belong.  Each planetary lord is required to govern thousands or millions of these workers, ensuring that his world is able to provide protection for the people and supply the required tithes to the Imperial efforts. 

When a noble wishes to ship goods off-world, it's the Administratum that they must see.  When a civilian needs to acquire permits for work-crews or seeks records for family or business ventures, it's the Administratum they must see.  This organization may not be the most efficient or fastest group, but its importance is far greater than the average person knows.


Adeptus Telepathica
This group is neither large nor well-known, but its role is vital nonethess.  For millenia, the mutation that grants humans psychic powers has become more common.  Here is where the darkness and light of the galaxy converge.

Some humans develop powers that are useful, while most are very dangerous to greater society.  The use of psychic powers simply pulls the stuff of the Immaterium, or the Warp, into the real world.  Shaping this power into effects is how the Psyker is able to manifest these abilities.  Most common of all is the power to communicate across the vastness of space.

Standard communication through real-space would take thousands, or even millions, of years.  The ability to send messages through the Warp allows communication to take hours, days, or weeks, but definitely increases the ability to operate a galactic empire.  Mutual defense would be impossible, otherwise.  The ability to travel and trade would be impossible as well.  In fact, the 'Dark Age' of humankind befell because interstellar communication was impossible.  Luckily, the Emperor determined the need and found the timing coincided with calmer Warp-storms and established an entire empire across the galaxy.

It should also be noted that this organization co-exists with the Inquisition and Adeptus Astronomica.  While some humans develop fantastic powers, they would go unnoticed except in their societies and the need of the Imperium would go woefully unmet.  The Black Ships of the Inquisition visit nearly every planet and collect all Psykers detected by that governor.  Those that are found strong and able are sent to academies and trained to use their arts, where they are then assigned to planetary Administratums and even sanctioned for use by Imperial Guard regimental commanders.  Those that are found weak and unable to control their powers are turned over to the Astropathic Choir, where they will be soul-fed to the Golden Throne, keeping the Emperor's body barely alive and magnifying the holy Beacon.

Finally, within this organization is the tiny body known as the Navis Nobilitae.  This is the group of families that have the unique psychic mutation that creates the three-eyed navigators.  This group of humans is able to 'see' in the Warp and even detect the holy Beacon, known as the Astronomicon (named after the group that feeds it).  They are as secretive as the Inquisition itself, and therefore won't be discussed here.

Adeptus Arbites
Here is the organization that ensures lawlessness does not break out on planets.  The Arbites are the peace-keeping force that searches for heresies, mutinites, and planetary plots of destruction and mayhem.

Although they are not 'military' as such, the Adeptus Arbites recieve better training and equipment thna the average Imperial Guard soldier.  Their armor and weapons are made to withstand great amounts of punishment and give it back out.  Their normal foes are as low as simple hive-ganger and as great as Renegade Governor's personal bodyguards.  Toss in the occasional monsters and mutants, all too common in the massive Imperium, and the need to be so effective in combat is obvious.

Take note that the Arbites are not the same as police or constables in normal society.  The Arbites are responsible for Imperial Law, enacting operations to ensure the galaxy is safe from every planet's risks to it.  The Arbites' authority is derived from the High Lords themselves, allowing them to investigate the very planetary government they are there to protect.  Should a Governor ever decide to become independant and renegade from the Imperium, it is the Arbites that will be his first enemy.  The Adeptus Arbites are cop, judge, and executioners given form in practice and authority.  In order to ensure the purity of this practice, newly-trained Arbites are always stationed to worlds sectors from their own, to ensure they are always brutal and objective when meeting out the Emperor's law.

It must be understood that each planet does still have its own law enforcement agencies.  Some planets have citizen-constables, noble-supported personal militias, and even powerful family elders.  The most prominent planets use Enforcers, local law-enforcement agencies that closely mirror the Adeptus Arbites.  However, their realm of influence are very different, and even Enforcers are subject to the judgement of local Arbites.


Adeptus Mechanicus
This organization is special insofar as it's not officially a part of the Imperium.  Little do most people know, the Emperor granted the Mechanicus freedom and autonomy in return for weapons and technology.  The Imperium and Mechanicus is 'allied' for a greater cause, but they are not the same.

The Adeptus Mechanicus is the culture that grew on Mars for thousands of years before the ascension of the almighty Emperor on Terra.  When he began his expansion, marching legions of steam-punk warriors into space, he found the red planet controlled by a technologically-advanced people who controlled machinery well beyond his wildest dreams.  Once the inital friction between the two forces had abated, the Imperial armies were outfitted with fantastic weaponry, advanced starships, and great techonology that mankind had long since forgotten about or lost.  In return for their autonomy, the Fabricator-Generals of Mars agreed to supply and upkeep this technology.  For this advancment of thousands of years, the Imperium need only turn over all newfound archeotech to the Mechanicum.

Since mankind had long-since forgotten and lost all the technology they had discovered and created for 50 millenia, working machines were given a spiritual reverence.  In fact, the Adeptus Mechanicus themselves imbued all technology as being holy, and their society revered the Omnissiah above all.  Semi-sentient computers, blessed machinery, and holy weapons became a lifestyle and faith.  So much so that the Mechanicus people seek to replace organic body parts with machinery and change their rational thinking faculties to binary, ridding themselves of the failings of the human body. 

Every organization of any repute in the galaxy has Adeptus Mechanicus agents in thrall.  Not only are these tech-priests necessary for the upkeep of all the gear that makes the empire operate, but their presence allows the expansion and discovery of the empire of technology.  Without the Adeptus Mechanicus nearby, great war engines would never be shared across the breadth of the Imperial armies, citizens would never have the opportunity to learn how to care for their equipment, and the planetary Lords would cease to have the power over the masses that they often enjoy.  Unfortunately the inhuman behaviours of the tech-priests often creates conflict and antipathy in normal humans, usually for good reason.



There are many more organizations that bear mentioning, but these are the big ones.  I hope to produce another blog for them, but I'm sure that'll be far in the future.  In the meantime, enjoy the universe and always feel free to let me know what you think!

A matter of survival

I've been an avid 40k fan since nearly the beginning.  For a long time, I loved the game- strategizing, army-building, and rolling dice.  Slowly, as I learned how to, I began to like painting more.  Then I went to work for the Emperor himself and got into the aspect of teaching.  But above it all, I have loved the fluff- the story, the background, the setting.

It's a dark universe.  Warhammer 40,000 is gothic, teeming with danger, and science fiction taken as far as it can go.  There's ALWAYS something big happening somewhere in the universe.  All-in-all, there's no setting for any game system that is as in-depth or controversial (in that thought-provoking kind of way).

How does 40k do that?  So few of the gamers have actually thought about the setting of 40k as a whole.  Everyone knows the basics- in the grim darkness of the future there is only blah blah blah.  Some, most of whom have played the Dark Heresy or Rogue Trader RPG, have thought about the setting in the more 'local' kind of way.  But even then, everyone naturally thinks of the obvious- everyone worships the Emperor and life just sucks.  But there's more, isn't there?  

For this article, I'm gonna work up the scale of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  I want to show off just how detailed and rich the setting truly is, from bottom up.  This won't be complete (20 years of monthly revisions and three RPGs have failed to do that so far), but it'll be a great attempt, and maybe even useful later.  As always, let me know what y'all think! 

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As a citizen in the Imperium of Mankind, there are some things that are canon.  The planet you live on is part of a massive Empire that encompasses all the stars in the sky.  There is a diety, named the Emperor, who lives on Terra and His vision has united ALL humans together for mutual survival.  And your lot in life is one you cannot change.  Fate and luck are the greatest tools in the Imperium.

This is the planet you aspire to.  As a child you were serenated with stories of the glory of Terra.  The blackened landscape, devoid of water or vegetation.  The ENTIRE planet is covered in buildings, each built thousands of stories tall.  Gantries, suspended miles in the air, allow millions to pass from one mighty building to another without ever descending floors.  The sky is brown- long choked with noxious gases and barely breathable to un-enhanced humans.  And religion is everywhere- this is the Throne-planet of the God-Emperor after all.

You see, for ten millenia (and many before that), humans have been building and destroying society piece by piece.  Terra may be completely preserved from any meaningful change for all history, but every other planet in the galaxy is oooooooold and has never remained the same.  The planet you live on only has history stretching back three millenia, but it's been occupied by humans for four times that age.  What happened only a thousand years ago is already legend and myth, corraborated only by archeological digs.  Ancient buildings and long-forgotten technology are the only clues to things that happened before memory.

In all that time, mankind has been busy.  They've built and rebuilt, demolished and restarted, and adapted to whatever the conditions heppened to be.  In almost every case, each planet had a history of being verdant and beautiful.  Thousands of years of development have destroyed that, replacing continental forests with massive arcologies.  In those hundreds of centuries, humans have made the planets of the galaxy into something useful, utilitarian, and even spartan.  And so have terms, such as 'verdant' and 'jewel', disappeared. 

Because of this hostile galaxy, mankind has had to stretch beyond the mortal realm.  You may never see a machine or medicine in your meagre lifetime but billions of humans unshackle their mortal bodies all across the Empire.  On the most 'civilized' Capital Worlds, swathes of the population have enhanced their bodies with bionics.  Many more have experienced the most base and advanced drugs mankind has ever developed, leading to inhuman dregs on one extreme or centuries-old Oligarchs barely recognized through all the mechanical parts.

The mutating affects of poisonous atmospheres and lethal radiation from countless suns have affected mankind everywhere.  Just as often as a human baby is born with all appendanges in the right place, so too is a human baby born with some mutation or degeneration.  Most of these children are discarded immediately- some being lucky enough to be transformed into techno-religious artifacts.  Worse, some mutations aren't visible.  These humans turn out to be mankind's greatest threat and are yet undetectable except through horrific ritual and surgery.  So do most 'Psykers' grow up to randomly manifest their powers- much to the danger of the local population!

Your planet, for the time being, is one of the most peaceful in the galaxy.  You live a full life of five or six decades.  Your towns house a few thousand people each, all trying to survive in a rustic wilderness of technology and colonialism.  But this is almost unique.  Where millions live in small communities, billions OF BILLIONS of souls live crammed into dirty, degraded, gothic cities.  The scale of those cities is outside imagining.  You may never see an Imperial Basilica, but most will never get to see the sky. 

You may be lucky, as a citizen of the Imperium, and gain permission from your Lord to make a pilgrimage.  Although you've spent the majority of your life working in the same factorum or plantation as your father's line, you may gain enough freedom to finally see the greater Empire.  The life of a citizen is one that demands total subservience, but that subservience is for good reason.  The cultures of a million worlds varies alot, but the faith is ALWAYS the same.  All humanity follows the God-Emperor.  It is said that He has smited all the enemies of mankind- from aliens to ignorance.  You are taught that His very existance keeps the horrors of this vast galaxy from swallowing your species.  

You'll never see the Emperor.  But He's real.  You'll never know why he's so important, but He is more important than anything else in the universe.  It is this very faith that connects you to the stars.  As a citizen, you are not taught philosophy.  You are not trained in the vocational arts or given the freedom to pursue dreams and goals.  You are a single human, fit to the purpose of your Lord, who enacts the Will of the Emperor.  It is that will that allows you to know that the stars are full of people like you.  It is His plan that allows that Empire to succeed in a dark and horrible galaxy.  Your faith is your key to survival.

That faith will be tested one day.  It will be tested when the sky turns red and streaks of lightning begin to fall from the heavens.  These streaks may turn out to be an alien invasion.  It may turn out to be a sorcerous phenomena.  Or it may turn out to the dimensional rifting that defines the 40k universe.  A mutated human somewhere in your population just manifested psychic powers- only to have a Warp-spawn rip through to our mortal dimension from his mind!  There is no warning, no defense, and no hope against these horrors alone.  But the God-Emperor has provided the means for you to survive.

Enter the Imperium of Mankind.  Your insignificant existance serves only to perpetuate this galaxy-spanning Empire.  From His throne on the holy planet Terra does the Emperor command the mightiest military force anywhere.  Your planet has a fully trained and equipped Defense Force.  Your citizenship requires you, as it does all male citizens (and females as well on some planets), to serve in the DF.  You are trained in basic combat doctrine, organized into local units, and given the dependable laser gun as a weapon.  Every planet even maintains fighting vehicles in the form of APCs and battle tanks.  But your planet is not alone.

Your planet is already barely hospitable, and it's one of the nicer planets in the Empire.  Growing enough food to feed all the humans is difficult for your world, but your planet is rich in ores.  There's a global industry in mining ore and the Imperial Governor (Lord of all on this planet) manages the interstellar trade for food.  As long as this contract is kept, your planet can expect protection and military aid.  The Imperium based massive weapons batteries on your planet and provided means for the Defense Force to fight bravely.  With time, massive armies will be mobilized from other worlds and sent to your planet to aid in its defenses. 

Being proud of your ability to fight, you'll find the off-world armies much more competent that you'll ever be.  Your limitted existance will be tested as humans of completely different cultures will tread your world, better armed and far more veteran.  They'll disrespect you, they'll cajole you, and they'll discredit your world at every chance.  But they'll defend your world as their own.  You will find them seated next to you in the Temple on the eve before battle.  They will even fight in your very house, as you would in theirs.  All humans share this common goal and exercise it as mutual defense.  It is truly an Empire.  

The massive distances between the stars means that you'll see other humans very rarely.  It takes thousands of years to travel from one star to another.  But humans, ever adaptive, have found a way to conquer this as well.  It is said that the Emperor created certain psykers, called Navigators, to carry His starships across the galaxy by ripping holes in the universe and driving through them.  They travel through this other dimension, known as the Warp, at great peril.  The creatures that live in the Warp are soul-eaters.  A man cannot survive against these except through his unshakeable faith in the God-Emperor.  

If your world is lucky, it will be saved.  But the Imperium is massive.  War is beset upon a thousand worlds, while the Empire streches for a million.  Millions of humans are lost to the ravages of war, disease, and Warp-spawn every day.  But billions more are born and His vision continues. 
If it is not lucky,  you will see war.  Your planet will be reclassified as a War-World and the population will become expendable to the extreme.  You will see the horror that mankind endures constantly.  In the grim darkness of the 40k universe, there truly is only war!



Fate and luck are the greatest tools in the Imperium.  Fate controls all and only the God-Emperor knows the results of his plan.  Luck is a matter of circumstance and only the Imperium can be prepared for the horrors that await the unlucky.  You, as a citizen, are beholden to both.  Unfortunately, you control neither. 

Good thing there's an Imperium. 

Of men and men

Many of you know that I'm not the biggest Warhammer fan in the world.  I was raised on DnD and 40k, both of which will always have a place in my heart. 

However, I was forced to play Warhammer for nearly a decade (and didn't hate it most of the time) and then I no longer had to.  In that time, I've collected many armies, starting with the old and terrible Wood Elves (from Ravening Hordes.  Seriously, bad.) and blowing through Empire, High Elves, Vampire Counts, Orcs and Goblins, and finally Warriors of Chaos.  I've gotten rid of the Wood Elves, Orcs, and VCs, leaving me with three massive armies.  I've played with my High Elves the most (where I've won alot and lost as often), the Warriors most recently, and my Empire were reserved for special occasions.  There's a story there (isn't there always?).

Many years ago, I was managing a game shop in Syracuse, NY.  There was a customer there, named Jeremy, who beat me in a fun game.  He came in to play but there were no opponents, so I pulled the display Empire army out of the figure case and gave him a battle.  His Dark Elves crushed the Empire.  Jeremy then, unwisely, spent a week and a half telling everyone in the shop that he beat the manager and that my advise was inferior to his because I "didn't have any idea how to play Warhammer."  Needless to say, that could not be allowed to go on. 

I challenged Jeremy to a battle in only two days.  I would have to build a whole new army and I needed a little time to do so.  Obviously, it would have to be Empire, as that's what he beat.  So I frantically assembled a 'Civil War' style army and set it out for customers to view all day before the challenge.  Jeremy strolled into the shop ready to be 'that guy' some more, took one look at my bare-plastic and metal army, and started whining.  The rest of the community held him to the bet, and he was forced to deal with it.

The battle started with him going first.  He moved his entire army up, which consisted of two units of City Guard, a unit of Witch Elves, a unit of Corsairs with an Assassin (he thought I didn't know, but I did.  I sold him the army and taught him how to play, something he conveniently forgot this whole time) and some other minor things.  He cast some magic and let loose with his Bolt Throwers, wiping out my huntsmen and panicking a unit of handgunners.  Darn.  Then came my turn.  I dropped two perfectly-aimed Mortar shells onto his warriors, shot the crap outta the corsairs, and even unleashed a misfiring Helblaster into stuff!  It was glorious.  He had a half unit of Corsairs and a unit of Witch Elves left as the rest of the army was obliterated or panicked.  He moved foward, trying in vain to do some damage.  His spells and shooting accounted for another unit of handunners.  Then I fired my artillery, leaving only three Dark Elves alive across the whole table.  Before I had the chance to fire my remaining units of Handgunners, Jeremy conceded.  He cried and cried and cried. 

That would not be the first or last time I had to pull out the proverbial 'gaming penis.'  And it always feels good.

In any case, the goldfish has struck again and now makes me want to run with the weak-ass humans again.  My Warriors of Chaos are awesome, my High Elves are downright broken, so I figured the 'ol humans would give me a bit of a challenge. 

For my newest version of the Empire, I've chosen Ostermark as the province.  For those of you that don't know, the human realm known as the Empire is actually a unified group of 12 provinces, city-states, and regions.  Each is responsible for maintaining its own army and fights for themselves and the Emperor.  Each of the provinces is famous for their own cultures and specialties, but are united by their loyalty to the crown (usually, anyway) and their worship of Sigmar (except the Cult of Ulric, which is still the main god in Middenheim).  Some of these provinces are known for their elite warriors or effective war machines (Talabheim and Nuln, respectively), while others are known for their natural ferocity and constant warfare (Ostland and Middenheim).  My particular province, Ostermark, is a rustic area with strong ties the human Kindgom of Kislev. 

Ostermark regiments fight alongside Count Von Rauken's Ostland armies and the Ice Queen's Kislevite hordes often.  This has led to a toughness not often common in other Empire provinces.  Although their color scheme is well-known, the actual story of Ostermark is not. 

Ostermark is currently ruled by Elector Count Hertwig.  He rules from the new capital city of Bechafen, found along Kislevs southern border.  His armies often display the dragon's profile as their heraldry, although I'm not sure if this has any real reason.  The uniform scheme of the province is a purple and yellow panalopy, usually halved or quartered.  The purple is rarely the same as in other regiments, as it's the most expensive die in the Empire.  The yellow is often replaced with white.  The province maintains an army of just over 1200 men, of which most are often in the north aiding Kislev to fight off the northern tribesmen.  Ostermark is a very dangerous province to live, with Orcs and more dangerous creatures often descending from the Mountains to the east while Beastmen attack from the woods to the north and the south.  The Eerie downs, a region that stretches south and east of Bechafen, is known to be haunted by undead and patrolled by chaos creatures.  The cursed city of Mordheim, originally the capital of Ostermark, is destroyed and lies along the River Stir and the province's southern border with Stirland.  This attracts many kinds of mercenaries and less-desirable characters and the far-worse Skaven.  Altogether, the people of Ostermark don't live the comfortable lives of Talabheim or Nuln's residents, but they're tougher for it.

My army breaks from the rustic tradition of the region.  I want to field an army from the western area of the province, specifically from the town of Bissendorf.  Bordering with Talabecland, the richest province in the Empire, I figure that the town would have enough money to purchase all kinds of guns and cannons, as well as fancy uniforms.  I'm mostly using the old Empire models because they have 'floofy' uniforms and look somewhat simpler to paint than the new ones.  All in all, it's just a reason for me to use up all my old models and use the more common Empire theme of 'shoot em, shoot em, and then run away.' 

So why am I talking about my Empire, suddenly?  Yes, I know it's because I'm a goldfish and I can't stay focussed on anything for longer than a minute.  But also because I've been thinking alot about Warhammer lately.  I've been thinking about the idea that the Elves are the most skilled, Chaos and Dwarfs the toughest, Undead the most unkillable, and the other races with their 'being better.'  Empire really has nothing on anyone else.

So why choose Empire if everyone is better?  Well, because I just happen to be a human.  I rather enjoy being the superior species on this or any other planet.  And to think that anything other than me should be so lucky, well that just doesn't sit right with me.  I love me some humans, and I gotta give them their love once in a while.  After all, they have the courage to face everything and be worse at it.  If my little toy soldiers can do, so can I.  Go humans!

Astartes Power Armor

The Adeptus Astartes are the most powerful fighting force in the entire galaxy.  More commonly known as 'Space Marines', these warriors epitomize the art of war in every way.  In addition to their awesome firepower and extensive training and indoctrination, every space marine is given a suit of power armor.  This armor is the finest protection any foot soldier of any race in the galaxy can ask for.

The armor of the Astartes is the most advanced piece of machinery that mankind has ever produced.  Mixing the most micro-sized machinery and barely-understood biomechanical processes, the armor provides the warrior with additional strength and speed on top of the survivability. 

The armor is most often made from ablative ceramite plates, stacked layer-by-layer over the internal machinery.  This allows the armor to recieve impacts but deftect most blows.  The most vulnerable portions of the armor are the abdomen (often protected by the marine's boltgun-at-rest) and the leg joints (which is mitigated as the marine is constantly moving).  The most reinforced portions of the armor are the shoulder plates, chestplate, and lower legs.  These are the areas of the armor most exposed to enemy fire therefore requiring additional layers of ablative plating.

The interior machinery of the armor is made up of thousands of hyper-servos and mechandritic branches.  The armor weighs hundreds of pounds, which would be impossible to move by an un-augmented human.  The Astartes physiology makes them stronger by many times, allowing them to move the armor with little effort.  This is further enhanced by the psycho-active matrix of the power armor, which activates the machinery and moves the heavy armor plates with only thought.  Added to the space marine's already unimaginable strength, this allows the armor to act as additional muscles.  It is not unheard of for a space marine to be able to throw a tank using nothing but his hands, and power armor.

The entire suit of power armor is controlled by a miniature fusion reactor housed in an armored backpack.  Due to the intricate and super-charged machinery inside and the heavy weight of the armor plates and Astartes warrior enclosed in it, the suit requires a massive amount of energy.  This can only be provided by nuclear forces, and fusion is the simplest and most transportable form.  The energy produced by the mini-reactor is enough to power the suit forever, but the heat would fry a man in the suit instanty.  This is lessoned almost entirely by massive heat dispersing modules on either side of the backpack.  

Power armor is the most advanced battlefield asset in the entire galaxy.  In addition to protecting and enhancing the warrior's strength and speed, it also contains the wargear necessary for space marine shock troops to wage their wars.  Housed in the chestplate is the master power trunk, carrying enough power to sustain an Imperial tank.  Also housed there is nutrient-producing injection machinary, used to physically sustain the soldier without having to stop for food.  The leg armor contains additional gyrostabilizers and gravity enhancers to allow for extremely steady footing.  The feet have magnetized and grounded footpads, perfect for boarding actions and interstellar combat.  More advanced than all of this, however, is the helmet.  The smallest piece of the entire Power Armor suit, it is nonetheless the most packed with machinery.  The helmet of most space marines contains vox-systems, heads-up-display capability, orbital and transatmospheric vox-systems, voice amplifiers, air filtration and air-sealed environmental systems, multi-spectral vision capability, and audible enhancers.  With all this wargear, an Astartes is able to wage war at night, in extremely hostile environments, and against grenades and chemical weapons.

Even more advanced, so advanced that the Adeptus Mechanicus guards the secret closely, is the biomatrix.  The armor has a number of 'spikes' that plug into a space marine's implanted Black Carapace and 'reads' the neurons underneath.  In effect, the power armor's matrix turns the space marine's brain activity into electronic  signals which power the armor.  This allows an Astartes to control the armor with his thoughts in the same way as he controls his own skin and muscles.  What's more amazing is that the warrior doesn't even need to try to control the armor, it moves the same way as his arm when he wishes to move it.  With the space marine's great strength, speed, and skill being augmented by the power armor, the Astartes become more than any other warrior in the galaxy can match.

The only technical drawing I've seen of power armor is from the Rogue Trader days and is of the Mk 6 Corvus armor.  Check out how packed the helmet is, and pay especially close attention to the psy-spikes in the back of the chestplate.  That's how the power armor is told what to do by the marine's brain...

The Space Marine Power Armor has grown over 10 milennia of war across the stars.  Although the basic characteristics and purposes remain the same, key advancements have been made with each upgrade, or Mark (Mk). 

Mk I 'Thunder' armor

This armor was the form outfitted to the Emporer's armies around the time of conquering Terra.  It was thick and heavy, but wasn't fully enclosed and used archaic power sources.  Successful for that ancient time, it's barely worthy of a storm trooper of today.

Mk II 'Crusade' armor

The Emporer sanctioned the use of this armor at around the same time as the launch of the 'Great Crusade'.  As his armies went out and conquered the nearby star systems, they needed a fully enclosed suit of armor that they could also fight in.  Sadly, the armor provided very low mobity, but great protection.  Some feel that Tactical Dreadnought Armor began its development here.

Mk III 'Iron' armor

The Mark III armor saw little more than protective upgrades, especially with the central power trunk.  The problems with mobility still persisted, however, and this mark didn't appear to have a long service life.

Mk IV 'Maximus' armor

This pattern of armor was very widespread, seeing use across the entire galaxy by all 18 legions.  This armor was the most common at the time of the Warmaster's Ascenscion and gained the most popularity.  The armor was far more advanced in mobility, and included an entire comm and sensor suite inside the helmet.  The Maximus armor was really the first true 'power armor' as we know it today.

Mk V 'Heresy' armor

This armor was just being issued to the forces of the Astartes as the Horus Heresy broke out.  It was heavily reinforced with metal studs and was highly sought after considering the vicious close-quarter fighting that the space marines were known for.  Unfortunately, the time was one of great turmoil and some of the technology was lost and the cost of the armor was too much to continue for long.

Mk VI 'Corvus' armor

This is the most common form of armor to rule the Age of the Imperium.  Combining all the modern traits of today's armor with a simple and easy-to-produce construction made this armor very long lived.  It's not the greatest mark of armor in its history, but it certainly held the Imperium together as well as any other.

Mk VII 'Aquila' or 'Imperator' armor

The Space Marine forces of today wear this armor.  It includes all the advanced wargear to allow the warrior to do his craft, but also maintains the highest level of combined mobility and protection.  The deciding factor as to the greatness of the armor is its ease-of-repair.  Because it follows the Mk IV's example and is made up of simple and easy-to-produce components, the tech-priests can more quickly repair and return a suit of armor to duty.  The Astartes find this especially useful on long campaigns when they'll get resupply or refit much later than normal.

Mk VIII 'Errant' armor

This suit of power armor is a more heavily-reinforced version of the Mk VII.  Not sacraficing too much mobility in the lower body section, the heavier suit is perfect for heavy weapon or static units.  It is still rare, most likely because of the ubiquitious Mk VII's consistent performance so far.

'Dornian Heresy' concept Power Armor

This is some fan-fiction found over on another forum.  The basic concept is a change of the history of 40k, leaving the Ultramarines as the most advanced in the galaxy.  This was their version of the advanced power armor.  I dig it a bit, I gotta admit...

And there's the lesson on power armor.  Wait till yo see what the warrior inside is made of.  You might find out that this armor, awesome as it is, really is secondary and little more than a tool.  And that's what makes Space Marines cool!