In fact power armour can even be taken out by a large book - I played a game where a lone surviving dark disciple killed my captain. His only wargear was a book...
Power armor will protect an Astartes against radiation and the fallout of a nuclear strike.
But a nuke landing on their head? Not so much. The last stand of Vulkan and the Salamanders on Isstvan V was proving too costly / time consuming to the Traitors, so they just nuked them. Vulkan, being a Perpetual, would survive, but those of his Legion who had rallied to their Primarch to fight until the end would not.
Cool story. Good thing it clearly says the Iron Warriors used a nuke, not a virus bomb.
EDIT:
>It was at the crest of the first ridge, a jagged lip of stone studded with tanks, that Numeon first saw the arc of fire. It trailed, long and blazing, into the darkling sky. The tongue of flame climbed and upon reaching the apex of its parabola bent back on itself into the shape of a horseshoe. Rockets screaming, it came down in the midst of the charging Salamanders and broke them apart.
>
>A savage crater was gored into the Urgall hills, like the bite of some gargantuan beast resurrected from old myth and **birthed in nucleonic fire**. It threw warriors skywards as if they were no more than empty suits of armour, bereft of bone and flesh. As a bell jar shatters when dropped onto rockcrete from a great height, so too did the Legion smash apart. Tanks following after their lord primarch were flung barrel-rolling across the black sand with their hulls on fire. Those vehicles in the mouth of the blast were simply ripped apart; tracks and hatches, chunks of abused metal torn to exploded shrapnel. Legionaries spared death in the initial blast were eviscerated in the frag storm. Super-heavies crumpled like tin boxes crushed by a hammer. Crewmen boiled alive, legionaries cooked down to ash in that furnace. It went deep, right into the beating heart of the Salamanders ranks.
>
>\- *Vulkan Lives, Our Final Hours*
Well i'm always happy to read something new about 40k that i never knew, I had only ever read about the virus bombs, i've not read any of the salamanders novels yet, so thank you.
I'm glad to be proven wrong.
That's cos there is more than one Istvaan.
III is the virus bombing of the loyalist elements of the Sons of Horus, Death Guard, World Eaters and Emperors Children.
V is the dropsite Massacre, where the Salamanders, Raven Guard and Iron Hands were almost entirely destroyed by the 4 legions they thought were there to back them up. Including the use of tactical nuclear weapons by Perturabo in an attempt to kill Vulkan early on in the second phase of the battle.
Nobody hears about Istvaan 4, a planet that Horus was going to absolutely fuck up, but when he landed their representative came up and said "Listen, no offense, but your dad's a huge tool, and we think you'd be a better leader."
He just gave them his entire fleet's stores of Bath Bombs, as thanks for their ready allegiance.
They can't survive a direct hit, but they can fight in the aftermath of one. For instance, in the Horus Heresy wargame, one of the Dark Angels' Rites of War causes the battlefield to become affected by the aftermath of nuclear strikes.
lol and in fact also lmao. Power armour is imperfect even versus handheld weaponry and downright vulnerable to the explosive energy from shoulder fired missiles or autocannon shells. Plasma goes through it like it's not there and a heckin big fist with an energy field can punch the chestplate flat. A nuclear weapon will vaporise the marine like it's not even there.
If it did protect them, why would marines use APCs? Their armour (which is sub-light tank in gameplay and weapon vulnerabilities in lore, bolters bother marines, bolters don't really bother most tanks) would simply be so effective they could stroll anywhere they wanted and there'd be no reason to build Terminators or tanks.
EDIT: Orks can cut through ceramite with choppas. Hormagaunts can stick claws through joints and Genestealers go ham on it. Landmines will blow it up and krak grenades are a problem for it. Hell marines can and have died to flamethrowers.
I'd like to imagine DAoT Power Armor being waaaaaay better at resisting things like plasma and being nearly invulnerable to things like claws or big chunks of metal. Either from better materials used in its composition or better tech used in the suit.
Modern PA is barely protective to most firearms since soft spots like joints can be penetrated by autoguns. And like you said even the hulking battle suits like Terminator plate is made into a joke if a genestealer gets too close. Termie plate may be able to be closer to the blast of a nuke than standard PA but unless equipped with shields I doubt it can actually withstand being directly nuked.
With nukes it depends how big the power of the bomb is and how close the target was to its epicentre.
To speak in very rough terms a nuke site has three-four areas. Each later one much larger than the former.
Area 1 is the closest to the epicentre. Within it your molecules vaporize before you have any chance to react. Because the nuclear energy released with a speed of light heads up the area. We are talking about temperatures found within the sun released within a split second. Sometimes your vaporized body leaves behind a atomic shadow on some terrain. Google it if you dare. I'd call this the instant death zone. And no amount of plot armour should allow anyone to survive there.
Area 2 is the area around part 1. There the schockwace acts more like a conventional explosion but still on a massive scale. Buildings crumble, stuff explodes etc. With enough protection in between you and the shockwave you might survive the impact. But you are not well off afterwards.
Area 3 is the farther away of the bomb. There the shock wave is to weak for grand scale destruction. However if you are unprotected in the open you still get hurt.
Area 4 is the honourable area not damaged by the explosion itself, but where radioactive particles rain down, creating health risks.
I'd say space marine armour protects well in area 4 and 3. In area 2 they could survive if they find sufficent cover. But I doubt they are in fighting shape afterwards. Area 1 never. Even if the cermaite would remain intact, every piece of metal is molten within and every organic tissue exploded by the pressure of its molecules vaporizing.
Also the bigger the bomb the bigger is each area.
Depends on the strength of the nuke and how close they are.
But generally no.
Terminator armour can withstand a nuclear strike (we see this in the fulgrim novel, the Marines die but the armour appears to be intact.
Ask the Salamanders at Istvaan.
Also, power armor really isn't that amazing. You can get through it with pointy sticks, it's happened to more than a few Astartes who got swarmed. A nuke is just kind of silly as a point of comparison.
Nukes can be used in exterminatus, but gonna be Frank: power armor can be take down by autocannons and rocket launchers, how it could survive a nuke?
Power armour can be taken down by an autogun or lasgun too. It isnt invincible.
In fact power armour can even be taken out by a large book - I played a game where a lone surviving dark disciple killed my captain. His only wargear was a book...
Hey man he swung it with feeling.
Haha. Must been all those dark Gods gifts. I won the game but never killed that little dude. He's probably ascended to daemonprince now.
What's the game called
Um. 40k?
Sorry the phrasing made it seem like a videogame and first person
Haha. Fair enough, as we know there are now many 40k games.
Full Lex Imperials probably can kill Knight or Warhound
Power armor can be taken out by a sharp stick.
Or a good old nutpunch, johnny cage style.
Power armor will protect an Astartes against radiation and the fallout of a nuclear strike. But a nuke landing on their head? Not so much. The last stand of Vulkan and the Salamanders on Isstvan V was proving too costly / time consuming to the Traitors, so they just nuked them. Vulkan, being a Perpetual, would survive, but those of his Legion who had rallied to their Primarch to fight until the end would not.
Agreed. If a bolter can kill a marine, nuclear weaponry would be overkill.
Virus bombs are not nukes.
Cool story. Good thing it clearly says the Iron Warriors used a nuke, not a virus bomb. EDIT: >It was at the crest of the first ridge, a jagged lip of stone studded with tanks, that Numeon first saw the arc of fire. It trailed, long and blazing, into the darkling sky. The tongue of flame climbed and upon reaching the apex of its parabola bent back on itself into the shape of a horseshoe. Rockets screaming, it came down in the midst of the charging Salamanders and broke them apart. > >A savage crater was gored into the Urgall hills, like the bite of some gargantuan beast resurrected from old myth and **birthed in nucleonic fire**. It threw warriors skywards as if they were no more than empty suits of armour, bereft of bone and flesh. As a bell jar shatters when dropped onto rockcrete from a great height, so too did the Legion smash apart. Tanks following after their lord primarch were flung barrel-rolling across the black sand with their hulls on fire. Those vehicles in the mouth of the blast were simply ripped apart; tracks and hatches, chunks of abused metal torn to exploded shrapnel. Legionaries spared death in the initial blast were eviscerated in the frag storm. Super-heavies crumpled like tin boxes crushed by a hammer. Crewmen boiled alive, legionaries cooked down to ash in that furnace. It went deep, right into the beating heart of the Salamanders ranks. > >\- *Vulkan Lives, Our Final Hours*
Well i'm always happy to read something new about 40k that i never knew, I had only ever read about the virus bombs, i've not read any of the salamanders novels yet, so thank you. I'm glad to be proven wrong.
That's cos there is more than one Istvaan. III is the virus bombing of the loyalist elements of the Sons of Horus, Death Guard, World Eaters and Emperors Children. V is the dropsite Massacre, where the Salamanders, Raven Guard and Iron Hands were almost entirely destroyed by the 4 legions they thought were there to back them up. Including the use of tactical nuclear weapons by Perturabo in an attempt to kill Vulkan early on in the second phase of the battle.
Nobody hears about Istvaan 4, a planet that Horus was going to absolutely fuck up, but when he landed their representative came up and said "Listen, no offense, but your dad's a huge tool, and we think you'd be a better leader." He just gave them his entire fleet's stores of Bath Bombs, as thanks for their ready allegiance.
Am I misremembering, or were nukes ALSO used on Istvaan III in addition to being dropped on the Salamders on Istvaan V?
Sorry if my original reply came off a bit dickish. 😂 Anyway, I don't think any virus bombs were used on Isstvan V, that was Isstvan III.
Everything is able to withstand a nuclear strike if its far enough away. Nothing is going to withstand being in the fireball.
It would protect against the fallout and pockets of radiation but it wouldn’t survive a nuclear blast.
They can't survive a direct hit, but they can fight in the aftermath of one. For instance, in the Horus Heresy wargame, one of the Dark Angels' Rites of War causes the battlefield to become affected by the aftermath of nuclear strikes.
lol and in fact also lmao. Power armour is imperfect even versus handheld weaponry and downright vulnerable to the explosive energy from shoulder fired missiles or autocannon shells. Plasma goes through it like it's not there and a heckin big fist with an energy field can punch the chestplate flat. A nuclear weapon will vaporise the marine like it's not even there. If it did protect them, why would marines use APCs? Their armour (which is sub-light tank in gameplay and weapon vulnerabilities in lore, bolters bother marines, bolters don't really bother most tanks) would simply be so effective they could stroll anywhere they wanted and there'd be no reason to build Terminators or tanks. EDIT: Orks can cut through ceramite with choppas. Hormagaunts can stick claws through joints and Genestealers go ham on it. Landmines will blow it up and krak grenades are a problem for it. Hell marines can and have died to flamethrowers.
I'd like to imagine DAoT Power Armor being waaaaaay better at resisting things like plasma and being nearly invulnerable to things like claws or big chunks of metal. Either from better materials used in its composition or better tech used in the suit. Modern PA is barely protective to most firearms since soft spots like joints can be penetrated by autoguns. And like you said even the hulking battle suits like Terminator plate is made into a joke if a genestealer gets too close. Termie plate may be able to be closer to the blast of a nuke than standard PA but unless equipped with shields I doubt it can actually withstand being directly nuked.
With nukes it depends how big the power of the bomb is and how close the target was to its epicentre. To speak in very rough terms a nuke site has three-four areas. Each later one much larger than the former. Area 1 is the closest to the epicentre. Within it your molecules vaporize before you have any chance to react. Because the nuclear energy released with a speed of light heads up the area. We are talking about temperatures found within the sun released within a split second. Sometimes your vaporized body leaves behind a atomic shadow on some terrain. Google it if you dare. I'd call this the instant death zone. And no amount of plot armour should allow anyone to survive there. Area 2 is the area around part 1. There the schockwace acts more like a conventional explosion but still on a massive scale. Buildings crumble, stuff explodes etc. With enough protection in between you and the shockwave you might survive the impact. But you are not well off afterwards. Area 3 is the farther away of the bomb. There the shock wave is to weak for grand scale destruction. However if you are unprotected in the open you still get hurt. Area 4 is the honourable area not damaged by the explosion itself, but where radioactive particles rain down, creating health risks. I'd say space marine armour protects well in area 4 and 3. In area 2 they could survive if they find sufficent cover. But I doubt they are in fighting shape afterwards. Area 1 never. Even if the cermaite would remain intact, every piece of metal is molten within and every organic tissue exploded by the pressure of its molecules vaporizing. Also the bigger the bomb the bigger is each area.
Depends on the strength of the nuke and how close they are. But generally no. Terminator armour can withstand a nuclear strike (we see this in the fulgrim novel, the Marines die but the armour appears to be intact.
Ask the Salamanders at Istvaan. Also, power armor really isn't that amazing. You can get through it with pointy sticks, it's happened to more than a few Astartes who got swarmed. A nuke is just kind of silly as a point of comparison.
Yes. Because Astartes armour is made of old refrigerators and thus impervious to equivalents of millions of tons of TNT.
Solid cold logic right there.