What's Up With Those Space Marine Backpacks?  

Bit of a lore correction - it seems that often a Space Marine can use their power armour without the pack, just with alot of difficulty. I was referencing the scene from Pharos when the Night lords removed an Ultramarines power pack and it made him fall over, stuck in his own armour, and easy to capture. So maybe the writers have different opinions of how it works

Fun fact: they have secret compartments in their backpacks for their lunch boxes!

I don't know, what my other battle brothers use it for, but I personally carry 2 eldar chicks here

They store their snackies that space daddy packed for the crusade

The 2 orbs on the sides of the pack are actually mini jets that can offer propultion in vacuum of space. Exhaust pipes are located in the lower part of the powerpack.

" In great armour shall I clad them and with the mightiest guns will they be armed."

Everyday I’m learning more bout space marines and it makes me happy.

Imagine designing such a mandatory piece of equipement so badly AND ending up putting it so high on the back that enemies will be able to take a shot at it.

Imagine an astartes that was though to be dead only for his arnor to be removed and its revealed that he was alive the entire time and immobilized due to his power pack being dead 😂

not necessarily paralyzed but it's the equivalent of when your power steering goes out in your vehicle

I love that the first one looks like death stroke

also, if they loose a backpack theyre pretty much turned into a temporary vegetable judging on mercutians reaction

Armor can normally still be walked believe it or not. Not only is this shown in some novels, but a GW approved videogame also showed in cinimatic that a Marine on a command bridge was walking without a pack. It's not much enhanced, and some writings have been said to say there's a limited amount of power still stored on board the armor it's self. But if we go by the averages of depictions, what is confirmed is that most can still get around without a pack. Perhaps in another novel past where a Marine fell over when the pack was popped off, it's the rather sudden changes of weight and ease of use that caught them off guard and didn't make adaption quick enough to catch themselves.

Space marines being immobalized after their armor's powerpack malfunctions implies that the armor is actually responsible for the majority of their strength.

You’d think the armor would be built with some sort of emergency release. A few explosive bolts could probably remove the heavier segments.

I can see some Imperial Forces taking the backpacks from Dead Marines (preferably Chaos Marines but Loyalist Marines in a serious pinch) and rigging them into improvised boobytraps - in the right emergency situations. It would take a bit of knowledge and work, but by the sounds of it it would do a lot of damage too... Please note; I'm saying this as an emergency tactic, such as when you're severely outnumbered by Chaos Marines and their cultists...

I painted so many battle sisters backpacks, the process is automatic by now

I would excpect a genetically engineered super human super soldier to be able to carry his own armour atleast

Any power armour needs to have an emergency eject/drop off button. In the event of dead armour you hit the button and the armour falls off at the joint like. Otherwise, it just becomes a coffin where you starve to death.

It's also where pee is stored

"If you remove or severly damage a space marines power pack, they would become paralyzed. Locked in their own armor." **The Blood Raven's seargent in Dawn of War 1, carrying his banner up to the strategic point up the hill without said pack**

"So a weakness?" "Not quite"

I had the same question while playing sm2 today and that’s kinda the same conclusion I came to once I noticed the heat vents I figured it was some kind of power pack or oxygen tank

some space marine patterns can function whithout a powerpack, raven guard at the very least have done a stealth mission with turned off power armor

I thought the lore said that there were small solar collectors built into the armor for that possibility that can supply basic motive power for general movement, but they lose the auto feeder and waste handling systems as well as the extended high speed movements for fighting when the backpack is gone. I guess it really depends on the writer though ultimately.

I always moved armors with backpacks. The bulkier the better imo. I love bulky tank like armor.

The funny thing is that if that IS a fusion reactor, it is MASSIVELY overkill for the limits that the marines themselves have. Per kilogram of material used in fusion, a million plus kilograms of oil, coal, or natural gas is used. That is a LOT. And it's most certainly WAY above anything we see the Marines having use for. So you could probably make it smaller and put it into the armor.

The Emperor's Children don't use powered armour. They just need a power source for their sex toys. You need SERIOUS wattage behind a magic wand after you've been through all that shit.

I am pretty sure i read about marines running miles around their spaceship in unpowered armour as a training session in either one of the horus heresy, or any other space marine novel. I could be wrong tho.

Short idea are there ghosts in 40k

Man this seems like a huge disadvantage

Hmm CSM chainsaws through the power pack to cut off power on a frozen wasteland planet. I wanna see how a space marine would fare out of armor in the worst situation

The dark angel shown is that Azrael ? That is one badass looking mofo... 😮

Dude we need a video on ork vehicles

Ik you havnt done a vid like that in a while but i would love to see your take on a space marine vs tenno thing majorkill

Ehg im prettt sure they can still move around, its just that instead of it boosting their strength and mobility it becomes a burden and they are rather slow with it, stuff like terimonator armor tho… its way heavier and yeah they would be stuck for sure

I have not, I’m being serious all my time is looking at a kriegsman

It's kind of stupid that they can't carry the armor with all these modifications that were done to their bodies

Chapter on the first image? Those colors are sick.

Oh boy have I ever. Sometimes i'm not even hard

So the armor does have a small battery that allows mk6 power armor to continue moving for a short amount if time. Space Marines can walk in their unpowered armor, but they look like they're walking on the ocean floor. Of course. Different authors all have different opinions on this, so no one is in consensus about this.

Set the powerpack from Play, to Demo.....

Ive always wondered, the space marines have redundancy built into their organic bodies with the big 2nd heart, extra lungs, stomach acids etc. Why doesnt the armor have ability to have backup batteries built into it? Beneath the armor outer layer so its protected?

Pls do a vid on Zhanderekh and obyron🤖🤖

Those ball vents on the sides are probably small thrusters for 0g environments.

Where is that badass Ultramarine art from? :O

Could you use the backpack as a makeshift explosive?

Oh god damn it... Oh wait no id love a claw melee weapon in the new game even if its not correct idc

This is not true. The armour might no longer be powered, but the space marine would just wear it like a typical human wears a medieval suit of armour. Yes, it would require more effort to bear that weight, but they’d still do it. See Nick Kyme’s Knights of Macragge as an example. Something on the planet prevents all tech from working. The Ultramarines are forced to bear the weight of their armour, but they’re plenty strong enough to manage it fine while they go about their business. 😊

People don't know?? I... Genuinely thought this was fucking obvious..

I honestly thought they used it to jump or something. It has thrusters so It thought those were for creating lift 😅 so they're not thrusters?

There’s a few space marines who can continue moving in their unpowered armor. Very few. Alexis Polux I think is one.

That first gold and black space marine what is his charter/faction someone pleas let me know

Does it also apply to chaos marines as well like the death company and the thousand sons they’re cursed without recognition so if there power pack are destroyed can they still move freely

Not true. In the ultramarines omnibus Uriel Ventris and Pasanius find themselves on a world where thier power pack is negated and they walk around in thier armor just fine. It's not powered and cumbersome but they still can function.

So with all the tech being utilized, do enemies of mankind use EMP attacks? Are their systems shielded from that? Curious, someone who knows their ish lemme know.

I dunno man, seems like a design flaw having something that big and vulnerable on your back

Actually there have been many examples in lore where a spacemarine has lost his back pack. When this happens they are still completely functional although they loose the armour enhanced strength which also means its more physically demanding to move and fight in it, but they can still do it.

In the first Dawn of War game intro, explosion breaks a Spacemarine sergeant backpack. Not only did he pick up a banner, he carried the entire weight of his armor uphill under ork fire to install that banner. So yeah, they aren't quite paralyzed.

They can still move without it, they are just slow and clunky

It propably also contain on board computer that manages functions of power armor, translates signals from black carapace into servo-motors and back, runs HUD functions, facilitates vox connections, stores battleplans and objectives, etc.

Fun Fact: The Thunder Warriors powerpack was so inefficient and dangerous that any regular human standing right next to one for just a few seconds would receive a years worth of radiation

In the book Knights of Macragge, a group of Ultramarines crash land on a planet where their equipment malfunctions to the point of their packs lose all power (there was also a warp storm that damaged their systems). They just use their armor without the packs. It's sucked but they could do it.

It is worth noting that space marines will still be able to move in the armor without the power back,but they will be considerably slower because they actually would have to carry the weight of the armor without all the servos helping. We see it in knights of macragge where the main cast of characters arrive on a feudal world and because of a warp siphoning their armors are often underpowered.

Hunting for dead space marines in armor is like finding your refrigerator that ran away... listen for the hum.

I mean I have read they can move. Just wearing a tractor worth of metal unassisted.

Also, the exhaust ports on a backpack can rotate and work as mini-jets in space. You can find the schematics in the Astartes Apocrypha.

They can create that but still there are countless hive worlds where people live in the dark! Governments are same in almost every universe 😆

They don't get paralyzed, they can move in the armor but they're carrying the weight of the armor rather than the suit doing it. Additionally, when unpowered, the vacuum seal on the suit opens up so they don't suffocate. So it's common for Nurgle Cultists to try and break the backpack to explode the marines.

*laughs in terminator armor*

My brain seems to automatically edit out the backpack generator. When I think of an image of a Space Marine, the backpack is never included.

Dantes armour has a small amount of juice in the armour itself so when the swarmlord fucked his jumppack he was good for a minute or so

There is also life support systems, and other bits and bobs inside the backpack.

"become paralized" I, named marine, fought an Avatar of Khaine while unarmed and with a broken backpack, because I, named marine, For The Emperor

I forget if its in a codex or another supplement, but power armor can power life support/mobility for a couple weeks without the pack.

Gabriel Angelos: You guys have trouble moving in your armor without the backpack? Sounds like a skill issue to me. *Laughs in dawn of war 1 trailer*

Honestly they've retconned a lot. The ball things on the top sides are thrusters now, so technically a normal space marine backpack could be considered a jetpack. Depending on how you want to interpret Dawn of War, and it's novelization, the armour can run for awhile without the backpack. I see that more as a "car with a jumpstart" type of deal.

So many moments In lore where they move easily without power.

They won't get paralyzed and locked in place like statues. They can still move and fight, but their armor's servo systems and artificial muscle fibers that help support the weight of external armor plates won't work anymore. If anything, they will suffer a lot of back pain from having to carry all the dead weight. It's like losing a wheel on a wheelbarrow or pushing your car on neutral after turning off the engine.

They can still move without the power pack and don’t get paralysed. It just slows their movement.

It's for Carying snackies!!!!!!

You would think there would be some sort of emergency escape option to pop the armor off in case it gets disabled.

They look cool but their tech is pretty mid for something that's 40,000 years in the future.

best trick for dealing with power armor sneak behind them and steal the Fusion Core they'll be paralyzed in their power armor... wait wrong franchise 😅

I want to see the biggest version of Bane from DC face off a regular space marine in a weight lifting competition

Wouldn't say paralyzed, not even near. Space Marines can lift their own armor. Their muscles are not just greater in size, but it's density is also greatly enhanced. It's harder to fight in it, that's for sure. But they can lift it, and walk in it.

What's up with that one Ultramarine with the gold face mask?

They don't become paralized, just move much slower. All of the are still going to be able to move just fine. Can't really quote the book but it described a sceme in which a custodes fought several cultists and a traitor marine. The marine is no thread in the slightest since his power pack was damaged. He analized that bc the marine couldn't move fast. Mist have been one of the avenging son books.

What's with that golden mask ultramarine?

This video was so good! Thanks for your hard work :)

WHAT IS THAT ULTRAMARINE ARMOR AND HOW DO I BUY IT.

I am not sure about the paralyzed part chief, The first thought that comes to mind is that sargent from Dawn of war 1 trailer the second thought that comes to mind is the power armor used by thunder warriors, they did not power the lower body and they were still mobile granted they were still not space marines. To my knowledge, space marines are really fast contrary to the misconception that because they are in heavy armour so they must be slow, the reason as to why is probably because there armours are power by the backpack, granted they will probably be slower yet still effective if they loose power. Edit: so apperently in 'Blades of Democleas' ultramarines lost the ability to move their armor after a EMP detanation, so there is creedence to the idea, how ever there are other books that says the otherwise as well like in Dark Imperium where a nova marine was moving while his armor is depowered.

I think you would design it so that the armor itself can be emergency removed by the Marine should it become "immobilized". Some kind of internal battery or function that allows him to start shedding it if it becomes too damaged. Then he could continue fighting without armor if necessary or make an escape.

Then wheres the goddang ammo stored?!

They are not getting paralyzed most cannot move because of the immense weight of their armor.

In the night lords trilogy, Mercution has his backpack destroyed by a thunder hammer, and the explosion knocks him out for a while, but after he wakes up, he just gets up and walks it off

I also read that Space Marine Armor has a back up solar power system.

Nah I don’t believe it. Their armor is a fraction of the weight of a Spartan’s MK.V armor. These Space Marines, especially the Primaris are significantly bigger and stronger than a Spartan 2,3,4. I highly doubt they wouldn’t be able to mobile in them.

paralysis is true only for regular human like sister of battle or inquisitor. For a space marine, the lost of the power pack reduce slightly is mobility at best. But he lost also all support systems of the suit

Moving around in that till you had enough muscle mass you didn't need the pack would take time but I can guess some one did that in WH40