Terminator suits are the toughest and most powerful form of personal armour humanity has ever developed. Their scarcity and expense to maintain means they are available only to the elite troops from the Veteran companies of the Index Astartes Space Marine Chapters.

The armour was developed thousands of years ago by the Adeptus Mechanicus Tech Adepts of Mars. It is a blend of Dreadnought armour, standard Marine armour and suits used by engineers working in hazardous environments (like micro-asteroid plagued orbits or radioactive engine cores of seller frigates). Terminator suits are akin to standard Marine armour – they have an outer shell of ceramite bonded plates articulated by electronically motivated fibre bundles. This provides strength and protection. The success of the civilian encounter suits prompted the addition of heavy plasteel plates over the ceramite sections, especially on the front of the suit. Dreadnought design inspired the inclusion of admantium exoskeletal ribs (clearly visible on the limbs) and more rugged and durable limb-joints. These features are necessary because of the extra weight of the plasteel protection.

A clue as to the purpose of Terminator suits is given by their official title: Tactical Dreadnought Armour. The Imperium suffered heavy losses on a series of operations in the confined tunnels of space hulks and Hive worlds because it lacked heavy armour. Dreadnoughts and vehicles simply couldn’t be used in such restricted spaces. This problem prompted research into a smaller, lighter alternative to these large machines. The scale of Terminator suits and their ability to be teleported into battle allows them to be used for flanking actions and direct assaults in these cramped theatres of war.

Terminator are typically organised into squads of five men including a sergeant and a special weapon bearer. The sergeant’s rank is usually indicated by a slightly different pattern of livery (often on the shoulder pads), by his alternate badge and possibly by him carrying a Power Sword and shield. The special weapon is usually an Assault Cannon, Heavy Flamer or Cyclone missile launcher. For most missions the remaining Marines carry Storm Bolters and Power Gloves (or Chain Fists). When close combat is a certainty these may be replaced by Lightening Claws or Thunder Hammers & Storm Shields.

As mentioned above, Terminators squads are primarily used as strike teams. All efforts are made to insert them as close to their target as possible. Usually squads are transported in by Thunderhawk gunship, tank (ideally the customised “Crusader” variant of the Land Raider) or via teleportation. Depending on the mission in question, there are a number of Chapter Approved squad formations that Terminators might use. On a teleportation mission into open ground they form a defensive circle with the special weapon bearer in the centre. Deployment into cramped tunnel environments involves finding and taking advantage of corridors of fire as swiftly as possible. Jungle deployment begins with random Heavy Flamer and Storm Bolter strafing of the undergrowth to clear any hidden enemies. The very nature of their lightening-assaults, their methods of insertion and (compared to standard Marines) their lack of mobility means that Terminators are rarely able to take advantage of cover. Hence their armour is often their only form of protection.

So successful have Terminator suits been that it is the equipment of choice for the most complex and demanding missions assigned to Marines. It is perhaps the only armour capable of protecting the wearer in close assaults with Tyranids – hence its extensive use during sorties on space hulks where Genestealer infestation is feared. They have also been embraced by Chapter 666 – the daemon hunting Grey Knights of the Inquisition’s Ordo Malleus. Indeed, the only instances of Terminator suits being used by non-Index Astartes troops is when Inquisitors employ them for the most hazardous of tasks.

It must be noted that there is no such thing as a “new” suit of Terminator armour. Like cathedrals, they are in a constant state of repair and renewal. If an additional suit is required it is cobbled together from refurbished parts salvaged from the remains of Marines killed in action. This explains the frequently disparate and ragged look of Terminator squads. Of course new components are produced, but the expense is so great that it is avoided if at all possible. Indeed, as time marches onward the knowledge of how to fabricate some of the more complex pieces becomes an increasingly faded memory in the decrepit minds of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and “reverse engineering” is an all too common science in the 41st millennium.