Topic: Terminator armor vs. Artificer armor

[Tahril]

Greetings, had a question regarding the comparative strengths/weaknesses of both types of armour, as I'm not really familiar with the "Power level" fluff wise of these two comparatively.

For instance, could a Terminator clad Astartes beat a Artificer armour/Raptor clad astartes?

I ask this in reference to two characters specifically, but the general statement remains. The two characters are Jago Sevatarion and Zso Sahaal, both First Captain but one wore terminatour armour which I get, but is Sahaal for what he is on the same... "power level" if you will? My confusion comes from seeing most First Captains as usually Terminator clad. Is it possible for Sahaal to be the First Captain (I'm starting a minis force btw, and wanted to know how strong Sahaal is if you get what I mean.)

[Koval, Master Verispex]

In before anyone makes a joke about the number nine thousand.

Terminator armour's supposed to be the strongest kind of personal protection one can have, short of a vehicle or bunker (and even then...), but "power level" isn't just determined by armour. If you're pitting Veteran Brother Bob, a newly ordained Terminator of the Boltermarines, against a peerless warrior in artificer armour, then Brother Bob's going to have his work cut out for him, whereas if we replace Brother Bob with someone as fearsome as Darnath Lysander then obviously that'll work out in Lysander's favour.

With regard to Sevatar and Sahaal... well, we know where Sahaal ended up, and it's considerably less clear what happened to Sevatar (did he die, or didn't he?). First Captains don't have to wear Terminator armour, for what it's worth, and Sahaal very clearly isn't wearing Terminator armour in Lord of the Night.

[Benis]

They aren't really comparable in that sense.

Artificer armour really is only power armour, with those strengths and weaknesses, that has been made extra fine by additional work that gamewise is easiest to represent by increasing the save, does this mean that can you expect a set of power armour to burst open when hit by a missile while an artificer armour just shrugs it off? No. In reality an artificer armour is simply very wellmade, making use of rare or expensive technologies that it might be impossible or simply not worth it to fit into your average Space Marine's armour that makes the suit work more efficient and withstand some damage better, it might be built specifically for the officer using the armour with special modification to make the suit more to his liking but in the end it is just power armour.

It's like comparing a car to a custom-made one, both are cars, both drive on the road but one will has been made with more care and consideration, making it more enjoyable for the driver and less likely to break down. In this comparison the terminator armour is a tank.

As for first captains, while authority equals asskicking in 40k you must still hold that authority first. A first captain is not a champion of the legion (there are those too) but an officer so for him to have risen to the position of first captain he has to have been a damn good one I would assume. If this means that someone who doesn't take particularly much to using terminator armour finds himself in that position he will most likely forgo that and fight the way he is best at fighting. It is also worth noting that terminator armour isn't the most suitable armour in all circumstances since it is quite unwieldy compared to power armour. Also, not all legions might necessarily find the employment of terminator armour as something specific to the company belonging to the first captain, many legions seem to have their terminator retinue as a specific bodyguard to the Primarch, in some cases this will mean that the first captain is the leader of that bodyguard (Iron Hands comes to mind) but that doesn't have to be the case for all of them.

[Spectral Arbor]

Pretty much as above.

Power Armour, and by extension Artificer Armour, is like a personal Armoured Personel Carrier. Terminator armour is like having a personal tank.

Now, a tank is going to outlast most other vehicles. But they're heavy, and slow. If you're into Jump Packing, or Biking, or riding around in an actual APC [Rhino] then you aren't going to get anywhere with Terminator Armour.

On the other hand, if you want to wander down a dark corridor on an Emperor-forsaken, burned out Space Hulk and aren't too worried about moving fast... you just want to live through swarms of insectoid Xenos... then Terminator armour is for you!