[Boc]

Granted, these are really more of a background-type questions, but I legitimately don't know where else to post...

For those of you that don't know me, I'm one of the FanFic writers here (yayyy). I'm currently in the process of starting something that involves some ship-to-ship shenanigans, but I'm not sure of the feasibility of it in the 40Kverse.

Vacuum suits: I know that Naval vessels have them, but do the suits have maneuver-thrusters of any sort or magnetic boots?

Hangar bays: How is air kept in? I know in Star Wars, they've got a sort of field that keeps air in but lets ships out. I think there is no comparable thing in 40K, but the hangars just have massive doors that they open and shut when needed, pumping the air into and out of the bay at appropriate times.

Any thoughts/comments/answers would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Baron Spikey]

There are numerous types of environment suits, the ones that Termiantor Armour is based on have magnetic grips on their soles and I imagine more than one variety has manoeuvering thrusters on them- akin to IG grav-chute/thrusters possibly?

Void shields are used in hangars to prevent air loss and depressurisation depending on ship type, the larger the vessel the more likely it has to have this complex technology.

 

[Boc]

Thanks Baron!

Problem is, I'm looking at Guardsmen using them due to extreme circumstances...

 

[Baron Spikey]

Well the vacuum suits are used by naval ratings so I'd don't see why they'd be too difficult for Guardsmen to get a hold of.

 

[Boc]

Aye, and that's why I opted for the rating suits for availability, I just wasn't sure if they were 'fancy' enough to warrant magnetic boots or thrusters haha.

 

[Vaz]

There's no once only survival suits or immersion suits if that's what you're asking.

Due to Technology being less replaceable than manpower, the suits are probably kept under lock and key of some sort of armoury sergeant or a technomagus who'll take his job far too seriously.

 

[Boc]

That makes sense, luckily it won't affect my theoretical storyline.

I'm just trying to hammer out any possible details that would cause the reader to think 'well that's just fucking stupid.'

Thank you both for the help!

 

[GrimzagGorwazza]

I'm pretty sure that a vacume suit is used in one of the Ravenor books and the wearer has to hold on tight to the vessel she is trying to get abroad implying no mag boots. Also she doens't mention having any sort of thrusters, just a rebreather and thermal system.

 

[Baron Spikey]

It all depends on the type of vacuum/environment suit and what it's intended job is (other than just protecting you from the environment obviously), the one in Ravenor, worn by the delightful Kara Swole no less, is a very basic one with limited raditation shielding. On the other end of the scale you've the mac-daddy of environment suits that can withstand pretty much anything and is the basis of Tactical Dreadnought armour used by Astartes.

 

[zas240]

well according to Fulgirm, they have a "integrity field" or something, ill have to dig out my copy and check for you though.
As i understand it it allowes a Stormbird in, without letting air out. Amazing.

 

[Baron Spikey]

Sounds like the fields used at crimes scenes by the detectives in Nemesis - allows large items to pass through untroubled but prevents anything too small from escaping.

 

[Turkeyspit]

That makes sense, luckily it won't affect my theoretical storyline.

I'm just trying to hammer out any possible details that would cause the reader to think 'well that's just fucking stupid.'

Thank you both for the help!

Problem is, you are restricting yourself unnecessarily.

The Imperium is SO vast, and information/records are SO sparse, who knows what exists out there?

Who is to say that Guardsmen from 'x' Regiment wouldn't have access to super-special-awesome suits? Maybe they were recovered technology? Maybe they have an 'in' with a nearby Forge World or something that specializes (ie. retained) that kind of technology.

You obviously have to keep things reasonable so readers do not get the reaction you specified...but just because you don't hear about it being 'standard issue', don't let that dissuade you from being inventive. Gaunt's Ghosts were renknown for their distinctive Camo cloaks, even though Camo technology is mentioned as being in use elsewhere. Maybe your guys could have extra-vehicular-void suits or something

 

[Davidicus 40k]

Problem is, you are restricting yourself unnecessarily.

The Imperium is SO vast, and information/records are SO sparse, who knows what exists out there?

Who is to say that Guardsmen from 'x' Regiment wouldn't have access to super-special-awesome suits? Maybe they were recovered technology? Maybe they have an 'in' with a nearby Forge World or something that specializes (ie. retained) that kind of technology.

You obviously have to keep things reasonable so readers do not get the reaction you specified...but just because you don't hear about it being 'standard issue', don't let that dissuade you from being inventive. Gaunt's Ghosts were renknown for their distinctive Camo cloaks, even though Camo technology is mentioned as being in use elsewhere. Maybe your guys could have extra-vehicular-void suits or something

True. Lots of freedom to create in the 40k Universe, as long as it isn't too outrageous.

 

[darkreever]

Problem is, you are restricting yourself unnecessarily.

The Imperium is SO vast, and information/records are SO sparse, who knows what exists out there?

That would be because like basing your chapter off one of the two missing legions, the idea of 'not restricting yourself because there might be other things out there to allow for special item x' is so overused that its like a bad idea nowadays.


Of course you can make something up in order to get around any problems you might come across, but thats more of a cop out; something along the lines of your admitting that you can't figure out the problem so your working around it instead of solving the problem. It also serves to take away from the 'realism' of the fluff as is, you have some seemingly random thing that solves your problems, is one of a kind, and is not under the scrutiny of an imperial organization of some kind?

 

[Turkeyspit]

That would be because like basing your chapter off one of the two missing legions, the idea of 'not restricting yourself because there might be other things out there to allow for special item x' is so overused that its like a bad idea nowadays.

Of course you can make something up in order to get around any problems you might come across, but thats more of a cop out; something along the lines of your admitting that you can't figure out the problem so your working around it instead of solving the problem. It also serves to take away from the 'realism' of the fluff as is, you have some seemingly random thing that solves your problems, is one of a kind, and is not under the scrutiny of an imperial organization of some kind?

I think you are overstating here. Allow me to furnish an example.

A while ago I was running a plot for a story in mind, and the idea of a craft with a 'cloaking device' would really have helped move the story along. But I had not really seen any evidence of such technology in the hands of the Imperium.

Well guess what? I'm reading Nemesis last night, and what does the team of Assassins have at their disposal? A craft with 'stealth technology'.

Sure, this is back in the M31.
Sure, it's a small, and specialized craft.
Sure, they have access to technology that even the Mechanicum doesn't know exists, because that's how secretive their organization is.

But it's definitely plausible.

Now who is to say that someone in M41 hasn't rediscovered that technology, or even found a 10K old ship and put it to use.

Before Dan Abnett was given the idea from someone (can't remember the name) at GW's about the Alpha Legion having 'twins' for Primarchs, everyone just assumed Alpharius was one guy.

And who knows, in the next year or two, we might just well be reading about Chapters descended from the missing Primarchs - all depends if GW decides to let the BL write about them or not.

If a writer wants to explore a pacifist Ork or a cowardly Space Marine, you cannot say "that's impossible!", because it just might be. A Chaos Grey Knight? Nah, no Grey Knight has ever turned to Chaos....at least so the Ordos Malleus says...and the Inquisition always tell the truth, and would never suppress information to serve their own ends...:wink:

 

[Boc]

Well, the oxygen in the hangar has been solved to great success.

My secondary issue, the 'how high-tech are the vac suits used in mass quantities aboard Naval ships' is still in the air. I see from both perspectives, that there are incredible possibilities so why not just make one up, but I'd still rather find a precedent for vac suits being well-equipped.

I know that the technology certainly exists, but, as DR said, I'd feel like a cop out if I suddenly assumed that this particular, not especially important vessel was completely stocked with top-of-the-line vac suits simply because it served my storyline.

While the alternative wouldn't necessarily be 'working around the problem' as another actual viable solution... the vac suits would make it (hopefully) quite epic.

Turkeyspit, now regarding the 'rediscovery' of technology, I've been lead to believe that the Imperium has lost far more technology than it's rediscovered. Especially following the widespread acceptance of the Emperor's divinity and the subsequent 'tech-heresy' that is associated with pretty much any and all advancements, I just have a hard time believing that they would happen upon this ancient, and in all likelihood lost, tech.

Finding a 10,000 year old ship though is a more plausible scenario, at least from what I recall reading.

Again, thanks all for the comments!

 

[Turkeyspit]

Turkeyspit, now regarding the 'rediscovery' of technology, I've been lead to believe that the Imperium has lost far more technology than it's rediscovered. Especially following the widespread acceptance of the Emperor's divinity and the subsequent 'tech-heresy' that is associated with pretty much any and all advancements, I just have a hard time believing that they would happen upon this ancient, and in all likelihood lost, tech.

Finding a 10,000 year old ship though is a more plausible scenario, at least from what I recall reading.

Again, thanks all for the comments!

Well that's all subjective, really. If finding a 10k year old ship is plausible to you, why wouldn't finding a 10k year old wreck with working vac suits be? And not every technology has to be 'rediscovered'. Baneblade tanks are rare, for example, because so few Forge Worlds can currently manufacture them. Is it such a stretch that in Warriors of Ultramar, there is a 1st generation (?) Baneblade in action, that is superior to the current version? Hell no. If there had been 10 such tanks on the battlefield, yeah, that would have been an issue.

Just because nobody has written about something, doesn't mean it doesn't exist, or can't exist.

I've read books that describe worlds of teeming manufacturies, run by cartels of merchants; other worlds I've read describe agricultural worlds led by monarchs, whose armies employ medieval weapons. Both exist in the same Imperium.

I'm not trying to be argumentative here; I'm just cautioning you against hamstringing yourself unnecessarily.

 

[Vaz]

In Execution Hour, it states that Guardsmen who were in transporters merely stayed in large air tight containers, each one capable of housing a regiment. They weren't allowed elsewhere on ship, unless there was a boarding party.

It states that lance strikes destroyed the transports, they either burst open if the containers got hit, or they were left to slowly suffocate as the air stopped recycling.

On larger capital ships, I don't think IG would even be allowed on. Lacking the space (in preference for weaponry), and having Chain Gangs and Storm Troopers on board, they were the most vicious of the defenders.

Think about it - A chain gang of prisoners whose only chance at life is to progress through the ranks, through either viciousness or quality in battle is going to be MASSIVE. Sure, you'll have fit guardsmen, but these guardsmen aren't training in artificial gravity and two six heaving weaponry capable of firing shells the size of a Battle Tank everyday.

So basically, on Capital Ships, No IG. On Frigates, no IG. On Transports, IG yes, but unlikely they'll be walking around the ship, unlikely the repair "immersion suits" will be freely available, and unlikely that there'll be time to put on an "immersion suit" in the event of a catastrophic hit on the container.

 

[GrimzagGorwazza]

So basically, on Capital Ships, No IG. On Frigates, no IG. On Transports, IG yes, but unlikely they'll be walking around the ship, unlikely the repair "immersion suits" will be freely available, and unlikely that there'll be time to put on an "immersion suit" in the event of a catastrophic hit on the container.

in the gaunts ghosts books the regiment has been in multiple transports and been able to move around on board.

I agree in trying to make the suits fit the setting rather than just making up something awesome. Don't get me wrong i've got nothing against creativity. But if you start using this method for everything the whole system very quickly looses it's tension. Save the big "exceptions" for the climaxes and twists. Don't rely on them to furnish the world.