Armoured Ceramite Plating also known as Armoured Ceramite, is a vehicle upgrade that is available to the Space Marines of the Adeptus Astartes and their dark brethren, the Chaos Space Marines. Ceramite is a form of heat and shock-resistant synthetic ceramic material that is widely used throughout the Imperium of Man. The material is capable of absorbing and dissipating even the most extreme heat and directed energy-based attacks, and is able to conduct many other forms of electromagentic and particle radiation in such a way as to disperse it across a wide area, reducing the harm it can cause. When an Astartes vehicle is outfitted with Armoured Ceramite, the Chapter's Techmarines fit additional sections of ablative Ceramite over the vehicle's existing armour. These hull plates are then thrice-blessed by the Techmarines and anointed with the seven sacred unguents of thermic warding, along with blessings and prayers to the Omnissiah.
The most common use of Armoured Ceramite Plating is for Astartes orbital strike craft, such as Thunderhawks and Storm Eagles. The plating is commonly fitted to these craft so that they have additional protection from the rigours of orbital re-entry from space into a planetary atmosphere. The plate protects the craft by absorbing and dispersing even the most extreme amounts of heat and radiation. Another common application of Ceramite plating is to fit it to certain siege vehicles, affording them further protection from enemy directed-energy weapons.
Chaos Ceramite Plating[]
The Ceramite plating used by the accursed Chaos Space Marines was once produced by the Mechanicum. Yet, while all the Space Marine Legions once marched to war in the name of the Emperor, now these protective plates are often forged in the heat of infernal Dark Mechanicum Hell-Forges. Chaos Ceramite plating is used to provide Chaos vehicles with protection against fusion-based weaponry, in particular the Melta Weapon types favoured by the Imperium.
Sources[]
- Codex: Space Marines (7th Edition), Space Marine Vehicle Equipment
- Codex: Space Marines (6th Edition), pg. 126
- Imperial Armour Volume 2 Second Edition - Warmachines of the Adeptus Astartes, pp. 105, 117, 123, 132, 137-138, 144, 218
- Imperial Armour Volume 13 - Warmachines of the Lost and the Damned, pg. 59