Centurion

This article concerns the Space Marine infantry unit. For the Space Marine Legion rank, see Centurion (Space Marine Rank).

A Centurion is a Space Marine who has been equipped with a powered exoskeleton worn over his normal suit of Power Armour known as a Centurion warsuit that allows him to serve a heavy ranged or close combat assault role between that of a normal Astartes and a Terminator. A Centurion warsuit enables a Space Marine to stride into battle with the firepower of a battle tank at his fingertips. Protected by thick ablative plates of ceramite, a Centurion warsuit renders its pilot immune to all but the most powerful of weapons. Named after the Space Marine Legion leaders of old, the Centurion warsuit design was unearthed in the aftermath of the Age of Apostasy in the 36th Millennium, and after sanction by the Adeptus Mechanicus, the suits found their way into the armouries of almost every Space Marine Chapter.

Role

A Devastator Centurion of the Ultramarines

Centurions are brutal yet ponderous specialists typically deployed as line breakers and besiegers –- where haste is less important than durability. Centurion warsuits do not interface with a Battle-Brother's Black Carapace; they are exoskeletons that enhance the already considerable might of Power Armour, making a Space Marine into a walking tank without being surgically implanted into the cybernetic chassis of a Dreadnought.

Battle-Brothers learn to pilot Centurions as part of their vehicle training. Centurion pilots are not chosen from the ranks of a Chapter's elite 1st Company, but are hand-picked from the Chapter's Assault and Devastator brethren. The most frequent explanation for this is that a Centurion's role requires a Space Marine to be fully immersed in a particular style of war, whilst the bulky exosuits lack the degree of tactical flexibility that the Chapter's Veterans require.

Centurion Assault Squads

"Look to your battle-gear and it will protect you. We guard it with our lives. Your armour is your Soul, and your Soul’s dedication its armour. The soul of a warrior is the shield of Humanity. Honour the craft of death. Only the Emperor is higher in our devotion. Honour the battle-gear of the Dead. We ask only to serve"

— Part of the Warrior’s Catechism of Worship

Centurion Assault Squads excel at storming enemy fortifications and advancing through the broken and crumbling terrain of an embattled city. They eschew long-ranged weapons completely, favouring close-range firearms and Flamers that they use for flushing enemies from cover. Instead of heavy guns, they wield Siege Drills -- heavy-duty tools of destruction that can swiftly shatter a building to rubble, tear a breach in a strong point's adamantium-reinforced walls or reduce a living opponent to a bloody mass of broken bone.

Assault Centurions are normally deployed in fortified battle zones where sight lines are too crowded to bring siege tanks to bear, and routes of advance too constrictive to deploy an Ironclad Dreadnought. Under such circumstances, Assault Centurions form the vanguard of the attack, using their breaching tools to tear through any obstacles in their path, while drawing the defenders' fire away from the Tactical Squads that follow in their wake. Encased in exoskeletal Centurion warsuits, these hulking assault specialists are protected from all but the most overwhelming enemy firepower. Even a direct hit from heavy artillery will do little more than stagger a Centurion, and small arms fire patters from their armoured hides like hail. Once the fortress walls have been breached, the Tactical Squads spread out to secure the area. Meanwhile, the Assault Centurions engage and pulverise anything foolish enough to stand in their way. Centurion Assault Squads are led by a Centurion Sergeant.

Centurion Devastator Squads

"Identify your target. Concentrate your fire on it to the exclusion of all else. When it is destroyed choose another target. That is the way to secure victory!"

— The Tactica Imperium

CenturionDevSquad — A Centurion Devastator Squad of the Ultramarines Chapter; note the Centurion Sergeant in the red helmet who possesses an Omniscope

Devastator Centurions pound their enemies with a remorseless, relentless rain of fire.

Centurion Devastator Squads are long-range specialists who pound enemy positions with salvos of heavy weapons fire. Bloody havoc is wrought upon anything that falls within the Centurions’ targeting reticules. The pilots’ marksmanship is augmented by the grim Machine Spirits of their warsuits, decimator protocols guiding servo-assisted recoil absorption and oracular auto-targeting to ensure the Centurions maintain a punishing rate of fire. Return fire is a futile gesture, akin to flinging stones at a fortress, for should the enemy launch an assault in an attempt to silence the Devastator Centurions’ guns they must contend with the suits’ massive strength and the pilots’ skill at arms. A Centurion Devastator Squad's only real weakness is its lack of speed, for whilst they can outgun entire squads of enemy infantry, they are easily outpaced by the fast-moving elements of a foe's strike force. Thus, they are primarily employed to besiege defended enemy positions or to defend their own fortifications, or used as mobile firebases to strengthen advancing battle lines. Centurion Devastator Squads are led by a Centurion Sergeant.

Wargear

Assault Centurion

Twin-linked Flamer (one on each arm)
Ironclad Assault Launcher (mounted on chest)
2 Siege Drills
Hurricane Bolter (optional replacement for Ironclad Assault Launcher)
Twin-linked Meltagun (optional replacement for Flamer)
Omniscope (can only be taken by a Centurion Sergeant) - The Omniscope is an advanced targeting device that allows a Space Marine Centurion to more accurately target the foe with his weapons.
Land Raider - A Centurion Assault Squad can be transported into combat by a Land Raider of any type.

Devastator Centurion

Twin-linked Heavy Bolter (one on each arm)
Hurricane Bolter (mounted on chest)
Missile Launcher (optional replacement for Hurricane Bolter)
Twin-linked Lascannon (optional replacement for Heavy Bolter)
Grav-Cannon with Grav-Amp to increase its power (optional replacement for Heavy Bolter)
Omniscope (can only be taken by a Centurion Sergeant) - The Omniscope is an advanced targeting device that allows a Space Marine Centurion to more accurately target the foe with his weapons.
Land Raider - A Centurion Devastator Squad can be transported into combat by a Land Raider of any type.

Sources

Codex: Space Marines (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), pp, 61, 69
Codex: Space Marines (6th Edition), pp. 94, 172, 175