Equip-Legality14

The Assault Marine always fights winged. The jump pack is never set aside — this is a close-assault body, built to drop and charge, with no business in a gunline. Its basic weapons stop at the boltgun. Everything else it reaches for is a pistol or a blade: any pistol from bolt to inferno, and a chainsword, power sword, power fist or thunder hammer for the melee. Frag and krak grenades finish a kit aimed squarely at whatever it lands beside.

The Captain has the broadest reach of any fighter in the host, as befits its lord. It may draw any pistol, a boltgun, and the full close-combat range from power sword through power fist to thunder hammer, and it alone may bear the Spear of Telesto and the Death Mask of the Angel. Any armour mark is open to it, from Power through Gravis to Terminator, and it may fit a jump pack or the relic Angel's Wing to take the fight vertical. The only doors closed to it are the heavy weapons the Thirst pulls it away from.

The Centurion carries nothing by hand. Its weapons are fitted to the warsuit itself — a twin heavy mount that takes a heavy bolter, multi-melta or lascannon, and brings the sustained firepower the host otherwise lacks. The assault-pattern warsuit trades those guns for integral siege drills, made to crack fortifications and armour up close. No infantry kit changes hands here. The fighter is the machine, and its armament is part of its frame.

In close combat the Chaplain bears the crozius arcanum and nothing else. The mace of office is both the symbol and the weapon of his calling — he needs no other. Beyond it he may carry a bolt or plasma pistol, frag and krak grenades, and may take Terminator plate or a jump pack to reach the black-clad brothers he shepherds into the charge. Spare, purposeful, exact: the kit of a preacher who leads by fighting at the front.

The Death Company take blades above all. Their basic weapons are limited to the boltgun, for the lost have no patience for careful gunnery — but their close-combat access is the deepest of any line fighter, running from chainsword and power sword through power fist and thunder hammer to lightning claws. They may carry a bolt or inferno pistol, don Terminator plate or a jump pack, and take frag grenades. Everything they are given is a tool for reaching the enemy and tearing him apart.

The Dreadnought's armament is part of the sarcophagus, not drawn from any rack. Its twin mount fits a heavy bolter, multi-melta or lascannon, paired with the crushing Dreadnought fist — and in the Furioso pattern the guns give way to twin fists for pure melee. The interred hero fights with what was built into its tomb; there is no loadout to choose, only the walker's own weapons brought to bear.

The Librarian's arsenal is narrow, for his true weapon is the warp. In close combat he may carry only the force weapon, the blade of his office through which he channels his power. He may hold a bolt or plasma pistol as a sidearm and take frag and krak grenades, and he may don Terminator plate for the deepest fighting. Everything else is closed to him — the psyker fights with his mind, and the force weapon is its edge.

The Lieutenant equips much as its Captain does — a front-rank commander, armed for the melee. It may take a boltgun, a bolt pistol, and any of chainsword, power sword or power fist, with frag and krak grenades to hand. Terminator plate or a jump pack keeps it level with the winged tiers. Deep access in the fighting classes, deliberately spare everywhere else. A battle-leader, not a specialist.

The Marine has the widest weapon access in the host, the flexible line trooper who can be armed for any task. Basic bolt weapons, every special weapon from flamer to grav-gun, the full close-combat range and all three armour marks are open to it. The heavy weapons, however, are Devastator-spec only — they demand Gravis plate or a set firing position, and this Chapter de-emphasises the static guns the Thirst forever pulls it away from. A Marine kitted heavy is a Marine fighting against his own nature.

The Redemptor's armament is fixed to its super-heavy frame. It carries a macro plasma incinerator or an onslaught gatling cannon, secondary bolters, and the crushing Redemptor fist — all part of the chassis, none purchased from the shared racks. This is the largest engine the host can field, and its guns are built into it; the walker brings its own overwhelming firepower and needs nothing more.

The Sanguinary Guard always fights winged — the jump pack is never set aside, for the honour guard is defined by the descent. In close combat it may bear the Encarmine relic blades, the Spear of Telesto, or a power sword; nothing lesser suits the gold-armoured elite. It may carry a bolt or plasma pistol and take frag and krak grenades. Every option is bent toward the drop and the killing stroke that follows it.

The Sanguinary Priest carries the tools of his calling alongside his weapons. He alone may bear the narthecium and reductor to tend his brothers, and the sacred Red Grail that steadies the host and holds the Rage at bay. In the fighting line he may take a boltgun, bolt pistol, and either a chainsword or a power sword, with frag and krak grenades to hand. He is a healer who fights, and his access reflects both halves of that duty.

The Scout is lightly armoured and lightly armed — a neophyte, not yet trusted with the heaviest wargear. His armour is Carapace, and only Carapace. His one special weapon is the bolt sniper rifle, the marksman's pick for a fighter who works ahead of the host. Beyond that he carries a boltgun, carbine or shotgun, a bolt pistol, a combat knife or chainsword, and frag grenades. It is a skirmisher's kit, and he earns his place with it at the killing edge.

The Techmarine's special weapons are the meltagun and grav-gun alone, the artificer's anti-armour tools for cracking a walker or a warsuit. He may take a boltgun and bolt pistol, and he alone carries the servo-skull and signum that mark the Machine God's servant. Frag and krak grenades round out his kit. His access is that of a maintainer and a hunter of armour, not a line trooper.