Editing Nobledark Imperium Imperial Forces (section)

=== Flak Armor ===

There was no such thing as a standardized armor used by the Imperial Army during the Great Crusade. The closest thing to such a concept came in the form of the Solar Pattern Void Armor, used widely by the Solar Auxilia, but that was a carapace-reinforced void suit rather than Flak Armor as we know it today. The first documented instances of what could be considered Flak Armor was when Cadian Shock Troops started equipping soldiers en masse with light anti-shrapnel armor near the end of the Great Crusade. Cadian officers found that when Cadian Guardsmen attacked entrenched positions on the battlefield, most of their losses sustained were from artillery or random bits of debris thrown into the air by artillery. The different regiments from Cadia phased out the traditional metal plate armor for Flak Armor, and thus all future campaigns used Flak Armor once manufactorums switched production lines right before the War of the Beast.

The breastplate, shoulder pauldrons, knee plates, and greaves all use the same material and layering. The fabric connecting the armor is much weaker and lacks any sort of plating. Most of the actual armor in Flak Armor uses an inner layer of shock absorbent gel, with metal plating between the gel and outer ceramic layer. All three of these layers are connected and interwoven with carbon-fibers, metal-fabrics, and nylon fabrics, forcing the layers to stay together under most conditions. The ceramic plate was designed to deflect shrapnel, or at least cause it to be stuck in the plate. The metal layer was emplaced to stop lasbolts or stubber rounds from fully penetrating through the armor, in case the shot passed the ceramic plate. The gel is present as either a last ditch effort to stop shrapnel from fully penetrating the armor or to prevent internal bleeding after receiving a direct hit. The fabric of Flak Armor is made from a variety of different carbon-fibers, metal fabrics, and thick cloths, to prevent shrapnel from cutting through or a blade from tearing it. Flak Armor helmets have considerably more armor, tending to have extra metal plating to ensure that not all shots to the head are fatal and random falling debris don't kill the Guardsman.

The first major combat test of Flak Armor was seen in the War of the Beast. On the front lines, Flak Armor proved to be basically ineffective in protecting against Ork weaponry; the Orks had used unusually large stubber rounds, up to but not limited to 10 or 12mm, that would slice right through Flak plating. However, what would otherwise be considered deadly Ork rockets would often fail to kill Guardsmen, even with flame ammo, as the Flak Armor was more than enough protection against most Ork rocketry short of city-block-levelling size. Crone Eldar and Dark Eldar weapons, of both Saw and Splinter ammo types, likewise had difficult times penetrating Flak plating unless there was a concentrated barrage of fire, as even the Flak plating can only protect against so much. When the Fallen first turned on Imperial Army elements, bolters were used for the first time against Flak Armor. The bolter rounds would often penetrate Flak plating, only to cleanly exit out on the other side and then explode. If the Guardsman was lucky they would still be alive after the ordeal. When a Guardsman was even luckier, the bolter round would be deflected off of Flak plating altogether and explodes prematurely in mid-air, meaning that unless the deflected round exploded in their face the shrapnel would be mostly harmless. The flexibility, simplicity, and cheapness of producing Flak Armor instead of Void suits led to many Imperial worlds adopting the Flak Armor. Production quotas meant resources were limited in the total economic mobilization that happened during the War of the Beast, making the simple and affordable Flak Armor even more popular.

During the Apostasy, Imperial Guard regiments openly fought against one another, resulting in the first use of Flak Armor against massed artillery. Regiments would launch massive formations to charge at entrenched opposing Guardsmen, who were themselves well prepared for such an attack. The defenders would fire blinding volleys of artillery shells to delay the charge. The Flak Armor proved a Guardsman could survive an artillery barrage, and short of a direct hit right next to their feet the Guardsman would be fine (if the shockwave from the explosion didn’t destroy their bodily organs, that is). Artillery barrages could now only slow down attacks from Guardsmen thanks to Flak Armor. Several field modifications were noted to have been used by regiments during the Apostasy, including extra cloth to prevent shrapnel from easily slicing the joints. Similarly, thicker ceramic plates are often used by veteran Guardsmen against Orks to at least survive glancing shots from Ork stubbers, and regiments constantly facing Crone or Dark Eldar are deployed with extra metal layered into their Flak Armor to prevent enemy fire from penetrating Flak plating.