# Jump Packs



## Levendus (Mar 23, 2010)

I was wondering if you guys could elaborate a little on how jump packs work. Are they more like Jet packs, meaning they could stay airborne for a longer distance ? Could they fly for a few miles ? or is it literally just jumping. 

Is the blast from the jump pack quite small ? I imagine the guy at the back of the squad just getting singed. Also when they land do you know if there is a suppression blast to stop them breaking their legs ? 

Most importantly how the hell do they control them as well ? Is it hardwired through to their brains or on their belts ? 

sorry for the wall of questions.


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## locustgate (Dec 6, 2009)

For orks it's bacicaly a missle on their back.
For the best idea, of what they like, look at them in dow


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## Tuck3r (Apr 9, 2010)

The space marines packs essentually are a rocket powered jump in the direction your facing then there's a short retro burst to slow you just before you hit the ground


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## Warlock in Training (Jun 10, 2008)

DOW2 is a good description and show of hot it works. Its a power pack with Huge Thrusters to allow short burst for lift and short burst to soften landings. I have some OOP Jump Packs for Raptors and put them on my generic CSMs as Raptors. Didnt feel to right cause the new Raptors have a modified, sleek, Talon foot, armore. My are CSMs with Old School Raptor Jump Packs. The armore would have to be different I feel. To compesate for landing and achiving air to ground comabt. The SMs though wear PA with a Jump Pack. Weird.


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

locustgate said:


> For orks it's bacicaly a missle on their back.
> For the best idea look at them in dow


Are you seriously saying, "for Lore, look at DoW"?

God have mercy on your soul. i have one word for you - 

"Siinnnddddrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii"


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## ThatOtherGuy (Apr 13, 2010)

I believe that he was talking about it visually Vaz.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

I'm pretty sure they can control them once in mid-air not simply forced to make a jump in that direction. The ones the Phantine Skyborne Imperial Guard use allow them to go up, hover around, turn etc. Sure the working are different but i imagine the elite units of the Imperium woulndt have such a crude mechanism as jump forward a bit in tht direction and come crashing down. Also in Horus Rising the Luna Wolf assault marines ascend to the top of the tower on theirs and neatly land at the top


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## Grimskul25 (Feb 17, 2009)

I would imagine its something where its not just simply a boost in the air but more of a controlled jet turbine that increases and decreases the amount of propulsion they need, probably through a link into their power armour. It's sort of like the jet pack in Warhawk, you can stay and move in the air but also get a temporary boost in speed in a certain direction.


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## shmabadu (Oct 2, 2009)

If you watch the trailer for the new third-person shooter "Space Marine" you'll see a stormboy flying around like Superman with his jump pack. But I guess that's the same as looking at DoW for lore.


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## Cruor99 (Mar 11, 2009)

shmabadu said:


> If you watch the trailer for the new third-person shooter "Space Marine" you'll see a stormboy flying around like Superman with his jump pack. But I guess that's the same as looking at DoW for lore.


No, that's kind of correct. It's a missile, strapped on his back. Missiles DO have the ability to fly a long distance 

But Space Marines have _jump_ packs, keyword being Jump. They allow for a short burst that gets you up and lets gravity take you down. It can not be used for prolonged flight, regardless of what C.S. Goto might write.

The Raptors have _jet_ packs though, if my memory serves me right. They can, and often use, prolonged flights. I seem to remember the ending scene of Lord of the Night has raptors flying around.


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## Warlock in Training (Jun 10, 2008)

Lord of the Night? Who, what, where? Clarify.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

To quote Guns of Tanith "standard imperial guard variant of the assault jump pack. Smaller and lighter, not to mention more compact than the heavy jobs used by the Adeptus Astartes." They call theirs jump packs, yet like i said they keep them in the air, can stay up and direct themselves. And the very way they are compared to the Astartes jump packs make them sound like much the same thing. Like i said why would the astartes by equipped with such a less efficent system.


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## Warlock in Training (Jun 10, 2008)

Probaly becuase Land Speeders perfom good enough Air Power. The ability to Descend from the sky and pound into the heart of enemy formations is all the Jump Pack is for. Their is no air H2H combat for Marines. Its just a quick effeceint shock tatic type of Jump Pack. Im sure you could fly short periods and steer in a direction, just nothing fancy has ever been shown. Not like Tau Battle Suits.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

The effectiveness of a landspeeder is beside the point, i'm not saying their going to fly around shooting and fighting people in mid air, but im fairly certain there more efficent and effective than a simple Wild E Cayote style jump forward. And again in Horus Rising they come straight up, land gently and seem in perfect control of their packs, not just a kick up the arse in a given direction. I'll scour more fluff if i have to but the notion that they are so crude and one dimensional doesnt sit right at all


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## NiceGuyEddy (Mar 6, 2010)

Angel of Blood said:


> The effectiveness of a landspeeder is beside the point, i'm not saying their going to fly around shooting and fighting people in mid air, but im fairly certain there more efficent and effective than a simple Wild E Cayote style jump forward. And again in Horus Rising they come straight up, land gently and seem in perfect control of their packs, not just a kick up the arse in a given direction. I'll scour more fluff if i have to but the notion that they are so crude and one dimensional doesnt sit right at all


If I had to guess I'd say astartes jump packs are capable of doing pretty much anything the phantine's jetpacks can do. As you pointed out the Luna wolves can use theirs with finesse. 

However the purpose of astartes jet packs is to get them to the thick of the fighting as quickly as possible. Assault marines use chainswords and pistols for the most part so I think flying in a straight line or hovering slowly towards a target is not what the astartes packs were made for.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

sure i agree with that, they are a massive pyschological weapon and i know there not gonna be used for ponderous flight across the battlefield. Im just saying they can do more than just 'jump' a marine forwards


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## ckcrawford (Feb 4, 2009)

I'm not sure how they work either. My best guess it that they are primarly used to give their assault troops more momentum when they land on their enemies. Though, if I took the game DOW literally that would be one hell of an impact. Don't know how they would survive that.


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## Anfo (Jul 17, 2009)

ckcrawford said:


> I'm not sure how they work either. My best guess it that they are primarly used to give their assault troops more momentum when they land on their enemies. Though, if I took the game DOW literally that would be one hell of an impact. Don't know how they would survive that.


It's the 41st Millennium, thats just how it works(Also the game was made by the brits, so you don't ask questions you just roll with it.)


Here is how I think of jump packs working-

Imperial Guard-They just look at the direction they want to fly, hit GO and hope for the best.

Ork-Why does if work? Why does anything orky work? Because orks think it will. 

Marine/SoB- Since they have packs attached to their armor, there are sensors inside the armor that maneuver the pack. I don't know if the Imperium can have it be a nuro link, though.


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## elkhantar (Nov 14, 2008)

Well, the SM neuro-link has been there for a long time in the fluff. It's one of the functions of the black caparace IIRC.

And I guess that the SM could use the jump packs for short directed flights. If you look at some of the art and novels, it seems to indicate that. However, longer flights are very fuel and heat inefficient and simply make you an easy target, so they wouldn't be used for that unless needed (Anyone that has played the last HALO game knows that it's not a good idea to stay hovering for long).

And about shock absorption, these guys are super-powerful giants carrying power armour. They can crack a tank open with their punches and tackle through concrete. What's the problem with falling a few dozen feet, again? (and that's before taking into account that they can use a burst to slow their fall).


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## GWLlosa (Sep 27, 2009)

I know people tend to look down on the DoW novels by C.S. Goto (they're not THAT bad, but that's another topic), but in those stories (which are canon like any other) the Assault Marines are able to fly for long periods of time, and frequently use the packs to get 'above' an enemy position and just hover in mid air, raining bolters and grenades on the enemy while dodging side-to-side to be harder to hit. So there's your 'canon' answer as to whether the jump packs can be used for sustained flight.


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

There's a short story in one of the early BL anthologies about a squad of marines jumping from a thunderhawk from a great height, and only using the jump pack to slow their descent enough not to kill them on landing. They still hit the ork horde that was the target with the same impact as an artillery barrage, and proceeded to dump the packs as they were now just too clumsy. 

As to the point about the seemingly more efficient IG packs, they only have to carry a tiny fraction of the weight that a SM pack must be able to lift, therefore it's easier to make them that bit more efficient. 

I see the marine ones as similar to booster rockets on a missile. A simple system of getting a payload to a target as quickly as possible. It doesn't need to do anything else. There's other units more capable and better suited to dealing with any other task


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

Well i guess we're just going to have to agree to disagree


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## countchocula86 (Sep 1, 2008)

In terms of the game, isnt it possible to jump into poor terrain? Doesnt that suggest a certain lack of fine control?


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## GhostDog (Apr 16, 2010)

The Luna Wolves will be using jetpacks like Raptors use. The current SM's are using Jump Packs. Trying to use one as a reference for the other is like comparing apples to oranges.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

I'm sorry but their is absoloutely no evidence to suggest in the slightest they are any different. Your saying the Imperium in fact downgraded their assault marines capabilites? what a excellent sounding idea. And in point of fact, Abnett describes the marines as having *jump* packs not jet packs in Horus Rising and then again Anthony Reynolds in Scions of the Storm described the Word Bearers under Sor Talgronas using *jump* packs

And i wouldn't use ingame rules a solid refrence on what things are actually capable of in the fluff.


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## Bayonet (Aug 13, 2010)

I'm sure in Nightbringer Captain Idaeus uses a Jump Pack to get to the bridge supports doesn't he? Or am I remembering that completely wrong?

If right, that'd suggest atleast some sort of fairly decent control mid flight.


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## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

Bayonet said:


> I'm sure in Nightbringer Captain Idaeus uses a Jump Pack to get to the bridge supports doesn't he? Or am I remembering that completely wrong?
> 
> If right, that'd suggest atleast some sort of fairly decent control mid flight.


No he doesn't use a jump pack, and yes the jump packs of 40k are of a lesser quality to those during the Heresy- they are easier to produce though, that's why they're so widely used by Chapters.

Jump Pack abilities changes from author to author so I think the only thing we can agree on is that it gets the Marines in the air, what they do when their boots leave the ground is up to you.


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## Turkeyspit (Jun 11, 2010)

Ironically, this has been on my mind of late as I just started reading _Hunt for Voldurious_. In the opening Chapters, a White Scar strike force is on the hunt for chaos 'wabbits'. A formation of Rhino transports and cycles is being covered from the air by some T-hawks and 2 squads of assault marines. Yes, the assault marines were flying - not hovering, not jumping, flying.

The fact that it got published as such would suggest that the BL (and GW) is cool with the notion of flying SMs.


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## GhostDog (Apr 16, 2010)

Actually yeah I am saying that the Imperium downgraded thier assault marines. I'm not saying that did it on purpose though.
There is a lot of stuff that was around during the heresy but isn't available now. One good example is the Imperial Jetbike. There is only one and that is used by the Ravenwing Master. 

Also when it comes to BL I wouldn't take what the authors write as law/lore. Especially with HH. Unlike some other franchises, (eg Star Wars) BL/GW don't seem to have a person or group of people going through the books looking for inconsistances. And since they have never said exactly how things work or look in some cases they authors are allowed to take some poetic license with certain things.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

Yes but several sources have now been cited for having space marines using their jump packs for more than just crude 'jumps'. Like Baron said it's all just going to depend on the author or you on how you want to believe jump packs work


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

Anfo said:


> It's the 41st Millennium, thats just how it works(Also the game was made by the brits, so you don't ask questions you just roll with it.)


As opposed to being made by Americans where we can shoot our own allies.

Oh, snap.


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## Yllib Enaz (Jul 15, 2010)

Vaz said:


> As opposed to being made by Americans where we can shoot our own allies.


You never heard of Commissars then?


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## GhostDog (Apr 16, 2010)

Angel of Blood said:


> Yes but several sources have now been cited for having space marines using their jump packs for more than just crude 'jumps'. Like Baron said it's all just going to depend on the author or you on how you want to believe jump packs work


I agree. I just wish GW would get their act together and describe how certain things work properly and stop letting different authors take artistic license with them. I've even seen different descriptions of plasma shots.


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