Editing Flak Armour (section)

== Why It Kinda Sucks ==

That said, when it comes to protecting its user from guns which shoot [[Bolter|19.05mm APHE rocket bullets]], [[Shuriken Catapult|hyper-sonic monomolecular ninja stars]], [[Plasma|bolts of compressed plasma]] as hot as a star's core designed to penetrate tank armor, [[Gauss|molecular disassembling beams]] which can break down virtually any material into their constituent atoms, and similar weapons which are the standard equipment of many factions of [[Warhammer 40000]]'s tabletop game, flak is of little more use than a common [[Meme|T-shirt]]. Of course, if they miss, and shrapnel is thrown, the armor will probably save you, which is its purpose anyway.

Flak armour is also fairly cost efficient; it offers some protection in combat while costing less to produce, ship, and maintain than the soldier wearing it. This becomes less true as the armour becomes more complex. The quality of flak armor also varies wildly between manufacturers. Flak armor made on Mars, for example, would likely be space magic.

Also, most enemies are going to be suppressed by the large quantity and concentration of heavy weapons used by the Imperial Guard even without considering the platoon support weapons such as heavy stubbers and the squad special weapons. This enables Guardsmen (were they real) to get close to enemy positions and wipe their foes away with close-range lasgun fire. Since lasgun penetration radically increases the closer they get, this would logically be highly effective. So, most Guardsmen need to to be far more concerned with indirect fire than being hit by enemy infantry directly and flak armor protects very well from indirect weapons such as explosives and shrapnel. Remember, there are literally countless Guardsmen but only "millions die every day" in the Imperial Military as a whole. There is a reason for that.

In short, think of Guardsmen as suppressors for tanks against anti-tank threats and spotters for artillery (from man-portable mortars to the biggest of kablooie). Which means more than flak armor would usually be pointless (if you don't care about the lives of individuals that is, and the Imperium [[Grimdark|neither cares nor can afford to]]). Soldiers specialized in directly attacking enemy positions wear radically superior armor and weapons; some of the best in the galaxy in fact, even in the Imperium. The average Guardsman, though, is purely supplemental to the vehicles and mostly needed for manning defensive positions in taken territory and telling big guns and missiles where to shoot while gunning down whoever is stupid/insane/scary dogmatic alien mindset enough to rush at them. Much like how modern infantry functions.

The next grade up is [[Carapace Armor]]. Which is actually a very large leap in quality. From a reasonable infantry armor sufficient against small arms to an infantry armor capable of tanking self-propelled small cannon shells. There is also an intermediate armor infrequently used called Combat Armor. This is light carapace plates covered in cameleoline and the light carapace is mounted atop flak armor. Said cameleoline makes it incredibly good at camouflage, so a particularly lucky veteran sniper may find themselves in one.