This topic came up in discussion the other day between myself and one of my players: what do Marines wear when not in Power Armour?

He expected some form of robes or tabard but I argued that I don't think a full marine (those outside of the Scout companies) is ever "out" of their armour. The daily schedule (as seen in the 3rd ed Space Marine Codex for the TTG) implies that they start their day with battle exercises and end with removing the armour for maintenance - not much time for other clothing. Added to that is the fact of why *shouldn't* they wear their armour all the time? It can handle any waste products, it enhances them in almost every way, it's a nigh sacred relic that they are blessed to bear...what marine would be without his armour, given the option?

But the idea intrigues me. What would marines wear in those (rare?) times when they are not able to wear their armour? It's not like normal human clothes would fit, or be durable enough. I assume it may vary by chapter...furs for the Space Wolves and togas for the Ultramarines?

The only piece of information I've found so far is in the Bloodquest comic strip, written by Gordon Rennie. There the Blood Angels, when woken in the middle of teh night are shown to wear little more than loin cloths - possibly only to preserve their dignity for the reader - I doubt they'd *need* underwear in the armour...

Anyhow, what do you think? Any better source material examples of Astartes couture?

I'd say they wear robes, sytled to reflect the nature of their Chapters, i.e. Dark Angels would wear hooded, monk-like robes, while Ultramarines might wear toga-like garmets. And it goes without saying that Space Wolves would wear furs...

In Brothers of the Snake the Iron Snakes wear chitons and himations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiton_(costume)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himation

>>>>>He walked a few paces away and gathered up his kit from where he had left it: his leather training cuirass and greaves, his knife-belt and carrying pouch, his red linen chiton, and his sandals. He began to get dressed.
Aekon watched him. 'How did you know, Brother-Apothecary? How did you know I'd do this?'
Khiron pulled the chiton over his head, shook down the hem of it, and began to strap on his cuirass.
'We come on a nine dayer to the remote Cydides Isthmus, a place of good forest country and hills for cross training and exercise, and fine sea-inlets for swimming trials. But every soul in the phratry well knows that the Isthmus is also the location of a certain bay and a certain trench, celebrated in the informal lore of the Chapter. On long exercises like this, there's always one young buck who slips away to tiy his strength and become a member of that secret honour club. I kept my eyes open. It's usually one of the younger men, so I figured on you or Dyognes, or perhaps one of the petitioners. I decided it was you.'
'Why?'
'Because the petitioners are an unimpressive rabble, and not one of them has the wit or guts to try it. Because Dyognes, in my opinion, has nothing to prove. Because you are the youngest of all, and feel you are in the shadow of the whole squad, including Dyognes.’
'Am I so transparent?' Aekon asked. 'So... weak?'
Khiron smiled. He was lashing up the cords of his sandals. 'That was just a guess. In truth, it was one little thing. On a nine dayer like this, the order is for basic kit. Bare minimum. Training armour, shield and lance, oil and whetstone in one pouch, vox relay in the other. I noticed you carried an extra pouch, inside the rim of your shield, small, but heavy. Your offering.’
Aekon laughed. 'I should know better than to try and hide something from the likes of you.’
'You really should.’ Khiron fitted his greaves around his calves and then stared at Aekon. 'Well? Did you make it?'
Aekon pulled off his strap belt and held out the little, sodden bag, empty. He couldn't stop himself from grinning.
Khiron raised his eyebrows. 'Well done. So, you're a trencher now. One of the foolish few.’
'It didn't feel foolish.’ Aekon said. 'It felt like a proper test. We're too safe in our war plate, too safe in our augmented bones and muscles. Every day, we wake and feel like gods. It was good not to feel invincible for once. To find the limit of even this post-human flesh. To feel danger, pure and genuine.’
'And fear?'
Aekon shook his head. 'Not fear. Not for a moment. But I felt I was being tested as a man might be tested, not a superman.’
'Medes.’ Khiron said, hefting up his combat shield and fitting his arm to the grip.
'What?'
'That's not you, that's Brother-Captain Medes talking. Don't bother denying it, I've heard him. Medes of Skypio squad, bravest of the brave. It's said that Skypio himself started the honour club and to this day, they practise the rite, in defiance of the Chapter edicts. By merit of being the foremost, the elite of the elite, Skypio is allowed some freedom by our Chapter Master. Don't get drawn in by their recklessness.'
'I wouldn't, brother.'
'Yet you made the dive. In the history of our phratry, Aekon, thirty-seven brothers have died swimming for the trench. That's why it's forbidden. It's a waste of good men.' Khiron paused. 'Also,' he added, 'I imagine that's precisely why young men persist in doing it. Would you rather have made Skypio, son?'
'Of course not.’
'Is Damocles not good enough for you?'
'No!'
'Then we'll speak no more of this. Get your kit. We should rejoin the others before our absence is noticed.'
Aekon rose. He balled up the empty bag and threw it into the undergrowth. Khiron followed him down the beach to where Aekon had left his kit, wrapped in the bowl of his shield and hung from a low bough where the ants couldn't invade it.
'How long?' Khiron asked as Aekon was dressing.
'How long what?'
'You must have made a count. How long?'
'Twenty-six.’ Aekon said.
'Not possible.'
'I'm fairly sure. Twenty-six. Give or take ten seconds. My count did slip, but it couldn't have been less than that.'
'Your count was wrong.’ Khiron said. 'No one manages over twenty-three.’<<<<<

In the Horus Heresy series marines were depicted wearing toga's (Ultramarine legion), robes (Dark Angels legion), body gloves and combat fatigues (Sons of Horus legion), and so on...

Out of power armour, space marines wear pretty much everything their cultural background has to offer.

As everyone has said, they wear what fits their chapter.

Space Wolves were described in Prospero Burns as wearing ornately hand tooled leather body gloves and masks that showed their respective grouping within the comapnys, as well as furs.

And the Space Wolf novels occasionally described Ragnar as wearing leather clothing (the description sounded like the leather armour you'd see in stuff like the Elder Scrolls) with animal pelts for warmth.

In a home-brewed Space Marine game some friends of mine and I played (before Dark Heresy came out, but a mix of Dark Heresy and Deathwatch feels), when we were on-ship, and not expecting imminent trouble (with the crap we had to fo on the ground, he seemed to give us space trips to rest up), we were expected to remove our armor, so that the Inquisitor's tech-priests could repair them (we got shot up a lot, and every lone man was a suicide bomber Cultist who wanted to hug us). During those times, we wore simple robes over simple bodygloves. The rest favored blues, being Ultramarines (guess we didn't think to dress them like Spartans), while I preferred light gray, since I was a Grey Knight. Prior to debarkation at the next location, we would return to our quarters, don our armor, which was waiting for us, all fixed and polished, check our weapons, and do the rites that precede deployment.

As for why a Space Marine might remove his armor, because he CAN. Sometimes, you don't want to wear it, even if it does enhance a lot. Think of how a Thousand Sons Marine (you know, the Chaos group Mark of the Xenos flipped the bird) must feel. For training, I can imagine many Marines doing it WITHOUT armor, so that they can improve themselves, and not become too dependent on the crutch that is their armor, especially in a game that actually worked in rules for armor damage. I know that they live in their armor, and it is sacred, but Space Marines have many advantages that aren't the armor, so it can be good to get out of it, and test your own abilities. So many Space Marines seem to suffer from Overconfident Space Marine Sans Helmetitus that it seems unlikely they are so much more worried about taking body blows, with their mighty brows so often exposed to enemy fire. While I don't expect them to fight for real without it, it's good to make sure you CAN fight without it, say maybe in an honor duel. Still, there are places where Space Marines should feel safe, such as the place above, from the novel, or their Chapter Homeworlds, inside their Chapel Barracks, and in these places, one could easily see them wearing less bulky kit than power armor.

I would imagine for practical reasons that some kind of heavy duty Jumpsuit and combat boots would make sense. Something like scout jumpsuit without the armour. For formal occasions maybe add some type of robe or military long coat.

I always had the feeling that the Astartes deliberately try and keep "down time" out of their armour to a minimum. A marine not wearing his armour is a marine who is not ready for immediate deployment, and who will take some time to get ready.

Bear in mind that marines are kind of a complete weapons system, who may well have been genetically engineered to be as compatible with their armour as possible. A marine without his armour is still an intensely terrifying opponent, but it's the armour that allows him to reach the true peak of lethality.

I reckon most Chpater Masters would expect Marines to wear their armour as close to 24/7 as possible! So I imagine that marines do pretty much everything in their armour: if you've seen the old WD article which lists a "typical day" when off campaign for a marine, they only have a couple of hours a day when they're not training. And when they're not training they're "sleeping" or..er..cleaning their armour.

However, during that period, I guess they can wear whatever suits the mood of their chapter... all the options already mentioned sound eminently sensible. Robes for the Dark Angels, leather armour for the Space Wolves, tunics and togas for the Ultramarines. I seem to dimly recall something about specialist duelling garments for the Imperial Fists, too.

I always also felt that for "formal occasions" they'd wear their armour. Certainly, whenever interacting with those from outside the chapter, I always felt they'd do this.I can't really see a kind of Astartes "dress uniform;" as far as the rest of the Imperium is concerned, the Astartes, when they want to bling themselves up a bit, sling on some nice accessories, like a fur cloak, bejewelled religious icons or mastercrafted weapons system.

Lightbringer said:

That's likely to depend on where the Marine is; if he's on his homeworld, chances are that the need for immediate deployment is significantly lessened. Even on a Strike Cruiser on the far side of the galaxy, taking the time to don armour isn't actually all that inconvenient if you make use of Chapter Serfs and arming servitors to help him prepare for battle, compared to the timescales required for even swift, well-Navigated Astartes vessels to reach their destination.

Also note that the "typical day" (which was presented in the 1998 Codex: Space Marines) only really covers those Space Marines currently in the Fortress Monastery, and varies between Chapters, so while it serves as a convenient example, it won't be held to strictly at all times by everyone. I imagine that routine is quite different for those aboard a starship, and that Veterans are given greater leeway to oversee their own training and religious observances, while Sergeants and Captains are required to give over a portion of their time each day to making sure that their men are ready for duty... and Chaplains, Apothecaries, Techmarines and Librarians have completely different schedules and requirements.

I also don't imagine that all training is done in armour. Full-scale field exercises and bolter drill, certainly, but hand-to-hand practice seems as likely to be done unarmoured and with dulled blades as in full armour and with mono-edged knives and chainswords, particularly as full-armour, full-weapon combat will increase the maintenance requirements of their armour.

With a full arming chamber it takes no time at all to put on and remove Astartes battle plate:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSPWhzrjPg8

I think it is important to get Marines out of their armour as often as possible in order to humanise them. And it makes putting on the gear an event. When Marines dress for battle, you know **** has gotten serious.

I know my Blood Angel, wears a Blood Red Cloak over a black jumpsuit

In the Ultramrines series Uriel and Pasanius tend to wear simple robes or chitons (Ultramarine blue of course) when they're pottering around on Macragge or in the belly of a spaceship. I've not finished Thousand Sons yet but Ahriman changes into robes at least once when he projects into the warp.

I would imagine it depends massively on the individual chapter as others have said, theoretically anything from robes to parachute pants to just the black carapace and a smile. As for why? Comfort may be one thing, ritual/ceremonial reasons another. Chapters like the Salamanders and Ultramarines who keep involved with the humans they were chosen from may go unarmoured to avoid unecessarily intimidating their subjects.