A single source I had found actually portrays a model of a Catachan with Flak Helmet.

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130216090215/warhammer40k/images/3/3a/CatachanFightersCytheria.jpg

Look to the Catachan LVI "Sidewinders".

Of course, it's up to the player to use the Flak Helmet or not.

Hmmh, it's more a hazmat mask than a flak helmet (although it would likely have equal AP) - but I have to say, I really dig the "Sardaukar" Dune vibe that bleeds from that design.

And I have to admit, it's a clever way to get Catachans to wear helmets. Good find!

Robomummy said:

Basically, an Imperial Guardsman's armour is essentially his uniform (including his trousers, and even Catachans wear those). Now, different Regiments have slightly different approaches to it. Catachans, due to their jungle fighting roots, want something that isn't going to get too stifling and unformtable. This means they choose the vests, which are more breathable than the Cadian full jacket (or at the real extreme, the Valhallan full length coat).

The rigid plates that Cadians wear I would take to be smaller carapace armour. Even the original metals had what looked like a carrier for a rigid plate in the front of their jacket. I personally would say that if you really wanted to get detailed you might grant Cadians (and similar regiments) 5AP to the torso, due to the extre protection granted by the small carapace chest plates.

I think there's just a bit of confusion because of the terms. The 4 AP "Guard Flak" is what I see the Cadian Shock Troops wear, whereas the 3 AP "Flak" is the more common soft armour (ex.: Catachan vests, Valhallan greatcoats) and the 2 AP "Light Flak" is just reinforced clothing (ex.: Commissar's greatcoat). 5 AP Carapace is the heavy stuff we know (ex.: Storm Troopers, Kasrkin).
Hmm … in this sense I would have probably made all helmets 4 AP by default, for I can't imagine how a 2 AP Flak Helmet would look like. That's more something I would use to represent stuff like a Valhallan ushanka, I guess.

I suppose I'd simply call Guard Flak something else. Light Carapace, maybe? The original fluff already mentioned there's different versions made from different materials (armaplas and ceramite), so I'd have simply said that one material confers better protection than the other, but is also cheaper to make and thus common enough for Cadia's rank and file. Or it's just a matter of thickness. Lots of options here, all depending on one's interpretation.

I always took it to be that Armour points were an abstraction of both strength of the material and the coverage. To me pretty much all the helmets would provide the AP 5/6 of carapace in "hardness", but because they leave the face and neck relatively exposed they get 3 or 4 points.

I didn't realise there was a 2 point helmet. My guess is that it would be a small skull cap thing with minimal padding, largely worn under forage caps… or even sneakily stuck under those Catachan bandanas (where they are wearing them over the full skull rather than just as a band round their head).

borithan said:

That was my take on it too.

In DH, for instance the Flak Helmet was 3 armour points, I figured that it was the same helmet as 4 ap guard flak armour when used with the neck protection you would get with a full suit.

Knowing that the actual cloth was the armour I'd assume that the really oldschool jumpsuit was the equivalent of guard flak armour and by extension any IG regiment with full uniforms. So I thought that the Cadia armour with the plates might even be good or better quality (which they might have well have done considering how good upgrading armour is in the regimental creation you might as well have given the all Cadians).

If your answer to the question was not "Trust in the Emperor" and/or "Honour Your Wargear", you're doing it heretically wrong, and will be punished under Articles 8533/26q (Failure to honour the glorious offices of the Departmento Munitorum) and 9898/23t (Disputing a decision of the Departmento Munitorum). (Imperial Munitorum Manual)

Hey I know I'm kinda late to this discussion, but I think I have a potential solution. If your main concern about the armor is for melee combat purposes you could simply assess a penalty to Weapon Skill, Dodge, and Parry equal to 1, 2, or even 3 times their armor bonus depending on how much you were trying to hamper armored characters.

I see this being used as two ways, a heroic campaing in which nameless NPC's are the only ones who suffer from these penalties while the PC's are immune as well as key opponents. In this situation it can be assumed the PC's and key opponents have received sufficient training to negate any penalties in close combat.

The second option would be to turn armor proficiency into a skill or talent of sorts.

Armor Proficiency 1- 3

Despite the protection offered by most modern armors an often unconsidered fact is the encumberance caused by that very same protection. Some units such as the Catachan Jungle Fighters and Tallarn Desert Raiders have learned to balance these advantages by equpping themselves with the minimum amount of protection, concentrating armor over their vital organs in an effort to maintain mobility. Other units such as the famed Kasrkin of Cadia or forces of the elite Imperial Stormtroopers not only prefer heavier armors but train rigorously in an attempt to wear the armor as a second skin, often feeling extremely uncomfortable in situations in which they're forced to operate unarmored.

Aptitudes: Defence, Fieldcraft.

Tier 1 reduces the penalty of armor bonus from X3 single highest worn armor value to X2 single highest worn armor value

Tier 2 reduces the penalty of armor bonus from X2 single highest worn armror value to X1 single highest worn armor value

Tier 3 reduces the penalty of armor bonus from X1 single highest worn armor value to no penalties.

Also if you don't like that option for a more specific micromanagy feel you could simple dictate that you add all armor ratings together and apply them as a penalty to Dodge, Parry, and Weapons skill, as well as potentially any movement or defensive skill.

so a Catachan wearing a flak vest would only suffer a -3, a Tallarn with a flak headwrap and Flak vest would be -5 (2 headwrap/ helm and 3 vest) and while a regular Guardsmen would suffer a -16 to those skills because of the 4 armor bonus in each location… and once again you could dictate certain individuals possess the training to overcome the penalties otherwise StormTroopers would suffer a -24… which would be incongruent with their operation. Or you could modify the tiered skill/talent somehow, maybe breaking to total armor bonus into thirds and reduce the penalty incrimentally with each tier.

So a Tier 1 proficient stormtrooper would suffer a -16 (24-8, 8 being 1/3 of 24) a Tier 2 -8 and a Tier 3 -0

That would make a simple Flak Vest useful while both maintaining protection and somewhat balancing the fact there are only ouright benfits with no drawbacks to wearing armor.

Hope that helps, it something I've been pondering as well but this is all pretty much off the top of my head. Personally Catachans are my favorite Guardsmen and I like to play heroic cinematic games as oppossed to meatgrinder, pure by the numbers type games… In a cinematic game I expect what I call "Cojones bonuses" for doing ballsy **** in the grim dark universe in nothing but a flak armor manzier.

Could just give Catachan players Unnatural Toughness (1). In regards to helmets I could see them using them to hide traps under or stick on their gun and try and lure out snipers, or a pot to boil water