weaponology?

[chaplain belisarius]

how about this for an idea-a run down of all weapons available to marines?

 

any thoughts on this? :P

[minigun762]

I remember there was a post like this before, but I can't seem to find it.

 

Gave a brief paragraph on each weapon.

[chaplain belisarius]

i reckon a thread like this (along with the enemies 101 thread) should be stickied for all new members to read through...good idea? :P

[chapter master 454]

I shal kick off the weapon run down with a few of my favourites and let people do theirs in turn along with a few that I feel may be ignored.

 

Thunderfire cannon, TFC:

Known as the glass cannon of the marines, this weapon will look at horde armies and nearly glance itself with laughter. This piece of artillery can lay low ork hordes or squads of tactical marines. With 4 blasts coming down range from this piece, it often gets the attention of about every anti-tank weapon the enemy has. Often quite scarey to watch one light up a squad. However for all their range and power, they lack staying power; one glance on that cannon and it's gone. However at 100 points, it's a bargain considering you also get a techmarine with it.

 

Conversion Beamer, CB:

This thing is rather unusual in how it works. Once the final position of the weapons blast marker is found, you consult it's weapon profile to find out what power it is; longer the range, the more power it carries (however anything over 72" is a miss so ironically you can miss with a blast weapon in this weapons case). At full power this thing can put down a land raider with ease while at short range is somewhat lacking where it could be good. However, for a cheap 120 points it's quite worth while if facing imperial guard or tau who like their shooting. Lets you even things up. (note only a master of the forge can take one of these). Often helps to place two plasma cannon servitors as the guards of the MotF with this: ether way they're getting blasted by something nasty.

 

Whirlwind missle launcher:

While not used often due to better options being available (in my case, a TFC) these things aren't weak. They can fire a pie plate at great range and from hiding and act like a cheap pie plate delivery system that makes up for it's lack of comparable punch with consistent pounding. They also pack a cover ignoring pie plate that sacrifices some punch for cover negation but being able to tell Eldar to get stuffed when they say pathfinders (or rangers or whatever they are flipping called) have a 2+ cover save. Tends to mess their plans up something nasty. Cheap and cheerful, you can't really go wrong with a whirlwind missle launcher in all seriousness.

 

plasma cannon, PC: This thing is considered the murderer of terminators and is often considered a potent weapon of destruction. A plasma weapon with blast. The range on it is limited to a heavy bolters which does mean extensive ranged fights may find it lacking however in most cases it will have the reach to destroy. Few infantry units can look at a plasma cannon and not soil their armour saves and even then often the unit has some special rule or they are just mad to run/look at a plasma cannon. Gets hot is often the arguement many people call you out on when they don't trust theses weapons but when they only have a 1 in 6 chance of getting hot, a further third of a chance from dying from it, it can be a worthwhile risk (considering how unlikely it is to die from plasma of your own using) when one shot can make terminators hide an entire game in a land raider until the cannon is gone. If that means they ain't getting out til turn 4, job done in that you just wasted that squads chances of charging a potiental target unit (since if that unit runs afterwards, they are royally boned). So far, only TH/SS assault terminators (and lysander who catchs plasma cannon shots with his bare teeth) will give you the middle digit if you wave a plasma cannon around.

 

Think I covered a good couple here, may add more later.

[pueriexdeus]

I think you can find this on page 97 of the Codex: Space Marines. Though you will probably have to seek out the other SM Codei as GW is incapable of keeping things consistent between the Chapters.

[Xeonic]

The wargear entries in the codex tell you nothing about application of the weapons or their impact on the tabletop.

 

I'll do an easy couple:

 

Bolter, Bolt pistol, Storm Bolter:

This above average basic weapon is your bread and butter in any space marine army. With a respectable S4 allowing it to deal reasonably well with most basic troop models(having difficulties with feel no pain and/or T5 models such as bikers or plague marines!), and AP 5 allowing it to ignore all but the sturdiest of personal body armor(such as carapace or power armor), the humble bolter may not be the answer to everything, but it's generally going to be the weapon that gets you the most troop kills in many games. Bolters are 24" Rapid-fire, Bolt Pistols are er, Pistols, and Storm Bolters are 24" Assault 2.

 

Heavy Bolter:

This old reliable standby fills the role of anti-troop and is often vehicle mounted singly or in twin-linked mounts. A moderate S5 makes wounding most troops pretty easy, and respectable 36" range coupled with AP4 means it ignores the bulk of some armies' armor(anything worse than power armor!). As there are far more effective weapons for mulching troops the heavy bolter is often dismissed, and only taken where it is either free(land speeder typhoons spring to mind), or cheap(dakka pred, TLHB razorback, tac squads). Heavy bolters are often ignored as a man portable weapon in favor of the versatile missile launcher or the murderous plasma cannon, because their strengths are really only brought into play vs certain armies.

[Warp Angel]

The Weapon effectiveness assumes a basic Marine statline (S,WS,BS, etc = 4.). In some cases the stat will only be 3 (posessed vehicles, scouts, Space Wolf "claw" units, etc). In other cases, it may be higher (usually characters). Unless specifically accounted for in the description below, it is up to the reader to decide how to interpret weapon effectiveness for themselves.

 

Bolt Weapons

Bolt Pistol - Standard equipment for most Space Marine units. With a range of only 12", moderate S and AP, it is best utilized against lightly armored enemy infantry in preparation for an assault. Units with a better save or high toughness suffer few wounds from this weapon. You need an average of 9 bolt pistol shots to inflict 1 casualty against an MEQ and those same 9 shots will average 4 wounds against GEQ.

 

Bolter - Standard equipment for most Space marine units. With it's ability to rapid fire and fire up to 24" if the unit has not moved, it is very flexible. Like the bolt pistol, it is used to best effect against lightly armored infantry, but cannot be used if you want to assault with that same unit that turn. You need an average of 9 bolter shots to inflict 1 casualty against an MEQ and those same 9 shots will average 4 wounds against GEQ.

 

Twin-Linked Bolter - Standard equipment on most bike units and found infrequently elsewhere, these are the most effective of the basic bolt weapons in the Space Marine arsenal. Because of their ability to reroll their to-hits, they inflict a significantly greater number of wounds, with an average of less than 7 shots to inflict 1 MEQ wound and more than 4 out of 7 against GEQ. Mounted on a vehicle or relentless platform, the full 24" range is available very frequently, as is the option to assault after shooting.

 

Hurricane Bolter - 3 Twin-Linked Bolters in a single weapon system, found on Land Raider Crusaders, an option on Stormravens, and infrequently as an option on Ironclad Dreadnaughts. The volume of fire this puts out at short range is significant, especially considering it qualifies under 5th ed rules as a "defensive" weapon. It's offensive capability is equal to that of the Twin-Linked bolter.

 

Storm Bolter - The basic shooting weapon of Grey Knights and tactical terminator squads and often part of vehicle weaponry, the storm bolter's 24" range provides great flexibility in deployment options on the battlefield, including the ability to use it in both shooting and assault. It's high volume of fire helps offset the bolt weapon's weaknesses against MEQ units. You need an average of 9 storm bolter shots to inflict 1 casualty against an MEQ and those same 9 shots will average 4 wounds against GEQ.

 

Combi-Bolter - This bolter variant is usually found on Chaos vehicles and termintors, this weapon is simply two bolters firing together, counting as a twin-linked bolter, or a bolter linked to a single shot version of another weapon. Variations include the Combi-Flamer, the Combi-Melta, and the Combi-Plasma. These variants will be covered in the appropriate weapon section for their one-shot weapon type.

 

Heavy Bolter - The Heavy Bolter is available in a variety of deployment options and is very versatile. It has a decent S and AP and is useful against most infantry and moderately useful against AV 10. Approximately 1 in 7 shots will cause a casualty to MEQ and 5 of 9 will kill a GEQ. 2 out of every 9 shots will inflict a glancing or penetrating hit against AV 10.

 

Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter - This weapon is standard on Razorbacks and is available on a fair number of vehicles, depending on Codex. This weapon is superior to the basic heavy bolter by virtue of it's re-rolls to hit. Approximately 2 out of every 9 shots will inflict an unsaved wound against an MEQ and more than 2 out of every 3 will kill a GEQ. More than 1 in 4 shots will inflict a glancing or penetrating hit against AV10.

 

Flamer Weapons

 

To be continued...