Bolt rifle, heavy bolt rifle, heavy bolter

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

I know on table top the difference seems negligible, but I like the fluff of three and the roles they fill.

 

so, some IRL gun/military chat.

 

the bolt rifle is just your standard combat rifle. M4/AK/G36 etc.

 

the heavy bolt rifle is an ‘automatic rifle’ a silly term in the modern era, but traditionally an automatic rifleman was a dude who carried a rifle nearly identical to the rest of the squad, except typically longer barrel, and heavier barrel, the carrying it often getting 40 round magazines and drum mags, this allows for better sustained firepower without lugging a full light machine gun around, and without the extra training requirements. Look at the AK47 and the RPK, or the G36 family and the MG36 (marine M4 and USMC’s new IAR technically but not doctrinally)

 

heavy bolter fills the role of a light machine gun for marines.

 

GW labels HIs as battleline, but realistically 4 dudes with IARs and an LMG/GPMG is definitely a fire support squad with extra maneuverability.

 

im not sure if this was an intentional design language or not, but its what they’ve ended up doing and i like it.

Edited May 3 by Inquisitor_Lensoven

[jaxom]

I have no idea what those letter number codes mean, but this all seems pretty cool.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

4 hours ago, jaxom said:

I have no idea what those letter number codes mean, but this all seems pretty cool.

Different families of guns lol

[MoriyaSchism]

The automatic rifle and SAW talk made me remember a conversion I saw from K0rdahl on Instagram. He made a SAW type bolter for Scouts out of a plasma incinerator, Heavy Intercessor box magazine and Phobos bolter. 

 

 

Edited May 5 by MoriyaSchism

[Evil Eye]

On 5/5/2026 at 10:30 AM, MoriyaSchism said:

The automatic rifle and SAW talk made me remember a conversion I saw from K0rdahl on Instagram. He made a SAW type bolter for Scouts out of a plasma incinerator, Heavy Intercessor box magazine and Phobos bolter. 

 

 

That's a really nice conversion!

 

 

On a semi related note I've been thinking about something similar, honestly. For the DIY ruleset I'm totally going to finish I swear guys, for the Marine Codex I had an axiom of "A Marine is a Marine, and a bolter is a bolter" in mind- basically, if a Primaris and Classic Marine or weapon fall into roughly the same niche they are represented by the same rules. A Tactical Marine with a boltgun is no different ruleswise than an Intercessor with a bolt rife, etc, so no matter whether you prefer Classic or Primaris, you can build your army more or less how you want. 

 

I should also note the system I have in mind draws from 4th edition primarily, albeit with some refinement and a few extra features, pilfered from other editions (notably the more diverse 2nd edition templates sans the thudd gun, and a burning mechanic similar to Warzone) and the weapon/shooting mechanics are very similar. The main difference is a slight tweak to Rapid Fire. In this system, a Rapid Fire gun can either fire once at full range or twice at half range, like in 4th except allowing for different ranges/rates of fire. If the squad moves, you can only fire the twice at half-range option. There is one third option, wherein you can only fire once at half range, but can then charge, which you normally can't with rapid fire guns.

 

As such, the basic weapon profiles are:

Bolt Pistol:
Range: 12" Strength: 4 AP: 5 Type: Pistol 1 (Pistols are functionally Assault weapons that count as a regular close combat weapon in melee, so using one with a CCW gets you an extra attack).

 

Boltgun:
Range: 24" Strength: 4 AP: 5 Type: Rapid Fire 1 (so can either fire one shot at 24", two shots at 12" or one shot at 12" and then charge).

 

Storm Bolter:
Range: 24" Strength: 4 AP: 5 Type: Assault 2.

 

Heavy Bolter:
Range: 36" Strength: 5 AP: 4 Type: Heavy 3.

 

At the moment it's pretty straightforward; bolt rifle = boltgun and bolt pistols (including heavy and absolver) are bolt pistols, and most other bolter variants fall into very slight variants of these. The two I'm not entirely sure on are bolt carbines and heavy bolt rifles. The former I think should be essentially shorter-ranged storm bolters, with the following profile:

 

Range: 18" Strength: 4 AP: 5 Type: Assault 2.

The latter I'm not sure how to stat or if they even really need their own profiles. If they were to be their own thing I'm not sure if they should be punchier or longer ranged. I'm torn between the following:
 

Range: 24" Strength: 5 AP: 5 Type: Rapid Fire 1.

Range: 36" Strength: 4 AP: 5 Type: Rapid Fire 1.

 

As they're a fairly specialist weapon rather than a standard line infantry firearm I think they could have their own profile.

 

I should also note that a few datasheets will be folded into one unit called a "Support Squad". These are effectively Space Marine Dominions; you can take 3-10 (with one being the Sergeant) and have the option of either taking 4 special weapons (plasma gun, flamer, meltagun, storm bolter or heavy bolt rifle) or 3 special weapons and one heavy weapon (plasma cannon, heavy flamer, multi-melta, heavy bolter or missile launcher). Things like Heavy Intercessors and melta Eradicators would be included under this umbrella. There may or may not be the option to take Gravis/heavy power armour, but I need to decide what that actually does (I'm leaning towards +1 toughness rather than a 2+ save).