Weapons45

The signature Indirect piece of the grinding advance — a mortar walked forward shell by shell to fall just ahead of the marching line. Its Blast scatters a burst across massed infantry, Knockback staggers what it does not kill, and Indirect lets it drop onto ground its crew cannot see. When a shell scatters wide it seeds a marker of smoke over the open ground, screening the advance rather than wasting the round. It is slow and cannot be hurried, but a Korps line times its whole march to the rhythm of its falling barrage.

The entrenching pick is the Korps' spade rebuilt as a killing tool — a bladed, weighted head fitted to the shaft every Korpsman already carries to dig the ground he fights over. It cuts through the earth to raise cover in minutes and cuts through a body just as readily, a heavy point driven with a soldier's whole weight behind it. In the trenches it does double duty: dig the position, then hold it, the same tool that shapes the battlefield turned on whoever comes to take it. It is a grim, practical weapon for a grim, practical soldiery, and it never runs empty.

A long steel lance couched for the Death Rider's charge, made to strike once and strike hard. On the turn it makes contact it drives home with added force and armour-splitting bite, punching through plate that would turn a lesser blow; after that first impact the lance is spent and settles to ordinary melee work. It rewards a rider who picks his moment — a single decisive charge into a flank or a lone target — rather than a grinding brawl, where its one great blow has already been thrown.

A short, brutal scatter-gun built for the close work of a trench, where the Korps does most of its killing. Its Scattershot spreads a wide cone at point-blank range, Knockback throws a staggered target back a pace, and Rapid Fire (1) lets a steady shooter loose a second load into the press. It has no reach worth the name — beyond a dozen inches it is little more than a club — but inside a dugout or across a parapet it clears bodies faster than anything else a masked trooper can carry.

The trench-sweeper is a Krieg siege pattern, a long-barrelled scattergun rebuilt from a lasgun stock and a shotgun receiver for one purpose: clearing a trench of the enemy holding it. It throws a wide, punishing charge that knocks a body down and keeps it down, and its heavier feed rarely leaves a Korpsman with a dead weapon at the moment the assault goes in over the parapet. It is the tool the masked ranks carry into the close, filthy work at the end of the grinding advance, where the fight is a metre of mud and whoever fires first walks out of the trench.

Autocannon: the long-range workhorse of the heavy-weapons squad, reaching out to 48" and punching Strength 7 rounds clean through light armour and cover alike. Its Rapid Fire lets it stitch a target with a burst, and its Damage 2 shells fell all but the toughest bodies. It is Unwieldy, wanting a braced position and a still moment to shoot, but sited on a firing line it is the Guard's answer to almost anything short of a tank — the gun that reaches furthest and hits hardest in a mortal muster's hands.

Autogun: a rugged solid-slug rifle, the stubborn cousin of the lasgun favoured by regiments who trust brass and powder over energy cells. It matches the lasgun's reach and Strength, trading the las-weapon's reliability for the simple violence of a bullet, and its Rapid Fire lets a trooper double his volume up close. It is a line weapon like any other — nothing exceptional in one man's hands, murderous in a hundred firing together. Where the lasgun hums, the autogun barks.

Autopistol: a compact solid-slug sidearm, the backup of officers and troopers who want a second gun in the close press. As a Pistol it can be fired in melee, and its Rapid Fire gives it a spiteful volume at short range. It is a weapon of last resort and opportunity — drawn when the rifle runs dry or the enemy is too close for it, emptied into a foe at arm's length. Modest on its own, it is the difference between a cornered man and a dead one.

Battle cannon: the great turret gun of the Guard's tanks, a breech-loaded siege piece that lobs a heavy high-explosive shell to burst over whatever it lands near. Its Blast scatters a whole squad with a single round, its Strength and Damage gut all but the heaviest bodies, and the Knockback throws survivors flat and shaken. It is ponderous and Unwieldy — it needs a tank's hull and a trained crew to serve it — but a shell that reaches out to the far edge of the field and falls on massed infantry, light armour or a fortified position alike makes it the tank-line's hammer. Where the enemy gathers, the battle cannon is the answer: one shot, and the ground where they stood is fire.

Bayonet: a plain blade fixed to the muzzle of a lasgun or autogun, turning every trooper's rifle into a spear at a moment's notice. It adds nothing to a fighter's Strength and asks no skill — it is simply there, the reason a Guardsman is never truly unarmed in the press. 'Fix bayonets' is the order that sends a firing line surging into melee as one, cold steel finishing what the volley began. The humblest weapon in the armoury, and the one every man carries.

Boltgun: a mass-reactive bolt weapon, heavier and deadlier than the lasgun and issued only to veterans and officers who have earned it. Each round is a self-propelled shell that detonates inside its target — Strength 4, Damage 2, biting through armour the las-line cannot touch — and its Rapid Fire rewards closing the range. It is a mark of rank as much as a weapon, the gun of a soldier trusted with real firepower, and in a veteran's hands it drops foes a firing line of Guardsmen would struggle to bring down.

Bolt Pistol: the sidearm of officers, a compact bolt weapon that fires the same detonating shells as the boltgun. As a Pistol it serves in the close press, its Strength 4 and Damage 2 rounds cracking armour that would shrug off a laspistol, and its Rapid Fire adding weight up close. It is the mark of a commander at the sharp end — the gun a Company Commander or Commissar draws when the fighting reaches him, as ready to steady the line as to break a charging foe.

Bullgryn Maul: a massive power-maul swung by a Bullgryn, paired with the slabshield that gives its name to the loadout. It strikes at Strength +3 with brutal Concussion force, battering foes senseless and hurling them back, while its Shield turns aside fire from the front as the abhuman advances. It is a wall and a hammer in one — a Bullgryn behind maul and slabshield walks through a firing line and caves in whatever it reaches. Slow, unsubtle, and very nearly unstoppable at close quarters.

Catachan Fighting Knife: a heavy fighting blade, forged and carried by the jungle regiments who live and die by close work. It strikes at Strength +1 and carries the Catachan trait, favouring the veteran killer who closes to knife-range and finishes the fight in the dark. It is a weapon of ambush and butchery, not of the firing line — the tool of soldiers who let the enemy come close, then rise from cover to gut them. In the right hands it is deadlier than any lasgun.

Chainsword: a roaring blade of powered, whirling teeth, carried by sergeants and officers into the melee. It strikes at Strength +1 with Rending that tears through armour and flesh alike, and its Parry lets a skilled wielder turn aside an enemy's blow. It is the iconic close-combat arm of the Imperial line-officer — a weapon that heartens the men who follow it as much as it maims the foe. Where a Sergeant's chainsword revs, the squad behind him fixes bayonets and follows.

Demolition Charge: a satchel of high explosive hurled or planted by demolition troopers, capable of gutting a squad or cracking a fortification in a single blast. Strength 8 and Damage 3 across a Blast radius, it is the heaviest thing an infantryman can throw — and Scarce, a One-shot weapon spent once and gone. It suits the ambusher and the siege-breaker: one perfectly placed charge decides an engagement. There is no second throw, so the trooper who carries it chooses his moment with care.

Earthshaker cannon: the long gun of the Guard's self-propelled artillery, a howitzer that arcs a heavy shell over ridgeline and rooftop to fall on foes it cannot even see. Its Indirect fire ignores line of sight, dropping ordnance where the enemy thought a wall or a reverse slope kept them safe; its wide Blast scatters a massed formation, and its Strength and Damage break light armour and fortified line alike. It reaches far past any return fire, but it is Unwieldy and blind on its own — a soft-skinned back-line piece that lives on a spotter's marks and the reach of its barrel. Given a target and a moment, no cover on the field is truly cover: the earthshaker simply drops the sky on it.

Entrenching Tool: the short, sharpened spade of a siege trooper, an Improvised melee weapon that swings at Strength +1 in the trenches. It is the same tool that carves cover from bare ground, doubling as spade and cudgel for the regiments who fight from holes they dig themselves. No one arms a soldier with it for its killing power — but a cornered trooper with a spade is no easy kill, and in the mud of a siege line it has cracked as many skulls as it has moved earth.

Flamer: a promethium projector that washes a gout of burning fuel across everything before it. As a Template weapon it needs no roll to hit — it simply engulfs whatever lies under it — and its Blaze can leave victims aflame long after the stream cuts off. It is the special-weapons trooper's answer to massed bodies and entrenched foes, clearing cover and dug-in enemies that a firing line cannot dig out. Short-ranged and merciless, it turns a held position into an inferno.

Frag Grenade: a fragmentation bomb thrown into a cluster of foes, bursting into a lethal spray of shrapnel. Its Blast catches everything in the radius and its Knockback throws survivors off their feet, scattering a tight enemy formation or clearing a stretch of cover. It is the universal infantry grenade — carried by nearly every trooper, pitched over a barricade or into a doorway to soften a position before the squad rushes it. Simple, plentiful, and everywhere the Guard fight.

Grenade Launcher: a shoulder-fired launcher that lobs frag or krak shells out to 24", letting a single trooper deliver grenade firepower far beyond throwing range. Loaded with frag, it scatters a Blast across massed infantry; loaded with krak, it puts a focused Knockback shell into armour or a Brute. Its versatility is the point — one weapon, two answers, chosen shell by shell to meet whatever the squad faces. It is the special-weapons trooper's flexible option, reaching where a thrown grenade never could.

Heavy Bolter: a crew-served bolt weapon that hoses detonating shells in a withering stream — Strength 5, Damage 2, with Rapid Fire (2) laying down a torrent no single rifle can match. Its shells crack armour and shred bodies alike, making it the terror of massed infantry and light targets. It is Unwieldy, wanting a braced mount and a still moment, but sited on a heavy-weapons team it is the Guard's mainstay heavy gun — the sustained fire the whole firing line is built to support.

Heavy Flamer: a heavier promethium projector, throwing a larger and hotter Template of burning fuel than the standard flamer. Strength 5 with Blaze, it engulfs everything under it and leaves fire clinging behind, scouring entrenched foes and massed bodies from cover in a single wash. It is Unwieldy, a heavy-weapons burden rather than a trooper's tool, but where it advances nothing dug in survives the flame. The dug-out that laughs at rifle fire does not laugh at this.

Heavy Stubber: a belt-fed solid-slug machine gun, the crude and reliable cousin of the heavy bolter. Strength 4 with Rapid Fire (2), it pours a heavy stream of rounds into massed infantry, trading the bolter's armour-cracking bite for sheer volume of fire. It is Unwieldy and wants a braced position, but it is the workhorse suppression gun of a heavy-weapons team — the weapon that pins a line in place and shreds anything caught crossing open ground. Simple, loud, and endlessly hungry for ammunition.

Hot-Shot Lasgun: the storm-trooper's rifle, a high-energy lasgun that trades the standard weapon's efficiency for real armour-piercing bite — Strength 3 at AP-2, punching through protection the ordinary lasgun glances off. Its Rapid Fire rewards the close, precise engagement the storm-trooper regiments favour. It is the mark of an elite line: fewer guns than a Guard muster, but each one able to threaten armour the massed lasgun cannot. In a disciplined volley, hot-shot fire cuts down foes the line would otherwise struggle to touch.

Hot-Shot Laspistol: the storm-trooper's sidearm, a compact high-energy las weapon carrying the same AP-2 armour-piercing bite as its rifle. As a Pistol it serves in the close press, its charged shots cracking protection an ordinary laspistol would never touch. It is the backup of an elite drop-trooper — a second, armour-piercing gun for the moment the fight closes to arm's length. Small, sharp, and a cut above the sidearms the line carries.

Inferno cannon: the tank-scale kin of the heavy flamer, a pressurised projector that vents a sheet of burning promethium across a whole frontage. Its Template catches everything in the gout at once, its Strength and Damage tear through flak and light plate, and the Blaze it leaves clinging sets men alight and screaming long after the flame has passed. It is Unwieldy — a fuel-fed monster that belongs on a hull, not a shoulder — and its volatile tanks make the machine that carries it as fragile as the foe it immolates. Its work is short and merciless: race into range, wash a dug-in position or a packed advance in fire, and leave nothing standing that can still burn.

Krak Grenade: a shaped-charge grenade built to crack armour rather than scatter shrapnel — Strength 6 at AP-1 and Damage 2, focused into a single armour-breaking blast. Where a frag grenade is thrown at bodies, a krak is thrown at a tank's tracks, a Brute's hide, or a fortified wall. It is the infantry's answer to targets the lasgun cannot dent, carried alongside frag so a trooper has a reply to armour as well as men. One good throw can lame a war-machine a firing line could never stop.

Lascannon: the Guard's premier anti-armour weapon, spearing a lance of energy through the thickest hull — Strength 9 at AP-4, Damage D3+2, and lethal to Brutes and vehicles above all. It reaches out to 48" and needs only one clean hit to gut a tank. It is Unwieldy and fires slowly, wanting a braced position and a patient gunner, but it is the single weapon a mortal line trusts against a war-machine. When a Baneblade grinds forward, the lascannon is the muster's one honest answer.

Lasgun: the standard-issue rifle of the Imperial line and the doctrinal heart of the whole armoury — the humble las-weapon in the hands of a hundred million Guardsmen. Strength 3 and utterly ordinary in one man's grip, it is reliable above all: it rarely jams and never runs short of charge. Its Rapid Fire is the foundation of the massed volley, the "First Rank, Fire!" that makes a firing line lethal. No single lasgun decides a battle. A thousand firing as one, under an officer's Order, win the Emperor's wars.

Laspistol: the compact sidearm of the las-family, a reliable backup drawn when the rifle is spent or the enemy has closed. As a Pistol it fires in the melee, its low-energy shots no great threat alone but always to hand and always ready. It is the officer's and specialist's second weapon, and the trooper's comfort in the close press — modest, dependable, and never out of charge. Like the lasgun it serves beside, its worth is not one shot but the certainty that it will fire.

Meltagun: a short-ranged thermal weapon that fires a blast of fusion heat capable of vaporising armour — Strength 8 at AP-4, Damage 3, with the Melta trait making it devastating up close. It is the special-weapons trooper's tank-killer of choice, melting through a hull or a Brute's hide where nothing else in the squad could. Scarce and short-legged, it demands the trooper close to lethal range and make the shot count. One melta at point-blank ends what a lascannon might take from afar.

Missile Launcher: a shoulder-braced tube that delivers frag or krak warheads out to 48", the heavy-weapons squad's flexible answer to any threat. A frag missile scatters a Blast across massed infantry; a krak missile drives a focused armour-breaking shell into a tank or Brute. One weapon covers two roles, chosen warhead by warhead to meet what the field throws up. It is Unwieldy and static, but well-sited it lets a single team threaten both a mob and a war-machine without changing guns.

Mortar: an indirect-fire tube that lobs shells over walls and cover onto foes its crew cannot even see. Its Indirect trait ignores line of sight, dropping a Blast onto entrenched or hidden enemies who thought themselves safe, and its long reach lets a team shell a position from well back. It is the siege regiments' weapon — patient, unglamorous, raining shells on a dug-in enemy until the ground is untenable. Unwieldy and slow, it wins by attrition, not by any single decisive round.

Multi-laser: the workhorse turret laser of the motor pool, a cycling battery of las-emitters that hoses a target with a torrent of bolts rather than a single killing beam. Its Rapid Fire lets it rake a knot of infantry or stitch a light hull with a burst, and its long reach keeps it firing across the width of a battlefield. It wants a stable mount and a moment's aim — it is Unwieldy in the way every vehicle heavy weapon is — so it rides a turret or a wing hardpoint rather than a trooper's shoulder. It cracks light armour where it must, but its true work is volume: the Guard's answer to a swarm, mounted where the frame can soak the recoil and the crew can keep the barrels turning.

Photon Flash Grenade: a non-lethal grenade that bursts in a blinding pulse of light rather than shrapnel. It deals no wound, but its Flash blinds and disorients everything in the radius, leaving dazzled foes struggling to see or aim. It is a tool of the ambush and the assault — pitched ahead of a charge to blind a firing line, or into a chokepoint to buy the squad the moment it needs to cross. A grenade that kills no one and yet decides the exchange that follows.

Plasma Gun: a special weapon that fires bolts of superheated plasma, deadly to armour and elite bodies alike. Fired safely it strikes at Strength 6; Overcharged it climbs to Strength 7 at AP-3 and Damage 3 — enough to fell almost anything on two legs — but the Unstable charge risks burning the trooper who fires it. Its Rapid Fire rewards the closer engagement. It is the special-weapons trooper's high-risk answer to heavy infantry and light armour: immense power for the man brave or desperate enough to overcharge it.

Plasma Pistol: a rare and dangerous officer's sidearm, firing the same superheated plasma as its larger cousin from a compact frame. Fired safely it strikes at Strength 5; Overcharged it reaches Strength 7 at AP-2 and Damage 3, cracking armour no other pistol could touch — at the Unstable risk of the weapon backfiring on its wielder. As a Pistol it serves in the close press. It is the mark of a commander who wants a heavy-hitter to hand, and the nerve to overcharge it when the moment demands.

Power Fist: an armoured gauntlet sheathed in a disruptive energy field, turning an officer's punch into a wrecking blow — Strength +2, AP-3, Damage 2, splitting armour and Brutes alike. Its Power ignores the protection lesser blades glance off, and it hits hard enough to fell a target nothing else in a mortal muster could. It is Unwieldy, slow to swing and hard to time, but a single connecting blow ends almost anything. The officer's answer to a foe too tough for steel.

Power Sword: an officer's energy-sheathed blade, its edge wreathed in a disruptive field that shears through armour — AP-2, cutting where an ordinary sword would turn. Its Power bites into protection that stops a chainsword, and its Parry lets a skilled officer turn aside an enemy's strike. Lighter and quicker than a power fist, it is the duellist's weapon of the Imperial command — the blade a Commander or Commissar carries to cut down a champion the firing line could not reach.

Ripper-Gun: the crude, over-built weapon of an Ogryn, as much a club as a gun. Fired, it hammers Strength 5 shells in a short-ranged Rapid Fire burst; swung, its bulk and blades club a foe in melee — a dual-profile weapon for a creature that fights at both ranges without changing arms. It is heavy, imprecise, and exactly suited to its wielder: an Ogryn does not need finesse, only a weapon that hits hard whether the enemy is across the room or in its face.

Multiple rocket pods: the strafing armament of the Guard's gunships, banks of light rockets salvoed in a single screaming pass. The Blast of each warhead scatters massed infantry, and the Rapid Fire volume means a run empties a spread of them across a whole advance at once — an area-suppression weapon that trades a single shell's weight for the terror of many. Slung on wing hardpoints, it looses on the sweep in, softening a landing zone or breaking a formation before the craft banks away. Individually its rockets are light; delivered by the dozen from a flyer's speed, they turn open ground into a killing field for the moment the gunship is overhead.

Shotgun: a close-range scattergun favoured by combat troopers and jungle fighters, brutal where the fighting is near. Strength 4 with Knockback throws a struck foe off his feet, and its Scattershot spreads at short range to catch a target the trooper might otherwise miss. It has no reach to speak of, but in the close press — a doorway, a treeline, a boarding action — it is savage. The weapon of the soldier who fights at arm's length and means to win there.

Smoke Grenade: a grenade that bursts into a dense, drifting cloud rather than shrapnel, dealing no wound but blocking line of sight through the smoke. Thrown to screen an advance, cover a withdrawal, or blind an enemy gun-line, it buys the muster the one thing a mortal force always needs — a moment unseen. A firing line that cannot see cannot fire, and a well-placed screen lets the Guard cross ground that open sight would have made a killing field.

Sniper Rifle: a long-barrelled precision weapon in the hands of a regiment's best marksmen, built to kill a single chosen target at range. Its Sniper trait lets it pick out and strike a specific enemy where a firing line only sprays, and its Knockback fells the victim of a well-placed round. It fires slowly and deliberately, one careful shot at a time, reaching out to 36". It is the counterpoint to the massed volley: not weight of fire, but one bullet, aimed, for the enemy who most needs to fall.