The much Maligned Lasgun

[grimmas]

I've been considering Lasguns of late. I know, l know not the most exciting of topics but I do this to wind down 🙂. This all started after viewing the 173rd comedy cartoon on a Facebook group I frequent about "flashlights" oh the mirth. It's one of those tired old jokes that needs to go, I blame the red period (which is my default option with most things). Popular myth is that this is a nickname that Guardsmen give lasguns. It isn't it's a quip made by Ian Strickland in an article on the Veteran skills in the second edition Imperial Guard Codex. Something about the life expectancy of a human armed with a flashlight in a galaxy full of Orks, space marines and daemons (apologies I can't give a full reference and quote after a regrettable incident with an ex my WD collection is missing a chunk). It's was quite funny at the time but after being endlessly rehashed over the last 20 years it's become a bit tired.

Lasguns far from being a joke are actually superb pieces of military hardware. They are easy to mass produce (once the tech is in place). They are supremely reliable containing very few moving parts, requiring no lubricant and they don't have ejection ports or open barrels that can be fouled or allow dirt in them. Lasers are also very very accurate. They travel at the speed of light for a start that means they will reach the target nearly instantaneously. Light also won't be effected by levels of gravity that a human soldier could tolerate so the the shots won't drop so no parabolic effect. So what the weapons is aimed at it's going to hit. The Lasguns is also individually versatile, add a long barrel and it's a sniper weapon (I'm assuming it increases the lethal range as it won't make any difference to the accuracy ), stick a hotshot power pack in it and it becomes an elephant gun or overload it and it become an explosive.

Their ammunition is a battery that can by mass produced in one piece they don't need for bullets and magazines. The battery contains enough juice for 100 shots and is smaller and lighter than the magazines that appear on auto/bolt weapons while providing a greater capacity. These power packs could also be combined to power the larger Las weapons which would drain them instantly but this may have been altered (annoyingly)bro the larger weapons needing special power packs. However they can be recharged easily either from a power source, left in the sun or popped on the fire. This is amazing. Basically means that Guardsmen are incredibly self sufficient they can resupply themselves with ammo.

It's much maligned stopping power is also very good. Torso shots to humans are considered so likely to be fatal they aren't worth treating. A good hit is also capable of severing limbs. That takes massive energy to achieve. In modern terms you are looking at .50 BMG to achieve that (which I know after doing a ballistic first aid course run by an ex Army medic which left me knowing far too much detail on these things) . Which incidentally is a round considered massive overkill when used on people it's for shooting light armoured vehicles, planes and non hardened buildings. Yes there are things tougher than human beings in the Galaxy but when you consider they are just as likely to be facing off against other people that isn't so much of an issue. In fact the only mention of its lack of firepower is that it isn't the most powerful weapon the imperium possesses but when you think about what it's being compared to that's not a terrible indictment.

The bolt gun is a ludicrous weapon. It fires a .75 (20mm) round, that's massive for anti personnel purposes it's taking the aforementioned .50 (12.7mm) round and adding a 7.62 mm to it. Incidentally a 7.62 round is considered to be the top end of what the military uses for anti personnel use currently. It is also armour piercing and explosive. Not fragmentation mind you, mass reactive so it explodes inside the target. On people it would literally blow them to pieces.

Here's a picture of something from real life that uses a 20mm explosive round.




Yep that's in a turret on a ship.

Bear In mind as well how strong that makes flak armour in comparison with what we have available today. Modern body armour would not stop a .50 cal round.

Of course I am ignoring game rules as they don't really represent he background too well and each increment represents a massive variety. For example S3 represents the whole range of human strength that quite a range.

So TLR Lasguns are great, yes they aren't very powerful I'm comparison to Boltguns but that because boltguns are so rediculously powerful.

[Mr Mystery]

Yup.

Lasguns are a Soldier's weapon. Reliable, easily maintained, near infinite ammo. Very, very little not to like. NATO has adopted a standard round size for ease of supply on cooperative operations. Lasguns are that writ large. No matter the pattern, the bog standard powerpack will fit your Lasgun - and that keeps you fighting. You can also carry more of them about your person without being ridiculously weighed down. Their relative ease of recharge means your logistics don't have to worry about the footsloggers, and can instead focus their attention on the big guns, like your Artillery.

It's a damned near perfect weapon, especially for an outfit like the Astra Militarum where there will be thousands of the things going off at once - each shot needs to have an impact, but doesn't have to be a straight kill on it's own.

Bolters? That's a terror weapon. It's about the psychology of it. Not only are your mates exploding around you in showers of gore, but the guy that's doing it? No camouflage. No attempt to hide. Big, bright primary colours. They're also a sod to maintain, ridiculously heavy in themselves, and require specialist ammo that's damned hard to come by for the most part. Bolters are a weapon you use when every shot has to be a kill shot. Even a partial hit can de-limb an opponent. Missed their central body mass and head? Don't worry, you took their legs clean off anyways.

[Morgrim]

If you play the FFG RPGs like Dark Heresy or Rogue Trader you soon discover that lasguns and flak armour are really nice things to have. They're very nice weapons to use against other humans, and the majority of the enemies the bog standard troopers are fighting are likely to be other humans. And in enough number they do a decent job against most other things as well.

Okay, so maybe not heavy armour (that's when you need your own, but they're GOOD at that too) or daemons (who are considered near universally someone else's problem. Preferably someone in power armour.)

[Charon]

For example S3 represents the whole range of human strength that quite a range.

Except that it does not. It represents the AVERAGE of a well trained and physically fit human beeing.

[CoffeeGrunt]

Compared to today, the Lasgun is a miracle weapon as you say. No recoil, no parabolic trajectory, no flight time worth noting. It's most perfectly accurate weapon you could give to a normal human. Add onto that its simple design, robust construction and beautiful reliability, and it's the kind of weapon born to be cranked out by the billion. Flak Armour as well is pretty great in comparison to modern armour, given that the Bolt gun effectively fires anti light vehicle rounds, so Flak Armour losing out to that is pretty fair.

It's the AK47 of the 41st Millennium. Anyone can be taught to use it, anyone can maintain it, and it can be found almost everywhere in some form or another.

Sadly, it's an incredibly weak weapon in-universe. It hasn't got the stopping power to put down a scary target, and it doesn't have the penetrative capability to get through any armour of note. To an Astartes, they're little more than a nuisance in almost all instances.

By comparison, the Bolt Gun is a horrific weapon intended to be used on anything the Legiones Astartes came across, and is versatile as a result. Unlike the Lasgun, specialist ammo can be loaded in. This is more versatile than simply making it a Sniper or a Hotshot, it can now fire micro-plasma rounds, horrifically acidic rounds or airburst rounds. A soldier can switch between these as fast as reloading, and an Astartes with their skill, reflexes and training can take this weapon and make it a slayer of armies.

This is handy considering that against a Carnifex, for example, both weapons are actually just as effective as each other. Bolt weapons, despite their ludicrous design, can't reliably put down a Necron Warrior or Tau Crisis Suit, nor can they do much more than antagonise a 'Fex unless you have a stupendous number of them. They only kill an Ork half of the time as well, and those come in huge numbers.

TL; DR, 40K has some ridiculous weapons, such that these two awesome weapons are actually the most banal and weak in the setting, arguably. I mean, the Pulse Rifle is better than both, and the Shuriken Catapult is insanity, and that's without going beyond standard Troop weapons...

[grimmas]

Except that it does not. It represents the AVERAGE of a well trained and physically fit human beeing.

Ok sort of. It represents imperial soldiers. But it still ranges from fopish Mordian Iron guard officers all the way up to baby Ogryn Catachans (Harker withstanding but that's Codex creep for you) it's still quite a range. No unaugmented human being is as supposed to be as strong as a Marine and even then it's very very rare, remember Qurze over powering the enhanced bodyguard fella in Galaxy in Flames.

Good point Morgrim the RPGs do a much better job of showing the detail of these things. Inquistor did a very good job of showing how scary a Space Marine is for example

[Djbz]

On the subject of Lasguns I'd love for them to make rules for Triplex Lasguns, which are referenced in the background of the last Imperial Guard codex(And are used in the Gaunt's Ghost novels)
Being able to turn the lasgun power up or down (up for stronger, better Ap and range at expense of shots. Down for more shots at the expense of strength and range).
Something like
Triplex Lasgun (Low power) Range 18" Str 2 Ap- Assault 3 (or 4)
Triplex Lasgun (Max power) Range 30" St 4 Ap4 Heavy 1

[Mr Mystery]

Inquisitor only showed that a Space Marine did more damage flicking individual bolt rounds at people than actually firing them

[grimmas]

Inquisitor only showed that a Space Marine did more damage flicking individual bolt rounds at people than actually firing them

Yep and running around clapping people's heads into red mist.

[JamesP]

Inquisitor only showed that a Space Marine did more damage flicking individual bolt rounds at people than actually firing them

In a Deathwatch game we did, a Space Shark destroyed a Rogue Psyker by picking up a stunned Marine and throwing him at the psychic abomination. We couldn't agree on who got to paint the kill marking on their armour afterwards.