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What is the metal bar on top of the las gun? Is it a type of optic? ? ?

It's a handle

A few Catachan arms are holding it by that bar. Definitely a monkey grip-style bar.

Ah I.c

Thx always thought it was some type of rifle optic.

It could also be part of the optical sights.
There are rifles these days with a simple optical setup in the carry handle.

I think it's just a carry handle. No point giving those apes equipment that is too sophisticated for them that just raises the cost per unit. Realistically, it's not like they will live long enough to figure out how to use it.

chromedog wrote:Realistically, it's not like they will live long enough to figure out how to use it.

Really?

"Any Cadian who can't field-strip his own lasgun by age ten was born on the wrong planet."

Cadia =/= rest of universe.

No, but it shows the training that the IG woud generally have - I doubt that they'd be unable to use a lasgun, even if they were a conscript.

The PDF though, they're a different story...

On the front cover of the 3rd Edition Guard Codex those bars are sights (some form of sight + laser sight), but they seem to have dropped that idea for the 4th Edition Codex and onwards.

Because there are so many differing marks & patterns of lasgun there will be those that have that 'rod' as an optical sight, others as a carry handle, perhaps even some will have that as a spare barrel, ready to change the other should it be damaged from prolonged firing. Might even be a part of the cooling system on some others.

Lord_Vader wrote:No, but it shows the training that the IG woud generally have - I doubt that they'd be unable to use a lasgun, even if they were a conscript.

The PDF though, they're a different story...

I agree like someone said the Cadians are very well trained. Others have to be equally as trained. Some even more (Elysian etc...)

chromedog wrote:Realistically, it's not like they will live long enough to figure out how to use it.

So you're basically saying here that humans in the 41st millenium are mentally backward? The lasgun is noted not just for its reliability but ease of maintenance. If you can train a person in an afternoon to crudely strip & put back together a modern-day assault rifle with all of its moving parts, as I was with the SA80 when I was in the Territorial Army, I reckon you can train people in the 1-6 month warp journey to the warzone to field strip & maintain a lasgun blindfold with variable atmospheric pressures and other off-putting distractions that they might encounter in the midst of battle in the 41st millenium.

PDF would be able to field strip & maintain a lasgun - PDF don't just sit down all the time doing nothing, they will do some training and when you teach someone to do something with their hands, they're often more likely to remember it through instinct. Of course even weapons used only for practice drills need to be cleaned and maintained in the event that they may one day be needed.

My PDF comment was meant ironically, since they're supremely inferior to the IG themselves.

I agree with the SA80 point, very simple weapons to take apart and put back together, as I'm sure lasguns are, maybe even more so with the advancement of technology.

Ah fair enough. Sometimes I hate that I can't tell the tone or inflections of peoples voices from text.

Actually the pdfs are not "supremely inferior" they are the equivilent of the United State's National Guard. Or better. And Imperial Guardsmen are extremely well trained, seeing that they are the creame or the crop, the best of the best, of the planets pdf. With an additional 1-6 mounths of training in transit. The Imperial Guard are the largest, professional army in the galaxy, with 1 million guardsmen per marine.

However to make the glory boy marines look better, the guard is flanderized into incompetent apes.

...which leads to the following train of thought for Guardsmen;

If you're lucky then you will survive to see the Astartes arrive and take all of the credit.

Like i said, glory boys who hide in their fortresses and polish there armor. Oh and some go crazy if they get disfigured. *cough*capt. Tycho*cough*

The ogryn shotgun has a similar bar.

I'd always thought it was there to reduced recoil.

Another question how many shots does the standard Cadian mag hold if it is set to kill... What about if it is set to stun?

Also will 1 las shot that is set for kill, kill a person like 1 bullet would if it hits in the correct place ?

Lastly how does a las kill from a lasgun does it melt your insides ?

I'd say it burns as it's just a laser. Like pretty much anything if it hits the right place it can kill.

usmcmidn wrote:Another question how many shots does the standard Cadian mag hold if it is set to kill... What about if it is set to stun?

Also will 1 las shot that is set for kill, kill a person like 1 bullet would if it hits in the correct place ?

Lastly how does a las kill from a lasgun does it melt your insides ?

All lasguns are 'set to kill'. Some just have different power settings, such as Triplex lasguns, which allow the wielder to 'up' the power of each shot whilst sacrificing energy that could have been used for additional shots on a lower power setting. The most common pattern lasguns, Necromunda & Mars pattern, hold 50 and 60 shots respectively, whilst other lasgun patterns might hold far fewer, such as in the case of the Krieg No.98 Lucius pattern lasgun which fires at a far higher setting than other lasguns, or even far more shots.

With lasguns there is no 'stun' option, at least I've never heard of one - it's what shock weapons, flash & blind nades and needle weapons firing special toxins are for. Bolas launchers are also handy for 'stunning' opponents, or at least entangling them.

As to how lasguns work, well from the Inquisitor rulebook (2001);

Las weapons work by firing a blast of highly charged light which transforms into heat and kinetic energy upon impact, causing tissue damage and burning.

And yes, lasguns are easily more than capable of killing with a single shot. Even the lowly laspistol can slice off limbs and, if fired at the eye, 'fry' the brain and cause instant death.

Sparks_Havelock wrote:

usmcmidn wrote:Another question how many shots does the standard Cadian mag hold if it is set to kill... What about if it is set to stun?

Also will 1 las shot that is set for kill, kill a person like 1 bullet would if it hits in the correct place ?

Lastly how does a las kill from a lasgun does it melt your insides ?

All lasguns are 'set to kill'. Some just have different power settings, such as Triplex lasguns, which allow the wielder to 'up' the power of each shot whilst sacrificing energy that could have been used for additional shots on a lower power setting. The most common pattern lasguns, Necromunda & Mars pattern, hold 50 and 60 shots respectively, whilst other lasgun patterns might hold far fewer, such as in the case of the Krieg No.98 Lucius pattern lasgun which fires at a far higher setting than other lasguns, or even far more shots.

With lasguns there is no 'stun' option, at least I've never heard of one - it's what shock weapons, flash & blind nades and needle weapons firing special toxins are for. Bolas launchers are also handy for 'stunning' opponents, or at least entangling them.

As to how lasguns work, well from the Inquisitor rulebook (2001);

Las weapons work by firing a blast of highly charged light which transforms into heat and kinetic energy upon impact, causing tissue damage and burning.

And yes, lasguns are easily more than capable of killing with a single shot. Even the lowly laspistol can slice off limbs and, if fired at the eye, 'fry' the brain and cause instant death.

Thanks that was very detailed. I was always wondering how they actually worked. As much as I do not want to say this I had and idea of it working someting like how the weapons work in star wars...

Exactly how powerful they are and how much damage they do tends to vary though. Sometimes they are described as cutting and cauturizing, other times they are described as taking fist sized chunks out, or even blowing off arms, due to rapidly expanding steam from the impact point. They are often (though not always) described as going inches into concrete.

What they look like varies a lot too, though most often they are described as quick snaps or claps, sometimes with a beam, other times without. Typically they work as pulse weapons, not beam, firing shots.

What is consistent is that they are far more dangerous than conventional weaponry, easily able to incapacitate and kill regular, unarmored humans. They are insanely robust, and can be charged from nearly any power source, even hot rocks, a campfire, or a few nights of cuddling (whispered sweet nothings are optional, but may increase battery life).

They also may or may not have some form of very rudimentary AI (machine spirit), though whether this is intentional or not is debatable.

Overall they are a pretty amazing weapon, a great choice for 90% of the threats the imperium faces (e.g. itself). Unfortunately, the other playable races are so adbances and monsterously powerful that in comparison to the weapons required to actually hurt them, the las gun can rightfully be called a 'flashlight' for all the effect it has.

I paint it like a laser optical sight. Last I checked I can go buy a laser pointer to harass cats for like a buck at the dollar store, I think the IG can afford something for their las guns.