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So I am all to familiar with 5th edition compared to the new copies, and frankly I'm baffled by the possible freedom there is to equip characters and the like. I'm about halfway through 7th edition rules, but it is the space marine codex that caught me off guard. In 5th, you had a shortlist of equipment each with point values of their own to choose from for your HQ and sergeants, yet now we simple choice from the available types of weapon (ranged, melee, etc) at no additional cost.
My question to this is, where does the limit for what you take lie? Can my sergeant have two storm bolters, two chain swords, or maybe even two combi-weapons? Common sense would dictate that I can take one of any weapon for each, well, arm that he has to hold the weapon with. This leads me to wonder, does he even have to hold his weapons for them to count? (ie a single sergeant runs into assault with two storm bolters, and switches them for the two chainswords strapped to his sides, or a captain has two powerfists, but he can still pull out two plasma guns that are holstered on his belt)
Now those examples seem incredibly ridiculous to me, but how ridiculous are they to the rules? Can these combinations really be done, or should I stick with more sensible one ranged/ one melee weapon? I just am having trouble seeing how far the freedom for this lies, and if these are possibilities thanks to the vagueness of the rules, how to other people see it? Am I going to piss someone off for having four weapons strapped to my dudes?
Lastly, does the main rulebook state, anywhere, the answer to my rather stupid question? Cause that would fix all my problems....

The codex can be a little confusing.

Your characters/squads gain access to the lists with the optional guns. Most of those lists will tell you you have to swap a specific weapon for the entry on the chart. E.g. “swap your chainsword/melee weapon for XX” Or “trade your bolter for YY” (don’t have my codex on hand for exact wording) You can keep taking stuff as long as you have things to turn in. This prevents some of the excessive shenanigans you are thinking about.

Most codices have a wording along the lines of "...may replace his [weapon] with a weapon from the [list] list" or "may take an item from the [list] list". Sometimes they are allowed to take several weapons from a list, but you can still only shoot with one weapon per shooting phase (or two pistols per gunslinger), and attack with one weapon per close combat phase (the second weapon giving another attack, the rest being redundant). Thus, you can take loads of weapons, but it isn't that effective.

In conclusion: take a close look at the exact wording on how many weapons and pieces of gear you may take.

Most options are a 1-for-1 swap for kit the model already has.

There was a problem with the C:SM bike squad.
It could take weapon swaps, but didn't have the chainsword to replace for one. That got put in the FAQ.

You're not the first person who's been confused by this. The wording is usually "May take items from the Ranged Weapon list," but it's not referring to the list of all the ranged weapons in the codex. Rather, there's a list at the start of the army building section titled "Ranged Weapons," and those are the only ones referenced. For example, the Ranged Weapon list for Imperial Guard consists only of Boltgun, Bolt Pistol, and Plasma Pistol. There are separate lists for special and heavy weapons, but the Ranged Weapon list is officer-issue only.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, the mention of what you have to swap is usually on the weapon list rather than the unit, so if you haven't found the list that adds to the confusion.

Get a list-builder app, like Battlescribe. It helps this stuff make more sense.

 Skinnereal wrote:
Get a list-builder app, like Battlescribe. It helps this stuff make more sense.

Not always!
In the recent codices it's sometimes impossible to write a decent solution for it.
Authors decided that they would rather allow illegal options than disallow legal options.
So not everything in Battlescribe is always legal, simply because there is no way of implementing it correctly without quantum physics
If I remember it correctly, it's a big problem in the DA-file.


As to the original question: The main rulebook does not tell you this, you really need to look at the codex.
Just take it slow, and go step for step.
1. See if you can replace weapon X for a Storm Bolter.
2. Replace it if possible.
3. See if you can also replace weapon Y for a Storm Bolter.
4. Replace if possible.

A Sergeant has two weapons and every option tells him to replace them.
So you cannot end up with more than two weapons!

So it is possible to deck a Tac sergeant out with two storm bolters, I'm bringing this up agian because it would 1) look awesome, and 2) would that twin-link the storm bolter for having 2 of the same gun? I'm reading the rulebook now to try to verify or debunk this but I am not seeing anything saying either way. What I suppose means that it would inface not Twin-Link. I'm not sure why I thought it may I might be going crazy.

 flukezor wrote:
So it is possible to deck a Tac sergeant out with two storm bolters, I'm bringing this up agian because it would 1) look awesome, and 2) would that twin-link the storm bolter for having 2 of the same gun? I'm reading the rulebook now to try to verify or debunk this but I am not seeing anything saying either way. What I suppose means that it would inface not Twin-Link. I'm not sure why I thought it may I might be going crazy.

The ranged weapon chart tells us we need to swap a bolt pistol or melee weapon to take something from it.
The sarge starts with a bolter/bolt pistol.
He has the option to swap his bolter for a chainsword.

So step one is for the sarge to swap for the sword (a melee weapon). He then takes a trip to the armory, and trades it in for a SB. While he’s there, he swaps his pistol for another. RAW (IMHO) legal.

Now he’s packing paired stormbolters, and is looking pretty hard core. But while having paired weapons is often represented by twin-linking, the two are not the same thing. He can still only fire one a turn. The only possible advantage I can see if that if he somehow gained interceptor, he could fire one on the opponent’s turn, and still have one to fire on his. But I can’t think of any easy way for a random sarge to gain interceptor.

Now this same trick can be used to get him a pair of combi weapons. Which is slightly more viable. Still not worth it, IMHO. But better then stormbolters, which are a waste of points these days. Rapid fire has been buffed in almost every edition (7th being the only time it remained constant) to the point where it is almost as good as assault 2.

While it may technically be possible it would still leave him shooting 1 weapon per turn because, well, rules. No twin-linking or multiple firing.

The exception is models that have 2 pistols have the gunslinger rules, and MC's I think can fire multiple weapons.

 Nevelon wrote:

 flukezor wrote:
So it is possible to deck a Tac sergeant out with two storm bolters, I'm bringing this up agian because it would 1) look awesome, and 2) would that twin-link the storm bolter for having 2 of the same gun? I'm reading the rulebook now to try to verify or debunk this but I am not seeing anything saying either way. What I suppose means that it would inface not Twin-Link. I'm not sure why I thought it may I might be going crazy.

The ranged weapon chart tells us we need to swap a bolt pistol or melee weapon to take something from it.
The sarge starts with a bolter/bolt pistol.
He has the option to swap his bolter for a chainsword.

So step one is for the sarge to swap for the sword (a melee weapon). He then takes a trip to the armory, and trades it in for a SB. While he’s there, he swaps his pistol for another. RAW (IMHO) legal.

Now he’s packing paired stormbolters, and is looking pretty hard core. But while having paired weapons is often represented by twin-linking, the two are not the same thing. He can still only fire one a turn. The only possible advantage I can see if that if he somehow gained interceptor, he could fire one on the opponent’s turn, and still have one to fire on his. But I can’t think of any easy way for a random sarge to gain interceptor.

Now this same trick can be used to get him a pair of combi weapons. Which is slightly more viable. Still not worth it, IMHO. But better then stormbolters, which are a waste of points these days. Rapid fire has been buffed in almost every edition (7th being the only time it remained constant) to the point where it is almost as good as assault 2.

It is always useful to have an extra combi melta shot, in the case the sarge survive another shoting round, or you can equiped to take down hordes or tanks witha combi flamer or a combimelta, it is always good to have an extra alternative, you never know, its a good invesment if you have some spare points that arent enought to buy anything else

Flame-Rage wrote:
yet now we simple choice from the available types of weapon (ranged, melee, etc) at no additional cost.

I can't believe no one else picked up on this... it's very rare that you get a "swap this weapon for no additional cost". So in addition to making sure you're swapping weapons when you're asked to, make sure you're also paying the points cost. Most items do have a cost. Read carefully.