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I've seen a lot of threads brought up, at different times, about the technology level of the Imperial Guard. Things like how tough flak armor actually is, how modern weapons compare to lasguns, could an Abrams take on a Leman Russ, why do the IG use strangely low-tech equipment like hand-loaded artillery, etc, when they live in a universe that is supposedly filled with absurdly high technology. For that matter, there is a strange mix of high and low tech PRESENT in the Imperial Guard; The aforementioned hand-loaded artillery, side-by-side with soldiers carrying fusion-powered hand weapons (plasma guns, meltaguns), for example. This thread is my effort at answering the seeming dichotomy.


PLEASE TAKE NOTE: Everything below the line is my own speculation and deduction, not canon. This is a description of how I view the Imperial Guard, and a suggestion as to how a galaxy-spanning military might work in the 40k universe. If there's some piece of canon that DIRECTLY and OBJECTIVELY contradicts one of my arguments, please point it out; otherwise, it's irrelevant. Thanks in advance.
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You very rarely read a BL book about the 889725 Random Hive-World Regiment, because they just aren't Big Damn Heroes like, say, the Tanith First and Only are. But in fact it's the random hive-world regiments that are doing the vast majority of the fighting. The Tanith were present at, to take a wild guess, at something like one hundred-millionth of the battles that were fought, Imperium-wide, during their time in service. Similar things can be said of almost all of the named formations that we know of. Even the Cadians don't fight in any but a small fraction of the Imperium's battles. It's the uncountable, nameless hive-worlds that are providing the great mass of troops who fight in the innumerable battles that rage every day across the galaxy.

Unfortunately, we don't know much about those regiments, simply because we only have at most a few dozen worlds named in the canon, and not all of those even raise Guard regiments, since some are Space Marine homeworlds, forge worlds, or similarly exempt from the normal tithes. But these are the regiments I want to brainstorm about for a while; the billions of regiments raised from the thousands of extremely heavily-populated worlds that provide the bulk of Imperial manpower.

The part of the Guard that tends to be emphasized is it's enormous variability. Feral-world regiments in plate mail marching side-by-side with elite energy-weapon toting drop troops. But, thinking about it for a moment. . . you can't HAVE an army of any great size that is that variable. Why? Logistics. Nearly everything those soldiers eat, sleep on, wear, their bullets if they have projectile weapons and their power packs if not, their tools, flak armor, vehicles, EVERYTHING, is being shipped over interstellar distances, through the Warp. Some things can be produced locally on the planet in question, certainly; it doesn't take much by way of resources to sew together and fill sandbags, for instance. Local food might be available, depending on how big the war is and how heavily populated the planet. For that matter, some local weapons manufacture might even be available; assuming, of course, that it's the same as the weapons the Guard have. A plant that manufactures 9mm ammunition would do no good at all for a regiment armed with, say, .30-06 rifles. In short, the Ministorum deals on an hourly basis with a logistics problem that dwarfs anything anyone on Earth has ever dreamed of. How can they possibly ensure that things end up where they need to go? The most difficult part of any Imperial war effort, it seems to me, is NOT shipping the soldiers in-system, or forcing a planetary landing, or coordinating with independent forces like Space Marines; it's making sure those soldiers have ammunition in their weapons and food in their stomachs after a month of fighting.

Clearly, that problem needs to be made as simple as possible, in order to minimize the number of errors; every supply ship mis-loaded is a conquest delayed, or a world or army lost. To me, there are two related ways in which the logistical issues can be dealt with.

First; Standardization. This is absolutely essential. Every regiment equipped with a non-standard weapon, every company of tanks that cannot run on the standard fuel, for that matter every different type of vehicle assigned to a particular warzone, adds an order of magnitude to the logistical problem. It is much, much less important that the Imperial Guard's weapons have high stopping power than it is that they be all the same. Small differences don't matter much; a lasgun with three charge settings instead of one, or a slightly longer barrel, is perfectly fine. But they all need to take the same ammo; a regiment armed with a mix of autorifles and lasguns would cause some supply issues, because suddenly they need twice as much logistical support as the exact same regiment armed with purely one or the other, even leaving aside the issue of ballistic ammunition taking up more freighter space and needing to be replaced more often than lasgun charge packs. Every Leman Russ in the sector, at least, needs to fire the same caliber of shell; every autorifle needs to use the same kind of bullet; every Chimera needs to run on identical fuel.

Here the STC system is an enormous help. Variety is the ENEMY of the Imperial Guard, not a strength; when you need to field billions or trillions of soldiers across hundreds of thousands of worlds scattered over the entirety of the galaxy, allowing every planet to arm their tithed soldiers with different weaponry is a death sentence. The support will be slow, fragmentary, and occasionally just wrong; the shock troops from the hive worlds will get a load of charge packs that don't do jack gak for their high-powered automatic rifles, and the light infantry from the feral worlds might get shipped eighteen different kinds of ballistic ammunition that do not help their swords in the slightest. But if every regiment, or nearly every regiment, is armed with lasguns? Great. Put a hundred thousand lasguns and half a milliion charge packs on every supply ship to replace losses, THEN worry about fitting whatever specialty equipment is needed in the extra space.

Second; simplicity and reliabilty. The Imperial Guard can't be equipped with the latest, greatest, most deadly military technology in the way that some elite modern forces are. What they need is equipment that lasts a long time, is easy to use, and doesn't fail even under strenuous long-term use. The lasgun is, of course, the premier example; charge packs carry a high load of ammunition and can be recharged and reused multiple times, the weapons last for a very long time even used hard, and they are simple to make. It would surprise me, for that matter, if a lasgun had more than a very few moving parts. A forge-world can probably make lasguns using a simple, entirely robotic assembly-line, and produce millions of weapons and charge packs daily. Those weapons and ammunition can then be loaded on bulk freighters and shipped off to where they are needed; to support an ongoing war effort, or to a Ministorum depot for assignment to troop transports.

This is also, it seems to me, the explanation for why the IG still uses low-tech support weapons, such as mortars and unguided rockets. A mortar is basically the most simple way to fire an explosive possible. It has almost no moving parts, so it's easy to make and hard to break. An unguided, man-carried missile launcher is old technology today, much less in the 41st millenium; they still see widespread use in the IG, I would suppose, largely because they're simple and reliable. A metal tube, an iron sight, a trigger and an igniter. Easy to make, hard to break. Of course, there are some exceptions; plasma guns, for example, are infamously temperamental, and presumably complex to manufacture. But is it hard to believe that at least some of that legendary unreliability is due to the difficulty and scarcity of getting proper maintenance and replacement parts for plasma guns on the front lines? The Skitarii don't seem to have nearly so much trouble, likely because they're much more closely supported by the AdMech. . . and because there are many fewer of them.

So then, in what ways IS the Imperial Guard high-tech? Given all these constraints, what would keep, say, the US Army, with it's much closer logistical base and (in some ways) MORE advanced weaponry, from wiping out an IG force of approximately equal size?

1. Materials. Regardless of the frankly strange bits and pieces that occasionally pop out in some GW materials, I highly doubt that many soldiers not on a feral world in the 41st millenium are still using iron, steel, or even titanium. Flak and carapace armor are most likely made of a lightweight metallic composite, quite possibly made from elements that we don't even know about; as such, they would be superior to modern armor in toughness, weight for a given area of coverage, or more likely both. Flak armor may well be actually impenetrable to modern small-arms, and carapace almost certainly would be. Some things might still be made of primitive materials, of course. Artillery shells need only be strong enough to withstand the pressure of firing; cheap, basic metals would be fine, depending on the power of the weapon. Tank armor, on the other hand, would be made of advanced materials so as to get more protection with less weight, and infantry weapons would be lighter than modern equivalents, with other potential benefits such as reduced maintenance requirements certainly possible.

2. Propellants/Explosives. The Imperial Guard would certainly not use the same explosives we know of in their shells and ballistic weapons, nor the same fuel to run their vehicles. In 39,000 years, even granted a great deal of technological decay, they almost have to have found or created more efficient methods of energy transfer; particularly considering the amount of fighting that happened in that time. For a given weight of shell or rate of fire, that would make Imperial weapons much more effective than modern counterparts even when they were otherwise identical or even inferior; The shells would create a larger, hotter, and more violent explosion, artillery would have a greater range. Vehicles would be faster and more maneuverable than a modern vehicle of the same mass and size, and combined with the use of advanced metals and ceramics, would be much more heavily armored and armed than a modern equivalent could be.

3. Flexibility. The Imperial Guard has operated across the galaxy, in every kind of environment; and regardless of all their technological mysticism and general intellectual backwardness, if their model didn't WORK nearly everywhere they would have changed it by now. They can operate anywhere. Lighter, tougher armor and faster transport, generally more powerful weapons and personal small-arms that don't run out of ammunition unless the troopers are cut off from all sources of heat and light and all resupply, combine to give them more mobility, flexibility, and man-for-man firepower than any modern force. That's an army suitable for conquering the stars; not one armed to the teeth with fancy gadgets and machinery, but one that can operate in huge numbers with (relatively) scant support and bring overwhelming firepower to bear where it's needed.


The Argument In Brief (tl;dr)

The Imperial Guard must, of necessity, be as homogeneous as is possible, in order to simplify the logistical nightmare of supplying them across interstellar distances. Certain specialty troops are of course exceptions, but their numbers are tiny compared to the masses and masses of soldiers that the Imperium fields. While distinctions are clearly drawn between broad categories of soldiers - light and heavy infantry, mechanized, armored, drop troops, and etc - WITHIN those categories units are very likely armed and equipped almost identically. The differences are likely to be equipment assigned for carrying out some special assignment, or field modifications/trophies performed or scavenged by the unit itself, which of course receive no dedicated support from the Munitorum.

This also explains the strangely low-tech nature of much Imperial Guard equipment; it has to be produced rapidly and en masse, then distributed to a massive number of users, and survive a great deal of rough handling. This requires simple, robust arms and armor, and makes delicate equipment with moving parts unproductive. More advanced equipment would certainly be more effective given sufficient upkeep and support, and doubtless there are some wealthy worlds which equip their PDF and tithed regiments to a higher standard; but that advanced equipment needs a much bigger logistical 'tail', which puts more strain on their support network. The Space Marines are the logical endpoint of that philosophy, where nearly the entire output of a (admittedly, fairly minor) planet is dedicated to maintaining a mere one thousand elite infantry and their support units. For the amount of fighting the Imperium does, that's simply not supportable on a large scale, however useful it is to have a small number of Space Marines around now and then.

Famous and specialized formations such as Catachans or Elysian Drop Troops, which form the bulk of the IG that we read about and play with,
do not represent the Imperial Guard. The bulk of the Imperial Guard is the hundreds of millions of lasgun-armed soldiers, with their standard missile launchers, mortars and lascannons, doing their standard job in standard ways on a multitude of different worlds. Same gak, different day.

Lasguns are superior to modern assault rifles in every single way: more accurate, more powerful, more efficient etc. and can be charged by almost anything (even being left in the sun), making them a logistical dream come true.
As well as sci-fi materials such as plasfibre, thermoplas and such flak armour commonly contains layers of carbon fibre, which is a stronger, lighter and more heat resistant material than kevlar.

Overall a pretty informative read.

Ha, yes, I'm aware of all the advantages of lasguns. Going into that level of detail would only have made the wall o' text even longer, however, so I limited myself to only more general statements. And they do have some downsides, still. Charge packs do have to be replaced; soldiers will lose them, if a regiment is forced to retreat they lose all the ammunition carried by any casualties they leave behind, etc. In addition, no directed energy weapon can be as efficient in transferring energy as a ballistic weapon; a significant fraction of the energy expended goes into the air. This is one of the main reasons we don't have a man-killing laser weapon yet, with our current technology it would require an enormous power source to be effective at any kind of range. But the other advantages of lasguns are so huge that they overwhelm that problem, for the Imperium; not to mention that it doesn't make much difference to the soldiers themselves, since charge packs manifestly contain enough power to kill people at range with every shot anyway.

Whether or not lasguns are strictly superior to modern combat rifles in terms of actual killing power is certainly debatable; that's one of the parts of the fluff that is highly disputed, and frankly not consistent between authors. The main reason they're used so much, IMO, is because of the logistical benefits; more lasguns issued means less ammunition needed as well as a more flexible combat force. Even if autorifles were actually a superior weapon, I would still expect lasguns to be standard issue.

BeRzErKeR wrote:Even if autorifles were actually a superior weapon, I would still expect lasguns to be standard issue.

Both of these assumptions are true and were mentioned in GW books.

As for the initial text, it is also worth pointing out that there are "feral world regiments in plate mail marching side-by-side with energy-weapon toting drop troops". In fact, there's a sufficient number of Guard regiments who wear just fur, or go into battle bare-chested. The lasgun really is the one and only thing they all have. Beyond that ... well, look at the Attilan Rough Riders for example.

BeRzErKeR wrote:Whether or not lasguns are strictly superior to modern combat rifles in terms of actual killing power is certainly debatable; that's one of the parts of the fluff that is highly disputed, and frankly not consistent between authors.

I recommend prioritizing studio material before looking at the personal interpretation of individual freelancing novel authors; you'd be surprised how much more consistent the setting gets.

Really great post, bravo! I only have one thing to say:

"Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics." - Gen. Omar Bradley (possibly apocryphal)

Lynata wrote:

As for the initial text, it is also worth pointing out that there are "feral world regiments in plate mail marching side-by-side with energy-weapon toting drop troops". In fact, there's a sufficient number of Guard regiments who wear just fur, or go into battle bare-chested. The lasgun really is the one and only thing they all have. Beyond that ... well, look at the Attilan Rough Riders for example.

Never denied that. There are certainly a great number of different types of regiments in the IG, and a great deal of variety.

. . . in absolute terms. The argument I presented was that there is, of necessity, very little variety in relative terms. That is to say; yes, the planet Attila produces savage, Mongol-like horsemen. Which are specialist troops only ever present in small numbers, on a very limited number of battlefields. Just like Catachan produces elite jungle guerrillas, and Elysia produces high-quality drop troops. But feral worlds and deathworlds are very, very lightly populated even compared to modern-day Earth, let alone the massive hive-worlds of the Imperium. And that being so, these specialist troops can't make up anything but the tiniest fraction of the Imperial Guard.

So yes; at the front of the assault, you've got your five thousand Elysian drop troops, and right behind them come down twenty thousand Attilan horsemen to scout out the way. And after them come three-quarters of a million troops, divided into infantry, armor and artillery regiments, who are all functionally identical. The specialists are the exception; uniformity is the rule, because that's really the only way to support a force of such massive size across interstellar distances.

Ok we know 40k is a fantasy si-fi setting so this dosnt count but it has been discovered that the elements we have on earth are the same throughout the universe. although there are bound to be better alloys

BeRzErKeR wrote:The specialists are the exception; uniformity is the rule, because that's really the only way to support a force of such massive size across interstellar distances.

That is certainly true - my argument was more referring to the equipment rather than the troops' role. And as we can see from the IG codices, there are lots of examples of ordinary infantry regiments who lack "real" armour because they go into battle naked or wearing furs (feral and feudal worlds) or leather jackets or greatcoats (hive and imperial worlds). I didn't really intend to nitpick, it's just that many people think that Cadian-style flak armour is standard, whereas I'd say it is "just" common. A small, yet potentially important difference.

I should add that imho all in all your write-up sounds spot on - as TrollPie said: nice work!

I don't know if we can say the IG homogeneous. Could go on about the different armor different combat style of each unit, but the lasguns aren't even the same. A quick glance at the IG page in the BRB will show you that there are a lot of different lasguns. The double barred lasgun and the wooden stop lasgun are probably as compatible as a Ak ans a M-16.

nomotog wrote:The double barred lasgun and the wooden stop lasgun are probably as compatible as a Ak ans a M-16.

Well, the important thing (and what would break the AK-M16 comparison) is that they still take the same charge packs. That is all the Munitorum cares about. A lasgun is a lasgun, most differences are superficial (such as wooden stock vs skeleton butt). Occasionally, you have the odd outsider such as the double-barrelled one, or models that pack a bigger punch whilst simultaneously drawing more energy from the pack, but they all work on the same principle.

Vehicles and weaponry are largely(!) the same, as the Munitorum has established a set of standards that the Imperium's worlds have to follow. This can even lead to tithed regiments receiving different stuff than what they are used to from their days as PDF, even though all was produced on the same world. The 2E Guard Codex gives a very good explanation about it, such as the Guard not wanting to bother with local designs because it'd be next to impossible to procure a steady supply of spare parts. In case of the lasguns, however, they may simply give the trooper another rifle. Fluff mentions that veteran regiments often look nothing like how they started out, with individual troopers now wearing uniforms from other planets or carrying different lasgun-patterns they happened to pick up as replacement. In many cases, this is also because the longer an Imperial Guard regiment remains in service, the higher are chances that they would get merged with another unit in order to counter battle attrition. After all, they do not receive reinforcements from home. Once you're in the Guard, all ties to your original planet and its PDF are cut.

The exception obviously being the Gateway World of Cadia, where the Guard basically is the PDF, and regiments may cycle between duty at home or elsewhere in the Imperium.

The majority of the armour and armament are Cadian-type. Many Imperial Guard regiments wear the same uniform as Cadians. And the vehicles are particularly similar in all regiments except maybe feral cannibals who aren't able even to read, write and shoot from lasguns. I think the latters are used by civilized and cunning Imperial commanders as cannon-fodder or living shields. They simply can't be used another way in the hi-tech universe.

Farseer Petriel wrote:The majority of the armour and armament are Cadian-type.

I'm pretty sure that I have read that Cadians are deemed an example for other Guard regiments and "many" emulate their tactics and equipment, but do you have any source regarding that majority-thing? That's a pretty important difference!

Just a nitpick, but the majority of the armor and weapons wouldn't be Cadian pattern, it would be Kantrael pattern.

Coolyo294 wrote:Just a nitpick, but the majority of the armor and weapons wouldn't be Cadian pattern, it would be Kantrael pattern.

To nitpick further, Kantrael is the name of the Forge World where Cadia's armor and weapon designs came from.

They are not, however, the only Forge World producing those patterns of equipment. It's not entirely unbelievable that it would be referred to as 'Cadian pattern' equipment rather than being referred as 'Kantrael pattern'.

Daston wrote:Ok we know 40k is a fantasy si-fi setting so this dosnt count but it has been discovered that the elements we have on earth are the same throughout the universe. although there are bound to be better alloys

May I add we haven't found every element on earth yet, even if there is proof all natural elements have been found, as we humans are creating new elements trying to reach the 'island of stability'

Other than that one grip +1 to your post.


@OP: awesome post, though your tl:dr needs a tl:dr

Lynata wrote:

BeRzErKeR wrote:Even if autorifles were actually a superior weapon, I would still expect lasguns to be standard issue.

Both of these assumptions are true and were mentioned in GW books.

Actually in Forgeworld's Imperial Armour Siege of Vraks books it does describe an autogun in the hands of one of the rebels:

The name autogun is a general term covering conventional projectile weapons (ie, they fire a bullet) and, whilst not as common amongst Imperial Guard regiments as lasguns, autoguns are issued in substantial numbers to some regiments...

As a weapon, the autogun is comparable in effectiveness to a lasgun but lacks some of the lagun's versatility and reliability. Autoguns are prone to jamming, especially in dusty and muddy conditions, where intricate moving parts can quickly become fouled. A good maintenance routine is necessary for troops armed with autoguns. In general, autoguns and their ammunition are also heavier than lasguns and their power cells. p. 43, Imperial Armour 5: Siege of Vraks

In the 2nd edition Wargear book and the Necromunda rulebook, both autoguns and lasguns had the same Strength of 3, with the lasgun having a better armor save modifier. The autogun was also described as being equivalent roughly to a 20th century assault rifle.

They are thus roughly comparable in terms of stopping power.

The key point however as stated by the OP is the Imperial Guard's requirement for conformity due to logistics. The ability for lasgun packs to recharge from the sun or even a fire is an ability that mitigates at least partially the huge logistical load of the Imperial Guard. The ability for STC produced vehicles to somehow be able to function after centuries of being mothballed (such as in the Siege of Vraks books) is also an ability beyond that of modern equipment.

In short, I think the OP has it right. The most common overlooked fact (especially in any modern weapons vs. Imperial Guard comparison) about the Imperial Guard is that it is ultimately about swamping you in numbers of men and armored vehicles, not about individual outperformance. Individually in terms of performance, the Imperial Guard's equipment may be slow clunky or have poor performance, but where it excels is in durability, standardization, and ease of maintenance.

Just as a side note: Lasguns aren't as universal as you might first think. I can remember at least one situation (Gaunts ghosts, I forget which book, but there was a siege involved), where the wrong shipment of lasgun charge packs came through, and they were sent into battle with ammo they couldn't use. Logistics break down, at its finest.

Randomonioum wrote:Just as a side note: Lasguns aren't as universal as you might first think. I can remember at least one situation (Gaunts ghosts, I forget which book, but there was a siege involved), where the wrong shipment of lasgun charge packs came through, and they were sent into battle with ammo they couldn't use. Logistics break down, at its finest.

Book 5 The Guns of Tanith, the munitorium ordered the more common type 5 but Tanith guns use type 3, or something like that. They ended up with like 2 charge packs apeice. But other then that good op.

Forgeworld and Black Library aren't GW - although closely connected, they frequently contradict studio material.

Examples for things that just seem weird in the aforementioned sources:
Siege of Vraks -> Storm Troopers fighting Chaos Marines, Hellguns fail to even scratch the enemy's power armour, leaving only burn marks (?!)
Abnett's novels -> "Navigator Servitors", Guardsmen carrying autocannons, height issues, Black Guard not being Malekith's bodyguard anymore, etc

That said, re-reading the Codex material, it does leave some room for other weapons, although it very much sounds like few exceptions from the rule:

"Regardless of their appearance almost all newly recruited troops carry the universal lasgun. This weapon is easy and cheap to manufacture and maintain, and hence ideally suited to the needs of planetary forces. Other weapons are more or less standard across the Imperium, although individual planetary forces may favour one kind over another. The Emperor's demand is simply that troops be equipped and trained ready to fight in his armies.

As well as providing troops, a planet's Lord may be called upon to provide heavy equipment in the form of locally built tanks, artillery, troop carriers, etc. As with lighter armaments these tend to be a standardised basic form across the Imperium, with only minor variations in design and build quality. Indeed, planetary Lords are obliged to provide heavy weapons of a basically standard type for the Imperial Guard as well as stocks of spares, fuel processors and logistic support as appropriate. Although a planet's defence forces will almost certainly include locally designed vehicles, often of the most wild or specialised kind, these are almost never recruited into the Imperial Guard because of the difficulty of maintenance and impracticality of keeping them running."

As far as autogun > lasgun power is concerned, I could have sworn I've read that somewhere, but cannot find it right now. I'll keep looking and hope I'm able to dig it up again.

The problem wasn't that it was the "wrong" shipment of Lasguns or any kind of 'canonical breakdown', as I assume a certain someone is saying but that the Type 5 Lasgun cells were what the Urdeshi and Phantine troops were using, for a more compact kind of 'bullpup' lasgun.

The cells wouldn't fit into the slot for the more conventionally built 'rifle' lasguns that the Tanith had.
It's not really unbelievable, just like it's not unbelievable that you can't load a P90 with the same clip you'd load a MP5 with.

Kanluwen wrote:It's not really unbelievable, just like it's not unbelievable that you can't load a P90 with the same clip you'd load a MP5 with.

The whole reason behind standardization is that you can load every lasgun with every chargepack, so that every Imperial force can restock at every world they come across. If every regiment needs different parts, why even bother with a Munitorum standard? And where would they even get their special chargepacks from, considering the ties to the world where the unit was raised are cut as soon as they board the transports?

Every pattern of lasgun requiring its own special chargepack just doesn't add up. Licensed products. *shrugs*

It's not unbelievable that an empire of 1 million worlds may have 5 types of powerpacks. That's still pretty good standardization.

Well the Lasgun is about the only thing in any category that's mostly standard in the Imperium.

There's quite a bit of standard equipment, but it's up to each individual regiment to see if they use it.

Lynata wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:It's not really unbelievable, just like it's not unbelievable that you can't load a P90 with the same clip you'd load a MP5 with.

The whole reason behind standardization is that you can load every lasgun with every chargepack, so that every Imperial force can restock at every world they come across. If every regiment needs different parts, why even bother with a Munitorum standard? And where would they even get their special chargepacks from, considering the ties to the world where the unit was raised are cut as soon as they board the transports?

Every pattern of lasgun requiring its own special chargepack just doesn't add up. Licensed products. *shrugs*

Well it's not like the IoM has a huge choice here. They have to use what the AdMech make them.

I guess it's just that the original premise is wrong. The IG is not a standardized army. It's more like a collection of snowflake armies. The fact that everyone uses a lasgun is not that standardized. It's like saying everyone on earth uses a bullet gun.

The standard Mars Short Pattern Lasgun is in fact standard. Everyone that uses a different pattern is differing from the norm. We just happen to hear about these different lasguns cause we hear about the special regiments which tend to have unique roles or stick out because they were in famous battles.

@Lynata, a hellgun would just scorch the armor of a space marine, seeing that its only ap5. That was probually written before the current ig codex came out.

ObliviousBlueCaboose wrote:@Lynata, a hellgun would just scorch the armor of a space marine, seeing that its only ap5. That was probually written before the current ig codex came out.

I assume you're right on the date, but the effect still felt wrong. AP4 would have punched right through the armour, AP5 means the armour has a chance to negate the attack. A couple burn marks reads like complete invulnerability, though.
I mean, bolters have AP5 as well, would you consider it an accurate depiction if they'd just ricochet off the plates?
Burn marks sound fitting for lasguns (and even they have a chance to wound), but hellguns would surely leave a much stronger effect.

Just nitpicking, though. I actually like the Siege of Vraks books and think there should be more like them. But they do make mistakes (another would be misplacing Ryza and changing its planet type), and they are not studio material, and as such not truly a solid reference.

ObliviousBlueCaboose wrote:@Lynata, a hellgun would just scorch the armor of a space marine, seeing that its only ap5. That was probually written before the current ig codex came out.

Hellguns penetrate power armor now, quite reliably.

Your theory is sound, but the practical side is doubtful purely due to human ( and probably abhuman) nature.

Here on Terra, NATO spent nearly 5 decades trying to standardise fuel types, ammunition, etc, the former Soviet Union did likewise, but neither succeeded totally.

In some cases it was down to national (read planetary) ideas, so Romanian AK47s are similar to, but not the same as, Russian or East German ones.

All NATO might use 155mm howitzers, but the Germans want their own sights, the Brits want extra types of munitions, the Italians want towed guns, the Dutch self propelled, and on it goes.

Even GW's codexes say that Russes and Chimeras, for example, are only "the most common" types of tanks/APCs, and then go on to produce half a dozen variants of each, all needing different ammunition.

Consider too that most equipment gets modified by its crew to cover threats that their experience tells them they need to defend against. Anything from extra armour, bigger fuel tanks, more radios, whatever, that the designers never thought about, or that planetary governors ( or their chancellors) were too mean to pay for.

The fluff says that Russes, for example, run on any fuel; but if all you have is coal, the interior layout needs to grow a bit to accommodate a stoker?

And what about having some nice, bog standard, trucks to haul all theses supplies? A few mentions in books, but models none.( I use diecast metal ones myself). No cranes, no forklifts, only the rather pointless sentinel powerlifter, and that seems to be a Nvy thing for re-arming aircraft , at least in Imperial Armour #1.

Of course, part of the game and the hobby in general, is to give you a basic set up then let you build an army with whatever you wish; it doesn't matter so long as you and your opponent agree before a game what's what.