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Ok so me and my friend recently started trying to play warhammer by all the full rules and i need some help...So... Ap 1 weapons are really good at scoring penetrating hits, but what i don't understand is that ork tankbusta and super stickbombs are designed to be really good at penetrating...but it says

(Super Stickbomb)

Super stickbombs have an armour penetration of 10+2D6. That's a high AP...i thought they were supposed to be low to work well?

I basically need to know how everything works out when penetrating, how the super stickbombs would help, and how armour penetration comes into play, because the rulebook isn't making sense to me.

With a Melta gun, AP1 really means that is is a super refined beam that can cut through tank armour at close range.

So you if you are within 6" of the vehicle, you are alloted +1D6. So your melta is now STR 8+2D6. If you are out of 6" you get STR 8 + 1D6.

You compare this roll (weapon strength) VS the vehicle value armor value. If you are less than, you miss; equal too, glance; greater than, penetrate.

An Ork stick bomb should read that it's strength is 10 and gets +2D6 to roll for penetration, which is actually very good.

This is probably just fault to poor wording and codex/terminology changes through rule revisions.

I think you're confusing different things. AP is the save roll which the weapon will negate for non vehicle models. ( i.e. an AP 5 weapon will negate an armor save of 5+ or 6+. The roll to penetrate something with an Armor Value ( A vehicle ) is the strength of the hit plus D6 ( Unless there are special rules for that weapon, i.e. melta guns)  . So really AP has nothing to do with armor penetration except hits by AP 1 weapons that equal the target armor value PENETRATE not glance. I also think AP -  hits can ONLY glance, but I dont have my rulebook with me so not sure on that one. MOST of the time high strength weapons have low APs, but there are exceptions, such as the Eldar singing spear, which is S9 AP6 I belive.

Thanks, I understand now.

Vero, you're wrong. The 2D6 pen effect has nothing to do with AP1. Please go read your BGB again.

BTW, Grignard is right about AP -. Such weapons can only ever glance unless stated otherwise (which I think no weapon does so far). Note that it's been FAQed that Skimmers Moving Fast will still downgrade AP 1 hits to glances at most.

BTW, such questions should go in the You Make Da Call section in future.

Posted By tegeus-Cromis on 09/26/2007 9:55 PM
Vero, you're wrong. The 2D6 pen effect has nothing to do with AP1. Please go read your BGB again.

BTW, Grignard is right about AP -. Such weapons can only ever glance unless stated otherwise (which I think no weapon does so far). Note that it's been FAQed that Skimmers Moving Fast will still downgrade AP 1 hits to glances at most.

BTW, such questions should go in the You Make Da Call section in future.

Yah, the AP - thing keeps me from doing nasty things with warp spiders

Wait...what's going on...?

Sooo....Can someone explain to me..How it really works or something?

Wait, nvm.

Posted By Blysk on 09/27/2007 7:15 PM
Wait, nvm.

So you understand it? I was going to grab my rulebook tonight and clarify if you needed. I think the confusion is that the two examples of armor piercing you gave are exceptions to the rule, as in melta weapons double their penetration dice to 2D6 when at half range or under, and tankbusta bombs use their own penetration roll ( I think, I dont know orks too well ).  High strength weapons USUALLY have a low ( good ) AP. However, as an eldar player I ahve a very different type of weapon that I always carry on my farseer, the singing spear. It is S9 ( Actually it triples your strength, but the strength of the models that carry it are 3 ) but AP6. This is unusual, because it makes it very good ( And a nasty suprise ) for killing things with an armor value ( tanks and dreads) but counterintuitively, not very good at killing armored infantry ( Marine Terminators, or marines for that matter )

I can think of no logical explanation or even self consistent fantasy reasoning for a weapon that you can throw which will blow holes through sloped tank armor, but can be stopped by carapace armor. Its all game balance, because it gives me 9S in hand to hand, if it had AP2 or AP1 it would be like giving me a power weapon I can throw 12 inches.

Yah i'm understanding it now.
Thanks for the help everyone.