Melta Weapons

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**vodo40k**

Firstly do they fire a colored beam or do you just see the target melting? And secondly why can they kill a tank (or bunker) so easily? yes they melt straight through the amour but one small hole will barley make a tank explode.

**Cheese Elemental**

I dunno. It's a bit confusing to me. I just like how Dawn of War depicts them as a constant bright blue beam. I think the idea is that they fire a beam of heat that superheats whatever it hits and either melts or incinerates it.

**johnjohnson**

In my mind's eye I pictured them as shooting a small goopy red fireball that rapidly dissipates, but violently reacts with whatever it hits.

**statu**

i have always imagined them to be a red block of summin that melts anything it comes into contact with

**children of filth**

i imagine it as firing an intense heatwave, so it has no color but instead distorts the air around the 'beam'

**SilverMK2**

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Melta_weapon

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Multi-melta

So, they must be built using different tech through the Imperium, as they can fire ether beams, flashes or be invisible

**vodo40k**

Well I think the simple answer is (as in my las weapon thread) is that it varies from the pattern of the gun and on which forge world it was made. Thanks all for your suggestions.

**Redbeard**

The most recent Horus Heresy book describes them as firing microwaves, which would be invisible. That's Fallen Angels, on page 113.

**Shadowbrand**

It kinda look's like a welding torch, But my source is a old picture of the Black Templar, making a last stand against i think Ork's.

A deep faint flame that melt's it's target to ash or slag- Chaos Armory

**KingCracker**

I see this very same thread come about every now and then. Personally I think its just super heated air. So all you see is heat waves, and hear like a blowtorch sound.

Also your small hole/tank explode thought process is VERY wrong. Thats how modern Abrams tanks do the job. We shoot a dart at tanks. They leave a SMALL hole in the armor, but completely F everything up inside the enemy tank.

**spartanghost**

I would think it's mostly invisible. it would warp the air between the gun and target with it's heat, but apart from that i dont think it would be very visible.

**SilverMK2**

When you pass on a lot of energy (the heat of the weapon beam) onto the air/fuel/people inside the tank, you literally vaporise them. When you do that, all the molecules that make them up will want to move at an increased rate (because they have been imparted with extra energy, they need to move quicker).

And as we all should know from basic science, when you increase the energy in a gas (or indeed any matter), it will try to increase in volume as its molecules vibrate more.

When you vaporise something, you very rapidly increase its energy so that it rips apart bonds. These newly energise particles will literally explode apart.

If you imagine a tank with a very small entry hole and all that matter inside now trying to take up a lot more volume, but having nowhere to expand into, you get a vast increase in pressure, with will pop the tank open from the inside.

**Shelegelah**

I'm going to go with the shimmering heat-wave beam theory. I rather like the idea of such a deadly weapon having such a small visual effect. (i.e. No giant flashy laser beam of death with a thousand screaming purple fireballs swirling around it in chaos)

**LtCobalt**

Melta guns are superior tank killing weapons because of their concentrated damage radius. By just focusing on a small region of the armor it can be more quickly penetrated. Plus, even if you don't hit the fuel tank or ammo stores, ever seen what happens to an enclosed container when it is exposed to extreme amounts of heat? Every living being in the tank would be quickly killed by the increase in ambient temperature and pressure, even if they weren't directly in the guns path.

**vodo40k**

Ok thanks all I see now that the melta must also cook the crew of the tank as well as melt through it.

**Sarpedon_702**

KingCracker wrote:I see this very same thread come about every now and then. Personally I think its just super heated air. So all you see is heat waves, and hear like a blowtorch sound.

Also your small hole/tank explode thought process is VERY wrong. Thats how modern Abrams tanks do the job. We shoot a dart at tanks. They leave a SMALL hole in the armor, but completely F everything up inside the enemy tank.

In essence you ahve to bring the physics into this one. Generally the former 105mm guns and now the new 125mm guns fire a sabot shell that uses an aluminim shell surrounding a spent uranium core. The core is a much smaller caliber but the sabot holds the it steady until it emits from the muzzle. Uranium has a high density/mass ratio giving it extreme energy in a small package. When the lug his it punches a relatively small hole in the armor and causes a large pressure differential causing everything within the armored unit to increase pressure. So it forms a vacuum of sorts.

To answer the obvious question of uranium shells and radioactivity the anser is yes spent uranium slugs are radioactive, but they are not dangerously radioactive like some isotopes such as Ur 235. Essentially what is being fired is half lead/half uranium as the Uranium has gone through several half-life sequences and it's stable form is lead Pb. the US military uses several weapons that use this material as the "bullet" including the infamous 30mm cannon on the A10.

**ph34r**

This is how they look in dawn of war. Shoots a stream of super hot something, gas I suppose.

**Cheese Elemental**

Except that the beam is usually blue, it's just the Inferno Pistols that have fiery beams.

**tranquil**

Ive always imagined melta to be essentially a High Explosive Anti Tank gun. Projecting a molten stream of super awesome space metal(today we normally use copper or aluminum) at the target. Its short range and melta rule being a representation of todays HEAT warheads requiring 'ideal conditions' to achieve best performance.

**JEB_Stuart**

I think the melta weapons visual effects in DOW are great. That is exactly how I pictured they would look. The "ball" effect is given to Fire Dragons which are amazing.

**Shelegelah**

Ugh, I hate the Fire Dragon ball effect. It looks completely ridiculous.

**oggers**

Hey don't knock the FLAMING BALLS OF DEATH!

**johnjohnson**

Goodness Gracious Great Balls of Fire!

**JCunkle**

In the Necromunda books, melta guns were described as having nearly silent, invisible beams. the weapons weren't "silent" however, as whatever you cooked with it would "pop" dramatically, as all the fleshy liquids were released in a violent decompression/ sublimation.

ssssssssh... BOOM!
"Oh GAK! Bob's on my face, bob's on my face..."

**robertsjf**

Redbeard wrote:The most recent Horus Heresy book describes them as firing microwaves,

Which then begs the question: What's the setting for "Land Raider?" I see the "Rhino," "Chimera," and "Popcorn" buttons, but not "Land Raider."

**Durandal**

GW alternates between microwave beams, superheated gas, or sci fi heat rays. Given all the inconsistency you might as well take your pick and assume that is the "pattern" that you have.

**Space_hoppo**

I've always thought of them as firing invisble beams of super heated gas. Similar to the effect you get if you stare at an oven just after you open the door. And even at 200 degrees Celcius that really really burns.