Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

this is for asking and answering questions about how things work, what happens and the like.

I'll start with some simple ones:

How does a meltagun work.
How does the bolt from a bolter work?
How do servitors function?

thoughts?

the Bolt from a bolter works like a Javalin missile, the shell contains a small charge to get it out the barrel, once out the barrel the bolts own ignition system activates and it flies away as for how it tels when it is inside someone I have no clue.

and sorry but I don't know how the other two work.


FM

Captain Solon wrote:this is for asking and answering questions about how things work, what happens and the like.

I'll start with some simple ones:

How does a meltagun work.
How does the bolt from a bolter work?
How do servitors function?

thoughts?

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

Long story short: SCIENCE!

Gorkamorka wrote:
Long story short: SCIENCE!

Oh no, the Rule of Cool is much more important than science in the 40k universe ;-)

Mellon wrote:

Gorkamorka wrote:
Long story short: SCIENCE!

Oh no, the Rule of Cool is much more important than science in the 40k universe ;-)

Rule of Cool < SCIENCE!

Valkyrie wrote:

Mellon wrote:

Gorkamorka wrote:
Long story short: SCIENCE!

Oh no, the Rule of Cool is much more important than science in the 40k universe ;-)

Rule of Cool < Science

No no no, you are confused. Not science. SCIENCE! All caps, explanation mark. And no, I'm not being facetious.

Science is a tool for studying the universe involving the scientific method.

SCIENCE! is closer to engineering, and isn't necessarily bound by the laws of physics. See comic book villians, large portions of start trek, and pulp mad scientists.

40k is all about SCIENCE!

riplikash wrote:

Valkyrie wrote:

Mellon wrote:

Gorkamorka wrote:
Long story short: SCIENCE!

Oh no, the Rule of Cool is much more important than science in the 40k universe ;-)

Rule of Cool < Science

No no no, you are confused. Not science. SCIENCE! All caps, explanation mark. And no, I'm not being facetious.

Science is a tool for studying the universe involving the scientific method.

SCIENCE! is closer to engineering, and isn't necessarily bound by the laws of physics. See comic book villians, large portions of start trek, and pulp mad scientists.

40k is all about SCIENCe!

Ok changed it

Off the top of my head

How does a meltagun work.
- Like a microwave, on crack, as a gun.

How does the bolt from a bolter work?
- fired out of the gun like a bullet, but then it uses its own propulsion system like a miniature rocket after it leave the barrel. Once it senses an increase in local mass it detonates.

How do servitors function?
- The brain is either rewired or replaced with a computer, essentially. They are like zombies, or like cars, where the human body is used as a frame.

Demogerg wrote:How do servitors function?
- The brain is either rewired or replaced with a computer, essentially. They are like zombies, or like cars, where the human body is used as a frame.

Not replaced. Servitors and Servo Skulls both utilise human brains, just suitably lobotomised and reprogrammed to specific tasks. This is how the Imperium gets its 'robot' workforce without resorting to Artificial Intelligence, which has beengenerally frowned upon as being heretical and evil since the Dark Age of Technology (barring certain cases like the Land Raider Machine Spirit and the gestalt consciousness of Imperial Titans (which isn't exactly AI, really)).

Aha, I get it. SCIENCE! as can for example be found in: girlgeniousonline.com
I say SCIENCE! works as good as it does because of the rule of cool.

off topic.

waaay off topic.

anyway, necromancy is better then SCIENCE!

Mellon wrote:Aha, I get it. SCIENCE! as can for example be found in: girlgeniousonline.com
I say SCIENCE! works as good as it does because of the rule of cool.

Exactly.

And it is on topic. Why does it work? SCIENCE!

How does a meltagun work.
- Like a microwave,

That is hopeless coz then you have to set the gun at full power for 3 1/2 mins let stand for 1 min then another 2 1/2 mins at full power before the bolter goes 'ping'

insaniak wrote:

Demogerg wrote:How do servitors function?
- The brain is either rewired or replaced with a computer, essentially. They are like zombies, or like cars, where the human body is used as a frame.

Not replaced. Servitors and Servo Skulls both utilise human brains, just suitably lobotomised and reprogrammed to specific tasks. This is how the Imperium gets its 'robot' workforce without resorting to Artificial Intelligence, which has beengenerally frowned upon as being heretical and evil since the Dark Age of Technology (barring certain cases like the Land Raider Machine Spirit and the gestalt consciousness of Imperial Titans (which isn't exactly AI, really)).

IE: rewired... essentially.

Servo-Skulls definitely don't use human brains, although Servitors do: suitably rewired to make a docile if uncreative worker that can be task-adapted.

Melta Guns make more sense when you think of their Eldar and Tau equivalents: the Fusion Gun.

The Fusion Gun creates a fusion reaction and directs the resulting output of energy in a coherent fashion, using much of it to project a magnetic channel acting much like a shaped charge does to direct that forces into a narrow cone. Of course there's a equilibrium between a cone to contain the blast, its narrowness, and its range.

I personally like to think of the Plasma Gun as the Fission Gun, as a compliment to the Fusion Gun. Whereas the Fusion Gun channels a relatively small-scale fusion reaction, the Fission Gun works by stripping hydrogen ions of their electrons with a laser, creating an electrical discharge between the receiver or barrel of the weapon and whatever it's pointed at. This electrical discharge equalizes the electrical valences of the hydrogen ions, and conveys the atomic nuclei to the target at something approaching the speed of light.

Seen from a human vantage point there's an actinic flash like a lightening bolt, and then a blast as the 'bolt' of fast-moving protons hits the target, causing both electrical, heat, and kinetic damage. The Tau Ion Cannon uses this principle in a more efficient and accurate fashion, using a far lower power electron stripping laser, but maintaining a constant beam of protons.

Imperial Plasma weapons are dangerous because it is up to the user to know when their weapon is ready to be discharged, else the plasma created by the laser will vent causing dangerous undirected electrical discharges. Tau and Eldar Plasma weapons carefully measure the weapon's output in relation to the surrounding environment so that over-heating is not a problem since the charge is not allowed to build up to inefficient levels that might require emergency discharge. Conversely humans accept the danger in favour of allowing users to over-charge their weapons in an emergency (basically all the damn time) in order to gain a magnitude of power.

Bolters are recoil-less, case-less, and typically run .75 calibre. While they are case-less, that simply means they have a minimal casing and charge required for lethal close range fire, and an integral rocket-motor in the shell to accelerate it over range for extra armour piercing value. This rocket-motor charged also means that Bolters are smooth-bore weapons, which minimizes the amount of build-up of propellent in the barrel, something that turns a wildly impractical weapon into a mere maintenance nightmare that only the fanatical discipline of the Astartes can handle efficiently. Compared to the comparable brass of a .75 rifle, Bolters have relatively small cartridges, enabling Bolters to carry more shells in smaller magazines. They have an electrical trigger rather than a firing pins, and an interior magazine so that the exterior magazine can be replaced while the weapon is discharging on full automatic, making the Astartes Bolter Drill legendary as the Astartes calmly fire one handed for the brief second that it takes to swap out the empty magazine for a full one.

Altogether this bulky and impractical weapon system, in the hands of the Astartes, becomes an efficient and effective killing weapon able to sustain a fusilade of rapid fire for the short periods of time that Astartes' military actions usually last, and combined with the Astartes' own superlative marksmenship allows them to go into battle seemingly unequipped with ammunition. Thanks to its recoil-less nature even a standard variant human can fire this .75 calibre weapon while on the move, and in the hands of an Astartes it can be easily juggled with combat knife, grenade, or even more esoteric weapon such as a powered cestus, or powered fighting claw in the other hand.

Furthermore Bolter shells are usually cross-compatible with varients such as the side-arm Bolt Pistol, a weapon only slightly less deadly when being used to pistol-whip a opponent to death, the Storm Bolter, a dual-barreled weapon that uses two carefully aligned barrels and timed discharges to allow accurate rapid fire out to its full range. Larger Bolter weaponry such as the Heavy Bolter do not use compatible ammunition, instead firing even larger shells and equipping the Astartes with a machine-gun type weapon of extreme calibre.

So each Space Marine armed with a bolter carries more firepower than a team of men manning a .50 calibre machine gun, while capable of firing on the move, without stopping to reload, It is no wonder that an assault by the Astartes is a terrifying experience with the staccato beat of Bolter fire underpinning the roar of chainblades, the crackle of powered weapons, and the booming discharges of fusion and fission weaponry. If the survivors of the initial assault are fortunate, they will not hear the roar of flame units being brought to burn them out of whatever place of safety they have bolted to....

Ok, that was a winning post right there. +10 internet points for you. Best breakdown of the astartes bolter I have seen yet.

*drool* Excellent post Nurglitch!

There is a very clever guy called Philip Sibbering that has made a lot of fan-interpretations of the 40k universe. A lot of them makes very good sense, even if they are not strictly "canon" per se. Here is a link to his page on bolters:
http://philipsibbering.com/WH40KRP/40K__10_Bolter.shtml

Mellon:

I had read Sibbering's stuff before but didn't bookmark it: so thanks for the link!

The guy has a lot of good ideas, even if I don't agree with all of them; but it's cool to see someone else fleshing it out, rather than just shrugging and muttering something about "It's 40k, it's not supposed to make sense".

In particular I like the idea of STC being a set of standards rather than being a magical make-anything machine. "This Land Raider is certified STC compliant!"