Meltaguns vs. plasma guns

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**Kyric**

Melissia wrote:In books it's usualy described as a bright flash, blindingly bright to anyone who's looking directly at it.

....how would anyone know that it's that bright if they are looking into it.... xD not many could live through that to tell the tale.

i would say DOW has it wrong in some sort of way...Reason: Have you ever seen a bullet?

you can use tracers to make it glow a certain color in the dark, but, it still moves so fast that it doesnt make much of a difference. what makes you think you are going to see something comming that is supposed to be a bullet that melts things? meh, i could be wrong, and it might move a little slower than a bullet, but still, its worth a try.

**Corennus**

As far as I know plasma is fired at subsonic speeds, giving it time to eat through armour and explode when it hits a solid surface.

plasma guns fire small "pellets" of plasma which can be traced through the air.
Plasma cannon fires a ball of plasma that is definitely subsonic and can be tracked.

**Melissia**

Kyric wrote:....how would anyone know that it's that bright if they are looking into it.... xD not many could live through that to tell the tale.

i would say DOW has it wrong in some sort of way...Reason: Have you ever seen a bullet?

1: Because the burst of light isn't necessarily directional like the damage. One can see it from behind, from the side, or from out of range of the blast to the front.

2: Yes.

**Kyric**

Melissia wrote:
Kyric wrote:....how would anyone know that it's that bright if they are looking into it.... xD not many could live through that to tell the tale.

i would say DOW has it wrong in some sort of way...Reason: Have you ever seen a bullet?
1: Because the burst of light isn't necessarily directional like the damage. One can see it from behind, from the side, or from out of range of the blast to the front.

2: Yes.

1: ok ok, we will go with that,
2: i meant a bullit that has just left the chamber of a gun. just fired, moving at a high rate of speed through the air...without it being a tracer.

**NuggzTheNinja**

Real world microwave projectors and lasers aren't typically within the visible spectrum. You wouldn't see anything, except for perhaps the air itself being effected. The effect on target would be the only thing apparent, and likely a fizzle.

**Brotherjulian**

NuggzTheNinja wrote:Real world microwave projectors and lasers aren't typically within the visible spectrum. You wouldn't see anything, except for perhaps the air itself being effected. The effect on target would be the only thing apparent, and likely a fizzle.

Yes. I can't find the book, but the second edition technical stuff described meltas as microwave guns. The "ammo cannisters" on them were more like power generators or something. The firing was supposed to be almost unnoticeable, just a little haze like a heat mirage. Followed by the target glowing and melting

**sarukai**

Disclaimer: yes, I know this differs from the fluff somewhat (at least in how the jet forms currently) but the effect is similar to how I picture melta shots.

Look up the term "shaped charge". They're one of the most effective anti-tank rounds that we have today. From wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaped_charge:

A typical device consists of a solid cylinder of explosive with a metal-lined conical hollow in one end and a central detonator, array of detonators, or detonation wave guide at the other end. The enormous pressure generated by the detonation of the explosive drives the liner contained within the hollow cavity inward to collapse upon its central axis. The resulting collision forms and projects a high-velocity jet of metal forward along the axis. Most of the jet material originates from the innermost layer of the liner, about 10% to 20% of its thickness. The remaining liner material forms a slower-moving slug of material, which because of its appearance is sometimes called a "carrot."

Because of variations along the liner in its collapse velocity, the jet so formed has a varying velocity along its length, decreasing from the front. This variation in velocity stretches the jet and eventually leads to its break-up into particles. In time, the particles tend to lose their alignment, which reduces the depth of penetration at long standoffs.

So lets just say that with power sources being what they are in the 40k world, they don't need explosives to generate the high-velocity molten metal jet. The effect is still the same, and degrades over distance (the +d6 at half range).

**PrometheusZero**

Anyone play the FIrewarrior game for the ps2? That had melta's in it and they seemed like a heat haze thing.

I guess in DoW all weapons fire has to be very visible so you can see whats going on, so can't be too accurate because of that very compromise.

**nevertellmetheodds**

Meltaguns can't use microwaves, as the thick metal hull of most vehicles would just disapate or reflect the waves. I just guess they are a blast of exotic energy and or material of some sort, that looks cool (I always though white hot/red would be the colour), something like a 1 second stream of molten metal turning everything in its path into gooey hot mess.

**PrometheusZero**

Oh yeah Microwaves and metal do not generally mix. In fact, microwaves only heat up polarised materials like water!

Okay, by using the power of sci-fi we can mix Broadband EM radiation with uniformed frequency emmission a la lasers and masers. AN oxymoron, true, but hey, this is the future man!

If we havent figured out how to cook baked beans in the tin using energgy rays in 40000 years time we deserve to be wiped out!

**Corennus**

Next week:

Phasers and photon torpedoes....

**Melissia**

PrometheusZero wrote:I guess in DoW all weapons fire has to be very visible so you can see whats going on, so can't be too accurate because of that very compromise.

Erm, what? DoW2's graphics ARE accurate to what's described in the fluff.

It is not a microwave gun in recent fluff. It's described as combining highly pressurized gasses into an unstable sub-molecular thermal state, which is then fired out in an intense blast of heat accompanied by a distinctive hissing sound and an actinic, blindingly bright flash.

**Samus_aran115**

Hmm.....Well to melt something, it would have to be a very small wavelength, probably smaller than gamma radiation....So it couldn't be a "microwave ray" in the sense that it operates on a very large wavelenth below the visible spectrum.

Fluff-4678 Science-0

**Melissia**

That's why it's not a microwave ray. Or a radiation gun of any kind. It uses cannisters of gas as its ammunition, and the gas is expelled upon use, after being highly pressurized, rendered unstable, and superheated, causing an insane amount of heat over a short distance, but the gas dissipates into the air and cools off quickly, limiting its range.

**Fallanir**

Isn't that the same thing as what plasma guns do?