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 Captain Roderick wrote:
A Las-weapon either superheats or ionises the air between the weapon and the target (someone correct for which please)

Pretty sure it does both. It's the superheating the makes it go "crack" though.

+++ cautionary note: gross-ass post +++

With regard to lasgun damage, it's worth noting that if it's burning hot enough to superheat air to the point of making a sound like that it's going to do a lot more when it hits you than just burn a neat little cauterized hole like a surgical laser. That kind of heat is likely to cause a severe flash burn, dissipating from the impact point, charring tissue and boiling fluids. This will all happen instantly and you might not even feel it at the impact point (the nerves in the afflicted area will burn out before they can register pain) but it's going to leave a really ugly wound. Charred bone, black eschar, the works.

The main advantage of an autogun is likely to be depth of penetration; a split-second burst of lasfire will do a lot of damage, but the kinetic penetrator fired by an autogun will keep moving once it hits you, either deforming and tearing ragged wound tracks or punching clean out the other side of you (depending on a lot of ballistic factors and the kind of ammunition) so with certain types of ammunition, it might have more stopping power.

Another thing to consider is the environment the weapon's being used in; smoke, thick fog and gas clouds won't have any effect on an autogun shell worth thinking about, but they will cause laser weapons to bloom, wasting some of their energy and also making the beams visible (depending on what spectrum of light is involved and whether you can see it).

e; if my science is off here, please correct me. I don't study it or anything.

An autogun would have a recoil, a lasgun wouldn't. It'd make you feel like man

If I can recall, I remember reading somewhere, either on lexicannium or the 40k wiki that guardsmen would often 'Overcharge' or jury rig the las packs to fire super las shots. They would do this (sometimes dangerous) to get more power out of each shot but it would significantly shorten the lifespan of the las pack and have a reduced amount of shots (from an estimated 100 to less then 30), not unlike the hot-shot las guns that have a automatic firing function and fire 2-3 the power of a standard las shot. They could do this two ways. By overcharging the pack via cables, or they would jurry rig the pack itself by playing with the packs limiter. The end result is a las gun that fires hot shot las bolts capable more carnage and if repeatedly used in this matter can melt its barrel.

If used in this manner I reckon they would mince light and medium infantry albeit your las gun would be junk after a few clips. I also remember noting that if the commissar found out he would execute you because your destroying your weapon for a short term gain of firepower. Squad and company commanders would likely overlook it, hell you'll be dead tomorrow anyway.

How might dust and other fine particles in the air affect a las weapon?

I understand battlefields can be pretty dusty, dirty places.

Could such conditions cause las rounds to disperse their energy prematurely?

Don't forget that fog and rain rapidly decrease the effectiveness of the lazgun the further the shot goes.

Holy gak necro

Thread is being locked due to thread necromancy.