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See why doesnt the Imperium use nukes? It would be fun! I know they use Exterminus, (im not good at spelling) but why don't they use nukes do destroy enemy forces without killing citizens?

Krieg happends
also they are forbitten by admech and anyway we have even bigger guns

Ya but why do they forbid the use of them?

why are computers forbitten too?
we dont know

camboyaz wrote:See why doesnt the Imperium use nukes? It would be fun! I know they use Exterminus, (im not good at spelling) but why don't they use nukes do destroy enemy forces without killing citizens?

Because Nukes would kill enemies and civilians alike? maybe?

There would be no need for this forum if in the grim dark everything was solved by atomic fire.

camboyaz wrote:See why doesnt the Imperium use nukes? It would be fun! I know they use Exterminus, (im not good at spelling) but why don't they use nukes do destroy enemy forces without killing citizens?

Because we have bigger and better dakka than nukes.
Plus the Angry Marines would be really at the Big E if they got to a planet to fight and there were no heads to smash with a bat nor buts to perform ceremite enemas in.

Because it's ancient tech, for the Omnissiah alone to wield.

Technology in the future is a religion. Similarly to how Jews do not eat pork, those in 40k do not eat nuclear bombs. There is no good reason for it, but it's the way it is. Perhaps a holdover from when they were colonising and didn't want to ruin areas with fallout.

Nuclear weapons are used in 40k, usually as last-resorts, but use of "small nukes" seems to be evidenced in several 40k novels(or at least, there's references to "nuclear fires", which seems to point to the after-math of certain "big guns").

Also, it's generally more ideal to capture/re-capture valuable territory than completely annihilate it.

Of course, when it comes to planets like Roks(?), daemon worlds and the like, you would hope/expect the most the destructive weapons possible to be brought to bear...

Lastly, there's the issue of "making sure" the enemy is completely dead. For instance, tomb worlds would probably not be outright nuked, but instead "cleansed" with something "cleaner" so that ground forces could be deployed to sweep out underground catacombs, which surface nukes would likely not damage. At the same time, you would expect the Imperium could have at some point developed an ordnance delivery system that uses something similiar to their ship-to-ship drill pods, where the missile is launched at a super-high velocity and drills itself to the vulnerable enemy within.

They do sometimes I thought

Sure i've read references to nukes somewhere..

Bah who cares, atom bombs are designed to annihilate but we already got Exterminatus!

Not sure on fluff, but...

Nukes are expensive and poor at most jobs you would want them to do if you are a star-faring race.

Kinetic strikes are the way to go at that point if you're discussing anything stationary or in fixed orbits.

There's also the matter of SDI/point defense - if you can protect yourself against kinetic strikes, you can protect yourself against a nuke, it stands to reason.

Lastly, there are all the reasons we don't widely use nukes today - they're all still valid in 40k.

They don't use nuke because they are armed with a much more deadly weapon...

The Search Engine!

Been covered before though I don't remember the outcome.

Anyway, nukes are ancinct and forbidden weaponry. I think the most recent offically recorded use of them was on vraks during the civil war. They are not ment to be used, the empire dosn't like using them and generally, why use really old on of a kind weapons when you can send a couple of million men to their death, the latter option leaving the planet almost completly undamged and perfectly usible within a year or so.

Nuclear weapons are used more often then you think.

they have been used against Tyranids as they are one of the few weapons that cause mass destruction that isn't also a Bio weapon(and those are a big nono against Nids)


most Ground to Space missile systems have Nuclear warheads. Torpedoes have Nuclear warheads. they aren't mentioned as being Nukes as they are, compared to other space bound weapons, conventional weapons.

they are never called Nukes either. Fission and Fusion warheads are mentioned however.

Plasma reactor is really a Ambigous term synonomus with Fusion reactor. Fusion happens when the atoms in question are in a plasma form. plasma warheads can be thought of a Fusion warheads quite comfortably(the standard Impierial torpedo is a plasma warhead)

Plasma is the form of matter stars are in. Stars are giant Fusion reactors. Plasma=Fusion. Fusion/plasma bombs = modern day H-bomb.


Radiation is pretty low on the concern level when capturing a planet. as long as the whole planet isn't rendered uninhabitable then it's fine to blow up a few thousand orks with a A-bomb. the impierium is perfectly content to wait out the radiation.

Grey Templar wrote:Plasma=Fusion. Fusion/plasma bombs = modern day H-bomb.

This is very, very wrong from a scientific standpoint. Not sure if you're pulling on some 40k fluff (the word plasma gets bent over and treated unkindly in a lot of soft science fiction, it's true), but if so, 40k is redefining those words

Jokorey wrote:

Grey Templar wrote:Plasma=Fusion. Fusion/plasma bombs = modern day H-bomb.

This is very, very wrong from a scientific standpoint. Not sure if you're pulling on some 40k fluff (the word plasma gets bent over and treated unkindly in a lot of soft science fiction, it's true), but if so, 40k is redefining those words

Well, I think that is pretty much the case, as GT's interpretation was always the way I understood it. Of course, 40k has a whole new class of WMDs with Vortex weapons!

I seem to recal that 'Stone Burners' were mentioned In a BL book - Faith & Fire I think.

Stone Burners were a class of nuclear bomb in Dune and one imagines the term means the same thing when co-opted by 40k.

I don't think i have the scientific thing totally messed up.


in Fusion reactors they induce the Hydronium and some other matierial into a hyper energised state. this results, in theory anyway, many times the power used to start the reaction.

here is a direct quote off of Wikipedia on Fusion power plants

"The largest current experiment is the Joint European Torus (JET). In 1997, JET produced a peak of 16.1 megawatts (21,600 hp) of fusion power (65% of input power), with fusion power of over 10 MW (13,000 hp) sustained for over 0.5 sec. In June 2005, the construction of the experimental reactor ITER, designed to produce several times more fusion power than the power put into the plasma over many minutes, was announced. Project partners are currently preparing the site (as of September 2008[update]). The production of net electrical power from fusion is planned for DEMO, the next generation experiment after ITER. Additionally, the High Power laser Energy Research facility (HiPER) is undergoing preliminary design for possible construction in the European Union starting around 2010

the result of the Fusion process is matter in the Plasma state which releases tremendous energy.

a Nuclear bomb that utilises Fusion could conceivably be described as a Plasma bomb.


Here is also a quote from the Wikipedia entry on plasma.

"Like gas, plasma does not have a definite shape or a definite volume unless enclosed in a container; unlike gas, in the influence of a magnetic field, it may form structures such as filaments, beams and double layers. Some common plasmas are stars and neon signs."

it is a known fact that stars are natural Fusion reactors.



Plasma weapons in the fluff use the Magnetic envelope theory. they also use Hydrogen compounds as the ammo for said weaponry. thism fluff combined with the above real facts suggests that "Plasma" weapons are in fact Hydrogen based Fusion weapons.

nukes even small tacticle nukes are dirty weapons and there are only so many habitable planets in the impreium else they wouldn't fight over them they'd see the orks coming and move!

Plasma weapons in 40k may well be fusion based weapons - no argument there, I have no clue.

The issue I had with your post was the implication that plasma inherently denotes the presence of fusion, which is patently untrue - that's like saying all water is an ocean. [for the sake of this argument...] Stars are indeed essentially fusion reactors, and stars do indeed consist of matter in a state of plasma. Your words (and it may not even be your intent) seemed to imply that, therefore, all plasma denotes fusion - this is way off.

Heck, we make *toys* that use plasma today - you even use the example of neon signs! Do you think there is fusion going on in that Bud Light sign? Of course not

Yeah, that's what i meant.

Jokorey wrote:Do you think there is fusion going on in that Bud Light sign?

Where do you think the delicious taste of whatever's on the bottom of your shoes + hops comes from? Duh...

This quote is from awhile up but

why are computers forbitten too?
we dont know

Because in the "Men of Iron", before the age of strife (I think) were AI droids made to do what humans told them to.

One day they got smart (Cliche...) and rebelled against the humans.

Ever since then humans have no used AI or computers as such.


There are a few... like the Power of the Machine spirit in a land raider, but those are different.

I believe 'atomics' are mentioned in couple of the ultramarine and blood angels novels.

Ok the Imperium has used nukes before if your've read the Horus Heresy books or any other Space Marine or Imperial Guard book you know that Nuclear weapons are the mainstay of the Imperial Navy, all Imperial Navy ships use Nuclear torpedoes because how else are you supposed to destroy a ship thats six miles long. Also Nuclear weapons aren't used on a population because Nukes have the nasty drawback of causing fallout and ruining planets, planets which the Imperium needs if their going to survive. Plus the Imperium has something much worse than Nukes its called the Life Eater Virus which is a genetically modified viral strain that feasts on living flesh from plants, animals, and humans alike, even Space Marines are affected.

Nukes damage the enviroment for several centuries therefore rendering the area or the world useless to the Imperium.Nukes are used,but rarely since the Imperium has better weapons of mass destruction(Lances,Macrocannons,Weapon batteries).

at OP: they do. They use lots of things.

I'm not %100 sure about how true this is because even during the Cold War Nuclear Weapons were never "Mass Produced" but I personally doubt that Nuclear Weapons are cost effective. Think about it after you take into account mining of the raw ore, processing, refining, enrichment to weapons grade then manufactor of the delivery system and calibration of the detonator (all of which has to be done by a techpriest in 40K on a planet with a solid infrastructure and Imperial presence), then all you're left with a weapon that is scaled to one specific payload and cannot be fired in close proximity to your troops or established structures. Or if it is scalible some how then you've wasted a good amount of its potential energy since the area of affect on an explosive is a log of its energy output (the actual formula is escaping me and driving me up the wall right now). Compare that with conventional explosives which can more or less be manufactored in a "Cottage Industry" (when was the last time you heard THAT term? ).

It then makes sense that you would have Nuclear Weapons on ships because the large scale of the battle would be a great place to use that energy. However as with any explosives most of the damage comes from the change in AIR PRESSURE which would not be the case in outter space.

EDIT: I'm not saying the Nuclear Weapons would be useless in space but you would not get nearly as much output as you do in an atmosphere.

RE-EDIT: I am a jack- for not remembering this, anyway: DYNAMIC PREASSURE = 1/2*fluid_density*fluid_velocity^2; AREA OF EFFECT = Cubed_Root(Payload);

Devastator wrote:why are computers forbitten too?
we dont know

Yesh. The imperium is failz. The use servitors, which are probably more effective than computers, or not.

They don't use nukes simply because mankind, in the future, prefer to blow the shat out of planets using their "Exterminatus-Missle" weaponry as oppose to killing continents with nukes.

The article I was reading that remind me of the formula ( http://www.textfiles.com/survival/injuries.txt ) also points out that because of the ratio of Area of Effect to the Payload, it is more efficent to have multiple low yeild bombs detonate across a spread out area. This means the best method of delivery is the MIRV system which again fails at being scalible and is only useful if you have a large area to destroy and are not worried about collaterol damage. So nevermind the nuclear fallout I would say that Atomic based weapons fail well before consideration of the aftermath.

Samus_aran115 wrote:

Devastator wrote:why are computers forbitten too?
we dont know

Yesh. The imperium is failz. The use servitors, which are probably more effective than computers, or not.

Any thinking program is forbidden because the last time mankind used them, it led to the creation of the Iron Men, AIs who nearly wiped out humanity.