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If a race (not sure if any already do or not) had and EMP device couldn't they effectively cripple any imperium army and destroy them?

well technically the same could be said about Necrons and Tau as well

Imperial guard dont use as much advance tech as the tau and necrons so they wouldnt be as affected by an emp but if it was used on necrons and tau they would get annilated

raptor8 wrote:Imperial guard dont use as much advance tech as the tau and necrons so they wouldnt be as affected by an emp .........

Really, tell that to the ponderously slow Leman Russes that I've taken out with Fire Warriors armed with EMP grenades or with the Eldars Hay-Wire Grenades.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
@RedGuardian73- The EMP effect has sort of been addressed in the Tau's emp grenades and the weaksauce that is the Tau's CIB.

Most races would be a bit messed up by it.
I think Tyranids, Orks and Chaos demons would be the only largely unaffected races and possibly eldar but i don't know how their tech works so maybe not.

Marines can apparently move the armour without power but it would be such a massive hinderance they would be better off without it.

Necrons, Tau and Imperial Guard would be in trouble guard not as much as the toher 2 since they can still bayonette things to death, Tau would be doomed since their ranged firepower are the only decent things they have and Necrons presuming that they work on electronics would be completley kaput.

Chaos mortal forces would take the same hits as Space Marines and Imperial Guard.

However there must be a reason they don't use EMP's maybe it would be too limitng for the user or they haven't re/discorvered it or everyone is shielded against it.

The reason why EMP effects are limited in 40k is that anyone with the tech to make an EMP device will also have the tech to shield from such effects.

We are able to shield against such in current times.

RedGuardian73 wrote:If a race (not sure if any already do or not) had and EMP device couldn't they effectively cripple any imperium army and destroy them?

You got that idea from Necropolis didn't you!?

Also, on the subject of not using them, the imperium wouldn't use the method I know of (nuclear blast) as they rarely use nuclear weapons, and I mean rarely rarely.

wizard12 wrote:Also, on the subject of not using them, the imperium wouldn't use the method I know of (nuclear blast) as they rarely use nuclear weapons, and I mean rarely rarely.

There are other methods...

Anywho this is futuristic tech that works... future-like. Besides there would probably be defence against... forget it I'm on the road to sounding dumb now... Future-like? Really?

You got that idea from Necropolis didn't you!?

Lemun Russ and Basilisks don't need electricty. they use internal combustion engines and solid-to-gas propellent in all of their solid and exploding rounds.

PA is likely shielded against EMP attacks.

Plasma weapons wouldn't explode as the Plasma wouldn't be formed in the first place if the gun is deactivated. of course if the wielder was in the process of firing

Bolters are completely Mechanical. they do have indicators linked to the helmet HUDs, but would still function.

the EMP blast from a A-bomb is still about what the radiation zone would be so anyone nearby would have bigger problems then a non-functioning weapon.



BTW: the standard armament for a Impierial Torpedo is essentially a Nuclear Warhead under a new name, Plasma. the Plasma in 40k is essentially Nuclear Fusion. GW calls it plasma because it sounds cooler, but it is still Nuclear Fusion.

Plasma is a state of matter like Solid, Liquid, Gas, and Boes-Einstien Condensate. the Fusion taking place in Stars is done with Hydrogen in its Plasma state.

RedGuardian73 wrote:
You got that idea from Necropolis didn't you!?

Even though I have read almost all the gaunts ghost novels it was not where I got the idea from. I got the Idea while reading another Dan Abnett novel "Xenos" the first book in the Eisenhorn Series. I will also agree that the Tau would be sufficiently weakend enough to just plow through the tiny Tau Empire. Necrons im not so sure about though. I don't know much about them but I dont think they run on electricity do they? I thought it was soul infused metal frames? perhaps I'm wrong. The IG would be completely outgunned because none of the Guardsmen would have ranged weapons (LasGuns use batteries to fire so they must be electric and therefore become useless during EMP attacks). Plasma weapons would also destroy their users because the fields that keep the plasma from melting the weapon would go out. I dont think Melta weapons would work either, also no vehicles, vox relays, or watches. SM might be able to move in power armor but it would be a great hindrance to them and most likely very very tiring to the user. Not sure if a bolter has any electrical parts to it, but if it did more non functioning weapons.

CrazyThang wrote:

wizard12 wrote:Also, on the subject of not using them, the imperium wouldn't use the method I know of (nuclear blast) as they rarely use nuclear weapons, and I mean rarely rarely.

There are other methods...

Spoiler:

CoDMW2 isn't your only source is it...?

Anywho this is futuristic tech that works... future-like. Besides there would probably be defence against... forget it I'm on the road to sounding dumb now... Future-like? Really?

Well, I'd simply assume that the Massive pauldrons deflect the EMP waves from their target. But in all seriousness, I'd say that, hey, the Imperium hasn't used EMP devices as massive WMD's of any type. That is probably the best defense for the idea that EMP's don't work that well/haven't been rediscovered again.

wizard12 is the closest one to explaining this but I don't think he knows it. The most effective way to produce an Electo-Magnetic Pulse is a nuclear weapon, which as Grey Templar pointed out only propagates about as far as its blast and those within the blast would have "other things to worry about".

By EMP Device I assume you mean a one pulse bomb-type of device since to generate that kind of power consistantly is a waste of resources.

Things like Coulombs Law and Faradays Law come into play to explain why the lasguns would NOT be effected by an Electro Magnetic device. To simplify everything the device would have to create a pulse at a magnitude greater then the amount of electricity the Lasgun can with stand in order to destroy it, remeber that when it is fired a Lasgun is designed to discharge over 2,000 Joules. This is not reasonable because the magnitude of the electrostatic force between two point electric charges (the origon of the blast and the location of the lasgun) is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the two charges. So as you get further away you have much less energy in the blast. The reason that EMP is thought of as a concern in modern times is because of the number of unsheilded low power devices we rely on in critical systems today.

EDIT: Grammer

Thank you for explaining EMP better for me ComputerGeek01. With a better understanding of EMP I now see that it would be semi-useless in the 41st millenium.