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I remember reading someplace that a bolter is a .75 caliber bullet. Cool. So, a standard clip would then hold maybe 10 shots, judging by the scale (which of course I know is the first mistake).

So... where do Space Marines keep their extra ammo? I see the misc. bits for ammo clips in pouches, but not everyone uses them. I guess everyone assumes they have unlimited ammo?

Yup.

See that big ol' Cod-Piece? Yep. That's where...

Ha... nicely done, sir.

I guess that doesn't leave room for much else, does it? Perhaps that's why the bullets are so big... overcompensation? lol

-Brad

Everybody knows Marines are built like Ken dolls "down there". So yes, plenty of room!

Shadowbreaker wrote:So, a standard clip would then hold maybe 10 shots, judging by the scale (which of course I know is the first mistake). So... where do Space Marines keep their extra ammo?

Considering a standard game of 5-7 Turns would let a Space Marine rapid fire maybe four or five times (8-10 shots), your question really should be "Do they need extra ammo?"

Ravendove wrote:

Shadowbreaker wrote:So, a standard clip would then hold maybe 10 shots, judging by the scale (which of course I know is the first mistake). So... where do Space Marines keep their extra ammo?

Considering a standard game of 5-7 Turns would let a Space Marine rapid fire maybe four or five times (8-10 shots), your question really should be "Do they need extra ammo?"

Now are you counting the number of times a player would roll for a specific model? Because combining the rate of fire and the "concievable" time span of a turn, the models would be shooting a lot more than that! Consider the assault cannon. Are you really telling me that weapon only fires 4 shots at a time?

SoloFalcon1138 wrote:

Ravendove wrote:

Shadowbreaker wrote:So, a standard clip would then hold maybe 10 shots, judging by the scale (which of course I know is the first mistake). So... where do Space Marines keep their extra ammo?

Considering a standard game of 5-7 Turns would let a Space Marine rapid fire maybe four or five times (8-10 shots), your question really should be "Do they need extra ammo?"

Now are you counting the number of times a player would roll for a specific model? Because combining the rate of fire and the "concievable" time span of a turn, the models would be shooting a lot more than that! Consider the assault cannon. Are you really telling me that weapon only fires 4 shots at a time?

Sorry, maybe I didn't put enough winking faces in. This should help:

there we go... got it!

From what I've heard, the clips are magnetic, and stick to the power armor. Only problem in game terms is that they are too big to model properly

I model almost all my bolter Marines with ammo pouches. The bitz come on the sprue, most people just don't use them for some reason...

Fetterkey wrote:I model almost all my bolter Marines with ammo pouches. The bitz come on the sprue, most people just don't use them for some reason...

I don't like how they look when you attach them to the marines.

The chaos ones are much better IMO, they look better and go on the models better.

Also they have little actual chaos iconography on them, which makes them easily convertable for loyal marines.

So, let's keep it going. Consider the Heavy Bolter Space marine in the standard Dev. squad. He's getting ammo fed from a hopper mounted to his back, I would assume. Also assuming a larger caliber round, hence the "heavy" added to the "bolter."

So, how much ammo does the hopper hold? Because it doesn't look appropriately sized for more than 25 rounds or so... and to the point of Mr. SoloFalcon up there... they send a lot of lead down range during a standard game.

Of course, then again, it is only a game and none of it is real. I could just pretend it's magic and move along with my life...lol

The information you seek is in the Deathwatch roleplaying game, by the way.

The backpack ammo pack for Heavy Bolters contains 250 shots.

Melissia wrote:The information you seek is in the Deathwatch roleplaying game, by the way.

The backpack ammo pack for Heavy Bolters contains 250 shots.

... oh.

So do they have to change backpacks to reload?

only the heavy bolter carriers...

On the one hand, they have the pouches.

On the other hand.... How often have you actually seen people shoot their bolters on the table top? I personally have never seen a single unit of space marines rapid fire their bolters more than once in a single game.

Why bother giving them extra ammo if there's never a reason for them to reload?

They could also have compartments built into their armor, whether they would be big enough to fit a magazine clip, I'm not sure.

That's the problem with the sleek full-plate armour look of Marines. It might make sense for pure close-combat fighters who only need their sword to be killing for hours and hours, but if they actually want to engage in prolonged firefights, they need ammunition poaches and extra-mags just like every single soldier today. On CMON there's a guy making a Smiley Marine army that looks fantastic. He modeled a truckload of ammo pouches all over his Marines and, despite being uncommon, it makes them look very good, more like real soldiers.

Dude you don't want to know. There's a reason all the marines you see are screaming, all the time...

Frazzled wrote:Dude you don't want to know. There's a reason all the marines you see are screaming, all the time...

That is a scary thought.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH, MENTAL IMAGE!

Don't bolters also fire in 3 round bursts? So rapid firing would be six rounds?

ToxicsLayer wrote:So do they have to change backpacks to reload?

Exactly!

micahaphone wrote:Don't bolters also fire in 3 round bursts? So rapid firing would be six rounds?

There's never been mention of a 3-round setting, and there's no reason for marines to use it - they have enough fire discipline to fire short bursts on full-auto without wasting shots. Rapid firing wouldn't be any set number of rounds anyway, one shooting phase doesn't represent just one shot, it's shooting over time.

IIRC the space between the backpack and the torso armour also holds a marine's emergency clip.

I don't remember where I read that, but it seemed to make a bit of sense.

The three round bursts, if they ever used it, would be three single shots. Three boltgun shots would be overkill on all but the toughest of creatures. Like a warboss or hive tyrant.

I consider long range bolter fire to be one burst, and close range bolter fire to be two quick bursts-- see Dawn of War 2 for what I mean by that.

In the books they just throw their bolters away after the opening salvo, most of the time. Hell even guardsmen strive to get the charge most of the time, it seems.

Melissia wrote:The information you seek is in the Deathwatch roleplaying game, by the way.

The backpack ammo pack for Heavy Bolters contains 250 shots.

That's it? IRL Marines carry nearly that much for their M16s...

Yes, but their ammunition isn't powerful enough to destroy tanks.