Kasrkin229 wrote:
Stopping Power
In
40k fluff it is suggested that lasguns have little to no recoil , and as per Newtons law stating that for each reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction , the "beam" from a lasgun is never portrayed as having any sort of stopping power in comparison to solid slug projectiles this could be a critical draw back when fighting enemies that in the face of any kinetic projectile would be stopped or at least slowed would simply shrug off las-fire . This is critical in that the basic trooper would get extra seconds needed (hopefully ) from a weapon that had physical "kick" to it rather then something that was a simply beam of light
That is not what stopping power means. By that logic, a lascannon also has no 'stopping power' due to the projectile (energy emissions) having negligible mass. Stopping power refers to the ability of a weapon to cause an injury that will incapacitate a target. Having a large section of flesh exploded from your body (depending on where you look in canon, this could extend to blowing off unprotected limbs in a single shot) is going to incapacitate anything that a bullet would. Orks would not at all be slowed by the weight of a bullet entering their bodies, unless the bullet was so extremely heavy or traveling so extremely fast (without just completely killing or penetrating the target) that it would provide enough force to physically stop an Ork in his tracks. Anything capable of doing this would not be an infantry weapon, and would be hard-pressed to slow a target without immediately popping them like a meat balloon (not that this is a bad thing). By your definition of 'stopping power', a good punch is more effective than being shot with a light pistol.
Armor Penetration -
ah the Famous downfall of the simply lasgun its lack of ability to pierce any armor , even that piece of leather worn by the creepy Slannash cultist ( joke )
regardless in fluff and in many books ( ill agree isn't exactly a consistant source ) Las-guns to posses the ability to slice though standard imperial Body armor its effect is greatly dimished when anyone decides they want to wear something with even a remote heat-dissipation ability this effect is greatly diminished and even in some cases almost entirely lost ( mainly looking at space marine adamantium and similar materials ) while an Autogun firing simple Steel Jacketed ammunition ( i personally have put a 7.62x54mm steel jacketed round though a 1.5 inch steel plate 9/10 times it penetrated ) would be much more capable of dealing with armor that was ballistically rated armor as well as heat rated armor - Mainly due to that when a ceramic plate ( for current body armor i can only assume that a similar standard would apply with futuristic armor and bullet propelants ) the impact from the round will most likely crack or shatter the plate rendering it ineffective , this is mainly solved by having multiple overlapping plates to disperse energy over a large area so the plates do not become over stressed and crack . Alot of my Argument will fall to the " Its science fiction " or " its 40k no reason here !! " However i can only speculate as to the different advantages and disadvantages at this time --- anyway back on track i do believe that the lasguns lack of ability to defeat very simple heat absorbent armor is its ultimate downfall here
Real-world ammunition is not a basis for comparison. No armour in
40k is 1.5 inch steel plate (something which a lasgun would have absolutely no problem penetrating ). Space Marine ceramite and adamantium would stop a lasgun shot, sure, but it equally nullifies autogun shots. Your argument that '"i personally have put a 7.62x54mm steel jacketed round though a 1.5 inch steel plate 9/10 times it penetrated" + 'lasguns suck against Space Marines' = autoguns are better' is inherently flawed. Space Marine armour is not 1.5 steel plate, nor is even the most lowly armour in the game. Also, the way you word your statements about lasguns speak of obvious bias - "when anyone
decides they want to wear something with
even a remote heat-dissipation ability this effect is diminished and even in some cases almost entirely lost". This is a weapon that can easily sever limbs. This is like me saying that real-world sniper rifles only work when people forget to wear a hat, just because I dislike them (or alternatively really like hats and wish to promote their ballistic-resistant properties).
Damage to Target ( high speculated ) -- So it is commonly accepted that a las-bolt when it strikes causes a mini-explosion as the liquid in the cells surrounding the impact site instantly boil from the head and explode causing a suprisingly large amount of damage - this would be awesome if the wound didn't mostly cauterize upon impact as well as leaving behind very little pain due to the fact that when the nerves are exposed to flash heat such as that , the die and are sealed before they can transmit any signals of pain to the brain . Further more the cauterizing effect also makes it impossible for the victim to bleed out enough to cause shock , where as the shock that does ensue will most likely be from the mental mindset and seeing the injury ,
That is a woefully inaccurate description of how cauterization, pain, and shock works.
this is all fine and dandy when fighting other humans but when engaging a foe that feels no pain or is on a combat "high " ( Orks ect ) the shock won't set in and lacking of bleeding caused by the wound will make it extremely unlikely to render such an opponent incapacitated by a las-shot . This brings up the point where Slugs from an Autogun would be prefered As when the slug hits , the round entering first would have an immediate entry wound afterward the round would ( usually) begin to tumble after the primary expansion in which case Fragments break off from the round , this causes massive internal hemorrhaging and after several rounds could very well incapacitate a larger opponent though blood loss , as the shot itself may not be felt by the victim they will not be able to ignore the fact that their blood is now pouring onto the ground . granted this process will be very different depending on the Size , strength , and endurance of varying opponents but at least its something compared to our auto-cauterizeing friend
Actually, this is so much not even wrong that I'm just going to leave this thread for my own sanity.
