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As title. Does it work like normal, Star Wars-style? Do they destroy each other?

Assume that 2 Space Marines are fighting with 1 Power Sword each.

 BrotherHaraldus wrote:
As title. Does it work like normal, Star Wars-style? Do they destroy each other?

Assume that 2 Space Marines are fighting with 1 Power Sword each.

They parry like normal swords. Maybe some sparks fly around and there's a flash of light, but they'll meet each other. IIRC, admantanium weapons can also parry power weapons.

There's a sharp crackling noise, perhaps a burst of light or energy, then the opponents keep dueling until one of the fools miscalculates and has a hot-sword sandwich.

They should really make powered, power armour...or it that power, powered armour?

Possibly some badass power field lightning flashing all over the place, adding to the epicness of the fight.

But yeah, the two power field will just 'negate' each other.

In the 40k RPGs, a power field weapon has a 75% chance of breaking a normal weapon during a parry action, that is, either doing one or being blocked by one, but a power field weapon is always stopped by a power field weapon.

With a good chance to crack your wrists in the process, I would think. Probably not an issue to 3 m tall superhumans in power armour but quite possibly worth considering for some regular humies.

 Kosake wrote:
With a good chance to crack your wrists in the process, I would think. Probably not an issue to 3 m tall superhumans in power armour but quite possibly worth considering for some regular humies.

Also helps if the person swinging it at you is also an eight foot tall superhuman as well. I don't like to think of what happens to the poor chap that duels an astartes with a power sword.
Actually, any melee weapon would actually end badly. Come to think of it, anyone even capable of fighting astartes in a swordfight without broken wrists such as Ciaphas Cain is pretty impressive as a feat of strength.

A better question though on what happens with melee weapons in W40K is what happens when a chainsword parries another chain weapon, or parries a non-chain weapon?

My guess? metal fragments to the face for both the combatants and any bystanding onlookers.

 Kosake wrote:
My guess? metal fragments to the face for both the combatants and any bystanding onlookers.

It gets tricky however with mono-fine admantanium swords, which would likely tank the chain teeth, or even cut clean through the chainsword. The problem I'd see however is just how hard would a chain weapon try to rip your sword out of your hands and what affect it'd have on the wielder of the chain weapon.

Against anything else, yeah, it'd probably end in one party being hit by shrapnel of a shattered blade.

Direct parries of a Space Marine by a normal human would be detrimental, but if the human were a superior swordsman the parries wouldn't need to be direct and could allow them to redirect the movements instead of attempt to stop them....thereby lessening the impact force significantly and even causing the Space Marine's own strength to work against him(think Aikido with swords).

 Wyzilla wrote:
Actually, any melee weapon would actually end badly. Come to think of it, anyone even capable of fighting astartes in a swordfight without broken wrists such as Ciaphas Cain is pretty impressive as a feat of strength.

Doesn't he have a bionic arm?

Hasn't Gaunt, who doesn't (or didn't) have any bionic parts fought an Astartes in melee?

 Wyzilla wrote:

 Kosake wrote:

A better question though on what happens with melee weapons in W40K is what happens when a chainsword parries another chain weapon, or parries a non-chain weapon?

This is quite graphically described in Betrayer. The chainsword basically ends up spitting a hell of a lot of teeth to the point that it becomes ruined.

 Baragash wrote:
Doesn't he have a bionic arm?

Bionic Fingers, just the pinky and ring fingers.

 Farseer Faenyin wrote:
Direct parries of a Space Marine by a normal human would be detrimental, but if the human were a superior swordsman the parries wouldn't need to be direct and could allow them to redirect the movements instead of attempt to stop them....thereby lessening the impact force significantly and even causing the Space Marine's own strength to work against him(think Aikido with swords).

Basic fencing, which has numerous flaws in terms of sword fighting but regardless, deals with parrying being a redirection of the opponents attack. It doesn't involve brute forcing a blow away so much as shifting it's point of strike. Even with a very powerful fencer it's pretty easy to turn the blade aside if you are competent.

 Maniac_nmt wrote:

 Farseer Faenyin wrote:
Direct parries of a Space Marine by a normal human would be detrimental, but if the human were a superior swordsman the parries wouldn't need to be direct and could allow them to redirect the movements instead of attempt to stop them....thereby lessening the impact force significantly and even causing the Space Marine's own strength to work against him(think Aikido with swords).

Basic fencing, which has numerous flaws in terms of sword fighting but regardless, deals with parrying being a redirection of the opponents attack. It doesn't involve brute forcing a blow away so much as shifting it's point of strike. Even with a very powerful fencer it's pretty easy to turn the blade aside if you are competent.

Though, the Space Marines that run around with Power Swords tend to be competent as well.

The world explodes and everyone has pancakes.

What do you THINK happens, given that the lore states only power weapons can parry power weapons without risking destruction?

 Melissia wrote:
The world explodes and everyone has pancakes.

What do you THINK happens, given that the lore states only power weapons can parry power weapons without risking destruction?

I'd like me some pancakes after power swords crossed the streams...I mean field.

Also, force weapon can parry a power field, and warp weaponry.

But no pancakes for those.

I think it would just be star wars style flash lash krrrk-SNAP.
Also, are those pancakes just plain old buttermilk pancakes or sumthin' moar SPESShul?

 Overlord Thraka wrote:
I think it would just be star wars style flash lash krrrk-SNAP.
Also, are those pancakes just plain old buttermilk pancakes or sumthin' moar SPESShul?

Spacepancakes. They are very special

How on earth did you go from power weapons to space cakes? Oo

Anyway, it does depend on the power weapons in question.

It's one thing for two power swords, but what happens if a power axe is parried with a thunder hammer? Or, worse, when a power sword is parried with an eviscerator?

Crackling spinning doomy death. Kehehe.

I think like a lot of 40k weapons, power weapons don't really make sense in terms of real world weapons. Take the chainsword for example, a cool sound concept until you look at why real chainsaws are not viable weapon. Never mind the fuel requirments and weight versus a conventional blade, but it would suffer horribly from kick back (when a tooth snags on something it can't cut through and literally propels the blade back towards the face of the user) or the chain snapping and whipping off and blinding the guy waving it around, I think sometimes it's best to just stick to the rule of cool, and not worry too much how some of these things work. Super heavies are another great example, devasting in a Sci-fi tabletop game but in real life proved wildy overcosted, cumbersome and easily made obsolete by air attack.

 Baragash wrote:
Hasn't Gaunt, who doesn't (or didn't) have any bionic parts fought an Astartes in melee?

Yes. Funnily enough I'm currently reading Traitor General and Gaunt has just battled Chaos Marines in a swamp. His Sondar powersword was able to slice straight through one Chaos Marine's torso, spilling his innards and killing him, while against another (the leader), his gauntlet was able to parry the same sword... plot armour, I guess. However, we're dealing with the Abnettverse here, where the Chaos Marines wear carapace armour and have shoulder mounted cannons, etc... so YMMV.

 Overlord Thraka wrote:
I think it would just be star wars style flash lash krrrk-SNAP.
Also, are those pancakes just plain old buttermilk pancakes or sumthin' moar SPESShul?

Obviously they're Spesscakes.

Which are pancakes made from, by, and for Spess Muhreenz.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Furyou Miko wrote:
It's one thing for two power swords, but what happens if a power axe is parried with a thunder hammer? Or, worse, when a power sword is parried with an eviscerator?

Crackling spinning doomy death. Kehehe.

Obviously, the world explodes and everyone has Spesswaffles.

Which are like spesscakes, but better.

 BrotherHaraldus wrote:
As title. Does it work like normal, Star Wars-style? Do they destroy each other?

Assume that 2 Space Marines are fighting with 1 Power Sword each.

Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.

 Happyjew wrote:
Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.

Heavy...

There's that word again. "Heavy". Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the Earth's gravitational pull?

 Anfauglir wrote:

 Baragash wrote:
Hasn't Gaunt, who doesn't (or didn't) have any bionic parts fought an Astartes in melee?

Yes. Funnily enough I'm currently reading Traitor General and Gaunt has just battled Chaos Marines in a swamp. His Sondar powersword was able to slice straight through one Chaos Marine's torso, spilling his innards and killing him, while against another (the leader), his gauntlet was able to parry the same sword... plot armour, I guess. However, we're dealing with the Abnettverse here, where the Chaos Marines wear carapace armour and have shoulder mounted cannons, etc... so YMMV.

What. Where? I don't remember any CSM in an Abnett book with carapace armour and a shoulder cannon, unless you count the spoiler in spoiler spoiler in Pariah.

 Furyou Miko wrote:
What. Where? I don't remember any CSM in an Abnett book with carapace armour and a shoulder cannon, unless you count the spoiler in spoiler spoiler in Pariah.

In Traitor General.



Abnett frequently refers to the Chaos Marine's powered armour as "carapace", and also the pack leader having a shoulder-mounted cannon features prominently during the battle.