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On the one hand a D6 scale is obviously not enough, you cant make things impossible to hurt (or at least that shouldn't be common) limiting you to 5 options.

Now you if you just want generic infantry, heavy infantry, light tanks and heavy tanks you basically use up that whole scale. Which is a problem, as you also want to distinguish between better and worse types within each of those categories. Plus some people want crazy levels of granularity (Different types of terminator armour (Catephracti) - this is really a minor point).
So from a "modelling the thematics" point of view a D6 scale doesn't go far enough.

However, from a gameplay point of view I think it is probably best. Nobody wants a game (I assume) where the lasguns from one planet have a 1% better chance of wounding you than those from another, because that planet is know for making lasguns that a better than normal, but not as good as this planet (which would be 2%!). Players wouldn't care about such marginals and would forget to track them.

So getting the thematics right, and the game right, are not particularly compatible (no surprise). I think this Lasgun, Hot-shot lasgun and bolter thing is a symptom of that.

Dast wrote:

However, from a gameplay point of view I think it is probably best. Nobody wants a game (I assume) where the lasguns from one planet have a 1% better chance of wounding you than those from another, because that planet is know for making lasguns that a better than normal, but not as good as this planet (which would be 2%!). Players wouldn't care about such marginals and would forget to track them.

In a Roleplay game I totally would (see some of the crap I've written for my GURPS campaign!). Tabletop...eh. I do want small arms to be different because they are, though.

M.