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So we've all heard about the Dark Angel's absurd banner of dakka which makes all boltguns fire four times as fast as they normally do- even on vehicles.

How the hell does this work?

In the old 3rd edition background, the Standard of Devastation, when revealed, gave a one turn morale boost to the surrounding Dark Angels inspiring them to fire and reload faster.

This is how standards/colours used to work in real life- the standard, or colours, when revealed, were meant to be an inspiring moment for the troops involved in the battle (see: Napoleonic era warfare, which 40k sort of replicates.) Thousands of men would rally to defend these coloured pieces of cloth. This sort of made sense in context, as it worked for a turn, and not on vehicles.

In the current iteration of the Dark Angels however, they possess the ability to control TIME itself.

In the fluff for the Dark Talon, the Stasis bomb it drops has the ability to suspend time in an area for several milliseconds- of course in 40k this ability isn't used for the ability to STOP TIME LOCALLY, but to disorientate the enemy so you can punch them in the face. Also, the Dark Talon has a cannon that supposedly destroys the fabric of reality in an area but does less damage (Str 5) than a krak grenade.

Aside from the horrible fail that is the Dark Talon rules and background (some would argue model, but I like flying churches) and the implications of having technology which changes timeflow, we can surmise how the Standard of Devastation actually works.

It's a localised chrono-pulse generator which generates a window in which rapid-fire weapons can generate higher rates of fire than physically possible- in other words, a time machine which creates pulses of slowed time (miliseconds) in local area bubbles, in which when marines within shoot their bolters, the extended time firing within the bubble translates to incredible rates of fire in real-timespace. To the outside observer, during the pulse the Marines appear to be moving at an impossibly fast blur. To the local observer, the rest of the battlefield slows to a crawl as the milliseconds of slowed time pass as if minutes go by- allowing them to fire off several clips of bolter shells which suddenly accelerate when they travel past the edge of the time bubble into real-time.

Through some quirk of physical law, this time accelerant interacts best with rapid fire Bolt weapons- Las and Melta technology does not seem to recharge faster between shots within the time bubble of the time-slowdown, Plasma weaponry is deemed too dangerous to operate at such increased rates of fire, and Flamers do not benefit from the rate of fire increase- the promethium spray becomes more dense, but the incendiary temperature remains uniform. Assault Cannons already fire at near maximum tolerances for their barrel capacity, and so operation during the time-pulse is discouraged. Bolt weapons however are either limited by magazine size or mechanical rate of fire, are sturdy enough to increase rates of fire beyond current standards and hence benefit greatly from this increased window of fire.

Regardless, great care and discipline is required for use of the arcane Dark Age Tech inbuilt to the Standard of Devastation. The timed pulses are carefully coordinated to prevent concurrent firing of Plasma and Assault weapons, and due to the side-effects of time-disorientation each Dark Angel assigned to Standard of Devastation squads are subject to extensive chrono-conditioning, adapting their bodies and minds to the time-warping effects and enabling them to operate efficiently during and after each chrono-pulse.

The Dark Angels have Bullet Time, ladies and gentlemen. Whoa.

That or they normally don't have the resources to waste ammo like that but when the banner is out it is like saying the chapter approves of unlimited ammo consumption.

That or they are normally super lazy and the banner means they have to actually try this time.

Bullet time is cooler though. Now they just need upgrade options for their bolters and they are ready to go. Anybody got adamantine ore?

 ansacs wrote:
That or they normally don't have the resources to waste ammo like that but when the banner is out it is like saying the chapter approves of unlimited ammo consumption.

That or they are normally super lazy and the banner means they have to actually try this time.

Bullet time is cooler though. Now they just need upgrade options for their bolters and they are ready to go. Anybody got adamantine ore?

You never really run out of ammo except for missiles in 40k so I doubt it's the issue.

Lazy marines are hilarious though. I should start a homebrew chapter of lazy marines.

It could mean to disregard the pain of the machine spirit in the bolter and fire at the absolute maximum possible speed. Basically it tells marines to disregard the possibility of mechanical failure (overheating, jamming, too much pressure in the barrel) and simply shoot as fast as they can acquire targets.


Lasguns use capacitors so any faster firing means loss of power. A plasma gun is already a bomb waiting to go off so only a complete moron would overload it with no intention of throwing it at an enemy. Heavy bolters have more sophisticated cooling systems and fire at close to their maximum rate. Melta tech is comprised of plasma and laser so it already is disqualified.

Asmodai Asmodean wrote:

Lazy marines are hilarious though. I should start a homebrew chapter of lazy marines.

That's already a thing.

It was many years ago, and I was but a young soldier in the Imperial Guard on a backwater Farm World. Despite how far out of the way of most trade paths this world was, it was of great importance to the Imperium as it had the exact climate to grow many crops that are not easily grown on most other Farm Worlds. Perhaps it was for this reason we were the victim of a massive WAAAAGHHHHHHHHHH!!. For weeks after requesting support, we held our own against the endless waves of Orkish destruction. After three months, we were nearly completely overrun, barely holding back the endlessly superior numbers of the Orks. Much of this season's crops had been devoured by the Orks, and I was helping to hold an outpost. As things seemed at their worst, the entire battlefield, even those green bastards, took pause as the air was filled with a hum I had never heard, but after that day, would never forget.

Over the horizon rode Space Marines, their armor gleaming in the sun, riding what I could only describe as hovering sofas and armchairs. As they approached, they opened fire, their bolters and heavy weaponry ripping through the Ork waves, and taking more tactical positions to flank the Orks and support our position. Within moments, the mass of the Ork attack had been annihilated. As I looked out on the ravage battlefield, I saw one Marine, sitting on his hovering armchair. Suddenly behind him, a group of a dozen Orks charged at him. I started to yell out a warning, but he had already seen them. He slowly reached up to his helmet, where two glass bottles were stationed, and pulled one off. He then reached into the cushions of the chair, and drew a small packet from it, marked "Waaaaghhhhhh! Rocks". He opened the packet, slipped it over the open bottle, shook it, and threw it at the oncoming Orks. Moments later, it exploded, the force blasting the bastards to pieces. With the day won, and the Orks routed, they left,as slowly and lazily as they came. I asked my commander who they were, and he simply looked on at them as they left, and spoke.

"Those son, were the Lazy Marines."

Well, boltguns have a few different settings:

Semi-automatic
Automatic
Systematic
HYYYDROmatic

Why it's greased lightning!

I can already see the Dark Angels doing a song and dance routine around the Standard of Devastation Land Raider...

We'll get some overhead banners and some four barrel cannon, oh yeah
(Keep chanting, whoa, keep chanting)
Extra dozer blades and adamantine plates, oh yeah
(I'll get the pointage, I'd kill to get the pointage)
With a flat out to their camp, we'll be waiting by the ramp
You know that we don't muck-a , we'll be getting lots of Dakka with Greased Bolting (the original lyric is actually: 'You know that ain't no gak, we'll be getting lots of tit' ... wtf Grease?)
(Da-da-da-da-da-da-ka)

Go greased bolting, you're mowing down the rank and file
(Greased bolting, go greased bolting)
Go grease bolting, you're purging all the traitors, vile
(Grease bolting, go grease bolting)
You are supreme, the heretics scream, for grease bolting! Bolting....
(Da-da-da-da-da-da-ka)

God, I'm going to have to name my Land Raider Greased Bolting now.

Go Grease lighting..ignoring all the rules you can!

Grease lightning..GO grease lightning!

Because Imperium

Asmodai Asmodean wrote:
I can already see the Dark Angels doing a song and dance routine around the Standard of Devastation Land Raider...

We'll get some overhead banners and some four barrel cannon, oh yeah
(Keep chanting, whoa, keep chanting)
Extra dozer blades and adamantine plates, oh yeah
(I'll get the pointage, I'd kill to get the pointage)
With a flat out to their camp, we'll be waiting by the ramp
You know that we don't muck-a , we'll be getting lots of Dakka with Greased Bolting (the original lyric is actually: 'You know that ain't no gak, we'll be getting lots of tit' ... wtf Grease?)
(Da-da-da-da-da-da-ka)

Go greased bolting, you're mowing down the rank and file
(Greased bolting, go greased bolting)
Go grease bolting, you're purging all the traitors, vile
(Grease bolting, go grease bolting)
You are supreme, the heretics scream, for grease bolting! Bolting....
(Da-da-da-da-da-da-ka)

God, I'm going to have to name my Land Raider Greased Bolting now.

Gold!

I got kiiiills, they're multiplying. . .