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This question has been bugging me for a while now. I can only ever recall them being mentioned in two novels which are Flesh and Iron were half the Regiment is equipped with them and one of the Ciaphas Cain novels were some penal legion convicts are equipped with them while in service to an Inquisitor.

Any how i would have though they be a common sight as there easy to come by cause just about every planet of the imperium can manufacture them and so i wouldn't be to challenging for a guards man to "acquire" an auto gun from a planets PDF or where ever else they can scavenge one from.

So do any of you know how common they are amongst guards man id love to know any little bits of info about guards man using auto guns instead of the signature las gun.

They get mentioned on and off.

Occasionally troopers will have an autopistol. Several of the Gaunts Ghosts novels mention them, but they aren't common.

Autocannon are quite common, Autoguns and pistols not so much.

If you had a yen to run an IG army with autoguns it might be a neat conversion project.

They used to be common on miniatures until 3rd edition and the release of plastic units since then, which are all lasguns. Autogun's are mostly like our modern rifles, perhaps GW just wanted to move away from that. I prefer them myself.

Many editions ago there was a actual difference in stats between a auto gun and a Las gun, but as the IG codex became a established thing and Las weapons became the meat and potatoes of the Ig, there was less and less mention of the humble autogun.
Fluff wise, you could always make a regiment that hailed from a world where maybe the important materials for las weaponry were rare or non-existant, and chemical projectile weapons were the norm, replace all multi-las for heavy bolters, and las-cannons, with missle launchers, or even some kind of AT-cannon...it would make for a cool theme, but for all intents and purposes, a autoguns stats would be identical to a Lasgun..gamewise.

Kinda a shame though, since back in RT days a autogun was actually a better weapon.

In the Gaunt series, autoguns are implied to have better penetrating power than lasguns, and solid slug wounds can potentially be more damaging to the target than lasgun wounds. Personally I think it would be very easy for a guardsman to pick up an autogun, but keeping in with ammo is a different matter!

Solid projectile weapons are common across the Imperium, incredibly so. Gangs on Hive worlds often fight with Auto or Stubb weapons. However in the Imperial Guard regiments are equipped with las weaponry (and other kit considered to be standard) when they're tithed by the Munitorum for several reasons;
- En masse the lasgun is just as potent as the autogun.
- Ammunition is not so great a concern with las weaponry (just plug spent cells into your nearest Chimera).
- Las weapons require little maintenance and are incredibly reliable.

Only case I can think of right this second where a Guard regiment may have autoguns as opposed to lasguns would be where a tithed unit is thrown into action immediately, before they can be reequippred to Munitorum standards.

lasguns are easier to model, so detailed assault rifles are thrown out in favor of "box with tube on one end" guns.

Generally, I'd assume autogun would be like trophy guns used in absolute emergencies, or used if a particular regiment is either more primitive, or, as mentioned above, more invested in autmoatic weapons as opposed to las-based rifles.

It'd be odd, because lasguns are like the unifying aspect of most regiments, but I don't see why not.

I have a whole bunch of Steel legion models converted to have autoguns, I figure they're like semi-automatic rifles (like an M1 Garand) given to this specific group.

 Flinty wrote:
In the Gaunt series, autoguns are implied to have better penetrating power than lasguns, and solid slug wounds can potentially be more damaging to the target than lasgun wounds. Personally I think it would be very easy for a guardsman to pick up an autogun, but keeping in with ammo is a different matter!

And Flinty wins the thread!

The autogun in the Imperial Guard is not common, at all. It requires constant maintaining and a constant ammunition supply to keep a trooper firing. The same could of course be said about lasguns, but you cannot reload an autogun's magazine by throwing it into a fire or leaving it out in the sun or plugging it into a wall socket.

Autoguns are far more common in Planetary Defense Forces, where they have established bases and ammunition manufacturing capabilities planetside.

The "Chaos Guard" use them in Siege of Vraks I believe, but the guardsmen still use lasguns. I believe it mentions that they used to be Imperial weapons that were scavenged but I'm not sure.

Don't rememeber where I saw this (maybe IG codex) It says Catachans uses this against orks because they respect the sound .....

 Ilove40k wrote:
Don't rememeber where I saw this (maybe IG codex) It says Catachans uses this against orks because they respect the sound .....

I think that was also mentioned by one of the Armageddon Ork Hunters in Annihalation Squad

 Flinty wrote:
In the Gaunt series, autoguns are implied to have better penetrating power than lasguns, and solid slug wounds can potentially be more damaging to the target than lasgun wounds.

Which is really kind of inaccurate. Flash-boiling blood around the wound would basically make the wound explode and leave a bloody mess, it would NOT cauterize. And the only canon way that I know of for autoguns to have better penetration power than lasguns is through fairly rare special ammunition like Manstoppers.

 Melissia wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
In the Gaunt series, autoguns are implied to have better penetrating power than lasguns, and solid slug wounds can potentially be more damaging to the target than lasgun wounds.

Which is really kind of inaccurate. Flash-boiling blood around the wound would basically make the wound explode and leave a bloody mess, it would NOT cauterize. And the only canon way that I know of for autoguns to have better penetration power than lasguns is through fairly rare special ammunition like Manstoppers.

would essentially vaporize areas. But beyond that very little damage to internal organs beyond those directly affected.
Wheras a solid round can deviate on penetration rip and tear at surrounding tissue. Kinetic force as stopping power.


I can see autoguns having some advantages.

burnaboy wrote:
This question has been bugging me for a while now. I can only ever recall them being mentioned in two novels which are Flesh and Iron were half the Regiment is equipped with them and one of the Ciaphas Cain novels were some penal legion convicts are equipped with them while in service to an Inquisitor.

Any how i would have though they be a common sight as there easy to come by cause just about every planet of the imperium can manufacture them and so i wouldn't be to challenging for a guards man to "acquire" an auto gun from a planets PDF or where ever else they can scavenge one from.

So do any of you know how common they are amongst guards man id love to know any little bits of info about guards man using auto guns instead of the signature las gun.

my old IG codex says lasgun/autogun for basic guardsmen,

they get mentioned fairly frequently in the fluff too

edit* you wont actually get an explosion from a laser, it will melt and cut through stuff, and even vaporize it, but not "explode" flesh at all. However, assuming lasguns have about as wide as their barrel, vaporizing even a 1" cylander out of someone is definitely going to cause comparable damage to small arms fire.

I'd prefer auto-guns myself. They just look nicer. Perhaps i could just use the cultist box-set as counts-as guardsmen. The gas masks and night-vision type goggles looks really nice anyway.

Lasguns are more common for the guard, however PDF units are frequently issued Autoguns.

Auto pistols are more common though, as they're often procured as sidearms.

but it's mainly a logistical thing, you just need to issue a rregiment power packs and a generator, rather than constantly shipping in vast quantitys of bullets.

 Eetion wrote:
would essentially vaporize areas. But beyond that very little damage to internal organs beyond those directly affected.

Dude, if it can go through concrete as it's described in some lore, it can easily burn through a human body and cause flash vaporization of blood all the way through, dealing massive damage and probably killing the human in one hit.

This is equivalent to getting hit with a high caliber machinegun round in damage.

Whether an individual regiment uses lasguns or autoguns depends on the world from which it is raised. Most Guard regiments we see in fluff are fairly mainstream in terms of being from worlds that have a good deal of contact with the rest of the Imperium and tend towards lasguns since they're logistically much easier, but it's not hard to picture a feral-worlder Guard regiment that sticks to autoguns.

 Melissia wrote:

 Eetion wrote:
would essentially vaporize areas. But beyond that very little damage to internal organs beyond those directly affected.

Dude, if it can go through concrete as it's described in some lore, it can easily burn through a human body and cause flash vaporization of blood all the way through, dealing massive damage and probably killing the human in one hit.

This is equivalent to getting hit with a high caliber machinegun round in damage.

So why are lasguns and autoguns both s3 and heavy stubbers s4? Fluff is always malleable to the hands of the author of thr moment.

 Flinty wrote:
So why are lasguns and autoguns both s3 and heavy stubbers s4? Fluff is always malleable to the hands of the author of thr moment.

Because stats are at best an abstract representation of the fluff.

I like "budda budda!" better than "Pew pew!" anyway

I think that we're arguing about the commonality of Autoguns, not the functionality or power of them. Although they've become less and less common in fluff and gameplay as the different editions have been released, we have to remember that it's largely the Cadians, Catachans, and the like which are represented by the fluff, which in reality only make up a fraction of the overall IG regiments. Who's to say that the other 90% don't use Autoguns in different amounts than the ones we see?

 Melissia wrote:

 Eetion wrote:
would essentially vaporize areas. But beyond that very little damage to internal organs beyond those directly affected.

Dude, if it can go through concrete as it's described in some lore, it can easily burn through a human body and cause flash vaporization of blood all the way through, dealing massive damage and probably killing the human in one hit.

This is equivalent to getting hit with a high caliber machinegun round in damage.

No, it's not. The 40K equivalent of getting hit with a high calibre machinegun is getting hit by... a high calibre machinegun, like a stubber, or maybe a heavy bolter.

A tumbling hollow-point style bullet will do much more damage to a person than a laser, I'm not suggesting anyone is walking away comfortably from either, but you don't seem to understand ballistics.

MarsNZ wrote:
or maybe a heavy bolter.

Heavy bolters are not equivalent to a modern heavy machinegun. They're closer to a modern light autocannon (such as the original Bushmaster, which incidently uses the same caliber of ammunition) in terms of damage they can cause and effectiveness against vehicles. It is quite powerful against light vehicles-- moreso than a heavy stubber, which wouldn't even be able to scratch the front armor of all but the lightest of vehicles in 40k.

MarsNZ wrote:
A tumbling hollow-point style bullet will do much more damage to a person than a laser, I'm not suggesting anyone is walking away comfortably from either, but you don't seem to understand ballistics.

I understand it perfectly well. But I don't think you understand the effects of such massive amounts of energy hitting someone in a very concentrated area all at once. Having the area surrounding the wound-- including internal organs-- literally explode from vaporized blood makes for an intensely bloody and deadly injury.

Lasguns do NOT cauterize. The convey far too much energy for that.

 killykavekommando wrote:
I think that we're arguing about the commonality of Autoguns, not the functionality or power of them. Although they've become less and less common in fluff and gameplay as the different editions have been released, we have to remember that it's largely the Cadians, Catachans, and the like which are represented by the fluff, which in reality only make up a fraction of the overall IG regiments. Who's to say that the other 90% don't use Autoguns in different amounts than the ones we see?

From my knowledge, it's basically dependent on the tech level of the world they come from. Low tech worlds use autoguns, hi-tech worlds use lasguns. Aside from that, it's culture-based.

So while the lasgun is more ubiquitous than the autogun by most pieces of fluff, it doesn't say by how much. IT could easily be true, for example, that 70% use lasguns and 30% use autoguns.

If the Guard are fighting in a dust storm, an autogun would be vastly more effective. Dust in the laser beam diffracts the light and reduces the effective range/power of the beam, as well as making the shooter's position blatantly obvious. Conversely, high winds in clear conditions make the lasgun the better choice as the beam won't be blown off course.

 Eetion wrote:

 Melissia wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
In the Gaunt series, autoguns are implied to have better penetrating power than lasguns, and solid slug wounds can potentially be more damaging to the target than lasgun wounds.

Which is really kind of inaccurate. Flash-boiling blood around the wound would basically make the wound explode and leave a bloody mess, it would NOT cauterize. And the only canon way that I know of for autoguns to have better penetration power than lasguns is through fairly rare special ammunition like Manstoppers.

would essentially vaporize areas. But beyond that very little damage to internal organs beyond those directly affected.
Wheras a solid round can deviate on penetration rip and tear at surrounding tissue. Kinetic force as stopping power.


I can see autoguns having some advantages.

An autogun wouldn't really even hurt an Ork if they can withstand bolter rounds fairly frequently. A lasgun can at least annoy an Ork boy.

 Bludbaff wrote:
If the Guard are fighting in a dust storm, an autogun would be vastly more effective. Dust in the laser beam diffracts the light and reduces the effective range/power of the beam, as well as making the shooter's position blatantly obvious. Conversely, high winds in clear conditions make the lasgun the better choice as the beam won't be blown off course.

Fog rain and snow as another one of those things. i remember there was a giant thread concerning all of that.
Auto guns are probably common all over the place but within the imp guard probably not very common.

 Bludbaff wrote:
If the Guard are fighting in a dust storm, an autogun would be vastly more effective. Dust in the laser beam diffracts the light and reduces the effective range/power of the beam, as well as making the shooter's position blatantly obvious. Conversely, high winds in clear conditions make the lasgun the better choice as the beam won't be blown off course.

Except in a dust storm, you have the same problem with wind shear affecting ballistics of a solid round, not to mention the loss of visibility means the autogun-carrying soldier is throwing more rounds downrange on the chance of hitting something/suppression, while the moving parts of his weapon are more prone to failure in such conditions.

I imagine it would be in the interests of the Munitorum to phase out autoguns, given how much easier the ammo situation is with lasguns.

That said, there will still be regiments that use auto weapons (probably especially form worlds that already manufacture them), and they're almost certainly going to be produced in colossal quantities throughout the Imperium.