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I am considering some fluff for my IG and want their industrial hive world to be a producer of the power cells of las weapons.

Is there anything out there for how they are made and if they are allowed to be made outside of mars?

It would be fairly difficult even for the vast forges of Mars to supply the entirety of the Imperial Guard on its own.

If it's of any help, this comes from the Necromunda skirmish game, whose rulebook can be downloaded for free on the Games Workshop website here:

"Laser weapons are manufactured in vast quantities in the hive city and are exported to the armed forces of the Imperium throughout the galaxy. Lasguns are traded in Underhive settlements, and the Guilders bring shipments from the factories above. Power packs come from the same source and some are made locally. Supplies of parts are plentiful and repairs easily effected. Laser technology is reliable and easy to replicate, and although the weapons are not the most powerful they are certainly the most trustworthy. A laser power pack will last for many shots and can be recharged from a standard power source or by exposing its thermal cells to heat or light. In an emergency a pack can be recharged by placing it in a fire, although such treatment tends to shorten the life of the pack and increase the probability of it failing. Many experienced fighters prefer the lasgun over more powerful weapons for these very reasons."
- Necromunda p.39

Give the PDF a look, it contains quite a bit of fluff and may provide some cool inspiration for your own hive!
Further documents dealing with law enforcement, scavvie gangs or religious militias are available here.

Awesome! Thank you for the info. I certainly hope the same facilities produce the cells for lascannons.

No reason they wouldn't.

The same materials would be used in both processes.


Now its probably not the same exact facilities. You'd probably have massive complexes containing multiple factories, each manufacturing a specific item.

Lascannon powercells are much larger, heavier and bulkier than the powercell to most other las-weapons (think, like, car battery vs a couple of D-cells).

They are also, iirc, not rechargeable. You get 5 (or 10, varies by source) shots from the lascannon, and then the cell's dry and you gotta slap in/hook up a new one. Throw the other one out. Lascannons are best powered by a generator or a vehicle's power-plant, which can provide effectively limitless shots.

Psienesis wrote:You get 5 (or 10, varies by source) shots from the lascannon, and then the cell's dry and you gotta slap in/hook up a new one

Or even just 1 shot, going by the explanation in the 3E rulebook:

"Power packs feed the discharge generator. Rechargeable power packs or batteries, usually with a highly efficient liquid metal core, vary between small internal packs used in lasguns and pistols to massive power packs the size of crates that power lascannons and multilasers. Powerpack capacity varies immensely but most are good for about 40 shots. In contrast, to maintain maximum power output efficiency, lascannon powerpacks need replacing after every shot. Overpowered laser packs, like the so-called "Hotshot", provide weapons with a more potent charge but give fewer shots. They cannot easily be recharged after use and the extra stress on the barrel requires much more maintenance."

I'd assume this is for the "field gun"-type lascannons of the Imperial Guard, though, rather than the version carried into battle by single Space Marines. As both weapons still have identical profiles in the TT, it may well be a matter of battery quality or manufacturing budgets, basically giving the Space Marines an advanced battery that is larger (backpack) but also capable of storing more than one shot, whilst the Guard gets the smaller and lighter "plug in, shoot, plug out" packs that are easier to maintain (no battery degradation?), cheaper to produce, and lighter to carry.
Pure speculation in attempting to avoid a weird contradiction, tho.

Well there could also easily be different types of power packs.

Maybe one forge world has a more efficient battery design which can store more than one shot while another doesn't have that design.


Space Marine packs may also directly tie into the PA's power pack, which likely can give way more shots than its size would indicate.

I never knew that Lascannon's had such a limited number of shots! That will make my fluffy factories even more vital to protect against which ever enemy is trying to lay waste to them.

I remember running into the IG Lascannons in DOW that seemed to be fully-automatic, and just tearing up entire armored companies.

I was like "wtf?"

Everything involved with lasguns is so stupidly rugged and bodgeable, I'd assume that you'd be able to shoot at least a few shots from a lasgun with nothing more than a bit of enterprising spirit and a packet of AA batteries.

I'd also note that there HAVE been several patterns of lasguns sculpted over time, and not all of them use the same laspack that you find on more recent models.

 Ailaros wrote:
Everything involved with lasguns is so stupidly rugged and bodgeable, I'd assume that you'd be able to shoot at least a few shots from a lasgun with nothing more than a bit of enterprising spirit and a packet of AA batteries.

I'd also note that there HAVE been several patterns of lasguns sculpted over time, and not all of them use the same laspack that you find on more recent models.

One of the Ghosts series of books has them trying to scavenge lasgun power packsof the right pattern to fit their guns because their combat issue from the Munitorum was for the wrong type.

 Flinty wrote:

 Ailaros wrote:
Everything involved with lasguns is so stupidly rugged and bodgeable, I'd assume that you'd be able to shoot at least a few shots from a lasgun with nothing more than a bit of enterprising spirit and a packet of AA batteries.

I'd also note that there HAVE been several patterns of lasguns sculpted over time, and not all of them use the same laspack that you find on more recent models.

One of the Ghosts series of books has them trying to scavenge lasgun power packsof the right pattern to fit their guns because their combat issue from the Munitorum was for the wrong type.

Not only that but it's also mentioned in another GG book that there are different kinds of power packs such as sickle-patterns and drum-mags. This leads us to believe that not only are there different shapes and sizes of power-packs but varying patterns,( as mentioned in a previous post.) So understandably there would be many worlds that could in fact produce said power-packs for their own personal las weaponry.

Tbh, I'm somewhat sceptical about those ideas. One of the chief advantages of the lasgun is that you supposedly forego the need to ship in specialised supplies and ammunition as would be the case with projectile weapons. Having hundreds or thousand of different connectors between battery and weapon would create that awkward situation that you really would depend on very specific worlds supplying very specific regiments. A logistical nightmare whose serious effects have been featured in the very novel that came up with this idea. Besides, when the Rhino looks the same on every world, why should power packs - surely an STC-product as well - be so very different?

I'm totally fine with different shapes, that fits to the slightly different lasgun designs. But I would still expect the connectors to be identical and operating on the same energy levels. Even if a world's manufactorums already punched out lasguns before it was integrated into the Imperium, I'd expect refits to be possible with a minimum of trouble, and the advantages of compatibility as they are also said to exist between the IG vehicle range are obvious.

Just my 2 shells on the subject, mind you. I'm generally biased against random freelancer novels introducing such significant concepts to the setting, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Loads of worlds would have to be able to produce power cells, ideally in parallel with producing the lasguns themselves. If every manufactorum and it's dog couldn't churn out lasguns with relatively little inconvenience, you'd have billions of Guardsmen who don't even get to fire a few quick shots off before resignedly charging the enemy lines.

As to different flavours of power pack: you'd think the Imperium would standardise them. But that might not account for "out-of-date" marks of lasgun still being used, or ceremonial lasguns and the like. Whatever lets the authors keep the fluff interesting, I guess.

Yeah... considering that, at least in Only War, the standard-issue lasgun is denoted as being "Mark 36", I'd have to imagine that, at the least, Marks 1 through 30 are probably not compatible because the technology around the power-packs would have changed (much like they have with cellphones in the real world.)

If we take that as a comment on the setting in general, that is the common lasgun is a Mk36, regardless of the Forge of its manufacture (which is, I think, asking an awful lot of the setting and the Imperium's decentralized nature), there's still going to be a lot of Regiments packing the Mk. 25-35 etc. which might have issues swapping between cell-types.

And even if the weapons can connect to the same powercell, that doesn't mean that the furniture of the weapon permits a cell from one weapon to easily plug into another. Maybe the Mk36 uses a straight, boxy clip while the Mk30 used a short, stubby cylindrical power cell. The connectors on the end are the same, but the magazine wells damned sure aren't!

We can't even maintain standardized electric wall sockets on Earth, and this is just one planet. How much harder would that sort of thing be across light years?

Just like everything else involved with the Imperium, there's just too many people, too much distance, and too much bureaucracy involved to standardize anything across more than a single sector at most.

Well, maybe there's not that many varieties of las-cell. Maybe there's only, like, 6 types, let's say.

So the DM sits there and looks at its roster of troops. It knows that, of the 500 regiments it has going to the war-zone, these 300 all use these patterns of lasgun, which uses a Type A cell, so the clerk checks that box on the supply form. And then it sees that these 100 regiments here use Type B cells, so he checks that box. And then it has these 50 regiments here, who use Type C cells, so the clerk checks *that* box. Then, looking at the paperwork, he's got 50 Regiments left over that he has no fething clue what they're carrying! He can see that they're a mix of heavy infantry, assault troops, something that is called a Dismounted Cavalry Regiment (whatever the feth *that* is!), Regiment listed as an Armor unit but listing no vehicles of any kind on its roster, and a bunch of other units that are just marked "infantry". So, given that the majority of the regiments listed are using Type A cells, he takes a gamble and checks that box for these guys, too, because, hey, chances are good that they use Type A guns.

However, these 50 units use a mix of Type D and E cells. Some of them use solid-projectile weapons, and one's a feral regiment that doesn't use any kind of gun at all!

Badablack wrote:We can't even maintain standardized electric wall sockets on Earth, and this is just one planet. How much harder would that sort of thing be across light years?

Not very, if every colony started out using compatible schematics either way. Knowledge of technology comes from STCs, and when they make the Rhino look the same on planet A as they look on planet B, I see no reason why a much more basic item such as, say, a power pack, would have to come with different connector specs. That would be very random indeed.

And the comparison to our real life Earth is flawed; if it would be run by a unified government issueing global decrees (such as the Munitorum arranging for the Imperial Guard to only use Chimaeras as APCs), then I think standardisation would spread.
Especially where military matters are involved -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standardization_Agreement

Also, they're all getting their equipment from the same source. Hence its easier to standardize stuff.

 Lynata wrote:
It would be fairly difficult even for the vast forges of Mars to supply the entirety of the Imperial Guard on its own.

The AdMech have numerous forge worlds all able to create highly sophisticated weapons, vehicles and ships. Not all of it comes from Mars.

That said simple weapons like lasguns and their power packs can probably be produced by just about anyone just about anywhere.

I think plasma weapons might be complex enough that they have to come from a forge world, given their fluff. Power armor also needs to be AdMech made.

Exergy wrote:The AdMech have numerous forge worlds all able to create highly sophisticated weapons, vehicles and ships. Not all of it comes from Mars.

That ... is what I was saying. It was a reply to a question whether or not stuff would be made elsewhere aside from Mars, after all.

Exergy wrote:I think plasma weapons might be complex enough that they have to come from a forge world, given their fluff. Power armor also needs to be AdMech made.

Hmm - are both of these items not also produced by at least one other Imperial faction, the Space Marines?
Granted, their Techmarines have studied from the Adeptus Mechanicus, but they are not the only ones who underwent tech training. The way it seems to me, the AdMech manages propagation of technology just as carefully as they produce it themselves. Perhaps they give out licenses to local non-AM manufactoriums like some modern companies do, as long as the licensee adheres to certain demands and pays a sort of fee?

All I have to say here is..... iPhone! I would hope that in the future they would be able to standardize more throughout the universe especially when it's a STC.

 Lynata wrote:

Exergy wrote:The AdMech have numerous forge worlds all able to create highly sophisticated weapons, vehicles and ships. Not all of it comes from Mars.

That ... is what I was saying. It was a reply to a question whether or not stuff would be made elsewhere aside from Mars, after all.

Exergy wrote:I think plasma weapons might be complex enough that they have to come from a forge world, given their fluff. Power armor also needs to be AdMech made.

Hmm - are both of these items not also produced by at least one other Imperial faction, the Space Marines?
Granted, their Techmarines have studied from the Adeptus Mechanicus, but they are not the only ones who underwent tech training. The way it seems to me, the AdMech manages propagation of technology just as carefully as they produce it themselves. Perhaps they give out licenses to local non-AM manufactoriums like some modern companies do, as long as the licensee adheres to certain demands and pays a sort of fee?

It is implied that the many different "named" types of weapon (like the "Iron Talon" Naval side-arm) is, in fact, produced by a privately-owned Forge that operates under license from the AdMech and that those names ("Iron Talon", "Angelus", "Death Light", etc.) are what the individual Forge brands them as. The write-up for the planet of Malfi, in the Calixis Sector, goes into greater detail on how this works.

And... iPhone? Apple specifically builds things to non-standardized specs because it makes them "different". Or haven't you noticed that the Lightning Connector requires an adapter to connect to anything other than another Apple product with a matching Lightning Connector port?

 Lynata wrote:

Exergy wrote:I think plasma weapons might be complex enough that they have to come from a forge world, given their fluff. Power armor also needs to be AdMech made.

Hmm - are both of these items not also produced by at least one other Imperial faction, the Space Marines?
Granted, their Techmarines have studied from the Adeptus Mechanicus, but they are not the only ones who underwent tech training. The way it seems to me, the AdMech manages propagation of technology just as carefully as they produce it themselves. Perhaps they give out licenses to local non-AM manufactoriums like some modern companies do, as long as the licensee adheres to certain demands and pays a sort of fee?

My understanding is that techmarines can repair and maintain these types of weapons but that they need to be manufactured on a forge world.

I have an image somewhere with different makes of Las-gun displayed side by side. Most have the same power-pack. Except the Ryza, it does not seem to have one at all.

Found one via google images, trying to post it now. I appear to have forgotten how images work...

Edit: Aha! Right, the packs do look pretty similar. I want to say that Voss, Lucius and Galaxy look thinner, but it could just be a scale thing. The Ryza looks like a Shuriken weapon to me...

Is the Ryza *definitely* a full lasgun? If not for the extended barrel, I'd say it looks like a laspistol instead. The lack of any stock makes it look ridiculous to try and fire with one OR two hands, though.

 Super Ready wrote:
Is the Ryza *definitely* a full lasgun? If not for the extended barrel, I'd say it looks like a laspistol instead. The lack of any stock makes it look ridiculous to try and fire with one OR two hands, though.

It seems to be the original Rogue Trader flavour of lasgun, based on a quick search. It does look like Rick Grimes' giant revolver converted to laspistol form though, now that you mention it. Pendix has a point about the lack of power pack though...

On the plasma weapon front, I don't think it requires a forgeworld to construct them. Does Necromunda not manufacture plasma weapons? howe else would half of the underhive gangs have them?

Zed wrote:It seems to be the original Rogue Trader flavour of lasgun, based on a quick search.

Yup, that's a RT gun - I also remember it was still featured in the 2E Wargear book, shortly before (in the 2E Guard Codex and the 3E Rulebook) they adopted the "M-Galaxy" pattern as the standard lasgun, which on that picture is labeled "Triplex".
A problem with that picture is probably that it's a wild mixture of lasgun designs - some still in use in Codex fluff, some that GW has discarded and replaced by newer art, and some that are not core GW designs at all, and the names are all over the place. Let's just say I'd be careful with that.

Zed wrote:Pendix has a point about the lack of power pack though...

The M-Galaxy, or "Triplex" on that picture, also does not feature a visible pack, but I like to think that it might simply be "hidden" inside the gun by being slotted deeper.
The out-of-universe reason would likely be that the chargepack design as we know and see it everywhere nowadays just didn't exist before the Cadian-style rifle.