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From 5th on onwards till they went with the AP modifiers.

3rd and 4th the they were Str 3 AP 5. And I *think* 24 range, vs 18 for when they got AP 3.

 Bobthehero wrote:
From 5th on onwards till they went with the AP modifiers.

3rd and 4th the they were Str 3 AP 5. And I *think* 24 range, vs 18 for when they got AP 3.

That's correct. 24" range came back at some point I think, maybe in 8th.

Feels like 8th kept the 18'' range but I am not sure, I know 10th put them at AP -1 and in my brain it's also when they became 24'' range again, which swung them back to a generic weapon compared to the close range armor denying specialist weapons that they used to be, and it annoyed me.

Ironically, short of the crappy AP, the new Hotshot Lascarbines are pretty much spot on with how I wanted Hellguns/Hotshots to be portrayed.

There's a very interesting snippit in the Battlefleet Gothic Rulebook which mentions this regarding lasers

"The venerable Sword class frigate has ably served Battlefleet Obscuras for
thousands of years. Every part of the vessel’s design and construction has been
tried and tested in innumerable engagements. The Sword’s laser-based weapons
batteries and substantial turret array have an exceptional ready level of 88.2%. Its
plasma drives are simple, sturdy units copied many times on other ships and can be
serviced by artificers with minimal training. A classic escort vessel in every respect,
few battleships fight without at least a pair of Swords to guard their backs against
enemy destroyers and attack craft."

and

"As the ability to efficiently produce long-range lance weaponry by Mars was perfected in late M37, the need to reserve these complex and expensive weapons for only a relatively small number of their own hulls no longer existed."

the-gentleman-ranker wrote:
There's a very interesting snippit in the Battlefleet Gothic Rulebook which mentions this regarding lasers

"The venerable Sword class frigate has ably served Battlefleet Obscuras for
thousands of years. Every part of the vessel’s design and construction has been
tried and tested in innumerable engagements. The Sword’s laser-based weapons
batteries and substantial turret array have an exceptional ready level of 88.2%. Its
plasma drives are simple, sturdy units copied many times on other ships and can be
serviced by artificers with minimal training. A classic escort vessel in every respect,
few battleships fight without at least a pair of Swords to guard their backs against
enemy destroyers and attack craft."

and

"As the ability to efficiently produce long-range lance weaponry by Mars was perfected in late M37, the need to reserve these complex and expensive weapons for only a relatively small number of their own hulls no longer existed."

I think it is interesting to note that long-range lances seem to have been widely available during the Great Crusade and early Imperium, but presumably the technology was lost at some point between then and M37. We know this because they are found ancient vessels like the Desolator class battleship. I have a feeling that Voss Prime may have been a centre of lance production and knowledge (similar to Ryza with plasma weapons) as that is where the Apocalypse class originated (allegedly as a response to vessels like the Desolator in Chaos service). However this must have faded as they can no longer build Apocalypse class battleships.

Note that long-range lances are described as complex, and probably have more in common with other complex and hard-to-maintain laser weapons like Volcano cannons and laser destroyers. The Sword class laser batteries are probably more akin to giant lascannon and comparatively simple.

 Haighus wrote:

the-gentleman-ranker wrote:
There's a very interesting snippit in the Battlefleet Gothic Rulebook which mentions this regarding lasers

"The venerable Sword class frigate has ably served Battlefleet Obscuras for
thousands of years. Every part of the vessel’s design and construction has been
tried and tested in innumerable engagements. The Sword’s laser-based weapons
batteries and substantial turret array have an exceptional ready level of 88.2%. Its
plasma drives are simple, sturdy units copied many times on other ships and can be
serviced by artificers with minimal training. A classic escort vessel in every respect,
few battleships fight without at least a pair of Swords to guard their backs against
enemy destroyers and attack craft."

and

"As the ability to efficiently produce long-range lance weaponry by Mars was perfected in late M37, the need to reserve these complex and expensive weapons for only a relatively small number of their own hulls no longer existed."

I think it is interesting to note that long-range lances seem to have been widely available during the Great Crusade and early Imperium, but presumably the technology was lost at some point between then and M37. We know this because they are found ancient vessels like the Desolator class battleship. I have a feeling that Voss Prime may have been a centre of lance production and knowledge (similar to Ryza with plasma weapons) as that is where the Apocalypse class originated (allegedly as a response to vessels like the Desolator in Chaos service). However this must have faded as they can no longer build Apocalypse class battleships.

Note that long-range lances are described as complex, and probably have more in common with other complex and hard-to-maintain laser weapons like Volcano cannons and laser destroyers. The Sword class laser batteries are probably more akin to giant lascannon and comparatively simple.

Sword frigate lasers are represented by weapon batteries in BFG, not lances, so yes, they are smaller scale lasers. Lances can be lasers (as shown by the Firestorm frigate's prow mounted laser) or they may be some hybrid plasma energy weapon as described by Andy Chambers. The Imperium seems to have lost how to produce long range lances in mass quantities (the Adeptus Mechanicus would of course keep the best for themselves), so the Imperial Navy either has shorter ranged lances or a few select long range lances on battlecruisers and battleships. Chaos ships which as depicted in BFG are often older former Imperial vessels, have longer range lances in greater numbers.

The Imperial Apocalypse battleship shows the deteriorating nature of the Imperium's technology, with lances that normally fire with reduced range settings. Attempts to use their full range to match a Desolator battleship's guns result in power relays blowing out and power drains across the ship (represented by Apocalypse inflicting a critical hit against itself).

Mild, but relevant Threadomancy.

We’ve a new Warhammer Community post, praising the humble Lasgun. And I swear they’re reading these threads, as we now have some solid answers.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/cvvjq1ua/las-canon-how-the-astra-militarums-indomitable-lasgun-works/

First? Low shot count is 40 per pack.

Second? Guard Vehicles come equipped with recharging stations

Third? Power Packs can seemingly be infinitely recharged.

Of course the article advert is incorrect.

Lasguns very clearly have recoil in, for example, Final Liberation and Dawn of War.

And as we all know, Final Liberation is the greatest 40K video game adaptation ever.

It tries to hug the happy medium by saying there's a little kick to it, but not much.

Accuracy and recoil
A principle advantage of the lasgun over autoguns is its accuracy – they’re laser accurate (the skill of the firer not withstanding). This is in part due to its almost total lack of recoil. A lasgun doesn’t have the same jolt caused by gunpowder rounds detonating, reciprocating bolts, shell ejections and all that malarky you get with ballistic weapons.

Firing a lasgun, even rapid firing, causes almost no kick.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:


Third? Power Packs can seemingly be infinitely recharged.

I mean, for practical purposes, this makes sense. The reality is probably that much like modern magazines they are good for thousands of recharges/reloads. Far more than they would practically ever be used for till something else happened to them so practically infinite.