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Can boarding torpedoes get through void shields? I've read fluff that suggests they can, and fluff that suggests they can't. Any definitive answer? It seems as though they would have a very limited use if the answer is that they can't.

Would the FFG Rogue Trader books count?

I don't have the books in front of me, so I can't check, but I'm pretty sure that Void shields don't protect against any torpedoes according to the RT rulebooks.

Voids also do nothing against Torps in BFG.

Voids only seem to stop energy blasts and objects moving certain speeds. Torpedos seem to move slow enough to bypassthe voids.

 tyrannosaurus wrote:
Can boarding torpedoes get through void shields? I've read fluff that suggests they can, and fluff that suggests they can't. Any definitive answer? It seems as though they would have a very limited use if the answer is that they can't.

While they should, it's always a good idea to take down the shields that would shunt your billion dollar soldiers into a dimension of unreality where they'd be torn apart. Better to be safe than sorry.

In RT... and also in BFG, iirc... the shields of the ships only stop energy weapons, not physical objects like torpedoes, but the vessels have scores upon scores of "point defense" turrets that protect it from such things.

Void shields still stop solid projectile weaponry like railguns. They also can effect asteroids for some reason(although that might be for game balance)

 Grey Templar wrote:
Void shields still stop solid projectile weaponry like railguns. They also can effect asteroids for some reason(although that might be for game balance)

If that's the case, why can't they stop boarding torpedoes?

If it's about speed, torpedoes might well be much slower than railguns / energy beams / asteroids, or be slowed down on purpose to pass the void shield.

But what's a void shield anyway ?

Energy shield that surrounds a space ship. I've read lots of stories where the void shield stops conventional attacks from the ship but then boarding torpedoes get through. Not sure why the speed of the boarding torpedoes would allow them to get through the shield?

Maybe they work similar to Dune shields: if you travel slowly enough, you can punch through? I mean, in 40k you can charge through void shields, right?

 tyrannosaurus wrote:
Energy shield that surrounds a space ship. I've read lots of stories where the void shield stops conventional attacks from the ship but then boarding torpedoes get through. Not sure why the speed of the boarding torpedoes would allow them to get through the shield?

Because Dune.

The shields are only configured to shop fast-moving attacks, which is why martial arts in Dune are really weird with slow-then-fast-then-slow movements.

Basically that. There's also the fact that Void Shields are, in some fluff, suggested to operate in a cyclical nature, so if you approach slow enough, you can pass through the brief gap between shield cycles, where a high-velocity object/attack is basically travelling so fast it doesn't give the shield time to cycle (unless, of course, you roll well enough to score a penetrating hit, in which case you got lucky and did).

Void shields operate by somehow diverting incoming energy/objects into the Warp. Not physically absorbing the energy.

 Psienesis wrote:
Basically that. There's also the fact that Void Shields are, in some fluff, suggested to operate in a cyclical nature, so if you approach slow enough, you can pass through the brief gap between shield cycles, where a high-velocity object/attack is basically travelling so fast it doesn't give the shield time to cycle (unless, of course, you roll well enough to score a penetrating hit, in which case you got lucky and did).

Torpedoes couldn't choose to pass through such a gap, though.

 JTFirefly wrote:

 Psienesis wrote:
Basically that. There's also the fact that Void Shields are, in some fluff, suggested to operate in a cyclical nature, so if you approach slow enough, you can pass through the brief gap between shield cycles, where a high-velocity object/attack is basically travelling so fast it doesn't give the shield time to cycle (unless, of course, you roll well enough to score a penetrating hit, in which case you got lucky and did).

Torpedoes couldn't choose to pass through such a gap, though.

All torpedoes are slow enough they pass through shields by default.

Maybe Void Shields work on high energy objects only because that high energy per surface unit is required to make the void shield work.

So a boarding torpedo, slow as it is, would just not trigger the local transformation of the shield into dimensional portal, whereas plasma shots and railgun / other high velocity projectiles would.

The void shield would just be an anomaly, that when fed with enough energy, will open a warp portal along its surface.

As expected, this costs a hefty amount of energy, so only high energy per surface unit would activate it.