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I guess the question you have to ask yourself today is, 'do I feel lucky?' Well, Punk? Do ya?

For those who don't know, Hand Cannons are huge, high caliber pistols that would put Dirty Harry's magnum to shame. They appear frequently in the more RPG based spin-offs of Warhammer 40k. They have stat-lines in Inquisitor and Dark Heresy, and are mentioned in Necromunda fluff, but they've never appeared in the main 40k game.

So this isn't a huge add-on, just a little tidbit for fun and flavor.

Inquisitorial Acolytes, Penal Legion Custodians, and Priests from an Astra Militarum or Adepta Sororitas army may swap out their Laspistol with a Hand Cannon for +2 pts. An Inquisitor or Inquisitor Lord may swap out his Bolt Pistol for a Hand Cannon for free. A Hand Cannon has the following profile:

Range: 12" S:5 AP:6 Assault 1

It's Assault 1, instead of being a Pistol, because it's described in the fluff as having so much kick that the user has to use both hands to fire to avoid breaking their wrists. So no +1 attack bonus in CC. All the units and characters I gave the option to have a more "civilian" feel to them. The biggest thing I struggled with was whether the AP:5 was appropriate or if it should have no AP. In the end, I decided it needed more bang for the buck, no pun intended, and something that could potentially punch a hole in a light tank seems like it should also be able to get through flak armour! What do you think? Are the points and stat-line appropriate? Is there another unit that should have the Hand Cannon option?

Edit: AP reduced to give it a little less power in comparison to the Bolt Pistol.

Why, exactly, is it higher Strength than a bolt pistol? 1d10+4 I vs. 1d10+5 X in Dark Heresy? I'm skeptical.

 AnomanderRake wrote:
Why, exactly, is it higher Strength than a bolt pistol? 1d10+4 I vs. 1d10+5 X in Dark Heresy? I'm skeptical.

Because it has to have some reason to take it instead of a Bolt Pistol. Otherwise, Assault 1 instead of pistol at 12" range is worse than a Bolt Pistol. I could take away the AP to make the Bolt Pistol look better, but making it a lower strength just makes it pointless.

 fallinq wrote:

 AnomanderRake wrote:
Why, exactly, is it higher Strength than a bolt pistol? 1d10+4 I vs. 1d10+5 X in Dark Heresy? I'm skeptical.

Because it has to have some reason to take it instead of a Bolt Pistol. Otherwise, Assault 1 instead of pistol at 12" range is worse than a Bolt Pistol. I could take away the AP to make the Bolt Pistol look better, but making it a lower strength just makes it pointless.

So if you kept it lore accurate there would be no point in taking one? Why do we need rules for it, then? It would be pointless.

Not sure it's entirely necessary, but I think these rules for it are fine from a mechanical perspective. If people give you too much trouble over the high strength, consider making it strength 4 but with the ability to reroll 1s to wound. This ups the average chance of it wounding without letting it take on bigger threats than the bolt pistol.

It's close enough in damage to a bolt pistol. Do you think
rng12" S4 Ap- type: assault 1, rending
would work?

When you said hand cannons, I thought it would be terminators or dreadnaughts carrying one time use demolisher/battle cannons.

 Filch wrote:
When you said hand cannons, I thought it would be terminators or dreadnaughts carrying one time use demolisher/battle cannons.

That would be really funny! You get an exalt!