I do understand that the AP of a ship's hull would be far greater than the penetration of any commonly available weapon, from the outside, also I believe the ship's void shields take the brunt of the incoming fire not the hull itself. After the voids are down, most ship to ship battles end rather quickly. Anyways, my belief was that the reason hull breaches are a commonly supported fear, is because of the pressure differential on the hull, on the outside is the vacuum of space, on the inside is an atmosphere desperate to escape, causing pressure to be applied to the inside of the hull pushing outward, and increasing the likelihood of a breach.

@Gregorious

I hope that you do not think of me as a pest, I really enjoy being able to discuss these types of things with people who actually understand the universe of 40K, unlike my coworkers, or my wife

@Gregorious

I hope that you do not think of me as a pest, I really enjoy being able to discuss these types of things with people who actually understand the universe of 40K, unlike my coworkers, or my wife

Don´t worry If there is anything special, feel free to give me a line via private message. We should just be cautious not to "derail" the topic with the discussion (that would be unpolite).

@Mica

If you feel that there is to much "non topic banter" going on, please give us a hint and we will move it somewhere else.

But talking about pressure: the airpressure (in this scenario) isn´t really making a projectile more likely to penetrate "higher" then it does. That is because of that air pressure being "contained" inside the ship and thereby not "pushing behind the bullet" more then it is "pushing on the bullet" form any other direction. True, once it would be directed into one certain direction and FOCUSED, you would have a lot of support for penetration...but that is just not the case with an unpenetrated wall.

And in regard to the void shields: it is true that they are meant to keep damage away from the ship and that once they are gone, there is MASSIVE damage. But if the void ship outer walls (and most of the "inner supporting walls") would be so "thin" that a hand help, solid projectile weapon with armour piercing rounds could actually be penetrating one of it...well, the first marco canon shell would simply RIP THROUGH it. Those shells are called "macro shells" for a reason. They are nothing more then the "macro version" of a regular bullet!

To argue it the other way: If of course all the interior plating would be considered AP:16 and there would be something behind the plating that is NECESSARY TO THE SHIP...well, then there is a reason for "1d10+4 only".. ...But even then, an assaultgun with manstopper bullets (1d10+3/ AP:3) would be unlikely to penetrate.

To argue it the other way: If of course all the interior plating would be considered AP:16 and there would be something behind the plating that is NECESSARY TO THE SHIP...well, then there is a reason for "1d10+4 only".. ...But even then, an assaultgun with manstopper bullets (1d10+3/ AP:3) would be unlikely to penetrate.

Or , it may be some vital systems are located not inside the bulkhead s but outside. Look at the photos from inside the ISS and think about what will happen if there is a shot with a shotgun . M41 is, of course , not the M3 , but...

Or , it may be some vital systems are located not inside the bulkhead s but outside. Look at the photos from inside the ISS and think about what will happen if there is a shot with a shotgun . M41 is, of course , not the M3 , but...

Yes, if the interior of a 40K voidship is anything like the interior of the ISS even boarding shotguns are suicidal to use during boarding / during the attempt to repel boarding.

EDIT: ****..my gramma...wish I would be native speaker

A thing on the side, guys. The topic was made to request Encounters & Happenings , so please let us not derail it completely but provide some of such while we discuss related-but-different topics in here

[Haste, delay and storming through hundreds meters of corridors and stairs]
In order to have something else to it then just fighting, you couple every “Encounter” the characters have while boarding with a condition that might cause “delay” if something isn´t handled “right” (decision made, test past, enemy beaten in time, etc.)

Each time the “delay condition” is met, the charge of the characters gets “one delay”. After all encounters are handled, the resistance they meet on the bridge (or in an encounter just before the bridge) is higher because of the defenders had having “to see them coming that way” and re-deploying troops into their path. Alternately, you could just throw another batch of “Elite Troops” against them if they had two or three delays.

Here are some examples of “delay conditions”:

Lost: The characters storm an unfamiliar ship. They will most likely know their general direction based on basic layouts of ship of that type... but even ships based on the same pattern might be unique in some way due to changes during the construction (or afterward). At some point during the boarding, ask the character the players decided to provide directions for an Intelligence(+0) test. Someone from a hive world could gain a +10 bonus, somebody who is voidborn should gain a +20. If the test is failed, the characters get delayed.

Navigating the battlefield: Getting to the bridge as quick as possible has something to do with out-guessing the enemy. It is about avoiding larger numbers of armsmen while not allowing the enemy to pushed one to far off the right route and into some detour that will only allow the enemy to corner one with even more troops. This could be simulated with a challenging(+0) Scholastic Lore(Tactica Imperialis) test. A failure means a delay. A certain numbers of success means that the characters can get rid of an delay. Or you can allow the character get rid of any delay if they pass such a test. Or simply for cutting through another defense line willingly (yet another battle encounter). But this would be useless if the point was not chosen wisely (again, said test).

That **** bulkheads: Giving the characters two or three delays simply for having to cut through all that metal is fine. In turn, the number can be lessened if they can force the machine-spirits of the door looks to submit to their will. Ask for a number of Tech-Use tests)+0) equal to the number of “door delays”. Each passed tests means a couple of doors and bulkheads bypasses much quicker and one less delay. Any test with three or more levels of failures means an additional delay, so.

Delays aside, you are in any right to ask for a Toughness test after they made about 2/3 of their way. If they fail it, given them one level of fatigue from literally fighting their way through hundreds of meters of ship (perhaps even up or down a deck or two).

A thing on the side, guys. The topic was made to request Encounters & Happenings , so please let us not derail it completely but provide some of such while we discuss related-but-different topics in here

O-key, let's try.

Thought of the day : sometimes even lower is capable of the feat .

Players move to the bridge , crushing resistance. Another group of the ship defenders is ready to die for the glory of the God-Emperor . In the midst of fight PCs are attacked from the territory which they have already secured - from the rear.

Using long-forgotten technical manholes and inside - bulkhead space , h orde of Hullghasts comes into play. They are hated , they are hunted, they hate the crew , hate the ship, which has never been a good home for them - but it is the only home they have .

In the middle of the mutated , deformed wave of rage , some ( just as much as PCs ) of the strongest and fastest (give them a lot of useful Mutations - Aberration, Vile Alacrity, Malleable etc) Hullghast carry their improvised "secret weapon ", for many years served as the key to their survival - attached to the chest tubes of Melta Gel , equipped with "death hand" triggers. Even the power armor can ' t withstand such " hot embrace " !

Thanks for all the ideas, everyone. The first boarding session went very well, with the PCs slaughtering there way through a cargo bay they breached. As expected, they were nigh unstoppable, but even still they had to roll well since I gave their enemies chain swords and a handful of bolters. Plus, as soon as they breached the bulkhead, there were 4 flamers waiting for them. That got a good reaction from the players.

Thanks for the tips about ratings and the general size and crew complement of the ship. I'm going to try to have some kind of RP / non-combat encounter for them as they try to get to the bridge. The PCs tend to respect non-combatants and would engage with NPCs.

Anyways, I just wanted to thank everyone for their input!