Because I seem to remember that in the days of 2nd edition, some Arbite units could use bolt shells in their combat shotguns; you used the range of the shotgun but the strength and armour penetration of the bolts.

Are there rules for this anywhere in the DH rules at the moment?

None that I know of :/

And even then, wouldn't you need specially made bolt shells?

Do bolt shells even ignite through a normal hammer-action that a shotgun uses?

They used to have Executioner rounds which had a stronger hit and harder to save with a variable bit of extra armour penetration against vehicles and buildings. About the last I heard of bolt shells being used in shotguns was in Necromunda where you could load in a single one in a shotgun, being 10Gauge is roughly .75cal, think to do it regually you'd really need a specialised shotgun rather than a different kind of bolt shell as they tend to be fairly restricted ammo. I've got a one of those floating around in my game which is basically a sawn off shottie with heavier barrels and slightly more robust you can cycle through shot or bolt shells.

Old Arbites also used to have Power-Mauls too! I remember them really bloody hurting

(they didn't make it in either)

Varnias Tybalt said:

Why wouldn't they? A bolt round is a spin-stabilised bi-propellant shell. The 'soft launch' charge is essentially a standard propellant charge like in any other SP round, the secondary 'booster' stage rocket engine doesn't kick in until the shell has left the barrel. The biggest potential problems are (as far as I can see) whether it is sturdy enough to withstand the recoil (probably a non-issue, with shotguns), and lack of rifling. Neither of these are insuperable, as there are rifled shotguns, and it is certainly possible for shells to be stabilised by gyrojet action- the rocket jets being angled to spin the round and stabilise it, although unless fired from a rifled barrel I can see a danger of rounds tumbling slightly before the rockets ignite, resulting in a significant degradation of accuracy.

As it stands, there are a number of round types which can be fired by a number of weapon types- inferno rounds, lathe hyper-density penetrator and possibly a couple of others (don't have my books available ATM). Whether those represent a variety of rounds for that weapon (ie- an inferno shotgun round is distinct from an inferno bolt round, etc), or whether they represent a special round which can be safely chambered and fired by a number of weapons is up to the individual GM. Personally, I'd rule the former, although I would allow a specially modified 10-gauge to fire a bolt shell (purely single shot, and never from any of the shot-gun pistols). I would note a particular issue- the rules as they stand allow some weapons to carry round which change the weapon's effective weapon type, but don't require the talent of the new weapon type (blazer rounds being a case in point- effectively a turning a shotgun into a flamer, while counting still as an SP weapon for the purposes of weapon talent requirements). You may well want to houserule that if you do allow it.

Alasseo said:

Sure it could be like that. The reason for asking is to establish if any one knows that they are (according to canon or something) ignited through a standard hammer-action. In that case, it would work. But this is science-fiction after all, I mean what if the boltshells are ignited through electrical means? (sort of like the Metal Storm weapons).

Anyway, this discussion got me curious so I checked it out, and you're right. You can see a diagram of the Storm Bolter in the 3rd edition rulebook and it looks like it operates with a hammer-action. Oh and by the way, according to the same book the bolt-shells are of a 0.75 calibre. Could probably fit inside a 12-gague shotgun barrel...

Well the Beast House uses explosive rounds for their Hunting Rifles +1 damage, Pen 2, Damage Changes to X
You could use something simular for shotguns

As Santiago said; of course, while loosing the Scatter traits.

And btw, a 12 gauge shell is .729 Caliber, while a 10 gauge is .775 caliber. But yes, they are indeed comparable in sizes to a standard bolt rounds .75 caliber.

For a handy conversion table, you can find it here.

-=Brother Praetus=-

The books don't have any rules for something like that. But in the Necromunda game there were "Bolt shells" for shotguns. They did similar damage to a bolt and I believe had the same penetration. They had less range than a real boltgun but the shell had more range than regular shotgun shells. Of course they were quite expensive and (like everything else in Necromunda) prone to malfunction.

Mm, so there are no current rules. Shame - and shame there are no rules for Executioner rounds, as well!

A good compromise/houserule would be something based on the Beast House stuff, I haven't read them closely so that didn't occur to me. Good thinking!

Mr Adventurer said:

My houseruling would be: same damage as the normal bolter (since the shell is propelled by its own miniature rocket-engine and therefore isnt relying on the barrel pressure to build the right amount of momentum), one shot only (since the shotgun magazine was hardly built to accomodate several bolter shells) and giving the weapon the inaccurate and unreliable traits. (because you're using a very wrong kind of ammunition in the shotgun you cant expect the shell to act in a predictable manner).

That depends on which Executioner rounds you're talking about.

If you're talking about the ones that Inquisitor Thaddeus used in the Soul Drinkers novels... I don't think there ever would be any rules for those. Very few characters (read: probably NONE, not even noble-born) can afford a bullet that "has been known to cost as much as an Imperial cruiser."