Hello

In our last session we had a combat in a series of chambers containing a plasma reactor. The GM decreed that any weapon firing AP4 or better ammo had a danger of breaching something bad if any shots missed. So our usual loadout of bolters and plasma went out the window...

However my character has a lucius pattern hellgun. Whilst i can see the problems using SP and Bolt weapons corrected by having to use differing types of ammo, would it be possible to adjust the laser intensity setting on Las weapons? What rules would people use?

S.K.

If it were me I'd say no. A Hellgun is a hellgun and you can't turn a dial and turn it down.

Remember that in the 40k universe, technology is strange to most people, and weaponry is lovingly cared for, but not particularly modular or adjustable. Try getting an imperial guard to understand that the dial on his gun is for intensity, and watch him give you that look of 'okay, set it to 11 and I'll never touch it again'.

I'd say whip out your chainsword, hack something down and take its las pistol. Or beat them to death with the butt of your hellgun. Or... if you are feeling lucky, just don't miss.

If it were me I'd say no. A Hellgun is a hellgun and you can't turn a dial and turn it down.

While a hellgun may or may not be a different matter, with a lasgun you can do just that, according to the Infantryman's primer.

The Inquisitor's Handbook, a player's guide for DH, has different patterns of lasguns that can be fired in multiple modes. I don't have the stats off the top of my head, but I think it is the Triplex pattern only. Other, cheaper lasguns may not have the same options. Hellguns, however, are not really a lasgun per se but a different evolution of the weapon altogether. It has higher-discharge capacitators and more intense focusing equipment, and even if it was adjustable you would only be able to adjust that to a certain point. Trying to adjust it further would mean replacing parts, I should think.

You might try picking up a good old Mark III Lasgun or perhaps a Drusis Pattern Lasgun? Plenty good for killing the Emperor's foes without breaching the reactor or hull. Or a shotgun! The Imperial Navy swears by those things.

You might try picking up a good old Mark III Lasgun or perhaps a Drusis Pattern Lasgun? Plenty good for killing the Emperor's foes without breaching the reactor or hull. Or a shotgun! The Imperial Navy swears by those things.

Of course, while breaching the reactor or frying some circuitry in the walls is a serious concern, shooting a hole in the ship's hull is not going to happen, unless you haul a Mars Pattern Macrocannon around as your personal sidearm. There's a reason you need those in ship-to-ship combat instead of your trusty bolter.

Anything less than Plasma weaponry should almost never be in a position to cause a hull breach, barring pre-existing damage, or exceptionally poor/flimsy design. End of story.