Hellebore said:
Yes, there is no evidence for 100 cal heavy bolters in any GW fluff I've ever read. The only concrete number given is that bolters are 0.75 calibre, this is true regardless of what bolter is being used.
I've only seen the 1.0 mentioned in a couple of wiki articles but not in a codex, though I seem to recall someone posting a reference. As it is, DW Core indicates "The standard bolter round is .75 calibre with a..." and then goes on to say "Heavy bolters fire rounds of a much larger calibre than the standard bolt." 1.0 wouldn't be unreasonable to see as a 'much larger calibre' to me.
Hellebore said:
The 'astartes' appelation is silly imo. Astartes promethium? Really? An astartes flame thrower uses identical but more burny fuel? It's just silly.
Well, take it or leave it, but "On worlds of lower technology, this could be home-brewed concoctions or other chemicals, but Astartes weapons use only the most concentrated and refined formulas, achieving consistently superior results." It's not 'burnier' it's comparing the difference between gasoline and ethenol. They both get the job done, but one is more efficient.
They do the same type of explanation for plasmas and bolters. The only one I don't see an 'excuse' for is the melta.
And if different patterns of weapons can produce such varied weapon damages and abilities as seen across DH, its supplements, then add in Rogue Trader and supplements, why would an astartes pattern not be able to be different too?
And Merry Christmas Hellebore (or something else if that's not your bag), I'm not harassing you I swear, it's all good nautred even if the internet clouds my intent- though I'm frankly not sure when I'll give up trying to change your mind about these things
Hellebore said:
EDIT: Personally I would have preferred unnatural toughness to grant additional pts to TB without doubling/tripling TB. ie an ork has Unnatural Toughness (3) which means it gains an additional 3 TB. This would have produced a far nicer gradient rather than the step system where the jump is higher and would also allow a rule like Felling to fit better. In this case Felling would have a number in parentheses that is how much damage to Unnatural Toughness it does - so a Felling (3) weapon would ignore all the extra pts of TB the aforementioned Ork received.
This too would allow felling to follow a nicer progression, rather than the current rule where it can ignore anywhere from 2pts of TB (a gretchin has UT) to 6pts (a carnosaur).
This method of Unnatural toughness would also allow creatures to differ, rather than an ork having an identical level of UT to a space marine.
You know, that's not a bad system, tbh, wonder why the designers decided to go with the doubling/tripling of it?
EDIT: Checked the SM codex and all they do is mention 'fist sized bolts' but they also say it's an 'enormous version of the boltgun' and to me it does make me wonder why it wouldn't be bigger ammo.