Hi Everybody,

I started a BC campaign and one of the SP took an M34 autocannon as a heavy weapon. But now, i find this weapon too powerfull againt a boss. Is this weapon like the Reaper Autocannon, it can be only wear by a Terminator otherwise why it is so powerfull with an availability lower than an heavy bolter although it can't fire automatically?

Thanks for your answers

The Reaper's a more powerful version thanks to Twin-Linking.

Weapon power isn't ENTIRELY connected to rarity. While particularly powerful weapons are generally less common than a lasgun, an Autocannon is a relatively simple piece of hardware, while heavy bolters have the whole "but only special people are supposed to use this" stigma that comes with it. Heavy Bolters DO provide significant damage output, particularly with their special ammo options, though.

Its better shown in Rogue Trader, where acquisitions include the ammo for it on a permanent restocking basis: Bolt shells are expensive to manufacture, and having a bolt weapon is a symbol of having the influence, finances or logistical support train that one requires to actually keep that thing well fed. A Trader with a Boltpistol or Exotic Weapon is making a statement where he stands.

The autocannons are no worse than a multilaser, lascannon, plasma cannon, meltagun, force weapon, anything swung by a marine, or any other number of things that can be tossed around. Boss fights can be rather brutal for that reason; when both sides are tossing around multilasers vs bolts of change, someone's gonna be burning infamy and fast. But no, its not a "terminator armour only" thing, neither are most other weapons, either.

Its heavy, you need bulging biceps or special equipment or cyberware to fire it without bracing, but its perfectly usable by an otherwise unaugmented human who can actually lift that kind of weight [he'll probably be quite encumbered if he's got nothing to compensate however].

Don't forget about shields, dodging, cover and other useful things: you need to be supremely confident to NOT at least try to put a wall between you and the not-exactly-hidden heavy weapon you're about to have to deal with.

Oh: personal favorite: Integral components turn that multilaser into an exotic weapon [integral weaponry], which makes it compatible finally with weapon-tech. The 'simple enough' multilaser can become a spectacular legacy weapon earlier than many other things. With the right pattern, it can even start wrecking vehicles, or utterly devastate a horde.

The autocannon in all the 40k RPG games is a quite powerful weapon. Essentially it is a rapid firing light tank gun often firing solid shells (though explosive ones do exist, including Flak ones for AA), it can be carried man portable, normally in teams of at least 2 due to the immense weight and the large size of the ammunition.

Ways to counter it:

-Noise, it is going to make a lot of it, working as a beacon for people to see your heretics and indoors it (literally) will be deafening, you can pull a nasty trick if they dont have the noise dampening head gear, make them deaf for a couple days (more or less)

-Ammo/Weight, it is big, heavy and you can't carry much of it (part of why they have two man teams, one handles ammo), use the rough 10% of weapon weight = 1 "clip/magazine" of ammunition, making it about 4kg for each mag, 40k with one mag loaded with simple carapace being 15kg, it adds up very fast! (A suspensor would negate this somewhat, as well as power armor (carries itself and adds +1-2 SB), but these are harder to obtain and costly)

-Weapon Downgrades, have fun! Some examples:

Ammo Glutton = 2x the ammo used

Homemade rounds = harder to procure or reduced damage

Single Shot (like an anti tank gun) = 1 shot at a time, then reload, if they aim (which they probably will), will slow down their fire rate

-Size, simply put, it sticks out, will be hard to manuever with, people notice it and authorities or rivals can get a jump on you/lay traps

So here are some quick examples to help out with your problem, just dont nerf it, let them have their fun, but dont make it too easy for them either

Kiton said:

While the Heavy Bolter may have some elitist prestige attached to it, the Autocannon has the reputation for being reliable, versatile, and effective - it's the weapon of a soldier that doesn't care about being showy.

Chaos Havocs in power armor can fire autocannons from the hip, and Imperial Guardsmen (and their traitor brethren) use tripods or gun carriages to fire their autocannons. Loyalist Space Marines generally don't use them except as tank weaponry, since they prefer heavy bolters instead. They're big, heavy, loud, and unwieldy, but they're cheap and brutally effective.

I don't think Reaper autocannons are Terminator-only, but Terminator armor is certainly the best way to use them. If you thought an autocannon with ONE barrel was heavy…

Autocannons are man portable (just) and Havocs love them, they have a lesser rate of fire than hevay bolters, use simpler ammo, and are themselves simpler weapons.