I have a question - when you add a grenade launcher to a pistol (bolt pistol or Tranter), does it still count as one? I have a gunslinger in my group and he's using a bolt pistol with a grenade launcher and a tranter with a hack shotgun. He's pretty scary without those attachements, but with them he truns into a killing machine. Also, our Arbitrator uses Two tranters with hack shotguns. Just to clarify - they both have recoil gloves on both hands. So, can they get pistol benefits from those addons, or not? Rulebook is not very specific about that.

Grenade Launchers can't be added to Pistols, only Basic-class weapons.

I know, but I let the gunslinger PC get one under his BP. However I'm not sure if this doens not change the weapon from pistol to basic. That's rather important for his character. And what about hack shotguns under tranters? I know that you can mount a hack shotgun under heavy pistols, but I'm not sure if this won't change the said weapon's class. What are your opinions on this matter?

Based on the RAW (Ascension, p.139) , weapon's class does not change . But Tranter + Hack Shotgun = 5 kg, and I would houserule that this is the basic weapon.

Based on the RAW (Ascension, p.139), weapon's class does not change. But Tranter + Hack Shotgun = 5 kg, and I would houserule that this is the basic weapon.

A hunting rifle is 5kg, and an autogun is only 3.5kg. In my game, I would definitely houserule that a tranter/hack shotgun counts as a basic weapon. Granted, the player could still fire two basic weapons while using recoil gloves, but they couldn't have the bonus to hit from Gunslinger.

I have two further questions (just to clarify the situation):

• The player isn't using the tranter and hack shotgun to attack in the same turn, right? The wording in FFG books isn't always the clearest, but you most assuredly can't fire a gun + underbarrel attachment/combi weapon in the same turn.
• How exactly are they mounting the hack shotgun/grenade launcher on the bottom of their pistols? The only pistol I've seen with a secondary fire weapon is the Puritan-14 autopistol, which has a tiny chamber under the barrel which holds a single shotgun shell. For reference, a typical hack shotgun is about this big: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Lupara.jpg

Thanks for the answers guys. In response to Covered in Weasel's questions:

1. No, they fire only a single weapon during their turn

2. I dunno really... Never tought about it. We're using macharian handbook and it states that you can mount hack shotguns under some pistols. However now that I think about it, it dosen't make any sense. How the heck would they fit them in holsters?

What do you think? Should I rule that you can;t use such attachements as hack shotguns under pistols? These weapons are kinda devastating, and more than once they've almost broke my games.

Tranter , as I understand it , is something like "Desert E agle " , so I can imagine a shotgun barrels without a grip, fixed above the barrel of Tranter . Still, this gives a very awkward device .

I checked the Macharian Handbook (we use it as well, it's such a great resource ), and I don't see a passage specifying that hack shotguns can be mounted under pistols -- it says that hack shotguns are mounted with a "pistol grip" though, which could be the source of the confusion. You could technically use the military combi-weapon upgrade (page 122) to mount a hack shotgun under a pistol, but the process reduces the underslung weapon's clip to one (thereby eliminating the hack shotgun's Tearing quality). In that case, it would be better to just add a shotgun pistol instead (it's not inaccurate and is reliable).

None of my players have expressed any interest in using a hack shotgun, so I haven't seen how effective they actually are in combat. At first glance it doesn't actually seem that special -- a bolt pistol is more powerful (though the ammunition is extremely expensive), and you have to be very close to your enemies to gain the benefits of scatter. Even when in scatter range, a decent suit of body armor would negate a whole lot of hack shotgun damage. Could someone who uses/has players who use a hack shotgun please let me know what makes these guns so powerful?

Based on my initial impressions of the weapon, I would houserule that hack shotguns get the same -10 to hit if fired with one hand with <4 strength bonus as a shotgun pistol or hand cannon. If the gun really needs a nerf, it might even make sense to call it a Compact Basic weapon like a lascarbine or Slayer shotgun -- in this case, it could still be used in melee combat but would give a -10 penalty to hit if fired with one hand (regardless of Str bonus) and wouldn't count as a pistol for the purposes of Gunslinger/Hip Fire.

Have never used a Hack Shotgun, but have used a Meathammer... with messy results.

Of course mine has been cut down to a "whippet gun" for the ultimate GET AWAY FROM ME gun. It is 1 shot 1 kill, well 3 shot/1 kill at short/PB range weapon.

Could someone who uses/has players who use a hack shotgun please let me know what makes these guns so powerful?

Scatter+Tearing = a lot of chances for RF. Yes, only at PB and only one shot, but.. .

Meat Hammer will be even better with 2d5+Scatter+Tearing and without Inaccurate, but in my games world-specific weapons are difficult to obtein outside of their world of origin.

Could someone who uses/has players who use a hack shotgun please let me know what makes these guns so powerful?

Scatter+Tearing = a lot of chances for RF. Yes, only at PB and only one shot, but...

Meat Hammer will be even better with 2d5+Scatter+Tearing and without Inaccurate, but in my games world-specific weapons are difficult to obtein outside of their world of origin.

Oh dear... yeah, that would certainly do it Both of those sound like incredibly risky guns to use if you have no backup weapon, so not the kind of thing I'd ever want to rely on during combat. Those two guns must be the reason RF was overhauled in Black Crusade -- in the BC system, you roll 1d5 and apply the matching critical result to the location struck instead of adding an extra damage die.

Both of those sound like incredibly risky guns to use if you have no backup weapon, so not the kind of thing I'd ever want to rely on during combat.

I think of them as a backup/last chance/special case weapon s.

Both of those sound like incredibly risky guns to use if you have no backup weapon, so not the kind of thing I'd ever want to rely on during combat.

I think of them as a backup/last chance/special case weapons.

Both of those sound like incredibly risky guns to use if you have no backup weapon, so not the kind of thing I'd ever want to rely on during combat.

I think of them as a backup/last chance/special case weapons.

Totally agree..

The PC I have who carries the custom Meathammer.. looks at it as a GET THE F$%^&$# AWAY FROM ME GUN!

not a regular use gun. 3 shells to reload.