Slitherine

Hi all,

i have a question about the Armor Piercing and the Space Marines... i didnt understand how a Bolt Pistol can have an Armor Penetration of 10% and a Stormbolter has an Armor Penetration of 0% is this a Bug?
I compared the Blood Angel Unit Data:

Bolt Pistol: AP 10% / AS 30
Plasma Pistol: AP 10% / AS 30 (both too low compared with the bolt pistol isnt it?)
Bolter: AP 25% / AS 35
Combi Bolter: AP 30% / AS 40
Heavy Bolter: AP 0% / AS 30 (Because of the larger Calibre and the high fire rate it must have a higher Attack Strength than the Bolt Pistol and Bolter, also the Armor Piercing must be at least identical to the Bolt Pistol and Bolter)
Storm Bolter: AP 0% / AS 30 (two Barrels, a double of fire rate but the same Attack strenght like a Bolt Pistol AND 5 points lower than a Bolter??? This weapon is made of two Bolters!

The weak Autoguns of the Hive Milita has AS 25 and the mighty Autocannon of a Dreadnaught has only AS 40 (remeber the standard Bolter has AS 35) so it means a Tactical Marine Squad has nearly the equal Firepower than a Dreadnaught...

Storm Bolters are two combined Bolters, so they must have at least the same Armor Piercing or higher, because of the higher ammunition output

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Storm_Bolter

http://wh40k.lexicanum.de/wiki/Sturmbolter

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Plasma_Pistol

The Heavy Bolter uses larger ammo / caliber than the Bolter, so it must have a better damage output and a better armor piercing than the Bolter. Ingame the Bolter has a higher Damage Output than the Stormbolter and the heavy bolter.
That must be a Mistake!?!

Will it be fixed?

I have never seen any hard canon as to what the dimension and performance of the Warhammer 40,000 weapons is.

If the heavy bolter does indeed use a larger caliber, that would not automatically mean better penetration.
Eg. a musket fire some crazy large balls compared to modern firearms. But the modern firearm would most likely 100% of the time offer better penetration with standard ammunition. Shape, material, gunpowder load, shape and lenght of the barrel is a factor when determining penetration.
So it depends on the heavy bolter ammunition. It is most likely the standard bolter ammunition that was designed to go into an ork and explode. Larger caliber heavy bolter ammunition would just be a larger vessel to deliver more explosive power.
The heavy bolter should have have a higher damage per shot.

It is sort of pointless talking about logic when it comes to Warhammer 40,000 video games. It's more about giving the units and their weapons a tactical purpose, and making a well balanced game.
If one weapon and unit is just plain better than another unit in every way, there would be no reason to have the former unit. Which is the case at the moment with titans.

I do understand your concerns.

the hvy bolter should be stronger then all except maybe the combi even if the same strength but longer distance and shots but the storm bolter should be at least the same as the bolter with more shots

It’s indeed a heresy that the storm bolter, the ranged weapon of the Emperor’s finest Terminator Squad, is weaker than a standard bolter and Greenskin’s shoota.
Let’s hope the Inquisition is patient enough to allow the Lordz amending their action by a future patch!

Games Workshop sends a horde of commissars to anyone for posting tabletop statistics, but what I can tell from that game system is that the storm bolter should have the same power like a bolter but can use rapid fire on the move at maximum range. The shoota of Orks is capable of the same assault mechanic but has slightly less range and penetration power than the (storm) bolter.
I think giving one extra shot to storm bolters would be too powerful, as the Orks would demand the same if you strictly convert the tabletop system. I would maybe lower the strength of the bolter to 30 what the pistol has and increase the storm bolter’s strength to 35 next to giving AP 25. The shoota would need lower AP then and etc., etc.,...
There are plenty inconsistencies and other things that motivate to change, but it will take a lot of time until you get anything the same like the tabletop.