SPACE MARINE WEAPONS

Standard armament for Marines is the ubiquitous boltgun, a weapon which has been in use since pre-Unity. A very rugged and reliable weapon, the bolter is also highly accurate and extremely deadly thanks to its high-penetration capabilities and wide range of available ammunition. Statistically speak-ing the bolter is the most lethal weapon employed by the Imperium in the 41th Millennium. It’s re-sponsible for more enemy battlefield deaths than any other weapon employed since the 30th Millenni-um. It also holds the record for shot/kill ratio and cost/kill ratio. It would, however, be a mistake to think that one could equip every Imperial Guardsman with a bolter and thereby create an invincible army (it has been tried – multiple times – with little success). The bolter is such an effective weapon because they are wielded by the Galaxy’s most skilled and consummate killers – the Imperial Space Marines. A Marine could of course kill well with any weapon, but he kills best with the weapon the Emperor chose for him. The bolter is, quite simply, optimized for exactly the types of warfare Marines engage – swift and overwhelming assaults against key enemy positions for the most part.

Bolt guns fire fin-stabilized hyper-velocity armour-penetrating mass-reactive supra-explosive rounds (bolts). Bolters (and bolt pistols) employed by the Marines use the standard Imperial .75 cal saboted booster-assisted rounds (compared to the .50 in use with non-Astartes bolt weaponry). Heavy bolters and sniper weapons instead use the Imperial 1.00 cal, gaining additional range/accuracy, penetrating power and explosive force. The chosen calibre is optimal for dealing with a variety of targets; soft tar-gets in the open are eliminated even by peripheral hits – tougher infantry such as larger xenos species and <classified> can be take down by a few well-placed bolts. Hardened targets are also vulnerable – the bolter can regularly defeat power armour, tactical dreadnaught armour given enough fire, and lightly armoured vehicles are highly vulnerable to heavy bolter/sniper fire.

Initial launch of the bolts is accomplished by use of a gauss-type (electromagnetic) mass driver; a fairly bulky piece of archao-tech largely monopolized by the Mechanicus, but available in quantities to the hallowed Astartes. New bolts are force-fed into the launch chamber, creating a completely sealed weapon system with very few moving parts and near-flawless jamming record. The rare dud or would-be jams are quickly cleared by the weapon’s machine sprit in the majority of cases.

The mass driver has a variable power setting, with the lower setting making the weapon effectively recoil-less, ideal for use in zero- and microgravity. The higher (normal) setting gives the bolt an initial velocity of around 1500 mps, while the lower setting provides a modest (sub-sonic) 300 mps with negligible recoil (standard operating mode in no-/microgravity scenarios).

After launch the bolt is given additional velocity by its miniature booster rocket, maxing out at around 1800 mps at 200 meters and sustaining this out to a range of approximately 1000 meters; accuracy out to this range is very high indeed. Bolts launched in the low-velocity setting have less accuracy, range and penetrating power; the booster burns out at 1500 mps at 200 meters with no sustain phase (partially mitigated by the fact that gravity/atmosphere is often non-existent when this setting is utilized). 

Standard ammunition is armour piercing explosive; an adamantine kinetic penetrator containing a mass-reactive fuse and supra-explosive compound. The bolt is capable of regularly defeating power armour out to 1200 meters, can penetrate Tactical Dreadnought armour if it can be made to strike vulnerable spots, and is even recorded to be effective in damaging Dreadnought suits given sufficient volume of fire (the chance of penetrating the sarcophagus is nearly nil, but the Dreadnaught’s exterior system can be terminated, thereby neutralizing the Dreadnaught).
The explosive force of the bolt and the adamantine shrapnel produced is sufficient to incapacitate (or kill if a hit to the head or vitals is achieved) even a healthy Marine. Unaugmented humans or humanoid aliens are literally blow to pieces by exploding bolter hits, and are usually killed outright even by hits to the extremities. Even if the bolt does not detonate within the target the kinetic force imparted by the heavy hyper-velocity bolt is sufficient to incapacitate or kill most soft targets.

Alternate ammunition types include hyper-dense armour penetrators (used against heavy personal armour and vehicles), explosive fragmentation (used against massed soft targets in the open), plas-matic incendiary (ideal for defeating personal armour, setting things on fire, or consuming local at-mospheric oxygen), bio-toxin (lethal against unprotected bioforms, including Tyranids), psyk-out (an-ti-psyker/warp entity ammunition), and thermic fusion ('melta bolts'; an alternate anti-armour am-munition used primarily against vehicles and strongpoints).

The bolter is fully integrated with the PA suit; the machine spirit contained within the gun is subservi-ent to the suit spirit. The Marine will instinctively 'know' what the gun is aimed at, as the suit and gun sensors gather and calculate optimum fining solutions, adding this to the already considerable accuracy of Marine gunners. Bolters also come with back-up iron sights – these are difficult to use properly given the bolter’s lack of a proper stock, but Marines manage because of their extensive training and experience with the weapon. Bolters with sighting attachments are a sure sign that the gun is a more primitive pattern and/or the Marine’s suit lacks the means to fully integrate with the gun’s machine spirit.

Although capable of laying down a storm of fully automatic fire, the bolter is primarily a precision weapon. Marines normally conserve ammo and fire either single shots or short (3-4 rounds) controlled bursts. The burst is the preferred fire mode, for it almost ensures a hit and the elimination of the target. Single shots are used where the conservation of ammunition is important or the firing solution so good that a burst would be wasteful (and one does not waste the Emperor’s ammunition needlessly).

Bolter ammunition is large calibre, but since initial launch is accomplished by a mass driver each round doesn’t have to be very massive; only the warhead and booster/sustainer rocket. Each sickle-shaped bolter magazine contains a double ‘U’ of bolts, approximately 100 bolter rounds (varies somewhat with boltgun/magazine pattern), weighing in at nearly 10 kg (for a combined weapon/ammo weight of around 40-45 kg). Given the fact that Marine bolters are also very large and lack a proper stock they are effectively impossible to use for lesser men.

Though rarely mentioned in Imperial propaganda, Marines cannot conjure ammunition from thin air, nor are their magazine capacity without limit. Each Marine will carry a number of spare magazines clipped on their utility belt (usually 4-8 extra magazines during normal operations). If need be a single marine can easily sling bandoleers or even flak-bags of extra ammunition. A single Marine can effec-tively transport a hundred extra mags with little reduction in movement rates. Marine tactics call for sudden overwhelming attacks, meaning that a standard ammunition load is usually sufficient. 500-1000 bolter rounds are ideally sufficient to eliminate between 50 and 500 targets depending on target profile. This is way higher than the kill-to-shot ratio of other troops; only Marines can achieve this kind of lethality.

Some bolter patterns have an auxiliary under-barrel weapon system, usually a grenade launcher that’s capable of launching mini-grenades at least 200 meters. Other bolters are fitted with a grenade at-tachment point and the necessary machine spirit to enable them to fire standard grenades as rifle gre-nades – a single bolt round propels the grenade away from the rifle. This is a less accurate system, but more flexible in terms of grenade types that can be fired. Most patters eschew these options because they add bulk and complexity – and because a suited Marine can throw a grenade about as far as is needed under most battlefield situations. Bolters can be fitted with a variety of bayonets, combat blades, saws and whatnot – again rarely used except in propaganda.

All Marines also carry a bolt pistol (incl. at least 2 spare pistol-magazines) as a back-up weapon, a chainsword for melee work, a mono-blade (combat knife) that serves primarily in a utilitarian role, and a variety of grenades (typically frag, krak, and smoke/blind). Marines can also carry a variety of specialist and heavy weapons, as well as mission-specific gear.

The bolt pistol uses the same ammunition as the bolter, but has a less capable mass driver (equivalent to the low-power setting of the bolter), giving it somewhat shorter range, reduced accuracy, and lim-ited penetration. It’s largely useless against PA, but excellent for close quarters work against soft infan-try. Perfect in combination with chainsword and/or grenades for clearing out enemy trenches and fortifications. The single ‘U’ mag holds 20-30 rounds.

Chainswords are effectively hi-tech chainsaws. Using hyperdense cutting surface a chainsword can shear through soft infantry with ease. Power armour offers good protection on the heavily armoured surfaces, but a good swordsman can strike at joints and other poorly armoured sections to good effect.

Marine combat knives are primarily a symbol and a tool, but in a pinch it can be used as a melee weap-on. Such blades are invariably made using hi-tech materials and using the best techniques available to the Astartes. They cannot cut through armoured plates, but they can easily decapitate or disembowel soft infantry. Some blades can serve as bayonets.
Marines make some use of grenades during close quarters fighting. The Marine’s PA makes him imper-vious to the effects of most of his grenades; a Marine could employ frag grenades at very close ranges without any chance of harm to himself or his Battle-Brothers. The same goes smoke, shock and stun grenades – all suitable for use against soft targets, but effectively harmless against a PA suit. Gas-based grenades are also largely useless against marines, but can be employed to good effect against unpro-tected infantry, either to incapacitate/kill or as area denial weapons.

More specialized weapons are also found in the Marine arsenal. The promethium flamer is a popular specialist weapon for Marines engaging enemy fortifications or deploying in other short-range envi-ronments. Plasma guns have many of the benefits of the flamer combined with those of a direct energy weapons; unfortunately plasma guns are more temperamental and require special training to use properly. Melta guns are the Marine weapon of choice for dealing with heavy armour at close ranges. The bolt sniper rifle is also used; primarily by scout units, but also by certain marksman specializts within the Marine squads.

Heavy weapon choices include the iconic heavy bolter. Using a 5000-round drum magazine of 1.00 cal bolts it can tear apart enemy positions, hard infantry, soft infantry, or lightly armoured vehicles. In the hands of a properly trained Devastator specialist it’s a fearsome weapon indeed. The independently targeting and tracking multi-missile launcher is another favoured marine support weapon. It combines range, flexibility and killing power. Marines also employ lascannon, heavy plasma weapons and multi-meltas as needed.

A typical Tactical Squad of 10 Marines will have 1-2 specialist weapons and 1-2 heavy weapons; the exact type will depend on mission parameters. A ‘typical’ load out could consist of 1 plasma gun, 1 mel-ta gun, 1 heavy bolter, and one missile-launcher. The rest of the squad carry bolters. Assaults Squads forego heavy weapons, replacing them with weapons suitable for close combat. Devastator Squads carry up to four heavy weapons instead of specialist weapons; a four-lascannon Devastator Squad conducting mobile defence of an urban area can potentially keep very large enemy armour formations – and their attending soft infantry – tied down.

Astartes are also trained in the use of just about every type of STC weapon found in the Imperial arse-nal. A Marine that finds himself disarmed or out of ammunition could pick up anything from a lasgun to a heavy stubber and use it with full proficiency. Even in the rare even that a Marine should be without any ammunition and unable to scavenge a serviceable weapon he’s not unarmed – Marines can kill with chainswords, combat blades, sticks, stones, fists and feet. Until a marine is dead he’s always a mortal danger to his enemies!