Shotgun
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A shotgun is a large caliber smoothbore firearm which is designed to fire a cluster of small projectiles (once commonly lead pellets but for environmental reasons steel is more common, either way they're known as shot) in one shot, though most shotguns can also accept solid slugs. The cluster of bullets spread out to cover a wide area after exiting, taking some of the burden off of aiming and causing considerable damage to an unprotected body. It comes at the expense of hitting power and precision at long range due to the sheer spread. The earliest shotguns were large caliber muskets known as blunderbusses. Today, shotguns remain widely used by police, hunters and sport shooters and see some use as a secondary weapon by soldiers.
Your typical generic weapon found in almost every genre, the Shotgun is a pump-action weapon utilised by the Imperium of Man. It is a short-ranged anti-personnel weapon, and easily fired accurately on the move thanks to its wide spread of fire.
Regularly employed by the Adeptus Arbites, the shotgun (also referred to as a scatter gun), have been around since before M3. Modern-day shotguns are extremely reliable, fairly accurate (for what they are) and relative simple to produce and operate, while being devastating in close combat. 38,000 years later the biggest improvement is the addition of 50 pounds of metal, so it can be used as a club, when, after shooting a pissed off Genestealer (which fails to persuade it against ripping your arms off), you have the option of boinking it on the head of overgrown bug. Probably the longest lived weapon in the Imperium (right after anything sharp or heavy), it has appeared on nearly every Imperial world and battlefield.
It is also commonly employed by Space Marine Scouts and Imperial Guard Veterans, although the Space Marines are equipped with more powerful "Manstopper" rounds. Its hail of shot can shred through flesh, but its low velocity causes it to be ineffective against armoured enemies. The Imperial Navy uses them when boarding a ship or putting down mutinies. The Deathwatch have their own shotguns, mainly for the specialist ammunition they use to take down many different types of Xenos at close range.
Imperial shotguns also can use a wide variety of different ammunition, including all types of bolts for maximum firepower (though less effective than an actual bolter), web charges for non-lethal takedowns, blazerer charges, that turn a shotgun into a nerfed flamethrower, talk charges for breaking doors, and really about anything you can fit inside the barrel, making it a great utility weapon in any FFG game.
Stats:
(Space Marine version) - Range:12|Str:4|AP:-|Type:Assault 2
(Imperial Guard version) - Range:12|Str:3|AP:-|Type:Assault 2