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Imperial Japanese Equipment

2023-05-24T09:45:10Z

2601:1C0:5001:5320:3181:91FC:B207:B580: /* Machine Guns */

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The Empire of Japan: the first East Asian country to successfully industrialize in the late 19th century and from the 1930s to 45 the scourge of the Pacific. The second most powerful Axis nation and had their own theatre. While better off than [[Fascist Italian Equipment|Italy]] (which isn't saying much...), Japan still lagged behind in a lot of fields and had major raw materials and fuel shortages.

Generally speaking Imperial Japanese gear generally falls into four categories...
*Solid by Great War and Inter-War standards but out of date for WWII.
*Good, if made with some weird logic or specific bit of Min-Maxing in mind.
*Unusable/near unusable garbage due to cost cutting and bizarre moon logic.
*Really rough and dirty stuff cludged together as Japan got a major beat down.

== Small Arms ==
Japan's small arms were generally less advanced than that of other countries at the time; while most countries still relied on bolt-action rifles as their service weapon, many countries still produced decent quantities of SMGs as well as self-loading rifles in more limited numbers. Japan however focused primarily on bolt-action rifles, with fewer automatic weapons to back them up. Weapon quality also suffered later in the war as well.
=== Rifles and SMGs ===
[[Image:Arisaka.jpg|300px|thumb|Left|The Arisaka rifle, not to be confused with rifles made by [[Cyberpunk 2020|Arasaka]] ]]
* '''Type 30 Arisaka''': Japan's old rifle, designed by Arisaka Nariakira and put into service in 1899, it saw use in the Russo-Japanese War and the Great War. Fired a 6.5x50mm bullet. Generally a solid five-shot bolt action for it's day, if a bit underpowered.
**As a side note, the 6.5x50mm Arisaka bullet was better suited for a man-portable automatic weapon than the typical over-charged full rifle rounds of the late 19th/early 20th century, which were made with accuracy and stopping power in mind. The Russian Fedorov Avtomat used them.
* '''Type 38 Arisaka''': Update on the Type-30. Used primarily in WWI, and partially replaced by the Type 99 in WWII. Had utterly shit sights and a weird safety.
* '''Type 97 Arisaka''': Type 38 rifle adapted for sniper use, usually with a 2.5x power scope. 6.5x50mm produces very little flash and smoke when coming out of a long barrel, making Japanese snipers difficult to spot.
* '''Type 99 Arisaka''': Built to replace the Type 30 and Type 38 by firing a 7.7x58mm cartridge. Improvements to the sights also made it the preferred rifle for snipers. That said, the Japanese still had a lot of Type 38s and 6.5x50mm, so it never fully replaced the Type 38. The sniper variant of the Type 99 was one of the more sensible snipers of the war, as the scope was mounted offset so that strip mags could still be inserted, resulting in a faster overall rate of fire. Also had a terrible trigger and the same shit sights from the Type 38.
* '''Type 4 Rifle''': It became apparent to the Japanese that many countries were now adopting semi-auto rifles, including the German G43, the Russian SVT40, but especially the American M1 Garand. Since they didn't have the time or resources to develop a brand-new rifle during the war, they basically reverse-engineered the Garand and built it to use the same 7.7mm stripper clips as the Type 99. A few hundred were made but were never deployed before the war ended.
* '''Type 100 Nambu''': The only production SMG made by the Japanese, and made in more limited numbers compared to other militaries. The Nambu SMG fired the same 8x22mm cartridge as the standard Nambu pistol. It had sideloading magazine much like the earlier MP18 and contemporary Sten; while side-loading magazines had fallen out of favor by this time due to the unbalanced weight, it was a hell of lot better than the other experimental Nambu SMGs that had been made at the time.
* '''Nambu Experimental Model 2''': One of the experimental SMGs developed before the war; it was initially rejected, but the urgency for more SMGs pushed the design into production. However, because it was being produced in Manchuria, the Chinese Communists took the design and used it during the Chinese Civil War, these being converted to use .45 ACP Thompson magazines.
* '''Murata Rifle''': The OG of Japanese military rifles, first put into production back in 1880 and used during the Russo-Japanese war. Originally single shot, latter got a tube-mag upgrade. Only used on the home islands for the civilian reservists.
* '''Last Ditch Guns''': In the late war, Japanese manufacturing had been effectively crippled and resources were in short supply, so these so-called "Last Ditch Rifles" were made to arm what military forces remained, as well as civilians for the upcoming invasion of the Japanese home islands. These ranged from simplified versions of the Type 99 to very crude single-shot musket-things to give to civvies. Most of the stereotypical garbage that would explode at the slightest touch issues occurred here. While they didn't issue guns that would actually explode (that dishonor would go to the poor abused things Kijiro Nambu's pistols were reduced to by the late war) much more than normal, quality control rapidly went down the drain and reliability issues really did go up a lot. Most likely they jest wouldn't fire or get jammed far earlier than early war guns.

=== Pistols ===
* '''Type 26 Revolver''': A simple break-action hammerless revolver, chambered in 9mm Japanese revolver. Was invented back in 1893 but was still used in WWII to supplement weapon stockpiles.
* '''Nambu Type 14''': The standard sidearm of the IJA following WWI, replacing the Type 26. Chambered in 8x22mm, it wasn't as strong as contemporary pistols, but was solidly built, and later became the inspiration for the Ruger .22 pistol. General IJA policy at the time was that officers were allowed to buy sidearms with their own money. A common misconception is that the Type 14 was dangerous to shoot, which is only half true. It won't explode, but it will sometimes go off when clearing a jam(more on that below). Another is that the Nambu was a cheaper knockoff of the Luger, which is untrue. The Type 14 is a series of improvements of an earlier weapon commonly called "Grandpa Nambu", a firearm which appeared in production at roughly a similar time to the Luger. While not objectively terrible, it was nothing compared to the Italian Berreta or Browning's 1911. It frequently jammed as well due to the springs not being able to keep up with the bolt, and was compounded by the bullets being angled up. The magazine release is also difficult to clear without adjusting your grip. However to the weapon's credit it had a very light trigger pull and had a trigger guard designed to allow troops wearing gloves to use them without removing said gloves.
* '''Nambu Type 94''': A smaller, lighter-weight pistol compared to the Type 14. It was called the "Surrender Pistol" because it had an exposed sear, meaning that pressing down on the sear could fire the gun without pulling the trigger, so supposedly a Japanese soldier could fake surrendering so that they could shoot their captors up close. While this may have happened on occasion, stories of surrendering troops regularly firing using the sear are probably unsubstantiated, as it takes a considerable amount of force to squeeze the sear hard enough to fire the pistol. The Type 94 was used primarily by officers, army airmen, tankers, and paratroopers due to the lighter weight. Largely it was an army weapon, though there are reports of the Type 94 being used by Navy officers who purchased them with their own money. Even so, it was still a piece of shit. If the safety was not on, the exposed seer could lead to accidental discharge if it was bashed into something and occasionally they blew up in people's hands when fired.
* '''Hamada Type Pistol''': a Browning-style pistol that was developed after Japan could no longer import foreign pistols. While cheaper and more reliable than the Nambu pistol, it arrived late into the war. The Type 1 was chambered in .32 ACP, and the Type 2 was chambered in 8x22mm.
=== Machine Guns ===
[[Image:Japanese Type 11 LMG.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The lengths some people will go for cross-compatibility]]
* '''Type 11 Light Machine gun''': Put into service in 1922, this gun is ''weird''. It's like the gun equivalent of putting a USB port on an I-Phone so you can use the same flash drive in it and your laptop. Basic idea, make a machine gun that could use the 5 round stripper clips used by Arisaka Rifles. That means you don't have to make special magazines for it or ship them to the front, while regular infantry dudes can supply it with bullets in a pinch. So it has this weird hopper magazine that takes up to 6 clips. This also meant putting the stock off to the side. While it worked, it was heavy, awkward and not terribly reliable. The Soviets captured a few and actually made a few prototypes with a copied mechanism before realizing that it was more hassle than it was worth.
* '''Type 96 Light Machinegun''': to address the problems with the Type 11, the Japanese replaced it with a different model that used a top-loading magazine, based on the Czech ZB VZ 26 (which also inspired the Bren Gun).
* '''Type 97 Heavy Machine Gun''': Another machinegun based on the VZ 26, but more heavily built as it was intended for mounting on tanks. Rarely deployed as an infantry machinegun due to the extra weight, it featured an integrated scope and heavy barrel jacket to give it a distinctive appearance.
* '''Type 99 Light Machine Gun''': Visually similar to the Type 96 but chambered in the same 7.7x58mm ammo as the Type 99 Arisaka. Other than that, it and the Type 96 [[Imperial Guard|were one of the few LMGs with a bayonet mount.]]

=== Anti-Tank Infantry Weapons ===
* '''Type 4 70 mm AT rocket launcher''': Introduced in 1944 as an answer to the American Bazooka. Fairly basic but still a reusable item, a rocket was slotted into the front and set up by a simple percussion lock. A few thousand of these were made before the war ended and they saw only limited use. Never the less the PLA copied them for their first generation of RPGs.
* '''Lunge Mine''': Somehow the Japanese figured out a way to banzai charge tanks of all things. Little more than a shape charge attached to a pole, the idea was that a soldier would wait in ambush for an enemy tank to get close enough; the attacker would then charge at the tank’s side armor and strike it with the lunge mine to set it off; of course, at that range the explosion would more than likely kill or maim the user, if they weren’t already killed from trying to charge a friggin tank.
* '''Type 97 Automatic Cannon''': The Japanese version of the AT-rifle concept. Hilarious because they considered it a cannon and less of an AT-Rifle. [[Awesome|Shot 20mm ammo]]. So did the Finnish AT-rifles, but it is more hilarious because Japan also built Yamato(more on that below). What was unique is that they ended up getting used on some Japanese aircraft as a form of cannon. Overall not a terrible weapon, but quickly became outdated and was abandoned after 1200 total units due to the sheer complexity, but it certainly puts a massive dent in the "Japan just built shitty stuff" myth.

=== Misc ===
* '''Type 89 and Type 10 Grenade dischargers, aka "Knee Mortars"''': A nifty little Japanese design, these are basically miniature man-portable mortars. Lightweight (around 5 kg) and nominally requiring only a single soldier to use , they were capable of chucking a hand grenade up to 200 meters away, which came in pretty handy in the often close and cramped firefights in the jungle. As an amusing sidenote, the name 'Knee Mortar' comes from a mistranslation of a Japanese manual on how to use the thing: American soldiers first believed they were supposed to be braced against one's leg due to the curved butt-plate (which in reality is to make it easier to rest against tree roots or rough ground). While the error was quickly discovered (it was obvious from the recoil that bracing it on your leg would break your femur at best), the name stuck.
* '''Guntō''': Bargain Basement knock-off katanas. It was a regulation that all IJA officers were required to carry a sword and to that end a large number of these swords were made. Since Japan was raising a fuck-huge army under the militarists, they dispensed with the old arts of Sword Production and instead produced lots of blades quickly with modern milling/grinding/quenching techniques. For this reason, such 'modern' blades aren't considered traditional swords in Japan and they can be confiscated by the government for recycling. Real traditional katanas were a very rare sight on the battlefields of WWII, for even those officers that came from an old samurai family and possessed a genuine one often left the priceless family heirloom at home and carried a fancied-up Guntō (that would do the job in a pinch anyway) in battle. A lot of the surviving ones today are trophies collected by US Army soldiers and Marines ([[lulz|and often misidentified for genuine katanas by the uninformed]]).
* '''Bayonets''': The IJA stuck bayonets on ''everything''. Not just rifles, but also their LMGs and SMGs. Bayonet charge had fallen out of favor with everyone else, and bayonets were only a last ditch weapon for everyone else, but bayonet fighting was still a mainstay of the IJA and had some success on the Chinese front. Against the Americans, however, who possessed significantly more automatic weapons and Garands, it had been rendered a useless tactic. They did gain some amount of utility when used in conjunction with night attacks, but as the war went on the number of seasoned troops who could pull this off had been drowned, killed in dumbass final charges to redeem their honor, or killed in any other ways the Pacific and Asia had to offer, including but not limited to Malaria, Malnutrition, Naval bombardment, Aerial Bombardment, Flamethrowers, Flamethrowers in Tanks, Indian Crocodiles, Angry Gurkhas and even Angrier Aussies.

== Artillery and AT guns ==

== Vehicles ==

=== Tanks ===
The Tank Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Army was not that great. Our dear friends had experimented with the tank concept pretty early on; they were the first nation to make a tank with a diesel engine, but much like the rest of the world took the wrong lessons from Spain. They also failed to integrate the weapons into divisions properly. The skirmishes with the Soviet Union and visits to Germany in the late 30s pretty much proved that the concept worked different than they thought, and they tried to catch up. However, tanks take a lot of money, labour and equipment to produce and a lot of fuel to operate, and the thing you need to know about the Empire of Japan is that above all else, the army and the navy literally without question hated each other. So every time the Army wanted to start production of tanks they had to compete for steel, manpower, labour, and everything else. Given that in China 1930s era tanks were still quite effective and if war happened with the United States the fleet and air forces obviously took priority, the navy generally won these fights. So most of the "good" tanks ended up in the homeland because of the logistics strain, and the far cheaper Type 95 Ha-go/Kyugo were far more common by virtue of being lighter and thus less of a bother to send to shitty undeveloped island #273.

Imperial Japanese Tanks were given a designation based on the Imperial Japanese Calendar, which starts counting at 660 BCE.

*'''Type 95 Ha-go/Kyugo''': Named Ha-go after the manufacturer but called the Kyugo by troops, either name is correct, but Ha-go is more familiar to western audiences. Since Japan like most powers considered the idea of the Infantry and Cruiser tank concepts, the 95 was considered as an alternative to the land battleship concept. The 95 could keep up speed and were vastly faster, making them better than contemporary infantry tanks. They ever were cheaper to make, and were cushioned against heat and bumps...[[Grimdark|by asbestos.]] In Burma, one was captured and is still at Bovington, and a contemporary report indicated that there were design elements that were quite good, especially the bogie wheel suspension. However, the 37mm cannon became rapidly outdated, and the machine guns were only ok, being fed by hoppers and not belts, and the commander was cramped and somewhat overwhelmed. Perhaps worst of all was that crews were strongly frowned upon for adding on armor or boxes for ammo, though logs to allow troops to sit on the back were considered acceptable. The turret could also could be [[FAIL|jammed with a knife]], and there are allegations that American .30-06 ammo was able to penetrate the side armor, though these reports are not fully substantiated.
* '''Type 97 Chi-Ha''': The main medium tank of the IJA during WWII. It weighed 14.3 tonnes, a 127kW engine, armor 8-26mm thick and was armed with a 57 mm main gun and a couple of machine guns. When it was introduced in 1936 the Chi-Ha was pretty good and it was often effective in China. When the US came around, not so much.
** '''Type 97 ShinHōtō Chi-Ha''': A Chi-Ha with more armor and a higher velocity 47mm gun better for anti-tank work introduced in 1942.
* '''Type 1 Chi-He''': Another upgrade on the Chi-Ha with some more armor and a better engine. About 170 were made and they stayed on the Home Islands.
* '''Type 3 Chi-Nu''': Another upgrade on the Chi-Ha, with up to 50mm of armor and a 75mm anti-tank gun. It was designed to take out Shermans in 1943 and put into production in 1944 when Japan was getting a serious ass whoopin by US Bombers. The most advance Japanese Tank to see even limited mass production. Stayed in the Home Islands.
* '''Type 4 Chi-To''': Not an update on the Chi-Ha, but an entirely new vehicle from the ground up. A couple of Prototype vehicles which were broadly speaking in the T-34/Sherman's ballpark. The Cheeto's legacy is mostly preserved by World of Tanks and Alternate History nerds.
* '''Type 5 Chi-Ri''': A single prototype that, had it been completed would have been more heavily armored than a Sherman with a new powerful 75mm gun, plus a 37mm secondary cannon. If the [[M6 Heavy Tank|M6's]] trials are any indication the 37mm would've been superfluous, though it isn't like Japan had access to Aberdeen proving grounds or anything so how would they have known?

=== Halftracks and armored cars ===

== Ships ==
Of all the Axis powers, the Empire of Japan had the strongest navy. Germany had to rebuild its fleet effectively from scratch and Italy... [[Fascist Italian Equipment|was Italy]]. Japan, on the other hand, was THE major ally of Great Britain in East Asia after World War 1 and was "permitted" to expand its fleet up to two-thirds the tonnage of Great Britain and the United States through the 1920s and '30s. As might be expected, the Japanese resented the tonnage restrictions and basically tried to circumvent or design their way around them until they eventually repudiated the naval treaties entirely. What they never really understood was that the naval treaties tied one hand behind the backs of their naval rivals, as both Great Britain and obviously the United States were able to outproduce Japan's shipbuilding industry pretty handily in World War II. The Japanese Navy was extremely effective through 1943, and it was really only after devastating losses at the Battle of Midway, where 2/3rds of their primary carrier fleet were sunk (which they didn't tell the army about for a while), that they began their decline. <s>[[Weeaboo|Good luck trying to look up a Japanese ship name without being bombarded by pictures of anime girls though.]]</s>

=== Aircraft Carriers ===
Japan entered World War II with the most experienced sea aviation force in the world, with a total of 8 carriers constructed before 1940. They soon learned the lessons America and Britain eventually did, that larger carriers are better and that superimposed decks (multiple flight decks stacked like cake tiers) are a bad idea. However, they failed to anticipate the scale of their losses and were unable to complete replacement carrier construction for much of the war. One achievement that highlights this failure was the construction of the carrier ''Shinano,'' a converted ''Yamato''-class battleship and thus the largest aircraft carrier built during the war. Because she was a conversion of a half-finished battleship hull that had been hastily chosen after the disaster of Midway, the IJN couldn't actually convert her to a full fleet carrier and settled for making one of their most expensive assets (in terms of time, money, and resources invested) into a support carrier that would focus on repairing and resupplying the air arms of full fleet carriers that, by the time she was launched in 1944, had all been annihilated. She was sunk less than two months after being launched by an American submarine, and had only ever carried 50 '''Ohka''' flying bombs.

* '''''Akagi''''': An ''Amagi''-class battlecruiser hull converted to an aircraft carrier after Japan entered into the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty. Akagi was completed with '''three''' flight decks, from which planes could theoretically be launched simultaneously. In practice, the bottom and top decks worked well while the middle flight deck was less than 1/10th the length of the top flight deck and was flanked by two twin 8" gun turrets that prevented the deck's use in battle. The lowest flight deck was also small, being only 1/3rd the length of the uppermost flight deck; both the middle and lower decks, as a result, could only be used for small, light, and increasingly obsolete aircraft. The remaining armament consisted of six casemate 8" guns, as well as six 4.7" guns for anti-ship and anti-aircraft duty. Much like the USS ''Langley'', this early and pioneering design lacked an island for command and control arrangements. Eventually the ship was completely refit to the iconic aircraft carrier design recognized today: all major gun turrets were removed, the top flight deck was extended, and the lower decks were eliminated in favor of increased hanger space for more aircraft. An island bridge allowed for better aircraft coordination and fire control, especially for the new 25mm autocannons that were fitted to the ship. These improvements did have a negative effect on her speed, though she could now theoretically launch 80 aircraft, most of which would be A6M Zeroes.
**''Akagi'' carried a weakness common to most early aircraft carriers: Usually made from converted warships built for entirely different purposes, they possessed the armor specifications of a battleship against direct and indirect gunfire, but none against air attack. Their decks were especially vulnerable to enemy aerial attacks, with the American ''Lexington''-class carriers also sharing this characteristic. ''Akagi'' was sunk by aerial divebombs during the Battle of Midway in 1942, partly because tired ordnance crews left explosives strewn throughout the open hangar and most of her planes were being pumped full of aviation fuel in preparation for a strike against the American carriers.
* '''Sōryū''':
* '''Kaga''': Kaga was planned to be the second of the Tosa-class battleships, but after the Washington Naval Treaty she was intended to be scrapped before being completed. Akagi's sister Amagi was wrecked while under construction in the Great Kanto Eartquake, so Kaga was converted instead.
* '''Shokaku and Zuikaku'''
* '''Hiyō and Jun'yō'''
* '''Taihō''': An object lesson in damage control.
* '''Unryū, Amagi and Katsuragi (+ whole host of cancelled ships in this class)''':
* '''Shinano''':

=== Battleships ===
Japanese Battleships are an interesting lot. Unlike [[Nazi|the funny spider people]] or [[Fascist Italy|the Pizzas,]] the IJN actually had a decent number of Battleships that got to participate in the war. They were also rather impressive on a technological level, being well armed and well built. This is all moot though, because by the time of their arrival, it was the twilight of the Battleship era and the beginning of the Carrier era.

* '''Yamato class''': The single largest series of battleships ever built at 263 meters, and the wet dream of any naval enthusiast, weeaboo, and big gun fan everywhere. But before we get excited, we need to make it clear that no, the Yamato was objectively the wrong ship in the wrong war. The age of the battleship, with rare exception for shore bombardment, was pretty much over. Worse of all Japan was somewhat aware of this, with foremost officers like Yamamoto outright saying Naval airpower is the future, and was proven largely correct as the only engagement Yamato or Musashi (Shinano was another ship of the line that was converted partway through construction, see her section in the carriers) ever participated in where they actually got to fire their weapons at anyone turned out to be Leyte gulf in 1944, and both were sunk by angry American dive and torpedo bombers by 1945.
** With that boring disclaimer out of the way, let's get to the meat and potatoes. The thing had nine 480mm cannons and was housed in a turret that [[Awesome|weighed as much as a small destroyer.]] On top of that, each turret could fire AA shells that would explode after a time fuse delay, and the few test photographs we have show they were a sight to behold, though US pilots reported not being too afraid of them, and they tended to damage the barrels. The class had an incredible number of medium and light weapons that could be brought to bear against lighter targets and fighters as well, with as many as 100 of these lighter weapons, though the 25mm autocannons were reportedly some of the worst in the war. There were some additional 13mm machine guns thrown on the bridge for good measure, but this was more like a desperate afterthought than a concerted effort to add additional AA protection. Still, a Yamato could still cause a small Titan or knight to sweat a little, because those main armaments are utterly insane.
** Yamato had a ludicrous 410-650mm armor in some places, making her an armored behemoth. However, it is important to remember that [[Katanas are Underpowered in d20|Japanese steel historically sucks.]] The torpedo defense system was hoped to protect the ships, but was often troublesome and thus never really as effective as hoped. A prime example of this is when an American submarine hit Yamato and forced her to return to port for repairs, and the outright sinking of the Shinano by the USS Archerfish, a Yamato modified to be a "carrier support vessel". Don't forget that US Torpedoes were '''''shit'''''. It was more often a surprise when the Mark 48 actually did damage instead of just harmlessly bouncing off the hull of the ship.

*'''Kii Class''': Four fast battleships planned for the eight-eight battlefleet program intended to succeed the Tosa class, cancelled after the Washington Naval Treaty, along with planned successor Number 13 class.

*'''Tosa Class''': Essentially a better post World War 1 version of the Nagato with an extra turret, cancelled with the Washington Naval Treaty. Tosa's hull was used to test armor against ordnance and was scuttled, while Kaga was converted into an aircraft carrier after battlecruiser Amagi's hull that was planned to be converted originally was wrecked in the Great Kanto earthquake.

* '''Nagato class''': The Nagatos were two dreadnought class vessels that served as the heaviest warships in the IJN until the arrival of the Yamatos. They came as a result of the Russo-Japanese War, and were part of a massive armament effort in light of the development of the HMS Dreadnought. The class was armed with four twin 41cm turrets and twenty casemate 5" cannons for dealing with lighter vessels and four 3" guns. They copied American belt armor designs that allowed for additional speed that made them fast for the time. Modernization added new mgs and 25mm cannons, as well as bulges for anti-torpedo duties and equipment replacement. However the class saw relatively little service throughout the war.
** Nagato's sister ship Mutsu saw little service and coincidentally blew up and sank in harbor. The Government covered up the details so little is known to this day, but the best guess we have is that a fire got out of control and the ammo rolled a one on it's existence save. As a side-note, Mutsu was slated to be scrapped per the Washington Treaty, but internal political considerations (made a show of it being partially funded by schoolchildren' donations) made that unacceptable for Japan, so they conceded for US and UK to get extra battleships of their own to keep the ratio on.
** Nagato herself saw very little service as well, despite being the flagship of the Pearl Harbor attacks. She fought the Americans in a few battles, but was bombed and forced to return to Japan. She then stayed in harbor as a AA gun as there wasn't enough material to get her into fighting condition again. After the war the Americans captured her and tested nukes on her, before ultimately letting her capsize. If nothing else, Nagato gets credit where it is due: The thing lasted longer than the Yamato and actually survived to be captured by the Americans, rather than being sunk by a squillion [[Angry Marines|angry pilots]] still pissed off about the boats that they blew up. . .And America then promptly blew it up twice with Atomic Bombs in the Operation Crossroad tests. Amusingly its radiation has faded enough to seemingly become a popular diving site.

* '''Kongo class''': The Kongo class is well known among naval combat nerds for being the ones that actually showed up and did the fighting, unlike the Yamatos. Construction of the IJN Kongo took place in Britain, but the remainder of these ships were built in Japan. Initially the primary armament was was eight 14" guns mounted in twin turrets, sixteen casemate 6" guns, as well as a token armament of four 3" guns. In addition the ship had eight torpedo tubes (four per side). The side armor was comparatively thin to the bridge, which had a whopping 355mm of armor compared to the rest of the ship having 203mm maximum belt armor. The Kongo class served quietly in WWI and were forced into training roles to conform with the Washington Naval treaty. A series of innovations during the interwar period included aircraft launchers, additional armor, a new propulsion system, and improvements and upgrades to the main and secondary armaments. This also included the installation of modern hardware like radio systems, searchlights, and fire control systems.
** The Kongos served well and escorted convoys and aircraft carriers during the early conflict. A recurring problem for the class was once an enemy got close, all that armor didn't seem to do any good when the Americans started firing point blank into them. Half the class was sunk in engagements with other enemy ships at Guadalcanal, performing well during combat. Kongo would survive Leyte gulf until being unceremoniously demolished by American submarine USS Sealion. The last vessel of the class to fall, the Shinano, was sunk in 1945 by carrier aircraft while in harbor in Kure. Ironic that holdovers from WWI served with more distinction and service than the supposed mightiest battleships ever built.
** There is some debate as to if the Kongos were "fast battleships" or "battlecruisers". While there is evidence to suggest the latter, they were classified as such in the IJN so that is why they are here. But for all intents and purposes they were closer to battlecruisers than true battleships.

=== Cruisers ===
The cruisers of the IJN were heavily influenced by the Battle of Port Arthur, with a preference for torpedo armed cruisers. Even within the IJN this policy was not without its detractors due to the risks of torpedo tactics. In practice, these torpedoes rarely contributed and were a frequent liability, with several cruisers being taken out of action due to their torpedoes being hit. Otherwise, Japan's cruiser force was generally well built but lacked modern fire control.

*'''Amagi Class''': A battlecruiser class designed to capitalize on the new naval wartime technologies that emerged with the introduction of Dreadnought class warships and other post-WWI innovations. The intended armament was to be 5 twin 400mm cannons as the primary armaments, 16 5.5" casemate cannons, six 4.6" flak cannons, and 8 24" torpedo tubes. The armor was reduced to increase speed, and the overall purpose was to use them as cost effective battleships in support of [[Stellaris|Destroyer swarms]]. We will never really know how they performed, though two of the class were slated to be converted into Aircraft carriers, though only one would ever be completed as an aircraft carrier, the above mentioned Akagi, the Amagi's hull was severely damaged in the Great Kanto Earthquake and it had to be scrapped before completion.

=== Destroyers ===

Japanese destroyer construction after the Washington Naval Treaty emphasized fleet destroyers as a way to bulk out their navy while appearing to conform to the treaty. A series of classes were developed in the 20's and 30's but all were produced in small batches of no more than a couple dozen each. The IJN never settled on a common design for mass production like the USN did with the Fletcher. Throughout the 30's they had the A design, which was for general fleet support, the B design which was for carrier escort and AA, and the C class which would support battlefleets with torpedoes and cannons.

* '''Fubuki''': A class of Destroyers were developed as a direct response to the Washington Naval treaty. They earned the Fubuki nickname long after they had been built. In short, they were designed to bring heavy dakka to the furthest possible distance as quickly as possible, with the heaviest armor they could get away with. They carried a whopping nine 24" torpedoes as well as some 5" cannons and some mgs, with the 5" cannons acting as AA guns as well as anti-ship weapons. 24 were built throughout the class, with only two surviving the war.
** The Type II subclass were generally considered decent for their armament, but the Type III subclass had better power efficiency. The first ten ships were the Type I class and were particularly bad, though later ships improved on these flaws. Overall the Type III was preferred and many of the improvements found on them were given to the Type II class of ships.
** The Fubukis suffered from being too light in weight and AA armament: the entire class had to have rebuilds to make them better at sea performance, and later in the war those lack of AA weapons bit them in the ass hard: it became so desperate that the rear primary turret was replaced with 25mm aa guns. However, they still served well in spite of these flaws, and was the class of ship responsible for stranding JFK at sea.
* '''Shimakaze''': A planned class of destroyers that roughly fills the "C-class" of destroyers starting and ending with the namesake Shimakaze. The Shimakaze needed to be as fast as greased lightning and were armed with three 5" dual purpose cannons and three quintuple torpedo launchers using the infamous Type 93 long range torpedoes. Anti-aircraft guns...well, they were there, just not in quantity. The class was considered too expensive for general production, and Shimakaze herself saw very limited service in the war until being sunk while escorting some troop transports.

== Airplanes ==
Contrary to American propaganda, poorly made history documentaries, or just outright misunderstanding Japanese air doctrine, Japanese aviation was pretty much some of the finest on earth at the time. See, when your empire is built upon island chains, naval and air supremacy kinda become very important. As a result Japanese aircraft, while very poorly armoured (especially by American standards) and not quite as heavily armed compared to the allies, were nevertheless actually very well built, just in a very different way. In gamer's terms (since we are on /tg/), the Japanese airplanes were heavily [[min-max]]xed for their intended role, relying on superior training and coordination between different types to get maximal efficiency out of the whole lot. This went swimmingly for them early in the war...but ended up in catastrophe after both attrition and lack of resources took their toll on both the quality of aircrew and machines alike.

Another quirk of Japanese military aviation had to do with internal bickering between the Navy and Army. The United States had a similar problem, but lessened the problem by delegating some roles to Navy, some to Army, with the rest of these problems being solved by not being a military dictatorship. In short, there was no Imperial Japanese Air Force, both the Navy and the Army kept their own air-wings and mostly they each had their own models of planes.

Also quick note about the "Kamikaze" or 'special attack force' strikes. The reason those strikes were even considered is that by the time, 1944. . . [[Grim and dark|attacking a US naval task by air was already suicide.]] The sheer amount of Dakka that a US task group could out put over a thousand pounds of bullets into the air, per minute, and that doesn't even consider the introduction of proximate fuses. So may as well go for a one way trip as it slightly increases your odds of ''something'' getting through.
===Fighters===
* '''Mitsubishi A5M "Claude"''': The less iconic, but still just as important naval aviation fighter designed by the same man who would develop the Zero: Jiro Horikoshi. Claudes were exclusively Navy aircraft that far excelled navy expectations, and helped end biplanes in IJN aviation service on Aircraft carriers. Early armament was two humble mgs, but variants after the A5M1a incorporated two 20mm Oerlikon cannons. Claudes were largely replaced by the Zero by the time the war broke out, but some were used in Kamikaze attacks in the latter part of the war. The design was so good that the IJA took a break from the dick slapping contest they had with the Navy to consider it, though they felt the maneuverability was lacking. Japanese aviators disliked closed cockpit designs on the A5M because they hindered visibility, so for the most part the aircraft were open topped, with all the positives and negatives that implied.
* '''Mitsubishi A6M "Zero"''': The Zero was the iconic aircraft of the war for Japan and served in every theatre, though it was first and foremost a Navy Fighter. It was designed so that a well trained pilot could fully utilize the aircraft and outmatch most anything in the world at the time. It was even good enough that the basic airframe (made from high-end alumuminum alloys and with revolutionary structures such as smoothed rivets) could be recycled for carrier use with minor modifications. This did have the downside of sometimes removing radios for increased range or due to them just not working, and by late war America and Britain started topping them with better armored and easier to fly designs. However, bear in mind that the Zero could achieve ranges of 1,870 km and was still able to accept upgrades until the end of the war, a feat not shared by every fighter.
* '''Kawasaki Ki-61 "Tony"''':
* '''Nakajima Ki-84 "Frank"''': An Army Fighter put into service in 1944 and competitive with any other piston plane of the late war. A good design which suffered as Japanese Industry was hit hard by bombing and increasingly tight materials shortages.
* '''Kyushu J7W Shinden''': A high speed (750kph) short range prototype interceptor made in the last days of the war. Notably it had a pusher prop in the back and four 30mm cannons in the nose. Designed for the express purpose of ruining the day of those pesky American B-29's bombing the everloving shit out of Japan, but never saw more than a couple of test flights.
* '''Nakajima Kikka''': A prototype Jet Fighter built by the IJN, similar in general shape to the ME 262 (albeit slimmer and lankier) with ten of them being built. It first flew on August 7th 1945, eight days before Emperor Hirohito surrendered. Here more as credit to Japanese Engineers than anything.

===Bombers===
*'''Nakajima B5N "Kate"''': A torpedo and tactical bomber used by the navy and army starting in 1937. The B5N was one of the more advanced designs in the world at the time and was responsible for the sinking of Lexington and Hornet, and contributed to the sinking of the Yorktown. Possessing an impressive range of 1992 kilometers, a decent top speed of over 300kph and carrying an advanced long range torpedo they were able to launch from a further distance than equivalent weapons from other nations (or alternatively three 250kg bombs); they were a force to be reckoned with early into the war. But by 1943 fighter superiority was being steadily eroded from Japan, so the lack of defensive armament and armor started to bite the Japanese hard in the butt and even an improved version called the B6N "Jill" made to keep the design relevant couldn't invert the tendency.
*'''Mitsubishi G4M "Betty"''': A Bomber commissioned by the navy that could launch torpedoes as well, filling a similar role to the American B-25. Absolutely absurd, these vehicles had 3700km range at the expense of armament, bomb bay doors, and self-sealing fuel tanks in order to maximize range. The theory was that the Zeros would cover them so that being shot down wouldn't be a problem, but the harsh reality is that if anything with more than four light mgs (or anything heavier like Ma Deuces or 20mm cannons) shot at it, they tended to explode into flame, much earning them the nickname "the Honorable One-Shot Lighter" among allied pilots. Later variants added improved protection and armament at the expense of range, something Japan was not worried about in the latter part of the war. There was even a limited production run that was used to ferry Ohka flying bombs to launch positions, but these sucked ass. Yamamoto infamously was shot down in one of these by USAAF [[P38 Lightning|P-38 fighters]], and you can still visit the wreckage in the jungle to this very day.

== Misc ==

== Wunderwaffen ==
Much like the Germans, the Japanese were trying to get their own nuclear weapons program going, though they didn’t make very much progress with it. In fact, when the Americans dropped their own atom bombs, the Japanese initially refused to believe they were real due to the sheer amount of resources needed to refine Uranium. The Japanese also had domestic copies of the Me-163 and Me-262 fighters as well, but lacked the means to put them into production to be able to affect the outcome of the war.

All that said, they also had some unique domestic programs:

* '''MXY-7 Ohka''': the infamous kamikaze airplane, as in being purposely built for the task. An Okha was basically an anti-ship missile... [[Grot Bommer|except is was piloted by a live human being instead of automated systems]]. A wooden airframe encompassing a rocket engine, a basic cockpit an a 1.200kg bomb, it could (and did) ruin the day of any ship it hit. It was mostly used during the battle for Okinawa (with some success), but they were extremely short-ranged (37km) and had to be dropped by Betty bombers... who were more often than not intercepted before they could launch the suicide plane. In typical Japanese [[irony]], 'Ohka' means 'cherry blossom petal', petal that can only fall down once it becomes separated from its tree... Yeah... Pretty poetic, if you can somehow accept the fact [[grimdark|''' there's a goddamn human being committing suicide to crash a 1,200kg bomb on target.''']]
* '''I-400 series''': a series of submarines that were designed as goddamn aircraft carriers. Each one could only carry about three floatplanes. Were deployed on missions but never actually got any use. Were captured and tested on by the US post war. Sunk in the 50s by the USN to prevent the Soviets possibly getting any ideas from the class.
* '''Fu-Go Balloon Bombs''': Very basic in concept, these were weather balloons carrying shrapnel and firebombs that would be released after a fixed period by a very rudimentary timer. Launched in Japan, they’d travel the jet stream to America and hopefully cause enough damage and mayhem to disrupt American offensive operations in the Pacific. Completely incapable of any targeting, a few civilians were killed and American authorities clamped down on reports to prevent panic amongst the populace. Ultimately, these were the first truly intercontinental weapons ever made, but with only 300 of 9,000 total balloons being confirmed to have survived the flight to the USA they were a total waste of limited time and resources, even considering how dirt-cheap and simple to produce they were. The balloon bombs did succeed in forcing the Americans to divert a tiny amount of effort to trying to track them and combat potential forest fires.
* '''Atomic Bomb Projects''': There were several projects for uranium enrichment. The Japanese had some good nuclear scientists, but ultimately the familiar limitations of limited industry and resources kept them from success. The Nagasaki group dropped a letter from Luis Alvarez to Ryokichi Sagane in the hope he could explain to the government what they were now facing, although the army didn't give it to him until after the war had ended.

* '''O-I Super Heavy Tank''': Much like its ally Nazi Germany, the Imperial Japanese Army did have plans and may have made a prototype for a Super Heavy Tank, the concept of which came to light after the defeat of the IJA at Khalkhin Gol. It was commissioned by Hideo Iwakuro and development was started by the Army Engineering Division and later resumed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It was to be multi-turret design like those experimented with in the inter-war years. The main armament was to be a type 92 105mm gun, with a type 1 47mm and three 7.7mm type 97 machine guns serving as a secondary in at least four other turrets. Armor was to be up to 200mm and was to be powered by the same engines used in the Type 5 Chi-Ri medium tank. The reason this is considered a wunderwaffen is due to the rather lack of a complete history and outlandishness of the design. Documentation does exists of how it was to be designed. A tank track is on display at the JGSDF fiji school. A prototype was rumored to be made but like with some treasure trains of Nazi Germany it may have been lost and scrapped to history. In the end it remains an obscure tank, with the documentation and history lost in the post-war.

== Other ==
*'''NIGHT VISION''': One of the more outstanding technological advancements that Japanese boasted was their rather impressive use of powerful binoculars, specifically on their naval vessels. In the interwar period, Japan had developed a superb optics industry, ranging from cutting edge photographic lenses to powerful long range sights. Most famous of these was the Nikko Nikon 120mm "Big Eye" binoculars. A tripod mounted system with enormous lenses designed to capture as much light as possible, it had the capability to see distant objects upwards of 20 miles away in low light conditions. The Japanese Navy used this capability to devastating effect in 1942 at the 1st Battle of Tsavo Sound, moving a cruiser squadron in radio silence and under cover of darkness, they snuck past the cordon of Allied ships guarding the perimeter of the Guadalcanal landing force, and ambushed the main body of American and British escorts, forcing them to flee and leave the Marines on Guadalcanal without most of their supplies for three months. However, due to the Japanese being overly cautious of a carrier counterattack the following day, they failed to press their advantage and withdrew, leaving the US fleet and Marines the fighting chance they needed to eventually recover.

* '''RADAR''': Yes, they had RADAR and this came a surprise to the allies in 1942 when they captured some Japanese RADAR sets. Not the best RADAR systems that were a few years behind what the Brits and Yanks were doing, but nevertheless functional. The problem was they didn't use them for fire control. Of Yamato's three sets, none of them was arranged for fire direction.
[[Category:History]]

Volkite Weaponry

2023-05-24T09:06:47Z

2601:1C0:5001:5320:3181:91FC:B207:B580: /* Volkite Charger */

{{Topquote|{{BLAM|CHOOM}}|Volkite Guns
}}[[File:Mars_991-thumb-550x382.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Volkite Weaponry in a nutshell. Knowledgeable readers will notice that this weapon class has a lot in common with the "Heat-Rays" used by the Martian invaders from H.G. Wells' story ''The War of the Worlds''.]]
'''Volkite weapons''' are Martian death-rays. In [[Warhammer 40,000]], Volkite weapons are ancient and advanced weapons based on the principle of imparting so much heat to the enemy that he literally bursts into flames ''inside'' his armour. These flaming victims then cause ''more'' damage to their own squad, as they run around screaming while emitting the temperature of a rather large and unwieldy furnace. Their main drawbacks are that they are fairly short-ranged (although not to the same extent as [[Melta]] weapons), and are somewhat less effective at piercing armor than [[Bolter]]s.

They are quite literally Martian ray-guns, as only the [[techpriest]]s of [[Mars]] could make them. When the [[Great Crusade]] was just starting out, there were enough to equip ''every single'' [[Space Marines|Space Marine]] [[First Founding|Legionnaire]] with them, on top of the Solar Auxilia, the Mechanicus armies, and several large tanks. Sadly, as the Crusade got underway and the [[Primarch]]s were found (thus, greatly increasing the numbers of Legionnaires), demand far outstripped supply and Volkite guns were relegated to "special weapon" status. Which, makes little sense because there should have been hundreds of millions of them at this point given how they were standard fare for practically the entire Crusade. Then, with the [[Horus Heresy]], the defection of large parts of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus|Mechanicum]], and 10,000 years of a technological roller coaster ride, the know-how to repair them was lost and Volkite weapons gradually disappeared from the galaxy. Hopes were rekindled among fans for their returned when [[Games Workshop]] brought [[Grav-Weaponry|grav-guns]] back into style with the new ''Codex: Space Marines'' and further reinforced when the new Cult Mechanicus codex revealed the Martians had access to a brand new Volkite called a Blaster which is about the same as a Culverin.

And apparently their return has been outright confirmed with the arrival of the new Primaris Lieutenant and their Neo-Volkite pistols, thank you Archmagos Cawl! Still not a lot of them, but it's better than nothing.

The most similar weapon in popular fiction to Volkite Weapons is surprisingly [[Star Trek|Phasers]] [[What|from Star Trek]]. If they were turned up to the highest setting (vaporizes fleshies) and had a rate of fire comparable to a Micro Uzi or ShKAS machine guns ([[dakka|over 1000 rounds per minute]]). Though we don't have technobabble describing how Volkite weapons work, yet.

A note on the above, Volkite weapons were excellent assault weaponry, especially when facing massed infantry, and had more potential against light vehicles than a Bolter did, but that was pretty much their niche. Bolt weapons, which were much easier to manufacture, had a slightly longer range and marginally better armor-piercing ability, and could use numerous specialty rounds, were a better tactical weapon that could adapt to numerous situations, as well as easier to field in the numbers demanded by Legions. The main drawback in the field was that Bolters were most often fitted with standard rounds, while specialty munitions were still rare enough to only be issued to specialist squads alongside their regular bolts.

Of course, given the manner in which Volkite weapons deal damage and the effectively unimportant small difference between its armor-piercing to that of boltguns, Volkite weapons would leave a heavily armored opponent vulnerable to more to follow up shots due to severely weakening the target's armor. Bolters have to blow their way through with repeated shots if they fail to outright penetrate. Ultimately, Volkite weaponry is superior to bolters. Cover is useless or even a disadvantage against it, groups of enemies are excellent targets for its wielder, light armored vehicles are sufficiently vulnerable to its death ray, and heavy vehicles and powered armor would take significantly fewer shots to get through than a bolt weapon would. It is, therefore, a highly effective all-purpose weapon for anti-infantry, anti-light and heavy armor, and anti-powered infantry. Its only blind spot is that it is ineffective against aircraft that do not come low enough to be in range of it. Ironically, this means that the Astartes had the opposite trajectory as the [[Imperial Guard|Wall of Guns]], switching from a complex but highly-effective energy weapon to a simpler, less-resource-intensive ballistic weapon.

Each weapon is named after really old real-life [[Firearm|firearms]] and cannons, except the chierovile which is made-up gibberish, and the blaster which is... just a normal word? Obviously they are just picking out random words that sound "cool" when it comes to naming these things. Not only are all the weapons named after other weapons (may actually be a riff on the Mechanicum's ignorance) but the name "Volkite" is also [[Leagues of Votann|gibberish, meaning "People-Stone" or "People-Mineral, People-People," etc.]] Volkite Weaponry was also favored by the [[Night Lords]] due to its ''results''.
Possibly named after Magnus Volk (b. 1851, d. 1937), electrical engineer from Brighton, UK and builder of the world's oldest still working electric railway, suggesting the weapon uses electricity. The suffix -ite would here denote a follower or doctrine (similar to -ist), so the name would mean "following Volk's method". Further reinforcing this is the Ryza Relic "Weapon XCIX". Described as an "Up-Volted Volkite Blaster". This means Volkites are potentially...Microwave guns?

Their signature ability, deflagrate, means "a subsonic combustion caused by rapid heat transfer" which is a fancy way of saying "shit's on fire, yo." That is, it's literally the science word for normal fire.

==Imperial Volkite Weapons==
[[Image:Tallarn-art.jpg|300px|thumb|left|{{#if:{{{1|}}}|{{{1}}}| IMMA FIRIN MAH LAZER'''<nowiki>*CHOOM*</nowiki>'''}} {{Template:BLAM|Heresy!}} A Iron Warriors Legionairre fires a Volkite Charger at a distant tank (even though that's dumb) during the Battle of Tallarn during the Horus Heresy.]]

On the table, A Volkite weapon has good strength and decent AP, but its real power is the ''Deflagrate'' ability; any unsaved wounds suffered from a Volkite weapon each inflict another hit on the same unit at the weapon's profile (minus the Deflagrate effect; the wounds do not chain infinitely). Pretty nice.

There's one thing to acknowledge however, and is obvious from the profiles below: GW has no particularly good idea how differentiate different types of Volkite weapons (i.e. like how bolters largely come in major broad-but-standardized flavors of: [heavy/bolt] pistol, bolter/bolt rifle, and heavy bolter), and has resorted to slowly bloating the family with arbitrary names that don't necessarily imply where they actually belong in the Imperial manual of arms unless you look up their stats and what they're attached to.

===Volkite Serpenta===
[[File:Volkite_Right_medium.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Volkite Serpenta]]

The machine pistol of the family, highly effective and powerful sidearm but with obviously low range and high rate of fire.
The [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] still have a few of these on hand, but like most of the good stuff, instead of taking it apart and reverse engineering it, they instead keep most of them locked in stasis vaults and ogle them.

According to the announcement of the Moritat model the plural term is ”Volkites Serpenta.” Also, the Moritat model holds them like guns akimbo whilst doing a cool pose, and they [[Awesome|deliciously awesome like that.]] According to the Angel's Tears, it's Volkite Serpentas. [[Fail|So...]]. And regardless of the plural, GW fucked up as usual, given the actual cannon it's named after is a ''Serpent'''ine'''''. Also a great weapon on Destroyers(as they can equip two to give them four shots) supported by Rad Missiles & as secondary weapon for Biker units, Jetbikes included. Firing Protocols(X) allows bike units to fire two weapons during the shooting phase. So you can spam Volkite while you Volkite.

With the descriptions present, you would wish it would have resembled those [[Awesome|awesome]] 50's-era Ray Guns like those of [[Fallout]], but GeeDubs being the anathema of [[Awesome|awesome]] decided to make them look as meh as possible.

This as you can imagine, is a bit of shame. But nevertheless, at the very least the Volkite Serpenta is a powerful little hand cannon that will fry your power armored [[Mary Sue|Mary Sues]] alive.

===Neo-Volkite Pistol===
[[File:Neo-Volkite_Pistol.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Neo-Volkite Pistol]]
Apparently Archmagos Cawl finally figured out how to make new Volkite weapons, because these shiny new pistols are being given out to the newest batch of Primaris Lieutenants. As per the release for the multipart Bladeguard kit standard Bladegaurd Sergeants can take them now too, but not Captains or Ancients.

What is so different from the old one, we have no idea, but it could be as minor as the difference between each iPhone iteration (such as the miniaturization of the powerpack, so no more lugging around a giant energy cell connected by flimsy cables, ''yaaaaaaaaaaay''!). So for all intents and purposes, the whole schlick of the "Imperium losing technology" has been thrown out of the window; demotes the [[Grimdark]] a bit, while cutting out some of the [[Grimderp]]. It also makes sense when one remembers how many high ranking magos are millennia old and Cawl is far from the only one who lived in the Great Crusade era. So Cawl coming out with this might begin smoothing that out and we can waive ten thousand years of “forgetting” as either excuses for hoarding more and more tech, and/or being distracted by increasing projects to reverse-engineer old technologies making slow but real progress.

According to [https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/06/16/faction-focus-space-marines/ this faction preview] it's classified as a pistol 2 class weapon with a range of 15", a strength of 5, armor-piercing of 0, damage of 2, and a special rule that each unmodified wound roll of 6 inflicts 1 mortal wound on the target in addition to any other damage. Making it comparable to a Volkite charger just as a pistol. Essentially its just a Serpenta with the range of a Charger. ...Or Cawl slapped a new name onto some Charger blueprints and handed them out to his Primaris boys; even during the Heresy-era, it's fairly common to see Volkite Chargers used as pistols instead of Serpenta's.
{{clear}}

===Volkite Charger===
[[File:Volkite-charger2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Volkite Charger]]
The rifle of the family, as stated previously, at the outbreak of the Great Crusade were the goddamn ''standard'' weapon for the [[Adeptus Astartes]]. Which I'm sure was a terrifying prospect for the enemies of the [[Imperium of Man|Imperium]]. Whilst not benefiting from the range or power of its larger cousins, the charger retained the volkite beams deflagrating effects and allows its wielder a greater degree of movement. Volkite chargers are often employed by Legion Tactical Support squads. A Mastercrafted version is also the favoured ranged weapon of a certain [[Fulgrim|Sick Fuck]].

Unfortunately the laborious nature of their manufacture resulted in them being relegated in favour of the [[Bolter]], which was much easier to manufacture and supply, which was important as the crusade grew from a few thousand marines, a planet, and a moon to many hundred thousands of marines, quadrillions of [[Imperial Guard|Imperial Army]] troops, and an entire galaxy of shit to conquer. By the 42nd Millennium they are exclusively used by Tartaros Terminator Sergeants, with both armor and weapon millenia older than the Space Marine using them. Whether [[Cawl]] or [[Roboute_Guilliman|Guilliman]] has authorized Admech [[Techpriest|Techpriests]] and Astartes [[Techmarines]] to resume low level production, or if they even can, is up in the air for now.

On the other hand, Veletaris squads were heavily equipped with Volkite Chargers and normal Solar Auxilia could use them as special weapons. The Solar Auxilia that made up twenty to twenty-five percent (A fifth to a fourth) of the Imperial Army by the Horus Heresy. So, there were literally quadrillions of these being made by then. Most likely the shift to Bolters can be explained by their wide variety of Special Ammunition (even normal Bolt Shell production would quickly become waaaaaay more expensive than Volkite Chargers). If so, was a moronic decision as Bolt Pistols with anything except non-standard shells while using Volkite Calivers and Chargers as standard would have been far better. Mechanicum Infantry also used the Volkite Charger, further crippling the lore about demand out-stripping supply for the vastly less numerous Astartes.
Thus the only real reasons for the change would be the Charger's poor armor penetration and the need for coolant compared to Bolters, though we don't know how it's cooled so coolant might not be used and it's armor-penetration is said to only be slightly lower than a bolter in the fluff. As a direct energy weapon would heat up faster and for longer than an air cooled projectile firearm (depending on what cooling tech was used, though, and how hot the projectile weapon got).

===Volkite Caliver===
[[File:Volkite-caliver2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Volkite Caliver]]
A long range tactical Volkite weapon.

If the Volkite Charger is the assault rifle of the Volkite family, then the Volkite Caliver would be considered as the light machine gun of said family. A rifle Volkite variant with a devastating effect on flesh and bone, the volkite caliver was often employed by mobile Legion Tactical Support Squads, utilizing firepower and accuracy far and above superior to that of the more common bolter. The larger frame of the Caliver means that it is able to house a larger energy storage and battery to power the entire weapon at a more efficient and cost-effective way.

It is also somewhat comparable to a light squad support weapon, longer and bulkier than the Charger, though still loaded from a box magazine and fairly easy to carry. With a better range than the Charger at a cost of being unable to fire on the move.

There are some claims that the Volkite Caliver was the standard issue Astartes weapon in the early years of the Great Crusade instead of the Charger. Perhaps a typo or perhaps just yet another layer of conflicting lore.

===Volkite Blaster===
[[File:VolkiteBlaster.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Volkite Blaster]]
The only Volkite weapon in regular plastic 40k besides Charger armed Tartaros Sergeants and Relic Dreadnoughts (and not itself found in any 30k books, even the Mechanicum Red Book), and only seen on Tech-Priest Domini to boot. It might have been custom-constructed, or it might have started life as a Caliver before being integrated into someone's arm, but trades the tip of the Caliver's range for 50% more dakka.

Seeing as how it is now permanently attached to a Tech-Priest, the Volkite Blaster gets most of its source of power from the inner workings of whatever cybernetic hijinks that the Domini has incorporated into his body. Which allows it to technically have an indefinite amount of shots so long as the Tech-Priest is still alive and kicking.

As they are one of the few Volkite weapons still in use in the 41st millennium, the Techpriests in charge are understandably quite touchy and paranoid about this elusive piece of tech. Guarding it pretty viciously to any tech-thieves or bandits. However with [[Roboute Guilliman|Big Bobby G]] running around right now, the status of the Volkite Blaster being the only Volkite weapon in production ''might'' change in the near future. And it's happenend, look at the Neo-Volkite's entry above this one to see a brand spanking new death ray.

There is also a special prototype up-volted Volkite Blaster lazily named '''Weapon XCIX''', designed in Ryza. Unlike most of the results of Ryza's experimentation, this actually found its way onto the battlefield where it has proven to be devastatingly powerful.

===Volkite Cavitor===
[[File:Cavitor.png|200px|right|thumb|Volkite Cavitor]]
The shotgun of the Volkite family, exclusive to the [[Night Lords]]' Contekar Terminator Elite. With how much chaos Volkite weapons usually generate, it is not surprising to see the legion of Batman sociopaths hogging all the good Volkite shit. For those who do not know, the Contekars were recruits from Nostramo's ruling class. What this means is that like the [[Kabalite Trueborn|Kabalite Trueborns]] of [[Dark Eldar]] society, they tend to view the common plebs with utter disdain. Now why the Contekars are a melee-heavy Assault Terminator-esque squad despite the whole Night Lords' doctrine of fighting fast and ''hard'', we aren't too sure.

Nevertheless, despite the strange change in legion tactics, Contekars still do strike as much fear as a rampaging [[World Eaters]] berserker. Seeing as how all Contekars could wield a chainglaive, the introduction of the Volkite Cavitors serve as a highly complementary sidearm for these aloof twats. How the Cavitor could split its beams, we dunno, but the ability to hit multiple targets at once, who, in turn, may further spread the flames to their allies, makes the Cavitor a powerful force multiplier. Unfortunately, the Cavitor is stupidly short-ranged, as in, [[Inferno Pistol]] [[Derp|levels of short-range.]] This means that a certain absolute chadman, in one final fuck you, could quite literally run towards the Contekar who lit him ablaze and proceed to give him [[Awesome|a warm,]] [[Vulkan]][[Awesome|-level hug.]]

On the tabletop, Cavitors spray four Strength 6 murderbeams, but at a measly 10" range (That is shorter than a ''Flamer'' mind you). Comes included with a [[Chain Weapon#Chainblade|Chainblade]] to [[RIP AND TEAR|further fuck things up at close range,]] because why the hell not? This means it sucks at fighting other Terminators. Especially those with Cyclone Missile Launchers or Plasma weapons. It is a pretty good MEQ mulcher though.

===Volkite Incinerator===
[[File:Volkite_Incinerator.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Volkite Incinerator]]

[[Awesome|A motherfucking laser chest beam!]]

The Volkite Incinerator was a powerful purpose-designed Volkite ray weapon that was mounted in the chest-unit of each [[Ursarax|Ursarax Tech-guard,]] allowing it to both attack its victims at range with a lethal Volkite beam and also by grabbing its foe within its claws and drawing them in to suffer the full brunt of this discharge at point-blank range.

This confined ray blast was particularly devastating in its power and was able to disintegrate even heavily armored warriors in mere moments at such short range, which makes it almost all but impossible to fight these things head-on in CQC.

Unfortunately, in terms of crunch, in contrast to the standard-issue lightning claws, the Volkite Incinerator [[Derp|isn't too great in CC despite the dictation of the fluff,]] as four attacks at S10 almost always beats ONE S6 instant death attack (even if the target is T6) but if you get locked in multiple rounds it can be okay enough against T6 models.

===Volkite Sentinel===
[[File:Volkite_Sentinel.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Volkite Sentinel]]

The weapon-sponsons of the Volkite family.

The Volkite Sentinel was an automated, slaved weapon systems controlled independently by its own Servitor-brain. Volkite Sentinels were used as defensive weapons found on a number of larger Mechanicum war engines, most commonly the [[Triaros Armoured Conveyer]].

Each Volkite Sentinel was actually a pintle-mounted Volkite Charger which could be fired in addition to any other weapons the vehicle was carrying. Because of its Servitor brain, the Volkite Sentinel was able to target units separately from the vehicle's main armament or the direction of its gunners.

Crunchwise, Volkite Sentinels are a subtle, but potent feature. Essentially they are two Volkite chargers that may target independently of the Triaros itself (and presumably the other Volkite weapon); these can be used to take out "Chaff" units (exceptionally important if you're using this in 40k).

This weapon is one of the rare instances of a weapon variant specifically designed as a sponson or pintle-mounted armament. Almost any other time it is simply a heavy weapon duct-taped to the vehicle.

===Volkite Saker===
[[File:Volkite_Saker.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Volkite Saker]]
One of the three primary weapons of the [[Sabre Strike Tank]]

In contrast to the Sentinel, the Volkite Saker is a relatively large weapon of the Volkite family that offers a true 'medium' between the lighter hand-held Volkites to the fuck huge superheavy Volkites mounted on Knights and superheavy tanks.

As one of the primary weapons for the new and improved Sabre, the Saker is unfortunately hull mounted, meaning it is only as effective if the front of the vehicle actually faces something. You would expect that something like a Volkite, would be mounted on a more effective turret.

On a more interesting tidbit, although Saker may sound like gibberish, it is actually a type of medium cannon that was slightly smaller than the Culverin, another type of cannon. The more you know.
{{Clear}}

===Volkite Culverin===
[[File:Volkite_Culverin.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Twin-linked Volkite Culverin]]
The heavy weapon, bulky, powerful, with a massive rate of fire and equally large ammunition requirement. The largest most potent man-portable Volkite weapon in the Imperium's arsenal, its beam has a devastating effect on organic matter, explosively burning flesh into ash and jetting fire. [[Contemptor Dreadnought|Contemptor Pattern Dreadnoughts]] could mount two Volkite Culverins on a single arm for a devastating primary weapon.

It's like a [[Heavy Bolter|heavy bolter]] if it fired even ''faster'' and its shots caused the enemy to spontaneously combust. Perfect for taking out that 20 man squad of [[Assault Squad|assault marines]] and for anti-infantry Scimitar jetbike loadouts.

Heavy weapon squads full of these guys are your best option for long-range multipurpose murder, as they will incinerate entire squads of light infantry in a single salvo, and 5 shots at S6 is pretty solid against light to medium vehicles as well.

===Volkite Veuglaire===
[[File:Volkite_Veuglaire.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Volkite Veuglaire]]

The Volkite Veuglaire is a type of Imperial Volkite Weapon.

Used on the [[Armiger Knight Moirax|Knight Moirax]], the Volkite Veuglaire is a cousin of the Volkite Culverin and was a rare and ancient type of weapon. They were known for their complex mechanisms that were often beyond the ability of simple Sacristans to repair.

But for those Households that still operate them, Volkite Veuglaire are prized for their ability to clear light infantry from the battlefield. Combined with the [[Miscellaneous Weapons#Gyges Siege Claw|Gyges siege claw,]] the Knight Moirax is a pretty nasty beast in CQC all things considered.

===Volkite Falconet Battery===
[[File:Volkite_Falconet.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Volkite Falconet Battery]]

The Volkite Culverin's big sister.

The Volkite Falconet Battery is a pair of extremely large Volkite weapons mounted exclusively on the [[Deredeo Dreadnought|Deredeo Pattern Dreadnought]]. The size of the Volkite Falconet Battery allows it to lay waste to large numbers of enemy units, and we mean a metric shit ton. Seriously, just look at the size and length of the barrel and imagine it being dual-wielded by a dreadnought. 'Tis some scary shit.

The Volkite Falconet Battery is often paired with the [[Boreas Air Defence Missile]] Platform, which makes the Deredeo a sufficient anti-air vehicle whilst having the weapon to deal with those pesky infantry trying to outflank it.

===Volkite Demi-Culverin===
[[File:VolkiteDemi.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Volkite Demi-Culverin]]
The bigger brother to the Culverin, this is only available to the Solar Auxilia (for now). A powerful weapon from the [[Dark Age of Technology]], the weapon could tear through infantry squads with ease, it is basically one of the best tarpit cleansers if used correctly as the beams can jump from target to target on a much wider and longer range then normal Volkite weapons.

It boasts one more point of Strength and one more shot than the man-portable version, and is found on the spiffy [[Leman Russ Incinerator]]. Demi-culverin. For when you want to say "''Screw that guy and everyone around that guy''."

The Demi-Culverin is one of the best examples of Ad Mech naming incompetence in 40k. IRL a Demi-Culverin fired a shot half the weight of a full Culverin (Demi is French for "half"). [[Fail|So why the Ad Mech decided to make the Demi-Culverin more powerful than the Culverin is a mystery.]]

===Volkite Cardanelle===
[[File:Volkite Cardanelle Kratos.png|200px|right|thumb|Volkite Cardanelle]]
The Volkite Cardanelle is one of the primary weapons used by the [[Kratos Heavy Assault Tank]]. A heavy Volkite weapon that is, for all intents and purposes, the bigger brother of the Volkite Demi-Culverin, the Volkite Cardanelle is built when the Imperium and later Traitor forces, wanted a Volkite weapon that will ignite more units without needing to face the high procurement cost of larger Volkite weapons during the [[Great Crusade]]. Lo and behold, the Cardanelle was created.

On the tabletop, the Cardanelle is obviously meant to be used against infantry. '''''A metric shit ton of infantry.''''' Like, we are talking 2-3,000 points worth of ''infantry.'' Obviously, this makes the Cardanelle a nightmare against horde armies like [[Ork]] and [[Tyranid]] players. Fortunately for those two, the Kratos is considered a relic tank and is only (For now) used in the [[Horus Heresy]] games.

===Volkite Chieorovile===
[[File:Volkite_Chierovile.PNG|200px|right|thumb|Volkite Chieorovile]]
Big goddamn Volkite gun mounted onto the [[Questoris Knight Styrix]]. Just think of it as a Volkite Culverin on steroids as the Culverin is situated on a Dreadnought, this mother of a gun is situated on a Knight.

Seeing as how a normal Volkite Charger can already turn a few unfortunate bastards into radioactive isotopes, the Volkite Chieorovile can eliminate large numbers of enemy infantry at range far greater than a typical Volkite.

With a range equal to the Culverin version, this baby puts out five S8 AP3 shots which is great at turning entire armies into flaming soon-to-be-corpses. Who wouldn't want to use a gun that kicks out the equivalent of 5 Krak missiles that set blobs on fire per turn?

===Volkite Combustor===
[[File:Vc.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Volkite Combustor]]
The more [[Edgy]] sister of the Volkite Chieorovile. The Volkite Combustor is another Knight-based Volkite weapon, used exclusively by the [[Chaos Knight Abominant]]s.

Like the rest of its Volkite family, the Combustor is able to atomise elite infantry and light vehicles alike under a beam of deflagrating death. However, what makes it different from the Chieorovile remains to be seen until rules comes out.

On the tabletop, this monster is a god damned tarpit cleanser and even light vehicle sweeper. An Abominant-exclusive weapon, the Volkite Combustor clocks in at 30" Heavy 6 S10 AP-1 D3; making it more than capable of burning through crowds, while the 3 mortal wounds on a natural 6 to wound allows it to wreck light vehicles.
{{Clear}}

===Volkite Carronade===
[[File:Volkite_Charonade.PNG|200px|right|thumb|Volkite Carronade]]
Disgusted by the prospect of the largest weapon in a given type being able to be held by a person, those [[Adeptus Mechanicus|crazy Martians]] decided to supersize it and put it on the turret of the [[Fellblade]] super-heavy tank, creating the [[Glaive]] in the process.

At first glance it's almost comically short-ranged for a super-heavy tank weapon, but when you consider it hits absolutely ''everything'' in a straight line (which is as wide as the weapon's barrel, which is about the same as the height of a space marine) between its smoking barrel and its max range, turning entire tank columns into molten heaps of slag and reducing infantry formations into screaming, flaming soon-to-be-corpses who proceed to set their own allies alight, it ends up looking pretty good. And unlike psychic beams, the beam's strength is only reduced by other super-heavies and buildings.

That said, it hits YOUR units too, so don't place anyone you don't want to lose in front of it when it fires. And don't think being inside a transport when it hits will save you; if the transport takes a penetrating hit, even if all it ends up doing is Crew Shaken, you take a bunch of hits. ''With'' the normal volkite ability to generate more. Dark Eldar, don't even ''bring'' Raiders; they'll just make it hurt more.

...although maybe they like that.

===Volkite Eradicator===
[[File:Volkite_Eradicator.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Volkite Eradicator (Reaver)]]
A Titan-sized Volkite weapon used by [[Warhound Scout Titan|Warhound]] and [[Reaver Battle Titan|Reaver-class Titans]] as a shield-popper. These things are devastating weapons that could either set half of an entire legion of Space Marines into cooked, medium-rare transhuman meat or turn weakened Titans into a pair of stilted legs. Due to this, they're quite popular among the more belligerent of Titan Legions. This is the point where it gets legitimately awe inspiring, because at this size it stops setting things on fire in favor of reducing flammables to ash and boiling anything that isn't.

It is considered a carapace-mounted weapon for Reaver Titans while it is an arm-mounted weapon for Warhound Titans.

On the Titanicus tabletop, the Volkite Eradicator is a 20 point S5 weapon that could fire 3 shots and have the Voidbreaker ability, which forces the target to make two extra void shield saves so long as a single shot hits. Unfortunately, breaking shields is what it is only good for. At S5, the Eradicator isn't really what you would consider a dedicated Titan-killer, so it is best used for its intended role.

<gallery>
Volkite_Eradicator_Warhound.JPG|Warhound variant.
</gallery>

===Volkite Destructor===
[[File:Volkite_Destructor.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Volkite Destructor]]
The final word (so far) in groundside Volkite weaponry, the Destructor is a arm weapon for the mighty [[Warlord Battle Titan|Warlord-class Titan]]. Like its smaller brother, the Eradicator, the Volkite Destructor is a dedicated shield popper; capable of overloading enemy Titan Void Shields in short order. Over twice the size of the Carronade, it is the largest Volkite weapon known. Not so much for boiling entire tank platoons as it is for setting entire fortresses ablaze and scorching entire battlefields at this point.

The Volkite Destructor is an arm-mounted weapon for Warlord Titans.

In terms of rules for Adeptus Titanicus, the Destructor is a tad bit more powerful than the Eradicator, making it less egregious when it comes to its effectiveness versus its price. At 40 point and at S6, the Destructor is similar to the Eradicator, being able to fire 3 shots whilst also having the Voidbreaker ability.

Moreover, unlike the Eradicator, the Destructor has additional unique abilities, such as the '''Beam''' and '''Draining''' traits, meaning that if you position your model correctly and push the reactor you can simply skip rolling to hit and guarantee three shots will hit the target (even if you make a called shot). By itself, S6 isn’t particularly terrifying, but this can be offset by applying bonuses such as '''Scorched Earth''' from the Extergimus maniple or applying a '''Coordinated Strike''' from a Squadron such as with Legio Venator or Vulcanum. Particularly enthusiastic and/or insane players could consider applying '''Experimental Weapons''' in the hopes that the Volkite Destructor is selected for the +2 bonus and then follow up with '''Overcharged Cannon''' to add an additional +2.

===Volkite Storm Accelerator===
The biggest Volkite weapon of all, and the only one to be used in naval combat, only ever mounted on Imperator Somnium, second flagship of [[the Emperor]]. We are forced to assume its barrel is fashioned into a might golden dong and mighty rays of doom spew forthwith.

{{40k-Imperial-Weapons}}

==Squat Volkite Weapons==
===Volkanite Disintegrator===
[[File:VolkaniteSquat.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Volkanite Disintegrator]]
A Squat-made Volkite weapon.

These are a type of hand-held pistol/submachinegun weapons used by the [[Leagues of Votann]] and even then, it is largely reserved for high-ranking members due to the inherent dangers of volkite weapons. In this regard, the most common users are either [[Kâhl]]s or [[Hearthguard]]s. Due to it being Squat, these Volkites are superior to their Imperial counterparts, however, superior in ''what degree'' is up in the air, although if we take the crunchrules seriously, it is possibly in increased firepower.

Despite having a slightly different spelling, volkanite is basically the same as volkite.

Crunchwise, they are 18" HunTR 3, S5 AP0 D1, with 6s to hit doing 1 mortal wound. Good old volkite guns, with a better fire rate than most. An alternate upgrade for your Kahl and Hearthguard.

<gallery>
Volkanite_Disintegrator_2.JPG
</gallery>
{{40k-Squat-Weapons}}
==In action==
*A volkite charger equivalent in the game Killing Floor 2 *CHOOMING* zombies can be seen in action [https://youtu.be/Thxv8IJV9hE?t=17m2s here].

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun

2023-05-24T09:06:00Z

2601:1C0:5001:5320:3181:91FC:B207:B580: /* Weapons */

[[File:Warhammer-Boltgun-Cover.jpg|700px|thumb|center|[[Rip and tear|The only thing they fear is you.]]]]

Warhammer is [[Old school|a pretty old franchise]], dating back all the way to [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader|the late 80's]]. Seeing as the property is extremely grimdark, filled with vile Xenos and demons alike, you'd think some companies would have jumped at the opportunity to use the setting as a basis for a cool boomer shooter, it sounds like it writes itself! Sadly, due to 40k's tabletop nature, the only games that came out for it in that era were slow, clunky RTS games. They had their chance, and they blew it...

Then, Auroch Digital said "fuck that" and decided to make a good ol' boomer shooter 29 years late (but you know what they say about "better late than never"). Announced during the 2022 Warhammer Skulls event, very little of the game has been revealed, although there are some highlights. The game seems to be going for the 3D environments, prerendered sprite-based enemies style, which while aesthetically pleasing, runs into that Sonic Mania problem where there's too much detail for it to have actually run on DOS like OG [[Doom]], although that's not a big issue (given that [[Meme|unless you want to play on a pregnancy test]] the modern computer should be able to run it just fine), and overall it looks to be doing a pretty good job of retaining that good old 90s Doom aesthetic. The only other things of note are that you seem to be only fighting [[Chaos]] (fitting), we will once again be playing an [[Ultrasmurf]] (and, fittingly since it's a boomer shooter, a [[Beakie]] at that), and launched on '''May 23, 2023'''.
==Story==

According to news articles and leaked game play, the game is connected to [[Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine]], taking place several years after the events of the first game. Given that Space Marine it self is getting a sequel it's unclear how or if boltgun connects to that. While the second game seemingly has a Tyranid Focus, the first game only had chaos come in by surprise after a few hours fighting orks so all three games could be connected.

The player takes the role of an Ultramarine Sternguard Veteran Sergeant named Malum Caedo who is dispatched to the Forgeworld of [[Graia]] under orders from an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor. His name is something to call out as just a fun fact. His last name Caedo means means to "''I Cut, Hew, Fell''", while his first name Malum means 'evil' or 'wrong'. If you put his name into a google translate the answer you get from is Latin is: ''"I kill Evil"'', at which your computer explodes from having a name that Fucking Metal on it's screen.

The Inquisitor explains that the Graian mechanicum managed to salvage pieces of Inqusitor Drogan's power source and began experimenting on the device. Now because [[Not as planned|this worked so well the first time]], the tech priests experiments have caused Graia to once again be invaded by the Forces of Chaos. The Inquisitor has ordered the Ultramarine squad to descend to Graia and retrieve the power source fragments.

Unfortunately for the Ultramarines, [[FAIL|their drop pod suffers critical damage]] that leaves all of them dead except one (Malum Caedo) surviving the crash. Now it's up to Malum to rip and tear his way through Graia to complete the mission.

==Gameplay==

What has been confirmed so far from it's pre-release FAQ is that the game will be a Singleplayer experience and that there are no plans for a Multiplayer or Horde mode at launch.

==Weapons==

* '''[[Chainsword]]:'''Your basic weapon. Unfortunally, unlike [[DOOM]] or even [[Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine|Space Marine]], killing enemies with it won't give lots of health and ammo. Still, it's good at making you able to clear gaps between yourself and the enemy, and is particularly strong against anything that's not a Chaos Space Marine or a Terminator. Use this to interrupt your enemies and stagger them.
* '''[[Bolter]]:'''
* '''[[Shotgun#In Warhammer 40k|Shotgun]]:'''
* '''[[Heavy Bolter]]:'''
* '''[[Meltagun]]:''''
* '''[[Plasma gun]]:'''
* '''[[Grav-Gun]]:'''
* '''[[Imperial_Ordnance#Vengeance_Grenade_Launcher|Vengeance Launcher]]:'''
* '''[[Volkite Caliver]]:'''

==Enemies==

* '''Cultist with Autogun:''' Your basic mooks. Staring at them too long will cause them to die
* '''Heavy Stubber Cultist:''' The most annoying of the cultists, they fire a gun that has the spread of butter and the ability to suppress you outright. Priortize these guys over cultists and Chaos Space Marines.
* '''Renegade with Plasma Gun:''' You'll want to take these guys out ASAP. They're able to take out a good chunk of health with a charged up plasma shot but one melee attack will cause them to explode.
* '''Chaos Space Marine:''' One of the stronger enemy you fight, it's better to prioritize them, especially if there's multiple in the same place. Try to spam grenades at them or hit them with Plasma, as otherwise they can outshoot you or kill you just as fast as you can kill them.
* '''Aspiring Champion:'''
* '''Chaos Terminator:'''
* '''Lesser Plague Toad:''' Not a problem individually but in enclosed areas with multiple of them, your life becomes hell. They have two attacks: [[slaanesh|licking you]] and spitting slime, which will attach to a region and explode. Prioritize eliminating these guys ASAP
* '''Nurgling:''' One of the more annoying enemies. They are weak and go down in one hit, but they can easily swarm you and waste your ammo. Don't waste a plasma bolt or grenades on them, instead take them out with a bolter shot or a shotgun blast.
* '''Pink and Blue Horror:''' The pink horror is the ranged one. When he dies, two blue horrors spawn who will want to enter melee.
* '''Screamer of Tzeentch:'''
* '''Flamer of Tzeentch:''' They act more like a shotgun than a "flamer," shooting a 5 pellet shot at you. Ironically closing the distance is not a bad idea, as your chainsword can take them out relatively easily.
* '''Exalted Flamer:'''
* '''Foetid Bloat-Drone:'''
* '''Ambull:'''

==Bosses==

* '''Greater Plague Toad:'''
* '''Chaos Sorcerer:'''
* '''Lord of Change:'''
* '''Great Unclean One:'''
* '''Ancient Ambull'''

==Links==

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCDPIrqZ2GU Reveal Trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUVyPKPCR28 Release Date Trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCAZgSq8iIM&t Developer Gameplay]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmZGQzttyLg&t Boomer Shooter Gameplay Trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paRKV91xqso Extended Gameplay Trailer]

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Video Games]]

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun

2023-05-24T09:05:20Z

2601:1C0:5001:5320:3181:91FC:B207:B580: /* Weapons */

[[File:Warhammer-Boltgun-Cover.jpg|700px|thumb|center|[[Rip and tear|The only thing they fear is you.]]]]

Warhammer is [[Old school|a pretty old franchise]], dating back all the way to [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader|the late 80's]]. Seeing as the property is extremely grimdark, filled with vile Xenos and demons alike, you'd think some companies would have jumped at the opportunity to use the setting as a basis for a cool boomer shooter, it sounds like it writes itself! Sadly, due to 40k's tabletop nature, the only games that came out for it in that era were slow, clunky RTS games. They had their chance, and they blew it...

Then, Auroch Digital said "fuck that" and decided to make a good ol' boomer shooter 29 years late (but you know what they say about "better late than never"). Announced during the 2022 Warhammer Skulls event, very little of the game has been revealed, although there are some highlights. The game seems to be going for the 3D environments, prerendered sprite-based enemies style, which while aesthetically pleasing, runs into that Sonic Mania problem where there's too much detail for it to have actually run on DOS like OG [[Doom]], although that's not a big issue (given that [[Meme|unless you want to play on a pregnancy test]] the modern computer should be able to run it just fine), and overall it looks to be doing a pretty good job of retaining that good old 90s Doom aesthetic. The only other things of note are that you seem to be only fighting [[Chaos]] (fitting), we will once again be playing an [[Ultrasmurf]] (and, fittingly since it's a boomer shooter, a [[Beakie]] at that), and launched on '''May 23, 2023'''.
==Story==

According to news articles and leaked game play, the game is connected to [[Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine]], taking place several years after the events of the first game. Given that Space Marine it self is getting a sequel it's unclear how or if boltgun connects to that. While the second game seemingly has a Tyranid Focus, the first game only had chaos come in by surprise after a few hours fighting orks so all three games could be connected.

The player takes the role of an Ultramarine Sternguard Veteran Sergeant named Malum Caedo who is dispatched to the Forgeworld of [[Graia]] under orders from an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor. His name is something to call out as just a fun fact. His last name Caedo means means to "''I Cut, Hew, Fell''", while his first name Malum means 'evil' or 'wrong'. If you put his name into a google translate the answer you get from is Latin is: ''"I kill Evil"'', at which your computer explodes from having a name that Fucking Metal on it's screen.

The Inquisitor explains that the Graian mechanicum managed to salvage pieces of Inqusitor Drogan's power source and began experimenting on the device. Now because [[Not as planned|this worked so well the first time]], the tech priests experiments have caused Graia to once again be invaded by the Forces of Chaos. The Inquisitor has ordered the Ultramarine squad to descend to Graia and retrieve the power source fragments.

Unfortunately for the Ultramarines, [[FAIL|their drop pod suffers critical damage]] that leaves all of them dead except one (Malum Caedo) surviving the crash. Now it's up to Malum to rip and tear his way through Graia to complete the mission.

==Gameplay==

What has been confirmed so far from it's pre-release FAQ is that the game will be a Singleplayer experience and that there are no plans for a Multiplayer or Horde mode at launch.

==Weapons==

* '''[[Chainsword]]:'''Your basic weapon. Unfortunally, unlike [[DOOM]] or even [[Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine|Space Marine]], killing enemies with it won't give lots of health and ammo. Still, it's good at making you able to clear gaps between yourself and the enemy, and is particularly strong against anything that's not a Chaos Space Marine or a Terminator. Use this to interrupt your enemies and stagger them.
* '''[[Bolter]]:'''
* '''[[Shotgun#In Warhammer 40k|Shotgun]]:'''
* '''[[Heavy Bolter]]:'''
* '''[[Meltagun]]:''''
* '''[[Plasma gun]]:'''
* '''[[Grav-Gun]]:'''
* '''[[Imperial_Ordnance#Vengeance_Grenade_Launcher|Vengeance Launcher]]:'''
* '''Volkite Caliver:'''

==Enemies==

* '''Cultist with Autogun:''' Your basic mooks. Staring at them too long will cause them to die
* '''Heavy Stubber Cultist:''' The most annoying of the cultists, they fire a gun that has the spread of butter and the ability to suppress you outright. Priortize these guys over cultists and Chaos Space Marines.
* '''Renegade with Plasma Gun:''' You'll want to take these guys out ASAP. They're able to take out a good chunk of health with a charged up plasma shot but one melee attack will cause them to explode.
* '''Chaos Space Marine:''' One of the stronger enemy you fight, it's better to prioritize them, especially if there's multiple in the same place. Try to spam grenades at them or hit them with Plasma, as otherwise they can outshoot you or kill you just as fast as you can kill them.
* '''Aspiring Champion:'''
* '''Chaos Terminator:'''
* '''Lesser Plague Toad:''' Not a problem individually but in enclosed areas with multiple of them, your life becomes hell. They have two attacks: [[slaanesh|licking you]] and spitting slime, which will attach to a region and explode. Prioritize eliminating these guys ASAP
* '''Nurgling:''' One of the more annoying enemies. They are weak and go down in one hit, but they can easily swarm you and waste your ammo. Don't waste a plasma bolt or grenades on them, instead take them out with a bolter shot or a shotgun blast.
* '''Pink and Blue Horror:''' The pink horror is the ranged one. When he dies, two blue horrors spawn who will want to enter melee.
* '''Screamer of Tzeentch:'''
* '''Flamer of Tzeentch:''' They act more like a shotgun than a "flamer," shooting a 5 pellet shot at you. Ironically closing the distance is not a bad idea, as your chainsword can take them out relatively easily.
* '''Exalted Flamer:'''
* '''Foetid Bloat-Drone:'''
* '''Ambull:'''

==Bosses==

* '''Greater Plague Toad:'''
* '''Chaos Sorcerer:'''
* '''Lord of Change:'''
* '''Great Unclean One:'''
* '''Ancient Ambull'''

==Links==

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCDPIrqZ2GU Reveal Trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUVyPKPCR28 Release Date Trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCAZgSq8iIM&t Developer Gameplay]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmZGQzttyLg&t Boomer Shooter Gameplay Trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paRKV91xqso Extended Gameplay Trailer]

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Video Games]]