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Pygmies (Warhammer Fantasy)

2020-10-14T15:18:46Z

2A02:1811:5180:A200:4138:571D:53D3:E72B:

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[[File:Pygmy models 4.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Even the Grogs must admit that some changes were for the better.]]

Oh, boy.

The genesis of [[Warhammer Fantasy]] is that of an excuse to sell overstocked [[Dungeons & Dragons]] models which evolved into its own setting under the guidance of number-crunchers who took and passed the early torches of modern tabletop gaming outside of the roleplaying medium as well as loremasters who combined their degrees in history with their love of then-contemporary fantasy like [[Tolkien]], [[Michael Moorcock]], and [[Conan the Barbarian]].
Also, they were all British.

Early Warhammer was wild and combined just about whatever the writers wanted, lacking a unified setting as it was just a cluster of ideas designed to inspire people to make their own continuity among each other.

One of these ideas wound up unfortunately being one of the only depictions of black or Latino peoples in the setting. Most of the game takes place in "dialed up to 11 largely for the sake of comedy" Renaissance eras, both early and late, although it also has [[Tomb Kings|bronze age]], [[Orcs_&_Goblins#Varieties|stone age]], and [[High Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|magic douchebag Atlantis types]] mixed in for flavor. So of course having a large chunk of the game taking place in eastern or southern Africa isn't entirely fitting, but the game doesn't have a distinct zoomed-in focus as [[Ogre Kingdoms|Mongols]] and [[Lizardmen|Aztec scalies]] get a fair amount of spotlight as well.

This makes the presence of the Pygmies fairly embarrassing since they were a shockingly racist expy of Africans straight out of the colonial representation of the Congo (although to be fair, the highly parodical nature of many of the elements of Warhammer could indicate mockery of this concept rather than playing it straight).

Pygmies first appeared in the second edition of Warhammer (it is worth noting that Warhammer didn't even have a true complete setting until 3rd edition) in the [[Warhammer Battle Bestiary]] supplement in 1984. They had the same stats of ordinary humans barring one point less of Strength and Toughness, but their point cost was so low that they were arguably one of the best options in the entire game at the time since you could easily create a huge horde of them that can outmatch almost anything. They appeared in the 2e scenario [[The Magnificent Sven]] in which they had successfully defeated a [[Warriors Of Chaos|Norse]] (bear in mind this is before Chaos existed in Warhammer) warriors consisting of 120, and the 121st was the guest of honor (unironically, as in he was given choice cuts and as much beer as he wanted) at a feast where they had cooked his companions (and his amputated leg) before letting him go free. These Pygmies live in [[Lustria]], or at least the 2e prototype of it. The artwork was stereotypical, but not completely offensive. They looked like dark-skinned Dwarfs dressed in a combination of Aztec and Zulu styles.

For context, the term "Pygmy" first appears as an ancient Greek creature called the "Pygmaeus", a type of short human-like monster which the Greek poet Homer said came from the region we now know to be India. It also referred to the distance between the fist and elbow for the purpose of measuring clothes/armor. The term was (much) later used during the time period where European superpowers aggressively colonized the world in all directions (but north obviously), being applied to various societies that were still in the stone or bronze age which due to less nutritious diets were usually shorter than the explorers. The term is considered racist, but there's no real alternative word that's caught on in the mainstream so seemingly the rule is that any group who has enough internet access to complain about it can't be called Pygmies anymore, for everyone else its fair game. Although the term was applied to South American tribes, today it only refers to groups in Africa and southeastern Asia.

While that last bit could be theoretically used to excuse the concept since it wouldn't apply towards a real people, Citadel released models in 1985 by [[Alan and Michael Perry]] accompanied by artwork of the same minis in the Spring 1985 issue of [[Citadel Journal]]. This newly revised version of the Pygmies eschewed the defensible older artwork with the "Pickaninny" style of highly exaggerated features. Who thought this was a good idea is unknown, particularly since not only were the models and artwork embarrassing but their status as a powerful faction with a supporting role in a major story was gone as well. While the visual style of the 3rd edition they were released for was to amp up the exaggeration in order to create unique models that stand out when viewed from a distance (as armies had gotten bigger in 3e) and to create a more signature style to help the Citadel brand, the rest of the models to get this treatment weren't based on ethnic stereotypes (at least since we stopped considering belligerent Irishmen a different race anyway).

Pygmies were only mentioned a handful of times after 1985. The first, and only major appearance, came as a timed scenario for [[Games Day Convention]] 1997 written by [[Basil Barrett]] which was published in the 100th issue of [[White Dwarf]]. The scenario, entitled "[[The Hanging Gardens Of Bab-Elonn]]", gives Pygmies a new origin as an alien race that arrived alongside the [[Old Ones]], also in giant floating pyramids from another dimension/outer space. The Pygmy culture devolved since then until now they were a stone age race of short cannibal humanoids who share Lustria with the [[Lizardmen|creations of the Old Ones]] who have similarly lost most (but not all) of the advanced super magic science they came to the world with. In the campaign, the Pygmy players explore one of the pyramids of their ancestors...which will blow up in 2 hours due to a self-destruct mechanism they accidentally triggered.

Since then Pygmies have only been mentioned very sparingly, once in the [[Blood Bowl]] comics as being the team that the Amazons beat (and ate) in order to qualify for the Old World tourney. While the other highly racist Warhammer race, [[Hobgoblins (Warhammer Fantasy)|Hobgoblins]], simply had the more overt tones dropped and continued to be active in canon, Pygmies are more or less a relic of neckLongbeard Warhammer.

Technically speaking they could be used today as they were never actually retconned thanks to surviving references, and their statline and use of blowguns as a main weapon pretty much makes them [[Lizardmen#Skinks|Skinks]]. Their models are not known for being particularly expensive on the secondary market unless buying a complete set, although their original packaging will increase the value substantially.

== Age Of Sigmar(?) ==

Due to increased non-white representation in Games Workshop's sequel to Warhammer Fantasy called [[Age of Sigmar]], some have joked that the Pygmies finally evolved (and managed to knock up some Dark <strike>Aelves</strike> Elves). This is obviously not canon in any way, not only because it would be a PR nightmare for Games Workshop but also because its canon that the only things in Lustria that survived the destruction of the Warhammer World were what the Slann loaded onto their ships.

That being said...its canon that the Slann have recreated Lustria as constructs of light magic in their realm, which they send on raids against the enemies of Order. While the Slann and their obsession with the designs of the Old Ones may not have considered the Amazons worth creating construct copies of (although for all we know they have already), the fact that in the most current canon the Pygmies predate the Slann might mean that they would see them as just a natural and intended part of the Warhammer World. So...maybe they do exist still? At any rate it would give Games Workshop the chance to make some humans/humanoids to sell in the South American styles without the baggage of the current design of the Pygmies.

== Gallery ==

<gallery>
File:Pygmy models 1.jpg
File:WH pygmies 1.jpg
File:WH pygmies 2.png
File:WH pygmies 3.png
File:WH pygmies 4.png
File:WH pygmies 5.png
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</gallery>

[[Category: Warhammer Fantasy]]

Shotgun

2020-10-14T12:22:18Z

2A02:1811:5180:A200:4138:571D:53D3:E72B: /* Notable shotguns */

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{{topquote|Over the centuries, mankind has tried many ways of combating the forces of evil... prayer, fasting, good works and so on. Up until [[Doom]], no one seemed to have thought about the double-barrel shotgun. Eat leaden death, demon...|Terry Pratchett}}
A '''shotgun''' is a large caliber smoothbore [[firearm]] which is designed to fire a cluster of small projectiles (once commonly lead pellets but for environmental reasons steel is more common, either way they're known as shot) in one shot, though most shotguns can also accept solid slugs. The cluster of bullets spread out to cover a wide area after exiting, taking some of the burden off of aiming and causing considerable damage to an unprotected body. It comes at the expense of hitting power and precision at long range due to the sheer spread. The earliest shotguns were large caliber muskets known as blunderbusses. Today shotguns remain widely used by police, hunters and sport shooters and see some use as a secondary weapon by soldiers. Modern-day shotguns are extremely reliable, fairly accurate (for what they are) and relative simple to produce and operate, while being devastating in close combat. The "gauge" used to measure the size of the shot used in a shell. 12 gauge means that it takes 12 lead balls of the diameter of a 12-gauge shotgun to equal one pound in weight. So 16, 20 and 28-gauge take 16, 20 and 28 lead balls of the diameter of a matching shotgun to equal one pound. This means that the higher the gauge, the smaller the shot is. 12-gauge is the most commonly used in combat, with the smaller gauges being used when hunting small prey. [[Dakka|When in doubt, carry two. If you still have doubts, attach two to your fists and two to your boots, then carry two in your hands again.]]

==Notable shotguns==
[[image:SPAS 12.JPG|thumb|300px|right|A pair of SPAS-12 Shotguns. The lower has a fixed stock and a shorter magazine tube, while the upper has its signature folding stock unfolded.]]
*'''Double Barrel:''' One of the most common shotguns available, the double-barrel is a very basic, no-frills firearm that, instead of having any sort of magazine or ammunition tube, simply has two barrels with one shot each. The vast majority of these are breech-loaded/break-action, where the gun's barrels and stock are attached by a hinge; they lock closed when it's time to fire and can be unlocked to reload. This hinge and the trigger mechanism itself are the only moving parts, making the gun very easy to maintain. This simplicity and the generally low price tag makes it popular with farmers and hunters. The double-barrel is typically used for hunting and can come in side-by-side or over-and-under configurations, the latter being popular in sports shooting. Rare triple-barrel shotguns exist, but at this point you're getting a heavy hunk of metal. Double-barreled shotguns can have a part of the barrels shortened (hence the colloquial term "sawed-off shotgun") to create a nice personal defense weapon, though this modification is oftentimes illegal. Note that sawing off the shotgun's choke also drops the gun's accuracy down from "respectable grouping up to 40 meters that can knock a bear on its ass" to "abysmal 45-degree spread more at home in a video game that may scare a deer". Low market demand, doubling the most expensive part, and the difficulty of aligning the two barrels means these are now actually ''more'' expensive than pump shotguns are.
*'''Winchester 1887:''' The shotgun made famous by Terminator 2, this is a 10-gauge lever-action shotgun, giving it a strong Old West vibe to it. Firing it one handed is not recommended unless you really are [[Deathmark|a terrifying robot assassin]]. A trick associated with this weapon is spinning it around to chamber a new shell, but unless you have an extra-wide lever that is at least as wide as two fingers you're only going to break your fingers trying to do this, which almost happened to Arnold Schwarzenegger while filming Terminator 2. Not to mention that this is very dangerous.
*'''Winchester M97''': an oldie but one hell of a goodie, as the Germans in WWI could have attested if they'd survived. Nicknamed the 'trench sweeper', because it did exactly that: clear a trench of assailants/defenders nice and fast as you please so hard the German High Command actually officially protested its use, threatening to execute any captured enemy soldier caught using one. Allied forces simply responded that if they did that they'd start executing all prisoners, so the Germans backed down. Production stopped back in the fifties, but the M97 is still in regular use a half century later.
*'''Remington 870:''' Was pretty much ''the'' pump-action shotgun. Used by everyone from hunters and sports shooters to police and elite special forces units. Tough, durable and simple to use; there's a good reason the Remington is as popular as it is. Because of this there are oodles of aftermarket parts available so that you can make your shotgun as tacticool as you want. Unfortunately Remington was bought by Cerberus in 2007, and they proceeded to gut quality so bad guns literally shipped from the factory with rust on them. If you really want one now you have to get it used (one that does not say "New York" on the barrel) or a Chinese clone.
**'''KAC Masterkey:''' Developed by Knight's Armament Company, the Masterkey is an underbarrel attachment for the M16/M4 assault rifle. It is essentially the business end of a Remington 870 shotgun intended for breaching doors that can be slapped to the underside of a rifle so that soldiers do not need to carry around an entire separate weapon. To fire it the user has to shift their hands so that they hold the shotgun as normal, using the magazine of their rifle as a makeshift stock. Because of its lack of grip or stock firing a Masterkey as a stand-alone weapon is [[fail|a very bad idea]]. For that reason, and the ease of reloading, the M26 MASS was chosen over the Masterkey.
*'''Mossberg 500:''' The Pepsi to the Remington's Coke. The two are very similar and arguments between fans of the two were sources of major [[skub]] amongst firearm enthusiasts. In practice they are pretty much the same, with the Mossberg being lighter and cheaper than the Remington, but it does not come in as many different variants. With Remington's destruction and Mossberg improving variety of offerings, it has become the definitive American made shotgun.
**'''Mossberg 590''' An improved but slightly more expensive version of the 500. Uses a different style of tube which holds an extra shell in the same space and comes in more tacticool variants. The 590A1 is a variant of that with a thicker barrel (useless unless you're closing bulkhead doors on it) and more metal parts.
**'''Maverick 88''' A cheap variant that's only "assembled" in the US with some or all parts made in Mexico. Feels cheap and less features.
**'''Mossberg 900''' A semi-automatic shotgun by Mossberg.
*'''Benelli M4:''' Made by the Italian Benelli corporation, the M4 is famous for its wedge-shaped stock and [[video games|being the spray-and-pray stick in Counter-Strike]]. While used by civilians it is more commonly used by special forces units and police.
*'''Saiga 12:''' A Russian-made shotgun derived from the popular AK layout. It is a semi-automatic shotgun loaded via a detachable box magazine unlike the two above. Used by Russian security forces it is also popular amongst hunters because the required licence is far easier to obtain than that for a rifle. Factory-made box magazines go up to 8 and the aftermarket makes magazines for 12, 20 and even 30 shells, but the latter is very heavy, expensive and bulky.
*'''USAS-12:''' Built by a subsidiary of the Korean Daewoo (the car manufacturer) based on the AA-12, the USAS-12 is an automatic combat shotgun exclusively used by militaries. A semiautomatic version was put on the American market in the early 90's, but it was declared as to "having no sporting purpose" and was branded a "destructive device", immensely limiting its potential buyers. It has a nice 400+rpm rate of fire, allowing it to empty a 20-round drum in 3 seconds or less.
*'''AA-12:''' The Atchisson Assault Shotgun is a fully automatic shotgun most famous for its low recoil: through some clever engineering the user gets only 10% of the recoil they'd normally feel from a 12-gauge shell. This makes the AA-12 highly controllable even with its 300rpm rate of fire. It has also been associated with the FRAG-12 round, a miniature grenade the size of a 12-gauge shell. While the FRAG-12 fits in any 12-gauge shotgun, there is something [[awesome|alluring]] about being able to hold your shotgun on target while shooting 20 grenades at it in 4 seconds flat.
*'''SPAS-12:''' A shotgun with a capital SHOTGUN. It is a big honkin' piece of metal capable of double-action: it is both a gas-operated semi-automatic and a pump-action shotgun at the same time. This allows it to both act as a semi-automatic weapon with lethal shells and a pump-action weapon capable of firing bean bags, tear gas and other less-lethal shells that do not generate enough pressure to cycle the action. This is also how they are used in movies because blanks are too light as well. Movies and games almost always show the shotgun with its bulky folding stock folded in on top of the weapon, likely due to its distinctive silhouette. While no longer in production the SPAS-12 retains its reputation as a big, menacing son of a shotgun and fetches quite a bit on the second-hand market, even with its failure-prone safety.
*'''Punt Gun:''' What if you wanted to shoot an entire ''flock'' of birds with a single shot? You could use a punt gun! (Or, you could, back in the day, but you probably wouldn't do it now because it's really, really illegal). Punt guns are shotguns the size of a small boat, and usually mounted to one, hence their name since a punt is a small flat-bottom boat. Usually custom made beasts, they would shoot shells equivalent to a 1 or 2 gauge. Double barreled punt guns were also known to exist, being roughly equivalent to two 8 gauges. They are used for hunting, and only hunting on a commercial scale, because they are both too stupidly large to be used in combat as personal weapons, but are also too small to use in combat as artillery.
*'''KS-23:''' The spiritual successor to the Punt Gun in man-portable form. You see, the Russian, they have the [[ZSU 23-4 Shilka]] self-propelled AA gun firing high-velocity 23mm cannon shells. But when one of their production runs for barrels proved subpar, some absolutely insane Gopnik decided "Eh, fuck this, they're good enough for lower power ammunition like shotgun slugs!" Enters the 4-gauge(!!!) pump-action KS-23 shotgun built from said cast-off barrels (albeit it really straddles the line between shotgun and grenade launcher). Only four shots, but with such a massive bore you probably won't need more! The TOZ-123 is a slightly modified version for civilian use, presented as a hunting weapon!

==Ammunition Types==
*'''Birdshot''': Like buckshot, but the balls are much smaller, and as a result there's less empty space in between each ball when fired. This makes it well suited for shooting birds out of the sky. While each ball individually won't do quite as much damage, you'll definitely give someone a bad day if you hit them with it. Note for writing: birdshot is a terrible choice for use against humans or any substantially sized animal, so unless your characters have a reason for using it specifically (desperation etc) having a character use birdshot for fighting will result in /k/ laughing at you. Dick Cheney shot an old man with some at point blank range, hitting the throat, and the guy is still alive.
*'''Buckshot''': The most commonly associated ammunition used in shotguns. Buckshot is a shell filled with lead balls that fire out from the barrel in a cone; how tight that cone is depends on whether the shotgun has a choke. Buckshot, as the name implies, is lethal to deer, but works just as well on humans. 12 gauge 00 (pronounced double aught) is the most common type, consisting of 9 lead balls .36"(9.1mm) in diameter.
*'''Dragon's Breath''': What do you get when you fill a shell with metal shards and flammable liquid? A giant fireball coming out of a shotgun barrel, that's what! You'd also get a barrel full of afterburner shit, so make sure you don't fire this thing more than twice before you clean the gun, unless you like your gun exploding in your hands (hence why it's almost universally used with cheap throwaway double-barrels).
*'''Flare''': As unusual as it sounds, shotguns can fire flares if you do not have a flare pistol on you. The only caveats are that they must be the same gauge, must be manually loaded if you’re using a pump action shotgun, and must be fired from a none choked shotgun. If the flare propellant isn’t strong enough or if the barrel is choked, you risk having the flare stuck in the barrel and heating it up to cherry red hot temperatures that can warp the metal. So if you want to be safe, double check your instructions on the box to ensure the flares are shotgun compatible. On the other hand, it’s a good back up if you do not have a working flare pistol.
*'''Flechette''': Instead of balls, you fill a shell with long metal needles. Supposed to be more aerodynamic than buckshot, but in practice they can be deflected by things like raindrops and have less stopping power. Also tear up barrels.
*'''Flexible Baton Rounds''': These are the less-lethal rounds typically used by police. It hurts like hell to get hit by one, but at least you don't start bleeding out. Typically contained in a bag (hence the nickname of "beanbag" rounds) so spread in minimal. Rubber slugs are occasionally used as an alternative. Shotguns mean to fire these are typically used only for them and marked in bright colors so nobody loads lethal rounds into them. Can still be lethal, especially on the elderly or if it hits you in the head.
*'''Frag-12''': Mini-explosives crammed into a shotgun shell. It has four spring-loaded fins at the back of the shell to guide it towards its target. Is often associated with the AA-12 because of the inherent awesomeness of turning your shotgun into a fully automatic grenade launcher. Incredibly dangerous, incredibly expensive and incredibly illegal for obvious reasons.
*'''Frangible Round''': Made from metal powder and wax, these rounds are made to shatter on impact, making them safe to use in close quarters or for breaking door hinges and locks, hence their alternate name of Breaching Rounds.
*'''Slug''': A solid piece of lead; this allows shotguns to be used more like a rifle in that you're aiming at a single point in space, though slug shotguns aren't quite as accurate as rifles. They are, however, much bulkier than rifle rounds, making them better suited to hunt large game or for remote organ removal surgery in a firefight.

It's actually quite easy to make custom ammunition for shotguns by cramming whatever the fuck can fit into a barrel into a standard slug shot maybe with some tightening. Most weapon shops even sell custom shotgun ammo kits. Sure, custom slugs more often than not have terrible accuracy, but it's invaluable in urban fantasy/mystic/horror settings where you can shoot whatever the fuck that eldritch abomination you're fighting against is vulnerable to - like wooden slugs for staking vampires from the (relatively) safe distance or saltshot against ghosts or demons. Hell, making silver shotgun slugs against werewolves is a much safer option than silver bullets for rifles or pistols if you're not a proficient smith, as poorly made slug is much less likely to jam your gun than poorly made bullet. Ask /k/ for examples of crazy shotgun loads, up to and including live .22 LR being fired out of a 12 gauge. There are even several old timer tricks for making shot into slugs as 100 years ago the slug game was limited to single, bore wide, ball projectiles. Cut shells are simply bird or buck shot that has had it's case cut a bit to weaken the point below the wadding. Not enough to separate while loading into the chamber (NEVER PUT THESE INTO A MAG OR A TUBE) but the case will separate during firing, launching the contained shot as a single mass held together by the remaining case. Another old trick is to cut the crimp off, pour out the shot into molten wax, and then loaded back with the wax acting as a binder. This results in a round with weight similar to a lead slug but that shatters on impact similar to a frangible or breaching round. It actually is suprisingly accurate and produces a much nastier but not as deep wound than a slug, almost like shooting the target at point blank with normal birdshot.

==Choke==
Since shot is multiple projectiles, how and where it impacts can be changed by altering how tight the end of the barrel is. Double barreled shotguns often have different chokes in each barrel while pump action and semi-auto shotguns have either have detachable chokes or a fixed improved cylinder choke.
*Cylinder: Effectively no choke. Rare on modern shotguns unless the gun takes detachable chokes.
*Improved Cylinder: A slightly narrow choke and concentrates shot a good deal. Generally considered the standard in law enforcement and home defense. If a modern shotgun does not have detachable chokes, it most likely uses an improved cylinder choke.
*Duckbill: used only on combat shotguns, a duckbill choke focuses the spread of shot onto a horizontal plane, in theory allowing it to more effectively clear rooms and trenches by hitting multiple targets at once. Unfortunately, the spread can be a bit too erratic or spread too quickly to use effective.
*Full Choke: A very tight choke that results in a very tight shot pattern. '''Do not shoot slugs through this''', it's too tight for them to clear the barrel.
*Rifled Choke: Also known as "paradox" rifling this was one of the many gun related inventions of George Fosbery. Essentially a bit of rifling at the end of a shotgun that gives slugs greater stability in flight. You can shoot shot through this ''safely'', it won't hurt the gun or anyone on your end of the muzzle, though not very effectively: The pattern will be very erratic, a doughnut shape at best, instead of centered.

==The Short-Range Shotgun Fallacy==
It's a common belief amongst people that shotguns are strictly short-ranged weapons, that their particular ammunition makes them all but useless at a distance. As the title of this segment suggests, such a belief is pretty much wrong. Here's why. The primary reason this idea exists is because of vidya; because shotguns are preferred for tight confines and urban fighting, most early shooters (other than the original [[Doom]], ironically) made shotguns do more damage the closer that you were to the target for balance, and the idea was absorbed into popular culture. The whole shotgun fallacy is similar to the flamethrower fallacy in which both weapons are actually much more accurate and longer ranged in real life rather than being only effective at less than ten feet like most video games.

The entire "shotguns are only good at short range" idea is based on the notion that when a shotgun fires, the pellets it expels will spread further and further apart as they travel, until they are so scattered they're incapable of dealing any real damage to whoever they hit. It's not entirely without basis, and in fact this was a well-known issue with the blunderbuss, but it's mostly false when it comes to shotguns.

See, unlike blunderbusses, shotguns have small, narrow barrels, rather than the tapering wide-bore muzzle of their predecessor. Thusly, whilst a shotgun shell's contents do have a scattering effect that means it's impossible to get the same pinpoint precision accuracy you would have with, say, a sniper rifle, they don't scatter anywhere near so far as a blunderbuss's shot would, even when using a wide-bore. In fact, this scattering effect is ''precisely why'' shotguns are considered the best guns for hunting with; the spread of pellets is much more likely to connect with a fast-moving target, and this is especially important when hunting birds or small game.
Further more, some shotguns can also fit a device called a choke. A choke is threaded onto the end of a barrel, the choke has a slightly smaller internal diameter than the barrel. This forces the shot to stay tighter together, farther down range. This is how turkey hunters can kill with neck shots without damaging meat at 40 or so yards. Some shotguns, typically called slug guns, do have rifled barrels. While terrible for shot (the imparted spin spreads the shot dramatically, like video game levels of spread), it shines with solid metal projectiles. Special slugs designed with rifling in mind, provide significant range increases. Practiced shooters can make 150 yard shots rather easily. There are even chokes with partial rifling to allow smoothbore guns threaded for chokes, to shoot some specialized rifled slugs.

This said: compared to the multiple hundreds of meters effective range of rifle caliber bullets the shot gun "''is''" a short ranged weapon. What they don't tell you however is that most fire fights are short ranged anyway, which is the main reason why after world war two armies stopped using what we would call "Battle rifles" and swapped to smaller caliber assault rifles (trading in range for a higher rate of fire). For most situations a shotgun is as good as a rifle if not a little better since it's actually easier to hit your target with a shotty. The main disadvantage is that you can't carry as much ammo (the 12ga shells are bigger and heavier than the average rifle bullet), and shot is rather inefficient against body armor. TL:DR; assault rifle is more versatile than shotgun, hence AR gets used.

One of the few games that ignores the whole 'Shotguns are only useful at close range' trope is hilariously Gears of War, which is one of the most testosterone-poisoning and over the top games made. Whilst its true the Gear's shotgun instakill enemies up close, most players actually use the shotgun at it was intended, which was a mid-range weapon. It is telling when the majority of players prefer the shotgun than the iconic lancer assault rifle in open space firefights as it is amazingly accurate despite the spread and deals decent damage. There are even reports of players [[Wat|sniping with the shotgun better then most snipers.]]

==In [[Warhammer 40k]]==
Your typical generic weapon found in almost every genre, the Shotgun is a class of pump-action weapons utilized by the [[Imperium of Man]]. Like before a shotgun is a short-ranged anti-personnel weapon, and easily fired accurately on the move thanks to its wide spread of fire. Regularly employed by the [[Adeptus Arbites]], the shotgun (also referred to as a scatter gun), have been around since before M3. 38,000 years later the biggest "improvement" is the addition of 50 pounds of metal, allowing it to be used as a club so that after shooting a pissed off [[Genestealer]] you have the option of boinking it on the head, but only a Space Marine would consider a 50 pound weapon useful, even as club. Probably the second longest lived weapon in the Imperium (right after [[Basic Close Combat Weapons|anything sharp or heavy]]), it has appeared on nearly every Imperial world and battlefield. There are also automatic shotguns out there (dubbed "Combat Shotguns") as shown in Necromunda, but few uses them in the actual Imperial armed forces in notable numbers, even where they would make much more sense than pump-action ones. Aside from Kriegers, who arm their Combat Engineers with them.

Shotguns are also commonly employed by [[Space Marine]] Scouts and [[Imperial Guard]] Veterans, although the [[Space Marines]] are equipped with larger guns chambered for more powerful "Manstopper" rounds. Its hail of shot can shred through flesh, but its low velocity causes it to be ineffective against armoured enemies. The [[Imperial Navy]] uses them when boarding a ship or putting down mutinies because the nature of its rounds make it unlikely (read impossible) to pierce the hull of the ship, which is a good thing. The [[Deathwatch]] have their own shotguns, mainly for the specialist ammunition they use to take down many different types of Xenos at close range.

Imperial shotguns also can use a wide variety of different ammunition, including all types of bolts for maximum firepower (though less effective than an actual [[bolter]]) (<s>for some stupid reason</s> the different barrel length might interfere with close-range muzzle velocity, and carapace armor doesn't have a machine spirit to interface with the gun's), web charges for non-lethal takedowns, blazerer charges, that turn a shotgun into a nerfed flamethrower, talk charges for breaking doors, and really about anything you can fit inside the barrel, making it a great utility weapon in any FFG game or Necromunda: Underhive Wars.

*Range:12 | Str:4 | AP:- | Type:Assault 2 (Space Marine version, 7-th edition)
*Range:12 | Str:3 | AP:- | Type:Assault 2 (Imperial Guard version, 7-th edition)
*Range:12 | Str:4 | AP:0 | Type:Assault 2, becomes Str:5 if fired on range of 6" or less (Space Marine version, 8-th edition)
*Range:12 | Str:3 | AP:0 | Type:Assault 2, becomes Str:4 if fired on range of 6" or less (Imperial Guard version, 8-th edition)

==In Real Life Versus Video Games==
Shotguns fire a handful of small spherical projectiles, a large slow heavy slug, or a storm of tiny pellets. With that in mind, let's think about what modern armor looks like. Usually, soldiers wear a basically what is a Kevlar vest with an armor plate stuck over it. Birdshot and buckshot? In video games these projectiles become hyper deadly blasts capable of shredding anyone in close range, but in real life they're about as impactful as a solid punch. Slugs, however, are large heavy objects with a lot of momentum. Upon impact with Kevlar, they'll snap ribs apart, and maybe punch through. On impact with hard armor, it'll still feel like a sledgehammer to the gut.
Of course, that's assuming armor hits. If a shotgun hits you in the arm, it's not going to hurt, it's going to be limb removal/heavy gruesome injury. It'll also bounce off the floor at a shallow enough angle, while still retaining lethal amounts of force and power. As well, the spread of a shotgun can make odd effects: a couple pellets not getting stopped and hitting the face is going to hurt.

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