Editing Lasgun (section)

== Why the Lasgun is still being used ==
The lasgun is derisively known as a "flashlight" by most players, including Guard players themselves (including the '''Guards''' themselves actually, that's a joke among them). However, within the context of the 40k setting the lasgun is reliable, durable, extremely common, and quite accurate. It should be noted that the lasgun is described as being able to destroy a slab of cement, which means that it is quite a bit more powerful than most modern-day small arms. From a production standpoint the lasgun (and its power pack) requires a somewhat more advanced industrial base to construct than the autogun. In return, however, you get a compact, highly accurate infantry weapon that can fire over a hundred shots on a single power pack, has virtually no moving parts, and that largely removes the logistical headache of constantly restocking physical ammunition supplies. As long as a Guardsman has access to a power source that the lasgun's power packs can accept, he can, given time, replenish his "ammunition" as long as his equipment remains functional. Any source of electricity, from a common military recharging port to a domestic power socket to an exercise bike with a dynamo can be used to top up power packs. When cut off, guard units can even place their power-packs directly in fires to charge them, but this is an extreme measure since it’s [[heresy|frowned upon by the Mechanicus]] and will heavily reduce the pack’s lifespan. But a ''possibly'' useless power-pack is better than a ''certain'' bayonet charge.

Getting shot by a laser, even if you are protected, would at least flash a decent portion of the surface of what is hit into plasma. Explosively. So, most human-sized targets too tough to be penetrated by a lasgun would at least be stunned/stopped for a moment (in theory). In other words, lasers damage just about anything to some degree when powerful enough. This means that a lasgun can theoretically kill anything in the universe... eventually. Just like the [[Commissar]] told you!

A Lasgun dumps a lot of heat into it's target and while a fair deal of that would be carried away in a jet of superheated ejecta, a lot of it would persist in a heavily armored target. A single Lasgun bolt might not penetrate Power Armor, but dozens of bolts could saturate it and turn it into an oven.

A lightly protected or unarmored human, on the other hand, will almost certainly be critically wounded by any significant hit. Therefore, the lasgun actually has pretty good utility given the enemies the Imperium faces. In [[Dark Heresy]] the lasgun is far more useful than it is in tabletop 40k, because its reliability, availability and plentiful ammunition become real considerations against the human foes that an agent of the Inquisition is most likely to face.

An additional note to consider is that the Emperor himself saw the technology was necessary to arm the ordinary but fearless men and women of His future Imperium, in what would end up being the greatest endeavour humanity would ever take part in. LAS-tech during the Unification Wars was scarce and the technology and knowledge to build such weaponry was protected/hoarded by what frail societies rose and fell during the Age of Strife. To see how commonly available such tech is now is a testament to how far Humanity in the 41st Millenium have come from the multiple millenia of Old Night.

One last thing about Lasguns is that they ''can'' be used as last-ditch grenades by basically making the entire power pack empty into the gun without ever actually firing it. It turns the Lasgun into an explosive comparable in power to a Krak grenade. In theory, the resulting blast can fracture even vehicle-level armor (it should be noted that this happened to a dreadnought whose front armor was already cracked from being hit by anti-armor weapons). In practice, this technique is rarely utilized because it's a desperation tactic, and in any event, only seasoned troopers would likely be aware that it's even possible.

In all seriousness, a lasgun is a deadly weapon when in the hands of someone competent. As being an effective combat weapon goes, anything not too heavily armored, like Traitor Cultists, Eldar Guardians, Ork Boyz, Tyranid Gaunts, and other Imperial Guard style forces are bound to be ridden with laser holes quickly and efficiently. Even [[Power armor]] is not invulnerable: helmet lenses, articulations, and joints are still susceptible to well-placed shots and a point-blank or short-range shot at maximum power can potentially penetrate some areas of a Space Marine's armor as well.

In the end, a quote from [[Black Crusade (RPG)]] sums up the lasgun perfectly: ''"The Legionnaire that scoffs at a lasgun has not charged across an open field against a hundred of them."''

'''[[TL;DR]]''' Because of how photons affect matter, lasguns can, potentially, damage nearly anything. When combined with its reliability, utility, wide availability, and near-perfect accuracy, the lasgun is basically the perfect infantry weapon.