Editing Bolter (section)

==Speaking of On the Tabletop==
Despite the really cool fluff, the Bolter is, in fact, a middle-of-the-road weapon on the table; the average by which all default infantry weapons of every race must be judged. While not as potent and long ranged as the [[Tau]] Pulse rifle or annoying and devastating as the [[Necron]] Gauss Flayer, it's considerably better in terms of punch than most other infantry weapons in the 41st Millennium; [[Eldar]] Shuriken weapons have shorter ranges (but Bladestorm to make up for it), [[Lasgun]]s have the same long range, but minimal armor-penetration (read: none) and less punch, though you can take more per point- the list goes on, but Bolters, while middling at best, are far from the worst gun on the battlefield. And that's honestly how they are good. It's a Jack of All Trades weapon. Besides being one of the cool parts of the [[Commissar]]iat, since they are the primary weapon used for summary executions. Now, if ''only'' this stopped them from being doucheba{{BLAM}} Pretty much they're like Mario is in most of the games he shows up in where he isn't the only playable character. While the others are a lot better than he is in certain areas, no one else is as good overall (well...except for the Gauss Flayer and Pulse rifle... though both are on units that can't melee for shit, and one is on a unit that can't even shoot straight but costs more than two guardsmen, so it all kinda evens out.) Still, given the cost to make bolters, if their fluff performance was as average as their tabletop performance it could lead one to wonder why Astartes wouldn't just carry sawn-off heavy stubbers, for increased rate of fire which would help make up for Space Marines' relative lack of numbers.

Certain [[Ciaphas Cain|Commissars]] prefer Laspistols or Hell pistols (if they're lucky/wealthy enough to get one) to Bolt Pistols however, but Laspistols are much worse at blamming because it's one of the very few weapons that Flak armor can resist. Bolt Pistols however, have recoil and have considerably less ammo (a typical mag only has 10 rounds (even though that's enough rounds to execute an entire squad of troopers, including the sergeant) than Laspistols. Before you laugh at flak armor only working properly against lasers and shrapnel, keep in mind that fluff says it's kept stiff by therma-plas strips (besides, flak armor is only designed to withstand shrapnel anyway, and in RL shrapnel kills more soldiers than bullets). It stands to reason that the Imperium would use plastic to keep the flak armor stiff, it just so happens that the only plastic they have decent access to happens to be on steroids, and remember that Kevlar is made of plastic so it's not out of the question. Of course, it is still ''plastic'' so it isn't that great against large-caliber bullets and clouds of mono-molecular shuriken. Also, Flak is sufficient to provide protection against autoguns (S3 AP-), which are semi-equivalent to modern assault rifles.