Lasgun Patterns

There are a dizzying number of different Lasguns in the Imperium of Man, often referred to as "Patterns," as many of them are made from specific design philosophies. In a brief effort to cover the dizzying number of different Lasgun types and a bit of information about each, this article has been made.

Varying Lasgun Types

• Kantreal Pattern Lasgun
  • Named for the forgeworld in which it was first built, the Kantreal-pattern Lasgun is considered by many to be the most iconic Lasgun in the imperium, with its only real rival being the Armageddon Pattern. The Kantreal Pattern Lasgun was developed specifically for the Cadian Shock Troops and for Kantreal's own PDF, and it shows; the gun has a reinforced frame and was the first Lasgun to feature bayonet lugs as a built-in component. Like the shorter Armageddon pattern, the Kantreal Pattern features a top-mounted rail to allow easy mounting of scopes and other accessories as well.

• Galaxy Pattern Lasgun
  • Favored by the Catachan Jungle Fighters and the Armageddon Steel Legion for roughly the same reason, and being the preferred weapon of the former, the Galaxy Pattern Lasgun features a shorter barrel and increased cooling. It lacks the standard bayonet lugs of the Kantreal Pattern (its immediate predecessor), but is both lighter, easier to handle, and still boasts a scope rail. The Galaxy Pattern was the first Lasgun in the Imperium to include an easily swapped barrel, enabling it to be easily converted to a Sniper Rifle (long-las) or cut down carbine (Voss Pattern).

• Voss Pattern Lasgun
  • The Voss Pattern is virtually identical to the Galaxy Pattern, and was intended for Chimera Transport and Leman Russ Battle Tank crews - Guardsmen who had need of ample firepower but need to minimize both size and weight. With all the firepower of its big brother but a shorter effective range, the Voss Pattern is essentially a Galaxy Pattern with a shortened barrel and a folding skeletal stock. Like the Galaxy Pattern, it's primarily seen used by the Armageddon Steel Legion and Catachan Jungle Fighters, being the favored Lasgun of the former. Uniquely, the Voss operates only on automatic.

• Lucius Pattern Lasgun
  • Made famous by the Death Korps of Krieg, the Lucius Pattern - sometimes called the Number 98 - is designed for brute force; its power pack operates at a higher charge than many other more common patterns of Lasgun. This gives the weapon more punch, but drains the powerpack after only 25 shots. Another downside: Unlike other Lasguns, the Lucius is semi-automatic only, with a slower recycle rate than other Lasguns. It was judged by the Kriegers that the extra stopping power of the Lucius pattern essentially makes up for this drawback. The barrel of the Lucius is its most distinctive feature; it has a series of heatsinks to dissipate the excessive heat buildup the increased energy output of the Lucius Pattern creates under sustained fire.

• Triplex Pattern Lasgun
  • This is the preferred weapon of the Mordian Iron Guard and Valhallan Ice Warriors. It gets its name from its variable fire-rate settings; whereas most Lasguns simply have semi-automatic or automatic-only fire modes, or, rarely, the ability to swap, the Triplex has both semi-automatic and a three-round burst setting, rare among las-weapons. It also features a "high intensity" mode that can do substantial damage, but renders the weapon unreliable and capable of overheating and exhausting its power pack in record time, making the Triplex a somewhat-sought-after weapon - offset by finicky electronics and a short barrel length making it somewhat less-suited to open-terrain warfare than newer Lasguns.