Even though high powered lasers and plasma weapons scour the battlefields of the 41st millennium close combat remains commonplace – sieges, city fighting, boarding actions and tunnel warfare are noted more for the ferocity of the fighting than any strategic nuances. Seasoned warriors always bear a deadly array of clubs, knives, frag grenades and bayonets for close-quarter fighting.
Assault troops will be even more fully equipped, taking pistols, swords and axes into battle with them. Most deadly of all are the power weapons that are sheathed in disruptive energy fields of crackling blue bale-fire. Power weapons splinter ceramite armour plates and melt plasteel in the blink of an eye, smashing through even the toughest armour like paper.
Specialised weaponry can give troops a real edge in close combat. Some of the most common close combat weapons and special attacks are listed below. In all cases models can only use their special attacks if they are in base-to-base contact with the enemy, otherwise they attack normally. Note that models with special close combat attacks can always choose not to use them and attack normally instead, if you're wondering why you might want to do that read the Power Fist entry below!