The technology of the 41st millennium has spawned innumerable weapons of destruction, ranging from the simple but efficient laspistol to the barely controllable energies of the plasma cannon. In this section we'll describe how special rules and characteristics reflect the differences between different weapons.
- Type
A weapon's type (blast, flame, rapid fire, pistol, heavy, barrage or linked) governs how it fires and how many shots it gets.
- Multiple Shots
Weapons that fire more than one shot per shooting phase note the shot count after their type, e.g. Heavy 3.
- Blast Weapons
Weapons that fire shells or bolts which explode on impact, using a Blast marker to hit every model it covers.
- Flame Weapons
Short-ranged weapons that use a teardrop template, automatically hitting everything it covers and ignoring cover.
- Rapid Fire Weapons
Self-loading weapons that fire twice at short range if the firer stayed stationary, or once at any range up to 12 inches if it moved.
- Pistol Weapons
Light, one-handed weapons with short range that let a trooper fight in close combat with pistol and melee weapon combined.
- Heavy Weapons
Weapons so heavy or slow to use that a model cannot shoot them at all if its unit moved that turn.
- Assault Weapons
Weapons that always fire their full number of shots whether the firing model moved or not, and regardless of range.
- Barrage Weapons
Blast weapons that fire indirectly by guessing the range to their target, scattering on a miss, and ignoring intervening terrain and line of sight.
- Linked Weapons
Weapons fired together so that a missed to-hit roll may be re-rolled once.
- "Incoming!" – Barrage Pinning
Units that suffer casualties from a barrage must pass a Leadership test or be pinned down, unable to move, shoot or assault next turn.
- Weapons Table
Reference table of Range, Strength, AP and Type for the Imperium's common weapons and the Ork, Eldar, Dark Eldar and Tyranid xenos weapons.