SPACE MARINE ARMAMENT
Space Marines have access to the full range of Imperial weaponry and equipment. Their training and biochemical engineering ensure that they are natural masters with any type of weapon, from rocks and sticks of feral world savages to the sophisticated needlers and neuro-disruptors favored by spies and assassins. For nearly all their combat duties however, they use standard weapons mixes, relying on a narrow range of favored general purpose weapons.
The standard Space Marine weapon is the bolt gun, or bolter. This is a light, rapid-fire weapon, firing a hail of small-caliber explosive shells. Bolter shells generally use mass-reactive fuses, so that they explode after penetrating the target, rather then upon impact: this makes the bolter a highly effective anti-personnel weapon.
The main close assault weapon is the bolt pistol, a smaller version of the bolter that works on identical principles. While it lacks the range of the larger bolt gun, its handier pistol configuration makes it ideally suited for close fighting.
Other favored cloase assault weapons include the power glove and the chainsword, both of which are most commonly issued to officers leading assault troops. The power glove is a scaled-up metal gauntlet surrounded by an energy field which gives it the strength to punch through armor and even steel bulkheads. The chainsword is as it sounds - a sword-like weapon whose edges are fitted with a loop of moving blades.
The Space Marines also use a wide range of support weapons, of which the most common are heavy bolters, melta-guns, plasma guns, las-cannons and missile launchers.
The heavy bolter is a larger version of the bolt gun, which can lay down a curtain of fire across a wide area. While its firepower against personnel targets is devastating, its shells are too light to harm armored vehicles.
Also known as the melter or fusion gun, the melta-gun is a heat weapon, whose short range is balanced by its effectiveness against both infantry and vehicles. A small scale controlled fusion reaction inside the weapon's firing chamber causes it to project a blast of heat so intense that metal or plastic can be melted almost instantly.
The plasma gun fires small packets of superheated gas plasma. Like the melta-gun, its killing power helps make up for its short range and it is equally effective against infantry and armored vehicles.
The las-cannon, or laser cannon, is a favorite anti-vehicle weapon, with a long range and sufficient punch to knock out a Land Raider. As well as being a popular infantry weapon, it is often mounted on vehicles.
The missile launchers rival the las-cannon as the most popular infantry weapon. Its variety of loads makes it equally effective against vehicles and infantry, and its range is equal to that of a las-cannon.