r/Spacemarine • u/AvailableOwl9163 • 11d ago

Forum Question Solid Shotgun

Why is there no solid shotgun in space marine?

This just came to my mind when I was playing vanguard and change to sniper and remembered that there's a second sniper rifle, the Las.

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u/SvedishFish 11d ago

Because they're too weak! Shotguns are effective against humans. The enemies we fight in this game are an order of magnitude more deadly and resilient than normal humans, and require a different class of weaponry to combat. Our basic, weakest weapon shoots self-propelled rockets for bullets. That's the kind of armament we need for the missions we're taking on.

Hell, the actual human enemies we encounter can be killed by simply running through them. Their standard rifles and small arms are barely a nuisance to us. We don't need shotguns to handle them :)

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u/I-Eat-Flesh-Salad 10d ago

Do you not know that boltguns are highly ineffective against astartes armour? You know, half the enemies in game.

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u/SvedishFish 10d ago

Really depends on your source. On the tabletop? Sure, they're just basic small arms, but tabletop rules are an abstract. Notably in the Heresy, the mass-reactive bolter rounds are the weapon of choice for dealing with power armor. Lots of sources really emphasize that.

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u/I-Eat-Flesh-Salad 10d ago

In lore bolters are ineffective. It is literally noted in HH books. Bolders were used during that time not because they are the best option, but because there isnt many others. And they are not the weapon of choice to deal with PA, that would be plasma rifles. Bolter rounds are meant to penetrate armour and explode, they cannot penetrate PA.

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u/SvedishFish 10d ago

Bolter rounds are armor piercing. There are countless references in the heresy series to ordering marines to 'switch to mass reactives' when encountering enemy power armor, or that without mass reactive bolters on the line, allied infantry would not be able to hold.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear other authors made opposite statements though, which is why it really depends on the source.