Weapon "patterns"

So i'm collecting some info for my upcoming Dark heresy game. I want to expand on the selection of weapons. I know there are tons of makes and models for every basic weapon in the game. The lasgun itself has tons. So can anyone of you recall and possibly list the attribute of a specific weapon? Bolters, lasguns, power weapons, chainswords, power armor! I'm very dumb when it comes to all the MKs and stuff with armor so feel free to post what you know ( I'm looking at all you "fluffers" out there )

Lol....

Fluffers....

Any of the artbooks or inquisitor books can help here. The Jes Goodwin art books have a lot of information on different Mk Power Armor and the inquisitor book (and downloads on the specialist site) tend to have information on different pattern lasguns and bolters.

They even have stat lines you could mod for DH.

Ok I will start there, thanks.


I don't need statlines though, I can do that myself.

Id like to hear any specific examples people might have, even ones theyv thought of.

Here's some stuff on different power armour types.

Thunder Armour: Thunder Armour was not an enclosing suit and offered no life support functions, being unnecessary while the fighting was confined to Earth. This early armour was produced on a completely local basis. There was no standard design, individual suits varied heavily and their exact designs were often a matter of personal taste. The main part of the armour is the massive powered torso which encloses the chest and arms. Coiled energy cables beneath the armour plating transmit power from the power pack on the back to the arms, greatly increasing physical strength. Since fighting on Earth during the period was primarily close-quarters, the strength of a warrior's chest and arms was of paramount importance. The legs of this armour are not power-armoured at all, but are enclosed in tough padded breaches. Although uncommon, the best equipped warriors sometimes wore armoured greaves and armoured boots.

Crusade Armour: The Crusade Armour is fully plated, and the legs are also power armored. The plates are arranged into articulated hoops, for increased maneuverability. The chest coils, which were kept on the outside of the armour plating on Mark 1 armour for cooling purposes, have now been placed on the inside of the chest plates, so that they are better protected, thanks to more efficient cooling mechanisms. The back pack is roughly the same size as that on the mark 1 armour, but is much more efficient, and also includes extra life support, air recycling and fluid recovery equipment, as well as automated medical devices that have remained a part of space marine armour ever since.
The helmet is fitted with automatic sensory devices developed on Mars, this allows the wearer to see and hear as though not wearing a helmet, and, since all information is transmitted to a computer in the helmet before being transmitted directly to the wearer's brain via neural link, blinding lights and deafening noises can be muted so that they don't harm the wearer. The wearer is also able to see in the infra-red and ultra-violet spectrum, and images can be zoomed in and magnified.

Iron Armour: This armour was ideal when cover was minimal and combat was a matter of frontal assault. Mark 3 was never intended to replace the previous Mark but to provide a specialized suit with heavier protection. It has more frontal protection than the Mark 2 Armour, but the weight of the rear armour was lessened to compensate. The suit uses a heavy armoured helmet with sloping plates designed to deflect shots to the left and right. The helmet inspired the Mark 4 and 6 helmet designs. While successful in the conditions it was designed for - particularly, tunnel fighting and boarding actions - the armour is too clumsy and uncomfortable for conventional fighting. As the most visually brutal of all Marine armour, it is sometimes worn by ceremonial guards.

Maximus Armour: At the Mark 4 stage of the power armour development, Space Marine armour began to take on an appearance recognizable as contemporary power armour, its most main change being the abandonment of the separate abutting plates in favour of larger inflexible armour casings incorporating flexible joints. This marginally reduced mobility but was far easier to produce and maintain. Technical secrets recovered on newly conquered worlds allowed Mars to develop the more efficient armour, improving the quality of protection and reducing the suit's weight at the same time. Improved armouring of the power cables allowed the main arm and chest supply to be safely relocated to the exterior of the armour, while the use of new material reduced the size and number of cables. The helmet was a completely new design, the basic shape inspired by the sweeping front of the Mark 3. In Mark 3 and later versions the helmet is no longer fixed, but moves with the wearer's head. This represented the constructors increasing experience with neural connector gear and the new materials which flooded into the Martian workshops as the Crusade progressed.
Continued Below.

Heresy Armour: The equipping of the legions was only partially complete when the Horus Heresy broke out. Many of the newly equipped Legions turned against the Imperium while many loyal Legions had old style armour. With war damage and mobile operations resupply for damaged equipment was difficult or impossible. Marine artificers and Techmarines had to use old style equipment from older models to keep chapters fighting. The Mark 5 is commonly called the Heresy Suit. This pattern is distinguished by a studded helmet, shoulder plate and greaves. These studs are the tops of bolts which attach each layer of the armour to one another. The helmet appears to be an early version of the Mk. VII helmet, although it is significantly more low-tech in its design.

Corvus Armour: At the end of production of the Mark 4 type a long term research project began to replace the existing power armour. This lead to the production of the Corvus Suit as a stopgap measure using a mixture of new and old features.

Aquila Armour: Mark 7 armour was developed during the Horus Heresy, and remains in use as the most common form of power armour ten thousand years later. It represents the final major development of Mark 6 armour. While the final battle for Mars was underway, the Imperium realised the planet would eventually be lost. Armour development teams were transferred to Earth to continue, incorporating their latest work into the armour type that would become Mark 7. As Mars fell to Horus, the new armour began reaching the Space Marines on Earth and Luna. Mark 7's main improvement is the newly designed chest plastron which covers the chest and arm cabling. The chest bears the Imperial Eagle, giving the armour its common name of Armorum Impetor, or Eagle Armour. This mark abandons the studded shoulder armour plate, and replaces the helmet. As Mark 7 is a development of Mark 6, both have a great deal in common, and parts from one mark are readily interchangeable with parts from the other.

Errant Armour: The suit itself is a highly modified Mark 7, with additional fixed armour plates on the torso that now enclose all of the suits cables, which were vulnerable to weapons fire, and a new armored collar protects the helmets respirator, and also addressed the vunerability issues of the neck joint, which had been know to act as a "shell-trap", (a round could hit the chest armour and deflect up into the neck joint). The new collar required a new helmet design, which caused problems for backward compatibility with earlier helmet types. Mark 8 armor has only seen limited production thus far, and is seen in limited numbers on the battlefields of the 41st millennium. Often, it is worn by officers or squad leaders as a symbol of rank.

Hope that helps and sorry for the long read.

Don't appolagise, that is awesome.

Stat lines will help tell you what kind of gun (or type) they are with limited description. I'd look at fan fic on BL's website too. Not official but a good spot to find some alright stuff.

sweet, thanks matt.

I appreciate your advice on where to find stuff, but how about you lay down some of that cryptic knowledge of yours?

Whats your favorite pattern bolter?

I either read about this or am making it up as I type but I recall a "Julian?" pattern bolter? essentially a snubby nosed highly accurate bolter with a reduced magazine. Perfect for the inquisition or commissars. After all, if the Sgt. makes its 50 yrds away, you gotta make sure you can still get the head shot.

I was reading somewhere about mentor pattern bolters, i think it was the bolter and chainsword, looked really cool, they were basically a bullpup design bolter, looked awesome so i tried it on one of my guys. but anyway, B+C might be another good place to look.

I'd guess a snubby nosed bolter would be more inaccurate rather than more accurate. What pattern bolter does the new SM sgt. have? (tellion or whatever his name is)

You could base some rules around that.

I'd also look at modern guns and modify stats based on those.

Bullpup weapons for example (clip behind the trigger frame) are normally more innacurate... but are shorter and easier to use in close quarters (L85A1/2, M TAR-21, etc.)

I'd look on this website too. They have tons of fan created rules for DH that might be a good start.

http://www.darkreign40k.com/

Specifically the armory section

http://www.darkreign40k.com/armoury/index.php

Each section even has a comments area at the bottom where you can read peoples gripes with the rules.

Here is a sample page with some lasgun variants and other weapons

http://www.darkreign40k.com/weapons-and-armour/tech-heresy-weapons-by-and-for-the-heretek.html

http://www.darkreign40k.com/weapons-and-armour/guns-of-the-imperium-calixis-sector.html

or these attachments

http://www.darkreign40k.com/weapons-and-armour/new-weapon-attachments-and-upgrades-2.html

Poke around though, you'll find lots of good stuff. I'd say that the best idea is to look at the way modern armies create variants to basic weapons and create your own from there.

I think my SF buddies would disagree with you matt about the bullpup design.

The whole idea is more barrel (and thus accuracy) per your length of weapon.

( I am not in a combative job so this is second hand)

The only downfall being mechanics as the design is more likely to fail, jams and what not.

Ah, im loving the links

To clarify matt.

I appreciate the links to existing material. Thats more what i'm looking.

And I'm having trouble NO trouble whatsoever coming up with new random weapons, but I want to start with existing weapon patterns established in the fluff but not yet apart of DH.

In that case I'd read some BL books. Perhaps the Eisenhorn series or similar titles. You won't find much elsewhere.

The Imperial Armor books might make mention of some.