The forgotten heavy weapon

The Heavy Bolter

Here is a heavy weapon that the G.W. writers cannot get priced properly, get players interested in, has replaced with better options and for some reason will not update. Why do people ignore this weapon? Why is it sometimes seen on vehicles and nowhere else? How can it me made better? Is there any hope for this all but forgotten heavy weapon?

The Heavy Bolter is a fairly basic anti-infantry weapon. At 36” S5 AP4 Heavy 3 it has great range, good strength, descent armor piercing and multiple shots. It can be a major concern for lightly armored infantry. It can even threaten some xenos vehicles. It can be taken by every Imperial and Space Marine (of whatever type) army and is a cheap heavy weapon. However, outside of the occasional vehicle sponson, why does it go unused?

Looks bad ass to me!

The biggest problem is that there are weapons that are better than the heavy bolter. I’ll cover three weapons that have a similar battlefield role as the heavy bolter. The autocannon for one is cheap or the same cost as the heavy bolter. It has better strength and range with the downside being only one less shot. It can threaten armor up to 13 and can really put a hurt on anything without a 3+ save. There is also the assault cannon that outshines the heavy bolter. This comes with better strength, more shots and rending. Sure it has a shorter range, but it is always found on a unit that can move at least 6” and still shoot. Finally, the psycannon that those pesky Grey Knights carry is a supped-up assault cannon that can be fired as Assault 2 or Heavy 4, can be upgraded to strength 7 and has rending. This gun is pretty much the pinnacle of anti-infantry/ light armor (heck even heavy armor might worry). The simple heavy bolter really cannot compete with these three weapons on today’s tabletop. The current state of the game sadly dictates how and what people take for heavy weapons and the heavy bolter is cast aside.

Wait! The Tau are out and have the Burst cannon, which is similar to the heavy bolter. It is strength 5 and AP 5 assault 4 and has an 18" range. It might not have the AP and range of the heavy bolter, but it has the strength and same damage output. Now it is on a base ballistic 3 model, but there are ways of tweaking that with the Tau. Still it is a similar enough to warrant a comparison. Same goes for the Gauss Blaster. This is a 24” S5 AP4 rapid fire Necron gun.  It is a light heavy bolter. It seems the Xenos have weapons that are similar, more available and better than the standard heavy bolter. 

The heavy bolter is sometimes seen on vehicles but not many. It comes standard as hull mounted weapon for every Imperial Guard tank, but is usually swapped for a lascannon. It is sometimes thrown on various tanks as a sponson weapon. It is the standard armament for Marine speeders, but once again people swap it for multi-meltas. It comes as the base gun for the Razorback transport and is even twin-linked, but it still pitched for either assault cannons or the weird lascannon-plasma gun combo. It seems the heavy bolter really doesn’t have much of a home on vehicles either. There is a bit of a use for sponsons in 6^th edition. The weapon destroyed damage rolls are random now. It does give the gun you want to survive better chances with cheap heavy bolters to hopefully take the damage instead.

This weapon could have really benefited from this new edition, but sadly it does not. The new rule Salvo could have been added to the heavy bolter. This might actually make people want to try it. Why not make the heavy bolter a Salvo weapon? Let a model move and shoot with it at full ballistic. Maybe something like 36” S5 AP4 Heavy Salvo 2/3. It would lose a shot on the move, keeps the unit from charging after firing, but keeps the range and adds a bit more punch for a unit on the move. They cannot give it better strength or more shots, but they could have changed the heavy bolter this way. I don’t even think there would be a need for a point increase either. It would still probably get a big pass from most players, but it would least be a bit more viable and shows that the developers are trying to alter the tried and true. G.W. could have done anything to draw players to this weapon, but they were too busy with allies, sweeping rule changes and flyers it seems.

Myself, I like the heavy bolter. Why? Well first it makes for a great looking Marine. A big armored dude with a giant gun, that is not shoulder mounted. The backpack and belt feed to the gun is just really cool looking. Then throw in all the action movies: Rambo, Predator, Missing in Action, etc. where you have guys totting and firing big machine guns. Throw in some G.I. Joe, Lobo, Cable and various gun wielding comic book characters. They have their big frakka cannons and you can see how I’m drawn to the heavy bolter aesthetic. Yeah, pop culture has made the heavy bolter that much cooler for me. The fact that nobody fears it is also good fun. Especially, when they do some damage to a squad. 

Much like the Spanish Inquisition….nobody expects them! Give me a squad of land speeders with dual heavy bolters. I’ll take the Havoc or Devastator squad with four heavy bolters (or even better Long Fangs with 5!!) and a basic Razorback. Throw the heavy bolters on my Predators and Russes!

The gun looks great, and has a use in an army. I know I’m the minority, but who cares. Whether you change the gun or don’t G.W., I’ll still embrace it! Mock my use of it gamers, and I’ll shrug my shoulders to your barbs. I’ll make frakka frakka frakka sounds internally as I roll my dice for this gun and revel in it.

I’m Ian!!! and I proudly support the heavy bolter.