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just wanted to know...how does an inferno pistol (melta) work (en detail)...the difference to plasma..
fluff wise, whats more powerful...the plasma gun orn the inferno pistol
what is the older technology....also, what do you think, in ff terms, would be the greater "honour" for inquisitor xyz: after he defeated xxx, he received the plasma/inferno pistol.
what would it look like if you fired these weapons...
Well.. they're both prestige weapons. But an inferno pistol is certainly rarer. It's an artificer weapon, after all.
Melta weapons 'force pyrum-petrol gas into a sub molecular state.' While I confess to being somewhat ignorant of what this means, I'd guess that the mixing of two gasses creates superheated gas, which then gets fired at the target, who then vaporises explosively.
However, the picture of an inferno pistol on the front of the Witch Hunter Codex seems to display actual flames. So I'm really not sure about that one.
Plasma weapons fire a self-contained ball of exploding gas. One important difference seems to be that plasma weapon requires vast ammounts of energy to heat the gas (hence the fact they frequently explode) while the melta weapon seem to use an inbuilt chemical reaction.
Visually..
Plasma pistol = Bolt of glowing matter shoots out the end and explodes violently when it hits something. The cooling fins on the back of the weapon also glow, apparently.
Melta weapon = Assuming the above artist got it wrong.. I've seen conflicting things. I'm sure I read somewhere that meltaweapons simply created heat-haze when they fired, but some pictures I've seen portray it as a glowing stream of gas being emitted from the barrel. So we don't really know.
GW's attempts at scientific explanations usually aren't terribly well researched.
Anyways, they talk about Melta weapons "forcing gas into a sub molecular state." I don't quite see what they're getting at, but I assume that they mean supercharging it in some way, although supercharged gas is, after all, known as "plasma." (irl)
GW's Plasma weapons seem to work in a similar fashion; they just switch up the scientific words. :p
So in plasma, the gas (Specifically Hydrogen) is also superheated, but for some reason it's unstable so it requires a magnetic field to contain it. The weapon overheats when the magnetic field fails to work.
Fluff-wise, the inferno pistol would definitely be rarer, although I've only heard of one; the one belonging to Dante.
When you fire both of them, I assume there is a large flash. Melta weapons are supposedly silent, save for the target being obliterated, while Plasma weapons are louder, I think. Of course, I can't help thinking of Halo when I hear the word plasma, so what do I know?
thanksalot guys!
Imagine a ten-foot beam of white-hot balefire shooting at the vaporisation point of adamantium. That's an inferno pistol.
Inferno pistols are extremely rare, master artificer weapons of immense strength (strength 8, AP:2 game wise). They can be made but are rarely done. Unlike plasma weaponry theyre only given to the highest ranking individuals (Inquisitors of the ordo Hereticus). When they say 'super charged in a sub molecular state' its like quadrupling the power of a flamer. With a flamer the gas is spewed out and hits the flame at the end of the gun, but with the inferno pistol (1) the more potent fuel is charged inside the gun itself, (2) storing it and compacting the flame in molecules thus created more and more so its like a mini sun in the gun itself. This is then launched in a super charged heat beam that breaks down the molecular structure of the target.
Plasma weapons use photonic hydrogen, two flasks are screwed in and the contents pass through a fusion core that turns it into raw plasma energy, then fired in a bluish bolt. It looks like a beam when it leaves the gun itself but thats just a trajectory created by the flickers of plasma leaving the bolt of energy itself due to the speed. Anyway it hits the target and engulfs in extreme heat, said to be the equivalent of the sun.
Melta gun pryum-petrol flask is good for an average five shots, average plasma fuel flask is good for ten shots. Melta weapons make no sound when firing, only sound is of the target vaporizing and then exploding and plasma weapons screech or hiss when it is charging up to fire. Sounds also come from the fan trying to cool down the plasma weapon so its doesnt overheat and explode in the user's hands. Major difference is melta weapons are somewhat disadvantaged if you can call it that because theyre shots dissapate at long ranges whereas plasma guns can be just as effective at longer ranges.
Melta weapons are preferred to plasma weaponry because theyre more reliable, in fluff terms anyway. I think that was a bit much, oh well, hope i helped.
Last edited by Grand Master Saiyan Sanguine; May 3rd, 2005 at 05:06.
I wish my space marines could have them, it would be the ideal weapon fluff wise for my commander who has yet to be discovered and recognised (bought and assembeled), as he was to live alone for 30 years solid fighting, he would need a rocking gun to get him through that, so is it possible for SM's 2 get them?
"In a large war, the tanks only battle the tanks, its up to the footsloggers to win the war" -me
Commander Dante is the only SM to own an Inferno pistol. It's believed to be one of the first made. It's not in the SM armoury, so equipping your HQ with it is illegal.
Originally Posted by ze_poodle
High ranking witch hunter inquistors have them, theyre just as effective as Lord Dante's, His just looks way cooler and is much much older.
Considering I said he was the only Space Marine to have one, and Witch Hunters not being Space Marines at all, then it's perfectly applicable for an Inquisitor to have one. Space Marines can't. Not in the armoury.
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