Conversion Beamer
The Conversion Beamer, also called a Conversion Beam Projector, is an incredibly rare and deadly antimatter-based pre-Heresy archeotech weapon most likely developed during the Dark Age of Technology. In the 41st Millennium, a Conversion Beamer is usually only wielded by a Space Marine Chapter's Master of the Forge or, in rare cases, agents of the Inquisition.
History
Schematics of a Conversion Beamer
A Conversion Beamer is an esoteric weapon that is both difficult to construct and highly complex to use, needing skilled calibration to operate as well as dedicated reactor core systems to power. As a result of this complexity, Conversion Beamers were primarily used during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy in the late 30th and early 31st Millennia for dedicated siege warfare or starship breaching assaults by specialised operators such as Space Marine Legion Techmarines and Mechanicum Destructors. Should anyone else attempt to use the weapon, its Machine Spirit might become greatly angered and turn its ire upon the wielder instead. More rarely, larger Conversion Beamer weapons were mounted on a vehicle chassis with advanced control mechanisms and an abundance of reactor power such as the Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought. In the late 41st Millennium, Conversion Beamers are incredibly rare pre-Heresy artefacts, and their conservation and deployment is typically the responsibility of a Space Marine Chapter's Master of the Forge.
Conversion Beamer Operation
A Conversion Beam weapon fires a beam of antimatter which induces a subatomic implosion in its target, with the beam itself gathering power over distance up to a terminal point of beam instability. By using the energy stored in atomic bonds, a Conversion Beamer can annihilate creatures, vehicles, or nearly anything its beam reaches, provided it is given time to build to critical mass. When fired, a Conversion Beamer expels a stream of neutron-bombarded antimatter particles, beginning an atomic chain reaction that converts any matter the antimatter touches into an equivalent mass of energy in a blazing beam that hurtles towards the target. As the escalating antimatter/matter reaction travels, more and more air molecules are converted into a deadly blast that finally consumes the target in an explosive release of pure energy. As such, the Conversion Beamer is equally effective against large targets as well as small ones. The further away a target, the more effective the Conversion Beamer proves as it is given more time to escalate in power. However, the antimatter beam is so dangerous that it has to be held very steady to achieve its effect without endangering allied troops, so the weapon cannot be used on the move.
Heavy Conversion Beamer
A Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought of the Red Talons Space Marine Chapter with a Heavy Conversion Beamer
The Heavy Conversion Beamer is an ancient relic-weapon of incredible and poorly-understood power that only the advanced systems of the Contemptor Dreadnought or a Deimos Predator Executioner can hope to accurately direct and control. As the Heavy Conversion Beamer is a scaled-up version of the standard Conversion Beamer, they can affect a larger area.
Uses
Conversion beamers can be used by:
- Space Marine Masters of the Forge
- Ordo Xenos Inquisitors
- Adeptus Mechanicus Myrmidon Destructors
- Grey Knights Techmarines
- Members of the Deathwatch
Heavy Conversion Beamers can be used by:
Sources
- Codex: Grey Knights (5th Edition), pg. 55
- Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition), pg. 70
- Dark Heresy: Daemon Hunter (RPG), pg. 66
- Deathwatch: Core Rulebook (RPG), pp. 88-89, 152-153
- Imperial Armour Volume Nine - Badab War - Part One, pg. 167
- The Horus Heresy Betrayal - Book One by Alan Bligh, pg. 230
- Warhammer 40,000: Wargear (2nd Edition), pg. 49
- Forge World - Contemptor Heavy Conversion Beamer
- Forge World - Decimator Heavy Conversion Beamer
- Forge World - Deimos Predator Pattern Predator Executioner
Gallery
