Lascannon

From Warhammer 40k

The powerful Lascannon is one of the favorite anti-tank weapons of the Imperial Guard. Its high strength and armor-piercing ability make it a formidable weapon and when it is used in twin-linked mounts, it becomes even more deadly. However, it is very heavy and power-consuming, hence is usually installed on tanks or Sentinel platforms, and two-man teams are required to operate and carry around a single Lascannon. To accommodate the increased power output, the Lascannon has become the largest man-portable form of Las-weaponry, the barrel being several times larger in diameter and length than the standard Lasgun. Space Marines also make extensive use of the Lascannon; it is used by their Devastator heavy weapon squads, Dreadnoughts, Predator Annihilators, and Land Raiders.

The lascannon works in much the same way as the lasgun, albeit with significant differences in practical operation that derive from the massive increase in power. The Lascannon's beam produces a myriad of energetic side effects, including significant muzzle flash, more rarely seen in standard Lasguns, owing to the correspondingly greater power put into the laser emitter and consequent increase in plasma blooming. The beam is also incredibly brilliant, being purple or white in color; this is due primarily to the increase in ambient energy generating higher-energy plasma in the air. It should be noted that some Chaos Lascannons have been observed to fire blue-tinged bolts, which could be a combination of their age (most Chaos Lascannons date before the Horus Heresy, and are therefore slightly less technologically advanced) and wear and tear from thousands of years away from Imperium maintenance facilities, both of which would result in a beam of slightly lower energy density. Lastly, and perhaps most tactically significant, Lascannons require a far longer charging/cool down time than Lasguns, which relegates them to an anti-vehicular role in most armies.

Lascannons are a part of the arsenal of many armies, more so than the lasgun; many armies physically capable of withstanding the recoil of solid-slug anti-infantry weapons comparable to Lasguns (Space Marines, Chaos Space Marines, etc.) still use Lascannon as vehicle-mounted anti-vehicle weaponry, relying on its inherent accuracy and the equally inherent lightness of its ammunition, when compared to a missile system of equivalent damage. The Imperial Guard, which employs laser technology to a much greater degree, uses Lascannon to arm vehicles that do not need heavy cannon, like Sentinels.

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