I am one of those that think fair has nothing to do with it, its up to the GM to balance things. So ,yes, a Space Marine is a killing machine, but even more so is being hit by a Lascannon that vaporizes Adamantine, Rocrete, Plasteel armours, vehicles and even buildings (not to mention Titans)!. Can you imagine a Land Raider shooting a Marine with two-twin linked Lascannons for a mere four scattered wound levels?

Bah! But again a Lascannon was not designed to be a 'shoot on the fly' weapon either, so I would like to share this fix that turns this weapon into what it was designed for, an Artillerists' weapon. (I think someone brought this up earlier and suggested 8d10 with extremely harsh new range chart, but i thought it needed a bit of tweaking.)

All the stats remain as listed in the rulebook as follows:

Lascannon

Availability	Type	Range	Firing Mode	Accuracy	Damage	Shots	Reload	Weight
Exotic	Heavy	I	Single	-10	4d10	20	6	75

 

With these additional rules:

Shooting on the Fly: Though not designed for it, the Lascannon may be used as stated above requiring only one action to fire it.

Charging Up: A character equipped with a Lascannon may spend one action charging up the Temporary Holding Capacitors (THC) adding 2d10 Damage to its next shot. This shot must be fired by the end of the characters' next turn or is lost, filtered throught built-in E-sinks. This action uses up one shot (ammunition).

Focus Lenz: The key to proper use of a Lascannon is how one flares or focuses the weapons' Lenz (As any drill sergeant in the IG Artillerist Training Division will gladly yell at you).
Focusing the Lenz takes one action and requires a successful SG test (1-5 fails, 96-100 passes) and gives +10% Aiming bonus (following all the aiming rules). Before making the SG test, decide if you want a Narrow focus or a Wide flare. Once fired, or if your aim is broken (see Aiming rules pg.34) the Lenz reverts back to normal.

Narrow Focus: The artillerist focuses a tight beam at the target adding 2d10 Damage to the target aimed at. (Doing a 'Tank Death' 8d10 Damage if the Lascannon is Charged Up aswell.)

Wide Flare: The artillerist flares the Lenz dissipating the charged coherent light to a wider area halving the dice rolled (2d10 normally, or 3d10 if Charged Up first), but hitting more locations. Roll for location as normal, then apply damage rolls to each adjacent location (hitting the chest would also hit the abdomen, head, and both arms; hitting an arm would hit the head, chest and abdomen etc.) Because the head and groin are smaller targets they are only hit 50% of the time, unless they were the original target rolled.

Combined Actions: A character may combine Charging Up and Focus Lenz halving the SG test, but if failed both actions are lost.

New Skill
Artillerist- Heavy weapons require more training and up-keep than most standard weaponry, military regulars are put through intense training sessions introducing them to the Rites and Rituals used to evoke its' true efficiency.
A character with this skill may take a free Pause for Breath (pg.26) action if the previous action, and its next are related to the use of his Heavy weapon (firing, aiming, loading etc.) Also any technical rolls made in using the Heavy weapon add +20% SG.

'The world seemed grey around hill 976, Gamma sector; but 'Big Death' Johanson wasn't fooled by the visual tranquility. The low base grumbling and high pitched squeeling of scraping metal treads filled the spaces of his perception. There's a tank behind that mound of dirt, and he was going to break it.

Glancing away from the hill he checked off his weapon once more: Lenz clean, check; THC flushed, check; E-mag locked, check; Crysatline Rod tight and serviced, check; Target Finder Synchronized, check. All was ready, the members of his unit prone and nervous; he was the only one that stood between that noise and their death.

His weapon was the Imperial Issue Mars IV "4'z" Lascannon, and he knew more about it than he did his girl back on Vaja, dirtside. BD Johanson squeezed off one last hit from his rationed Nicohale dispencer as the rumbling base of the tank turned into a roar, breaking the crest of the hill cannon muzzle first. "Get that 4'z on 'im BD!!" Johanson ignored the complaints. 'They know lasguns', he thought as he charged up the whining capacitors, 'and i know Lascannons'.

The tank crashed, front treads breaking earth as it began it's decent belching AP fire at the unit as the THC status bar hit 'red'. BD peered through the target finder and, adjusting for range, blurred the Lenz into a tight beam and took a deep breath and held it. The tank leveled off toward his entrenched "F" Platoon spitting out red muzzled death.

For another heartbeat he held his sights on the guns blazing his way, his unit near its breaking point. 'wait...', he thought to himself, the urge to fire boiling his blood 'wait...', the soldier and friend beside him burst underfire, showered him with gore 'now!!!', and with a heartbeat a white volcanic lance reached out like a god scarring the vision of those that looked apon it, searing off and into the tanks' gun mount seaking out and igniting its amunition cache belching thunder and flames from the tanks' wall.

Four more lances criss-crossed his vision from the surrounding "F" Platoon, some missing some adding to the violence against the tank. For a second the tracks again roared on despite its blazing hulk, true fear crept into 'Big Death' Johanson's heart, but before the fear consumed him totally the tank paused, grinded, and lit up a deathcloud of fire and arcing debris.