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Heavy Bolter
The Heavy Bolter is a larger version of the standard bolter. It is sometimes known as the back breaker or bruiser by the crew who have to carry it, because of its great weight, but also because of the heavy punishment it can deal out to the enemy. It fires a bolt which contains a more powerful propellant and explosive charge than the normal bolter. The Heavy Bolter is used to support more lightly equipped troops, and is designed to operate as an anti personnel weapon although with the capacity to also destroy lightly armoured vehicles. It is large and cumbersome but also very fast firing and efficient. Like all bolters it makes a loud and impressive noise as it is fired, especially when its bolt missiles hit their target and explode.The Imperium has also developed a special shell for the Heavy Bolter called the Hellfire shell. This has been designed specifically to take out large alien creatures which are difficult to kill with ordinary weapons, for example Tyranid Warriors. The Hellfire shell is heavier than an ordinary shell and has a more powerful propellant charge. For this reason, only one may be fired at a time, as the trooper has to load the shell into the gun manually from a separate compartment in the magazine.
What makes this shell totally different from an ordinary bolter shell is that is made from a brittle ceramic substance much like glass. Within this ceramic case is a chamber which contains a mutagenic acid developed by the Adaptus Mechanicus When the shell strikes its target a high velocity, it breaks into thousands of needle like shards which penetrate the hide of the target and carry mutagenic acid into its blood stream. If the Target is a human sized creature it will probably be torn apart by the shards themselves. If not, the mutagenic acids will will soon eat through is body, rupturing cell tissue and burning through flesh and bone. Even a large, resilient creature like a Tyranid warrior is unlikely to survive unscathed.
Occasionally the Hellfire shell fails to burst or the acid spray misses the target.
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