I think, and I have no notion of whether this is a good idea or not, that if the mechanics for them were done well the Hellgun could make for a really good halfway house between the Kantrael & Helbore Lasguns and the Plasma gun.
My concept is this:
- Same firing modes as the Bolter: Hipfire = automatic, Aim Down Sights = single-shot
- An Overheat mechanic which affects weapon accuracy
- Armour penetration but not significantly more damage than a Kantrael Mk XII las weapon
- Potential secondary mechanic to increase ammunition consumption per shot
The Overheat mechanic would not be like the Plasma gun’s, which is dangerous to the Operative, nor would it be like such things are usually handled in games whereby the weapon stops functioning completely. Instead, the automatic fire mode builds heat and that heat causes accuracy to degrade, slowly at first and then rising exponentially to the point that you can only hit hordes in your face or that very nasty Crusher looming over you.
By contrast the single-shot semi-automatic nature of the Aim Down Sights mode means heat builds at a much slower rate but you’re also shooting at targets more slowly. ADS would be affected by the heat built on automatic mode, so you cannot just blast away into a horde and then start getting headshots on elites/specialists immediately, for example. Heat management is part and parcel of using the weapon.
One standard thing about Hotshots/Hellguns is that they have increased armour penetration but they don’t do significantly more damage than a Lasgun which, I feel I must point out, is a very deadly weapon against a human. As such you would be right to think that for harder difficulties where we see lots of armour (cough Crushers and Maulers cough) the Hellgun would be very useful and thats what its lore role is, to provide Stormtroopers with anti-armour lasfire against elite enemies the Stormtroopers might find in their behind enemy lines/battlefield roles.
One of the conundrums is how to feed the weapon ammunition. The Mk I, iconic of the metal range of Stormtroopers now known as Inquisitorial Stormtroopers, uses a cell like the lasgun, so no issue there. The Mk II and the Krieg Type XIV use backpack carried cells. Instead, possibly their mechanic should be to have a rechargable cell. This is where that secondary mechanic of increased ammunition consumption comes into the fray. The longer you fire on automatic, the quicker the cell depletes once the weapon is overheated. Ammunition pick-ups can thus provide not just replenishment to the cell, but wipe out some gained heat. Cosmetically, the obvious answer of what to do with the cell is have it replace whatever cosmetic backpack the person had equipped.
As you can see, I’ve had a bit of a thought experiment with this one as I love Hellguns, always have, and if they included the ‘Inquisitorial Stormtrooper’ armour to the store, and it was CORRECT and ACCURATE to the minis and art,* I’d have to buy it and use nothing but Hellguns.
*Still scarred by the DKoK fiasco.
