Macro cannon
Macro cannons are a type of Macroweapon and the largest form of auto-weaponry, much heavier even than the autocannon.[1]
Standard ground-based Macrocannons fire massive and explosive shells at a maximum range of around 40 km. Although it is possible to mount them on heavy vehicles, they are more suited for use in emplacements and static defence due to their considerable size and potency.[1] On spaceships, dozens of individual Macrocannons are grouped together as a Macrobattery, forming a single broadside.[2a] These voidborne cannons are significantly larger than their terrestrial counterparts and are able to accurately hit targets at distances ranging from tens of thousands of kilometres[8] to half a million kilometres.[9] Some void-based Macro-weapons have an effective range comparable to a Nova Cannon, which fires projectiles close to the speed of light[7] at targets up to two-light minutes away.[10]
Macrocannons form the primary weapon of Imperial starships[2a], as part of weapons batteries.[7]
Known Patterns
- Aquilla Macro-Cannon — Heavy ground-based defensive battery.[3]
- Disruption Macrocannon — Fires a shell of highly charged, ionized deuterium atoms. They cause minimal physical damage to their targets, instead they overload and shut down electronic systems throughout the vessel. They are useful for capturing prey intact.[4]
- Heavy Macrocannons — Mounted on certain older Imperial warships and are now found on Chaos vessels.[6]
- Hecutor Plasma Macrocannon — An ancient variant of the plasma macroweaponry that refocuses the power of the plasma blast, concentrating it into photonic packets that can be fired over long distances. They are equipped on only the oldest vessels, and as a result many are found on Chaos Space Marine ships lost many millennia ago.[4]
- Mark VI Mars-pattern Macrocannons — Newer and more powerful than Thunderstrike-pattern macrocannons.[5]
- Stygis-pattern Macrocanon — Fires heavy shells that contain an adamantium core that cuts through the heaviest armour.[4]
- Thunderstrike-pattern Macrocannons — Older and less powerful than the Mark VI Mars-pattern. They fire multi-kilotonne artillery shells capable of shattering a Reaver-class Titan's shields and blowing out its torso section in a single shot. Rarely used by M41, they were still installed on transports. A battery of them were installed upon the keep of Deicoon, a city on the planet Katara, but were destroyed during the Doom of Katara.[5]
Images
A row of Macrocannons mounted on an Imperial Navy starship
Sources
 |
- 1: Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, pg. 87
- 2: Rogue Trader Core Rulebook
- 2a: pg. 219
- 3: Imperial Armour - Apocalypse (2013) (E-Book), pg. 266
- 4: Rogue Trader: Battlefleet Koronus, pgs. 34–35
- 5: Warlord: Fury of the God Machine (Novel), Chapter 5
- 6: Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2
- 7: Battlefleet Gothic Rulebook, Ships of the Gothic Sector
- 8: Rogue Trader: Into the Storm, pg. 158
- 9: Salvation's Reach (Novel) — The Victory (Omnibus), Chapter Nine
- 10: Throne of Light (Novel), Chapter Thirty-Three
| Projectile Weapons | |
|---|---|
| Slug-Throwers | Stub gun • Hand Cannon • Stub Rifle • Heavy stubber • Shotgun • Ripper Gun |
| Auto-Weapons | Autopistol • Autogun • Autocannon • Assault cannon • Macro cannon |
| Ork | Grot Blasta • Slugga • Shoota • Big Shoota • Supa-Gatler • Gigashoota |
| Eldar | Shuriken Weaponry • Shrieker Cannon • Death Spinner • Shadow Weaver |
| Dark Eldar | Splinter Pistol • Splinter Rifle • Splinter Cannon |
| Tau Empire | Kroot Bolt Thrower • Kroot rifle • Kroot hunting rifle • Kroot gun • Rail Rifle • Railgun |
