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''External Link:'' [https://youtu.be/ZUL_XW8KDvk?t=1544 Interview with Andy Chambers and Bill King]
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{{Trivia}}
===Cased vs Caseless===
Even as of 2025, there has been somewhat of a longstanding conflict between Boltguns boltgun ammunition being cased or caseless. :*In [[1st Edition]] (Rogue Trader) , bolts are described as self-propelled explosives akin to small missiles.{{fnFn|1b}} and This is reiterated in later 40k publications.{{fnFn|33}} This by definition makes them [[Wikipedia:Caseless_ammunition#Internal-propellant_caseless_ammunition|Internalinternal-propellant caseless ammunition]].{{fnFn|1b}} According to both the [[Liber Astartes (3rd 2nd Edition)|2nd]]{{fnFn|2120}} as well as and [[Liber Astartes (2nd 3rd Edition)|3rd editions]] of ''[[Liber Astartes]]'', bolt weapons fire caseless ammunition.{{fn|24}} This description is depicted in ''[[Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie]]''{{fnFn|32}} as well as ''[[Secret Level]]''.{{fnFn|34}}
<gallery mode="nolines" heights="150" widths="150">
Bolt Ultramarines A Warhammer 40,000 Movie.jpg|<sup><small>Bolt round depicted as a self-propelled caseless munition</small></sup>
</gallery>
{{clear}}
*This is in stark contrast to the numerous depictions, statements, and portrayals of bolt weapons clearly ejecting spent cases:**In ''[[The Flight of the Eisenstein (Novel)|The Flight of the Eisenstein]]'', [[Kaleb Arin]] wears an engraved bolt shell case on a chain around his neck.{{fnFn|31}}**[[Marksman's Honour]] medals are described and presented as being made from spent bolt shell casings fired by [[Roboute Guilliman]].{{CME}}**In ''[[Beneath the Flesh (Short Story)|Beneath the Flesh]]'', [[Maion]]'s eidetic memory is able to record, among other things, every bolt shell casing that struck the ground.{{fnFn|36}}**Mentions and references to bolt shell casings are present throughout ''[[Praetorian of Dorn (Novel)|Praetorian of Dorn]]''.{{fn|35}}
<gallery mode="nolines" heights="150" widths="150">
Assault Marine Will Rees Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader pg104.jpg|<sup><small>Spent cases from the bolters of [[Assault Marines]] ([[1st Edition]])</small></sup>
</gallery>
According to [[Andy Chambers]] in [https://youtu.be/ZUL_XW8KDvk?t=1544 an interviewwith Bill King]{{Fn|25}}:
{{QuoteBox
|quote = <small>"Bloody Bolters! 'Mass-Reactive Caseless Ammuntion' says it right there in 40k, [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader|Rogue Trader]], right from the get go: caseless. What do artists always do with boltguns? Cases flying everywhere! Because it looks awesome, alright. Anybody whose seen particularly late 80-90s action movies - 'Dakka-dakka-dakka' brass flying everywhere - knows its one of those things that conveys kinetic violence happening. So when it comes to doing a static image that you're trying to show a guy firing a big rapid fire gun of course an artist is going to reach for having casings flying out of it or it's a heavy battle so there's loads of brass on the ground and things like that, because it's a visual key for people to clue into even subconsciously about what's happening. So actually 'caseless' was useless as a term to describe them because it fought against what the art wanted to do. So eventually we kind of lampshaded it basically, or I did, and wrote in that they use a little kind of like sabot thing to launch them out of the barrel kind of like RPG-7s do. So at that point it's fine, I no longer have to shout at artists whenever I see brass coming out of bolters cause it's fine, we need it, and it looks good."{{Fn|25}}</small>
|width = 40em
}}
==See also==
==Sources==
*1: [[Rogue Trader Rulebook]]:
**{{Endn|1a}}: pgs. 121-122
**{{Endn|1b}}: pgpgs.277-278
*{{Endn|2}}: [[Warhammer 40,000: Wargear]], pg. 21
*{{Endn|3}}: [[Codex: Space Marines (4th Edition)]], pg. 11
*{{Endn|4}}: [[Imperial Armour Volume Two - Space Marines and Forces of the Inquisition]], pg. 250
*{{Endn|5}}: [[Know Thine Enemy (Short Story)]] — [[Let the Galaxy Burn (Anthology)]], ppg. 296*{{Endn|6}}: [[Nightbringer (Novel)]] - [[The Ultramarines Omnibus]], Chapter Nine, ppg. 145*{{Endn|7}}: [https://www.warhammer-community.com/2019/11/19/black-templars-tactica-crusading-101gw-homepage-post-1/ Warhammer Community: Black Templars Tactica: Crusading 101 (posted November 19 /11/2019)] ''(last accessed 11/19/November 2019)''
*{{Endn|8}}: [[Corax: Lord of Shadows (Novel)]], Chapter 6
*{{Endn|9}}: [[Dark Heresy: The Inquisitor's Handbook]], pg. 148
*{{Endn|21}}: [[The Eternal Crusader (Novella)]], Chapter 7
*{{Endn|22}}: [[The Master of Mankind (Novel)]] (e-version), Chapter Six
*{{Endn|23}}: [https://web.archive.org/web/20250821104524/https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/xASHGiPG/lore-of-the-leagues-ancient-quasi-divine-machine-intellects-make-for-decent-gunsmiths-it-turns-out/ Warhammer Community: Lore of the Votann – Ancient Quasi-divine Machine Intellects Make for Decent Gunsmiths, it Turns Out (posted 20/505/2022)] ''(archived from [https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/xASHGiPG/lore-of-the-leagues-ancient-quasi-divine-machine-intellects-make-for-decent-gunsmiths-it-turns-out/ the original], last accessed 21 August 2025)''
*{{Endn|24}}: [[Liber Astartes (3rd Edition)]], pg. 320
*{{Endn|25}}: [https://youtu.be/ZUL_XW8KDvk?t=1544 Andy Chambers and Bill King in conversation]
*{{Endn|26}}: [[ Dark Heresy Rulebook]], pg. 133*{{Endn|27}}: [[ Warhammer 40,000 3rd Edition Rulebook]], pg. 60
*{{Endn|28}}: [[Codex: Thousand Sons (8th Edition)]], pg. 40
*{{Endn|29}}: [[Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition)]], pg. 63
*{{Endn|30}}: [[Codex: Necrons (3rd Edition)]], pg. 56
*{{Endn|31}}: [[The Flight of the Eisenstein (Novel)]] (e-version) , Chapter Six
*{{Endn|32}}: [[Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie]]
*{{Endn|33}}: [[Deathwatch Core Rulebook]], pg.146
*{{Endn|34}}: [[Secret Level]]: Season 1, Episode 5: ''And They Shall Know No Fear''
*{{Endn|35}}: [[Praetorian of Dorn (Novel)]] (E-version) , Chapters 3, 5, & 6
*{{Endn|36}}: [[Beneath the Flesh (Short Story)]] (E-version)
[[Category:Weapons (Bolt)| ]]
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[[fr:Arme à Bolts]]