# What it really looks like to wield a chainsword.



## trunkburger

So I was thinking about the outrageousness of chainswords in 40k. Why have this redundant cutting tool in the edge of a sword when you have a bolt pistol in the other hand? Then I thought - this is the 41st millennium; almost everyone on the battlefield is wearing ultra strong, supernatural armor of some type: you *need* something like a chainsword to actually cut through that armor and do any damage in combat.

So what is it actually like to wield a chainsword? I think it is absolutely not like a regular sword: you're not going to be slicing or stabbing with this weapon, as these movements do not take advantage of the chain edge. Attacks with the chainsword would be in more of a chopping motion, with the blade moving perpendicular to the target. There's no slicing with a chainsword.

The next issue, how fast are you going to be moving this chainsword? If the blades were moving at about the speed of a normal chainsaw, you would need to be swinging the blade quite slowly. It seems like this would be a terribly awkward weapon. Then again, 41st millenium technology probably has the cutting chain moving much much faster. With a fast chain, you could move the blade more quickly, but it would still be like using a chainsaw. Parrying get's complicated; obviously you don't want to parry with the chain edge. Maybe the back of the blade only?

Even with the fast chain, there is still no need to swing the weapon quickly/violently like an axe: the chain edge is supposed to be doing all the work. Someone wielding a chainsword would probably be making very smooth, moderate speed movements to maximize the chain's effectiveness. With that kind of smoothness, it would probably look a lot more like a tai chi sword form than anything else.

So there you go- the closest thing to chainsword fighting in the 20th century is... tai chi swordplay.


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## comrade

Hmm.... The Chainsaw bits on a Chainsword are supposedly made out of Admantium or something like that, harder then diamonds.

By the 41st Century maybe They had created lightweight materials that the Chainsword could have been designed with, and maybe a smoother running motor to run the Chain on the sword...

Parrying.. with a chainsword? No... how about tearing the enemies weapon out of his hand, then chewing his face in.. there that seems to fit the bill a bit better,

And why swing the weapon? Because it feels good. what other reason do you need.... ok... maybe I need to go worship khorne now.

Or maybe it Helps with Applying pressure in order to push it threw even faster, its not like a hot knife threw butter, but rather a Cold Knife threw a frozen butter stick, but its better then smacking an ultra sharp Blade against power armor, cause thats not going to do anything, other then make a *ping* sound,

Now Admantium tipped chainsaw teeth pushed by an crazy nutter into the chest of a Space Marine... Different story indeed.


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## Kendares

I don’t get why would you want to hack something up when you can just shoot them to bits (Khârn is an exception)? I think a chainsword sounds cooler then a just a regular sword. I wonder what would happen if you combine a power sword with a chain sword? A power chainsword sounds really cool to me.


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## killmaimburn

Well there are chainweapons that count as power weapons, Kharn's axe for one and in the eisenhorn books he gets a chainsword that is a power weapon.


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## trunkburger

comrade said:


> And why swing the weapon? Because it feels good. what other reason do you need.... ok... maybe I need to go worship khorne now.
> 
> Or maybe it Helps with Applying pressure in order to push it threw even faster,


I was thinking about this more. Since the adamantium cutting edge is really doing all the work, there is no reason to swing the weapon or even raise it above one's head ever. 

People wielding chainswords more likely attack by simply "pushing" toward their opponents in smooth motions. 

Applying pressure shouldn't have any effect - again because the chain bit is supposed to be doing all the work. Pressing down extra hard on the weapon while its cutting would not do anything other than possibly jamming the weapon. In fact, jams probably happen often, whenever someone is trying to cut into armor that is, for example, adamantium reinforced. Repairing jammed chainswords is probably a routine task after each battle with these troops.

I agree that parrying either would not happen or would be difficult. Jeez, a chainsword vs chainsword duel would probably be awfully brutal/messy in real life. A single false move and you've likely lost a limb!


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## Cato Sicarius

Guys, this has been said loads of times on this site: In 40K, it's not about physics; it's about fun and how cool it looks. 

Think about it. A Bolter would need some kind of arm-rest with that much kick-back. But it doesn't have one because otherwise it wouldn't look good. This is a model, on a table, made of plastic. I don't see why physics should come into it. It's a game. Fiction. Nothing more. just a bit of fun. Don't complicate it with the real world.


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## crabpuff

He's got a point, half the stuff doesn't sound like it would work. Hell its like the damn light saber not really possible with the science and laws we have now. In the future who knows. IMO the reason for the sword is the same reason soldiers in real life are give combat knives guns jam, break, or run out of ammo, and times when using a gun is dangerous.


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## dirty-dog-

Well rail guns arn't a thing of the future. i mean theres one aalready made, of coarse its absolutly huge but it does what a broadside would do.

in the dow intro its got the sergent using his chainsword.

heres a link to it on youtube 



he slices and parries.


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## MCommander

True it's only a game but these kind of conversations can be good fun and help to pass the time ... as long as no-one takes it too seriously :mrgreen:

Besides ... I can't resist posting my thoughts 



trunkburger said:


> I was thinking about this more. Since the adamantium cutting edge is really doing all the work, there is no reason to swing the weapon or even raise it above one's head ever.
> 
> People wielding chainswords more likely attack by simply "pushing" toward their opponents in smooth motions.


Not quite true I would think, the swing would need to find purchase on the enemy and 'bite', more so if wearing something like power armour. A good swing action would put some force behind and 'bite' into the chap currently attempting to take your head off ... then the adamantium teeth would go to work!



trunkburger said:


> Applying pressure shouldn't have any effect - again because the chain bit is supposed to be doing all the work. Pressing down extra hard on the weapon while its cutting would not do anything other than possibly jamming the weapon. In fact, jams probably happen often, whenever someone is trying to cut into armor that is, for example, adamantium reinforced. Repairing jammed chainswords is probably a routine task after each battle with these troops.


As above regarding my thoughts on the application of pressure ... as for jams, yeah wouldn't be surprised if they did happen on occasions. What the wielder can do to 'free' a jam is reverse the rotational direction of the teeth (the ability to do so is mentioned in the Gaunt's Ghosts books - don't ask which one! during one of Gaunt's chainsword duels).



trunkburger said:


> I agree that parrying either would not happen or would be difficult. Jeez, a chainsword vs chainsword duel would probably be awfully brutal/messy in real life. A single false move and you've likely lost a limb!


I would say parrying is definitely possible though difficult ... as per video. Chainsword duels would be very brutal!! Though they do happen in the 40k universe ... again the Gaunt's Ghosts books make several references to them.


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## BloodAngelZeros

In the video, i don't know how many caught it, but it's all rather easy to explain. If you noticed when the sergeant was using movements that are used in traditional swordplay, the chain was going. When he cut up into the ork, he reved the blade and spilled his guts out. Every CGI thing I've seen used in 40k shows that when the chainsword is actually using the chain, the wielder is "digging" into the opponent and the blade is being forced up further and further. When the blade is just being swung, the chain isn't moving and it's usually to parry or to cut lightly armored/unarmored foes. Just like a normal chainsaw, I imagine that a chainsword just idles until a handle/trigger is squeezed and then a powerful motor kicks it into gear. And, if the teeth of the blade are sharpened and harder than diamond, even slicing around without the chain is going to do some damage. Imagine being sliced with lots of razor blades except they're much thicker and much sharper than the ones we have today.


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## trunkburger

Haha, I never meant to be arguing that 40k should be thought of as realistic or should be required to include any scientific realism, this was definitely just for fun.

That being said, I continue to cement my opinion that swinging/downward force is completely unnecessary with a chainsword: :biggrin:

When you chop wood with an axe, you need to generate force to split the wood by swinging the heavy axe. When you slash with a sword, you draw the sharp blade across an object to slice it into peices.

But with the chainsword, you're simply bringing the chain track in contact with an object. The chain teeth remove material from the object at a rate related to how fast the teeth are spinning. Pushing down harder will not cause more material to be removed. In fact it would probably slow things down, as you would get increased friction of the teeth against the object.

Really, an important skill in wielding a chainsword would be learning not to push down with _any_ excessive force, letting you maximize damage and minimize the chances of a jam.


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## dirty-dog-

i like the idea that Zeros has, cause watching the vid again i did relise that the chain is idle unless it is in contact and digging. 

and slicing would be necessary when the chain is idle, maybe cause it ran out of power or using the motor isn't neccessary. and anyway, how would a chain axe work then?

you wouldn't just rest it on some guys shoulder, of corse your gunna swing it, its an axe, theyre ment for swinging. come to think of it a chainaxe in real life would be rather usefull...


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## comrade

have you ever used a Chainsaw trunkburger?

Cause I am alost positive that it requires Pressure on the saw to get it to cut through the tree, or else it will just keep on cutting the same damn place.

Now Applied to 40K

Chainsword vs. Thick Ceramite Armour.

A slight Pressure against an Armoured opponent with thick Armour isn't probably going to do anything, and more then likely without pressure, the teeth will not catch, simply scratching the surface.

You Swing so the Teeth dig into the Armor, then you turn it on, digging through the Armor.

Now you think the poor bastard is just going to sit there while you attempt to cut him to pieces, I doubt it. So he will try to remove the blade from him by stepping back

Enter Physical Force and Pressure in order to keep the blade in the enemy.


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## Kendares

but how hard can a SM hit. with his enhanced muscles + the servo motors behind his swing those teeth could dig in there pretty good. on a side note how much weight can SM bench press anyway:dunno:


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## trunkburger

*still arguing only for fun - i like figuring this stuff out*

Obviously you need to move the weapon in order to cut more, but none of the force you are applying goes into making the cut.

Consider an ideal chainsaw that had teeth which always moved infinitely fast. In this case, anything put in front of it gets plowed out immediately and anything you would cut would offer no resistance at all. Like a lightsabre.

A real chainsaw is a bit different. The material (wood, ceramite armor, etc) being cut is going to resist the teeth. Some of that material is going to be plowed out, and some of it is going to be ripped out. Pushing down with extra pressure would affect this plowing/ripping ratio: you can choose to introduce more material to the teeth than they are ready for. But your pushing down is still doing nothing to cut the material - - - all the cutting is being done in the direction the teeth are moving.

Again, even if you're cutting super strong terminator armor, you're able to press down to feed more material into the chainsword, but the limiting factors in the cutting will always be 1) the geometry/material of the teeth and 2) the speed & strength of the motor moving the teeth. You are not adding "extra power" by pressing down.

..... *so swinging a chainsword is still pointless.* 
:grin: 

Some of the older fluff implies that chainsword teeth move extremely fast and (due to their sharpness) cut very well - so the behavior is probably more like the ideal "lightsabre-like" case I suggested above. Which makes sense, as I brought up before, wielding a "20th-century-like" chainsaw in battle would be pretty awkward.


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## freaklord

wasn't there some thing said in one of the gaunt's ghosts book about the use of chainswords, gaunt has a one on one duel with his uncle with a chainsword apiece. it talks about normal fencing going out the window.


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## Khorne's Fist

trunkburger, the best thing you can do is go out and use a chainsaw to cut up a particularly tough tree trunk. If you don't apply pressure and rely on the blade to feed itself, you'd be there forever. 

Now, if you're a SM trying to cut through a cranky ork in mega armour, you'll want to swing as hard as you can so that your initial impact is aided by your enhanced musculature and servo assisted armour, getting through the armour as quickly as possible instead of just scratching the paintwork. You're trying to gut him, not tickle him. 

Another reason for using conventional sword craft with a chainsword is that you only have to teach one way to use a sword, as opposed to two completely different methods. And I agree, a chainsword v chainsword duel would be a brutal affair. If anyone who has used a chainsaw has ever hit a nail or steel peg stuck in a lump of wood, they'll know how it almost jumps back out of the cut, so trying to cut through armour or another chainsword would be dangerous enough without someone trying to do the same to you.

But, as someone else has said, sci-fi is all about suspension of disbelief. Physics, Who needs it?


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## lawrence96

Khorne's Fist said:


> trunkburger, the best thing you can do is go out and use a chainsaw to cut up a particularly tough tree trunk. If you don't apply pressure and rely on the blade to feed itself, you'd be there forever.


to true mate, the blade just ends up "pulling" itself along and off of the wood thats being cut unless you apply some downwards pressure, what i want to know is why dont they hold the victims? try cutting a piece of wood that isnt properly held down, i call it a shin smasher, as that is what itll do!


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## Khorne's Fist

lawrence96 said:


> to true mate, the blade just ends up "pulling" itself along and off of the wood thats being cut unless you apply some downwards pressure, what i want to know is why dont they hold the victims? try cutting a piece of wood that isnt properly held down, i call it a shin smasher, as that is what itll do!


Another good point. In reality you'd have bodies whizzing all over the place off the ends of chainswords. That would make for a bizarre sight.:grin: 

Remember folks, the Rule of Cool applies.


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## Grand Master Belial

trunkburger said:


> So what is it actually like to wield a chainsword? I think it is absolutely not like a regular sword: you're not going to be slicing or stabbing with this weapon, as these movements do not take advantage of the chain edge. Attacks with the chainsword would be in more of a chopping motion, with the blade moving perpendicular to the target. There's no slicing with a chainsword.


Treat the Chainsword like a Katana. It works best in a cutting, slashing motion. Thrusts are possible with the Chaos variants as the protective guard on the rear of the Loyalists looks to prevent it. The spinning teeth will tear open whatever it can even if it is a light cut.



trunkburger said:


> The next issue, how fast are you going to be moving this chainsword? If the blades were moving at about the speed of a normal chainsaw, you would need to be swinging the blade quite slowly. It seems like this would be a terribly awkward weapon. Then again, 41st millenium technology probably has the cutting chain moving much much faster. With a fast chain, you could move the blade more quickly, but it would still be like using a chainsaw. Parrying get's complicated; obviously you don't want to parry with the chain edge. Maybe the back of the blade only?


Most sword arts teach to never use the edge to parry but rather the flat of the blade or an unsharpened rear edge. Precisely to protect the cutting edge from getting dinged and notched. Again, I tend to think that the blade is moved fast where it will slice off arms and lower legs with a single slice, but on larger target areas, the intent would be to tear and rent the target area. This gives a two-fold advantage, first the wound would not be a clean cut and would bleed profusely and debilitate the opponent. Second, the teeth would apply a force that can shift the balance of their opponent or spin them. Opening them to a second decisive cut. 

The big question in my mind is which way are the teeth spinning. If they are like a normal chainsaw, the teeth will pull the blade out of the hand of the user. The reverse would push the blade toward the wielder. To add another level of detail, some chainswords have curved teeth. Think how directional spin affects the effects of the cuts. 



trunkburger said:


> Even with the fast chain, there is still no need to swing the weapon quickly/violently like an axe: the chain edge is supposed to be doing all the work. Someone wielding a chainsword would probably be making very smooth, moderate speed movements to maximize the chain's effectiveness. With that kind of smoothness, it would probably look a lot more like a tai chi sword form than anything else.
> 
> So there you go- the closest thing to chainsword fighting in the 20th century is... tai chi swordplay.


I prefer to think they use a Samurai style. Check out James Williams and see just how fluid his motions are and that's with a non-motorized blade.


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## lawrence96

imagine though, if you will, if all guardsmen were armed with chain knives like out of hot shots: part deux 



 , bout 2.30 in now that would be funny


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## Kendares

:laugh: nice post. and who knows maybe they do have chain knives. they just dont have the reach of a chainsword . what the guardmen should do is make chain bayonets


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## lawrence96

tbh i did mean bayonets, but put knives.

me speek england good


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## LeeHarvey

Can you imagine how much fun you could have with a real Chainsword? Great for Halloween Costumes. "The Grim reaper aint got shit on me!"


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## Kendares

your right imagine how much more candy ul get if u have a chainsword. hell u can even get some money!!:biggrin:


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## rgw

Alright, you all make some good points. My two cents is this.

Smoothly moving a chain-sword edge isn't gonna do anything if your opponent passes his armor save. So might as well swing hard as hell and hope you at least stun or knock back the guy with sheer force.

Other than that? It's fiction. The cooler something looks the more powerful it is.


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## dirty-dog-

i think i might of started a vidio trend in this thread.

but anyway imagine a chain scyth, i migfht do a conversion....


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## lawrence96

how about a chain pike/spear/halberd, like a chain sword but able to cut from a distance!


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## Shamrok

there are actually things like that for cutting up limbs high up in trees so i mean its obviously feasible but then again i have to agree this is about having fun and what looks cool


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## Kendares

or how about a gun? you could shoot them from far away.:victory: i dont get how its like damn it my gun cant peirce their armor. i got an idea let me go kill him with my sword. you would think that the guns would be way more deadly then chainswords. no matter how you weild them. i can see a point where your over run from nids and u pull out a sword. but other then that you would think a gun would have advantages.


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## Red Geist

Warhammer 40k was really meant as a futuristic version of Warhammer, not a depiction of the future. Some devices will not make as much sense as the rest of them.

Here is my understanding of SM combat weapons
Chainsword - Fully electric chainsaw with a hilt, turns on with the push of a button, teeth are forged from adamantium or other metals of indestructable nature and welded to the 'chain' so there is no breakage, but the guard chassis prevents the weapon from cutting too deep, thus no armor save.

Power/Force Weapon - Sword crafted of indestructable metals and attached to a generator cabable of charging the blade up to tens of thousands of volts.

Crozius Arcanum - Usually in the form of an eagle or winged skull, the wings fold out and over the top of the weapon to form an oddly shaped, yet quite lethal weapon.

Power fist: Glove fit over a marine's hand, contains EM pulse field mechanics that force waves of electric energy through it's surroundings when swung


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## rata tat tat

Dredging up an old post here...

I didn't see anyone mention that the teeth of a chainsword have monomolecular edges.


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## WarbossCrunk

You know the idea of parrying with a chain sword got me thinking. This is going to be very hard to do, your going to have to be very strongto maintain control, but you take a chainsword and swing into a non-motorized weapon the teeth spinning is going to provide some serious ripping action and its very possible you're going to disarm your opponent. Then again, your best bet for a parry might not be to aim at the descending weapon but rather the arm slicing it in... and then you can really disarm your opponent... :grin: still the visual of a chain weapon hitting something and kicking out sparks... very very cool, who the hell cares about the physics


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## Kendares

booo reality! blocking a chain sword with a chain sword does sound really hard to control. and most of the bladed weapons are monomolecular. like the knives and ect. even the eldar stuff is monomolecular. i think they think that makes it sound futureistic. it does so i guess they are right


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## rata tat tat

Kendares said:


> booo reality! blocking a chain sword with a chain sword does sound really hard to control. and most of the bladed weapons are monomolecular. like the knives and ect. even the eldar stuff is monomolecular. i think they think that makes it sound futureistic. it does so i guess they are right


maybe there is a feature that causes the chains to stop once they meet a resisting force at which point the wielder braces themself and lets rip with the chain tearing through with a monomolecular cutting edge...

monomolecular would mean able to cut through something at the molecular level... which is pretty freaking devastating. but in an era where they stack atoms ( nanotech ) 
**although they actually no longer really know how they do it**​they would also be able to construct armor that would resist this. hence the necessity for disruptive energy fields in power weapons, i can assume that they must destabilize atomic structures some how.

chain-blades must have some pragmatic and technological merit though, i mean, even the hoidy-toidy, super-sophisticated, Eldar have them. if the Tau didn't focus on ranged combat so much they'd probably have them too.

i remember reading in one of the Necromunda novels about the purpose of only having a single exposed cutting edge and it was in fact, that kick back effect you would get. without that guard over the other cutting edge you'd probably dismember yourself in a duel.

i imagine the "chains" in Eldar chain-blades are probably intricately woven atomic cables. the Imperium probably has molecular chains. and the Orks... well, good old rust garbage looted from some bike.

:grin:

friggin' Orks


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## CDK

Well I can tell you that it's not like a taiji sword. A tai chi (taiji) is meant to be flexible. i doubt a chainsword is. a taiji sword should be able to bend from tip to hilt and snap back. a lot of the movements have the sword snaping around an opponents weapon to cut them. also the chi will vibrate through the sword. from what i've read in BL books the chainsword is very heavy and doesn't use much subtlety.


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## Meowmix

rata tat tat said:


> *monomolecular would mean able to cut through something at the molecular level*


Actually, monomolecular means that the edge is a single molecule thick.

also, the Dark Heresy ttrpg books have a ton of info on the weapons and armor of the 40K universe, chainswords included. There are indeed chain knives (imagine a butcher knife with a chainsaw edge), and as far as power chainswords go, that's where Eviscerator comes in. They're the two handed chainswords that the priests in the IG and Sisters of Battle use. Basically, the eviscerator uses a toned-down version of the power generator inside power weapons, combined with the chainsword design.


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## rata tat tat

Meowmix said:


> Actually, monomolecular means that the edge is a single molecule thick.
> 
> also, the Dark Heresy ttrpg books have a ton of info on the weapons and armor of the 40K universe, chainswords included. There are indeed chain knives (imagine a butcher knife with a chainsaw edge), and as far as power chainswords go, that's where Eviscerator comes in. They're the two handed chainswords that the priests in the IG and Sisters of Battle use. Basically, the eviscerator uses a toned-down version of the power generator inside power weapons, combined with the chainsword design.


Damn that's pretty sweet. I didn't know that about the Eviscerator, no wonder they are so nasty in Inquisitor. Do you own the Dark Heresy books? If so, what do you think?


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## Meowmix

rata tat tat said:


> Damn that's pretty sweet. I didn't know that about the Eviscerator, no wonder they are so nasty in Inquisitor. Do you own the Dark Heresy books? If so, what do you think?


I don't own them, but a friend of mine does, so i've read them cover to cover. As the designated GM of my gaming group, i've got experience with a bunch of systems, and as far as Dark Heresy goes, it's tons of fun. There's a ton of weapons, and the rank system lets you have a huge amount of control over your character's development. Combat is super deadly (as it should be in 40K) as well, and the critical hit chart has some very brutal descriptions of the damage being done to your opponent ("as the energy courses thorough your target's body, his eyes bulge and pop like super-heated eggs").

I highly recommend Dark Heresy for 40K fans and TTRPG fans alike.


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## NoiseMarine

CDK said:


> Well I can tell you that it's not like a taiji sword. A tai chi (taiji) is meant to be flexible. i doubt a chainsword is. a taiji sword should be able to bend from tip to hilt and snap back. a lot of the movements have the sword snaping around an opponents weapon to cut them. also the chi will vibrate through the sword. from what i've read in BL books the chainsword is very heavy and doesn't use much subtlety.


I'm sorry if this makes me look stupid but... what the hell are you talking about?


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## rata tat tat

Meowmix said:


> I don't own them, but a friend of mine does, so i've read them cover to cover. As the designated GM of my gaming group, i've got experience with a bunch of systems, and as far as Dark Heresy goes, it's tons of fun. There's a ton of weapons, and the rank system lets you have a huge amount of control over your character's development. Combat is super deadly (as it should be in 40K) as well, and the critical hit chart has some very brutal descriptions of the damage being done to your opponent ("as the energy courses thorough your target's body, his eyes bulge and pop like super-heated eggs").
> 
> I highly recommend Dark Heresy for 40K fans and TTRPG fans alike.


What's the "build" quality of the books like? I remember getting a copy of 40k Rogue Trader back in the day that fell apart. That was the hardbound edition anyway, later they released a card stock that had much better binding. I bought my Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay as cardstock too, it seems the spines hold up better than hardcover. Maybe FF is better than GW at actually making hardcover books though.


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## Meowmix

rata tat tat said:


> What's the "build" quality of the books like? I remember getting a copy of 40k Rogue Trader back in the day that fell apart. That was the hardbound edition anyway, later they released a card stock that had much better binding. I bought my Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay as cardstock too, it seems the spines hold up better than hardcover. Maybe FF is better than GW at actually making hardcover books though.


The books for Dark Heresy are all hardcover, and from handling them, they seem sturdy enough for gaming purposes.


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## CaptainBailean

Well there's a lever on the hilt of a chain sword that the wielder can pull to rev it, so the chain edge isn't necessarily always active. You can see examples of it being used in the videos from the DoW games on YouTube(DoW is a bit overplayed i know but it offers a good look into the mechanics of some of the larger and stranger bits of technology in the 41st millennium). Personally i think it would be perfectly plausible to make slashing motions, you just wouldn't be able to count on injuring your opponent with the tip of the weapon, you'd have to make sure you took a sizable chunk out of him so the weapon most likely wouldn't be a quick response weapon unless wielded by a Space Marine, they would be able to use it pretty close to a regular sword just because of their sheer size and strength.


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## G_Morgan

Meowmix said:


> Actually, monomolecular means that the edge is a single molecule thick.
> 
> also, the Dark Heresy ttrpg books have a ton of info on the weapons and armor of the 40K universe, chainswords included. There are indeed chain knives (imagine a butcher knife with a chainsaw edge), and as far as power chainswords go, that's where Eviscerator comes in. They're the two handed chainswords that the priests in the IG and Sisters of Battle use. Basically, the eviscerator uses a toned-down version of the power generator inside power weapons, combined with the chainsword design.


I thought monomolecular meant the blades were one giant molecule. It would make them incredibly strong a la diamond.

As for the whole chainsword thing. The cutting force is dependent on the downward pressure (actually the normal force which is slightly different but similar, the normal is the reaction to the downward pressure). It cuts with friction and friction is always proportional to the downward force applied. Even with physics you would have to swing and press hard to cut with a chainsword.

Of course there is a simpler argument. Not every melee weapon is a chainsword. These other weapons need to be parried which is why you get some sword play with a chainsword.


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## normtheunsavoury

Chainswords would be a nightmare to use in real life but luckily that doesn't apply to 40k.
Their blades are supposed to be super sharp and diamond hard so I would imagine that you could, in theory, use them like a sword with thrusts, swings and parries. 
A real chainsaw, if swung hard at something relatively tough would kick and jump but it would still do a fair bit of damage to whatever it was you were swinging it at. A real chainsaw swung at something soft and squishy, like a person, would kick and jump but not as much as the person you were swinging it at. 
So, if you took a real chainsaw and put a 40k chainsword blade on it, then found someone as strong as a SM to swing it I reckon it really wouldn't matter what you were swinging it at, it would bloody hurt!


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## Major Maxillary

I would imagine that wielding a chainsword would be like wielding a chainsaw that's got a five-foot long blade.
I would also think that fighting with one would consist of just getting it into a position where the teeth can rip up your opponent; this would involve alot of thrusting and swinging, and of course you'd need to keep a firm grip in so the thing doesn't fly out of your hands when it grabs onto something tough like a power cable or bone. the teeth ould do all the work of holding itself to the target as long as there was something to grab onto. they're not stabbing weapons by any stretch, but your goal would be to get the teeth onto your enemy in a spot that can be torn like joints or unarmored limbs. wounds would be big and gruesome and the loser would probably die of blood loss within a few minutes due to such a weapon pretty much mangling arteries making it impossible to stop the bleeding.

@Cato Sicarius:
as for bolters needing an "arm-rest" due to "kick-back"; they're about the size of a Mk 19 grenade launcher and fire .70 rocket assist and/or propelled rounds. heavy guns have less perceived recoil due to their mass. add to that the cartridges pictured it wouldn't likely have the same propelling charge of, say, a .700 nitro exress.
my theory is that the bolter round is a two-stage rocket propelled bullet, that uses a low pressure booster charge to sort of gently push it out the barrel before the rocket motor kicks in and sends it on its way. gently being a relative term. I'm not gonna say recoil would be nonexistent or even light, but it would be manageable.

"arm-rests" are mostly to facilitate aiming, and as such bolters used by folks not fortunate enough to have power armor could still use them.


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## Mud213

From the Chaos player perspective we have some interesting variants to the standard gear of the SM. For one, the main sword is doublesided, as was mentioned before and could allow for some thrusting. Secondly there would be a significant blood spray on the attacker. An extremely brutal affair. Thirdly, somebody mentioned how they are electric, but the Chaos versions have exhaust vents. Does that mean that the older version runs on gas? Or did they adopt gas powered ones just to be more intimidating?

Also, there has been little discussion of the chain-axe. This is a weapon which I _really_ don't understand. Would the attacker swing first, then start up the blade, or be spinning before the swing? Either way it seems like the amount of pull when it got stuck would just rip the axe out of the Berzerkers hand and it would fly up. Maybe they would aim it so that the axe would fly up and hit the opponent in the face or have some sort of cable to prevent dropage or something.

As for why would you use chainswords in combat, imagine how intimidating a chainsword (or chainaxes) would be? :shok: No wonder you have to roll to find out whether the loser runs away. :biggrin:


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## Skye

Well ok, think of the crazy strength of those wielding the weapon, plus the fact that they are wearing armour that makes them even more powerful in some cases. Put enough force behind even a turned off or non-working chainsword, or even a "normal" bladed weapon (ex. Wolfen and Orks) and you've got yourself a helluva cut. Also just because you can move slowly when you are just cutting, say, a tree made out of adimantium, doesn't mean you're not going at it with (or are in fact) a crazed berserker, ork, or whatever. If you pay attention the marine in the video doesn't even have the sword activated when he begins to hack through the ork. 
I also like comrade's idea for parrying. :biggrin:
And still it IS the 41st millennium so who’s to say it works how we think it would?
(I love how we have five pages on the workings of chain weapons btw.)


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## Pauly55

dirty-dog- said:


> i think i might of started a vidio trend in this thread.
> 
> but anyway imagine a chain scyth, i migfht do a conversion....


I made one of these for my scratch built cannoness. Ill post pics when shes all done.


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## Skye

I made a chain scythe for my friends berzerkers. Also they have those in a video game called .Hack G.U. and the Idea and look of it is crazy cool :]


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## lordjerry777

one thing that i don't think was mentioned was that in the heat of combat are you gonna be “graceful” or are you gonna hack and slash until nothings left standing


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## vash1023

im sry if this is a repost,

but i think the main problem with the design of a 40k chainsword is that its not free floating.

you wouldnt be able to cut any deeper than a few inches because the back of the sword wraps around the saw.

only the teeth stick out


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## Davidicus 40k

Major Maxillary said:


> @Cato Sicarius:
> as for bolters needing an "arm-rest" due to "kick-back"; they're about the size of a Mk 19 grenade launcher and fire .70 rocket assist and/or propelled rounds. heavy guns have less perceived recoil due to their mass. add to that the cartridges pictured it wouldn't likely have the same propelling charge of, say, a .700 nitro exress.
> my theory is that the bolter round is a two-stage rocket propelled bullet, that uses a low pressure booster charge to sort of gently push it out the barrel before the rocket motor kicks in and sends it on its way. gently being a relative term. I'm not gonna say recoil would be nonexistent or even light, but it would be manageable.
> 
> "arm-rests" are mostly to facilitate aiming, and as such bolters used by folks not fortunate enough to have power armor could still use them.


Right on the money.

"Bolt weapons are smoothbore, semi- and fully-automatic guns that fire a two-stage projectile known as bolts. The bolt is more a miniature explosive rocket than a conventional bullet. As the round leaves the barrel, the bolt's tiny rocket is ignited, which carries the warhead forward and imparts a stabilizing spin. In a conventional firearm, the projectile begins to lose velocity as soon as it leaves the barrel. A bolt, however, continues to accelerate throughout its trajectory due to the additional thrust." Link.

Yes, not everything in 40k makes sense when put under the microscope of today's science/physics, but GW thought some stuff out for sure.


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## Arkeoptrix

They should really just make a gun that shoots chain-bullets.


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## piemelke

I think is was in Hellsreach where it was mentioned that the teeth are made from Wolfram
in the first heretic is has been described that a Chain Sword has different operational modes,
one for cutting through armour, however it has been mentioned that it would do nothing more than scratch paint of SM armour except it will go through all cables and fibres in joints,
chainsswords are only usefull to cut meat, if you want to fight a SM use a power sword


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## Burias

In one of the Gaunts Ghosts books, somewhere in the first Omnibus, it says the teeth are made of Ceramite. And I know Ive read the same elsewhere too. Interesting thread though.


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