Meltagun & Multi-Melta

Lore & history

When an Imperial squad needs to crack open a battle tank, vaporise a reinforced ferrocrete bunker wall, or stop a charging Dreadnought at point-blank range, no weapon is more trusted than the meltagun. Known colloquially among Imperial Guardsmen as a "cooker" or "vape gun," the meltagun is a compact, short-ranged thermal weapon that sacrifices distance for terrifying armour-piercing lethality. Unlike the screaming roar of a bolter or the blinding crack of a lascannon, a meltagun fires with only a low, pressurized hiss as its invisible beam superheats the air along its path—followed seconds later by the roar of the target's own armour flashing into white-hot liquid slag and exploding outward from internal steam pressure.

Within the Imperium, two factions hold the meltagun in almost religious esteem. For the Salamanders Chapter of Nocturne, melta weapons and flamers are the sacred tools of Vulkan's Promethean Cult, wielded with unmatched mastery to purge the enemies of humanity in cleansing fire. For the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas, the meltagun integrates into the "Holy Trinity" of Boltgun, Flamer and Melta: while the bolter slays the heretic and the flamer purges the mutant, the meltagun reduces the witch's idol and the traitor's war machine to molten ash.

In the Era Indomitus, Primaris Eradicator Squads clad in heavy Mark X Gravis armour have elevated melta warfare into a dedicated battlefield role, marching into the teeth of enemy tank columns with Melta Rifles and Heavy Melta Rifles to annihilate armored spearheads in a single coordinated volley. Across the Astra Militarum, heroic troopers such as Gunner Ferik Jurgen—the malodorous aide to Commissar Ciaphas Cain—have saved entire worlds by calmly stepping out of the mist and vaporising Chaos Lords, Necron Overlords and Tyranid bio-titans with a single blast of an Imperial Guard meltagun.

Design, mechanism & battlefield effect

Imperial tech-priests describe melta weapons as operating on one of two closely related principles: either a sub-molecular thermal agitation beam energized by pyrum-petrol fuel gases, or a miniature two-stage fusion reaction in which pressurized fuel is pushed into a sub-molecular state and projected down a heavily insulated barrel shroud. In both cases, the weapon does not fire a solid projectile; instead, it projects a tight, coherent cone of intense thermal energy that causes the atomic nuclei and molecular bonds within the target to vibrate with catastrophic violence.

Because the thermal beam dissipates rapidly as it travels through atmosphere, a meltagun has a relatively short maximum range. However, within half of that distance—the dreaded "melta range"—the beam remains tightly focused and delivers exponentially greater energy density. Thick adamantium and ceramite plating cannot deflect or absorb the heat fast enough; the metal literally boils and runs like candle wax in a fraction of a second, cooking off ammunition stowage and cremating the crew inside their hull.

The barrel of every melta weapon is encased in a distinctive cylindrical perforated heat-shroud forged from heat-resistant alloys, accompanied by a side-mounted fuel canister of pyrum-petrol and heavy insulated handguards so the operator does not sear his own flesh on the glowing muzzle after firing.

Patterns, variants & doctrine

Melta technology spans from tiny concealed pistols to Titan-killing cannons. At the smallest end sits the Inferno Pistol—an exquisitely rare and ancient melta pistol carried by Blood Angels Sanguinary Guard, Death Company officers, and Adepta Sororitas Seraphim, capable of punching through a battle tank's rear armour at pistol range. The standard infantry Meltagun is carried by Space Marine Tactical Squads, Sisters of Battle and Imperial Guard veterans, while Primaris Eradicators wield longer-ranged Melta Rifles and backpack-cabled Heavy Melta Rifles.

Stepping up to heavy support, the Multi-Melta pairs two oversized melta barrels together with a heavy backpack fuel-and-power unit; it is carried by Space Marine Devastators, Adepta Sororitas Retributors, Paragon Warsuits, Castraferrum Dreadnoughts and Land Raider Redeemer/Crusader hull mounts. Even larger Thermal Cannons and Melta Cannons are mounted on the arms of Questoris-class Imperial Knights Errant and Astra Militarum Devil Dog tanks to melt whole fortifications into glass.

Notable patterns & relic examples

• Ultima & Mars-Pattern Meltagun: The classic short-range anti-tank special weapon of Space Marine Tactical Squads, Sisters of Battle and Imperial Guard veterans.
• Mark IV Cawl-Pattern Melta Rifle & Heavy Melta Rifle: Longer-ranged Primaris melta weapons wielded by Gravis-armoured Eradicator Squads.
• Multi-Melta: A twin-barrelled heavy thermal support weapon carried by Devastators, Retributor Squads, Dreadnoughts and Paragon Warsuits.
• Inferno Pistol: A priceless, compact relic melta pistol favoured by the Blood Angels Sanguinary Guard and Adepta Sororitas Seraphim.

Wielded & Fielded By

Characters (11)

• 
  Vulkan He'stan · Forgefather of the Salamanders
• 
  Morvenn Vahl · Abbess Sanctorum, High Lord of Terra
• 
  Ciaphas Cain · Commissar, Hero of the Imperium
• 
  Belisarius Cawl · Archmagos Dominus of the Adeptus Mechanicus
• 
  Sanguinius · Primarch of the Blood Angels, the Great Angel
• 
  Vulkan · Primarch of the Salamanders
• 
  Ferrus Manus · Primarch of the Iron Hands, the Gorgon
• 
  Commander Dante · Chapter Master of the Blood Angels, Regent of Imperium Nihilus
• 
  Helbrecht · High Marshal of the Black Templars
• 
  Fidus Kryptman · Inquisitor Lord of the Ordo Xenos
• 
  Commander Shadowsun · O'Shaserra, Supreme Commander of the Fire Caste

Units (28)

Tactical SquadDevastator SquadKasrkinTempestus ScionsDreadnoughtLand RaiderCenturionsLegion of the DamnedRavenwingSanguinary GuardInfantry Squad (Guardsmen)Leman Russ Battle TankBattle SistersSeraphimRetributorsServitorsChaos Space MarinesObliteratorsPlague MarinesHelbrutesMaulerfiendChaos TerminatorsRaptorsWarlord Battle TitansFire DragonsAvatar of KhaineXV8 Crisis BattlesuitsXV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuits

Related weapons & vehicles

LasgunFlamer & Heavy FlamerChainswordPower FistPower SwordThunder HammerBolter & Bolt RiflePlasma Gun & Plasma Incinerator

Primary Faction

Adeptus Astartes (all Chapters)