This Saturday, the Space Marines from the Leviathan boxed set go up for standalone pre-order for the first time, including the awesome Infernus Squad – an entire team of Space Marines equipped with pyreblasters. These new-age flame weapons are an engineering marvel, and that got us thinking about where they stack up against other sources of rapid-onset crispiness from across the worlds of Warhammer.
After extensive research, we present our findings with an extremely scientific rating system. So where do pyreblasters come on the list?
Flamers and Heavy Flamers
It might seem strange that weapons shooting actual fire are so low down on the list, but that really just shows how crazy things can get further up the scale. From devout Retributors to manic Burna Boyz, flamers and heavy flamers have been a constant presence since the early days of Warhammer 40,000. Even though many weapons have since eclipsed them, there’s a comforting warmth to this classic promethium-to-blackened-Ork system.
Warpfire Throwers
Combining warpstone with alchemical fuels produces a sticky, toxic flame that the Skaven deploy with reckless abandon. This volatile emerald-green fire is as likely to torch their own troops as the enemy, but the ability to melt dozens of potential rivals with one well-placed ‘accident’ is nothing but a boon to Warlock Engineers, as it surely won’t be their whiskers getting roasted when the Stormfiends next go haywire.
Pyrovore Bio-acid
Pyrovores are the Hive Fleet’s way of pre-digesting hardened minerals and tough biomass before capillary towers can slurp it up into awaiting hive ships. It achieves this effect with a mandibled maw that drools corrosive slime, and its diet gives it a terrible case of gas – which it converts into gouts of chemical fire launched from its dorsal organism. This acidic brew is so volatile that a lucky shot can cause the entire beast to explode, wetly scorching everything nearby.
Flame Acid
The Spawns of Chotec tamed by the Seraphon are ornery beasts which spit up globs of burning acid at will, but their real party trick comes when their Skink handlers feed them shards of aqthracite. Then they can produce a stream of raw blue flame on command, which enterprising Seraphon use for boring caves out of solid rock during peacetime.
Pyreblasters
Take a flamer, spice it up with a bit of the old Belisarius Cawl razzle-dazzle, and you get the pyreblaster. First spotted amidst the overzealous Crusader Squads of the Black Templars, they’re everything good about flamers turned up to Strength 5. As far as man-portable fire-throwers go, they are the perfect mix of range, portability, and power – a respectable performance, but there’s far worse than just fire out there.
Molten Infernoth
It’s pretty common knowledge that lava is hot hot, and the Fyreslayers have plenty of ways of using it – like invoking the blazing wrath of Vulcatrix as a being of pure molten metal. This beast is so hot that it can wade through solid rock, throw globs of lava at will, and (we’re told) handily roast a whole rack of mournfang ribs to perfection in seconds.
Plasma Guns
Many different factions employ plasma technology in the 41st Millennium, from the dual plasma exterminator to ubiquitous T’au pulse weapons. Though such weapons have a few practical differences, they all work on the same principle. However it’s created, a plasma bolt burns with the heat of a star, and rapidly releases that intense energy when it contacts something – or someone. Very hot indeed, if only for a moment.
Searing Beam of Light
Laser weapons aren’t reserved for the far future. The Light Wizards from the College Arcane sometimes ride to battle on giant war engines porting complex arrays of interlocking lenses, a device known as a Luminark of Hysh. The beam of pure light fired from these contraptions is enough to sear right through armour, flesh, warp matter, and anything else foolish enough to stand in the way of the smoking beam of white light slowly carving in their direction. A battery of Luminarks once even managed to bring down the physical manifestation of Nagash on the peaks of Ymetrica.
Meltaguns
Like plasma weapons, many factions in Warhammer 40,000 use some form of melta technology, from the fusion blasters of the T’au Empire to the firepikes of the Fire Dragon Exarchs. All of them emit a burst of raw atomic heat that can melt through armour plates like nothing, and the less said about the effects on living beings the better.
The Wailing Doom
Try to appreciate that the Avatar of Khaine, a titanic monster made of literal fire and rage, wields a weapon so hot that even it feels the heat. It’s called The Wailing Doom! Forget getting burns from this thing, the heat will turn you to atoms before you can even think about applying Factor 5,000 sunscreen.
Dishonourable Mention – Helfrost Weapons
Absolutely (sub-)zero heat. Try harder.
Our verdict: pyreblasters are quite warm, and you can find out for yourself when they go up for pre-order on Saturday. Try bundling a full squad of 10 into a Drop Pod and ruining some poor rebels’ day, or torch passing Tyranids from the Firing Deck of a speeding Impulsor – the opportunities for high-speed grilling are endless.
