JohnBlackhawk wrote:Now i admit you know more about the history of how the figures have evolved in this game. I know im not going to win the argument. I see the psycannon, at the top middle of the image. Then i see the "psilencer" third weapon from the top on the right side of the image. Now that grey knight second from the far right it looks like the weapon he's carrying seems more the lines of the "psilencer" weapon than the psycannon. I mean did weapons change that much during each edition?
More than you know,
JohnBlackHawk!
In First Edition WH40K, the Psycannon was a special weapon available only to Inquisitors of the Ordo Malleus. A "long, elegant handgun", it was absolutely deadly to psykers, possessees, and daemons. This Daemonhunter is armed with such a weapon:
Rules for the Psycannon appeared in
Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness, along with rules for Inquisitors and Grey Knights in powered armour. Later articles in
White Dwarf magazine introduced the elite Grey Knight Terminator Squads. They were armed with Nemesis Force Weapons (either halberds or greatswords - the rules were the same), deadly force weapons that featured a built-in bolter loaded with three shots.
In Second Edition, there were rules for Inquisitors presented as "Imperial Agents", and Grey Knights only came in terminator armour. The Psycannon became a wargear card available to Inquisitors, and it worked more like a storm bolter. Both units were intended purely as ally contingents to Imperial armies such as Space Marines, the Imperial Guard, or the Adepta Sororitas.
In Third Edition, GW reintroduced the Grey Knights as a playable army. They were part of the Daemonhunters faction that also included Inquisitors. All the models were still metal, and every squadboy in the Grey Knights army earned the right to carry a Nemesis Force Weapon. The Psycannon was re-invented as a derivative of the heavy bolter, firing large-bore explosive shells.
The other special weapon available was the Incinerator, a heavy-duty flamer that sprayed specially-blessed promethium fuel.
[ Click to Enlarge ]
The Psilencer is a later invention introduced in Fifth Edition Grey Knights Codex. Because some codices spanned multiple editions (i.e., my poor Blood Angels are
still two editions behind!), the rules for choosing and arming an army don't change (much), but playing them in the game did.
