Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-203.134.114.240-20130706042929/@comment-3258762-20130713164022

Well, they have to downsize it or else they would eclipse the Tau (Tau being a very, very small faction in comparison to the Imperium, but they are still the largest full xeno empire)

Furthermore: A Salamanders Power Armor held against Lava for 5 minutes. Lava/Magma melts Titanium in a matter of moments

And the Lascannon doesn't cause an explosion, the reason a lascannon is so powerful is because it fires tiny little particles at extreme-near-light speed, meaning the thing hit by a lascannon blast is hit with about the same force of an asteroid slamming down on you, which is why no known armor can survive lascannons (also why starships need to maintain void shields to deflect it)