Missile Launcher

"God-Emperor, infuse this weapon with your wrath, that I might deliver your righteous anger unto your enemies."

- Munitorum Battle Blessing

A Missile Launcher is a weapon that can fire several types of self-propelled Missile, including both Frag and Krak Missiles. Frag (Fragmentation) projectiles are designed to spray a designated area with shrapnel, making these munitions highly useful against lightly armoured infantry. Krak projectiles cover less area but their warheads have improved penetrating capabilities, making them useful for taking down either heavily armoured infantry or moderately armoured vehicles. A missile is a self-propelled projectile, usually incorporating an electronic guidance system, that are tipped with a high explosive chemical, kinetic or plasma-based warhead. Missiles are usually self-propelled projectiles that make use of a chemical rocket, jet engine or even anti-gravity drive to provide motive force. Missiles are self-propelled projectiles that contain a guidance package while the term "rocket" usually refers to a similar self-propelled projectile which lacks an electronic guidance package and intead is fired using line-of-sight and its warhead detonates on impact. Rockets are thus often termed "fire-and-forget" weapons. Missile Launchers are used in one form or another by many of the different species and factions of the Milky Way Galaxy in the late 41st Millennium, including by the Loyalist Space Marines of the Imperium of Man, the Chaos Space Marines, the Orks, the Eldar, and the Fire Warriors of the Tau Empire.

Grenade Launchers are a weaker form of the Missile Launcher employed almost exclusively by the Imperial Guard, although Inquisitorial Stormtroopers and Adeptus Arbites units have been known to use them. They make use of Frag and Krak Grenades. Missile Launchers are primarily used by Space Marines because their Power Armour gives them the enhanced strength required to carry them into battle. Grenades, naturally, are less powerful than missiles, but are easier to fire on the move.

Imperial Missile Launcher Patterns

 * Accatran Pattern, Mk II - A lightweight, man-portable weapon utilised exclusively by the Imperial Guard regiments of the Elysian Drop Troops. This Missile Launcher holds a single Krak Missile or Frag Missile. An attending loader will carry extra missiles and reload the weapon after each shot.
 * Armourbane Pattern - The Armourbane Pattern Missile Launcher (unique to the Jericho Reach Deathwatch) is a squat, wide-barrelled launcher half as tall as a Space Marine. That is where the similarities to a standard Astartes Missile Launcher end, however, for whereas the anti-aircraft Missile Launcher is built to take down airborne targets, the Armourbane specialises in dealing with heavily-armoured ground units. This launcher is typically loaded with Hunter-Killer Krak Missiles, and is fitted with an array of Augurs and special Cogitators to guide its missiles smoothly to their targets. Armourbane Launchers give a Kill-team extra protection against armoured vehicles and large xenos beasts over and above that of a standard "Soundstrike" Missile Launcher. The special Augur array mounted to the Armourbane combines the benefits of a preysense sight and a red-dot laser sight.
 * Disposable Launcher - This weapon is popular with Planetary Defence Forces as it is simple to use and requires no loading or reloading. These weapons normally come pre-loaded with a single frag or krak missile. Some disposable launchers come loaded with rocket-propelled frag or krak grenades instead.
 * Mars Pattern, Mk III  - This man-portable missile launcher provides a squad with flexible heavy weapons fire support. It is capable of eliminating hard targets and enemy vehicles at long range with its armour-piercing Krak Missiles, or can provide anti-infantry suppressive fire power with Frag Missiles. It is a single shot weapon, and must be reloaded after each shot. Other patterns include a short magazine of missiles.
 * Proteus Pattern - One of the most ancient patterns that have been continuously utilised since the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras. Chapters like the Carcharodons and the fearsome Minotaurs still make use of this pattern of Missile Launcher.
 * Soundstrike Pattern - The Soundstrike Pattern Missile Launcher is the standard Imperial pattern of Missile Launcher used by the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes.
 * Mk V Pattern - A compact version of the Soundstrike Pattern Missile Launcher. Known to be utilised by the Dark Angels Space Marine Chapter.
 * Thunderbolt Pattern - A notable variant Missile Launcher utilised by the Space Wolves Space Marine Chapter.

Imperial Missile Types

 * Frag Missiles - Frag Missiles are designed to explode on impact with any surface, raking the immediate area with lethal shrapnel composed of aerodynamic metallic shards. Though Frag Missiles are primarily intended to be used as anti-infantry weapons, they can also be deployed effectively against light vehicles. Frag Missiles are often ineffective against heavily armoured infantry.
 * Krak Missiles - Krak Missiles are primarily intended to serve as anti-vehicle weapons, and contain a high-strength shaped charge with a relatively small blast radius that causes massive damage to anything it hits with minimal collateral damage. Krak Missiles are also very effective against heavily armoured infantry, bunkers and other armoured or fortified static targets where their concentrated explosives will often punch holes straight through armour. However, a Krak Missile's small blast radius makes them impractical for use against most infantry and moving targets.
 * Flakk Missiles - Flakk Missiles are designed to serve as anti-aircraft munitions so that when they explode they release a specially-shaped charge containing shrapnel intended to pierce the often lightly-armoured airframes of enemy aircraft. A Flakk Missile can be outfitted with heat-seeking or radar-based targetting packages.
 * Astartes Anti-Plant Missiles - Astartes Anti-Plant Missiles are a stronger variant of the standard Imperial Anti-Plant Missiles. They release a vicious cocktail of toxins, viral agents, defoliants, and anti-fungal agents on detonation that reduce even the heartiest flora to a foul-smelling muck in minutes. Typically used to deny cover and to clear landing zones and fortification sites.
 * Concussion Missiles - Concussion Missiles are outfitted with powerful high explosives and are very effective at breaking up entrenched enemy fortifications. Concussion Missiles are much beloved by the Battle-Brothers of the Imperial Fists garrisoned at Watch Fortress Erioch in the Jericho Reach while serving a term with the Deathwatch.
 * Hellstrike Missiles - The Hellstrike Missile is an air to surface missile commonly mounted on Imperial attack and assault craft used in support of ground-based operations. These weapons use a solid propellant core to deliver a high explosive load, designed to effectively penetrate even well-armoured targets. Because they are generally launched from fixed wing aircraft, these missiles often strike their targets with a speed that substantially exceeds that of rockets fired from ground-based platforms. Hellstrike missiles may not be loaded with unusual ammo.
 * Incendiary Missiles - Incendiary Missiles are commonly employed to flush out enemies in entrenched cover. Incendiary Missiles contain a slow-burning Promethium distillate that ignites when the missile explodes. The Promethium will also continue to burn in the area for a significant time after the missile has detonated.
 * Plasma Missiles - Plasma Missiles are the larger incarnations of Imperial Plasma Grenades and are highly effective against most foes. A single salvo of Plasma Missiles can easily turn enemy troops into a smoking crater. It is for this reason, however, that the user of Plasma Missile weaponry must take care when firing one of these dangerous weapons to make sure that he and his comrades are sufficiently out of harm's way. Plasma Missiles utilise a deliberate plasma containment failure that erupts into a blast of white-hot energy upon impact. The dense plasma core of the missile is rarely entirely consumed in the initial explosion and will leave behind a glowing, energised orb that acts like a minature sun that leaves the immediate area of the impact unapproachable for some time. Plasma Missiles are especially effective against vehicles as the plasma core can quickly penetrate most vehicles' armour.
 * Rad Missiles - These were special issue weapons utilised by Legion Destroyer Squads during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy era. These Terran-devised missiles, a horror of the gene-war anarchy of Old Night, used custom-load warheads which combined high explosive charges with inner fragmentation cases made from highly radioactive isotopes, usually harvested from decommissioned fission reactor shells. The effect was to create an intensely toxic weapon that inflicted a hideous death on its victims, and that could poison and lay low the most resilient organism. Rad warheads would detonate with a short, intense burst of radiation and showered the immediate area with highly contaminated fallout. As well as direct damage, these deadly missiles could be used to bombard an area, and have the effect of debilitating rather than slaying outright, rendering a target vulnerable to further injury.

Other Types
Missiles are extremely versatile and can potentially carry any conceivable type of warhead, including: Virus, Vortex, Smoke, Gas, Tanglefoot, Haywire, Stasis and Photon Flash warheads.

Chaos Missile Launchers
"Let the roar of the missile be as a war cry to reach the gods."

- Chaos Space Marine Havocs catechism

Utilised by Chaos Space Marine Havocs, Chaos Space Marine Missile Launchers can fire either super-krak or frag missiles. Frag missiles are designed to wreak havoc in lightly armoured infantry formations, while super-krak missiles can break open all but the most heavily armoured targets. With an ample supply of both types of ammunition, a missile launcher is the most versatile weapon available to the Forces of Chaos. Missile launchers can be shoulder-mounted and fired by one Chaos Space Marine, but usually require teams of two if being utilised by Chaos Cultists -- the second acting as a loader and spotter.

Xenos Missile Launchers
Missile launchers are versatile weapons, and the Imperium is not the only force to make use of them. The various xenos races such as the Eldar, the Tau and the Orks also make use of such devastating weapons.

Eldar

 * Eldar Missile Launcher - Eldar Missile Launchers are similar to the Imperial equivalent but are elegant and well-balanced. They use complex chambered pods that contain several different kinds of ammunition, all but eliminating the need to reload in battle. They also differ in that they fire Plasma Missiles rather than the more crude Frag Missiles.
 * Reaper Launcher - Utlised to deadly effect by the Dark Reapers Aspect Warriors, Reaper Launchers fire a fusillade of small but potent armour piercing starswarm missiles. Some Dark Reapers also sport the more powerful starshot missile, which allows them to engage enemy tanks and fortifications with impunity.
 * Tempest Launcher - Dark Reaper Exarchs sometimes employ Tempest Launchers that hurl explosives high into the air to land amongst the foe, allowing these merciless Eldar to obliterate several targets at once from amongst the foe's ranks.

Orks

 * Rokkit Launcher - A Rokkit Launcher is a large but simple weapon; consisting of a tubular launcher and as many Rokkits as an Ork can get a hold of. Its simple trigger mechanism allows the Ork at the "safe" end to fire his dodgy-looking payload in the general vicinity of the enemy. The rokkits can be loaded in one at a time or, if the rokkit launcher is a bit more upmarket, they might be loaded in automatically from a magazine. Rokkits tend to be unreliable (mainly due to the large amount of smoke produced when a rokkit is launched) but when they work they are extremely effective and can blow apart a buggy or smash open a gate. They are also very loud, a big plus for any self-respecting Ork warrior. Mekboyz can make different kinds of rokkits or improved versions, but it'll cost an Ork many teeth.

Tau

 * Missile Pod Weapons - A simple but effective delivery system for multiple missiles, these weapon pods are used on light vehicles and heavy infantry at medium range, and are mounted on many Tau Battlesuits and drones. Missile Pods fire missiles that deal high damage against singular targets, while Seeker Missiles and Smart Missiles both use drone intelligences to guide themselves to their targets.