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Phaestos Pattern Flamer WB

Ancient Phaestos Pattern Hand Flamer employed by the Word Bearers Legion

Hand Flamers (also called "Burners" ) are a more compact pistol version of the standard Flamer, and only require one hand to wield. A Hand Flamer possesses a lower-capacity fuel tank and a much reduced range compared to the standard Flamer, which makes it suited only for assault and close-combat as it can incinerate foes only at short range.

Adepta Sororitas Seraphim units are notable users of Hand Flamers, and commonly employ them in pairs.

Operation[]

Flamer Weapons project fire upon their foes and generally use a fuel referred to as Promethium, though it can also be a home-made concoction or other chemical brew depending on the local technology level. Most forms of Promethium are a mono-propellant fuel that ignites via a smaller pilot flame at the tip of the barrel, though some Flamers use binary hypergolic fuels that ignite on contact with one another.

Once produced, the intense jet that spurts from the barrel creates a torrent of liquid fire, which spreads out in an inferno that can burn even underwater, leaving enemies hard-pressed to put out the fire.

Known Hand Flamer Patterns[]

  • Astartes Hand Flamer - The Astartes Hand Flamer is a smaller and more compact version of the standard pattern Astartes Flamer that is still capable of unleashing large blasts of flame, but is good for only a few shots before the fuel canister must be swapped out.
  • Cadence Promethium "Destroyer" Incineration Device - A weapon produced only to order by special commission by the artisan-masters of Cadence, a commercial enterprise based in the rarefied halls of Nova Castillia on Fenksworld in the Calixis Sector, the "Destroyer" is a highly advanced pattern of Hand Flamer that uses force-compression technology similar to that of a Plasma Weapon to create a superheated thermal-incandescent blast that burns far hotter and with greater fuel efficiency than that of a usual Flamer. If the stories are to be believed, the first commissioner of this weapon was none other than the legendary Ordo Xenos Inquisitor Ark-Ashten, although this is likely to be apocryphal.
  • Exterminator - Utilised exclusively by the fanatics of the Redemptionists upon the Hive World of Necromunda, "Exterminators" are particularly used by their Novice Brethren whose shooting skills are more enthusiastic than accurate. An Exterminator isn't really a weapon as such, it's more like a Flamer nozzle attached to a small canister of fuel. This is strapped under a real basic weapon like an Autogun or a Shotgun to give the fighter carrying it a single-shot Flamer to use at close quarters.
  • Mezoa Pattern - Flame Pistols or Hand Flamers are small and good for only several shots, being designed for personal combat at close ranges. Each uses a canister mounted under the small barrel, making it a somewhat difficult to aim due to the heavy propellant case. Luckily the short ranged spray of flame it produces is enough to deal with most enemies.
  • Phaestos Pattern - These ancient, but reliable Flamers units have served the Adeptus Astartes well since the Great Crusade era when they first departed from the Sol system to launch the Emperor's great campaign to reunite the disparate tribes of Humanity.
  • Seraphim Hand Flamer - Primarily used by the warriors of the Adepta Sororitas, these weapons are designed for use in pairs and so can spew forth gouts of flame from both pistols at once. In addition, these Hand Flamers are designed to be used in melee combat and can release small controlled bursts of flame that use negligible amounts of promethium. The weapon can be used both as a ranged weapon and a melee weapon by those who are properly trained.

Sources[]

  • Black Crusade: Core Rulebook (RPG), pg. 158
  • Codex: Blood Angels (5th Edition), pp. 57, 59
  • Codex: Dark Angels (4th Edition), pp. 48-49
  • Codex: Orks (4th Edition), pp. 45, 89-90
  • Codex: Orks (3rd Edition), pg. 36
  • Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition), pg. 98
  • Codex: Space Wolves (5th Edition), pp. 57, 59
  • Codex: Tau (3rd Edition), pg. 17
  • Codex: Tau Empire (4th Edition), pg. 26
  • Dark Heresy: Blood of Martyrs (RPG), pg. 115
  • Dark Heresy: Core Rulebook (RPG), pp. 134-135
  • Dark Heresy: Daemon Hunter (RPG), pg. 132
  • Dark Heresy: The Inquisitor's Handbook (RPG), pp. 111, 160, 172
  • Deathwatch: Core Rulebook (RPG), pp. 148-149
  • Deathwatch: First Founding (RPG), pg. 98
  • Deathwatch: Rites of Battle (RPG), pg. 135
  • ' 'Ere We Go (1st Edition), pp. 112, 114
  • Gorkamorka: Da Roolz (RPG), pp. 22, 56
  • Imperial Armour Volume Eight - Raid on Kastorel-Novem, pp. 32, 119, 140, 193
  • Imperial Armour Volume Nine - The Badab War, Part One, pg. 120
  • Imperial Armour Volume Ten - The Badab War, Part Two, pp. 78, 128
  • Imperial Armour Volume Eleven - The Doom of Mymeara, pp. 116, 118
  • Inquisitor (RPG), pp. 78, 127
  • Necromunda: Outlanders Rulebook (RPG), pg. 52
  • Only War: Core Rulebook (RPG), pp. 180-181
  • Only War: Hammer of the Emperor (RPG), pg. 113
  • Rogue Trader: Core Rulebook (RPG), pp. 123-124
  • Rogue Trader: Hostile Acquistions (RPG), pg. 51
  • Rogue Trader: Into the Storm (RPG), pp. 114, 142
  • The Horus Heresy - Book Two: Massacre (Imperial Armour), pp. 124, 146, 248
  • Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (1st Edition), pg. 77
  • Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook (6th Edition), pp. 51, 56
  • Warhammer 40,000: Wargear (2nd Edition), pg. 23
  • White Dwarf 389 (UK), pg. 71

Gallery[]

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