"Master Engineer Volker von Meinkopt found inspiration watching students reloading at the Imperial Gunnery School. He had a revelation: more barrels equals more shots equals more lethality. He soon produced the first repeating handgun, Von Meinkopt’s Whirling Cavalcade of Death, and pistol, Von Meinkopt's Micro-mainspring of Multitudinous Precipitation of Pernicious Lead. Not content to rest on those laurels, he then created the enormous nine-barrelled cannon, the Helblaster Volley Gun, which is utterly lethal to enemies and, all too often, its crew."
An Helblaster Volley Gun[1a]
The Helblaster Volley Gun, also known as the Macro-mainspring of Multudinous Precipitation of Pernicious Lead, is one of the most infamous blackpowder weapons ever invented, its devastating firepower able to tear apart an entire regiment of enemy troops in one thunderous volley.[5a]
History[]
"Maintain distance when supervising gunnery crew to ensure safe observation."
- —Excerpt from Machineries of Destruction – The Manifold Methods of Maiming the Mass and the Mob on the Field of Battle by Master Engineer Hallar Hansleben of Wissenland[2a]
In the year 2253 IC, a time of increasing Chaos infiltration and incursion into the Old World, the Steam Tank known as Deliverance was fitted with an experimental weapon, a precursor to the now commonplace Helblaster Volley Cannon. The Steam Tank was all but destroyed in a catastrophic explosion, but extensively rebuilt with no long-term detriment and the Helblaster prototype was disabled pending further research.[7a]
That research culminated in the lethal creation of the Helblaster Volley Cannon by the deranged Imperial Engineer Volker von Meinkopt. This weapon's terrifying reputation has since spread to all corners of the Old World. Its nine separate barrels are divided into three "decks" and are turned by means of a central crank, firing around three shots per deck which can shatter the enemy in a hail of miniature cannonballs.[1a][5a]
Helblaster crews may choose to fire all three decks in quick succession, or to load and fire the decks one after another. Either method has advantages.[2a]
Even heavily armoured Chaos Warriors can be torn to shreds by a single volley, though with such devastating power comes a greater risk to the artillery crew. Helblaster Volley Cannons are notoriously prone to sudden, cataclysmic explosions. As a result, the crewmen of weapons so prone to an explosive end tend to be paired up with priests of Morr, the god of the dead.[1a]
The engineer Luigi Giovanni used the damaged remains of one of these weapons to create the Helblaster Wagon, an otherwise normal lookiong transport wagon that actually carries a modified Helblaster Volley Cannon. It is mounted in the back of the wagon on a wooden turntable that allows the Helblaster to shoot in any direction, including over the heads of the two warhorses that pull the wagon.[6a]
Although it is never directly specified, it is strongly suggested by various sources that the original studies of the Helblaster may have been sketched by Leonardo da Miragliano. This thesis is further supported by the fact that the complete name of the Helblaster lacks the typical sign of von Meinkopt and that Leonardo's miniature was sold together with the first 4th Edition model of the Helblaster.[7a][8a]
Miniatures[]
.jpg "Empire Artillery - Helblaster Volley Gun (2).jpg (49 KB)")
.jpg "Helblaster Volley Gun (6th Ed).jpg (19 KB)")
_-_Leonardo_Da_Miragliano.jpg "Helblaster Volley Gun (4th Ed) - Leonardo Da Miragliano.jpg (19 KB)")
![Helblaster Wagon's converted miniature.[6a]](/wiki/File:Helblaster_Wagon_miniature.png "Helblaster Wagon miniature.png (522 KB)")
Canon Conflict[]
Another source tells a different story about the birth of this weapon.[4a]
Hundreds of years ago a number of advanced cannon designs were built for the then-emperor by renegade Dwarf weaponsmiths. The chief of these was the disgraced Master Runesmith Gimlit Bareshanks. Bareshanks was a famously embittered misanthrope of eccentric, if not sadistic, inclinations as testified by many a Helblaster crew -- or their grieving relatives.
Derived from a discredited Dwarf design, the Helblaster Volley Cannon was a devastating but extremely unreliable weapon with a tendency to explode in the heat of action, leaving a pile of smoking iron and a big hole in the ground. Many of these dangerous weapons are still maintained by students of the Imperial Gunnery School at Nuln.[4a]
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Armies: The Empire (8th Edition)
- 1a: pg. 48
- 2: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition: The Empire at War (RPG)
- 2a: pg. 58
- 3: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Core Rulebook (RPG)
- 3a: pg. 54
- 4: Warmaster Armies (Specialist Game)
- 4a: pg. 7
- 5: Warhammer Armies: The Empire (6th Edition)
- 5a: pg. 14
- 6: Citadel Journal 1
- 6a: pp. 10-15
- 7: White Dwarf 263 (UK)
- 7a: pp. 34-37
- 8:The Loathsome Ratmen and All Their Vile Kin (Background Book)
- 8a: pg. 57
Gallery[]
