Lascannon
Unlike the Lasgun, the Lascannon is a flashlight that may be considered badass. Lasscannons go FREEEM! or FOOSH! There is an ongoing debate on the name of the Lascannon. As lasers are LAY-ZERZ, some players know the lascannon as the lays-cannon. YOU WISH IT COULD SHOOT POTATO CHIPS! It can't be called a debate when the powers-that-be already stated that it is pronounced like laser but with the "er" removed. While Lasguns are often quite realistically depicted, having all the properties a real laser would, a Lascannon is always more like a particle beam cannon (for one thing the beam is way too fucking wide to be a laser) than anything that would scientifically be considered a Laser. Then again, it is based on Dark Age of Technology knowledge, so it may well somehow accelerate photons and the Mechanicus is simply too afraid to mess with its design to discover that making the beam narrower would result in an increase in effectiveness. That, or they just want to cover as much of the target as possible so they give it a big beam because they lost so much knowledge that they don't know it will weaken the strike. (Maybe it's a thinner beam that's rotated in a circle rapidly to punch a larger hole in the target?)(The laser beam of the lascannon is surrounded by energy field, much like that of power weapons, that's why it has so much penetrating power, so yeah Age of Technology toys makes you wonder how many times various xenos were fucked over by humanity's weapons of that era)
The lascannon is often placed as a phallic symbol on many Imperial Guard Leman Russes, because they thought the battle cannon was not enough. Spess Mahreens often use them in their Devastator Squads, because they are simply better than their Guardsmen counterparts, and want to make sure that's clear. But like their Guard counterparts, they like to stick them on all the tanks they have, because they are Spess Mahreens, and they're cool like that. Being an energy weapon, the Lascannon shares many drawbacks of similar weapons fielded by the Imperials in that it's not terribly energy-efficient, but it's hard to find a better anti-tank weapon or tool for reliably hurting lone high-threat units on the battlefield. Seeing as it is Strength 9, AP2, and Heavy 1, it really has no other use, save for what is ultimately sniping, only that vehicles and monstrous creatures are also on the list of targets, while squadded commanders are not.
Chaos Space Marine Havocs are known for cramming Bayonets on the things. Because everything's better when you make it moar choppy.
The Lascannon is primarily designed for anti-vehicle combat, but regularly sees use against Tyranid monstrous creatures and the errant target on the battlefield that a commander needs to remove right the fuck now, such as a commander sans retinue from a good distance. While it's not the best weapon in the 41st millennium for the job (the Tau Railgun with its plasma-wrapped slug ammunition-firing dipshit range/punch/AP is slightly stronger, as are some ordnance weapons such as those used by The Imperial Guard, while the Necron Pylon's weapon has SD AP 1 and can fire three times in one turn. The Gauss Cannon is ever so slightly better and some Titan weapons make the Lascannon look like a piece of junk..), the Lascannon is undeniably the most cost-effective at what it does - Most of these other weapons are a lot more expensive, and the Lascannon does their job almost as well for ten fuckloads cheaper.
It's hard to go wrong with the Lascannon. Ask for it by name.
If the Lasgun hits with the power of over double that of an AK47, then a Lascannon would most likely hit with the force of a 30mm cannon, by WH40K settings it would not do much to Tanks, but due to its high AP nature, the Lascannon says screw that. It will fuck your shit up and fuck it hard. (Considering that a heavy bolter is a high AP 25mm cannon, the lascannon must surely strike with more force than a 30mm.)
The Lascannon, for when Lasguns and Hellguns/Hot-Shot Lasguns (WTF is with that new name GW, come on!) just aren't enough.
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SM using lascannon
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IG anti-vehicle team
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DKOK FUCK YES!!