How Warhammer 40k’s Iconic Bolter Was Created - Loadout 

Well this was a bloody amazing day at work.... Big thanks to all of the wonderful Games Workshop folk who helped make this happen! Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Sisters of Battle to paint...

"he just wanted something really brutal" This single phrase describes the entirety of 40k excellently

The Astartes fan-made videos are pretty good at showing how a Boltgun should be.

You can't deny the pure simplicity of just a big f***ing gun.

I love that the guy who invented 40k constantly refers to space marines as "toy soldiers".

How GW got it's bolter design: "What did you draw there son?" *sees son's huge gun design* "It's beautiful."

The Bolter in the lore: a deadly weapon that can slay any foe of mankind The Bolter on the tabletop: can take out a single Tau or guardsman. Anything tougher is probably ok.

let me tell you of a love story between a rocket launcher and a machine gun

The thing about the bolter, the thing that gave it its popularity, is its uniqueness. The las guns, the plasma weapons and the power swords are REALLY nice, especially with the great aestethics of the WH40k universe, but they are things SEEN BEFORE. I've already seen so many weapons shooting energy or blades that cut trough everything because of some hi-tech power or magic. But BOLTERS are different. They look squared and bulky, made in mass from a big industrial complex, nothing on them looks useless or flimsy, they look like HUMAN made tools for killing in the most brutal way.

"The deadliest weapon in the world is a marine and his rifle" General Pershing "The deadliest weapon in the Galaxy is a Space Marine and his bolter" The God-Emperor of Mankind

2. Thin. Coats.

'Painting can be a calming experience' , me looking at my necron canoptek wraiths, having to paint 24 arms....YEAHSOCALMING

You should have mentioned the Astartes series also. One guys spreading the light of Emperor.

In reality, the standard bolter's recoil couldn't destroy your arm. The weapon is just so heavy that it counters the recoil, at least to the extent to which it could hurt you or whatever. On that note however, holy shit would it be heavy. I'd imagine at least as heavy as a 240 if not heavier just from how bulky that thing is. Truly a weapon made for the battlefield's demigods. I think I'd throw out my back just looking at the heavy bolter lmao. Great video! A very pleasant surprise!

I love the bolt gun in Darktide. The gun chews through mobs of enemies insanely fast and is such a fun gun.

Astartes did a great job of showing off marines weapons....

*Space Marine repairing his armour after a battle. *Techmarine walks in, looks him over slowly up and down. ... "THIN YOUR PAINTS, BROTHER."

Other Sci Fi universes such as star trek or star wars: we use sophisticated technology to stun and subdue our foes, like lasers and plasma, its sleek, sexy, looks futuristic, like technology has moved on from where we are now, while being mostly weapons of peacekeeping or in some cases tools pressed into service as a weapon Warhammer 40k: this is a bolter, its a big gun, basiclly a big hunk of steel that makes a decent makeshift club in emergencies, and it basiclly shoots 40mm armour piercing grenades that are meant to detonate the moment AFTER it penetrates, exploding targets like an overfilled waterballoon The thing i love about the bolter is that when you look at it, it embodies so much of what 40k is as a whole. Its big, industrial, ugly in a charming, rugged kindve way. This is not a weapon of a noble peacekeeping knight roaming the galaxy, nor a weapon of exploration and hope. This is a weapon designed to utterly destroy anything it comes into contact with, a weapon of brutal, desperate engagements where no quarter is asked for or given.

As much as I love the Bolter, it always cracks me up that a 30 round magazine looks to contain in reality about 5-10 rounds (assuming a double stacked feed)

It's a damn shame there haven't been follow up Spacemarine games. I was really hoping for a Deathwatch vs. a tendril of a hive fleet, sort of like the fall of Reach, but if you and your team can hold the line long enough for the Imperial Navy to turn up with more reinforcements.

Jess Godwyn sounds like what i imagine a primarch would sound like

I think my favourite description came from the recently released Fury of Magnus novella. 'She saw the brass casing of a single bolter shell. Bending to pick it up, she sniffed the acrid propellant within. Projectiles designed to kill legionaries made a horrifying mess of a baseline human. The boltgun was a weapon designed by a psychopath.'

Every other sci-fi universe: We're op! 40K: Hold my twin-heavy-boltgun

_Where there is uncertainty, I shall bring light_ _Where there is doubt, I shall sow faith_ _Where there is shame, I shall point atonement_ _Where there is rage, I shall show its course_ _My word in the soul shall be as my bolter in the field_

" a spacemarine can be outnumbered but never outgunned" (the forgefiend with 3 sets of ectoplasma cannons ready to turn the entire squad into vapor)

The guy in the jean jacket has an incredibly satisfying voice

5:26 *_"a tool of discipline in the hands of a commissar"_*

The light of the God Emperor of Mankind is spreading. Soon the masses will be uplifted out of darkness and a heretical path. You'll all be put into service of the Imperium of Man.

exploding bullets and chainswords thats warhammer 40k for you in a nutshell

I just love how the Boltgun sounded in the film "Ultramarines" - the sound of someone slamming a heavy metal door every time it fired... Music to my ears.

Hopefully this path of mainstream popularity doesn't imply changing the core intellectual property to please everybody. Too much change will only kill the franchise.

the bolt gun never gets a glancing hit unless you get a low roll

Lord duncan and his sign, the coat of thin twins. Blessed be this video

This needs to be updated. The bolter in Darktide is a wonderful addition to the videogame boltgun collection

Jes Goodwin (senior miniature designer) has a perfect, manly voice for a Adeptus Astartes chapter master

I would LOVE to see these professional artists (that were interviewed in the video) give their reaction to how the bolter was presented in youtube series "Astartes". That has, as I consider, the best presentation of what a bolter is and how it sounds like in ANY media. Seriously... get these people's reactions and insights about the Astartes.

I love the interviews on this particular episode; can just feel the passion & enthusiasm for the lore 😍

seeing Duncan on a Gamespot video makes me happy

I love Warhammer soo much I have a space wolves army, it’s so fun to paint

Dawn of war 1 was one of the best RTSs ever. It have like 15 different armies when you had all the expansions. It's probably the reason why they changed it up for the DOW2 because they came closer than any other game to being a 'complete' game in one go. Then each expansion had it's own campaign until you got to the last one were it turned into a massive (at the time) game of risk.

"Depleted Deuterium"?! Deuterium is a form of heavy Hydrogen with one neutron which makes it heavier and could be used in fusion reactors,if they ever manage to produce one.There"s no such thing as depleted Duterium

The Fire Warrior bolter was absolutely badass. Glad y'all mentioned it.

You know what I find absolutely amazing? It's the fact that most of us might know *some* things about our oun real life lore about any given time, be it rome, middle ages, or industrial revolution. And yet we know so, so much more about a fictional world of warhammer...

We put a lot of work into this video, including our first attempt at custom 3d model/renders! Let us know what you think below and be sure to subscribe for more videos

One of the things I've always loved about the bolter is how easily it can be made with our current technology. Replace 40k material names with real world equivalents and a bolt is simply a spin-stabilized solid-fuel rocket with high explosive charge and a DU penetrator. A carefully calibrated combination of a powder charge (gunpowder) and timed fuse for the rocket propellant can be used to get around the slow launch velocity (and inherent inaccuracy) of the gyrojet and overpressure issues of rockets.

The 40 k lore is so damn amazing. It's a shame that the videogames are at best decent.

Once I started thinking about ammo storage, the boot guns started seeming more comical to me. Compare the diameter of the barrel to the size of the magazine. How many rounds could you fit in there? Looks like 5-6, if double stacked. Then, to store enough spare magazines for any long engagement, Space Marines would need to be absolutely buried in spare magazines. They're in power armor, so we can ignore the weight, but the sheer volume of the rounds would be enormous. The storm bolters are even more comical. Yes, yes, I know, it's a fantasy setting, and one that I thoroughly enjoy.

The Astartes fan film has the best representation of the boltgun.

Think of It as a Assault Rifle That Shoots RedBull Sized Bullets Which explode on impact..... Its A RPG Assault Rifle But its So much more IT IS THE HOLY WEAPON OF THE GOD EMPERORS WRATH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Could you imagine the reaction of the crew of say, the enterprise, were to see a squad of space marines striding onto the bridge... lots of pants would need cleaning.

great quality content. Never expected this look at the 40k universe from Gamespot. More please.

I just wanted to say that the camera work here is awesome, the production value is great!

Amazing how that one pic of the Emperor by Genzoman from deviantArt got such traction that it's basically canonized now.

Darktides version is actually more brutal than space marines version. Both in sound and the visceral output of what happens when it hits. Granted that this video is 2 years old, but the truth nonetheless.

Yes do more 40k videos please, this was really well done

Thank you Jes, for so many wonderful miniatures 🙏🏻

anybody remember the stormbolter in space marine MP? goooood that thing was good, that game really nailed the bolter as a whole, as you said

I think it's very befitting of humanity to, 28,000 years from now and beyond, to look at equipping our most capable soldiers and arrival at the conclusion to use a weapon firing projectiles with explosive based reactions. It's something we know, it's something that works, it's something we're *_very_* good at making and it's powerful and capable.

Love that Jes, such a nice chap and very interesting to talk to. As for games, Fire Warrior & Space Marine nailed bolt weapons.

great video !!! more 40K content please!!! amazing work gamespot!

*sees other sci fi weapons* "cute" *grabs Commissar bolter with malicious intent*

Umm... YOU 'UMMIES KEEPZ SAYING DA CHOPPA WRUNG!! WOTZ DIS BOLT GUN YA KEEPZ SAYIN WIF YA GOB!? YOU GITZ NEED A GOOD KRUMPIN WIF ME CHOPPA!

For being 40,000 years in the future, infantry carrying an autocannon as standard is actually pretty mild stuff TBQH.

14:35 "The Bolters feels more Medevil", and this when you considere the inspirations for the Marines, is spot on. Space marines are technically Warrior-Priests, they are futuristic Knights, in Knightly Orders(Chapters). The Bolter is the equivalant of a broadsword or Arming sword.

"GET OFF MY SHIP, SPACEMARINE!"

Ah yes the Bolter. I my own bolt pistol has slain numerous xenos, heretics and other threats to mankind. Feth, even eliminated a few traitorous guardsmen that forgot what they stood for when facing these enemies. As I tell my regiments troops “even when you have given everything, you can still give your life”! If your not willing to part with it then I shall take it from you”. **The Emperor Protects**

Great video- earned my sub from this alone.

this hobby has gone so far in 25 years, we used to hide, not preach ! that's very cool, thanks for doing it

This just makes me think of that small fan film by Astartes and that final scene where a Space Marine is dead set to kill his target even if he was stopped by this tech wizard, almost ripping him from the inside.

Glad you were able to interview Duncan, we will all miss him

Good video!.. excellently presented 👍👍👍

"Heroes". Oh wait, this is a Gamespot video. That's why.

Okay now I HAVE to go to Warhammer World 5:27 Discussing commissars, shows Ciphias Cain, who is notable for NOT EVER HAVING USED A BOLT PISTOL...

The quality of this video is amazing. Surprised you got the writers I'm this. Good job

Playing through Fire Warrior for a video. Now that's dedication to your craft.

I always thought of the Bolter as a perfection of simplicity.

"Walk softly, and carry a big gun."

The Bolter is the icon of Warhammer 40K. It ties together everything that the franchise has to offer and sends a very clear message: Even with this massive handheld cannon, your survival is by no means guaranteed. Excellent doc. Really enjoyed this and was fascinated by the backgrounds with the GW sets.

Excellent video!

I always thought that bolters had like maybe 6 bullets in its magazine. I mean the bullets look huge and the magazine is so damn small but all the games make it seem like there somehow is like 30 shots in it.

To all Warhammer fans out there, I highly recommend playing Space Hulk: Death Wing, (10:52) imagine Vermintide in Warhammer 40k universe, a flawed game that mods can easily fix. Too bad the devs never provided tool kits so no mods anywhere. It is a good game that could be a masterpiece with a little tweaking done by good modders. It's such a waste since the devs abandoned it. Maybe if they get sudden surge in sales, we could convince them to reupdate the game or better, provide tools for modders. It's dirt cheap on Steam almost every sale period, it is fun, flawed, but very atmospheric. I really hate for such a good game to remain just that, a good game.

A few additions I would like to make. There is a fan-made set of rules that have been updated over different editions, called Movie Marines. It was designed on the idea of recreating the power of the Space Marines from the background, on the tabletop. Half a dozen models could take on a typical tabletop army and win without being a total kerb-stomp. That makes the boltguns equally brutal, as per their portrayal. Further to Jes' comment about rate of fire, I've always thought that Dawn of War 2's representation was closest to "realistic". I think I recognised that helmet and storm bolter in the background; it looks like parts of Daniel Knox's awesome Crimson Fists space marine costume, which he has retired and is working on a new Primaris version.

8:32 i found it hilarious when the ad break cut right here, and started playing the chorus of “Call my maybe”!!

The Heavy Bolter. When you need to kill a heretic easily and still be able to take down a Tyranid and space Weaboos

I would love to see a 40k FPS with proper big budget development.

This was a fantastic video! Still hoping for Space Marine 2!

Very pro, great vid guys 👌🏼

fun fact: I remember the first gameplay teaser trailer of Space Marine featuring the bolter firing like a submachine gun, and fans were really upset, and I think THQ changed it partly on that feedback.

"The greatest weapon on earth Is a marine and his rifle."-General Pershing

0:48 Heroes huh? Yep. Heroes. That's the Imperium right there.

"Can be outnumbered but never outgunned" my flat 12 damage stormsurge canon assure me otherwise

If I meet Duncan, I would die, lol.

While bolters are aesthetically pleasing, I still see 40k’s chainaxes and chainswords as being the most grandiose weaponry from that series

Surprisingly good documentary! Dannnnng!

Fun observation: The rounds on that look to be on par with a 12ga 3 1/2" shotgun shell. For those who don't know, 12ga shotgun slugs are about .72 caliber (just a wee narrower than the .75 cal mentioned). Since the length of the cartridge/shell is so dang short don't expect it to have the power of a full size .75 caliber shell, which would be about 28x199mm like on the old American WWII naval anti-aircraft guns. A 3 1/2 inch shell's still gonna pack a whallop all right. If using brass shells, you could really get some amazing power out of that. 100yards and in, it'd be a helluva hard-hitter, especially running slugs with APHE capability. The biggest drawback, just like with real life shotguns, is ammo weight/bulk and the resulting capacity. Space Marines would need a steady supply chain of ammo. Then again, if their suits are just packed full of ammo, I guess that'd solve that, but also keep in mind ammo in mags takes up a lot more room than loose ammo. There'd be a lot of down time needed for them to reload their spent magazines, assuming they even held onto the magazines. Devastating gun, for sure, but a logistical nightmare if it were IRL. Fun observation 2: Given the mass of the bolt gun, no doubt if you, a average person fired it, you could do so safely; recoil would be high, but not unmanageable. You'd probably want a nice, thick shoulder pad, though. As for sustained fire, yeah, probably a bit much, though I'd wager a body-builder could handle it.

Would love to see this updated with DARKTIDE

8:58 Yes "Finding" wargear and relics.

As someone who knew nothing about warhammer 40k and just got a hold of a bolter in Darktide (clearly meant to be the smaller, non-space marine version). I must say, it stands out compared to other weapons with how it feels. Very heavy, very chunky, and very destructive, but still somewhat balanced but how long it takes to load or even swap to it from your melee weapon.

Well presented sir.👍 Dakka Dakka! ♥️

BY THE DARK GODS, this was great to watch seeing someone else recognize the awesomeness that is 40k.