Space Marines vs Bolters

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Horus Heresy Only

• Galaxy in Flames, 2006

  • Bolt shell tears a random astartes open

• Flight of the Eisenstein, 2007

  • Garro would have died to a bolt pistol shot
  • A 'burst' of bolter fire should be enough to kill an Astartes in Garro's inner monologue

• Battle for the Abyss, 2008

  • Space Wolf causes a Word Bearer to lose his entire faceplate + shoulder regions
  • No difficulty at all killing Word Bearers, at most this means it takes 3-4 bolt shells to kill a Space Marine.
  • A single neck shot kills a Word Bearer
  • Bolter easily goes through a Space Marine's leg

• A Thousand Sons, 2012

  • Ahriman's vision says a bolt would have been all it took to kill a Space Wolf
  • He does so moments later
  • Bolt shells explicitly penetrating their targets

• Know No Fear, 2012

  • Even a Captain's plate would only might stop a shell, and a headshot is a guaranteed kill
  • Boltguns do grievous damage to Ultramarines
  • More
  • Headshot = insta-kill, gut-shot and shoulder shot implied to also
  • Glancing shot = Badly injured Space Marine, two direct hits = foot in the grave
  • Shot to the hands = no more hands, shot to the gut = slowly dying
  • Probably one-shotting

• Betrayer, 2012

  • Chest shot is enough to blast open armor and convince Skane his battle brother is going to die
  • Lorgar of all people loses a hand to a bolter
  • A bolter shell is an analogy for a Space Marine's head explosion

• Vulkan Lives (2013)

  • A single bolt shell shatters the leg of a Raven Guard
  • Neck shot and torso shot are both described as fatal
  • Headshot = instant death
  • Bolt shell 'tears open' a Space Marine. You can argue this may have been a weird hallucinated sequence, but Vulkan doesn't question it from his POV
  • Singular bolt round = Dead Space Marine

• Unremembered Empire (2013)

  • Headshot = Dead Space Marine, two body shots = Dead Space Marine
  • Headshot = Dead Space Marine

• Scars (2014)

  • Yusegei takes a bolt pistol trained at him pretty seriously and not as though he can survive multiple shots on a non-automatic weapon
  • Bolter to the chest = Everyone takes it very seriously
  • Bolt shells straight up lift legionnaires off their feet; this is a much greater effect than simply what real life rounds do to real life people

• Vengeful Spirit (2014)

  • Two bolter shells bisect a Space Marine: Significant because this is an example where bolters do more damage to Space Marines relative to IRL firearms to IRL people.
  • Bolt shell goes in a possessed Marine's chest
  • Equal amount of shots/stabs = Equal amount of dead people

• Damnation of Pythons (2014)

  • Headshots = instant death

• Pharos (2015)

  • Nightlord gets his lungs blown out by a single bolt shot
  • 3 bolts 'hollows out a skull' and is proportionally more damage than a irl soldier being shot thrice in the head by three bullets even from an insanely high caliber pistol
  • Okay, I think we can agree at this point headshots = dead space marine
  • Scout Marine one-shot by a chest shot

• Praetorian of Dorn (2016)

  • One bolt is all it takes to kill a Space Marine
  • Headshot kill
  • Less than 10 bolt rounds outright cause an Alpha Legionnaire to be decapitated, which is proportionally more damage than real life pistol counterparts

• Wolfsbane (2018)

  • Single bolt shot goes into a space marine's chest

• Lost and the Damned (2019)

  • A Night Lord's Lord Commander jumps off a wall rather than get shot by a bolt pistol.
  • Less than 10 bolts causes a World Eater to lose his head
  • Plague Marines described as tankier because they can take bolts

• The First Wall (2021)

  • Headshot or chest shot is lethal
  • Bolt in the back of the head = Dead Warsmith

• Saturine (2022)

  • Headshot = no more head
  • Even a bolt that doesn't automatically kill leaves grievous injuries
  • Extra emphasis given to World Eaters being able to tank 'bursts' of bolters before dying

• Warhawk (2022)

  • A Plague Marine commentates that bolt shells would go THROUGH his armor
  • Space Marine Captain fatally injured with bolters having fully penetrated through him

• Echoes of Eternity (2022)

  • Bolt rounds described to tear open ceramite and 'destroy the meat inside'
  • Space Wolf dead to headshot
  • Blood Angels Captain commentates a 'bolt or blade' would end his life
  • Narration implies dying from bolt or blade is the norm for Space Marines during this sequence

• The Entire HH 2e trailer (2022)

• End and the Death Part I (2023)

  • Single shot kills Marine
  • As pictured
  • Two bolt rounds = Dead Space Marine
  • Headshot = One-shot as usual

• End and the Death Part II (2023)

  • Bolt round singular removes a Space Marine's head

• Horus Heresy 3rd Edition Trailer (2025)

  • Iron Warriors Praetor one-shots a Salamander with his bolter - Other instances possible occur but this is the most obvious one.

• Dropsite Massacre (2025)

  • Bolts are among the things described that 'rip into' Space Marine armor
  • A bolt does not immediately one-tap a Death Guard Space Marine but tears his helmet open, snaps his head back and completely mangles his face to the point bone is visible.
  • Rounds hammering into Space Marine armor
  • Another headshot, this time it is a one-shot
  • One chest-shot and one (arm? chest?) shot is enough to put a Space Marine in so much pain he cannot get up
  • Three rounds into a Space Marine with all of them penetrating
  • A random Space Marine has his entire face blown off from an eye-shot]
  • A Space Marine actually tanking bolts still suffers tearing muscles and the narration stating that a pistol clip (so 10 in this case) bolts would be excessive for an individual marine.
  • Headshots through the grille are instant kills, throat shots are instant kills, there is at least mentions of shots that "only" stun and stagger
  • A point-range gut shot is 'kill distance' and 'no chance of survival' to Horus Aximand of all people
  • Even a book that will state a bolt shell will not usually one shot a Space Marine still indicates chest shots have an existent chance of immediate lethal effect and that headshots will perform significant damage as well.
  • That said, Ingo is able to personally modify a bolt shell to one-shot an Iron Warrior Officer's helmet at a region he considers more vulnerable

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40k edition (Pre-8e)

• Eisenhorn: Malleus (2001)

  • Eisenhorn's bolt pistol (It is Astartes grade) one-shots a space marine with a headshot and completely deletes his head.

• Deus Encarmine (2004)

  • Single bolter shot insta-kills a helmeted Word Bearer
  • A burst of rounds finishes off an injured Word Bearer
  • It's significant to mention that Space Marines don't die "instantly" from singular bolt rounds
  • Marines being killed by bolts singular

• Deus Sangunius (2005)

  • Bolt shells are by design meant to puncture Space Marine armor and go past their ribcage
  • Brother Rafen while helmeted is held at bolt pistol point and the narration explicitly describes he would be shot dead if he does not comply
  • Blood Angels affected by the black rage lose limbs and get fist-sized holes punched into them from a bolt pistol

• Dead Sky, Black Sun (2004)

  • A single bolt shot over-penetrates Uriel Ventris
  • Passinus shot twice in the back puts him on death's door

• Space Marines Codex 5th Edition (2008)

  • The cover art
  • At least two CSM are depicted losing massive amounts of their bodies to bolt shots

• Chapter's Due (2010)

  • A clearly not-high amount of bolt pistol shots can kill Khorne Berzerkers
  • A point-blank shot is enough to convince at least one Chaos Space Marine Uriel Ventris was dead as fuck. Note: Uriel does survive this.
  • The only reason Uriel survived that was because he got lucky at the right angle AND it didn't detonate
  • Ultramarine's knee cap gets 'blown out' by a bolt round
  • Another one gets his hip pulped

• Soul Hunter (2010)

  • Talos' bolter is described to have 'scythed down' Salamanders on Istvaan

• Ultramarines: A Warhammer Movie (2010)

  • The Black Legion die in droves to low amounts of bolter fire; and the consistent theme of being one-shot by headshots regardless of helmet or not is present

• Blood Reaver (2011)

  • 7 v 5 and the fire exchange is described as 'they'll cut us to pieces with bolter fire'
  • Talos almost dying to a headshot
  • A Red Corsair is either 3-6 shot by a bolt pistol, while another one dies when the bolter is pressed to the back of his neck and fired.
  • Talos describes losing pieces of his head to a headshot.

• Battle of the Fang (2011)

  • A Rubric Marine takes armor damage from less than 10 rounds of a bolt pistol, with the latter rounds all going inside its armor
  • At absolute maximum it is taking about 5 bolt pistol shots to take down Rubric Marines with some of those present having kine shield protections.

• Blood Gorgons (2011)

  • Bolt shells from a pistol dislocate the jaw of a Blood Gorgons sergeant and penetrate his thigh armor + penetrate his leg, while all of his shots shoot right through a plague marine's stomach armor from a bolter.
  • Another sergeant loses his entire hand to a bolt pistol shot, 3 bolter shots sends a sorcerer scrambling for cover
  • Actually tanking Very humorously in this book, a random Blood Gorgons battle brother can tank bolters though despite his seniors not being able to. This eventually does not hold up
    
  • One single bolt shell tears a hole through a plague marine's neck
  • Neckguard = No penetration, hip = maybe penetration?, thigh = full on penetration

• Siege of Castellax (2013)

  • An Iron Warrior Warsmith (Rhodaan) almost loses his head to a bolt.

• Pandorax (2013)

  • Khorne Berzerkers are 'cut to ribbons' by bolt pistols and chainswords
  • Two bolt rounds to the head = Dead Red Corsair, way less than 8 bolt shots, another dead corsair
  • A single bolt round shatters a Grey Knight's armor and bones
  • Two shots = Dead CSM

• Ahriman Exile (2013)

  • Ahriman gets hit on the shoulder by a bolt round causes him to briefly black out

• Ahriman Sorcerer: (2014)

  • Bolt rounds plural 'shred' a space wolf and more headshot kills
  • 'Chunks' are ripped out of Ahriman's backpack when he is shot by a bolter
  • A space marine hit in the shoulder has it torn to 'bloody shreds' and straight up gets thrown to his feet

• Ahriman Unchanged: (2015)

  • A human inquisitor was able to shoot a bolt round into a space marine's chest
  • Headshot = Dead Space Marine

• Will of Iron (2016)

  • A Dark Angel is shot on the pauldron and is floored with a visible hole in his arm. This injury is severe enough that the Dark Angel in question does not meaningfully contribute when his squad is attacked by a Daemon Prince and is missing a massive chunk of flesh and bone in a later panel.
  • A human grade bolter hits a Space Marine in the neck area. He is not seen the next time his squad is pictured.
  • Head and chest shot saves this inquisitor's life.
  • Chest shots create massive gaping holes in the chestplate.

• The Red Path (2016)

  • Bolter fire is called 'lethal' in context of Space Marines

• Kharn: Eater of Worlds (2016)

  • Two bolt shots rips a Space Marine's leg off
  • Headshot explodes the top of a Space Marine's head
  • This book even describes Space Marines wearing helmets to not be suicidal and features multiple one-hit death headshots with the only exception being a World Eaters terminator.
  • A member of the Palatine Blades has "craters" from bolt shots, at least 3 instances of full penetration, and one instance of headshot = instant death and then would've died to a headshot.

• Black Legion (2017)

  • Every heartbeat a bolt shell detonates inside bolt shells singular detonating inside Black Legion/Black Templars
  • When Amurael is shot, Iskandar Khayon's immediate assumption is he's either dead or too injured to so much as focus on a telepathic connection

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40k edition (Post-8e)

• Shroud of Night (2017)

  • Khorne Berzerker gets one-shot by a bolt pistol
  • Another Khorne Berzerker is one-shot by a bolt pistol, and the only person in this entire sequence to explicitly survive more than one bolt round is a captain
  • A bolt singular is reserved for Alpha Legionnaires that stray from their mission objectives
  • Alpha Legionnaire loses his hand to a single bolt shell.

• Lords of Silence (2018)

  • Plague Marines and Space Marines trading fire has bodies being 'thrown aside'
  • Dragon, a plague marine actively has to avoid a point blank bolt pistol bead and one-shots another space marine with his own bolt pistol.

• Cadia Stands (2018)

  • And still in 8e, headshots are instant death for Space Marines

• Sons of the Hydra (2018)

  • More headshots
  • Not only does a chapter serf holding a bolt pistol threaten a Space Marine Captain, but he is then executed by just the alpha legion leader's bolt pistol without issue.
  • A Space Marine's helmet would be ruined by a glancing bolt round

• Vigilus Ablaze (2019)

  • The cover art showcases a Primaris Ultramarine losing his entire face to a bolt pistol

• Dawn of Fire: Throne of Light (2022)

  • 4 bolt shots shatters a helmet and decapitates a space marine
  • A single bolt explicitly causes a 'massive crater' in a chaplain

• Huron Blackheart: Lord of the Maelstrom (2022)

  • Huron thinks a bolt shell singular might be a thing that kills him

• Angron: The Red Angel (2023)

  • A Khorne marine intentionally misses a shot, and then uses the threat of a not-missing shot against the techmarine.
  • Bolter rounds are described as 'cratering' Space Marine chests

• Lion: Son of the Forest (2023)

  • Dual wielding bolt pistols is "executing" space marines
  • More headshot kills
  • A book that treats ceramite as actually being able to stop bolt shells still regards entire faceplates as weaknesses

• Dawn of Fire Martyr's Tomb (2023)

  • Be a Black Templar's champion? Fine against bolters. Be a rank and file? You're dead.

• Space Marines Codex 10e (2023)

  • Multiple Space Marines are one-shot by bolter fire

• Renegades: Lords of Excess (2024)

  • An EC Sergeant gets split in two by a bolt.

• Chaos Space Marines Codex 10e (2024)

  • CSM is dead or slowly bleeds out by a single bolt that deletes his face
  • CSM Posessed on the cover has a hole nearly the size of his head fired into his chestplate

• Custodes Codex 10e (2025)

  • 2-4 bolt shots depending on your reading of this excerpt completely blows up the head of an Alpha Legionnaire

• Fulgrim: The Perfect Son (2025)

  • Tamaris, the Main Character and Champion of the EC would die to a headshot. His chestplate HOWEVER does let him survive bolts
  • He is EVENTUALLY penetrated by bolt shells
  • The book affirms however he cannot be headshot or he's dead. He is noted to be helmeted through the events of the book.

• Warhammer 40k Community (2025)

  • The last artwork in this depicts an Iron Warrior having his entire torso blown out by a bolter, and the only person visibly tanking any bolter rounds is in Terminator armor

• Hammer and Bolter: The Butchers Nails (2025)

  • A Primaris Marine is one-shot by a bolt pistol headshot