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[Kot]

I would presume the Brute Shield includes a power shield generator of some kind, the shield looks like it has wiring similar to the kind found on power weapons on the front.

Possibly also known as a Suppresion Shield.

Suppression shields are just electrified riot shields. High chance Brute Shield is a version of Combat (or Storm) Shield used by Marines, since those also provide invulnerable saves, IIRC. Brute Shield don't have to be big, as the actual shielding part is generated in front of it and can be bigger and differently shaped, meanwhile Slab Shields seem to be, well, slabs of armor as big as Ogryn, nothing high-tech about them.

[Grim Portent]

If void shields can put energy into the warp why cant it also pull energy out?

Because pulling anything out of what is basically a worse version of hell is generally a bad idea.

More seriously, though how void shields are described has changed a lot over the years it's probably simplest to think of them as just shunting anything that hits them and meets the somewhat arbitrary categories used for what it stops in any given scenario into the warp, presumably by making a tiny warp rift that then closes up.

Bullets? Hole in reality. Lasers? Hole in reality. Psychic lightning? Hole in reality.

[LordPorkins]

But if you try to take that gullet out, it’s probably got a mouth and is sentient and will try to convince you to worship Tzeentch or something.

Which does create an interesting idea: Do you think Daemons in the warp have to deal with the occasional void shield gullet randomly appearing? Maybe that’s why they’re invading.

I can imagine it now: The Culminaton of Khornes daily tournament, the champion is about to deal the killing blow; and then somewhere a titan absorbs a boltshell and he gets his head blown off.

[LordBaal]

I think void shields are your standard scifi force or energy shield, only grimdark named.

[LordPorkins]

I think void shields are your standard scifi force or energy shield, only grimdark named.

Nope. They literally shoot stuff into ZE WARP

[Telgin]

Conventional shields seem to be surprisingly rare in 40K for some reason.  They exist, but as far as the Imperium goes at least they seem to be exotic technology that's only accessible to people like inquisitors.

[Grim Portent]

Void shields only seem to be used on really big things like titans, cities and spaceships, so presumably there's some issue with making small ones, probably energy demands.

Vehicle and personal shields are more conventional, refractor fields, iron halos, storm shields, combat shields and so on are all more traditional energy shields.

[Kot]

Conventional shields seem to be surprisingly rare in 40K for some reason.  They exist, but as far as the Imperium goes at least they seem to be exotic technology that's only accessible to people like inquisitors.

That's not true per-se, Imperial Guard officers, Mechanicus and so on might often have an Refractor Field. They're rarer than, say, plasma weapons, but it's nowhere near Inquisitor exclusive.

Void shields only seem to be used on really big things like titans, cities and spaceships, so presumably there's some issue with making small ones, probably energy demands.

Personal Void shields exist, curiously enough, with anything in between that and planet-sized bubbles (funnily enough encompassing your planet with what's essentially a portal to warp ready to open can have side-effects). The main problem with them is that they seem to require A LOT of power, so the small ones require an excessively good small power supply.

Vehicle and personal shields are more conventional, refractor fields, iron halos, storm shields, combat shields and so on are all more traditional energy shields.

Both Refractor and Conversion (Rosarius) fields seem to use gravitational energies to fuck with incoming projectiles. It's not exactly explained in-universe ever, but you could hazard a guess based on the names that the Refractor field refracts incoming objects, slowing them down, possibly tearing them apart in a prism-like manner, except it's gravity, because fuck if I know, it's Warhammer science and gravity is a wave, and Conversion fields just "convert" the incoming energy of a projectile into light or something. Iron Halos aren't an unique type of shield, they're presumably Conversion fields, but I guess they could be Refractor fields too. Storm Shields, Combat Shields and such powered hand-held shields presumably use a defensive equivalent of a power-weapon, where a Thunder Hammer blasts energy from itself when hitting something, those just blast the same wave of energy when being hit.

Of course, the best shield someone in Imperium can get is a shield of unwavering faith in God-Emperor of Mankind. Shield of hatred for His Enemies is pretty close, though.

[Egan_BW]

Pretty sure the Rogue Trader RPG goes into specific detail about how various shields work. Basically yeah, refractors bleed energy off the projectile or diffuse the light, conversions convert the energy into light and sound, effectively making a flashbang effect go off when someone shoots you.

[Loud Whispers]

Conventional shields are given to Imperial police forces like the Arbites and IG shock troopers, both of whom can expect to have lots of close quarters combat in urban or trench environments. Also to Ogryns

Doesn't make sense to give conventional combat shields to basic IG guardsmen, because the shield won't block most of the things they're being shot with, while it'll slow them down - reducing their firing time, reducing the amount of time they're suppressing the enemy with their own fire, increasing their own casualties. Ogryns don't care about weight issues because they stronk. Urban fighting units don't have the luxury of a firing line and shock units expect to run into fortifications with no cover besides their shield

[Grim Portent]

Conventional shields are given to Imperial police forces like the Arbites and IG shock troopers, both of whom can expect to have lots of close quarters combat in urban or trench environments. Also to Ogryns

Doesn't make sense to give conventional combat shields to basic IG guardsmen, because the shield won't block most of the things they're being shot with, while it'll slow them down - reducing their firing time, reducing the amount of time they're suppressing the enemy with their own fire, increasing their own casualties. Ogryns don't care about weight issues because they stronk. Urban fighting units don't have the luxury of a firing line and shock units expect to run into fortifications with no cover besides their shield

Uh, the conventional shields being discussed were conventional energy shields, the type that just project a bubble that stops things hitting you. Like Star Wars, Star Trek or Mass Effect, as opposed to Void Shields that shunt attacks into the Warp. Not stuff like actual riot shields.


Come to think of it Void Shields don't ever seem to work on melee attacks while basically every other shield does, but in exchange they do seem much harder to shoot through. From a meta perspective that's probably to encourage giant robots punching each other.

[Loud Whispers]

I meant conventional as in slab of metal

[Grim Portent]

I meant conventional as in slab of metal

That was my point, the conversation prior was about energy shields and all uses of the word conventional were referring to traditional energy forcefields, so I assumed you got them mixed up.

[Loud Whispers]

That would entirely be the case but I rolled with the mistake

[nenjin]

Yeah, void shields exist at pretty much every size.

-Personal.
-Vehicle.
-Structural.
-Titan(ic.)
-Starship.

Due to the power demands, the personal ones can't take as many hits/as big of hits before they fail. Once you can strap a generator on the back of something to power it, they become a lot more durable. (You can start generating multiple levels of void shields ala Titans.)