Exuberant Pattern Anti-Materiel Rifle

**This article, Exuberant Pattern Anti-Materiel Rifle, was written by Cornish Moose, and SquishyGDI. It may be linked to any page without asking for the author's permission.**

### **Origin**

Repurposed Great Crusade era Heavy Bolter

## Production and service

### **Designer**

Unknown, likely the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars

### **Used by**

Mk.1 Various Legiones Astartes taskforces, including the Blades of Onyx
Mk.2 Various AM regiments
Mk.3 Various Adeptus Astartes Chapters, including the Onyx Phoenixes

## Specifications

### **Cartridge**

APHE (Long) HB round
"Traitor's Bane" (Long) round

### **Max range**

Unknown
Kill shots have been recorded out to over 15km

### **Sight system**

Optical scope

*Feel free to utilise this weapon in your articles. If you let me know I will add them to the notable users list.*

The **Exuberant Pattern Anti-Materiel Rifle** is a small family of long ranged Anti-Materiel rifles which have seen limited use by the Imperium of Man over the past ten millennia. Originally designed as an early pattern of heavy bolter, the weapon's accuracy and potent stopping power saw it repurposed into a sniping weapon, though it was plagued by mechanical issues. Discarded by the Legiones Astartes towards the end of the Great Crusade, it saw renewed service with the Imperialis Auxilia as a light autocannon and eventually the issues were ironed out and it found popularity as a long ranged tank killer. This improved variant was eventually re-adopted by the Adeptus Astartes, seeing service through until the adoption of the smaller and more ergonomic Executioner rifle and Las-Fusil in the early years of M42. Despite this the later versions are still in service with some Chapters, either due to supply issues getting the new weapons or due to personal preference.

## Overview

Originally simply another of the myriad weapons supplied to the Legiones Astartes during the preparations for the Great Crusade, the Exuberant pattern was an older style of heavy bolter, more closely resembling the heavy stubbers or autocannons being produced at the time. It had a long barrel and fixed stock, lending it impressive accuracy over longer ranges. Plagued with mechanical issues, the Legions began phasing it out in favour of the new heavy bolter patterns, with the remaining examples being restricted to semi-automatic fire to improve reliability. It was quickly realised that in this role the weapon could be used to "snipe" armoured foes at long range and knock out light vehicles. The weapons were modified with scopes and bipods to enhance this feature, and a new shell developed to further improve the accuracy and stopping power.

While this new role proved more suitable and the weapon was highly effective, problems persisted and it was eventually dropped in favour of other systems. The weapons found their way into the hands of Imperialis Auxilia and their tech-priests, who continued to modify and experiment with the weapons. Eventually this resulted in the Mk.2 version, which solved the reliability issues and improved the ergonomics for the smaller frames of mortal humans. Here it found renewed success, being able to disable the tracks on most tanks, defeat lightly armoured vehicles and punch through power armour. The last aspect would prove particularly useful during the civil war that followed, with marksman teams reaping a heavy toll upon the traitor Astartes.

Sometime after the end of the Horus Heresy, the now Adeptus Astartes renewed their interest in the Exuberant pattern sniper rifle, having seen it in action amongst the soldiers they fought alongside. The Mechanicus modified the design slightly the make it more ergonomic to the Astartes and the new Mk.3 version entered service with the Chapters. It did not see complete adoption, some Chapters felt it did not suit their mobile tactics, others preferred shorter range but more potent systems such as melta weaponry for their anti-vehicle needs, and still others felt that shooting a foe that was too far away to be seen was dishonourable.

In the early years of M42, Belisarius Cawl unveiled the Executioner sniper rifle and the Las-fusil, two weapons which largely fulfilled the capabilities of the Exuberant while being much more portable. While the Exuberant was more effective as a single system, able to operate against personnel and vehicles, it could not match either in their specific roles and due to its greater bulk, swiftly fell out of favour with the more mobility orientated Chapters. It is still in service, amongst those yet to receive the new rifles and amongst those Chapters with a more static mindset, such as siege specialists.

## Design

### Weapon

Resembling in many ways the Heavy Stubber in widespread usage by the Imperium, the original weapon was an ancient form of Heavy Bolter, pre-dating the more common variant and possessing a number of features which suggest it may well have started life as a modified Stubber, rechambered for Bolt ammunition. Operating initially from an open bolt, short recoil system, it was switched to closed bolt upon conversion to an anti-materiel rifle.

## Versions

* **Mk.1** - The original Heavy Bolter, with a field modification to fit a scope and reduce it to semi-automatic fire. A cooling shroud was installed to prevent the barrels from overheating prior to restriction to single shots. Most sniping variants retained this feature even though it was no longer strictly necessary.
* **Mk.2** - The design is retrofitted to better suit a human operator, being able to easily break down into several components for transport and featuring slightly smaller grips and handles. It also modified the weapon to accept a box magazine rather than a belt feed, improving reliability as a semi-automatic weapon. The cooling shroud was discarded in favour of a protective casing.
* **Mk.3** - This version restores the larger grips and redesigned handles to facilitate Astartes operation. It retains the ability to be disassembled, though this is rarely utilised by Astartes as they are strong enough to easily carry it.

### Ammunition

The Exuberant pattern rifle primarily utilises an ancient variant of heavy bolter ammunition, the APHE (Long). This round is slightly larger than the current heavy bolter shell but more importantly, it is also twice as long. This is for two reasons, to increase the size of the initial charge, ensuring the round can exit the long barrel of the weapon, and to increase the size of and therefore the range of the rocket propellant. The warhead is broadly similar in size to that of a conventional round, though it has been modified much like a Kraken round with an Adamantine core to enhance penetration and a larger explosive charge. When combined with the increased impact speed, the round has proven capable of punching through heavy infantry armour with ease and being able to defeat the thinner plate of vehicles such as Sentinels or the side and rear armour of heavier vehicles. It can also disable tank tracks and the vision slots of vehicles it cannot penetrate.

More recently, the Black Fangs Chapter has developed the "Traitor's Bane" (Long) round, a modification of the standard APHE round to utilise a tandem warhead for more effective use against the enhanced physiologies of targets such as Traitor Astartes while being more covert. The Adamantine tip has been replaced by a shaped charge to cut through the armour of the target, before an explosive "needle" enters the gap and explodes within, causing massive internal damage. The round has a larger initial charge and uses a short-burn gas cartridge to maintain the range but keep the round subsonic for most of the flight time, improving it's covert properties. The design for this round has been shared with the other Adeptus Astartes Chapters, with a number likewise adopting it for their rifles.

## Notable Users

* **Blades of Onyx** - As a Great Crusade era taskforce largely cut off from the Imperium, the Blades' usage of the Mk.1 version of the rifle is in part due to the dwindling number of more advanced weapon systems they can maintain. The Blades have carefully maintained their stock, and with the aid of their Tech-priests have modified their own weapons to solve much of the mechanical issues.
* **Onyx Phoenixes** - This Chapter, with their heavy focus on ranged firepower, prizes the Mk.3 variant they posses, even utilising it after many of their brethren have discarded it in favour of weapons such as the Executioner and Las-fusil.
* **Black Fangs** - This Chapter has managed to acquire a small number of rifles for their own use. While predominantly an adherent to guerrilla tactics, they recognise the need for longer ranged, more static firepower to support the mobile forward units.