Void shields

[vengence]

Is there a quantification of the void shields? how much force is a shield able to withstand? how fast does it recharge? I have heard that the shields work in layers,whats the details on that? and any other relevant info on how the shields work would be nice.

[Stofsk]

I approved the above post, but can you in future please provide more information than you did rather than assuming everyone knows what you're talking about? Because I sure don't know what a 'void shield' is.

[Black Admiral]

They're the primary shield mechanism used by the Imperium of Man in Warhammer 40,000.

As far as quantification goes, I'm not sure of specific yield resistance. However, recharge time is typically a matter of minutes; capital ship grade void shields can recycle in less than one (per Execution Hour and Soul Hunter) if properly maintained. As for every else, it depends on the precise mechanics posited by the author you're looking at; Gav Thorpe, for instance, writes void shields as using a warp shunt mechanism, whereby an incoming attack is displaced into the Warp/Immaterium (the Raven Guard, during the Great Crusade, developed a way to invert their ships' void shields as a stealth system).

[The Reaper]

Is there a quantification of the void shields? how much force is a shield able to withstand? how fast does it recharge? I have heard that the shields work in layers,whats the details on that? and any other relevant info on how the shields work would be nice.

It depends on man things, one of the most important being what "class" of void shields. The smallest being the size of a man, the largest being moon-sized. This changes most things you are asking about.

There are also examples of it shunting incoming attacks into the Warp, if they are set to a certain "frequency" they become "dimensionally impregnable" where nothing from another dimension can penetrate them, and other strange stuff.

Basically, just another thing that varies tremendously in 40k.

[Ahriman238]

My understanding is that a void shield sometimes shunts things into the Warp, but is conventionally basically multi-layered reduction/refractor fields. Obviously, they're the shields used by Imperial (and Chaos) ships, titans, and knights. Certain high-ranking tech-priests have had personal void-shields, but that was during the Heresy, and I honestly don't know if the ability survives to the present.

As Reaper said, another thing in 40K that varies wildly from situation to situation and writer to writer.

[dragon]

In titanicus they mention that it's easier to bring down a void shield with multiple imapacts rather than a single large one. There has been instances where super heavy tanks had them I think that was from the expasion Apocalypse don't hold me to it thouhg.

Oh most forgot some cities have them which tends to make the seige last longer. Even though from the way serveral books made it sound only the very large or important cities had them. Maybe due to cost or energy requirements.

There's been examples of the personal void shield but they were all artifacts though I think.

[wautd]

There's been examples of the personal void shield but they were all artifacts though I think.

In Gaunt's Ghosts Honor Guard, Infardi officers had some kind personal shield, which also made them (semi)invisible. Not sure it were void shields, but if I remember correctly, it'd take the equivalent of a personal anti-tank weapon to take it down. I believe it was also mentioned those shields were still being produced by a Chaos-conquered planet.

[The Reaper]

One of the mad guys in the last Ravenor book had a personal void shield that he mentioned was crazy expensive. (His name began with an M I think, its been a while...)

[Sinewmire]

Is there a single type of "void shield" or is it a generic name? The galaxy is a big place.

I know there are also refractor fields (which, IIRC are what the Infardi officers used) conversion fields and displacer fields, all of which are small enough for personal use.

[The Reaper]

Is there a single type of "void shield" or is it a generic name? The galaxy is a big place.

I know there are also refractor fields (which, IIRC are what the Infardi officers used) conversion fields and displacer fields, all of which are small enough for personal use.

Well there are different models of void shield generators if that is what you mean. But they vary on everything up to even color, some are orange, some have a purple tinge, and some are always invisible.

[Ahriman238]

Is there a single type of "void shield" or is it a generic name? The galaxy is a big place.

I know there are also refractor fields (which, IIRC are what the Infardi officers used) conversion fields and displacer fields, all of which are small enough for personal use.

Is there a single type of "wheel?" Do they come in a specific size?
...
Clearly not. A void shield is a type of shield that is stronger than refractor, reduction, and conversion shields. They come in a variety of sizes, colors, and arguably functions.

I quite forgot about city-shields. Most Hives apparently have them. Vervunhive, at least.

[Sinewmire]

Is there a single type of "wheel?" Do they come in a specific size?

Well yes, that was my point. Sorry, I forgot to put my question in [rhetorical]

As for "quantifiable" I'd look at Connor's deconstructions for that sort of thing, he's done a lot of threads using GW sources. Sadly (or gladly) I suspect they're just too non-standard to give many hard figures for. Good job too, because every time I see a sci-fi writer doing it I sigh inwardly - don't they know they're weakening the Imperium in the RAR contests on SDN?

[dragon]

Is there a single type of "void shield" or is it a generic name? The galaxy is a big place.

I know there are also refractor fields (which, IIRC are what the Infardi officers used) conversion fields and displacer fields, all of which are small enough for personal use.

Is there a single type of "wheel?" Do they come in a specific size?
...
Clearly not. A void shield is a type of shield that is stronger than refractor, reduction, and conversion shields. They come in a variety of sizes, colors, and arguably functions.

I quite forgot about city-shields. Most Hives apparently have them. Vervunhive, at least.

And those city shields can take alot of pounding. Some of the cities have shields that can take the fire from a fleet

[Cykeisme]

In some ways they're similar to other sci-fi shields, like in Star Wars.

Void shields seem to differ in that they don't seem to gradually weaken, but heavy incoming fire in a short period of time causes them to "overload" and go down, presumably by exceeding their ability to shunt off energy (into the warp?).
As has already been stated, not permanently. Bringing a shield back up depends on how well-maintained it was, and how competent the operators (starship engineers, Titan crew, etc) are.

To get around the issue of the shields overloading, a lot of craft use multiple void shields. They're referred to as "layers" of void shields, but whether they are actually projected at different distances from the craft like shells, or whether it's just an abstraction referring to multiple redundant projectors/generators, has not been stated.


Are there sources that state that they dump energy into the Immaterium? It's a good logical equivalent to Star Wars shields radiating energy as neutrinos.. effectively handwaving away all that energy they absorb.
If so, dumping into the Immaterium is one thing that differentiates them refractor, conversion and displacer fields (which afaik don't have that ability).

[Black Admiral]

Are there sources that state that they dump energy into the Immaterium?

Yes, that's the mechanism Gav Thorpe writes void shields as using; the Raven Guard developed a method, during the Great Crusade of inverting void shields to use as a cloaking device, displacing any outgoing emissions from a ship so stealthed into the Warp.