The canon has been consistently inconsistent on the issues of small arms and support weapons. TW...helped a lot, for a little while, but later additions have upset the limited degree of balance that existed.
So I feel very safe in my own, following head-canon.
Laser weapons are high-class weapons for high-class troops in certain circumstances.
They have better range and damage than most slug-throwers, and are more accurate.
But their power-usage severely limits them in practice. Maintenance *can* be an issue, but is really a matter of training. A foolish lord could waste lots of cash on fancy lasers for his levy troops and then have the whole inventory unserviceable due to lacking maintenance and abuse.
Slug-throwers are more-robust and have better mid-term endurance because you can carry more bullets than batteries. But if the laser-troops can avoid firing off their whole basic load of ammunition, they will be able to recharge their power packs one way or the other (an infantry squad without chargers is derelict in their duties), effectively endlessly, independent of external supply, where the slug-thrower troops need an ongoing supply of ammunition trucked in.
Power consumption makes pulse-lasers and more powerful lasers like blazers difficult to support in long battles. But in the hands of elite troops on raiding missions or close to re-(power)-supply? They'd be advantageous. Ditto as specialist's weapons.
In my own AU, the standard weapon of my SLDF troops is the "Thunderbolt", an automatic heavy gyrojet gun with an underbarrel needler. They're designed as a well-supplied force meant to dominate well-equipped opponents in counter-insurgency and assaults on fortified positions.These still have their limits, one being weight and another bulk and laser weapons are still sprinkled throughout my orders of battle to gain their advantages. But my light infantry? They carry something like an updated, modular Intek. They have to operate more distantly and without ready access to resupply, so they can't expect access to endless stocks of clipped-gyrojet shells.
But a lot of my specialist troops carry a weapon called the Dusak-150K; a laser pistol-carbine. It leverages laser-technology and apex LosTech to offer 3SW Laser-Rifle performance in a weapon you can fire one-handed at short-range. It still burns power-packs though, but if you're a medic looking for a get-the-hell-away-from-me-gun or a mechwarrior picking out your backup piece, you could do a lot worse.
And then I have my "Strikers", elite hit-and-run troops; they're as close to 100%-laser-armed as possible. Since they aren't designed for stand-up fights of any kind, they lean into the benefits of laser-weaponry (punch, range and accuracy) and leave the power-cells to recharge on the dropship as it burns them back out the gravity well or on the fusion-charger rack in their temporary hides.
