Dreadclaw
Dreadclaws are used to quickly deploy Traitor Marines onto a planet from orbit. The Dreadclaws themselves are deployed from cruisers or battleships. It is armed with the Deathwind weapon system, which upon landing, fires upon any nearby enemies.
The Dreadclaws were designed for ship-to-ship combat as they are equipped with a spiked "maw" used to drill through hulls. Its design has been heavily corrupted from thousands of years exposed to Chaos and they are now used for a variety of roles from boarding ships, to planetary assault.
The Dreadclaw is an all purpose drop pod: it can either drop troops or a dreadnought. Unlike other types of drop pod, it can take off again after landing.
Ultimately the Dreadclaws were dropped from service by the majority of the Imperial of the time, except for the traitor legions. The Dreadclaw's advanced machine spirit began to develop dangerous tendencies, on occasion causing the death of its passengers, though in the dark times of the heresy their use continued due to the desperateness of their commander; or their wanton lack of care for their troops. Despite the Adeptus Mechanicus revising the vehicle's machine spirit, a streak of accidents led to the majority of the Dreadclaws being jettisoned into space, and now only the Traitor Legions are known to use these dangerous, albeit advanced, vessels.
Images
Sources
- 1:http://www.specialist-games.com/assets/BlackLegion.pdf (site is no longer active, accessed 2007.11.15)
- 2:Imperial Armour Update 2002, p42/43
- 3:Imperial Armour Update 2006, p33
- 4:Imperial Armour - Apocalypse: Dreadclaw, p100; Dreadclaw Talon, p105
- 5:Imperial Armour Volume Six - The Siege of Vraks - Part Two
- 7:Dreadclaw
