Dreadclaw

Chaos Portal Chaos Space Marines

Dreadclaws

Dreadclaws are Drop Pod-like transports used by the Space Marine Legions of old, and still used by the Chaos Space Marines.^[3]

Overview

Dreadclaws are used to quickly deploy Traitor Marines onto a planet from orbit.^[3][4b] 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 supporting the Space Marines deployment. The Dreadclaws were designed for ship-to-ship combat as they are equipped with a spiked "maws" 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.^[3] 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.^[3][4a]

Multiple Dreadclaws are sometimes deployed in formations known as Dreadclaw Talons.^[4b]

History

Prior to the Horus Heresy, Dreadclaws were considered to be pinnacle of assault boat technology. Ultimately the Dreadclaws were dropped from service by the majority of Imperial forces by the end of the Great Herest.^[4a]

Over the course of the Horus Heresy, the Dreadclaw's advanced machine spirit began to develop dangerous tendencies, on occasion causing the deaths of its passengers, though in the dark times of the Heresy their use continued due to the desperation of Imperial commanders or their wanton lack of care for their troops.^[3][4a] Despite the Adeptus Mechanicus revising the vehicle's machine spirit, a streak of accidents (including the famous incident aboard the Legate Peracles^[3]) 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.^[3][4a]

Known Patterns

Anvillus Pattern Dreadclaw

The Anvillus Pattern Dreadclaw was initially designed to insert Space Marine boarding forces onto enemy spaceships. As such they have minimal profile and a heavily armoured hull. The craft is mounted with a series of Melta cutters, originally to slice through the outer hull of a ship. Unlike some earlier boarding craft, the Dreadclaw is also a fully independent dropship capable of returning their cargo to friendly ships.^[2]

Images

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  Dreadclaw^[1]

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  Anvillus Pattern Dreadclaw

See also

Related Articles

• Kharybdis Assault Claw

Sources

• 1: Dreadclaw (last accessed 20 February 2016)
• 2: The Horus Heresy Book Three - Extermination, pg.235
• 3: Imperial Armour Update 2002, pgs. 42–43
• 4: Imperial Armour - Apocalypse
  • 4a: pg. 100 - Dreadclaw
  • 4b: pg. 105 - Dreadclaw Talon

Uncited

This article purports to rely on sources which are not cited in the body of the text. For help on citation see the citation guidelines. You can help Lexicanum by fixing it.

• Specialist Games (site is no longer active, accessed 2007.11.15)
• Imperial Armour Update 2006, pg. 33
• Imperial Armour Volume Six - The Siege of Vraks - Part Two, ^{[Needs Citation]}