Mawite Legend
Firefang Wardogs
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To flesh out an important cultural element and support unit of the Mawite "Scar Hounds" tribe.
- Image Credit: All images pulled and modified from this YouTube video on Necromunda: Hired Gun.
- Role: Anti-infantry support
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Brotherhood of the Maw, Charhound, Scar Hounds Tribe
- Unit Name: Firefang Wardogs
- Affiliation: Brotherhood of the Maw, Scar Hound Tribe
- Classification: Warbeasts
Description: Firefang Wardogs are cybernetically-modified Charhounds that support Scar Hound tribesmen in battle. Traveling in packs of up to a dozen, they race across the battlefield at incredible speed, propelled by their artificial limbs across all kinds of terrain. Their claws and jaws, augmented with metal, are capable of crushing heavy armor. Both have been carefully designed to stay out of the way of the Charhounds' natural ability to breathe gouts of flame, an ability deadly both to armored and unarmored infantry as it melts flesh and superheats metal plating. The hounds themselves have armor bolted onto them, anchored to their bones. The plating is ugly and painful, but it makes the hounds resistant to blades and blasterfire alike.
The Wardogs are an important part of Scar Hound culture as well. Fresh recruits and lower-ranked warriors spend significant time raising young Charhounds, bonding with the creatures before they are cybernetically enhanced. Mature Charhounds, already accustomed to training, hunting, and fighting alongside Mawite warriors, go through an augmentation ceremony. This is a major event for the tribe, and worthy warriors are promoted at the same time. Wardogs, whether enhanced or not, are treated less as warbeasts and more as tribe members, afforded rations and living space of their own rather than being kept in general pens and thrown fodder. Many tribe members believe that Wardogs have warrior spirits, and pass on to the Avatar's paradise at death.
- Unit Size: Small.
- Unit Availability: Uncommon.
- Unit Experience: Veteran.
- Equipment: Augmented Claws and Teeth, Implanted Armor, Fire Breath.
Combat Function: Firefang Wardogs operate in close support of Mawite infantry, using their claws, fangs, and fire breath to shred enemy infantry. They follow two main tactics. One is to charge as Mawite warriors open fire over their heads, hitting their enemies low while blasters strike high and hopefully breaking their ranks. The other is to make a flank charge against enemies that Mawite warriors have already engaged in close-combat, hitting an enemy infantry unit in the side and sowing chaos amid the defenders. The Wardogs never act alone, only in tandem with humanoid warriors. When faced with targets they can't possibly take down, such as enemy vehicles, they are trained to retreat and take cover in difficult-to-target positions.
- Swift Hunters: Charhounds are fast and nimble creatures, capable of outrunning landspeeders over short distances and bounding up sheer rock walls. Cybernetic modification makes the Firefang Wardogs even faster and more agile, replacing their legs with mechanical limbs that never tire and easily grip all kinds of terrain. There is no running from a Firefang pack, and their sensitive noses - and augmented eyes - mean there is no hiding, either. They will catch you wherever you go.
- Flame, Tooth, and Claw: Firefang Wardogs have been extensively modified to be even deadlier than ordinary Charhounds. Their metal-plated flanks are resistant to small-arms fire and bladed attacks. Their claws and teeth have been replaced or augmented with razor-sharp metal, allowing them to shred flesh and rend armor with ease. Their natural ability to breathe flames out of their mouths is deadly in close quarters, the extreme heat capable of inflicting third-degree burns on their foes.
- Anti-Infantry: Firefang Wardogs can't do anything against vehicles except run and hide, so that's what they are trained to do.
- Just Animals: Wardogs are excellent pack hunters, but they are animals, and cannot think tactically or perform complex tasks.
Charhounds are native to Elphrona, an Outer Rim world at the edge of the Unknown Regions. The planet is hardly noteworthy beyond a few crumbling ruins, and it was only chance that brought the Brotherhood of the Maw there. On the way back from Korriban, licking their wounds after their terrible losses, a force of Mawites paused above the planet, hiding from their Alliance pursuers. When hunters descended to the surface, seeking fresh meat to feed the survivors, they soon encountered packs of Charhounds. The Mongrel, one of the warleaders on the expedition, was deeply impressed with the creatures. They were not only deadly hunters, but they also showed great emotional intelligence, readily bonding with the beastmasters sent to tame them.
As The Mongrel split off from the Bloodsworn to form his own tribe, he embraced the idea of his followers as a hunting pack. To teach them teamwork, loyalty, and savagery, he charged them to rear young Charhounds, living and training alongside the beasts. But mechanical augmentation was also a major part of the Scar Hounds tribe, who rejected dark mysticism in their ranks in favor of cold, hard cybernetics. Tribal warriors and their animal companions underwent cybernetic modification side by side, bearing the pain together and emerging as something more than merely organic. Now these Firefang Wardogs follow the Scar Hounds tribe into battle across many different fronts, fighting fearlessly to support their adopted pack in service of the Brotherhood.
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