"Handle this devastating projectile weapon with extreme care, for the fire-spirits it unleashes are undiscerning, and will devour the Dawi-Zharr just as easily as their unfortunate foes."
- —Description of Deathshrieker Rocket Launcher in Total War: Warhammer III.[3a]
A Deathshireker Rocket Launcher as depicted in Total War: Warhammer III.[3a]
The Deathshrieker Rocket Launcher is one of the most diabolic and destructive Chaos Dwarf artillery weapons ever created, for bound up within its munitions are howling, malevolent fire-spirits harvested from the cinders of the minor Chaos God Hashut's sacrificial altars, and it is the hellish shrieking of these spirits when loosed that gives the weapon its name.[1a][2][3a]
The Chaos Dwarfs of Zharr-Naggrund utilise a number of these different types of blackpowder rocket weapons, ranging from shoulder-fired, chain-dragging harpoons used to bind and bring down Lava Trolls in the magma caverns deep beneath the mountains of the Dark Lands to massive warheads launched on pillars of fire to break enemy fortifications.[1a][3a]
The packed multiple warheads of the Deathshrieker detonate in the air above the battlefield in a storm of fire -- fire which has its own terrible hunger for life upon which to visit its touch. Screaming, fanged tendrils of flame plunge downwards from the blast and expend their strength actively seeking out victims. The tormented spirits are far from discerning though as to whose flesh they burn, and the Chaos Dwarfs must be cautious lest their own troops suffer from the wrathful weapon.[1a][3a]
In addition to the hellish Deathshrieker Rockets, the launchers they use are also able to fire more conventional Demolition Rockets if need be. These use densely packed explosive rocket heads with delayed fuses in a strengthened iron tube to channel the blast against a single point. The rocket mounts a crown of spikes that drive into a vertical wall and hold it there whilst it explodes. In this fashion the rocket can punch through even very dense stone and can make a terrible mess of any large creature that gets in its way as well.[1a][2]
Miniatures
Sources
- 1: Tamurkhan: The Throne of Chaos (8th Edition)
- 1a: pg. 179
- 2 Total War Blog - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs - Introducing Zhatan the Black
- 3: Total War: Warhammer III (PC Game)
- 3a: Deathshrieker Rocket Launcher Unit Description