The Helstorm Rocket Battery was inspired by Cathayan fireworks.
The Helstorm Rocket Battery is an experimental artillery piece used by the Empire of Man as a means to shower the enemy with a hail of explosive rocket munitions.[1a]
Overview[]
After watching the spectacular fireworks of a Cathayan emissary to Altdorf, Master Engineer Herman Faulkstein was inspired to transform this eastern technology into a weapon. His early research infamously blew apart entire laboratories of the Imperial School of Engineers, but the perpetually soot-blackened engineer never lost faith that his designs had a military value and succeeded in creating a deadly, if unpredictable, weapon.[1a][2a]
Faulkstein's original rockets were wildly inaccurate; madly corkscrewing weapons that had no chance whatsoever of hitting anything other than (eventually) the ground.[1a]
Further refinements such as fins, long sticks added to the base of a rocket and a launch carriage to aid aiming further improved stability and accuracy--at least a little bit. However, when these rockets do land on their intended target, the results are devastating; entire regiments can be blown apart by a series of earth-shattering explosive impacts.[1a][2a]
After Elector Count Boris Todbringer was almost hit by an errant barrage, they were dubbed "Helstorm" rockets after the colorful language he used to reprimand the unfortunate crewmen.[1a]
One of the most famous Helstorm Rocket Batteries is the Sunmaker which was designed shortly before his death by the scatterbrained Talabheim alchemist Jurgen Bugelstrauss.[3a]
Known Helstorm Rocket Batteries[]
Trivia[]
While Faulkstein was inspired by a mere fireworks display, the Cathayans had weaponized their rockets separately from the development of the Helstrom the west. This resulted in the creation of the Cathayan Fire Rain Rocket, a similar rocket battery to the ones used by the western Empire.[4]
