What is your idea of what the Firewing is?

[Skywrath]

In the DA lore history there were 6 wings. Deathwing, Ravenwing, Stormwing, Ironwing, Dreadwing and lastly Firewing. It is my understanding that:

 

1. Deathwing was focused mostly on terminators.

2. Ravenwing was focused mostly on speed/bikes, perhaps the omen of death.

3. Stormwing was focused on boarding actions in space. 

4. Ironwing was focused on land raiders/dreadnoughts

5. Dreadwing was focused on exotic weaponry (i.e plasma). 

 

However, nothing about the firewing. There were talks about Librarian/Chaplains/Flamer units representing that "wing" specifically, but nothing concrete. So I do have to ask, what do you think the Firewing was about? 

Edited April 7, 2020 by Knight-Master Skywrath

[Robbienw]

The Firewings specialisation is targeting enemy command structures, it was mentioned in one of the Road to Thramas articles on warhammer community.

[m_r_parker]

My feeling, from reading the Lion primarch novel, is that this could be where a large portion of the Legion's Librarius and Chaplains are stationed. Given that the official standing is that they're for targeting enemy command structures and leaders, having these elements could be very useful. 

 

As for the other wings, the Deathwing isn't focussed on Terminator specifically. From what I can gather they're more of a protectorate of Legion commanders and garrisons. The new Forge World Deathwing Companions are Power Armour based, not TDA.

For the Dreadwing, they use exotic weaponry but that isn't their core function - the Dreadwing is effectively a 'Destroyer' wing whose primary objective is to cleanse an area / population of life. In the primarch novel the Lion confides in the Emperor that at times his function seems to be eliminating cultures and civilisations from history (through the use of the Dreadwing). The novel goes into further detail that the Lion is the only Legion commander who can 'authorise the Dreadwing protocol' and that it is seen as final resort (as there will be nothing left standing afterwards). They also keep the armouries of the more exotic weaponry from the Dark Age of Technology within the Legion, and were meant to be a weapon of last resort against the Mechanicum as a lot of that technology was Terran based instead of Martian. 

[Indefragable]

I think m_r_parker is onto something. Fire as knowledge could be something. 

 

That being said, my interpretation was that the wings were distributed as well: each company/chapter/fleet would have Dreadwing members spread throughout acting as "normal" Astartes for all intents and purposes. But then should the commander deem that an enemy needed to eradicated in a particular manner, the Dreadwing members would temporarily step away from their line units to form a specialized unit that could employ their unique capabilities to maximum effect. Or, depending on the situation, the Dreadwing members would act as advisors and temporary commanders in the deployment and utilization of special equipment/tactics by the rest of the force. Kind of like Warrant Officers, if you will (I have a mental image of a TV cooking show with a Dreadwing guy with an apron over his armor saying "today, we will show how to make phospex, in just 15 minutes"). 

 

I'd like to think we'll see more elaboration on thing wings in Book 9: Crusade where the wings are expanded upon even further rather than just "bikes go in Ravenwing." 

 

My theory:

 

1. Deathwing: "when in death ground, fight" - Sun Tzu. The last resort, those specializing in forlorn hope missions, decapitation strikes, executive protection duties, and other missions where they have to ready, willing, and able to fight to the bitter death....and quite skilled at doing so! Especially due to their 40k incarnation, it would make sense that these guys would have a preponderance of terminator armor since that would fit these duties well, but as one of the wc.com preview articles shows, they don't necessarily have to be. 

• Prototype for Space Wolves, to some degree Sons of Horus and Salamanders; an element of Imperial Fists (templar) here

2. Ravenwing: the "light" forces that focused on hit & run, scouting, flanking maneuvers, and all other engagements where speed and maneuverability or an element of covertness was better than open attack. 

• Prototype for Raven Guard, White Scars, to some degree Emperor's Children (when you think about rapid encirclement)
• on a personal level, I kinda like to think that the Raven Guard got their name from this: you shall be the Ravenwing Corps Guard, but obviously there are other reasons they are called what they are

 

3. Ironwing: heavy forces. Mechanized infantry and tanks, dreadnoughts, and such. Though the shorthand for this is "tanks," a key element to me is the combined arms specialization. Ironwing Infantry would be particularly good at knowing how to work with and around tanks and vice versa

• Prototype for Iron Hands, Salamanders, Iron Warriors, and to some degree Emperor's Children (when you think about combined arms)

 

4. Dreadwing: forbidden and arcane technologies and weapons. On a micro level it's the guy in the squad who can attempt to cut the red wire on the ticking time bomb. On a macro level, it's the big formations and scary weapons we've seen in various depictions

• Prototype for Death Guard

 

5. Stormwing: the assault forces, specializing in taking ground from the enemy. Though mostly depicted (in what little we've seen/heard) as boarding squads, this would also be assault squads, and perhaps Seeker squads as well. The difference between Deathwing and Stormwing wing would be the DW is more individual combat/elite protection/small unit tactics while the Stormwing would be more en masse attacks and coordination strikes. 

• Prototype for Blood Angels, World Eaters

 

6. Firewing: the big guns. In contrast to the Stormwing, these are the fellas that destroy ground rather than take it (whereas the Dreadwing remove the ground from existence). Specialists in fire support, artillery, orbital bombardment, demolitions charges, and all other manner of "conventional" munitions. 

• Prototype for Iron Warriors, Imperial Fists

 

That's just my take on it. Especially since the 1st Legion was the first legion put into action, and the hexagrammaton was meant to be the pattern all Legions were based off of, I like to think of each wing as representing a test bed of sorts for specializations, of which later legions were then built off of (with my guesses for each above). 

 

In case I need to re-state this, the above is speculation on my part; I have no idea what it will actually shake out to be. 

[Gederas]

Not sure about the Firewing, but, iirc, the Deathwing was explicitly stated to be "linebreaker shock troops" in 30k. So, not necessarily all Terminators, all the time. That's their 40k incarnation.

 

But yeah, I could see the Firewing having something to do with Librarians and Chaplains. Maybe also it's where the Vigilators, Seeker and Recon Squads are?

[UtariOnzo]

Not sure about the Firewing, but, iirc, the Deathwing was explicitly stated to be "linebreaker shock troops" in 30k. So, not necessarily all Terminators, all the time. That's their 40k incarnation.

 

But yeah, I could see the Firewing having something to do with Librarians and Chaplains. Maybe also it's where the Vigilators, Seeker and Recon Squads are?

Agreed here. Light recon, sniping or otherwise rapid hit and run units are the kind you want for destroying Command and Control elements. It’s how I imagine them and how I’m playing a modern incarnation as in my successor chapter (vanguard units, especially eliminators, dedicated to behind the lines shenanigans and assassinations)

[Phoebus]

That being said, my interpretation was that the wings were distributed as well: each company/chapter/fleet would have Dreadwing members spread throughout acting as "normal" Astartes for all intents and purposes. But then should the commander deem that an enemy needed to eradicated in a particular manner, the Dreadwing members would temporarily step away from their line units to form a specialized unit that could employ their unique capabilities to maximum effect. Or, depending on the situation, the Dreadwing members would act as advisors and temporary commanders in the deployment and utilization of special equipment/tactics by the rest of the force.

That’s essentially what Gav Thorpe presented in Angels of Caliban:

 

“These Hosts did not fight alone, being too specialised for general warfare on Terra and during the initial stages of the Great Crusade. Instead, elements of each Host were combined into battle groups of different sizes and designations. As and when required, the Hosts provided their troops to these armies depending upon the military need.”

 

Excerpt From

Angels of Caliban

Gav Thorpe

https://books.apple.com/us/book/angels-of-caliban/id1122414375

This material may be protected by copyright.

And in that same novel, the commander of an Order (for clarity: a command consisting of a number of Chapters) cedes command to Farith Redloss, so that the Voted Lieutenant of the Dreadwing can prosecute a target beyond the legion’s conventional capabilities.

 

2. Ravenwing: the "light" forces that focused on hit & run, scouting, flanking maneuvers, and all other engagements where speed and maneuverability or an element of covertness was better than open attack. 

 

• Prototype for Raven Guard, White Scars, to some degree Emperor's Children (when you think about rapid encirclement)
• on a personal level, I kinda like to think that the Raven Guard got their name from this: you shall be the Ravenwing Corps Guard, but obviously there are other reasons they are called what they are

While the six Hosts of the Hexagrammaton date back to the genesis of the Legiones Astartes, it’s worth noting that the names of the Wings themselves are Calibanite. One of the six Hosts may very well have focused on the tactics the Ravenwing came to be known for on Caliban, but I doubt that sobriquet inspired the Raven Guard’s naming. I think their Primarch’s own name was a bigger factor there.