The Firewing Answered

[Silent Observant]

As seen in the novella, dreadwing, it seems that the answer of what the Fire wing, specifications are, are basically the long range fire support of the devastators and related vehicles, it seems that they work very closely to the dreadwing and they both share some of the more dangerous weapons. For instance both vehicles under the dreadwing and firewing had access to rad missles, and the voted lieutenant of the firewing, served in both the dreadwing and firewing circles, before ultimately choosing the firewing.

[Spaced Hulk]

Thanks for the info, looks like I'll have to pick up a copy. Any more clarifications about the Stormwing?

[Bryan Blaire]

Sadly doesn't sound like there's a ton of interesting info on the different -wings, because there are only so many types of warfare and weaponry the Marines have been stated to engage in and use, so there's bound to be some overlap or it is more of the same that we knew they already engaged in - the hole to be filled is simply which Wing name was over what.

 

Really wish they'd have shown some creativity and given the First Legion some additional focuses or weaponry that we didn't know about before. Limiting themselves to the game weapons and functions/structures in game seems disappointing.

[Phoebus]

With respect, I’d like to expand and clarify on the information from the initial post.

 

It’s not clear that the Voted Lieutenant of the Firewing, Vastael, served with both the Dreadwing and the Firewing. He had been “attached to the Devastators of the Third Order,” and had “flirted” (the author’s word) with “the outer circles” of both ordinations before choosing the Firewing. Tellingly, he had made no vow to either until making that choice.

 

The above gives us some idea of what both the above Ordinations were analogous to. Yes, the Dreadwing and the Firewing do share some commonalities insofar as that they both have long-range warfare capabilities and applications. It’s worth remembering, however, that the Dreadwing are defined by the effect of their weapons. As such, though Devastators who were not of the Firewing existed throughout the Legion, we have to remember the tactical and strategic mindset of the Dark Angels. A Company, Battalion, Chapter, or Order will fight according to the precepts of the Principia Bellicosa, as modified by the Lion and the Legion Masters before him. A Devastator normally fights within that context: he is a “supporting arm” in a “combined arms” force. When Firewing protocols are activated, that force essentially adopts an approach overwhelmingly skewed toward tactics that define that ordination. The Voted Lieutenant takes over because he’s the specialist commander; his Firewing warriors and other Space Marines who are similarly equipped become the “primary arm.”

 

Lastly, though it’s implied that the Firewing’s Primaris Lightning’s also fired rad missiles, I’d offer that might be an oversight on Guymer’s part.

 

Unrelated to the above: the Stormwing are confirmed to be “breacher” units. They play a central role in boarding actions, but their use is not limited to void warfare.

[plasmaspam]

Further to @Phoebus' elaborations, upon reading Dreadwing I interpreted the the Firewing's strategy to be Air Superiority and long range fire support.

 

Perhaps over-simply I considered the lack of a dedicated air superiority strategy (fighters and bombers) within the Hexagrammaton , the mention of Primaris Lightnings, and the Devastator support.

 

This would be different to the scorched earth strategy of Dreadwing, more a hard-hitting lightning strike and battlefield dominance protocol.

 

Again, different from Ravenwing who are more an assault cavalry strategy.

 

My two cents, interested to know how others interpreted and concluded from the story, which I thought was excellent.