Sheen Bird

CA-CAW HERETICS!

Sheen Birds are avian Necromundan biomechanical constructs, that were created long ago by the Adeptus Mechanicus for a commission put forth, by the Hive World's ruling Helmawr family.

Overview

They were meant to evoke an illusory sense of the long-lost splendour of Necromunda's natural world and had a rudimentary suite of pre-programmed behaviours, that allowed them to mimic real birds. After they were released within Hive Primus, the Sheen Birds flocked together, roosted, fed, and tended to broods of faux youngsters, created to mimic the sight of hatchlings within a nest.

However in the millennia since their creation, the Sheen Birds have fallen out of favour and into decay. Their maintenance is no longer seen as a priority within the administratum of Hive Primus and as a result, the Sheen Birds' numbers have gradually dwindled through lack of preservation. Worse still, the surviving Sheen Birds have become foul and corrupted beyond all recognition from their previous glorious state. Their flesh is now diseased and infected with parasites, their plumage scarce and even their imprinted behavioural coding has corrupted, causing them to act as parodies of their former selves.

This has led the Sheen Birds to still disturbingly parent their artificial hatchlings in their nests, which have long since been replaced by hideous things that are obviously not their young. Despite this though, when a Sheen Bird finds itself in Hive Primus' Underhive, they are often greeted with awe by the devoted of House Cawdor. Its members view the decayed constructs as avatars of the Emperor's grace and to high ranking Cawdor gangers, those who possess a Sheen Bird are seen as possessing the direct blessing of the Emperor Himself.

It's quite fitting in a way, really. After all, what is the focal point of Cawdor's devotion but a rotted and decrepit corpse ruling an empire that has quickly become a corrupted parody of its former self?

Crunch

On the Necromunda tabletop, these are melee-based exotic beast/robots that are typically in an awkward place thanks to the restriction that requires them to end their activation within 3” of their owner, but the Sheen Bird neatly sidesteps this downside. Its Rake Away ability allows it to make a free Move/Retreat action on a successful Willpower check (on an 8+, mind you), letting it swoop back into tether range. This will come in handy more often than you’d like, as it is also prone to charge off and attack nearby targets, whether you want it to or not.

The Bird’s talons are only Strength 3, but with AP -1, D2, and Rending, if they get a wound in it’s going to hurt. Overall they’re a bit expensive at 90 credits, but more than capable of picking off a weakened enemy ganger.