Halo Wars Update 03.12.07

Well a few devoted fans saw through the noise of the image that was posted at the bottom of our monthly update from February.  The image is a piece of concept art by Ensemble Studios artist Matt Burke depicting the UNSC Sparrowhawk, one of the many units you will have at your disposal in Halo Wars.  You’ll find this image now available in our gallery, for your viewing pleasure: http://www.halowars.com/images.html

Lead Designer on Halo Wars Graeme Devine gives us this description of the Sparrowhawk and its capabilities:

UNSC Sparrowhawk

Known more readily as just “Hawk” the Sparrowhawk is a formidable air to ground armor busting support aerodyne.  The Hawk is still being assessed by command before full production starts while engineers are still working on an experimental propulsion system that has led to failures in the field making the future of this vehicle uncertain.  The Hawk first saw actual combat against the Covenant on the surface of Harvest in the final months of that campaign.

WOW! those look awesome!

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Maes Hughes, i will miss

awsome update. so the sparrowhawk is used to take out banshees and other armor and buildings.

 

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TSDFGHH not just random gibberish!

No offense... but why fans? I thought the UNSC used jet propulsion even in a verticle sense, similar to pelicans. Fans seem ineffective/insignificant compared to that technology. Oh well, they still look awsome.

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Chaos is the score upon which reality is written.

Fans help to stabilize aircraft in the air. so, for something thats shooting at targets at the ground stability is important.

 

Edit: By the way the picture looks great

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glad to be back in the USA!!

thanks newguy^_^

That looks awesome! After seeing all the vehicles provided in Halo and Halo 2, it's cool to see what they used before Pelicans and Warthogs. =) I can't wait to see how it looks moving. Very nice.

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I live to play.

UL71M4 G33K:

No offense... but why fans? I thought the UNSC used jet propulsion even in a verticle sense, similar to pelicans. Fans seem ineffective/insignificant compared to that technology. Oh well, they still look awsome.

In your case, I'd take another look

Thunder:

UNSC Sparrowhawk

Known more readily as just “Hawk” the Sparrowhawk is a formidable air to ground armor busting support aerodyne.  The Hawk is still being assessed by command before full production starts while engineers are still working on an experimental propulsion system that has led to failures in the field making the future of this vehicle uncertain.  The Hawk first saw actual combat against the Covenant on the surface of Harvest in the final months of that campaign.

 

Very nice pic, though. Looks even better on the high resolution from the main page.

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Outside tripping in the broken city.
Outside kicking in the broken city,
there's nothing wrong with that.

UL71M4 G33K:

No offense... but why fans? I thought the UNSC used jet propulsion even in a verticle sense, similar to pelicans. Fans seem ineffective/insignificant compared to that technology. Oh well, they still look awsome.

notice "EXPERIMENTAL PROPULSION" the fans could jsut be their for control, whiel the main is something else

and i hope this isn't all we get for march, that'd be pretty cheap, just giving us what we already have 

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Signature removed. - Thunder

its not much but they did a beautiful lead in with the decrypting picture.....

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Now that looks like some fun!  Experimental propulsion does sound a little right.  Sometimes resulting to old methods can get the job done.  Jets can be to powerful and not quite on the dime manuavering.  But advance propultion can have a few disadvantages. such as needing them to drop from ship to planet surface.  But once on the ground it could be a very effective unit.  That pic sure makes them hard core lookin, and cheap to build or pull out.  Those underbelly cannons look like they can be used for long-distance sniping.  I'm even just curious on how sweet yer gonna make the skyhawk look!  And what other nasty vehicle your teams gonna bust out!  Nice lookin  pic!

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Jets are actually far more effective, and far less fragile than fans. Fans can easily be jammed and destroyed with enemy fire, so it isnt practicle on the battlefield really. The only military weapons today that use fans are hovercraft and helicopters in the stabalizer (to lessen silhouette). It doesnt rely on that for propulsion. I dunno, a jet just seems like it would make more sense to me, and experimental propulsion might explain it, but fans arent experimental really, at least most likely not 500 years from now.
 
Its just a thought, to be more accurate with the Halo Universe I guess, but it isnt a big deal. It is a game afterall.

 

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Chaos is the score upon which reality is written.

Well, this new update is a pleasant surprise, following so quickly on the last. Thanks ES!

Double post. Sorry

I told ya'll it was a Sparrowhawk! lol i love sayin that well,it does look awesome and cant wait to crush the Covie scum with that!

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 Nice update! 

UL71M4 G33K, what about the A-10 (Warthog) and V22 (Osprey)? Despite high speed combat, turboprops will probably remain fairly useful on the battlefield for the forseeable future.

Ninjatheory brings up a good point that the fans could just be for maneuvering (like some sort of gravity-nullifying field generator) *edit - after looking closer, there appears to be some sort of acceleration device facing rearward from the top of the fuselage near the canopy, which would indicate the turbofans would work in conjunction with the main engine for stability and maneuvering*

The wakes underneath the Sparrowhawks look more like propwash. My best guess is that it's some sort of computer-assisted and accellerated hyper-propellor that gives Sparrowhawks good power and maneverability at low altitude, while the experimental engine provides more traditional thrust.

Navy Ordnance brings up a good point, with orbital insert and extraction, how do these things get into and out of different atmospheres? Can they achieve orbit under their own power, a la Pelicans?