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 blew apart entire laboratories of the College of Engineers while he attempted to discover the secrets of rocket-powered flight, but the permanently soot-blackened Engineer never lost faith that his designs had a military value.

Faulkstein's original rockets were wildly inaccurate; madly corkscrewing weapons that had no chance whatsoever of hitting anything other than (eventually) the ground. Further refinements such as fins, long sticks added to the base of a rocket and a launch carriage to direct the early portion of its flight further improved stability and accuracy — though neither were particularly impressive. However, when the rockets did manage to land on target, the results were devastating, with entire enemy regiments blown apart by an earth-shaking cascade of shrieking, explosive rockets. After the Elector Count of Middenland was almost blown to smithereens by an errant volley of rockets (though he was nowhere near the intended target) they were dubbed "Helstorm" rockets after the colourful language used by the count on the unfortunate Engineer.

You may include a Helstorm Rocket Battery in your Empire army as a Rare Units choice.