- "Let's take them fast and clean."
— Sledge
File:Rainbow Six Siege Sledge Operator Video
Seamus "Sledge" Cowden is an Attacking Operator featured in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege. A Medium Armored Operator, Sledge wields a specialized Tactical Breaching Hammer, known as "The Caber", which can breach through most walls and barricades.
Biography
Seamus Cowden hails from the upper tip of the Scottish Highlands. Due to his imposing physical stature and athleticism, he found early success as the Captain of the 1998 Scotland National under-20 Rugby Union Team. A strong desire for public service inspired Cowden to enlist in the army at 18, after five years of active duty, he was recruited by the SAS.
Psychological Profile
Cowden displays natural leadership qualities, likely developed during his amateur sports career. His comfort on the front line can be attributed to his confidence and tactical experience.
Gameplay Description
Sledge is an effective breaching Operator, as his Breaching Hammer can break through destructible surfaces with relative silence. Because of this, Sledge is able to bust through walls and barricades with at silent yet aggressive pace.
As Sledge
- The Breaching Hammer allows Sledge to break breachable surfaces with one swing, opening a hole large enough to both shoot through and climb into.
- The Hammer can also take out many obstacles with a single blow, especially those that take at least a couple hits. This includes Barbed Wire and Castle's Armor Panels, which Sledge can destroy with a single smash.
- While capable of destroying many surfaces, the Hammer can't break through non-destructible surfaces, such as Reinforced Walls. Not only will the surface not be broken, but Sledge's Hammer will lose durability in vain.
- The Hammer has limited durability, containing twenty-five "charges". Breaching a wall consumes two charges while breaching a barricade and hitting anything else takes one.
- Because of this limitation, Sledge should make sure not to waste the durability of his Hammer on irrelevant surfaces.
- Though impractical, Sledge's breaching hammer is capable of killing enemies in one hit, which counts as 2 charges.
- Like other gadgets in the game, Sledge takes a moment to unequip his hammer after using it. Be wary of this brief delay, especially when opening a hole into an area where enemies are in.
- When breaching walls with the Hammer, make sure to be close enough to it. If not, the Hammer will only break one surface of the wall's two. This necessitates a second swing, delaying breach and wasting the Hammer's durability.
- The Breach Hammer is a useful tool when entering the boundaries of the building. Compared to the loud explosions of breaching charges or the time-consuming method of meleeing barricades to get through, the Breaching Hammer can do so both swiftly and quietly.
- Due to the nature of the Breaching Hammer mentioned above, Sledge is suited for close range engagements, such as breaking walls into the objective room to rain fire upon Defenders who have hunkered down.
- While creating a line of sight for allies is valuable, Sledge should also be careful of where or how many holes he creates with his Hammer. Make too many, and he might expose his team to enemy fire.
As an Ally
- When in need of a hole in a breachable wall, communicate with Sledge and ping where you desire the said hole.
- Sledge benefits well from having an ally as he swings his Hammer. Right as he breaks open a hole and is returning his Hammer back onto his back, an ally can immediately shoot into the hole as covering fire.
- If Sledge is making attempt for a quick yet relatively silent way around to the Defenders, help them by distracting Defenders away from Sledge.
- Sledge works well with mid to far ranged Operators, so selecting Operators such as Glaz will balance out the ranges the team can fight in.
As an Enemy
- While quieter than breaching charges, Sledge still creates sound when breaching surfaces. The sound is also distinct, as it is louder than a normal melee hit against the surface, but lacks excessive sounds caused by explosives and bullets.
- Against inexperienced players playing Sledge, Kapkan can be a terrifying enemy. As Sledge carelessly rushes through the doorway with a single swing, they might trigger Kapkan's tripwire, exploding in death.
Loadout
| Loadout | |
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| Primary | |
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Unique Gadget
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| File:Sledge Badge New.png |
Tactical Breaching Hammer |
- "Uses a Breaching Hammer to breach through destructible surfaces."
— Tactical Breaching Hammer "The Caber" Description
While breaching hammers are nothing new to CTU or law enforcement operations, “The Caber” is unique due its exceptional size and weight. Such dimensions would be impractical in the hands of most agents but Sledge’s exceptional physical prowess make it a formidable presence on the battlefield, allowing for quick and effective breaches.
Sledge’s breaching hammer was directly inspired by CTU battering rams. There are four kinds of breaching tools: mechanical, ballistic, explosive and thermal. Using sledgehammers or other blunt objects to breach is known as mechanical breaching, and often serves as a relatively quiet supplement compared to the other, more attention-grabbing methods. Mechanical breaching was used during the Iranian Embassy Siege to gain access to rooms and is still used in modern-day conflicts in tight urban zones where ballistic or explosive breaching methods carry more risk.
Quotes
| Sledge's Quotes |
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Gameplay Video
Trivia
- The in-game bio of Seamus Cowden can be seen for a quick moment in 1:15 of the White Masks Reveal trailer at E3 2015.
- Sledge might be based off an unnamed SAS soldier during the Iranian Embassy Siege (1980). The unnamed SAS Soldier had a breaching hammer, which he used to break down the doors, similar to Sledge's.[1][2]
- On Sledge's character model, there is a tartan on the right of his lower leg. The same tartan pattern can be seen wrapped on The Caber. Both either resemble or actually is the tartan of Clan Stewart, suggesting that he's either a member of the clan or is just there as a nod of his nationality.
Patch Changes
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