M862 Arctic Warthog

M862 Arctic Warthog
Production information
Product line:	M12 Warthog
Technical specifications
Other system(s):	Enclosed cabin Quad-tracks
Armament:	1 modular turret slot
Crew:	1 driver 1 passenger 1 gunner
Usage
In service:	Human-Covenant War
Role(s):	Arctic reconnaissance
Affiliation:	United Nations Space Command

The M862 Arctic Warthog (also referred to as the Arctic Hog) is a variant of the M12 Warthog that is outfitted specifically for expeditions in arctic conditions. It is similar to the also-cold environment M864 Arctic Warthog; however, unlike the M862, the M864 retains the standard Warthog's wheels.

Overview

Design details

Main article: M12 Warthog

Unlike its standard variant, the M862 Warthog features an enclosed cabin and quad-tracks, allowing it to scale icy heights and travel over deep snow. The tracks were noted by Catherine-B320 to turn a Warthog into "equal parts light tank and snowmobile".

Usage

An M862 Arctic Warthog was the only vehicular support available to NOBLE Team during their deployment to Concord in December 2551. After being stranded in the Hinterlands region of the planet, the team holed up in the township of Skathi to fend off a Covenant attack consisting of a large force of vehicles centred on a Zashk-pattern Draugr. While most of the team prepared to engage the main force, Catherine-B320, Rosenda-A344 and Thom-A293 used the Arctic Warthog to charge the Draugr head-on with Thom in the back and Rosenda in the passenger seat. Once they had successfully dispatched most of the Draugr's escort Ghosts, Kat drove the Warthog off a large rock to land in the Draugr's troop bay to begin a boarding action.

Production notes

The texture for the Arctic Warthog's treads are the only remnant of the original vehicle that has been recovered.

Main article: Cut Halo 2 vehicles § Warthog variants

The Arctic Warthog, or "SnowHog" was originally built by Marcus Lehto during the very early stages of Halo 2's development as one of a number of Warthog variants built atop the original Halo: Combat Evolved model (the others being the Tropic and Recovery hogs). Although ultimately cut, the design was later featured on Bungie.net's Halo 2 gallery. To-date, the Arctic Warthog (alongside the Tropic Warthog) remains one of the only major pieces of Halo 2 cut content that has been lost to time, with the Digsite project unable to recover any assets to restore into the modern Halo engine save for the texture for the treads.

The Arctic Warthog was planned for inclusion in Halo: Ground Command prior to the game's shutdown. It would have been featured alongside the M39 rocket turret of the Rocket Warthog as part of a model upgrade kit for the Warthog, allowing the players to swap the treads onto their Warthogs in lieu of the standard wheels.

The vehicle was first canonised, in intent, in a post on Bungie.net promoting the Warthog for Halo 3. At the time of this post, the vehicle was referred to with the designation M864, something followed-through in both the 2009 and 2011 editions of the Halo Encyclopedia. However, this was changed in a 2015 article on Halo Waypoint, at which point the vehicle's designation was updated to the now-canon M862, with the M864 being relegated to an alternate arctic warfare vehicle that retains standard wheels instead of treads. The M862 designation has since remained consistently used in the Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition) and the short story Halo: Winter Contention.

List of appearances

• Halo: Winter Contention (First appearance)