Wookieepedia:Featured article queue/Week 46, 2011/1

The Ewok battle wagon, or war wagon, was a large war vehicle created by the Ewok Erpham Warrick on the Forest Moon of Endor. The weapon consisted of two levels: a lower stage for its battering ram, and an upper stage with the skull of a tusked bantha alongside a ceremonial drum. The wagon was primarily assembled from logs strapped together with cord. Levers and ropes controlled the machine's parts, and a main support peg kept the war wagon from collapsing. The base of the machine was rectangular and supported four walls and four longer pylons, which held up the vehicle's second level. The upper deck was accessible by a wooden ladder. The battle wagon's main armament was a battering ram, essentially a long, thick tree trunk. Mobility was achieved via four stone wheels and required the users to push the device unless going downhill.

Erpham Warrick of Bright Tree Village built the battle wagon to defend against the forces of a tribe of Duloks with whom the Ewoks had a long-standing feud. When Dulok warriors arrived in the forest and sought to destroy the Ewok village's Soul Trees&mdash;objects of great spiritual value to the Ewoks&mdash;Warrick commanded the battle wagon and drove the aggressors from the battlefield. The weapon proved instrumental in ending the conflict in the Ewoks' favor, forcing the Duloks to remain in Endor's swampier regions. However, as the years passed, the Ewoks largely forgot about Warrick's massive siege engine.

Three generations later, in 3 ABY, the device was rediscovered by Erpham Warrick's descendant, Wicket Wystri Warrick. The younger Warrick rebuilt the wagon using his ancestor's blueprints; fellow tribe member Malani and the bordok Baga aided him in the endeavor. When the Dulok King, Gorneesh, learned of the restoration, he ordered his tribe to capture the vehicle. Meeting no real opposition, the Duloks stole the wagon and used it to attack Ewok territory, again with the aim of destroying the Soul Trees. The assault failed when Warrick removed the weapon's main support peg and caused the device to collapse. The battle wagon was rebuilt yet again by the Ewok tribe and used to resist the forces of the Galactic Empire after the galactic government established itself on Endor.