=][= Unit(s) of the week: Hellhounds =][=

[duz_]

It has come to the Commissariat's attention that some of you have not being keeping up with your regular training requirements. As such we intend to rectify this immediately by commencing an intensive re-education of the command corps. Failure will not be tolerated!

 

This will be a weekly series of threads aimed at discussing the units available to the Astra Miliatrum in 8th edition. This can become a resource for those finding their feet in 8th and our brothers in arms who have joined the fight in the glorious Imperial Guard.

 

The next series will cover our highly mobile support elements, Fast Attack.

This particular thread will be dedicated to Hellhounds of all descriptions!

(We don't discriminate here in the Guard, all soldiers are good enough to die in the service of the Emperor!)

 

Can I say these are another favourite of mine from 3rd? I now have two Hellhounds and although I've only run one of them at a time, I think on my next large scale battle I will run 2! (Possibly with an Armoured Sentinel for those 9 juicy CP's! ;) )

 

The Hellhound is a great all-rounder, slightly more durable than a Chimera with +1W, it has a max movement of 12", with the Inferno cannon rocking D6 shots at 16", S6, Ap -1, D:2 it can deal some hurt to most things (as those space clowns found out the other day when my Hellhound peaked its nozzle inside a building they had tried to capture). Throw in a hull mounted heavy flamer for good measure! Or keep the Heavy Bolter to save points, I would do the former if you have the points though.

The biggest draw back I see with these is that they are a big fire magnet as people can easily see the threat of the cannon, once it drops down a couple a profile or two it certainly slows down and limits it ability to stay up with the main battle. Fortunately though it does not suffer from degrading BS profile if equipped dual flamers. They also explode on a 4+, so if they are in the thick of battle they will deal some damage! Conversely when setting this guy up you might want to give him some space in case some canny Commander see the opportunity to cause some mayhem in your deployment zone early in the game.

 

Although my Hellhound is magnetized, I have never run any of the other variants so can't elaborate too much on them. 

The Chem cannon looks great for patrolling the back lines and nuking any TEQ units that might deep strike in, however for those duties the Hellhound might be a bit too expensive. Also at only 8" range and D:1 its unlikely the Chem Cannon will wipe an entire unit and could well go down in assault. It also only wounds vehicles on a 6+.

 

The Melta Cannon has the longest range of all at 24", it only hits D3 times, however it can deal some hurt to most heavy infantry and vehicles in the game. At S8, AP -4 and D:D6, it will certainly give the enemy some pause before getting within its threat range. I have heard from other Commanders in the area that they really enjoy using this variant. I may have to try it at some point myself to confirm these claims.

 

What variants are you running? Does the Chem Cannon have a place right now with its measly 8" range, or is the Hellhound just too much of an all roudner to pass up?

[dakkamasta]

My favourite is the Artemia pattern Hellhound from the Imperial Armour book. For 7 points over a regular hellhound you get the same gun but roll 2d6 picking the highest for the number of shots so it's a lot more reliable.

 

The icing on the cake is that it still explodes on a 4+ but does a solid d6 mortal wounds! Send that thing as close to the enemy as possible and watch your opponent reposition his army to avoid the explosion. Just be careful where you deploy it as a smart player will target it early on for the potential collateral damage.

[Feral_80]

Artemia Hellhound and Bane Wolf are absolutely great, and I never leave home without one of each. Always add a h. flamer and nothing else. Against assault armies, their role is to advance as far as possible on turn 1 and fire, then force the enemy to assault them and fire again, then likely detonate among their lines. At the very least, they slow down a charging army and force your opponents to move his characters away from them. And if they ignore them, they can end up in their rear lines a turn later and engage artillery or other tanks. Very, very nasty and useful.

 

 Devil Dog is very poor, however.

[WarriorFish]

I've used a couple of Hellhounds and they performed very well as an aggressive picket. Their cannon has a nice range and hits quite well especially with the 2 Damage, and they're fairly tough too. Charging enemy Rhinos to prevent them closing was good and they did solid work directly too and one even blew up taking some Marines (and a Captain's wound) with it. I think they're a good option in 8th though the Devil Dog suffers for only D3 hits, when you factor in all the dice rolls required :confused:

[CoffeeGrunt]

The Hellhound has been a great performer for me. I want to like the Devildog, I really do, but I think it's been really jipped by the new edition. It was an overpriced but nippy melta platform last edition, but now it can't move and fire its gun reliably, suffers terribly if it gets wounded due to the accuracy problem, and overall just doesn't seem to do much. :/

[olcottr]

Never really focused on Fast Attack in previous editions.  I just have the 1 Hellhound which I usually flank with Flameras. I used to use Armored Sentinels for Mobile Fire Support, since that 12 Armor on front really helped.  Now that they are the same toughness as Scouts, and get -1 on the move, I don't think I'll be using them much anymore.