Unit of the Week: Hunter

[Jolemai]

Welcome to the Blood Angels Unit of the Week Series!

Following the release of the 8^th edition Codex, there is no better time to discuss all the unique units we have access to. Each week a different unit will appear, with the idea being that we discuss how best to use that model on the battlefield.

Note, this isn't to lament any nerfs, etc, from previous editions; the rules are as they are so try to unlock its potential for those who wish to use them all the same. Similarly, this thread is only for using the option being discussed; it matters not if you feel something is a better choice as such comments aren't constructive to the topic and shall be removed.

Without further ado, here's this week's entry:

Hunter

What are you thoughts here folks? How best would you use a Hunter?

• To compliment a list, or to build a list around? Will the beta rules affect your list(s)?
• Will you be running multiples?
• How are you buffing this unit?
• Do you take the optional upgrades?
• Stratagems?

Over to you

[Jolemai]

Should you want your model on display here (or on another thread from the series), then submit a photo here please.

[Charlo]

A cheap, tough Lascannon that can move and fire with little penalty (4+ with a re-roll while mobile, 3+ re-roll otherwise).

 

Nice for screening your Assault troops, eating overwatch and plinking wounds off enemy vehicles.

 

Also really like the armored look.

 

Needs little support due to built in re-rolls and no directly targeted stratagems.

 

Running three and a HQ would give a pretty nice screen/ distraction.

[Indefragable]

T8's nice.

[FormelyKnownAsSmashyPants]

For my money/points, I'd rather a stalker, as I feel it would be brilliant against units made up of multiple models with the fly keyword like Inceptors, assault marines, jet bikes of all flavors, etal, as well as single model units. +2 to hit if stationary, add a captain to reroll 1's and your golden. Of course if your opponent is only running single modern l units with the fly keyword then the hunter wins out.

[Charlo]

For my money/points, I'd rather a stalker, as I feel it would be brilliant against units made up of multiple models with the fly keyword like Inceptors, assault marines, jet bikes of all flavors, etal, as well as single model units. +2 to hit if stationary, add a captain to reroll 1's and your golden. Of course if your opponent is only running single modern l units with the fly keyword then the hunter wins out.

 

Thing to note is that the Hunter doesn't have the -/+ 1 to hit against non-flying/ flying units.

 

I'ts just a flat re-roll at normal BS all the time (other than modifiers).

[Panzer]

Alright lets take a look at this guy.

 

Relevant stats are: BS3+/4+/5+ T8 W11 Sv3+

Equipped with a 60" Lascannon that gets +1 to-hit against FLY and re-roll to-hit against everything.

 

So on the first look it's extremely similar to a T'au Hammerhead equipped with a Railgun (BS3+/4+/5+ T7 W13 Sv3+, Slightly better Lasgun), however it's MUCH cheaper (about 60p cheaper). That alone makes it a rather interesting choice already.

Another way to look at it is that a Lasgun costs 25p so lets say 35p for the +1 to-hit and the re-rolls. That means you pay about 55p for T8 W11 Sv3+.

 

That sounds really great in a vacuum, however we also have to consider what else we have in our army.

Marines aren't cheap so we are usually short on points. Especially if we start including various vehicles. It's also not like there aren't any anti-tank alternatives (LasBack, LasPred, LasDevs, Storm Ravens, etc).

Furthermore the T8 means nothing against enemy Lascannons and similar anti-tank compared to T7, so it dies just as fast against those as a LasBack. Now you might want to throw in the argument of it having the +1 to-hit and re-roll to-hit rules, however the LasBack has two Lascannons which is objectively better. The LasBack also pays about 15p more for its T7 W10 Sv3+ and the ability to take two main weapons and for being a transport (which is great to soften enemy alpha strikes on your troops while giving them 3" more movement the turn they disembark ... that's for another topic tho ).

 

Considering those things it leaves the Hunter only really with advantages against S4 and S8 shooting and the 12" more range (which are often not needed to be fair).

 

 

 

Now that we know all those things, lets think about how to use a Hunter if we were dead set on taking one or more.

One thing for sure: bring more than one. One Lascannon won't get you anywhere. Fortunately they're "cheap" enought to do that. I'd go with taking 3 or 4 actually. About 200-300p and you get 3-4 re-rollable Lascannons at 60" range that don't suffer from hitting worse against flyer and hit better against hover tanks like Eldar and T'au ones.

 

Charlo mentioned moving them forwards to act as moveable cover and to soak overwatch but I'd really not do that to be honest unless there's no other way. It's a good tactic to keep in mind but not the tactic you should aim for most games with them imo.

It would only waste their superior range and unlike the Death Guards Plagueburst Crawler the Hunter has no secondary weapons he can use against nearby infantry blobs to defend itself properly but it does have an expensive main weapon which would be wasted once any enemy model charges your Hunter. For such a tactic we have better options (Flamer Razorbacks, Baal Preds, regular Rhinos).

 

I think Hunter are better used to be parked on backfield objectives. There it can still act as moveable cover for other backfield objective sitter like Devastators or Hellblaster or even just Stalker Intercessors.

There's also a point to be made for taking them in a mechanized list since with few infantry on the board at the beginning of the game your opponent won't have ideal targets for his anti-infantry weaponry unlike it would be the case if you were taking Devastators instead which would obviously be prime targets for your opponents anti-infantry weaponry. So in such a list they make many of your opponents weapons less efficient while also hopefully drawing fire away from your transports, Dreadnoughts and flyer.