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Whats peoples opinion of them?, yes its quite expensive for one shot but being able to kill most lone HQ's in one hit (being str 8 and ap3) is it worth it against those? without ap1 or 2 I cant see the use of it shooting at AV.

Opinions? does anyone use them reguarly and have success or rather buy a combi weapon or something for a sarg

Depends on your army's BS.

Guard: no.

Space Marines: Hmm...might make some sense here and there.

Might be able to finish off a weak vehicle such as a Raider or a Trukk. If you occationally have spare points it might be worth it byt YMMV.

The only time I can see it is if you have a vehicle with a primary role that you want to improve the killing power in its secondary role, and the best way to do that is with an HK missile.

For example, a hydra or a rifleman dread is going to be good against AV10 targets. That's their primary target type. They can also threaten AV12, but are pretty crummy at it. An HK here would make sense, then, as it's the difference between knocking off 1 or maybe 2 HP and knocking 2 and possibly 3. That's rather a big difference, given what 3HP means compared to 2 removed.

Of course, I'd never actually give an HK to a hydra (say hello, BS1 rocket), but you get my point. In any case, the list of things that are both good enough at killing something that an HK would actually synergize, and not quite enough good at that thing that what they really just need is an extra S8 shot at the beginning of the game is pretty short.

Hence, don't usually take them. Unless you have a good reason.

 TheCaptain wrote:

Guard: no.

Space Marines: Hmm...might make some sense here and there.

Pretty much this. You really just need to take them in bulk. If you bring 6+, then they might be worth it in a SM army.

If you really lack anti-tank or will not really have a way to deal with spammed transports it can be an answer. But for the most part it is generally not a good option.

As for taking out a lone HQ, it is rare to actually see one. You still have to hit them, (wound them but str 8 to most toughness is not a problem) get through their armor if it is 2+ or an invul if they have one.

I find it useful with Ironclad dreads, they can take two.
As i usually use it for my first wave of pods they tend to be close to the ennemy and as such have a rather short life expectancy.
Those extra S8 shots are useful when i flub the melta shot and also give range if i drop farther than usual.
It is expensive but it ensure that you destroy your intended target not just distract some unit for a turn.

I guess the concept might be translatable in other codex but then again, i am sure that would not cut it in competitive games

Maybe on an ironclad. As in a drop pod having a couple of extra shots when landing would be very helpful. You are virtually guaranteed to be able to fire them.

Even more dubiously anything with outflank may be ok, so sentinels with BS3 are not a good choice, but maybe rhinos that happen to outflanking anyway.

The only problem I see with them is that by the time you've bought enough to actually kill something, you could've bought, you know, something that can actually kill armor and fire more than one time.

I mean, 60pts would get you a few lascannons, or 6 meltas, or 4 plasma guns, all 3 of which I would think would be better choices than 6 hunter killer missiles.

Yes, but with some builds, I am thinking more towards GK than anything else. Maybe you brought 4 rhinos because you could not afford razorbacks or wanted to shoot your psycannons out the top. Now you at least have something with range.

That or you have filled up all available slots, maybe all heavies are full or all fast and you still want that little extra AT.

It is a purely situational upgrade that should be consider next to last. Good idea GW, I like its fluffiness and real-world (ish) counterpart, just not executed well. If it were more similar to a tau seeker missile, then that would be a different story.

I say no, I know a guy who brings them regulary on quite a bit on ever vehicle he has, they have done nothing to me except take out a crisis suit.

MrMoustaffa wrote:The only problem I see with them is that by the time you've bought enough to actually kill something, you could've bought, you know, something that can actually kill something.

Fixed it for you.

Say hello to opportunity cost...

They are all about maximizing your alpha strike. Since you have already "bought" the vehicle you are getting quite a bit of extra first turn fire power for 10 points. Generally, to bring extra heavy/special weapons, you have to buy a whole new unit or whole new tanks. HKMs and other OS weapons have the advantage of being pure bonus on top of an already existing unit.

I know I've come the appreciate the Tachyon Arrow, which is three times as expensive, albeit for S10, AP1, and on a Preferred Enemy platform. I could definitely see a mass of HKMs really putting an extra dent in an army.

They're great on autocannon sentinels.

I think the consensus has always been that they are really no worth it. There are always better places to spend your points.

I have thought a out putting them on my AC sentinels, but you only have a 50-50 shot of hitting. So if you buy a squadron 3 HK missiles 1.5 will hit. It's really not worth it IMO.

Indarys wrote:
They're great on autocannon sentinels.

But are they really?

 TheCaptain wrote:

Indarys wrote:
They're great on autocannon sentinels.

But are they really?

Yes. 10 more points for almost double the chance at penning the rear armor of something on a platform that will likely only have 1-2 turns after it outflanks onto the board?