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I understand these are Fast tanks that have front and side AV 12, and any one of them can be equipped with a hull mounted Multi Melta to double as a quick tank hunter - though only at BS3. The main reason why people field them is their turret mounted weapon. Now my problem with these tanks is the fact that they are so costly.

The Hellhound seems like the most solid of all three choices, as its torrent heavy flamer (at +1S) can really come in extremely handy against non-MEQ armies. But with the Leman Russ Eradicator getting so much cheaper in the new codex, hasnt it become pretty useless now? Okay, so with the Russ I can only move 6" and fire, but the range should make up for it and I believe the big blast still covers enough infantry, although perhaps not as much as a strategically placed torrent weapon.

The Devil Dog got better in 6th due to no longer having to halve its strength when the central hole scattered off a tank, and so it went up by 10 points - but is it worth taking? We can have backfield non-prescienced Vanquishers that can do the job equally well and better if prescienced, and using Devil Dogs to smoke TEQ isnt really the way to field them.

The Banewolf stayed more or less the same - but even in 5th it was a meh tank because of having to get to almost charge range of any MEQ squad it wanted to delete. Very risky. And its still useless against TEQ. And with AV 10 at the back, it really would be safe to say this is a one trick pony, and at that points cost I dont think it is worth taking? It's a shame because if the Banewolf had gone up by 25 points and gained torrent, I would have been the first to take it.

Are there any tactics I am missing out on or is this pretty much the deal?

With the eradicater so much cheaper now, it's hard to justify the hellhound. And I much prefer a demolisher to a devil dog. You need to get within 12" for the melta effect, and the small blast is still easy to miss infantry with. I'd rather take a versatile demolisher with better armor, better anti infantry, and S10 ordnance v vehicles.

Bane wolf is still an open question for me. It seems like a great counter assault unit for clearing out jump marines, immortals, incubi, etc. Ignore cover, AP3 is very powerful.

good point about the demolisher - hadnt considered that. A demolisher with hull mounted lascannon and 2 multi-melta sponsons will probably do a lot better than a devil dog with MM

 Sir Arun wrote:
good point about the demolisher - hadnt considered that. A demolisher with hull mounted lascannon and 2 multi-melta sponsons will probably do a lot better than a devil dog with MM

You would leave the Demolisher Naked because of it being "Ordnance" all the sponson weapons would have to fire snapshots.

The Hellhound variants aren't optimal choices, but I think they'd be fun to run. I actually think the Hellhound would be a great addition to a list with mechanized veterans because the Hellhound gives you AV12 saturation and is great at thinning out infantry, allowing your veterans to better focus on high value targets like monstrous creatures and vehicles. Plus, the Hellhound can keep up with your Chimeras unlike a Leman Russ which I think is valuable.

 TheSilo wrote:
With the eradicater so much cheaper now, it's hard to justify the hellhound. And I much prefer a demolisher to a devil dog. You need to get within 12" for the melta effect, and the small blast is still easy to miss infantry with. I'd rather take a versatile demolisher with better armor, better anti infantry, and S10 ordnance v vehicles.

Bane wolf is still an open question for me. It seems like a great counter assault unit for clearing out jump marines, immortals, incubi, etc. Ignore cover, AP3 is very powerful.

And then you enjoy the one shot you get from it, and then it dies.

The Devil Dog has similar costing to the Vanquisher. Unless you want to kill TEQs or T4 multiwound units in smallish amounts (and if you want to do this, it's not like the guard is hurting for lascannons and there aren't many 2+ save T4 multiwounds anyway) the Devildog has just about no reason to exist.

I mean, you'd have to be facing a list with an awful lot of armor to need more anti-tank than what your troops, Elite, and HS slots (and now HQ slot) can provide you.

Banewolves lack torrent, which is their number one problem. Literally every issue with the tank can be summed up by their lack of torrent. It means you have to get within spitting distance of the enemy and it opens you up to so many more positioning issues. Indeed, the hellhound can actually get more kills by placing on wounds much earlier over the course of a game than a banewolf simply because it doesn't have to get so damn close to do it's dirty work.

So for the weaponized Chimera model units, it's Hellhound or bust I'm afraid. Other good choices include armored sentinels or Vendettas/Valkyries.