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I have been debating on getting a couple. I really like the idea of them I was just curious of some people's success stories or failures of course.

The Hellhound is a decent option. It's a fast threat that efficiently kills anything without a 2+/3+ armor save, and can bring melta to make it a reasonable threat against vehicles when there are no infantry targets to kill. Its main problem is that it's a fast attack choice that isn't a Vulture or Vendetta, which pretty much limits it to games where you're deliberately taking a weak list to give your opponent a better chance of winning.

Hellhounds are great, as they can deliver ignores cover damage to anything that isn't MEQ+ (and are great for the likes of tau FW, necron warriors and eldar guardians sitting on objectives) while still remaining far enough away that they can be relatively safe from assualt, which is usually the killer of short-range tanks.

They probab;y work better as part of a mech list, as they add the anti infantry the melta/plasma vets sometimes suffer with, and add to armour saturation, boosting the army as a whole.

All I will say is that, like everything guard, more is better, so if you're not meching anyway, then take 2 (squadroned or separate, depending on how fond of vendettas/valks you are) to provide more targets for the enemy S6+ guns. Also, always take them with the hull MM, it makes them a nasty surprise to unwary tanks, and you should never really be close enough to use a HF, given the range of the main gun.

 Peregrine wrote:
The Hellhound is a decent option. It's a fast threat that efficiently kills anything without a 2+/3+ armor save, and can bring melta to make it a reasonable threat against vehicles when there are no infantry targets to kill. Its main problem is that it's a fast attack choice that isn't a Vulture or Vendetta, which pretty much limits it to games where you're deliberately taking a weak list to give your opponent a better chance of winning.

Well virtually everything that the Hellhound is good against, the Vendetta is not. Vendettas won't be much good at frying deep-striking demons or disembarked non-MEQ. I can think of quite a few opponents where vendettas would be no use whatsoever, hellhounds by contrast are usually threatening to a good chunk of an opponant's army.

xruslanx wrote:

 Peregrine wrote:
The Hellhound is a decent option. It's a fast threat that efficiently kills anything without a 2+/3+ armor save, and can bring melta to make it a reasonable threat against vehicles when there are no infantry targets to kill. Its main problem is that it's a fast attack choice that isn't a Vulture or Vendetta, which pretty much limits it to games where you're deliberately taking a weak list to give your opponent a better chance of winning.

Well virtually everything that the Hellhound is good against, the Vendetta is not. Vendettas won't be much good at frying deep-striking demons or disembarked non-MEQ. I can think of quite a few opponents where vendettas would be no use whatsoever, hellhounds by contrast are usually threatening to a good chunk of an opponant's army.

My thoughts exactly. The Vendetta and Hellhound variants are the only FA options so I don't usually fill up all the slots.
The Tau, Daemon, and Nids I usually fight reaaallly don't like my HH. Being a fast vehicle with torrent you can get that template where you need it quickly.
Oh, and as said before, take the MM.

xruslanx wrote:
Well virtually everything that the Hellhound is good against, the Vendetta is not. Vendettas won't be much good at frying deep-striking demons or disembarked non-MEQ. I can think of quite a few opponents where vendettas would be no use whatsoever, hellhounds by contrast are usually threatening to a good chunk of an opponant's army.

Yes, but that's not the point. Vendettas are mandatory because they're the only unit that does the things they do (AA, anti-tank and transport, all at once), while Hellhounds can be replaced by other units. And unless you're list tailoring (and if you are, stop) you can't just assume you're playing one of the opponents who doesn't care about Vendettas.

In my opinion, Vendettas are far from mandatory, but more to the point, on a FOC you have 3 FA slots, and to be honest, the chances of you needing 3 vendettas in anything but the most competitive meta is not very large. Therefore, you'll generally have at least 1 FA slot spare if you are not playing a fully competitive list, for which a hellhound is an effective choice.

They are good against a different target type to the Vendetta, which means they are both usable in the same list without making one or the other redundant.

And while list tailoring may be frowned upon, if the OP (or anyone else) is generally playing in the same meta regularly, it is not unfair for them to take units that are good against a certain prevalent target type. Taking a hellhound if you see a lot of xenos and not much MEQ is no different to taking more AA if you see more fliers.

Lascannon Sabre platforms also fill that role. Hellhounds are the only torrent weapon in the IG arsenal, though. Granted a Colossus or LR Eradicator can fill a similar role, but both are less accurate, the artillery has difficulty with units in ruins, and they can't threaten units in buildings like a torrent weapon can.

(On an amusing note, a Vendetta with the default missiles can actually perform that anti-infantry role to some degree, but those usually are dropped for moar lascannons.)

I have used a Bane Wolf on a regular basis for quite some time, and people fear it more than my two Medusas because when it gets close, it simply removes whole squads (just like a Helldrake, but flyers are heavily restricted where I play, and then again, I play IG)

I would probably advice to get two if you are getting any, because one will be shot down as fast as possible.

I've had fun with 2 Devil dogs with MMs driving around with a DA Librarian riding a bike and carrying a PFG. It's a really obnoxious unit that can be tough to get rid of.

Hellhounds are amazing, so long as you keep the heavy bolter as your secondary so you're not tempted to get too close, keep using the range on the flamer you're paying for and it will perform admirably

 Bonde wrote:
I have used a Bane Wolf on a regular basis for quite some time, and people fear it more than my two Medusas because when it gets close, it simply removes whole squads (just like a Helldrake, but flyers are heavily restricted where I play, and then again, I play IG)

You must be playing against bad players who don't know how to spread out their squads. A Bane Wolf shouldn't even come close to killing whole squads at a time because it has zero range on its flamer. The theoretical advantage of AP 3 is negated by the much smaller number of wounds you inflict, so in real games the Hellhound is actually the better marine killer (and of course much, much better against everything else).

Hellhounds are great, I sometimes take a pair of them in medium - large games.

I put a multi melta on the front so if it loses the main gun you still have a fast vehicle capable of threatening tanks. I find quite often opponents panic about hellhounds & put an inordinate amount of fire into getting rid of them, so they're good for target saturation too.

Wow, thanks for the feedback guys! I do happen to have Vendettas but I try to play less competitive games since I moved away for college (grad school is competitive enough). I just really like the idea of 2 hellhounds in my BT/IG army, and it has been confirmed. I now am the proud owner of two hellhounds

Thanks again!

Excellent purchase! Let us know how they work out.

Oh and HHs are pretty easy to magnetize. I definitely recommend doing so.

 Aboucher wrote:
Wow, thanks for the feedback guys! I do happen to have Vendettas but I try to play less competitive games since I moved away for college (grad school is competitive enough). I just really like the idea of 2 hellhounds in my BT/IG army, and it has been confirmed. I now am the proud owner of two hellhounds

Thanks again!

Peregrine is probably doing whatever the angry hawk equivalent is of a sigh.

I like hellhounds. You get a thumbs up in my book.

I utilize hellhounds in larger games as light support for my Leman Russ tanks. Bad players with bad target priority often shoot their heaviest weapons at the HHs in addition to their lightest weapons. It's pretty incredible how much this buffs the survivability of the LRBTs and surprisingly how few feths the HH Gives.