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So far I have never taken a hemlock. I was reading my Eldar Codex, and I feel like it's an underused gem. So I bought one. I feel like there's many shenanigans to be had with this beast. Even though it doesn't work with shiek.

So, I was hoping to find out how people use them in 7th. What's the most effective way to play them? Where do they excel?

A point to note, I play pure eldar and have no interest in allies.

Thanks!

Well you are kinda right.

Hemlocks have the potential to turn the tide of the battle. I use two of them all the time in an Air superiority formation if we are using Death from the skies (+1 on BS against ground targets which means less scatter for D blasts and -2 on opponent reserves if he has no air).

I roll for shriek and then on runes of battle. I want Embolden / Horrify but the malediction part of all runes of battle can be used on your opponent no matter what.

If I get Horrify then the unit will get a -3 to leadership against Shriek and -5 to morale for running if they take enough casualties.

Keep in mind that you can target a different unit with your D templates than the one you shrieked. So two hemlocks can potentially hurt 4 units.

Hemlocks like Crimson Hunters have vector dancer and if you are using death from the skies they can make a break turn on a roll of 5 or less. This means that you can turn 3 times at 90 degs during your 36" move, one at the start, one during your movement (brake turn) and one at the end. If you practice the routing a little this means that you never have to exit the table, unless you want to, and you can hit the same unit every round.

Only problem hemlocks have is against other air and that if you are forced to jink you can't use your D templates. A friend of mine was playing a Crimson hunter Formation and two hemlocks at 2000 points and it was really scary. Crimson hunters took care of everything the opponent had in air and the hemlocks then reigned supreme against ground.

They are a fun unit to play although a bit expensive. Give it a shot and tell us your experience .

I could have sworn the Hemlock had a lower agility than the crimson hunter - 4, not 5.

Well pre-DftS, the draft FAQ allowed units with skyfire to use blasts against Hard-to-hit targets. So if not using DftS, the Hemlock is a great all-round choice that can threaten other Flyers and ground targets alike.

If you are using DftS, don't bother with the Hemlock. Not having skyfire makes it trash

 Galef wrote:
Well pre-DftS, the draft FAQ allowed units with skyfire to use blasts against Hard-to-hit targets. So if not using DftS, the Hemlock is a great all-round choice that can threaten other Flyers and ground targets alike.

If you are using DftS, don't bother with the Hemlock. Not having skyfire makes it trash

No they aren't....

I run Freakshows, and love my Hemlock. The leadership bubble is immensely useful (and has a huge footprint), as well as giving you more Psychic capacity.

 Capamaru wrote:

 Galef wrote:
Well pre-DftS, the draft FAQ allowed units with skyfire to use blasts against Hard-to-hit targets. So if not using DftS, the Hemlock is a great all-round choice that can threaten other Flyers and ground targets alike.

If you are using DftS, don't bother with the Hemlock. Not having skyfire makes it trash

No they aren't....

So maybe Trash is too strong a word, but DftS means it cannot defend itself if the enemy has a Flyer. The dogfight phase will ensure that the AV10 Hemlock either doesn't see the table (cuz it's already dead), or cannot fire its blasts (cuz it was forced to Jink)
Almost 200pts is a lot to spend on a unit hoping that the opponent didn't bring a Flyer or FMC

There is a reason Hemlocks don't show up in most competitive lists. The draft FAQ fixed that, than DftS took it away again.
I am glad my group doesn't use DftS.

-

To be honest, I personally think DftS is a pointless waste of time bolt on to the game. It wasn't needed, and I think that for the most part it isn't wanted. I've tried it once or twice. But so far I've found that basically no one wants to use it. So DftS isn't an issue for me.

What is an issue is the tournaments I'm planning to attend basically follow ITC format and rules. This means they use the ITC FAQ. And currently that still states that blasts can't hit fliers, even when fired from models with sky fire. So, my hemlock won't be able to shoot at another flier. BUT, I also run a crimson hunter exarch along side. And he tends to deal with aerial threats ok.

So, taken this bad boy twice now. Damn, people do not know what's coming when this thing turns up.