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So I am looking at Hellhound-type units to possibly make an appearance in my Mechanized AM army. Are they any good, though? So far I haven't heard much positive said about flame-type weapons in general, nor Melta ones...and that describes 2/3 of the options in the entry. The Chem Cannon sounds badass and wounds pretty hard-core, but the 8" range might as well be bayonet distance at that point.

Thoughts? Experiences?

M.

Base Hellhound is amazing. The Devil Dog can be OK depending on what tactics you're using (I play Vostroyans, and with 30" melta range and the ability to make him BS3 I LOVE my Devil Dog)

The nice thing about the base hellhound is its an excellent distraction tankto have out in front of your forces getting charged at, falling back, annoying the enemy and eventually exploding when they kill it.

The Hellhound's 16" 2d6 flame weapon makes it the best choice of the three.

The Devil Dog at Assault D3 isn't too bad but it's a fragile and expensive platform compared to other AT options that AM have available.

Bane Wolf is definitely not a great option anymore; 8" D6 is just not survivable. Synergizes well with a heavy flamer mount, but that's still 105pts for a 8" ranged vehicle.

the_scotsman wrote:
I play Vostroyans, and with 30" melta range and the ability to make him BS3 I LOVE my Devil Dog.

Sorry to burst your bubble but vostroyan doctrine only effects heavy and rapid fire weapons, not assault. I know. I was bummed too.

As far as hellhounds go, I really like the stock hellhound with our without heavy flamer. I had it wipe out a guard squad in 1 turn. And I just drive it up full speed and don't feel bad if it gets killed. Explodes real good. Doesn't care about BS.

Hm, sounds like a Hellhound is worth taking, then. I have 175 points open in my current 1500 point goal list; I'd originally thought about a bunch of Armored Sententials or even some Salamander Scouts, but I think for at least the first flurry of building/painting it should be focused on table effect (plenty of time for "fun" follow-ups later!).

Shame on that Chem-gun, though - I think I've settled on a theme for my Guard (Soviet-esque) and a chemical-weapon vehicle would definitely feel fitting.

M.

Dude, I kinda feel like you should just read though the "AM tactica" thread at this point.

 daedalus wrote:
Dude, I kinda feel like you should just read though the "AM tactica" thread at this point.

Got a link? I went looking and did not find one. I was starting to think there had to be one - I've way too many questions to be clogging up our boards with!

M.

No link, but I think he's referring to the "AM more competitive in 8th" monster thread.

Regarding hellhounds, some of the fluff mentions squadrons consisting of a pair of Hellhounds with a Devil Dog in support - It sounds like it would work well, and I want to try it once I'm able to acquire some I want to try it out. Won't be able to squeeze that into 175 points though.

4100xpb wrote:
No link, but I think he's referring to the "AM more competitive in 8th" monster thread.

Regarding hellhounds, some of the fluff mentions squadrons consisting of a pair of Hellhounds with a Devil Dog in support - It sounds like it would work well, and I want to try it once I'm able to acquire some I want to try it out. Won't be able to squeeze that into 175 points though.

No indeed; I think I will take just 1 and figure out what to do with the remaining points in a bit.

Thanks for pointing me in the direction of that thread, though! At 124 pages (!) I suspect judicious use of Search is in order.

M.

Yeah, that's the one. It's a rather long read, but almost everything in it decent.

Also, Polonious's write ups are top notch. I'll be back with a link or two to those.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here we go:

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/730110.page

It's not beyond criticism, but if you want a single source of wisdom in a more concise format, it's the way to go, hands down.

 daedalus wrote:
Yeah, that's the one. It's a rather long read, but almost everything in it decent.

Also, Polonious's write ups are top notch. I'll be back with a link or two to those.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here we go:

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/730110.page

It's not beyond criticism, but if you want a single source of wisdom in a more concise format, it's the way to go, hands down.

Thanks for that - I'll give it a read. I am also pleased to see he is also a Marylander!

M.

Mind you, most all of that was from the perspective of the index, but it's still applicable with a handful of caveats.

Hey, thanks for linking to that article. I"m going to work to update it for the codex (and finish the superheavy section), but for now, I'll comment on hellhounds.

I think that the basic hellhound is the most underrated unit in the codex right now. It's not a plug and play unit like Scions, but it has an awful lot of advantages and few down sides.

First, regiment Unless forced to, run them as catachan. Even if you want your main force to be another regiment, find a way to shove a few catachan hellhounds in your army. I humbly suggest three LRBTs in a spearhead with a primaris, and then two hellhounds, but YMMV. Re-rolling the number of hits on the heavy flamer and one die on the inferno cannon is enormous, as is hitting automatically.

Second, Hellhounds usually die, but that's okay. why? They explode on a 4+, doing d3 mortal wound to all units within 6"! With a command point reroll, that's a 75% of a hellhound nuking everything in a good radius.

Third, you can play coy. The main gun is 16" range, and the modern game includes a lot of units that are hard to hit. Yes, the inferno cannon will struggle against vehicles and the like, but it really does scythe through infantry.

the best part? Cheap as chips. 10pts more than a bare bones intercessor squad.

Now, for best results, make sure the enemy has a lot of targets. the more vehicles he sees, the longer each one lives. And if he does shoot at the hellhound... that's a weapon not shooting at an LRBT or a superheavy.

Finally, don't be afraid to charge with the hellhound. It likely won't shoot again, but if you can charge, say, a landraider or Leman Russ, that's a big model that's not shooting next turn.

I did read through that thread; lots of interesting stuff and I have started making changes to my list as a result. Looking forward to the updated one!

Where in the city do you usually play? The only two game stores around I've been to is Games and Stuff in Glen Burnie and Titan in Timmonium.

M.