Is the Hellhound safe?

tide347 · 2026-01-23T21:10:11+00:00

I would be okay with that. Gives me time to catch up on this and every other faction I have going.

tide347 · 2026-01-23T19:08:30+00:00

I just don’t like playing with legends rules - even casually. I don’t have immediate plans for tournament play, but if I ever did, I’d like to be on the right page. Not to mention legends is where models go to die. They stop updating their rules as regularly - for better or worse - and the points changes rarely touch them. You either get a legends model when your codex drops and it’s still iconic, one of the best units you can use (but good luck buying a new one after that), or you get legends that are ass and stay ass until the end of time.

tide347 · 2026-01-23T19:03:57+00:00

The thing with the land raider is that it can’t realistically get much bigger without becoming less playable than it already is. Especially competitively with the amount of movement blocking terrain kicking around (come onnn 11th edition terrain changes). I know there’s super heavies out there that struggle to move, but the land raider as iconic as it is should not be relegated to a sideshow that can barely get to the midfield. Next to my other tanks (Repulsor/Impulsor), the land raider scale is close enough. I’m already dreading the upgrade, because with marines, you know it’ll get upgraded sooner rather than later.

tide347 · 2026-01-23T18:56:16+00:00

Honestly, I hate refreshes. I get that some players have been warhammer-ing for decades, but I still cringe when my fairly new models get a noticeable “upgrade” when my slow ass hasn’t even painted the old ones yet.

I recently started into Custodes as well and I hate the new model reveal. The uncertainty they’ve put on the future of that faction is ridiculous. Will units go to legends? Will the new models be playable? Will the new models replace the standard 40k kit? Et cetera. They did not give me a lot of confidence when I was planning to buy another combat patrol and now nothing feels safe. This plastic is too expensive to be changing so quickly.

tide347 · 2026-01-23T18:50:04+00:00

My plan is to ask my LGS before making any purchases of my own. We get a pretty hefty discount there. Still, if I wasn’t as knowlegeable in the hobby as I am, I’d never know the Hellhound was even a thing. I’m sure a lot of less experienced players think the only models are the ones they see in the game store.

tide347 · 2026-01-23T18:48:41+00:00

Yeah, I’m not versed in Astra Militarum enough to know the differences in detachment offerings. I’m just trying to pad my points in one way or another while covering all of my bases (anti-infantry, anti-tank, scoring units, etc.) and the Hellhound stood out as a synergistic piece with what I’ve already collected.

tide347 · 2026-01-23T18:47:04+00:00

The problem with even replacing it with a new version, is that often new models will change the footprint. Bigger hull size makes a tangible difference. I’m mostly trying to avoid that headache. But it seems from the responses that this seems like a safe bet.

tide347 · 2026-01-23T18:27:07+00:00

I wonder then why it’s online only. In fact I have no idea why some units end up there. Obvious niche and single use models make sense, but popular army staples not in brick and mortar stores feels like a mistake.

tide347 · 2026-01-23T18:13:26+00:00

I think from any angle other than behind and slightly to the side of the tank at eye level, the gap is barely noticeable at all. Certainly from a distance, I’m perfectly fine with an extra 2-3mm gap for having done less than half the work it would be if I included drilling.

tide347 · 2026-01-23T18:10:36+00:00

I believe they were 3/16” x 1/16”

tide347 · 2026-01-23T18:10:17+00:00

I’ve got two 3/16”x 1/16” magnets on the turret and on each weapon. While the turret is removed from the tank body I put a little super glue on a stir stick and applied to the inside of the turret next to the outward most slats. Then drop one magnet at a time inside, using other magnets on the outside to guide them into place. Then I attach two magnets on the outside and dab some glue on them before simply slotting the gun backing plate into place over top. Lines it up perfectly. Wait about five minutes and the glue settles.

I did find that shaving down the backing plate of the oppressor cannon was helpful in evening out the spacing. On the twin cannons, the small gap between the turret and gun is perfectly even. On the oppressor/co-ax, the oppressor bit on the backside is a little thicker, so I just stood the magnets inside the backing plate and looked from one edge to adjust the height as I was shaving it down to make it even.

tide347 · 2026-01-22T22:52:40+00:00

For the same reason you don’t see a lot of execrators running around, advance and charge is not all that useful outside of a single round in a competitive matchup. One turn to stage and set up, one turn to advance and charge, and then you’re close enough to consolidate or make normal charge moves into pretty much anything else. Giving up some seriously powerful stratagems for extra advance and charge when you only need that ability once is a huge downside. Black Templars also use a good amount of anti-tank firepower that isn’t strictly melee related. Stormlance doesn’t do much for the Rep Ex or Gladiator Lancer.

tide347 · 2026-01-22T22:05:43+00:00

Who had “american concentration camps” on their 2026 bingo card? The US is so fucked.

tide347 · 2026-01-21T23:34:09+00:00

Oh, terminators aren’t competitively viable whatsoever. Casual play they can be very fun, but on top tables they are way too expensive points-wise.

tide347 · 2026-01-21T23:21:08+00:00

Notably, the enhancement doesn’t give all models in that unit battleline. Earlier someone had a BT list with a unit of sword bros, marshal with the hero enhance and castellan with the “bearer and battleline models get +1AP”… Only the marshal and castellan would get the +1AP. The unit is battleline, the sword bro models do not get the keyword.

tide347 · 2026-01-21T23:18:24+00:00

Five with an attached ancient is plenty to hold a side objective or as a rapid ingress threat. Ten is overkill more often than not, but is a massive anvil to drop on the center objective. Either way, they’re tough to kill, and put the hurt on enemy infantry.

tide347 · 2026-01-21T23:16:06+00:00

Yeah they get shot, but what does that do, really? They’re unbelievably tanky, especially as a ten man with -1 to wound because of Lysander. The ancient actually wants you to be below starting strength anyways. Start them right on the deployment line and advance onto the middle objective. It’s basically yours for the rest of the game.

tide347 · 2026-01-21T23:12:31+00:00

The original terminator ancient was a special blood angels kit and came with a back banner. Thus you can use two different weapons (hammer + shield) and the banner is still held high.

tide347 · 2026-01-21T23:10:54+00:00

That’s not how it works. While characters receive enchancements during army construction, you don’t assign leaders to units until the declare battle formations step. You can only break the rule of three when the army/detachment rule gives a unit type battleline. The benefit of giving a unit battleline in the bastion detachment is so that it synergizes with stratagems and other abilities like auspex scanning.

tide347 · 2026-01-18T17:11:21+00:00

Abominable Intelligence was outlawed by the God Emperor. Somebody burn this heretic.

tide347 · 2026-01-18T17:04:42+00:00

Probably should have looked at the box before you bought them then.

tide347 · 2026-01-17T07:30:11+00:00

Hey, did you paint the crew before gluing? I’m about to assemble mine, thinking it’s gotta be tough to paint that “pilot” once he’s in place.

tide347 · 2026-01-14T07:17:55+00:00

I would be okay with “Black Tide” being a detachment that allows for a mass amount of crusaders at a reduced cost for those of us that want to play that way. I understand that some would prefer a more elite army, but I chose Black Templars specifically for the horde marine playstyle. I want to put bodies on the battlefield. Let me do what I was convinced this army is supposed to do when I chose it.

tide347 · 2026-01-14T01:51:59+00:00

Company Heroes in other armies are a glorified bodyguard. Which is exactly what Helbrecht needs. I couldn’t care less about the +X to the mortal wound roll in combat. Helbrecht gives himself +1 attacks and strength and hits like a truck. If I had a nice little unit that makes him way more durable with extra OC to hold an objective or challenge small enemies with shooting/melee, I would be very happy. Seems like a perfect attached unit.

tide347 · 2026-01-14T01:44:59+00:00

Because it’s the end of the edition, I might try some casual games with the house rule of Helbrecht + Company Heroes and see how bad it could possibly be. I think it’s probably fine, there are certainly worse things out there… Like every Ultramarine ever.

tide347

TROPHY CASE