Tactica: Khorne Daemonkin – Helforged Hunting Pack

The Brazen beasts, mechanical mayhem, daemonic destroyers of the Khorne Daemonkin! Today is all about the Hellforged Hunting Pack Formation!

Hey guys! In this installment of Tactica Khorne Daemonkin I will be discussing the one of the Formations available to the Khorne Daemonkin and ways in which I feel it can be used to its utmost potential! I will do a separate article for each Formation so I can go into detail on army composition and tactics execution.

The Helforged Hunting Pack

F*#k a duck! This is a rippa of a formation! Not only are there no crappy tax units but the units included are some of our strongest! Add the formation bonus on top and you have one scary army!

Special Rules

Formation-wide Rage, fantastic for your fast assault based units like Maulerfiends but somewhat wasted on units like the Heldrake 😛

Follow the Alpha Engine, on any turn that the Brass Scorpion makes a successful charge all units in the formation may re-roll thier charge range, wasted on Maulerfiends which have fleet but invaluable on other units. Just make sure you charge with the Scorpion first each turn so you do not miss out on this benefit.

Swift and Bloody Vengeance, this rule is fantastic! Each time a unit in this formation is destroyed all other units in the formation gain +1 attack. This means, in true Daemonkin style, the more your units die, the stronger they become! Add the formation wide Rage and Blood tithe boosts and we are talking Maulerfiends with up to 10 attacks! 12 on the Charge!

Greater Brass Scorpion

This guy is a true beast, not cheap coming in at 700 points but he can put some serious hurt and is well worth it in my opinion. Lets take a look at what he can do…

Defense, he has F/S/R armour of 14/13/10 respectively, so be sure to keep that rear armour safe. He has 9 Hull points and a 5+ invulnerable save thanks to the daemon USR also he is a super heavy walker so ignores all results short of an explodes and even the he only loses D3 hull points. His invulnerable be boosted by allied Grimour or cursed earth too. Defensively he also has a special rule where any psyker who targets him automatically suffers a perils of the warp,  so I don’t see many people targeting him with powers 🙂

Close combat, he has a 6 attacks base and will gain 2 for rage thanks to the formation and also +1 for each daemon engine destroyed, so it is not unrealistic to expect 10 – 12 attacks on the charge all at S10 Ap2, unfortunately his WS and Initiative are both 3 so look out for Imperial Knights as their I 4 Destroyer weapons will strike first and hit you on a 3+. The Brass Scorpion also gets to make D3 + 2 stomps at the end of combat so if somehow the target survives his attacks it will surely be impaled on one of its legs 🙂 and last but not least he charges 3D6 instead of the standard 2D6 so it is possible to charge a unit 30 inches away, which also opens up the possibility of a turn 1 charge.

Ranged attacks are not to be forgotten, remember being a superheavy he can target multiple units. His arsenal includes

Scorpion cannon, range 36″ S6 Ap3 heavy 10

2 Hellmaw cannons, Template S6 Ap3

Soulburner cannon, range 24″ S10 Ap2 primary weapon 1 large blast ignores cover

Get this guy into your enemy lines and watch him wreck up the place! Just remember you must fire at least 1 weapon at the unit you plan to charge, this will probably be one of the Hellmaw cannons.

Defiler

The Defiler is a very strong and versatile unit but I feel he is overcosted and outclassed by his daemonic brethren. The Soul Grinder is a much better choice, cheaper, better armour,  Skyfire shooting just to name a few. Sorry crab man but you are not invited.

Heldrake

This guy is a horrible match for this formation, Helrakes are very strong units but in this formation they do not gain a single benefit. If you need a template weapon you are much better off adding the Soul Grinder as it brings a template, benefits from the formations rage, benefits from re-roll charge range and benefits from the additional attacks. I’m sorry but no Turkeys are invited either.

Maulerfiend

Now here is a unit that most certainly IS invited, these guys are extremely fast and when equipped with lasher tendrils are also damn near un killable in combat! They benefit greatly from Rage as thier speed almost always gets them their charge and they also benefit Greatly from the +1 attack for every daemon engine destroyed. They come stock with 2 Attacks, gain +1 for two powerfists, gain +2 on the charge from rage then can gain a further +1 from the blood tithe and a further +1 for every daemon engine destroyed! these guys become seriously scary once a few start to drop.

These guys are also a great way to protect your Brass Scorpion against powerful combat units, lets use an imperial knight as an example.

If your Scorpoin  makes it into combat with an Imperial Knight the Knight could very well strike with 3 attacks, it will likely hit 2 times and could very well destroy your scorpion before you even strike! Alternatively if you charge a Maulerfiend in to support your scorpion you reduce the Knight to a single attack! This cuts the Knights damage output by 66%! Trust me, Maulerfiends have got your back bro!

Forgefiend

Normally I am dead against these guys, I find them to be a tad too expensive for what they achieve on the battlefield and feel they are simply outclassed by the other choices in the codex, however, in this formation I think they really work. Sure they get little to no benefit from any of the formations rules but they do provide substantial fire support and back field objective control that no other units in this formation can provide. Sure the Soul Grinder can take a mini battle cannon that almost alway misses but this guy can put out 8 strength 8 shots making him formidable at taking out fliers or light vehicles, alternatively for an extra 25pts you can upgrade him to put out 3 S8 Ap2 blasts (considering how much high strength Ap2 combat you have I would recommend the Hades Autocannon) . If you are taking this formation on its own I would seriously consider adding one or two of these guys to hold your backfield while your scorpion takes the fight to the enemy

Soul Grinder

The Defiler’s much classier daemonic brother, these guys are also a fantastic choice in this formation. These are extremely versatile units that have a variety of loadouts. I did an in depth analysis of Soul Granders in part 3 of this series, remember when using them in this formation that they can deep strike and benefit from every rule in this formation. Making them much more intense in close combat. I recommend giving them Warp Gaze and deep striking so you can get into combat asap, alternatively give them no upgrades and Run! Run grindy Run!

Blood Slaughterer

These guys are grouse! Lets break them down the same way as I did the scorpion for those who are not familiar with thier rules. They are 130pts and can be taken in units of 3 usually but in this formation they must run solo.

Defensively they are F/S/R 13/12/10 respectively with 3 hull points. They have a 5+ invulnerable save from the Daemon USR and have daemonic resilience which allows them to ignore shaken and stunned on a 2+

Ranged attacks come in the form of a 5pt upgrade called the impaler, which in my opinion is an absolute must. You lose 1 attack in combat for no longer having 2 ccw but gain a range 12″ S8 Ap3 assault 1 weapon that always hits on a 4+, (I am sure there will be huge debate in the comments on how this works with overwatch and against flyers, I will let you be the judge) but the best part of this weapon is its special rule, Impaler.

Impaler allows you to drag enemy vehicles or Monsterous Creatures towards you (you must shout “get over here” Scorpion style IMHO) basically if you inflict a penetrating hit or unsaved wound, the target is moved 2D6 towards you, if they make it into base contact you count as having charged that turn! My favourite use is risky deep strike to get nice and close, then drag em in and get the charge the turn you arrive! (You cannot declare a charge the turn you arrive, but the impaler rule over rides this as you simply count as having charged)

Now you are in combat, you have 3 attacks base, +2 for declaring a charge, +D3 if you are outnumbered thanks to rampage, +1 for every daemon engine that has been destroyed so far, then there is +D3 for the fury of Khorne special rule (this is iffy as it replaces the +1 for charging, as does the Rage USR from the formation, my guess is you would choose one or the other) All of these attacks are at S10 Ap2  and at the surprising WS of 5 and Initiative 4.

These guys are most certainly welcome to the party! Just keep in mind thier special rule Blind Fury, that forces you to move towards the closest enemy where possible, this can be painful and makes Blood Slaughterers practically useless for objective capping.

Also while on the topic of the Blood Slaughterer, if you want to see a speed painting turorial on how to get one painted in under 1 hour head over to my YouTube channel! Just search BlogForTheBlogGod! 

Decimator

Last but most certainly not least is the Decimator! He is not cheap coming in at 205pts plus upgrades, but he is pretty nasty! Lets break him down…

Defensively his has F/S/R of 13/12/11 respectively with 3 hull points. He has a 5+ invulnerable from the Daemon USR. It also has daemonic resilience allowing it to ignore shaken or stunned on a 2+ and has one more funky rule that makes him that much harder to drop.

Unholy Vigour, ignores Weapon Destroyed or Immobilised results on a 5+ also if it is wrecked (not explodes) place him on his side, then at the start of each player turn roll a D6, on a 6 he gets back up! Place him as close to his original position as possible as if he had just arrived from deep strike. With weapons and mobility restored and D3 hull points! On a roll of 1 he is destroyed and on a roll of 2-5 he remains and we roll again next turn.

For ranged firepower this guys has a plethora of options, he comes standard with 2 siege claws with built in heavy flamers and can swap them out for the following:

Butcher cannon 36″ S8 Ap4 heavy 4

Storm laser 36″ S6 Ap3 heavy D3+2

Soulburner petard 24″ S5 Ap5 Ordnance 1 large blast rending

Conversion Beamer this one has 3 different profiles:

Up to 18″ S6 Ap – Large Blast

18″ – 42″ S8 Ap4 Large Blast

42″ – 72″ S10 Ap1 Large Blast

This weapon cannot be fired if the Decimator moves and only 1 can taken per Decimator. While the idea of S10 Ap1 large blast sounds exciting I much prefer the other options.

Personally as a balls to the walls Khornate Combat lunatic my favourite loadout is the standard with 2 siege claws with inbuilt Heavy Flamers. In close combat this gives you 4 attacks, +1 for 2ccw +2 for Rage, +1 for each Daemon engine destroyed plus if you dedicate him to Khorne you get rampage for an extra D3 when out numbered! Thats a pretty easy 10 attacks all at S8 Ap2 with Shred. Pretty bad arse! This loadout is your anti horde and anti transport. If he inflicts a penetrating hit on a transport the unit inside suffers 2D6 Heavy-flamer hits! And if it is open topped they likely took 2D6 In the shooting phase too! This guy is an Ork or Dark Eldar players worst nightmare.

Author: Dean Sinnbeck

Dean has been playing Warhammer for over a decade. His specialty is the competitive, Chaos side of Warhammer 40K. He began writing for BoLS in 2015.