Hel Rising pt 2

It has taken me a while but here I am bringing you part two of my three part analysis of the Helbrute dataslate and there's also my recent hobby escapades to revel in but that's all for another time. The focus of this post is the Mayhem Pack which consists of three Helbrutes and while that just seems like a pointless waste of time (I know Helbrutes on their own aren't the most amazing of units) read on and we'll discover together why they become pretty damned awesome.

 The first thing to note is that this formation at its most basic gives you three multi meltas, three power fists, 6 Strength, 12 front and side armour and 3 hull points each for 300 points. Of course you can upgrade if you want to (and in all honesty I probably would upgrade at least one of their weapons just for the extra fire power and you'll see why in a second) and the Helbrutes do have some wickedly versatile options for upgrades. The fantastically awesome thing about this formation is the Mayhem from the Maelstrom rule which makes the controlling player keep the formation in Reserve and bring them on via Deep Strike. Under the current rules this makes assaulting a no go in the turn they arrive but with the right load-out they can be devastating in the shooting phase but we'll discuss that a little later on. The Mayhem Pack also comes with the rule Tormented Terrors which isn't quite as great really in that it forces the formation to roll on the Crazed table and the result affects all three Helbrutes whether they were shot at in the shooting phase or not. Again, not great but with some lucky dice rolls it can work. Or you can tailor the arsenal and hope you're within charge range if you happen to roll a 5 or 6.

Now comes the more interesting bit; the tactics. The way I see and interpret this formation is that it aims to create havoc with the enemy squads by bringing in some heavy fire while creating extra targets to take the heat off of the rest of the army. Now to create this effect there appear to me to be two options; the first is to load up for instant shooty devastation the second that the Helbrutes touch the ground and this in itself presents to sub-options that really depend on what type of army you're fighting against. Sub-option A is to load up with guns that hit multiple targets (such as bolters and flamers) which is good for infantry heavy/armour light armies or sub-option B where the Helbrutes get loaded up with anti-armour guns like lascannons, plasma cannons and missile launchers. Of course the plasma cannon can also work in the anti-infantry option seeing as it's a blast weapon but it is a small blast weapon so it is more suited to the anti-armour version. Now that the shooting sub-options are done with, there's the second main option which is to go all out for assault with power fists, thunder hammers and power scourges, hope the Helbrutes survive their first enemy turn on the board with little to no ranged fire power, hope to not roll a 1 or a 2 (which immobilises them) and charge the crap out of whatever happens to be in range assuming some of the Helbrutes survive. Granted it's a risk but if they survive then havoc will be wrought in the name of the Dark Gods and if they don't then the other units in the army that did survive will wreak havoc in the name... You get the idea. Of course this probably isn't the best unit for drawing fire as the formation is expensive to use for that purpose but to sow a little discord and mayhem amongst the enemy lines this formation will perform admirably. If going against a Tau gun line for example you can drop this formation down behind it and shoot the crap out of everything in range. Tau armour saves aren't really all that great so a heavy bolter or two will rip huge holes into the line and will expose weaknesses for the rest of the army to exploit. Against an army of Grey Knights (though I'm loath to call them an army as they have less than 25 models on the table in an 1850pt game, stay tuned for more information) the high armour saves mean that high AP weapons will absolutely devastate the units as they're either large blobs that are all gathered in one place or small units that are easily picked off. This unit works really well with a Heldrake or two and/or a Forgefiend by providing so many large and dangerous targets that it's impossible to take them all on at the same time and cause any real damage to the enemy. This is actually a viable option for just over 1,000pts by taking a Mayhem Pack (300 points), two Heldrakes (340 points), a Forgefiend (175 points), a Sorcerer (60 points) and two units of Cultists (100 points). From this you can either upgrade what you have or add in more units as you see fit. I have to say that this formation isn't really all that flexible but it has a lot of potential for disruption which is why I guess it's called the Mayhem Pack.