There is alot of internet ravings about these units, so lets take a look at what they are.Hellions are jump infantry and come in groups of 5-20. They get combat drugs, fleet, power through pain, hit and run, and a hellglaive (gives +1A and +1S). BS4 WS4 S3 T3 I6 1A Sv5+. The Hellglaive means they are going to get that extra close combat attack with 3 on the charge, all at S4. Couple tokens giving furious charge, or a lucky roll on drugs, and that 4 becomes a 5. Over-all not a bad stat line.
Each skyboard is equipped with Splinter Pods underneath. These are an 18" assault 2, poison 4+ AP5 weapon. This will allow for a nice hail of poisoned splinter weapon fire, especially from large squads.
They have no weapon upgrade for the unit, but really they are not going to need it. This is an anti-infantry unit, capable of getting up to S5 even S6 if lucky. Think of it like this. Your 10 man squad is charged by 20 hellions. That's 40 poisoned splinter pod shots. If you survive that, they charge, getting 60 attacks on the charge at S4 base. Even your assault terminators are going to have issues with that. The visual would be very cinematic.
The Helliarch is the units leader getting an extra attack and extra leadership. The Helliarch also gets the units upgrades which include the Phantasm Grenade Launcher allowing for both defensive and assault grenades. Weapon upgrades include venom blade, power weapon, agonizer, and the one item getting alot of blog time.... the Stunclaw.
The Stunclaw allows you on a successful hit and run to grab an opponents independent character that is in the same combat, and pull him with you where ever you hit and run to. To do this you need to roll a 2+, then move 3d6 in the direction of your choosing and place as many of your hellions as you can in base contact with the character. Combat then resumes next round. How fun would that be. Poor Vulcan. lol.
Remember on your hit and run it is an initiative test to run. A 6 always fails no matter what your initiative is.
Hellions are nice, and also the cheapest of the fast attack choices. Taking the Baron Santhonyx, your Hellions suddenly can become troop choices. This option really is wonderful, and is where I personally would take them. I can see lots of options with Hellions. As far as all the criticism goes that Hellions are truly the best choice here, I tend to see them as having a much different role on the tabletop than Scourges, Beastmasters, or Reavers.
The primary weakness of Hellions will become very apparent as soon as people hit the table top with them, bolter fire. Ranks of bolter fire will shred waves of hellions with their 5+Save. Playing Hellions, you will have to cross that 24" distance before the getting rapid fired upon, especially if your squads are not large. New to average players will lose alot of Hellions. If you are afraid or whine when losing models in the game (we all know who you are), Hellions are not for you. Get yourself a pain token though, and you suddenly become a lot more durable, but who cares they are hellions.
A Hellions job is to scream across the board into enemy infantry. They are Anti-infantry, and tricksters with independent characters makes your opponent literally scared about what might be about to happen to his pretty characters. Keeping your opponent scared is what Dark Eldar are all about, and GW did something good here.
I like Hellions, and definitely will be trying them out on the tabletop. Combat Drugs are nice, but really cannot be counted on. Random dice rolls for abilities are not one of my favorite concepts, even if almost all of the abilities are good. Using them as a fast moving troop choice in a large pack really sticks out for me. As for taking them as a fast attack choice, I haven't really decided until I get to creating playable lists.
Each skyboard is equipped with Splinter Pods underneath. These are an 18" assault 2, poison 4+ AP5 weapon. This will allow for a nice hail of poisoned splinter weapon fire, especially from large squads.
They have no weapon upgrade for the unit, but really they are not going to need it. This is an anti-infantry unit, capable of getting up to S5 even S6 if lucky. Think of it like this. Your 10 man squad is charged by 20 hellions. That's 40 poisoned splinter pod shots. If you survive that, they charge, getting 60 attacks on the charge at S4 base. Even your assault terminators are going to have issues with that. The visual would be very cinematic.
The Helliarch is the units leader getting an extra attack and extra leadership. The Helliarch also gets the units upgrades which include the Phantasm Grenade Launcher allowing for both defensive and assault grenades. Weapon upgrades include venom blade, power weapon, agonizer, and the one item getting alot of blog time.... the Stunclaw.
The Stunclaw allows you on a successful hit and run to grab an opponents independent character that is in the same combat, and pull him with you where ever you hit and run to. To do this you need to roll a 2+, then move 3d6 in the direction of your choosing and place as many of your hellions as you can in base contact with the character. Combat then resumes next round. How fun would that be. Poor Vulcan. lol.
Remember on your hit and run it is an initiative test to run. A 6 always fails no matter what your initiative is.
Hellions are nice, and also the cheapest of the fast attack choices. Taking the Baron Santhonyx, your Hellions suddenly can become troop choices. This option really is wonderful, and is where I personally would take them. I can see lots of options with Hellions. As far as all the criticism goes that Hellions are truly the best choice here, I tend to see them as having a much different role on the tabletop than Scourges, Beastmasters, or Reavers. The primary weakness of Hellions will become very apparent as soon as people hit the table top with them, bolter fire. Ranks of bolter fire will shred waves of hellions with their 5+Save. Playing Hellions, you will have to cross that 24" distance before the getting rapid fired upon, especially if your squads are not large. New to average players will lose alot of Hellions. If you are afraid or whine when losing models in the game (we all know who you are), Hellions are not for you. Get yourself a pain token though, and you suddenly become a lot more durable, but who cares they are hellions.
A Hellions job is to scream across the board into enemy infantry. They are Anti-infantry, and tricksters with independent characters makes your opponent literally scared about what might be about to happen to his pretty characters. Keeping your opponent scared is what Dark Eldar are all about, and GW did something good here.
I like Hellions, and definitely will be trying them out on the tabletop. Combat Drugs are nice, but really cannot be counted on. Random dice rolls for abilities are not one of my favorite concepts, even if almost all of the abilities are good. Using them as a fast moving troop choice in a large pack really sticks out for me. As for taking them as a fast attack choice, I haven't really decided until I get to creating playable lists.
