Hellions, Hellions Hellions

I have stopped running the unit in 6th. I tried them out for a few games but really the nerf bat had been swung at them too hard. No more unit wide 3+ cover saves, no more 4+ FnP made the unit really fragile. Found them dropping in droves. Also totally ineffective against flyers so a massive part of the army that can't deal with a primary concern..

I decided to go with an ADL and quad gun set up for flyers, with a 10 man warrior squad with a heami babysitting them.

I think Hellions actually have become somewhat more important (if also more fragile) in 6th, as you can no longer score from a vehicle. Hellions are our only mobile relatively durable scoring unit that can be taken in a large squad.

Yea I think they could be effective as a last turn scorer. I can't see them working that well without at least 12 + Helliarch and Baron with the FNP (and/or FC) from wracks and Haemon. I think with all this though they're still a threat and can absorb some amount of fire. The Baron can take some fire up at the front with the SF and LOS. They're potentially more viable now due getting FNP in CC against PWs.

Give them a try guys, I'll be going back to give them another go later in the year.
The problem with putting the Baron upfront is that if he fails a single shadowfield save, then sure enough he can LoS, but the field is still gone and he's down to basically a normal hellion save thereafter.

So far I have really just found them a somewhat fragile bullet magnet that can no longer absorb many bullets.

Let me know how you get on.

I plan to give them a try later on, I'm trying to refine a rough 1k list, thanks to having seen this post.

Don't know why people played it that way, but now The rulebook FAQ cleared it up. LOS is Not used on failed save but rather on unsaved/not yet saved wounds. Something i never understood differently.

On hellions. I think the PGL will be very usefull
For them, as they can make good use of The +1 on coversaves from more then 8".
Also i would always take The hook, just for the Fun of it.

I've been using hellions in 6th albeit I like them a lot albeit they can drop off quickly to dedicated shooting at them. I have found that they more often than not get overlooked though as I get my wyches up in the enemy's face as fast as I can forcing them to choose between the more immediate threat or the one coming right after, they almost always surprise my enemy with how much damage they can deal especially if you take advantage of firing your splinter pods off before assaulting. I also think that the stunclaw can be used to great effect especially now in 6th, I'm surprised no one likes it. You start off assaulting a squad with an IC then use hit and run taking the character with you, you are then protected from shooting during the enemy's turn and you now get re rollable shadow field saves if you enter a challenge thanks to cheerleading hellions and the Baron's shadowfield, you can then hit and run during enemy's assault phase then either go back into assault with earlier squad getting charge bonuses and a chance to shoot at them again or move onto another squad. This tactic could also be used to get a huge amount of potential movement via hit and run moves; 3d6 during your turn then another 3d6 during enemy's assault phase and movement plus 2d6 charge range using fleet you could potentially move 48" and then charge, ofc that is the best possible scenario but you will still get a good amount of movement.

I though they made it so you cannot interupt an ongoing challenge with the stunclaw? That was why I had not considered it in my list.

You can refuse chalenges. In fact - thats not so bad with Stunclaw Helliarch.
Or else - sometimes people answer not with ICs, but with Sergeants and in that case you can snatch IC, cause he is not in challenge.

Hmmm... Shoot, Charge, Challege with Helliarch, Fight, Fight, Hit and Run, Have the Baron cut in, that could be fun!

The way I read the FAQ for stunclaw, is the no pulling ICs out of challenges thing only aplies if there are two DE units in the combat, and the enemy is fighting a challenge with the other unit. After all, if it's just the Hellions and Baron joined the unit, when they hit and run Baron comes with the squad even if he is sighting a challenge. Since the enemy IC is no longer in challenge (the guy he was fighting just flew away), he can be snatched.

I think the stunclaw is pretty useful, atleast. It's cheap and can potentially have a big effect by pulling a character out of a unit, robbing the unit of any USRs or buffs he might bring, and allow you to single him out. For 5 points, that's pretty good.

I'm not sure if it can work like that. But you can not issue a challenge and then if one is issued just have the helliarch not fight and then snatch whoever afterwards.