From my personal collection – they feel fleshy enough.
Welcome back to another Goatboy review. This time its about a unit that is near and dear to my black shelled heart – the Flesh Hounds of Khorne. As usual you can read about other units at Frontline Tactics Corner.
The Flesh Hounds of Khorne are one of the stronger Fast Attack options in the Khorne Daemonkin Codex, and arguably, the best unit in the KDK codex. Of course they are fighting for space in a normal CAD but lucky for us they easily get picked up in their formation – The Gorepack. Thank goodness the name of the formation is pretty simple as I think we have had enough of the Murder+Blood+Etc names we normally see for a Khorne formation. Also, if you’re tight on space you can always run with a second CAD, as well, which KDK lists often find themselves wanting.
The Flesh Hounds are the hunting packs for the warp god Khorne in the blood fields. They are supposed to grab the scent of their enemy and hunt them relentlessly across the cosmos. If you happen to watch Supernatural then the conveniently invisible hell hounds would be a good example of how these blood thirsty beasts act. In the game of 40k they really fit the idea of constant pressure you should use whenever playing a Khorne Daemonkin army. Utilizing waves of Doggies is one way to ensure the blood is flowing for the Blood Tithe and skulls are taken for the all mighty Khorne.
Overview:
Flesh Hounds of Khorne are utilized as the scouting force for the KDK (Khorne Daemonkin) armies. They run ahead of the force, find their foes, and prepare the sacrifice for the greater glory of Khorne. Their stats resemble a tough Khorne Daemon with a decent amount of attacks, a better chance to hit (WS 5), and the extra rules given to them by being favored of Khorne.
The biggest “gift” the Daemonkin book gives this unit is removing Daemonic Instability and replacing it with the tried and true USR – Fearless. The Choice is part of 3 different formations – the Gorepack, the Charnel Cohort, and as a formation choice within the Bloodhost Detachment. The one they shine the most in is the Gorepack – which has a few extra rules that just makes those dang Doggies so much better.
The unit can number between 5 and 20 doggies and they are shown on 50mm bases so they can cover a good amount of the table top with their slobbering goodness.
Wargear:
The Flesh Hounds of Khorne do not have any upgrade options for them. It was kind of a let down to not have the special Daemon Character – Karanak but the book had an overall lacking of Specially Named HQ choices beyond Skulltaker. I think it has more to do with the ease of getting a model for the option more then anything else. They do come with a Collar of Khorne which grants them a +2 to Deny the Witch rolls when targeted by them.
Special Rules:
- Beast: Fleet, Ignore Difficult Terrain for movement, 12 Inch Movement
- Blood for the Blood God! – This unit generates Blood Tithe – so whoever they kill and whenever the unit dies they generate at Blood Tithe Point. Blood tithe points can be spent to summon different units, grant special rules to the KDK army, and even turn a character into a Bloodthirster. And yes that Exclamation point is part of the rule!
- Daemon of Khorne: This unit is considered a Daemon of Khorne so it causes Fear, gets Furious Charge, has a 5+ invulnerable save, and hates those dang Slaanesh jerks
Deep Strike: Oh yeah Daemons can deep strike too.
- Fearless: This is what makes these Daemons so much better. They can tie you up, keep you locked down and just be a pain to get rid of.
- Scout: Remember how I said they were hunters for the wrath of Khorne – yeah you can’t escape them as they get to move up the table.
Tactics:
Currently the KDK army is on deck to be one of the next Goatboy armies I want to work on. I have most of the pieces to make the ultimate hard working KDK army. The book itself seems very simple and this is what makes it such a strong Chaos Space Marine like book. Of course the poor Space Marine part of it is still lacking but I do feel this book has some legs to keep it going.
The best KDK player I know – Horton – has a pretty mean list using the Flesh Hounds in 2 sets of Gorepacks and adding in a basic KDK CAD to help keep the Blood Tithe flowing. It plays a mean set of board control with a ton of dogs, some Chaos Bikers to help pop vehicles, and some hard hitting Bloodthirsters to ensure the game ends well in the favor of the Blood Crazed maniacs.
List to Drool over KDK CAD/Gorepack X 2
HQ: Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage
HQ: Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage
Troops: Bloodletters X 8, Character Upgrade
Troops: Bloodletters X 8, Character Upgrade
Troops: Bloodletters X 8, Character Upgrade
Gorepack #1
Chaos Bikers X 3, Meltagun X 2, Meltabomb
Chaos Bikers X 3, Meltagun X 2, Meltabomb
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Gorepack #2
Chaos Bikers X 3, Meltagun X 2, Meltabomb
Chaos Bikers X 3, Meltagun X 2, Meltabomb
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
This list is all about board control, MSU control, and just throwing too many options on the table to stop. With a ton of 50mm bases in use there will be nowhere for a lot of armies to move. I think a Gladius will have a hard time as while Bolters are good – there are just too many puppies in the way. Plus with every Biker unit giving up Blood Tithe Points when they die you can quickly generate enough Tithe to summon just about anything you need.
Even the all-mighty Tau are not overly excited to see so many bodies running across the table top, tying up their shooting units, and just being a pain as all the other parts go about scoring the mission. I have seen a lot of KDK armies utilizing the funky way Blood Tithe can be earned but I see a list like this that is so hyper focused as the way to get the army to win. The Flesh Hounds are the major reason why an army like this can kick some butt and I fully expect more people to bring Gorepacks and massed Flesh Hounds as people discover the sweet spot for their own KDK army. Plus the book feels so perfectly fluffy and correctly set up that I can only hope we see more Daemonkin codexes in the future.
If you don’t want to run Flesh Hounds in a Gorepack, you can run them MUS style in units of 5 to 10 in a double CAD army. Alternatively, you can throw a powerful melee character like a Herald of Khorne or KDK Chaos Lord in a big unit of dogs, riding on a juggernaut packing some relic weapons. This creates a powerful unit that can really wrack up the Blood Tithe. A tricked out KDK Lord can bring some pain and with all of the dogs around him to soak up wounds, he can be very resilient.
Lastly, Khorne Dogs are great vs. armies with weapons like Grav, as their lack of armor means they will be getting wounded on 6’s in most instances, which really takes the teeth out of attacks like those. Khorne Dogs are an incredibly useful unit, fast, fearless, hard hitting and priced right. You will not be disappointed with them!
Be sure to let us know what you think in the comments section and remember, Frontline Gaming sells Games Workshop product at up to 25% off, every day.
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