If it is an honor for Imperial Space Marines to be interred in a Dreadnought so they can fight on even after they should have died. What is it for Chaos? Is it an honor? Is it a punishment? Is it an upgrade?
The Hellbrute is the renaming of the classic Dreadnought. I guess Chaos had to be fancy and change the name for some reason. It is a vehicle of the walker variety and has the same statistics as every other plain Dreadnought: WS 4, BS 4, strength 6, initiative 4, 2 attacks, front armor 12, side armor 12 and rear armor 10. It follows all the vehicle rules for moving, shooting and assault. It also has the CRAZED! rule. This melding of man and machine comes armed with a multi-melta and a power fist (not a Dreadnought close combat weapon as in previous editions but does that matter….). The Dreadnought comes in cheaper than the good guy counter-parts at 105 points…..wait! An FAQ changed that and now it costs 5 points less than that.
Now the Hellbrute can take a few different weapons instead of the standard kit. The multi-melta can be swapped out for: power fist for free, twin-linked heavy bolter +5, reaper autocannon +5, plasma cannon +10, twin-linked lascannon +25 points. It may also add a combi-bolter +5 to the power fist arm or a heavy flamer +15 points. The powerfist can also be swapped for a thunderhammer +5, a power scourge +10 points or turned into a missile launcher +10 points.
Power Scourge- is a close combat weapon that is S8 AP2. It also lowers the weapon skill by D3 points of a unit that is locked in close combat with it. This is not an awful upgrade. It is just an awful looking weapon.
Crazed- is the re-tooling of the random silly Chaos Dreadnau…I mean Hellbrute rules. At the beginning of the Chaos movement phase you roll a D3 and consult a chart, if the Hellbrute has taken a glancing or penetrating hit (well if it has taken a penetrating hit, there is a good chance it won’t be around to do this anyway). If this guy has been left alone, then he is fine to do whatever he pleases and no roll is needed.
- Fire Frenzy- the Hellbrute stands still and fires all the weapons it has twice. This must be aimed a unit that caused a damaging hit to the ‘Brute last turn. If shooting that unit is not possible, then it must target and shoot the next visible enemy. If the ‘Brute is engaged in close combat, then this is ignored. Also note that it says next visible enemy. That could bite one in the bum on a rare occasion. Having to target something out of range or that your weapons cannot hurt just might suck. It will probably be rare, but it will happen eventually.
- Rising Fury- causes an instant removal of any Stun/Shaken damage. It also gives this guy the Rage rule until the end of the turn.
- Blood Rage- causes an instant removal of any Stun/Shaken damage. It gives the Hellbrute the Rage and Fleet rules for the remainder of the turn. Also this guy must run toward the closest enemy model. This means no shooting during that phase. This guy is truckin’ it to mash face! However, if this guy cannot move/run for some reason, then it may shoot weapons as normal.
Alright then.....we have a Chaos Dreadnought with a fancy new name and another reworking of random rules for it. I like the idea of the Dreadnought for good and bad Marines. I just have a problem with monetary cost of the model, in game points cost and unit survivability for both forces. Imperial Dreads are plastic, and Chaos has Finecast and the new Hellbrute model. I am not a huge fan of this model and would rather convert a regular Dreadnought over using the offical Hellbrute model.
In game this unit is going to suffer like the majority of 6th edition vehicles. A few glances and he is done. I guess the good news is that this is armor 12 and cover is easier to grab for vehicles now. Still, that will only do so much if anything at all. Hopefully, the rise of strength 7 everywhere can help keep this thing alive a bit longer. Still, a krak missile or lucky plasma gun will ruin it's day.
The weapon choices are typical, save for the option to take a second autocannon like the Imperial counterparts. This would make for a descent shooting platform for those people who love to spam autocannons. Why is this not an option for Chaos? Well, Chaos Marines are different than Loyalist Marines and this is proof. See their Dreadnoughts have a different name and can only take one autocannon so they are different. Why not give chaos the option of taking two of another weapon? Let them have two plasma cannons, lascannons or missile launchers since they are the only Dreadnought around that cannot have two autocannons.
Third problem is the lack of rapid deployment. Where other forces can carry around a walker in their plane or can throw it in a drop pod, Chaos has nothing. The Hellbrute must footslog across the table in hopes of punching something. It forces it to be an expensive lascannon and missile battery. This doesn’t make a two fist swinging close combat ‘Brute non-viable. It just makes him less of a threat for several rounds. Like the rest of the Chaos codex there is no quick mode of transport. This is a unit (and codex) that a drop pod could really benefit.
Then there is the cost. G.W. dropped the unit down 5 points in a FAQ. WOW! Wait…make that a fifteen point drop and I would pay more attention. Cutting five points out is due to the lack of a bolt gun on the powerfist arm. Gee, what a savings!
Ok, the powerfist armament. This is a real kicker. This is not a Dreadnought close combat weapon, it is listed as a powerfist. This means striking at initiative 1 and gaining no extra attack on the charge, unless you have two powerfists. What the hell is that? This guy fights at initiative 1 if utilizing it's only close combat weapon? I can find nothing that says otherwise. I would hope this is an oversight or I have yet to see a misplaced rule or FAQ that says different. This makes the Hellbrute even worse as it will be striking after, or at best the same time, against other weapons that could destroy it in close combat. This is pants on head retarded if true. I am happy to be proven wrong here, but I'm just reviewing what the unit entry says.
Along the lines of armament, the Hellbrute can take no vehicle upgrades. There are only three viable options: Warpflame Gargoyles, Dirge Casters and the Havock Launcher. I'm sure they could be utilized by this guy, especially the Havock Launcher. An extra weapon is never bad and a twin-linked strength 5 blast is not terrible especially with Fire Frenzy. The Dirge Caster is a de-buff to Overwatch and might give this guy a use in foot heavy armies. The Warpflame Gargoyles are not for me, but trying to keep a target burning after you shoot it might be an irritation for some forces. The complete lack of vehicle options is just strange but it must have proven game breaking to allow upgrades.
Then there are the CRAZED! rules. They have been re-written again and are still blah. I guess the upside is you no longer can shoot your own team. That is a plus. However, there is nothing that boosts close combat after the charge (if this thing gets to charge). Sure it gets to shoot guns twice, but what happens if this thing goes bonkers in close combat? Well nothing. Why not give at least an extra attack or a re-roll to damage if it is locked and combat and loses its’ marbles. How can after several incarnations can they still fail at rules for the Dread-Brute going kill crazy? A great concept, but another failure in application.
The Hellbrute may have a new name and fancy ,one option only model, but that does not make it good. If anything, the Hellbrute is a pretty big pile of suck now. The weapon options are meh, the crazy rules are lame, the powerfist is an awful choice (and hopefully I'm wrong on the rules here) the lack of rapid deployment is pathetic and it has really been pushed aside for the new heavy support choices of the Forge and Maulerfiends. It was not like the Dreadnought was a crazy popular and an over used choice in the past. If anything it should have received an upgrade like the other poor choices from the last Chaos codex (Spawn and Possessed). Sadly, this is not the case and outside of flair or fun I don't see them being much/any real use now.
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