I like going toe-to-toe with Firefly in the Batman Arhkam games. I love running the Firewall specialization in Division 2.** And watching the Zerg try to break a defensive wall created by Terran Firebats? *Insert chef’s kiss* I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy burning things or watching things burn. Fire is just that primal element that’s exciting to watch. You can control it to a degree but it almost has a mind of its own. And in my mind Flamer Squads are similar.
Around the house I call these guys Spicy Bois. These guys are truly flavorful and definitely have a lot of kick to them. Ok, Robert’s officially giving me the look to cut the stupid jokes. I’ll try but there are no guarantees. Although not part of any current list, I couldn’t help but paint up a unit of these cats after seeing how they performed in a few Zone Mortalis battle reports. Unfortunately flamers are only Strength 4, but being able to auto hit with templates and having the ability to literally wall units off around 8”-9” at max template range is pretty great. Now take that and add Shred to anything they hit makes them even better. And the bing cherry on top? Put them on an objective and use Overwatch if someone tries to charge. They can mess some stuff up quickly.
As of now there are ten men in the squad. I can’t see going any higher than that for two reasons. First, I think anything bigger than ten man squads with template weapons are going to really suffer in ZM games. The board is just way too tight, and if the squad isn’t spread out all that additional firepower is going to go to waste. Second, if I’m running them in a regular Heresy game I’m putting them in a Rhino to cruise around. And since a Rhino’s troop capacity is ten I can’t fit any more models in there. These guys are also bog standard, so no upgrades of any kind. I can maybe see giving them a vexilla in ZM games but only if I have the points left over. My last point is that I really don’t know how much stick time these guys will ever see.
If I play more ZM games, then they absolutely will. I can see them having interchanging positions with my Rotor Cannon Squad as a different type of threat. And if they show up in ZM games, I think I’ll run them as two five packs, versus a single ten pack. This way they can maximize firepower and board coverage. But regardless I’m glad I’ve got them painted up. At its core this unit gives the Hydra something else in its kit bag to tap into when needed.
Until next time: Hydra Dominatus.
*Sorry to disappoint, but although I really like The Doors it’s not my favorite song.
**Minus the war crimes portion of using a flamethrower, of course.
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Ryan
A New England transplant that originated from parts westward, Ryan is a bit of a nerd that knows a little bit about a lot of things, all while claiming to know nothing about anything. Seemingly part Khajit a logistician by trade, he’s the kind of guy that can get you virtually anything if there’s coin to be had a problem to solve. Ryan began to learn the scrounging arts while serving time in parts east as a Loggie and has been perfecting them steadily over several decades. He has a problem with continually purchasing models, paints, and terrain that he doesn’t really need but his wife doesn’t seem to mind.
