Editing Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Death Korps of Krieg(8E) (section)

===Fast Attack===
*'''Death Korps Death Rider Squadron:''' A big step up from the basic Rough Riders.  +1 to WS, T, A, and Sv, although the +1A evens out in the wash when you don't charge, as you lack chainswords; regardless, you're ''much'' less likely to die before you reach your target, particularly since the Augmented Mount special rule gives you 5+ FNP against S4 weapons and below. Your steed gets 2 extra attacks instead of one and hits as hard as a bolter; this is particularly noticeable when not charging, giving you 4 attacks to a normal Rough Rider's 3, and 2 of those are at +1S. While you don't get a chainsword, you ''do'' get krak grenades, which will benefit one model in the unit. While you cannot outflank with this unit (unless you take the Death Rider Command Squad), it is not slowed when charging through terrain, making it easier to attack cover campers. With no access to special weapons, they're much better suited as frontline brawlers - with access to orders, they can be just mean with Fix Bayonets! and Duty Unto Death! (although Fix Bayonets is better in basically all circumstances).  Like with most DKoK, they have Cult of Sacrifice as a morale buff.
**The fact that Death Riders trade their Chainsword for +1 Attacks is a bonus, because they can hit twice with their lance on the charge, instead of the one lance and one chainsword hit that standard Riders get.
**Use Duty Until Death when you charge, because that's the only order you will get use out of by doing so. If your opponent decides he doesn't want to get slowly pounded down by hard to kill horsies, use Fix Bayonets! to make him understand that melee guardsmen just work.
**Deathriders have a shockingly bad LD6, and considering that they're supposed to be taking most of their casualties in melee they will be vulnerable to failed morale tests. You NEED to take a Deathrider Commissar if you're going to commit to large squads of Deathriders.
**Rough Riders cost 10 points apiece, compared to the DKoK Death Rider cost of 16, which pays for itself in the improved attack volume alone, let alone their many other improvements, like ability to obey orders; their only substantive downside is their inability to take special weapons.  Even their sergeant is buffed, as he drops his lance to buy a melee weapon if you want to change his melee up, as opposed to stock, which is forced to carry both a lance and a power weapon if you want that. Consider said swap, as a power axe brings the sergeant pretty close to the lance, but usable in the event you get stuck in. Fix Bayonets!, and you're possibly hitting 6 times with that axe in one turn. Ouch.
*'''Hellhounds:''' The medium tank of the Guard motor pool has been favored in 8th, with increases in speed and toughness and decreases in price all around. The chassis actually covers three vehicles, but they're all the same power, so they all get one entry. Regarding the chassis itself, the wounding rules make it genuinely tough in 8th - your average lascannon has to hit it six times to kill it, which is a ''very'' welcome increase over the 4.5-if-it-doesn't-just-explode of 7th - and they can't outright lose their weapons, either. Track guards were basically made for this vehicle as the majority of available weapons ignore ballistic skill. Unless your bringing the devil dog, your tanks will pretty much never degrade.
**The basic ''Hellhound'' is armed with the infamous Inferno Cannon, a more powerful heavy flamer with double the range, double the rate of fire, and +1 strength, at S6. A nasty infantry muncher, capable of eating guard-equivalent models with 2s to wound and a 6+ save from up to 16 inches away; due to good strength and rate of fire it's not too shabby against vehicles either (who knew setting things on ''fire'' could be so effective?). Use it to hunt down the other Guard player's Heavy weapons teams, or just chew through his conscripts at a healthy pace from safely outside of rapid fire range. Still not convinced? Mathhammer says it will outperform a ''Battle Cannon'' versus anything that's not T7 3+ and better, and it can still score a few wounds besides. ''Let 'em burn!''
***Because the Hellhound is BS4+ and can't mitigate the movement penalties for heavy weapons, you would be wise to try for a Heavy Flamer on the hull mount, but on the Hellhound that means you need to get in very close to use it, negating the Inferno Cannon's range advantage. The Heavy Bolter is cheaper and more consistent, but at BS5+ on the move, it won't hit anything at all - you choose it to keep the tank cheap, not to actually kill anything with the gun.  Take the Heavy Flamer if you want the gun to actually kill anything.
***Because Hellhounds always explode on 4+ they make excellent suicide tanks, useful for disrupting gun lines and charges (especially considering their relatively short range). Artemia-pattern Hellhounds are better at this though as they deal D6 mortal wounds instead of D3.
**If your foe is made of tougher stuff, swap out for the ''Bane Wolf,'' whose vicious (and cheaper) Chem Cannon wounds everything that's not a vehicle on 2s, with an improved AP-3 (at the cost of range, only 8", and shot count, only 1d6 vs the Hellhound's 2d6).  Between the wounding improvement and the AP improvement, this will outperform the Inferno Cannon against MEQ even before you account for its reduced cost - the range is the primary issue, as 8.1" charges will ignore it on Overwatch, and the secondary issue is that while it's obviously incredible against monsters and Primarchs especially, it's absolute garbage against vehicles, and utterly inferior to the Hellhound versus anything not MEQ or MC. While by itself the Bane Wolf may not actually do a lot, its potential will scare many opponents into focusing it down like the plague after a turn or two. This is probably the best distraction carnifex you will ever find in this codex outside of a deathstrike (and this is cheaper, too).
***Here the use of a Heavy Flamer is more obvious, since it has the same range as the Chem cannon. With two auto-hitting weapons, this thing will take a big bite out of attacking forces in Overwatch.
**Finally, if you want to take on vehicles, the ''Devil Dog'' closes the gap with the mighty melta cannon, which is ''much'' better than a multi-melta for the same cost - on average, twice the shots, and assault now, rather than heavy. It's specialized, but powerful - it outperforms even the revised Inferno cannon against pretty much anything tank-shaped (specifically, T7 with a 3+ save and tougher). Making the melta cannon assault has brought the D-Dog up from garbage to actually being a very solid tank buster. With D3 shots rerolling damage within melta range, you have one of few weapons potentially capable of blowing up a tank every time it fires. It's also the longest ranged melta weapon short of the Imperial Knight thermal cannon, and is mounted on your fastest ground unit, making range a non issue.
***Sadly, the Multi-Melta you'd usually strap to the hull to supplement its tank-busting is still Heavy, and still shoots like an Ork, so give thought to alternatives. A heavy flamer will go a long way to deter the counter charge you will almost definitely be staring down after you shove that melta in your opponent's face.
*'''Salamander Scout Tank:''' Cute little light tank, with guns otherwise found on sentinels or heavy weapons squads. Pricier and tankier than either; great if you have the points and are not otherwise concerned about getting bogged down in melee, as these things ''will'' get bogged down in melee.
**Given that Forge World doesn't make the Salamander model anymore, a good proxy is a Hellhound hull with the Chimera Autocannon Turret.