Hearthkyn Warrior

They might be Squatted and their elite troops may look like walking eggs, but god forbid if you touch their stuff.

'Troopers' (Sometimes called 'Warriors'), or revamped as 'Hearthkyn Warriors' in their new lore, are your common Squat joe. Akin to the Imperial Guard but more awesome.

Ye Old Fluff

Back in the Days of Yore, they were often depicted in comic relief and wore cardboard armor that many Guardsmen wear. However, Squat Troopers defer by having weapons that can hit like a truck. They were the Tau Fire Warriors back in the day.

Hell. The most notable aspect of Squat Trooper Squads is their ability to deploy any number of heavy weapons. In this respect they are unique among the basic tactical forces of the Imperium. Meaning that you can equip them with an array of anti-tank weapons that can make an Imperial Guard player cry in his sleep.

Most Squat members of the military form themselves in a large conclave called a 'Brotherhood'. Brotherhood troops are generally armed with the simple Lasgun, but Squats being Squats. They have a tendency to overcompensate their short height with massive guns. Thus, most Squats have at least one heavy weapon, and sometimes an entire squad may be equipped with heavy weapons. Since no Squat would be consider himself fully dressed without at least one sidearm, it is not unusual for Squats to go about armed to the teeth as a matter of course. Whereas the average Imperium citizen carry a simple sidearm and a blade weapon as part of self defense. Squats on the other hand, carry Plasma Guns, Conversion Beamers and other advanced shit as their equivalent. Fucking Awesome.

The New Fluff

With the revamped Leagues of Votann, these troopers, now called the aforementioned Hearthkyn Warriors are the main form of 'grunts' (Grunts being used in the loosest sense of the term) that forms an entire Kinhost army. By all purposes, despite being clone warriors designed by cloneskeins, their fluff ironically puts them more akin to the Elfdar Guardians than Space Marines. As stated in their own Codex, the Hearthkyns are a citizen militia drawn from the populace of the Holds and disregard gender, occupation, or social role rather than just some poor conscript bugger or child soldier press-ganged into war. While bred to be warriors, they also live fulfilling lives outside of war, meaning that they actually have a life and touch actual grass once in a while.

The Leagues use of a volunteer military force means that the Warriors are pound-for-pound, considered pretty fucking elite for something that should be considered as low-ranking fodder; being well-trained and equipped for war and drilling themselves as much as the elite warriors of many other races. Due to be designed as warriors, they are often engineered with particular cloneskeins that allow them to specialize in combat such as heightened senses, improved stamina, and night vision. Others augment their bodies for battle with mechanical limbs and synthetic organs. Despite being technically classified as militia, no Hearthkyn is treated as expendable, and field medics are common amongst their ranks. Strong bonds of loyalty bind the individual Hearthkyn together and ensure comradeship of one squad to the next.

Hearthkyn are led into battle by Theyns, in squads of up to 20 soldiers and can stand against the best the Galaxy has to offer. This is due to a combination of their rigorous martial tradition, which gives them the ability to stay in close combat, and assistance from the Votann, which provides the Hearthkyn with solid void-hardened Void Power Armour. They are armed with a variety of weapons, such as Bolt Revolvers, EtaCarn Plasma Pistols, Ion Blasters, EtaCarn Plasma Guns, Autoch Pattern Bolters, HYLas Auto Rifles, Gravitic Concussion Grenades, alongside the standard-issue Plasma Knife and Plasma Axes. Those warriors that show sufficient aptitude are given additional training to wield specialist weapons, such as L7 Missile Launchers, EtaCarn Plasma Beamers, and Magna-Rail Rifles.

Ye Olde Crunch

Typically operating in Combat Squads of roughly eight troopers equipped with Lasguns, Bolters, and Flak Armour, the most notable aspect of Squat Combat Squads is their ability to deploy heavy weapons such as Autocannons, Conversion Beamers, Heavy Bolters, Lascannons, and Multi-Meltas. Yeah we ain't kidding when we meant that the Squat's most basic troop can fuck your shit up.

The only downside is that they cost 215 points for one squad (That is one leader and 7 troopers). So they are quite fucking expensive for a mainstay Squat army.

Of course after they got unfairly Squatted, those Squats who survived Games Workshop's purge was absorbed by the Imperial Guard so if you want to have Squat Troopers in modern 40k, just add them as Imperial Guardsmen Auxiliaries akin to Ogryns and Ratlings; which under GeeDubs strict rule of play, is completely legal. They aren't completely gone you know, they just lost most of the Home Worlds and a significant chunk of their military, but our precious stunties are tough sons of bitches and are still alive and kicking. Heck you can even field the entire Squat Army such as Goliaths and Colossus like back in the good old days and still call them as Imperial Guard Auxiliaries. So playing Squats in 40k is still possible. There is still hope for our forgotten Dorfs.

Of course doing so means that you have to update the rules taken from old Epic and the like, and as you know. The Squats rely on superior firepower and technology. Fielding them on what counts as armies that can equip all their basic soldiers with Conversion Beamers and Multi-Meltas as well as vehicles that can bore a clean hole through your Warlord Titan is going to convince your opponent to grab a chair and beat you to a pulp, you have been warned.

New Crunch

If you don't Rock and Stone. You ain't coming home!

True to their new fluff, the Hearthkyn in terms of crunch are one of the most Elite troops on the tabletop. More akin to MEQs like Necron Warriors and Tactical Squads than they are to Boyz, Whiteshield Conscripts and Fire Warriors, the Hearthkyn are some tough, mean, badass motherfuckers that makes other MEQs cry themselves to sleep. Seriously, where do we even begin.

Whilst they don't have the same level of wounds as Space Marines, the idea of having an entire army of dudes in Power Armour is a cause for concern, given that their Void Power Armour reduces the AP of any attacks they suffer by 1, as well as preventing enemies from re-rolling to wound them as well. Seriously, not even Necrodermis is this fucking ridiculous. But it gets worse; for the real strength of the unit lies not in their defences but in their ranged weapons, which turn the Hearthkyn into something of a power hammer. First of all, all Hearthkyn weapons, even the most basic, have some kind of ap, starting with -1 on the bolters and hitting -4 on the rail rifle. The value of this will differ when facing opponents with armour of contempt. Secondly, all the models in a unit can swap bolters for blasters for a tiny cost. Doing so gives better strength, ap and damage at the expense of range and halving the number of shots. If you intend to run your Hearthkyn aggressively in Sagitars or are facing a MEQ-heavy meta, ion blasters may be the better bet. Otherwise, stick to the bolters. Third of all, the medic is cheap and will save a Hearthkyn a turn by turning the damage of a failed save to 0, easily making him worth the upgrade. A Strategem to bring D3 models back is great- especially since it can bring back the Theyn. Don't feel bad about using the model with 2w and a good invuln to 'tank'.

But the thing you are looking for is the Judgement Tokens. Before GeeDubs did the fastest nerf in its history, the Hearthkyn Warriors along every single League unit, was capable of gaining a Judgement Token. So what are these tokens? Well think of them as the Votann's Book of Grudges in playable form, or think of it as an even more cancerous version of Tau Markerlights. Yes. GW somehow manage to out-cancer Markerlights into something worse without even doing the bear minimum of playtesting.

This means that any enemy unit that attacked a Votann troop with a token would automatically take a wound on a 6+ when the resulting Squat fires back on his turn. And it gets worse, as each extra token adds a +1 to the roll for a total of some Dorf auto-wounding a target on a fucking 4+. Even with the nerf of it no longer counted as an unmodified 6 to wound, this shit is still borderline busted given the AP-munching weapons that the average Hearthkyn wields not to mention the world's most powerful dildo which is, the Magna-Rail Rifle.

Gallery

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  Yohoho! Our most basic troops can be equipped with plasma guns that don't overheat! What's your excuse?

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  Starcraft called. They want their artistic styles back.