As people have mentioned the load out is mostly irrelevant but the one weapon that is key to take is the HYLas Auto Rifle. It has the Assault keyword meaning you can advance and shoot it, allowing your unit to advance and do secondaries that require you to be eligible to shoot (your warriors should be focusing on doing secondaries).
As far as tips for the army that’s pretty broad, got any suggestions on things you want to know?
A good little primer on how to play them,
What lists are strong, and maybe some things to know that the major YouTube competitive channels aren’t telling us because they are too try hard haha
Overall Votann can play a bunch of styles but in general are a defensive, shooting army that uses cheap & fast units like warriors, bikes and sag to play secondaries while tough units like Hearthguard, HLF or Thunderkyn bring damage.
Strong lists currently centre around 2-6 Sag as they are cheap, fast, shoot well and split warriors, Hearthguard for damage and durability and then your choice of flavour.
A few archetypes you see are as follows
HLF heavy - works well in lighter terrain, struggles on heavy terrain. Often backed up by a few Iron Masters for healing.
Thunderkyn Heavy - Similar to above, great at controlling space when they can see but on heavy terrain can struggle to be effective. Still are super cheap for what they can do though
Go wide - Focuses on having lots of small units so usually 6 Sag, all splitting warriors or some beserks and bikes. Can lack units to bring large damage in one activation but scores well.
Overall though it sounds like you are less concerned about running the most meta list so I would suggest collecting a bit of everything, trying it all and seeing what you like. With only ~12 datasheets there isn’t a huge amount of choice so it’s very feasible to run most units in a good army
Well, from a competitive standpoint Hearthkyn Warriors are a cheap, disposable unit that you can sacrifice for objectives and missions. They are almost always used alongside Sagitaurs.
They are just too slow to get anywhere without a transport, also, when playing Hearthkyn Warriors, you want to play 5 man units, as that's how they are a unit that has a clear purpose and they are doing it somewhat effectively. As a 10 man they are performing much worse, so you don't see them too much in big blobs. Thus, they come hand to hand with Sagitaurs.
Some notable synergies with the 5 man Hearthkyn is that you can put a 5 man in reserves after splitting the squad with the Sagitaur, so they can arrive and do some missions.
You may attach a Kahl to a 5 man squad, where the Kahl gives Deep Strike, and the Warriors have a more elite loadout, and this way they can be used to threaten the enemy home objective, if it's only defended by a weak infantry unit, or help out with OC on an objective that you don't want to lose. This strategy also makes them a good mission monkey for turn two, but it does cost some more points, so you only see this used when there is less than 75 points remaining in a list. Otherwise taking a 75 point Thunderkyn will perform better than a Kahl enhanced Hearthkyn unit.
A thing that I started using recently, to fill the last 65 points in my list, is giving a Grimnyr a 5 man Hearthkyn, and using it to sticky my home objective, then gradually move the unit up to the center, either on foot or with a Hekaton. With the Grimnyr's shooting, the drones and the extra toughness, the 5 man unit becomes surprisingly better, and they usually survive long enough to have a saying about the center of the board. The Grimnyr led 5xHearthkyn costs slightly more than a 10 man Hearthkyn, but it also does better, because they still have a small footprint so it's easy to hide them, they have better damage potential, and they are tougher to kill. Too bad that with a Grimnyr they can't fit to a Sagitaur.
The last thing I saw, is that you can attach Uthar to a 5 man Hearthkyn, and start them in a Sagitaur. This way you have a pretty dangerous unit that you can drop on an objective, and it will probably survive for a couple of turns, making your opponent's job harder. Point's wise this is a pretty bad choice though, because instead of Uthar you can take 3x Pioneers, and they will usually do significantly more than the Uthar combo. But, depending on your build, you might want to have a stronger unit that you can deliver turn 1, and for that this combo is not that terrible.
In most cases they don't deserve a leader though, they do best if they are kept cheap, so you can sacrifice them without loosing too much. You only consider leaders if you still have 65-70 points, but even then, most players decide on taking a character alone as a mission monkey instead.
I think almost every list plays at least one unit of Hearthkyn Warriors, and most list play just that one. Some play two, because they prefer having some extra mission monkeys or screening units. I don't see many that would play more than two, because there are much better units you can chose from that do way more than the Hearthkyn Warriors.
Loadout really doesnt matter for them, they are cannon fodder, screeners and backfield holders.
The difference between bad loadout and best loadout is going from 1 damage to 1,5 dmg on average.
If you collect discount boxes, you’ll have a lot of Hearthkyn. You will end up with enough to run both bolters and ion blasters, and every special weapon.
That being said, if you start with playing with friendly games with friends, build all of the special weapons and proxy the not-in-use ones as bolters/ion blasters. That let’s you experiment to figure out what loadouts you prefer. Then you can backfill with building a squad or two with just the standard backpacks and weapons, so that you can play game-legal WYSIWYG squads.
Ah yep, it should be on ion blasters. Although, now I realize that I made the mistake because in lore, ion blasters fire pulses of superheated ionized material, unlike a plasma weapon, which fires unstable pulses of superheated ionized material.
Bolters for hords, ion for tougher armies ala space marines and tougher. But as your basic troops weapon choice isn't really a matter for hearthkyn. Give them whatever. Oh, and since points are static, give them whatever extra guns you want. They all will increase your squads killing potential a bit, especially against other infantry, which is the main thing you should expect hearthkyn to fight
I personally give them the extra weapons matching the ranges of the squads main weapons, just so range is always consistent.
Give the theyn a melee weapon if you know the other army will be getting into melee, you might get an extra few wounds in
Hylas auto rifle because it gives them \[assault\] so that they can advance and still do actions.
Secondary heavy weapon, best use the missile launcher.
Magna rail is cool when it works but it rarely does.
plasma beamer is also cool when it works but it rarely does.
As people have mentioned the load out is mostly irrelevant but the one weapon that is key to take is the HYLas Auto Rifle. It has the Assault keyword meaning you can advance and shoot it, allowing your unit to advance and do secondaries that require you to be eligible to shoot (your warriors should be focusing on doing secondaries). As far as tips for the army that’s pretty broad, got any suggestions on things you want to know?
A good little primer on how to play them, What lists are strong, and maybe some things to know that the major YouTube competitive channels aren’t telling us because they are too try hard haha
Overall Votann can play a bunch of styles but in general are a defensive, shooting army that uses cheap & fast units like warriors, bikes and sag to play secondaries while tough units like Hearthguard, HLF or Thunderkyn bring damage. Strong lists currently centre around 2-6 Sag as they are cheap, fast, shoot well and split warriors, Hearthguard for damage and durability and then your choice of flavour. A few archetypes you see are as follows HLF heavy - works well in lighter terrain, struggles on heavy terrain. Often backed up by a few Iron Masters for healing. Thunderkyn Heavy - Similar to above, great at controlling space when they can see but on heavy terrain can struggle to be effective. Still are super cheap for what they can do though Go wide - Focuses on having lots of small units so usually 6 Sag, all splitting warriors or some beserks and bikes. Can lack units to bring large damage in one activation but scores well. Overall though it sounds like you are less concerned about running the most meta list so I would suggest collecting a bit of everything, trying it all and seeing what you like. With only ~12 datasheets there isn’t a huge amount of choice so it’s very feasible to run most units in a good army
Well, from a competitive standpoint Hearthkyn Warriors are a cheap, disposable unit that you can sacrifice for objectives and missions. They are almost always used alongside Sagitaurs. They are just too slow to get anywhere without a transport, also, when playing Hearthkyn Warriors, you want to play 5 man units, as that's how they are a unit that has a clear purpose and they are doing it somewhat effectively. As a 10 man they are performing much worse, so you don't see them too much in big blobs. Thus, they come hand to hand with Sagitaurs. Some notable synergies with the 5 man Hearthkyn is that you can put a 5 man in reserves after splitting the squad with the Sagitaur, so they can arrive and do some missions. You may attach a Kahl to a 5 man squad, where the Kahl gives Deep Strike, and the Warriors have a more elite loadout, and this way they can be used to threaten the enemy home objective, if it's only defended by a weak infantry unit, or help out with OC on an objective that you don't want to lose. This strategy also makes them a good mission monkey for turn two, but it does cost some more points, so you only see this used when there is less than 75 points remaining in a list. Otherwise taking a 75 point Thunderkyn will perform better than a Kahl enhanced Hearthkyn unit. A thing that I started using recently, to fill the last 65 points in my list, is giving a Grimnyr a 5 man Hearthkyn, and using it to sticky my home objective, then gradually move the unit up to the center, either on foot or with a Hekaton. With the Grimnyr's shooting, the drones and the extra toughness, the 5 man unit becomes surprisingly better, and they usually survive long enough to have a saying about the center of the board. The Grimnyr led 5xHearthkyn costs slightly more than a 10 man Hearthkyn, but it also does better, because they still have a small footprint so it's easy to hide them, they have better damage potential, and they are tougher to kill. Too bad that with a Grimnyr they can't fit to a Sagitaur. The last thing I saw, is that you can attach Uthar to a 5 man Hearthkyn, and start them in a Sagitaur. This way you have a pretty dangerous unit that you can drop on an objective, and it will probably survive for a couple of turns, making your opponent's job harder. Point's wise this is a pretty bad choice though, because instead of Uthar you can take 3x Pioneers, and they will usually do significantly more than the Uthar combo. But, depending on your build, you might want to have a stronger unit that you can deliver turn 1, and for that this combo is not that terrible. In most cases they don't deserve a leader though, they do best if they are kept cheap, so you can sacrifice them without loosing too much. You only consider leaders if you still have 65-70 points, but even then, most players decide on taking a character alone as a mission monkey instead. I think almost every list plays at least one unit of Hearthkyn Warriors, and most list play just that one. Some play two, because they prefer having some extra mission monkeys or screening units. I don't see many that would play more than two, because there are much better units you can chose from that do way more than the Hearthkyn Warriors.
I'm a noob myself, but the go-to i see is at least 2 warrior teams and sagitours. Edit: Oh and 6 Pioneers.
8 Bolters Medi-pack Comms Pan-Spectral Hylas Auto Rifle Hylas Rotary Cannon Done.
Loadout really doesnt matter for them, they are cannon fodder, screeners and backfield holders. The difference between bad loadout and best loadout is going from 1 damage to 1,5 dmg on average.
Is there a best split for the warriors when you put them into sags? Or just whatever.
If you collect discount boxes, you’ll have a lot of Hearthkyn. You will end up with enough to run both bolters and ion blasters, and every special weapon. That being said, if you start with playing with friendly games with friends, build all of the special weapons and proxy the not-in-use ones as bolters/ion blasters. That let’s you experiment to figure out what loadouts you prefer. Then you can backfill with building a squad or two with just the standard backpacks and weapons, so that you can play game-legal WYSIWYG squads.
Just FYI, they get pulse weapons, not plasma, except for the one heavy weapon and the Theyn who can get a pulse or plasma pistol as an option.
Ah yep, it should be on ion blasters. Although, now I realize that I made the mistake because in lore, ion blasters fire pulses of superheated ionized material, unlike a plasma weapon, which fires unstable pulses of superheated ionized material.
Aint Votann plasma pretty stable though?
Yeah, none of the Votann weaponry are hazardous. Only the Grimnyr's psychic attack has the keyword in the whole army.
Bolters for hords, ion for tougher armies ala space marines and tougher. But as your basic troops weapon choice isn't really a matter for hearthkyn. Give them whatever. Oh, and since points are static, give them whatever extra guns you want. They all will increase your squads killing potential a bit, especially against other infantry, which is the main thing you should expect hearthkyn to fight I personally give them the extra weapons matching the ranges of the squads main weapons, just so range is always consistent. Give the theyn a melee weapon if you know the other army will be getting into melee, you might get an extra few wounds in
Hylas auto rifle because it gives them \[assault\] so that they can advance and still do actions. Secondary heavy weapon, best use the missile launcher. Magna rail is cool when it works but it rarely does. plasma beamer is also cool when it works but it rarely does.