In the shadowed forges of the ziggurats, the Hellsmiths of Hashut craft not only weapons but entire philosophies of war. These grim warlords see every battle as a calculation, every conquest as a step toward ultimate dominion. Leading Helforge Hosts, they march with infernal cohorts and daemon-powered engines, all dedicated to spreading the dark dominion of their god. Whether you’re a general looking to master this Spearhead or a rival seeking to dismantle it, understanding the Hellsmiths is key.
To see where the Hellsmiths of Hashut stand in the overall rankings, you can refer to the Spearhead Tier List.
Core Spearhead Data – Hellsmith of Hashut
General:
- War Despot
Units:
- 1 Dominator Engine
- 1 Tormentor Bombard
- 5 Infernal Cohort with Hashutite Spears
- 5 Infernal Cohort with Hashutite Spears (with Gong Carrier)
Battle Traits and Abilities:
- Harness Daemonic Power: Gain daemonic power points each hero phase to boost your units.
- Grinding Advance: Slow but steady movement for your Infernal Cohort in the early rounds.
- Enhancements: Items like the Scroll of Petrification, Chalice of Darkness, and Amulet of Burning Hate give your general extra survivability or offensive punch.
Understanding Daemonic Power – Hellsmiths of Hashut
A central mechanic for the Hellsmiths of Hashut is their use of daemonic power. In practical terms, at the start of each of your hero phases, you’ll remove any leftover daemonic power points from your units and then gain new points equal to the current battle round number. You can then distribute these points to your units, up to a maximum of three points per unit. Any extra points you don’t allocate are lost.
The more daemonic power points a unit has, the stronger its abilities become. It’s a simple but powerful system that means your units grow in strength as the game goes on, encouraging you to plan ahead and decide which units will benefit most from this extra power.
Key Passive Ability for Hero: Black-Hearted Conqueror
At the heart of the Hellsmiths’ strategy is their general’s passive ability, the Black-Hearted Conqueror. This ability grants a significant boost to the control scores of friendly units within a certain range of the general, making it easier for the Hellsmiths to hold and contest objectives.
In other words, the longer your general stays in play, the more he turns nearby units into stalwart objective holders. This makes the general a prime target for your opponent, and protecting him (or using him to anchor your lines) is crucial.
By understanding how Black-Hearted Conqueror shapes the battlefield, you can either lean into its strengths or find ways to neutralize it if you’re facing off against the Hellsmiths.
My Thoughts and Strategies
Now that we’ve laid out the essentials, let’s dive into what makes the Hellsmiths of Hashut tick on the battlefield and how you can get the most out of them.
Strengths:
The Hellsmiths excel at steady, methodical advance with a good mix of ranged and melee threats. Their daemonic power mechanic means they get stronger as the game goes on, letting you build up to some devastating late-game turns.
Weaknesses:
They aren’t the fastest force, so you’ll have to plan your positioning carefully. Also, their reliance on accumulating daemonic power means you’ll need to keep your heroes and key units protected.
Strategies:
- Use the Dominator Engine and Tormentor Bombard to soften up enemies from range.
- Let your Infernal Cohort hold the line and gradually build up those daemonic power points.
- In later rounds, unleash powerful buffs or enhancements to turn the tide when your opponent least expects it.
In-Game Example: The Power of Control
In one of my recent games, I faced an opponent on the Ossia side of the Sand and Bone Spearhead. This side of the board has two central objectives and two more in each player’s territory.
My opponent’s Hellsmiths army really shined here. Thanks to the general’s daemonic power boosts he had a control score buff aura within 6 inches and he was able to lock down those central objectives and made it a nightmare for me to take them back. And here’s the real kicker: even though taking down his general eventually opened a door, I had to constantly choose between focusing on that well-protected hero or dealing with his other big, dangerous units that could shred my army in seconds.
In other words, it’s one of those armies that sets you up to feel like you’re always making a tough choice. If you go for the general, you leave those heavy hitters unchecked. If you focus on the big threats, the general just keeps stacking control. It’s a clever and punishing dynamic that really makes you respect the tactical depth of this army.
Player Insight: Caleb’s Thoughts on the Hellsmiths of Hashut
To give even more depth to this post, I reached out to Caleb, who was actually my opponent in the game where my Kharadron Overlords faced off against his Hellsmiths of Hashut (the same match shown in the picture above). Here’s what he had to say about the army:
“There’s a few things that are pretty clear so far. In terms of strengths, the Dominator scaling throughout the game as well as it does, being able to get into good positions to shoot and charge early on, and having so much health with a 2+ save means it’s going to be a threat for basically the entire match. The general giving control score to everyone around him and himself makes it an absolute pain to take objectives off them.
But that’s kind of where the strengths end. The Bombard looks good on paper but is underwhelming in practice, and the Cohort are just whatever infantry. Their main weaknesses are their movement speed (4 inches across the board), which makes it hard to grab things like Raze or Take the Flanks, and they also really lack rend. Both of these issues make the box very reliant on the Dominator, which is fine until you face someone with lots of mortal wounds (looking at you, Maggotkin) who can completely ignore that 2+ save.
Playing them well mostly comes down to keeping the Bombard out of combat and getting your opponent to overcommit to the Dominator so your Cohort can focus on scoring.”
Thanks to Caleb for the Player Insights
Big thanks to Caleb for sharing his thoughts and helping round out the discussion. Insight from the player on the other side of the table always adds real value to understanding how to play any army well.
Personal Strategy: My Approach to Beating the Hellsmiths
From my own experience, one key tactic I used was to prioritize taking out his cannon—his Tormentor Bombard. I figured that if I could remove that big ranged threat early, I wouldn’t have to constantly worry about being shot at while I was trying to gain control of the board. So I put as many quick attacks as I could into destroying that cannon first. Once it was off the board, I had a lot more freedom to move around and focus on his general and those central objectives.
At the same time, I decided to ignore his Dominator Engine for a while. That thing is like a walking fortress with a 2+ save and 10 health, so it’s incredibly tough to bring down quickly. I treated it like a big pincushion or a damage sponge. Sure, it did some damage to me, but by not fixating on it, I could handle the rest of his army and eventually outlast him. Once the general was down and I had control of the board, that Dominator Engine wasn’t enough to turn the tide back in his favor.
