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  • Into the Bark – Warhammer Community Investigates the Best Dogs in Warhammer 40,000

Into the Bark – Warhammer Community Investigates the Best Dogs in Warhammer 40,000

The upcoming expansion to Kill Team, Soulshackle, features a unit of flinty-eyed Adeptus Arbites bringing the long arm of Imperial law to a band of perfidious Drukhari. Now we’ve seen the entire squad, there are important questions to answer, like “How does this Cyber-mastiff stack up against other dogs of the future?”

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We take investigations like these very seriously here at Warhammer Community, so we’ve gathered the greatest hound (and hound-adjacent) models for an impromptu evaluation.

R-VR Cyber-mastiff

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The Rantal-class Venatus Reclamator – or R-VR – is a technological marvel combining the best traits of a loyal mastiff with the endurance of a servitor. Good tracker, great biter – the whole package.

Astra Cartographica Canid

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Some prefer their best friends free from intrusive augmentation, and while this dapper hound looks spiffy in his uniform jacket, the Astra Cartographica canid gives up some operational ability for the sake of ‘ethics’. 

Kroot Hound

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Some dogs have beaks, ok. Still undeniably a canid-type, the Kroot Hound has a voracious appetite and puts on a burst of speed when mealtime beckons.

Fenrisian Thunderwolves

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Who said the entries have to be pet-sized? These giant Fenrisian wolves are absolute powerhouses who shrug off gunfire like snow from their pelts. 

Orlock Cyber-mastiff

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Plenty of cyber-mastiffs can be found in the hive cities of Necromunda, though they’re often a bit… scrambled. The gangs of House Orlock still find a use for the poor ramshackle creatures, and we give them extra points for containing significantly more dog than their all-robot Enforcer counterparts.

Flesh Hound

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These Daemons of Khorne are proof that not every dog is a good dog. Flesh Hounds are the canine incarnation of wanton slaughter, and as such they’re no longer welcome at Imperial dog parks.

Squig Hound

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There truly is a squig for every occasion, and the Ork Runtherdz have innovated one whose sole job is to keep their Gretchin charges in line while they’re cowering from enemy artillery in the backfield. Are Squig Hounds good boys? No, but we love ‘em anyway.

War Dog Karnivore

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There’s no way we’re counting this one; it’s completely destroyed the judging booth. It’s lucky it’s a mightily impressive engine of destruction, or we wouldn’t have scored it at all. Truly, the worst boy of all.

Let’s be honest, none of these other dogs have the majesty or poise of the R-VR, so adopt your own when Kill Team: Soulshackle arrives next month.