Hellbringers

The "Hellbringers" are specialized UNSC Marines equipped with the NA4 Flamethrower.

History
The Hellbringers are a anti-infantry unit equipped with NA4 Flamethrowers, carrying a potent chemical mix in a tank that is spewed through a gun onto the target. A variety of mixtures have been created for work in various atmospheric and gravitational conditions, but they all work similarly to fry just about anything.

Hellbringers aren't particularly common in the UNSC's arsenal, as they are usually only called in to deal with the most firmly entrenched enemies, like the Flood, which means that they also take plenty of casualties themselves. Also they might be poor against vehicles, especially tanks, but they are good against basic infantry. Similar to the M7057/Defoliant Projector's role in Halo 3, the Hellbringers are very effective against the Flood, but require assistance from vehicles to prevent infection, since the incoming Flood forces will probably be large in number.

They appear as trainable units in Halo Wars, operating in fireteams of two. They are best suited for an anti-infantry role and they have up to three upgrades :
 * 1) "Flash Bang": Unlocks the Hellbringers' special ability to stun enemy infantry with Flashbang Grenades launched from M301 40mm Grenade Launchers for a short time . Costs 100 resources.
 * 2) "Napalm Adherent": Allows the flame to stick onto targets and continue to burn after initial attack, causing continuous damage. Costs 400 resources.
 * 3) "Oxide Tank": Provides the Hellbringers a higher temperature blue flame to increase damage to all organic targets. Costs 700 resources.

Combat
Easy and cheap to train, Hellbringers are probably the best UNSC anti-infantry unit, not only against standard ones but also Heroes' unique units like Honor Guard Elites and Brutes. Their upgrades allow them to deal even more damage. However they act poorly against armored vehicles and are completely useless against air units. Also they need to get close to targets to engage them, thus can be easily dispatched by long range units like Beam Rifle-equipped Jackals.

Strategy
A good strategy is to make Hellbringers en mass and then transport them during a battle, as needed, via pelicans. This helps cut their casualties when traveling, as they cannot defend themselves long range.

As a defensive strategy, many players lock the base and train a large (10-15) unit of Hellbringers. If the enemy attacks with vehicles or aerial units, the Hellbringers cannot be harmed until released from the base. A good offensive strategy is to train the Hellbringers as well as some RPG upgraded marines/ODST's to protect them at range.

Do NOT send Hellbringers unassisted into battle against the Flood. They become infected more quickly than Marines and, when infected, become Infected Flamethrowers. These Flood units can be exceedingly dangerous to infantry, and can take down Spartans in under seconds, just like how Rebel Snipers can take down units quickly.

It's best not to use flamethrowers on maps with Sentinels, they cannot attack air units and thus they are a waste of resources.

During Skirmish, if an enemy Covenant team who's leader is the Arbiter or Brute Chieftian, and you decide to suicide rush their leader, it is a good idea to recruit a large amount of these marines in large groups. They can quickly take down the Arbiter or Chieftian.

If there is another Cpt. Cutter on the enemy team, build flamethrowers and ODST's to counter his infantry forces.

Trivia

 * The helmet the Hellbringers wear bears a slight resemblance to the EVA helmet, while their chest plate and pauldrons bear a slight resemblance to the Mark VI chest and shoulders.
 * They are very similar to the Black Hand infantry from Command and Conquer 3; heavily armored soldiers with flamethrowers.
 * Like Helljumpers, they may be more than just specialized units; they may hold a reputation among typical Marine units as well. This can be inferred from their typical name, and the fact that it's been said that "It takes a certain kind of lunatic to use a flamethrower" by Marines before.
 * During combat, Hellbringers will occasionally yell "Need a light?"; a reference to a similar unit, the Firebat from Blizzard Entertainment's Starcraft.
 * Hellbringers actually make use of their Flash Bang ability using the little-known M301 40mm Grenade Launcher to launch the grenades at enemies.
 * Despite every UNSC unit being slightly stronger than every Covenant unit, Jackals and Rebel Snipers have an advantage over their UNSC counterparts because a Hellbringer needs to be close to the enemy while Jackals and Rebel Snipers can shoot from a distance.