Biovores (Do they ever work)
Gargamel
It seems the Tyranid disruption techniques for armies on
overwatch is very limited. Even Lictors running towards the heavy weapon
squads still get shot up. However, Biovores can be 100" away and still
fire. I have never used Biovores becuase I just started playing Nids and
have had trouble with enemies on overwatch. So far I have used
Gargolyles along with Lictors to kill stuff on turn 2. I wanted to know
if anyone has had succes with Biovores. How many should I take? How many
spore mines should I give each one? Do the spore mines always scatter
away and become useless? Please help because overwatch is becoming the
most irritating ability when I play Tyranids. It is so bad because they
shoot you between the cover.
Hawker112
> I wanted to know if anyone has had succes with Biovores.
Define success. Only take biovores if you think you'll be playing Eldar
or Orks -- possibly IG. Marine forces are too small for them to deviate
onto something with. But with the jetbikes and bikes of Orcs and Eldar --
they autopenetrate, and if you DON"T kill the bike, you get corrosive
damage on it every turn after -- free autopenetrate, can't beat that. But
unless the army has a large amount of models, you're very unlikely to hit
anything with them because of the deviation... When I take them, I take 1
with 3 Spore Mines -- so I don't hit my guys who get into HtH...
Ron Kilby
Gargamel wrote:
>
> It seems the Tyranid disruption techniques for armies on
> overwatch is very limited. Even Lictors running towards the heavy weapon
> squads still get shot up. However, Biovores can be 100" away and still
> fire. I have never used Biovores becuase I just started playing Nids and
> have had trouble with enemies on overwatch. So far I have used
> if anyone has had succes with Biovores. How many should I take? How many
> spore mines should I give each one? Do the spore mines always scatter
> away and become useless? Please help because overwatch is becoming the
> most irritating ability when I play Tyranids. It is so bad because they
> shoot you between the cover.
Yes they are worth it. Get two and buy at least 3 mines for each. Work
on your distance guessing to make them the most effective. Scatter can
bite but if the get even CLOSE to enemies the detonate so that helps
immensely.
--
Ron Kilby
Zevdarter
They work quite well when they hit. Take 2, with 3 mines each. When they
do hit, they do a lot of damage. Just ask my razorback crew who got dusted
in the last battle!
Zev
"Making my presence known"
The Hive Mind
Gargamel wrote:
>
> It seems the Tyranid disruption techniques for armies on
> overwatch is very limited. Even Lictors running towards the heavy weapon
> squads still get shot up. However, Biovores can be 100" away and still
> fire. I have never used Biovores becuase I just started playing Nids and
> have had trouble with enemies on overwatch. So far I have used
> Gargolyles along with Lictors to kill stuff on turn 2. I wanted to know
> if anyone has had succes with Biovores. How many should I take? How many
> spore mines should I give each one? Do the spore mines always scatter
> away and become useless? Please help because overwatch is becoming the
> most irritating ability when I play Tyranids. It is so bad because they
> shoot you between the cover.
Biovores can be very useful. Consider the following:
-They can attack on the first turn while most of your army is running.
-They don't need a line of sight and can thus be placed so that they're
immune to most enemy fire.
-They ignore the Choosing a Target rules and can hit devastators,
support weapons, etc. that are behind the enemy's front line.
-If the Spore Mines miss they still have a chance of exploding in a
later turn.
-The Spore Mines screen man-sized creatures when they're within 6" of
the enemy.
-An enemy squad might waste their entire turn shooting at a 0 VP target.
-They get a chance to hit every location on a vehicle, plus they can
infect them.
Since most of your swarm will be in the enemy deployment zone on turn 3,
you'll probably only want to fire twice, thus taking 2 Spore Mines per
Biovore. Also, don't necessarily aim directly at the enemy. Take into
consideration the fact that the Spore Mines will scatter, and shoot so
that you have a good chance of hitting several different enemies.
-The Hive Mind
Robert Huseton Dake
Gargamel <dre...@earthlink.net> wrote:
Biovores work well agains IG and orks. THey are fun, fire into heavly
saturated ground, wheres theres alot of them jammed close together so
the drift will get um good. I usually get 2 when i'm playing the
proper point spread. You know the 750 pts. for 1 biovore, with about
5 mines each and I usually have one or 2 left at the end of the game.
Hawker112
>Yes they are worth it. Get two and buy at least 3 mines for each. Work
>on your distance guessing to make them the most effective.
Why?? They're not mortars -- you just nominate a target spot, then PULL!
=)
Sam Aldridge
On Thu, 26 Jun 1997 15:58:53 -0500, Ron Kilby <c...@execpc.com> wrote:
>Yes they are worth it. Get two and buy at least 3 mines for each. Work
>on your distance guessing to make them the most effective. Scatter can
>bite but if the get even CLOSE to enemies the detonate so that helps
>immensely.
Why would you have to work on your distance guessing? You mearly pick
a point in range and withing the biovores range then roll the scatter
dice. A 'HIT' indicates a 1D6 scatter in the direction of the arrow
over the 'I' and an arrow is a 3D6" scatter.
I must say they are fun to use and I have had a lot of succes with
them, admittedly my most common enemies are IG or Eldar. In one battle
againsts the Eldar one mine took out 5 jet bikes...I managed to roll a
6 for the blast marker. What makes it even better is thatone of the
five bikes went out of control took out the sixth bike:)
Sam:)
Niels Peter Gibe
On Thu, 26 Jun 1997 13:17:14 -0400, Gargamel <dre...@earthlink.net>
wrote:
> I wanted to know if anyone has had succes with Biovores.
Yes, like the game against an Eldar player. In turn one he razed over
on my half with 6 jetbikes and a Vyper. In my turn my Gargoyles was
only able to reach his jetbikes, which them later burned to ash, so
I'd prepare my Tyranid Warriors to unleash their devourers at the
Vyper. I started my shooting phase the usual way, that is: Biovores
firing down into my opponents deployment zone, where all the heavy,
support stuff is placed. As I rolled for the scatter, the dice turned
up with 17 inches and the arrow sort of pointed back towards myself!
"There goes one mine out the window", was the comment of the
moment.... But just in case, we measured out the distance and BINGO.
The mine landed right in the face of the gunner on the Vyper.
Needless to say, that with a armour penetration of 10+2D3+D6, there
wasn't much left of the Vyper.
> How many should I take?
I alwasy take as many as possible, that is: oner per 750 pt. But I
never take less than two, as I think they are only effective, I they
woork in teams. (Larger area covered this way).
> How many spore mines should I give each one?
I give them 3. A few times I haven't been able to fire the last shoot
though.
> Do the spore mines always scatter away and become useless?
Roll a scatter die. A HIT indicates 1D6 inches. An arrow means 3D6
inches scatter. A spore mine is hardly ever useless! If it lands or
later drifts within 6 inches of basic trooper, that model will have to
waste his shoot at this 0 VP target. Even when it does deviate, there
is still a chance, that it will hit some other thing. Of course: The
larger the enemy force, the greater is this chance. Drifting
sporemines also have a nice random movement, which useually prevents
enemy models to enter the area where the mines are. You can use this
effect to protect your flanks: Buy some mines, and release them at
your flanks during you deployment: Presto: No jetbikes comming down
that way during the first few rounds!
--
Niels Peter Gibe
Danfoss A/S
Denmark
N...@Post1.Tele.Dk
N...@Danfoss.Com
D M2Ortiz
> I wanted to know if anyone has had succes with Biovores.
put in to HTH thay'll die go boom
D
> > I wanted to know if anyone has had succes with Biovores.
> put in to HTH thay'll die go boom
And sometimes this actually can be a cool tactic - have the Biovore go
toe to toe with an opposing model, and any of the Spore Mines left in it
will explode (I could be wrong, since Tyranids aren't my speciality).
--
D
(To reply: remove the 'spamicide' from my address)
Do you spell anal retentive with a hyphen? :)
Richard Hoskinson
D <haki...@spamicidesprintmail.com> wrote in article
<33BE90...@spamicidesprintmail.com>...
I think you're both nuts! I've played Tyranids since the codex came out
and I thank my lucky stars for biovores! I have never seen a more
destructive piece of field artilery when it hits (aside from maybee the
shokk attack gun) The secret is to always take as many as points will
allow (one per 750) and give them three spores each. Peg them right into
any concentration of troops (especially vehicle squadrons and support
weapon batteries). With good rolling, I have had days where I've taken out
1,200 points of troops with a single mine. They can blast drednaughts and
tanks with equal ease. As for hand to hand, It'll never happen, the enemy
will shoot your biovore at a distance and then blow up your spore mines at
a range.
Another good use for spore mines is a tyranid attack. People will hide
thier fast movers in the far reaches of the board, so randomly scattering a
few mines will help dicourage the faster vehicles(which are usually
penetrated automatically)
Shooting your own mines can work too. Fire a few fleshborers at a mine
two or tree inches from the enemy. You may get lucky and roll a 6 for
radius. These suckers will take out characters if you hit well, so do take
plenty, they are well worth it!
twinfire
D M2Ortiz <dm2o...@aol.com> wrote in article
<19970704224...@ladder02.news.aol.com>...
> On Thu, 26 Jun 1997 13:17:14 -0400, Gargamel <dre...@earthlink.net>
> wrote:
>
> > I wanted to know if anyone has had succes with Biovores.
Take as many as you can and just shoot with them. They are in my opinion
one of the best long range weapons for any race.
DaUnabomb
personally, I have never had any luck with the shock attack gun, I have
always thought the splatta cannon to be the most devestating weapon. Sure
you may get a few unlucky dice rolls here and there but with a little luck
I have taken out an entire jetbike squadren in one turn
Niels Peter Gibe
On 13 Jul 1997 01:58:48 GMT, daun...@aol.com (DaUnabomb) wrote:
>><haki...@spamicidesprintmail.com> wrote in article
>><33BE90...@spamicidesprintmail.com>...
>>> > > I wanted to know if anyone has had succes with Biovores.
>>> > put in to HTH thay'll die go boom
>>> And sometimes this actually can be a cool tactic - have the Biovore go
>>> toe to toe with an opposing model, and any of the Spore Mines left in
>>> it will explode (I could be wrong, since Tyranids aren't my speciality).
They will be release at the spot where the, now dead and gone,
biovore was placed. Of course this might mean, that the mine now is
within 1 inch of the enemy model and then explodes.
By the way: Strictly reading the rules, the spore mine will only be
able to explode in its own movement phase or if it is shoot upon.
This is a stupid rule, meaning that a enemy model may charge, run etc.
right past a mine without risking anything. The way I play is that it
explodes, when ever an enemy model gets within it 1 inch detection
zone.
>> I have had days where I've taken out 1,200 points of troops
>> with a single mine.
Ouch! How and what?
>>Shooting your own mines can work too. Fire a few fleshborers at a
>>mine two or tree inches from the enemy. You may get lucky and roll a 6 for
>>radius.
As you are only allowed to target an enemy model, you must be refering
to a house rule here...
>>These suckers will take out characters if you hit well, so do
>>take plenty, they are well worth it!
Always!!
Muad'Dib
Actually, there is no rule prohibiting targeting your own models. In
fact, the Tyranid codex gives a lengthy explanation on how to resolve
such things.
Niels Peter Gibe
On Wed, 16 Jul 1997 00:14:38 GMT, xop...@inet.net (Muad'Dib) wrote:
>>>>Shooting your own mines can work too. Fire a few fleshborers at a
>>>>mine two or tree inches from the enemy. You may get lucky and roll a 6 for
>>>>radius.
>>As you are only allowed to target an enemy model, you must be refering
>>to a house rule here...
>Actually, there is no rule prohibiting targeting your own models. In
>fact, the Tyranid codex gives a lengthy explanation on how to resolve
>such things.
Sorry, but I think your are wrong on this one. As I'm currently at
the job (cruel thing, as the whole town is having a big 5 day outdoor
Jazz festival and the sun is burning out there), I have neither the
rulebook nor the codex o' bugs here, but check out the targeting
rules. IIRC the rules say that you have to target an enemy model. As
I see it, the only way to shoot at you own troops, would be to shoot
into a Hand-to-hand combat.
Muad'Dib
xop...@inet.net (Muad'Dib) wrote:
>n...@post1.tele.dk (Niels Peter Gibe) wrote:
>>On 13 Jul 1997 01:58:48 GMT, daun...@aol.com (DaUnabomb) wrote:
>>>><haki...@spamicidesprintmail.com> wrote in article
>>>><33BE90...@spamicidesprintmail.com>...
>>>>> > > I wanted to know if anyone has had succes with Biovores.
>>>>> > put in to HTH thay'll die go boom
>>>>> And sometimes this actually can be a cool tactic - have the Biovore go
>>>>> toe to toe with an opposing model, and any of the Spore Mines left in
>>>>> it will explode (I could be wrong, since Tyranids aren't my speciality).
>> They will be release at the spot where the, now dead and gone,
>>biovore was placed. Of course this might mean, that the mine now is
>>within 1 inch of the enemy model and then explodes.
>> By the way: Strictly reading the rules, the spore mine will only be
>>able to explode in its own movement phase or if it is shoot upon.
>>This is a stupid rule, meaning that a enemy model may charge, run etc.
>>right past a mine without risking anything. The way I play is that it
>>explodes, when ever an enemy model gets within it 1 inch detection
>>zone.
>>>> I have had days where I've taken out 1,200 points of troops
>>>> with a single mine.
>>Ouch! How and what?
>>>>Shooting your own mines can work too. Fire a few fleshborers at a
>>>>mine two or tree inches from the enemy. You may get lucky and roll a 6 for
>>>>radius.
>>As you are only allowed to target an enemy model, you must be refering
>>to a house rule here...
>Actually, there is no rule prohibiting targeting your own models. In
>fact, the Tyranid codex gives a lengthy explanation on how to resolve
>such things.
Ahh....let me amend that. As was correctly pointed out to me, this
only applies troops in h-to-h. Otherwise, as page 29 says (this time
I got off my lazy butt and looked it up) "A target must be an enemy
squad or vehicle..."
Good to know when a bug player tries to get away with shooting that
termagant with his barbed strangler...