Unit of the week: Biovores and Spore Mines

[WarriorFish]

Let's get going with new additions to the tacticas: Biovores and their little Spore Mine friends! Long standing units for Tyranids and providing some reach with a twist, what can they do and what experiences do people have to share?

 

For Biovores adding some long range mortal wound generation that doesn't need line of sight is nice, and they don't cost a great deal either. While they are more likely to be plinking a wound off something each turn I think their merit lies in full consideration of what they can do. First and most obvious is the ability to target almost what you like - a tough vehicle, large characters etc not even hiding from sight will protect them. This could be a nice way to reduce them and impose on your opponent.

 

The other nice part is that missing is not the end, for you can then position a Spore Mine nearby for free (no point cost, or anything else - just need the model). I've heard of players moving their Biovore to try and get a miss because they're after placing the mine rather than inflicting any wounds which is quite sneaky. While they aren't the most threatening things in the World and easily removed the risk they pose could make a big difference.

 

Nobody likes taking a mortal wound, and while this is the most likely outcome there is the chance for more than one. The choice is to avoid or dedicate some small arms to remove the mine. Easy enough in the latter's case, but that's some dice not going at your gaunts and the like.

 

 

As for the Spore Mines option, they're not what I'd call cheap but consideration is needed as to what they can do and relative cost (i.e. effectively the same cost as a Biovore shooting and missing for five turns, which is most or all of a game). Floating down to discourage your opponent from claiming an objective (especially faster/weaker/smaller units etc with more to lose that can often go for them) seems like it has a lot of potential? Especially if paired with some Biovores for you to support/complement this role.

 

 

A bigger gun, longer range, more shots etc are all good but don't add anything new - special rules like this do, so it makes sense to try and make the most of them especially when they're unique. I think they could do a lot so I'm planning on using both (just as well as I have three Biovores and fifteen mines), what does everyone think of these classic units on the table top?

Edited April 12, 2021 by Xenith

[Xenith]

Can we still take a single spore mine and nominate it as the Warlord (Sporelord)

 

No trait allowed, but a SM's intrinsic rule says it never counts for victory point purposes, so the enemy can never get Slay the Sporelord points. 

[WarriorFish]

I had not thought of that, missing out on getting a trait doesn't sound like a great idea as a game is fairly unlikely to be decided by the warlord being slain? That and I won't endorse gimmicks

 

Better to use them as the Hivemind intended I think While they are probably not going to cause huge amounts of damage, they can target it and can provide further utility in the tactical applications in forcing your opponent's hand. That is hard to put a points cost on

[thewarriorhunter]

Total new guy here, I just bought some warriors and gaunts for kill team with the eventual plans to build an army. I've always loved the idea of this unit because I like the idea of denying movement or blocking lanes of traffic. If they can stay alive and get into position then the enemy's movement could be stifled, in theory, no?

[WarriorFish]

Welcome to nids, don't forget a WIP topic once you get started That's my theory also, the main thing is that they're pretty squishy so landing anywhere near small arms probably means they get removed without much effort. That said, this shooting can only occur after the movement phase so you'd have limited mobility already.

 

Plus if you're after inflicting mortal wounds you're not targeting Troop choices (usually) so might be able to place them where it's not so easy to get the guns to remove them. I'm chiefly thinking basic guns, though any short ranged weapons with no other targets. So overall, I think it's best to assume the mine will be removed by your opponent in their next turn and treat anything else as a bonus but as noted this could easily be enough and I'm sure there'll be the odd great opportunity to do more.

 

For example placing the mine on or in the way of an objective, or a bottleneck

[thewarriorhunter]

Just read their data sheet and I think you're spot on. Their main purpose is to be an annoyance and MW plinker. If they can bracket an enemy vehicle it's going to feel so good! The fact that the Biovore can shoot 48" without LOS is really nice. At 50pts a model is it worth loading up with three of them so you've got some basic harassment or is that too much of an investment?

[WarriorFish]

I have three now so I hope so :P 150pts for a unit that can hide somewhere and threaten with 3+ mortal wounds as well as drop mines seems decent value. If you went further and added some Fast Attack spore mines to drop in you could really poke the board control. Maybe they could be paired up with Hive Guard for an army that can make sure there's nowhere to hide as your swarm advances on the enemy?

[TheNewman]

Worth pointing out that they're efficient little back-field objective campers in an army that is generally pretty aggressive.

 

Transplant the Biovore into Daemons and they'd be in practically every list.

 

Also worth pointing out that Biovores are explicitly barred from firing Overwatch. It's easy to miss that in the wall of text describing how their gun works; plopping a Spore Mine or two down in between Biovores and a charging unit would be potentially quite strong, but you can't actually do that. It's an anti-gotcha.

Edited October 14, 2020 by TheNewman

[Xenith]

Biovores were a stand out unit in 8th, and hopefully in 9th - 3 units of 1 can potentially drop 3 spore mines a turn in different places, causing real headaches for the opponent. IU think this was a core component of the tournament winning tyranid lists of early 8th ed.