# Tyranids Mawloc: Average or Amazing?



## Brian007 (Aug 8, 2008)

OK so here is my question. Is the Tyranid Mawloc average or just plain amazing? 

I need one thing answered. With his Terror From The Deep special rule can you place the marker right on a unit and hope you get a "hit"? If so then my vote is that he is AMAZING! Think about it this way, a unit of terminators deep strike and then shoot so they stay in there little group. You deep strike on your turn and place the marker right over them and score a hit. S6 AP2 on the hole unit! 

Now if you have to place the marker off of the unit and hope for a scatter in your favor then I vote AVERAGE for the Mawloc and would not take him over the Trygon.

Can anyone shed some light on this rule? Also lets hear your opinion on the "maybe" mighty Mawloc.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Well the thing about the Mawloc is that if TftD works it he can be very effective. But if his specialty attack misses he is really only average as the Trygon is far more effective in CC. If you have a list with a couple of Trygons in it than the Mawloc can be a nice support choice. 

To shed some light on the TftD... Yes you can place the template directly over a unit that you want to arrive under. In other words you can force the deepstrike mishap.


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## OddJob (Nov 1, 2007)

Terror from the deep as a direct weapon is pretty rubbish- it's just so unlikely to do anything- but I don't see it as a weapon, I see it as the ability to move a 6w t6 model from one side of the board to the other in one turn (a turn of your choosing). That is simply epic in objective based missions, especially since most nids walk everywhere.

If you can somehow surround a LR full of peeps, then TftD directly onto it you will destroy the LR and the occupants. The only way I can see to predictably set this up is with three mawlocks and a nearby lictor/deathleaper- you have gants in front of the raider, DS the first two mawlocks to surround the raider then DS the third on top of it. That would be awesome, but next to impossible to pull off.

I have a mental image of a mawlock on it's back with a LR shaped stomach, suffering badly from the meat sweats!


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## lokis222 (Mar 14, 2009)

OddJob said:


> Terror from the deep as a direct weapon is pretty rubbish- it's just so unlikely to do anything- but I don't see it as a weapon, I see it as the ability to move a 6w t6 model from one side of the board to the other in one turn (a turn of your choosing). That is simply epic in objective based missions, especially since most nids walk everywhere.
> 
> If you can somehow surround a LR full of peeps, then TftD directly onto it you will destroy the LR and the occupants. The only way I can see to predictably set this up is with three mawlocks and a nearby lictor/deathleaper- you have gants in front of the raider, DS the first two mawlocks to surround the raider then DS the third on top of it. That would be awesome, but next to impossible to pull off.
> 
> I have a mental image of a mawlock on it's back with a LR shaped stomach, suffering badly from the meat sweats!


That is actually really clever. I have run into a few situations were that might work. Be very risky and not very points effective thought given the difficulty in setting it up.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

lokis222 said:


> That is actually really clever. I have run into a few situations were that might work. Be very risky and not very points effective thought given the difficulty in setting it up.


That is the real issue with this tactic. Where it can be very funny to watch your opponents face if you pull it off, the odds are slim unless you sink the points into selections that are mediocre at everything else. As Oddjob stated you would have to have three Mawlocs to pull it off, and obviously that takes up all of your heavy slots. Where the Mawloc is cool, I would hate to be without some of the other more impacting heavy choices.


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## ohiocat110 (Sep 15, 2010)

Couple other disclaimers:

1. TftD doesn't hit every model in the unit, it causes a number of hits equal to the number of models covered by the large blast. So you may very well hit every model in a small unit (5 Terminators) but maybe only hit 8-10 models in a unit of 30 Orks.

2. TftD doesn't get the extra d6 against vehicle armor penetration since it's not considered a CC attack. It still hits the rear armor, but you're only 50/50 to damage AV10.

3. You place the template, which can be on top of an enemy unit. You then roll to scatter and if you hit, the Mawloc appears on that spot. You don't have to try and scatter onto the enemy unit. The other models have to move, assuming they survive. You also can't DS mishap. 

So as an attack it's pretty average.

But as Oddjob points out, the ability to burrow and TftD the next turn means you can get the Mawloc anywhere on the board you may need it. If it starts on the board and burrows Turn 1, it can TftD on Turn 2...anywhere, and without a reserve roll. It can also re-burrow Turn 3 and strike again Turn 4 in a different place, maybe near an objective or somewhere you need reinforcements. You get the TftD attack every time too.

Mawloc is a nice unit as long as you realize its limitations. It doesn't have the statline of a Trygon, but it's cheaper and can be a good mobile reserve that plays mindgames with your opponent. And it's still a 6W T6 S6 MC in close combat so it makes a good can opener, especially with adrenal glands.


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## OddJob (Nov 1, 2007)

My thoughts here:
http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=67946&page=4

_"In most missions killing the opposition is a means to an end rather than an end in itself so the mawlock not being uber stompy doesn’t worry me. Benefits:

1. He has the ability to contest any objective on turn five with a fairly high degree of accuracy (large base + run ~ scatter).

2. Just how killy do you have to be to chop up some marines? He’s great at threatening dev squads and the like- initial DS munching followed by next turn charge. 

3. The only model in the game that can potentially shift vehicles closer to you/further away. The DS happens before movement so you don’t have to commit to assaulting the vehicle with the rest of your army until you know if the push has worked.

4. Potentially the most lethal model in the game. LR full of nastiness is right beside your gant screen. Move the screen up the sides of the LR then use the mawlock on the rear of the vehicle- pushing the vehicle towards the gants. Vehicle can’t move off template = destroyed. Stuff inside has no mechanism to deploy = destroyed at the end of the game.

5. Hit-n-run is massively undervalued- loads of sneaky tactics possible by using it. Wish he had fleet too…

6. Options. Genestealers and the like are (awesome) blunt instruments that are fairly easy to predict. The mawlock offers unpredictable options that allow better players to be sneaky. Oddjob loves being sneaky )

7. T6, 3+ and 6W is no slouch in KP missions.

8. I hate being at the mercy of reserve rolls. I hate even more being at the mercy of both reserve and outflank rolls. The Mawlock can reliably perform his tricks on turn two. Having the option to outflank can force sub optimal objective placement. Having the option to burrow means that placement doesn’t matter!

9. I have in mind an awesome conversion for the mawlock…

Of course, this is all theoryhammer at the moment."

-----

"This just in- MAWLOCK IS AWESOME
Most games aren’t about killing the enemy, they’re about getting troops to objectives. Here the Mawlock really shines. Burrowing on turn three to pop up on turn four and contest an objective (turn four in case of a huge scatter) is often game winning and completely nullifies the tactic of leaving a grot, combat or pathfinder squad on home base by itself. Because the Mawlock isn’t very threatening in the early turns he tends to be left alone too until it’s too late! MWAHAHAHAHA._The mawlock is definitely a keeper in my army."


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

OddJob said:


> My thoughts here:
> http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=67946&page=4
> 
> _"In most missions killing the opposition is a means to an end rather than an end in itself so the mawlock not being uber stompy doesn’t worry me. Benefits:_
> ...


All excellent thoughts, some of which I hadn't considered. I will definitely have to take some of this to heart and try the Mawloc a half a dozen more times.


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## lokis222 (Mar 14, 2009)

Well thought out Oddjob.

+rep


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