# Community Tactica: The Biovore



## El Mariachi (Jun 22, 2008)

The Biovore. It really has fallen from grace across many 40k Forums over the Internet since the 4th edition codex, perhaps largely due to the reduced effectiveness of Spore Mines...but are they really that bad?








I propose a topic where as a community, we can suggest ideas and uses that make the Biovore a viable choice. 'TheoryHammer' is fine, it'll give players a chance to try out the suggested tactic and report their success/failure.

Before we begin: This post operates on the basis that spore mines generated by Biovores or Carnifexs with Spore Cysts DO NOT give killpoints as was clairfied in a GT rulepack some while ago. Spore mine clusters taken as a fast attack choice, do. Please note that topic has been discussed to death on 'teh interwebz' and need not distract us. So, moving on 

At the moment I only have a single painted Biovore (2 more are underway) and I have to admit, a Biovore by itself is utter pants. A single spore mine is rarely worth anything and scorring a few kills is the best you can hope for in the course of an entire game. Additionally you can no longer use them to sit on and claim objectives for you so to be honest, I can't really see much use for a single biovore. If anyone has any uses for a Single Biovore however, please post them up!

Anyhow, recently I was flicking through my Tyranid Codex and was reminded of the fact that a Biovore shoots as many spores mines as there are Biovores in the brood. That means that a full sized brood of 3 Biovores can fire 9 Spore Mines per turn. Now I've never seen this being used (a lot of people are hung up on the fact that Biovores now only use small blast templates), but 9 blasts theoretically speaking, should mangle up the right unit quite nicely. I don't think the Biovore is a unit that can be effectively used against every army, but a brood of 3 Biovores firing Frags should nicely mess up most Imperial Guard/Ork units...*Edit: I now know this is wrong *

I imagine that whilst it would be less effectives, a 3 Biovore brood armed with Bio Acid spore mines should still put a hurting on Marine armies (sure you need 5s, but you do get to ignore their 3+ armour and you should be rolling a lot of dice if the majority of mines hit) and be even more devestating against Sisters of Battle/Tau.

So what do you think? Let the discussion begin!


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## Ensanguined Priest (Feb 11, 2009)

I pretty much always use biovores in anything 1.5k or more.
The Bio Acid spore mines are really great against pretty much anything. My main opponents are IG and SM, and ive found that they quickly learn to fear the biovore unit dropping mines into their ranks, and even blowing up some light vehicles.

The main problem i have with Biovore broods is keeping them alive long enough to be very effective - after a SM player loses a combat squad to a single round of shooting, the shooter unit doesnt tend to live very much longer.

One Thing: a Biovore *Brood* shoots as many spores mines as there are Biovores in the brood. Not each biovore. So sorry, still only 3 shots


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## Wolf_Lord_Skoll (Jun 9, 2008)

One small blast per Biovore really isn't going to do much. The spore mines themselves are pretty weak:
Toxin Mines wound on a 4+, but most of the time you can do that or better with the other mines, especially considering their imporved AP. For the things that have a high enough toughness to make this usefull, they will normally have large bases, so you'll be pushing for more than 2 hits, and these units rarely have bad armour.

Bio-acid Mines: Low S is what kills this mine. Most 3+ save troops are T4, meaning you will wound on a 5+. Sister of Battle are probably the best thing these guys can shoot at. And on average, they will get a penetration roll of 10, meaning although they can help out with tank hunting, they aren't very realiable.

Frag Mines: The best all-rounder mine, its luck-luster. 

One of the biggest problems in my eyes is the surviveability of the biovores. Average T and only 2 wounds, coupled with a poor save means that they will go down quick. Combined with the fact that they can't move and fire they don't have much going for them. 

Another big problem is the fact that they can only have one type of mine. Play Guard with toxin or bio-acid mine and you've wasted points. Play Marines with Frag or Toxin mines and you've wasted points. 

I personally can't see, with the current rules, what a biovore can achieve that something else can't.


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## El Mariachi (Jun 22, 2008)

Ensanguined Priest said:


> One Thing: a Biovore *Brood* shoots as many spores mines as there are Biovores in the brood. Not each biovore. So sorry, still only 3 shots


Ah, you are indeed correct. That's my bad, obviously wasn't paying enough attention when I read that entry. Okay, it's good to clarify that early to clear any future confusion. I have to admit, that does make more sense that way...

Now we've confirmed that they only fire a single shot each, what do people suggest? As both Skoll and Priest show, people definitely have different perceptions as to their usefulness.

It's fairly safe to assume that the situation in which you take the biovore heavily influences its ability. I exclusively play 40k in narrative, campaign settings so I have the luxury of being able to choose the right sporemine for the job but I can immediately see how it'd be a problem in a tournament when you never know who you're gonna be up against. I couldn't really comment on what sporemines to take at at a tournament as that's not my area, but definitely something worth discussing if anyone has any other opinions on the matter!

Placement is pretty important for survivability. Pretty much a no brainer sticking them behind cover and ideally in area terrain (with the improved cover saves in 5th they should survive a few rounds of shooting although will be vulnerable to assaulting outflanker units). They'd probably do okay in Cities of Death... but in either case, is it worth keeping back a sacraficial unit to protect them (for example a unit of termagents- fleshborers pack a surprising punch anf if you're moving your synapse creatures forward you can always opt to 'Lurk' them so that they can still fire and protect the Biovores without having to be in synapse range. Additionally, if they get wiped out, they can come straight back on the next turn- next to the biovores and if you manage to get a synapse creature within range again, count them as a scoring unit)? What do you think?

Assuming the above sounds reasonable, is a brood of 3 Biovores (with the right spore mine comparable with say, a unit of 3 Imperial Guard Mortar teams? Not great in every situation but handy in a city fight. Again this is all theoryhammer, I've yet to try this for myself.

Cheers,

El.

P.S. Apologies if this post doesn't read very well, it's 2.30am here and I've just got back from a night of fairly heavy drinking and Guitar Hero.


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## Wolf_Lord_Skoll (Jun 9, 2008)

So the Biovores have indiredt fire. That's all well and good for them, but for 3 Biovores with frag mines, I can get 5 Warriors with sycthing talons, extended carapace and Deathspiters. One less wound, better save, more shots, higher S, less range, direct fire, gets synapse and better in combat. Not being able to move makes the biovores even more vunerable, and because the warriors can move and shoot, the fact that biovore doesn't need LOS and has a longer range are a moot point. Also, Elite choices are less useful on average than Heavy Support, so Warriors get a bonus there to. 

Really, the indirect fire thing, alongside a bio-acid mines improved chance of getting vehicles (although small) are the only things a Biovore has that Warriors don't. 

As for the best mine type, I would have to say Bio-acid, purely because high AP weapons are rare in a Tyranid army and that they can also threaten vehicles to an extent.


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## El Mariachi (Jun 22, 2008)

It's a good point, plus by using Biovores you're using up a vital space that could be taken by a Carnifex.

However, I don't think they're 100% useless. There's definitely a case to not take them most of the time...however...

They're application on a dense cityfight board (the only way cityfight should be played! ) could be handy. They won't be game winning in they're own right but the ability to indirect fire and soften up a unit that would be otherwise hidden or needs reducing in numbers could prove useful. 

More specifically, when it comes to destorying vehicles by shooting, they're a good support to Zoanthropes (if using Bio-Acid) and should worry players using weak-armoured tanks armed with weapons designed to take out masses of 'nids (Whirlwinds, Basilisks etc.) which are out of range of your carnifexes.

This is all theoretical of course, I'll let you know once I've got mine battle ready 

Any other tales?


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## Wolf_Lord_Skoll (Jun 9, 2008)

I made the point about the carnifex's but it obviously got lost under the rest of it :laugh:

I totally agree that Biovores aren't worthless. Slightly over-priced, pretty fragile and just outclassed in it's department.

Boards with lot of terrain will be where Biovores excel, not only because they can hide and shoot, but they can hit vehicles or static troops that are hiding. With Bio-acid mines they should be hitting things like Devastators and Havocs or whirlwinds and basilisks. 

In games 1500 or smaller, I don't really see a place for them, as the board will be less filled with troops, not only making missing more likely but also really showing there disadvatage of being a static troop in a mobile army.


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

I think that so long as the spore mines dont give KP then they are fine as they are. Though I would never take them with frag for ANY reason. Bioacid is awesome and toxin is ok (but would not really take it still).

What I would like to see is Biovores getting a decent armour save, +1T and either Ld10 or fearless. As it stands now they have the ultimate glass jaw. if they suffer 2 wounds then they are almost certain to break and run towords the nearest synapse creature. As soon as they are in the open then a few boltgun shots would finish them off in no time flat. If your facing a marine force with an 85 point whirlwind then your 165pt biovores are toast- pinned toast at that.

3 'cannons' with a total of 6W at T5 with a 4+ save doesnt sound too hard to me. Would make it possible to keep them in LOS of the enemy without it being complete suicide as it is now.


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## Inquisitor Einar (Mar 6, 2009)

I've found that Biovores with acid mines are indeed very deadly against battle sisters, who have trouble getting something into the back to deal with something with indirect fire and out of range of the rest of their not-very-long-range guns.


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## El Mariachi (Jun 22, 2008)

Definitely seems like cityfight and other dense terrain boards are the best places to set up Biovores and that overall bio acid mines are the way to go. In my first game i'm tempted to use frag mines but that's simply because it's going to be against guard.

It looks like in certain cases biovores do have their uses and can be taken as a viable alternative to another carnifex, but we'll see. I better get on with some painting!


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

The few times that I've taken frag mines I tooko them as clusters. Surre your giving away a KP for every 'shot' but frag vores are the same points costs as 6+ spore mine clusters... is damn funny when you drop frag spores on groups of guard in the open. Last time I did it I killed Straken (or whatever the counter attack/furious charge S6 MC guard bloke is called), about 10 guardsmen and pinned 2 different squads in 1 go- it more or less won me the centre of his lines as my gunline could advance into teh gap and split his army into 2.

Biovores work if used right- I use them either in fast attack armies (like if im taking only scuttling stealers as troops) or as part of a nuke choir support. Even Mr Marneus Calgar is gonna be pretty screwed by a pinning test at a -6 modifier. Giving them less of a glass chin and scrubbing the KP of spore mines in a FAQ would make them an automatic choice for my Nid army (they almost are already.. though thats for fun- they are good but not quite good enough to hold their spot).


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## Ensanguined Priest (Feb 11, 2009)

I really dont understand why Biovores dont get used as much as they should..
I suppose its just cause everyone loves to have carnifex :stop:

I had a little spare time so i worte up the following, a shortish guide to why biovores are effective: SporeMines.
I suppose this kinda applies to FA Mines too, but meh.....


A quick list of which SporeMines should (IMO) be used against which armies:

Frag SporeMines: IG
Toxin SporeMines: Necron, Daemons, Tyranids, Dark Eldar, Orks
Bio-Acid SporeMines: Tau, Necron, SM, Witch/Daemon Hunters, Chaos, Eldar 



Short Rundown of SporeMine effectiveness: 

*Space Marines / Chaos *
_Mine of Choice: Bio-Acid _ 
The Bio-Acids low AP allows it to threaten Marines, although its low strength generally means that 5+'s are needed to get those wounds. 
However, if you compare a 5+ to wound with no armour save (Bio-Acid), and a 4+ to wound but with a 3+ save (Frag and Toxin), the Bio comes out on top.

*Necron*
_Mine of Choice: Bio-Acid or Toxin _
For Necron there are two mines I would suggest, The Bio-Acid and the Toxin. This is not because they’re both uber effective against the metallic menace, rather that they can both be effective, but it’s more the players tastes to choose this one
As a Necron army will comprise of T4 warriors (and T5 pretty much everything else), Toxin mines can be the best to use – even easily wounding a C’tan. 
However, Bio-Acid negates Necron armour saves.
When worked out (Before WBB), Bio-Acid will deal out almost twice as many kills over Toxin to a warrior squad. And when the target is T5 (Immortals, Destroyers, Lords…) the number of kills for each mine is roughly equal.
So once again the Bio-Acid comes out on top.

*Imperial Guard *
_Mine of Choice: Frag _
Frag SporeMines are the obvious choice for dealing with a ‘horde’ army such as the IG, and in this case, the obvious is the best.
S4 blasts will cut swathes through guardsmen squads, and AP5 will ensure plenty of kills against the majority of IG units.

*Orks*
_Mine of Choice: Toxin _
Against the Orks there are two good choices of mine. Frag and Toxin both work well against the greenskins, with Toxin probably the slightly better of the two.
Both mine types will wound on a 4+ (always for toxin, and only with few exceptions for the frag), and as the majority of Orks don’t have anything better than a 6+ save, both mines work equally as well for AP purposes, although Toxin can additionally penetrate an extra three or four choices.
Where the Toxin really comes into its own is for anti-vehicle shooting. Automatic glances on open-topped vehicles can really be bothersome to trukk heavy armies.
Conclusion: Toxin mines win overall, but frag is only slightly less effective so can be used if those extra 6 points are really needed.

*Eldar *
_Mine of Choice: Bio-Acid _
As this mines strength is equal to the toughness of most Eldar, it is a good choice for dealing wounds, not as much as a frag granted, but its low AP value means that almost all Eldar armour is negated = Very Killy.

*Dark Eldar *
_Mine of Choice: Toxin _
The combination of good wounding opportunity and good AP is what makes the Toxin the best choice for combating these fallen Eldar. There are not many DE models that will still be taking saves after being hit by a Toxin mine.
The most useful aspect of Toxin against DE however, is its automatic glancing against open topped things. With a many Kabals and Wych Cults fielding lots of raiders, those glancing hits can cripple the army before the fight really starts.

*Daemons *
_Mine of Choice: Toxin _
As most Daemons do not get armour saves, the Toxin AP is not really of any use (although, the two things that do get saves are affected by AP4). The real point of using toxin here is because of the wide range of toughness that occurs in a Daemon army. Always hitting on a 4+ means that no unit, from a humble Daemonette right up to a Bloodthirster, is safe from your long range shooting.

*Tyranids *
_Mine of Choice: Toxin _
In a similar way to Daemons, other Tyranid armies can feature a wide range of toughness values. Due to this, I would suggest the use of Toxin SporeMines. They can easily wound even Carnifex, and have AP good enough to take out swathes of gaunts. 

*Tau *
_Mine of Choice: Bio-Acid _
Strength 3 is easily enough to eat through the majority of Tau armies and, at AP3, eat through most of their armour too.
The special armour penetration can also help with some of their light vehicles, but is only really worth attempting if you can see rear armour.

*The Ordos *
_Mine of Choice: Bio-Acid _
With inquisitors and inquisition troops, the strength of this mine is usually enough to be able to take them out.
For GKs see the Space Marine entry above, everything that applies to that applies here too.
SOBs: Again, same as Marines, but probably more effective due to the sisters lower toughness. 

Apologies if some of these seem to be very similar, but this is because they are. Each mine is good for something, and really should be used almost exclusively in that manner.

You can probably see from the above that I favour the Bio-Acid SporeMine. Obviously this is not a definitive guide, just one mans opinion, but I hope you will be able to see why i choose to use Biovore Broods in most of my ‘nid lists. 
It is an under-used and under-valued choice, and with its good anti-troop and (slight) anti-armour capabilities, is a very versatile and useful tool to have.

:biggrin:


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## El Mariachi (Jun 22, 2008)

Good post, +rep


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## Ensanguined Priest (Feb 11, 2009)

El Mariachi said:


> Good post, +rep


Hah thanks, i hate to see what would actually happen if i put time and effort into it 

Just had word from a friend that im going to meet up with at the weekend to play a game with, Three way 2000pnt game, my 'nids vs. his IG vs. another friends Necron.
*And im getting to field 3 Biovore Broods!! xD*
So will take one of each SporeMine type and see how efffective they actually are in the middle of games, as opposed to just my theorising xD
and of course, all findings will be put up
:wink:


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## InquisitorTidusSolomon (Mar 7, 2009)

great post, Priest. + rep.

I think the Biovores are a good unit, it's just that they are rendered almost useless in competitive games. I play casual most of the time, and I'm tempted to add some 'Vores to my list purely for dropping frags on my friend's orks. If they could decide what mine to fire every time they shot, they would be much better, IMO.


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

Ensanguined Priest said:


> Hah thanks, i hate to see what would actually happen if i put time and effort into it
> 
> Just had word from a friend that im going to meet up with at the weekend to play a game with, Three way 2000pnt game, my 'nids vs. his IG vs. another friends Necron.
> *And im getting to field 3 Biovore Broods!! xD*
> ...


Assuming your playing a houserule to let you take multiples then? since biovores are a 0-1 choice.
3 broods of them should blast him apart.

Take some spore mine clusters just to finish him off 
I used frag clusters vs guard previously; 3 blasts killing on a 3+ does, unsurprisingly, muller a unit of guard quite easily so long as they arent in cover.


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## El Mariachi (Jun 22, 2008)

Aye, although the fact they can now order units to 'Get Back into the Fight!' after they dive for cover, may make that tricky! Still, my missus uses a Guard army so I'm looking forward to see what happens when I get to use 'em!


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## Ensanguined Priest (Feb 11, 2009)

Tim/Steve said:


> Assuming your playing a houserule to let you take multiples then? since biovores are a 0-1 choice.
> 3 broods of them should blast him apart.
> 
> Take some spore mine clusters just to finish him off
> I used frag clusters vs guard previously; 3 blasts killing on a 3+ does, unsurprisingly, muller a unit of guard quite easily so long as they arent in cover.



Hah yea, we decided to ignore such restrictions for the game :biggrin:
Just makes it a little more interesting methinks.

I dont think guardsmen in cover will be a big worry, not with my 6 lictors.... :wink:
Oh the joys of having no 0-1 restrictions :laugh:


Inq. Solomon, there's no doubt (to me, or most players id guess) that if Biovores could choose which type of mine to use they'd be much better, but then they'd probably cost much more...
I really would like to lose that 0-1 restriction, or even just be allowed to choose different mines for each model, not the same for the whole brood.
That wouldnt make them superpowered at all... 
:wink:


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

Hmm... lictors vs guardsmen. Hate to say it but I would bet on the guardsmen, lictors really are pants vs anything but tanks.

I wouldnt want to see biovores getting a choice of ammo vs most armies. Normally if I take them bioacid is not so much a choice rather then just automatic... keep my biovores cheap pls


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## Ensanguined Priest (Feb 11, 2009)

Ah with my Lictors its more a fear kinda thing than actually killy ability.
If my opponent sees i have a bunch of scary-looking models at the side of the board, and knows that they can pretty much just pop out of any cover, hopefully will stop him from like camping in trees xD
Usually i think that Lictors and Biovores are a good combination, Lictors hopefully helping stop enemy models running into cover, and the Biovores just raining down fleshy death :grin:

Hmm, suppose a choice of mine isnt really needed, theyre just kinda awesome anyway.
Although, if there was a plastic model (rather than having to cut up and convert some old warriors... xD ), then i really wouldnt care whether the 'vore cost 160 or 460 pts a brood :biggrin:


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