Goatboy’s 40K: Why Does the Hivemind Make Bad MCs?
Goatboy here again and the new Tyranid big bugs are a big MEH… Here’s why:
Goatboy here again and while I love the idea of releasing new models with rules including in the box – the new Nids just leave a lot to be desired.
It feels like GW just doesn’t follow any rhyme or reason when creating/building/designing some of these kits. I think they look cool but when you start to try to figure out why they cost so much you just start to scratch your head.
We all know how to evaluate a new unit in the game. We look at the rules they utilize mixed with the point cost to create a value in our head. It is pretty simple to figure out even without any crazy excel sheet that spits out a value. That is why these MC’s just have me scratching my head.
Toxicrene
Let’s look at the cheaper one – Toxicrene. The first thing I ask is what is the role for this creature? When I look at a new unit I try to figure out what role I will expect it to play – Offensive threat, defensive pain in the ass, or force multiplier. This guy doesn’t really seem to do any of those options at all. Sure it could kill other MC’s if it ever got into combat but most of the time – any other MC just outclasses this creatures ability to fight.
Look at the Daemon Prince MC. It will hit first, have more psychic protection, and can move faster then this creature can. Sure this guy is a lot cheaper but it just doesn’t seem to do much. I would have loved to have this guy be a lot faster. Somehow it could move like a beast, ignore terrain, or at the very least have a crap ton of attacks to make it a threat. It’s initiative 3 means that at most it will get up to Initiative 6 with it’s lash whips which still isn’t letting it win versus Chaos’s Finest. Maybe if all its attacks caused instant death instead of just having 6’s magically poison you this might see some play.
I like that it has Shrouded and if it gave it out as a cloud then we could maybe say it is worth it over the Venomthrope or the all star Nid MC – the Malanthrope. Heck I would say you should just look at buying these from Forgeworld or somehow kit bashing/3rd party creation of these guys. They act like Venomthropes but give Synapse and are even toughness 5. This is what the Warriors should have had going for them but again – I am not a rules designer just a rules whiner.
Maleceptor
The other guy has even more issues as it is more expensive. I like the idea of a new Psychic monster but it’s pseudo Doom ability just doesn’t cut the mustard. Now if it could just do the Psychic Scream and just push the Nova range out it might see some play but again this guy is so slow he will just be plodding around the backfield hoping it just rolled Catalyst to help its flying Hive Tyrants. In fact this is the biggest issue with any of these new MCs – they are just all too slow.
Look the best way to test an army for any event is to figure out how long it can survive versus let’s say 5 Wave SerpaDerps. If your army can’t make it past the midfield when facing this “stellar” example of a “fun” army list then you have to question if your choices are worth it. It just gets hard as I like how these models look and really a good Tyranid army that is not just 3 Tyrants, some LOW, and then some Ripper Swarms would be great to have in an environment.
At least they have learned and gave these MC’s Toughness 6 and 5 wounds. Heck it would have been a lot more interesting to see them as broods instead of just single choices. I don’t know if that would have been any good but at least it could have been some kind of threat. I love MC’s as they generate excitement on all levels of the game – it looks cool, can be painted awesome, and it forges a narrative as an army tries to kill this otherworldly monstrosity.
O How I Love the Maulerfiend – Let Me Count the Ways…
If I had my choice to write up rules I would utilize the Maulerfiends ability to go 12 inches and ignore terrain on a lot of the Nid fat bottomed jerk faces. You add in fleet and now you have a serious threat that could get your quickly. Plus I always loved the idea of the Koolaid man action the Maulerfiend does it when busts through a wall. After that I would make all of them at least have 3+ armor save. It just doesn’t make sense that a Heavy Bolter is ignoring their chitin armor. Heck you would think the Hive Mind would say – lots of bullets suck so we should add more bone to their front parts and maybe cover up their Mommy and Daddy button with a big 3+ armor plate. And while were are at it we should add a spoiler to make them look totally sweet.
You know if the Space Marines got a true MC – it would have 3+ armor save, 5-6 attacks, its toughness would be 6 and it would probably cost 150 with like 85 heavy bolter shots that would come from it. It might be called the Mega Centurion Devajerkhole and the kit would cost 76 bucks and get on a new base that frustrates base creators. Heck the Dreadknight is the perfect example of the correctly costed MC with good rules. But again I don’t write rules I just whine about them. If you think these new Nid MC’s are not sucka MC’s then prove me wrong in the comments with army lists that will kick my delectable booty.
Until next time sleepy Goatboy is going to try and take a nap while the Nurgling gestates an explosion of “love”. Are you adding any of these new bugs to your Hivefleet?
