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While the rules for the current Malanthrope is still viable, I feel that it could use an update to be more in line with 5th ed. Nids. This is my attempt at "modernizing" the infamous creature known as the Malanthrope.




"The Malanthrope is a large serpent like creature that looks similar to a Lictor. It has feeder tendrils and is about twice the size of the Zoanthrope, another creature it closely resembles. Rarely seen, the Malanthrope follows behind a Tyranid attack. It selectively collects and processes genetic material from fallen enemies before itself being reabsorbed into the biomass. The creature grasps dead, injured and still living foes with its long groping tendrils, stuns them with its sting and consumes them, feeding them into its maw with its small but dexterous arms. A Malanthrope is a highly intelligent, psychic creature with a strong link to the Hive Mind. It can only move by psychically levitating to skim over the ground."

- Warhammer 40k Lexicanum


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Malanthrope

195 points

The Malanthrope is a HQ choice for a Tyranid army.


WS4 BS3 S6 T6 W4 I5 A4 LD10 SV3+/3++

Unit: 1 Malanthrope

Type: Monstrous Creature


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Weapons and Biomorphs:

Bonded Exoskeleton

Claws and Teeth


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Special Rules:

Anaphylactic Shock: Due to its extreme toxicity, any wounds from the Malanthrope causes Instant Death. This does not affect C'tans, the Eldar Avatar and any Eternal Warriors.

Fleet

Lash Whips

Psyker

Shadows in the Warp

Synapse Creature

Toxic Miasma

Warp Field


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Psychic Powers: The Malanthrope has any 2 of the following powers:

Leech Essence

The Horror

Psychic Scream


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Options:
Hive Commander..........+25pts

Looks good, but I would suggest two minor changes:
1: I think it should be WS4 or even 5.
2: I can't see something like this not having Toxic Miasma.

Valkyrie wrote:Looks good, but I would suggest two minor changes:
1: I think it should be WS4 or even 5.
2: I can't see something like this not having Toxic Miasma.

Ok. Done.

It looks good but I have one major change.

I would reword Anaphylactic Shock to be: Close Combat attacks against non-vehicles are considered strength 10 for purposes of Instant Death.

At current, this thing has a decent chance of ID'ing a brood of three carnifex's before they even know it's there. This would cut it's power alot against other MC's which is something it would never really try to fight alone.

Using strength 10 also avoids the really bad idea of naming things that are immune to it, which would have to updated fairly often. Static named lists like that is a major flaw for a few current units,

Other tweaks:
For the cost the I5, A5, kinda seem out of place. I would prefer one or both to knocked down by one point.

I would drop the Preferred Enemy/Old Adviersary and offer it as an upgrade for the same cost as a tyrant. I would also drop the points to match though. Make it an option if you points to spend, not a requierment.

Veldrain wrote:It looks good but I have one major change.

I would reword Anaphylactic Shock to be: Close Combat attacks against non-vehicles are considered strength 10 for purposes of Instant Death.

At current, this thing has a decent chance of ID'ing a brood of three carnifex's before they even know it's there. This would cut it's power alot against other MC's which is something it would never really try to fight alone.

Using strength 10 also avoids the really bad idea of naming things that are immune to it, which would have to updated fairly often. Static named lists like that is a major flaw for a few current units,

While I don't like to change its existing special rule too much, you do make a good point for its Anaphylactic Shock being a little too powerful against certain units. However, it is kind of confusing - here you have a S6 unit that hits like a S10 unit but only against non-vehicles. Hmmm....I think to be as close as the original as possible, I'm going to leave it as it is. I think it also makes sense fluffwise that its venom is so toxic that it can even take out even the toughest of non-daemonic monsters.

Veldrain wrote:
Other tweaks:
For the cost the I5, A5, kinda seem out of place. I would prefer one or both to knocked down by one point.

As the Malanthrope is supposed to be a somewhat agile creature, I'm going to leave its Init at 5. However, as it is not really a close-combat beast, I can reduce its Attack to 4.

Veldrain wrote:
I would drop the Preferred Enemy/Old Adviersary and offer it as an upgrade for the same cost as a tyrant. I would also drop the points to match though. Make it an option if you points to spend, not a requierment.

I gave it Old Adversary because originally, it had Feeder Tendrils which, at that time, gave it and any unit within 2" Prefered Enemy. However, as it is supposedly not a close-combat beast, I can see why it doesn't really need Old Adversary. I will follow your suggestion here and offer OA as an option.


Thanks for the comments so far.

WS 4 ----> WS 5.
AS 2+ ----> AS 3+ or 4+ (it is no Tyrannofex and 3++ is good enough)
Armored shell and toxic miasma could be wargear options, extracting their cost from currently proposed total.

Methinks...

ENKHANNA wrote:WS 4 ----> WS 5.
AS 2+ ----> AS 3+ or 4+ (it is no Tyrannofex and 3++ is good enough)
Armored shell and toxic miasma could be wargear options, extracting their cost from currently proposed total.

Methinks...

The original Malanthrope is only WS3. Fluffwise, it is not actually a close-combat beast. I feel that +1 WS is adequate for its actual role.

Also, originally the Malanthrope has a 2+ save and Warp Field. I don't really see a need to change from this, especially since I've increased his cost by 75pts minimum. Consider this monster the Sanguinor of the Blood Angels, Lysander of the Marines and Arjac of the Space Wolves - yes, he is that 1 very resilient character that almost all the new codices have.

But if anyone else feels that 2+/3++ on this beast is too powerful, I might get rid of Armoured Shell completely (and reduce its cost appropriately).

I agree with Valkyrie regarding Toxic Miasma. A beast so highly toxic that it should have Toxic Miasma standard.

I think it originally had 2+/5++, for 4th Ed. rules (both granted by warp field psychic power), Now GW needed more zoan models sold, so they gave it 3++, rendering AS almost worthless (keeping 2+ would be OP, like hell)
This has brought many debates regarding 5th Ed. warp field updating, some people simply change 4th's 5++ to 3++ (happily) expecting nobody to notice or complain, I find that plainly wrong...
Just check 4th anti-AV zoan weapon: you had to pay for it, and it was simply worse (AP2, not a lance...) and it was still HS!!!
Same for "the original malanthrope was ........." (filll dotted line as you please). New Ed. rules = profile and stats rearrangement needed, deeply.

jy2 wrote:
The original Malanthrope is only WS3. Fluffwise, it is not actually a close-combat beast. I feel that +1 WS is adequate for its actual role.

Also, originally the Malanthrope has a 2+ save and Warp Field. I don't really see a need to change from this, especially since I've increased his cost by 75pts minimum. Consider this monster the Sanguinor of the Blood Angels, Lysander of the Marines and Arjac of the Space Wolves - yes, he is that 1 very resilient character that almost all the new codices have.

But if anyone else feels that 2+/3++ on this beast is too powerful, I might get rid of Armoured Shell completely (and reduce its cost appropriately).

I agree with Valkyrie regarding Toxic Miasma. A beast so highly toxic that it should have Toxic Miasma standard.

ENKHANNA wrote:I think it originally had 2+/5++, for 4th Ed. rules (both granted by warp field psychic power), Now GW needed more zoan models sold, so they gave it 3++, rendering AS almost worthless (keeping 2+ would be OP, like hell)
This has brought many debates regarding 5th Ed. warp field updating, some people simply change 4th's 5++ to 3++ (happily) expecting nobody to notice or complain, I find that plainly wrong...
Just check 4th anti-AV zoan weapon: you had to pay for it, and it was simply worse (AP2, not a lance...) and it was still HS!!!
Same for "the original malanthrope was ........." (filll dotted line as you please). New Ed. rules = profile and stats rearrangement needed, deeply.

Warp Field in the 4th edition granted the 2+ Armor save as well as a 6++ Invulnerable save. Zoanthropes started with the ability and where a heavy support choice while the Hive Tyrant had to take it as an upgrade.

Now that Warp Field has changed to just a 3++ you can either use the old rules of 2+/6++, or as long as your Opponents/Store doesn't mind then use the new rules of 3++. Either way I don't see any valid rule reasons that the Malanthrope would get a 2+/3++
Our group uses the Warp Field out of the new codex though

Ok, you guys make a good case. I will remove Armoured Shell.


-------- Edits -----------

I've added Lash Whips to represent the fact that it uses its feeder tendrils to grab and hold onto things while it feeds.

I've also removed the option for Old Adversary as it doesn't really make sense for a beast who isn't specialized in assault (but if you guys have a good justification why it should have it, then let me know).

Your fluff and rules contradict.

A fleet, monstrous creature that causes Instant Death with every attack isn't going to be at the back of any Tyranid assault.

DarknessEternal wrote:Your fluff and rules contradict.

A fleet, monstrous creature that causes Instant Death with every attack isn't going to be at the back of any Tyranid assault.

And you shouldn't see Mephiston in every BA army or 4 Wolf Lords on Thunderwolves in 1 Space Wolf army.

Actually, you have GW to thank for this contradiction. Fluffwise, the Malanthrope is more of a scavenger monster which feeds off of the aftermath of a Tyranid battle. Gameplay-wise, with the exception of WS3, GW made it into a badd-a$$, take-no-prisoner, gonna-punk-you-out beast of a monster whose performance in combat is anything but fluffy. And it used to even have Prefered Enemy! But to stay as close as the original model gameplay-wise, I've kept most of its stats and abilities (I did lower it's attacks and dropped Old Adversary though).

I like it a lot.
Good job, the model is top notch and needed new rules.

And yes, the rules and the fluff contradict, but that is just the way it is.

Specifying Eternal Warriors to being immune to ID is redundant, that's exactly what the EW USR does. Furthermore, I wouldn't list non-EW exceptions to ID; all of the models you list should have EW, and Tyranids have access to so many ID attacks now this is an issue any sportsmanlike Tyranid player will concede EW to any Avatars or C'tan still awaiting their FAQ or Codex getting updated for parity with their Chaotic equivalents.

I think it's perfectly fine for this creature to be a bit tasty in CC. For one, it's a highly visible target with no option for a bodyguard, limiting its frontline usefulness. For two, I've always thought of a battle including Mallie to represent an endgame scenario. Maybe a powerful fleshthing has been identified as particularly important to capture and assimilate its DNA, and Malie has been sent to eat it. Or, maybe the fleshthings are desperate guerillas targeting Mallie to slow down the planetary assimilation before fleeing.

That said, I can see a way to make her a rear line support unit. Make her non-MC, which originally was what limited her ability to wipe out a unit of Carnifexes with a single sneeze. Also, since Mallie's fluff specifically relates to Rippers, I'd suggest at a minimum giving her the Parasite's rule for ripper support, possibly lifting some spawning/buffing ideas from a Tervigon, and maybe even making her turn Rippers into scoring units (representing the Tyranid objective being to devour stuff).

There's also an argument for her to lift rules from Venomthropes, given that they're basically Mallie JR.

Those are all very good ideas. For my malanthrope, I'm trying to keep it as close to the original Imperial Armour Apocalypse rules as possible. With the exception of giving it some more psychic powers and some tyranid upgrades like Toxic Miasma and Lash Whips, I don't want to veer too much off course from the original. Basically, this is more of an update than a re-write of the beast known as the malanthrope.

But that's not to say there couldn't be unique or variant species of malanthropes with the rules that you suggested.