Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

After casting your vote, give me some tactical reasoning... I have some and have used them on occasion but I personally haven't had much success. But I'm only one guy and would like to get more opinions as I'm beginning to reconsider them again. Imagine me as Larry King, shoulders hunched, eyes transfixed on camera 3, asking you, the hive tyrant studio guest, your thoughts on our brainy heavy supports. And resist the obvious jokes if you please ("Larry, I've been around since the 31st millenium... You remember back in the day, we had no AT whatsoever!" Or, "Larry, you remember the emperor, was he a closet homosexual? I've hear rumours..." Or even "I know that you fathered the Hive Mind back pre-history and that you have an 8 year old son now. Tell me, does the Dominatrix really live up to her name?" Etc.) I just want your opinion on the zoanthrope in any amount, whether you play them or have played against them often.

u can take 3 a 1 HS pick, give them Warp Blast and either The Horror or Synapse if you need it. Warrior Heavy Armies dont always need it but its can help. They have a 2+ armor with 6++ and with TLOS rules they are tall enough to "hide" behind Warriors and send off AP3 blast or s10 Tank busting mind attacks. in 4E i didn't take them, but with the dawning of 5E i always do.

Trust me, I know all the rules, but I just want to know whether people take them and more importantly. WHY they do.

S10 AP1 is valuable, extra hive mind can be useful, and the choir can ruin an non-fearless army.

Where's my "sometimes" option?

I often take a pair of 'thropes in my stealer shock army. Their role is principally to sit back, snipe at things with Warp Blast, and provide synapse coverage for the unit of recyled "Without Number" gaunts. The two Tyrants are too busy up front to babysit returning gaunts, and the gaunts are crucial to retaining control of objectives near my board edge.

Nids have trouble with armor, and though not the best shooters their Warp Blast focused shot is ideal. Synapse is great for your WoN gaunts that want to hold back and just hold objectives, same with other units and also keep things from getting Instant Death'd. I usually take a pair in my 1500+ armies with WB/Synapse. Means I can't take full MCs, but I don't want to do that anyway.

I run an all-melee army, and the only exception is, you guessed it, Zoanthropes. They are pretty awesome with S10 shooting attacks even if they seem to miss all the time. And with Synapse they are hard to take down aka. increase the AP2 targets in your army which is necessary if you only have a few big bugs in your army.

Greets
Schepp himself

You say sometimes... You've described where you do use it. Tell me what times you DON'T use it. And I have never considered using it in a stealer-based army before--that's a very good suggestion especially if their role is to sit back and snipe MEQ's. But do you find only having 24" limits their effectiveness?

Janthkin wrote:Where's my "sometimes" option?

I often take a pair of 'thropes in my stealer shock army. Their role is principally to sit back, snipe at things with Warp Blast, and provide synapse coverage for the unit of recyled "Without Number" gaunts. The two Tyrants are too busy up front to babysit returning gaunts, and the gaunts are crucial to retaining control of objectives near my board edge.

Sorry for the quick response, too many other people responded... So Janthkin,

You say sometimes... You've described where you do use it. Tell me what times you DON'T use it. And I have never considered using it in a stealer-based army before--that's a very good suggestion especially if their role is to sit back and snipe MEQ's. But do you find only having 24" limits their effectiveness?

Schepp himself wrote:I run an all-melee army, and the only exception is, you guessed it, Zoanthropes. They are pretty awesome with S10 shooting attacks even if they seem to miss all the time. And with Synapse they are hard to take down aka. increase the AP2 targets in your army which is necessary if you only have a few big bugs in your army.

Greets
Schepp himself

Really, you rely on the s10 focused blast to take care of armour and it works for you? I'd like to know what your setup is because that's very interesting. One reason I truly like them is because you can get 3 s10 shots with the ability to penetrate rather than 2 shots from a sniperfex that can, at most, immobilize a vehicle. So do you have them deployed in the front of your lines, behind gaunts, something else?

Cant you quote them into 1 message instead of so many?

Whats wrong with relying on str 10 that can penetrate vehicles?

After vehicles are done, they can also continue to be useful with the template shot.

When do i not take zoanthropes? tactic wise , i always do.
but for fun where i love 6 carnifexes , i'll leave zoans out.

Grunt_For_Christ wrote:

Janthkin wrote:Where's my "sometimes" option?

I often take a pair of 'thropes in my stealer shock army. Their role is principally to sit back, snipe at things with Warp Blast, and provide synapse coverage for the unit of recyled "Without Number" gaunts. The two Tyrants are too busy up front to babysit returning gaunts, and the gaunts are crucial to retaining control of objectives near my board edge.

Sorry for the quick response, too many other people responded... So Janthkin,

You say sometimes... You've described where you do use it. Tell me what times you DON'T use it. And I have never considered using it in a stealer-based army before--that's a very good suggestion especially if their role is to sit back and snipe MEQ's. But do you find only having 24" limits their effectiveness?

The range on the zoanthrope isn't generally a problem - there's a devourer flyrant & a walking devourer tyrant moving forward to flush out the backfield. The Zoanthrope is there for anything that might slip by and try to reach my objectives, as well as to provide a synapse bubble away from the tyrants. Also, they tend to be lower priority for my opponents (not as killy as a Tyrant!), which means their synapse bubble lasts longer.

They get left at home in 1500 pt games (where two tyrants tend to live longer), or when the 'gaunts aren't being fielded. They are utility models; if I don't need all the utility they provide, they don't get fielded.

So basically your tyrants become the main priority and zoans are basically a backup... You use them as troubleshooters mainly, eh. I guess I haven't thought of them that way but I like the idea. They secure the midfield and take on anything so no one gets behind you.

Although new to nids, I take Zoeys for their anti-tank capabilities and also their synapse which I need to help with the many gaunts present.

warp blast kicks ass
shame theres a 3 limit or i would happily take 9 and leave fex's in elite.

Zonethropes are about that only place in the army where you can get decent ranged anti tank weapons for a decent price.

They're a strangely low kill priority for opponents, given the 2+ save. Even if I'm cheap and only use them as Synapses they're a solid insurance policy for keeping my hive under control.

Really? They're a low priority for your opponents? When I play with people the zoeys always end up being big targets. And also when I take the psychic test for the focused blast I have about a 50/50 chance of hitting, and about a 50/50 chance of suffering perils of the warp. I don't know why, but I always fail those. When I'm using my farseer however, no problems whatsoever... Go figure

Well I'm not gonna vote cos I sometimes use them. For synapse they are great. People tend to target tyrants and warriors first leaving these guys free to spread out and keep the little critters in control.

The fact that their blast is AP3 really helps out against marine players. I know that in 5th there's an abundance of cover, but marine players (or the ones I play) always seem to think that against nids their armour is enough.

Against tanks they CAN be useful. Remember they aren't that accurate. Using 2 or 3 really helps. When combined with 2 gunfexes it really puts the pressure on. In a balanced 1500pt list there may be 2 or 3 tanks on the table. So 2 VC's to glance, then zoanthropes make the kill.

I personally have stopped using them so much now. I prefer the gunfex, but that could also be because I no longer play against marines so much. My regular opponent is now guard.

Overall I would say that they have great staying power and can deal a lot of damage if protected. The fact that they aren't MCs means they get decent cover saves too.

I think I use them in a similar way to Janthkin to be honest.

Good luck with them.

The gunfex has become a favourite of mine too. The way I run my lists there hasn't been a single time in a year and a half of play that my little guys have been out of synapse range. It isn't necessary for me and while the blast is great there's just a lot of extra stuff that you have to do in order to make it work.

In killpoint missions you are in bad shape if you run them. Also, they take up slots from your fexxes, of wich you can never have too many.

And being a bug player, I'm ALWAYS worried about having too many kill points...