How do you run your zoans?

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.

**reaverX**

Howdy,

Just curious on how everyone runs their zoans? I know a lot of people prefer to walk them using biomancy for the synapse support and buffing/debuffing purposes. Personally I prefer telepathy, PS for a primaris power is amazing and with invisibility and hallucination being unusable due to warp charges you have a good chance of getting puppet master or terrify with 2 rolls. I run a deep striking list however ( DoM + 1-2 units of zoans with mawlocs) so this fits my style.

Just wondering how you take your zoans and the benefits of your configuration.

**-Loki-**

I use my Zoanthropes as synapse bunkers, so buff powers are more helpful than pure offense. Biomancy gives a squad a good chance at Endurance and Enfeeble, which are both super useful.

I've run them with Telekinesis, but I wasn't impressed.

**Hive Fleet Lazarus**

Synapse and anti-tank. I generally use them to crack the metal shells so my hordes can get at the squishy center

**Carnage43**

I use mine to weight down the left side of my miniature shelf. There are better units to spend points on in sixth edition.

**-Loki-**

I haven't found many. I've pretty much shelved my Hive Guard though - now that's a redundant 6th edition unit.

**Roci**

-Loki- wrote:
I haven't found many. I've pretty much shelved my Hive Guard though - now that's a redundant 6th edition unit.

This!! my hive guard are quickly losing my favor. They just are not doing it in my games.

I run my zoans in pairs in a spore to get synapse in the back and to crack high av...

**dementedwombat**

The one guy I play with uses a squad of 3 and runs telepathy (he also runs telepathy on his ~5 brood lords, and on the DoM, except he uses psychic shriek on him).

The entire reason I have built Ethereal gunline armies is because my first game was against him and I knew I'd have to be making ~3-4 leadership checks a turn or else run off the table.

Then he brought the deathleaper and my Ethereal had leadership 7 for that game...

**ruminator**

Every time I change out stock powers I regret it. A choice of S10/Ap1 lance or S5/Ap3 blast is just so good.

Biomancy? Why would you bother? Iron Arm, warp speed are for tyrants and the like that can do something when they get into combat. What can a zoey in CC? Not a lot.

Maybe tele on a single zoey and leave 2 others with a shooting attack.

**SBG**

I go biomancy for the Endurance. If one or two gets it, I leave the stock powers as is on the last guy(s). Works well for buffs!

**Kain**

-Loki- wrote:
I haven't found many. I've pretty much shelved my Hive Guard though - now that's a redundant 6th edition unit.

I thought that too, then I ran into a invinci-wave serpent list.

Fething Eldar.

**StarHunter25**

Mine I run in pairs generally. One as biomancy/telepathy, other with regular powers. If I luck out and get endurance and enfeeble on one, I can buff/debuff. Then the other zots landraiders or not-terminators like a champ. And because everyone in my group has an irrational hatred of the Doom, I've not been able to run him since... hmm... mid 5th? with my opponent agreeing to face the list I brought.

**-Loki-**

ruminator wrote:
Every time I change out stock powers I regret it. A choice of S10/Ap1 lance or S5/Ap3 blast is just so good.

S10 AP 1 lance is absolutely good if you're fighting people bringing AV 14. If you've got plenty of MCs, however, they can deal with them well in assault, given that MC's are faster than AV 14 heavy vehicles now, and Smash gives them all S10 AP2 attacks.

S5, AP3 blast? Yeah, I can live without that.

ruminator wrote:
Biomancy? Why would you bother? Iron Arm, warp speed are for tyrants and the like that can do something when they get into combat. What can a zoey in CC? Not a lot.

I guess you missed the other half of the Biomancy tree?

Endurance - being able to spread FNP and IWND around the army is a life saver. Enfeeble - doesn't sound impressive until you actually use it. Given the majority of Tyranid infantry is S3 T3, being able to 'level the field' be making S4 T4 infantry the same, or even give you a significant advantage by making other S3 T3 infantry worse than your own, is amazing. Then Hemmorage. When used with Enfeeble in particular, entire squads will just fall over dead.

**PrinceRaven**

I generally run 2 in a spore as a core powers/Telepathy bomb. Mowing down Tau with Psychic Shriek makes me happy.

**AesSedai**

I find drop Zoans w/ Shriek underwhelming, way too random.

Biomancy has some real lemons for zoans, but the buffs and debuffs are great.

Telepathy is the most reliable. Two rolls per zoan and four possibilities. Puppet master is lovely.

**-Loki-**

I might give Telepathy a try - honestly I never even looked at it. It's too handy getting Endurance and Enfeeble.

**ruminator**

Enfeeble doesn't stack and I've always played it like that, so not a power I was that bothered about. With AG/TS on tervigons the termgants charge at S4 and have a 4+ reroll to wound on the charge, so the impact of the enfeeble is lessened somewhat.

Haemorrage/smite are so so, life leech has 12" range which is a little to close for me. Iron arm and warp speed are wasted on a zoanthrope, so you're left with 2 rolls to get endurance an/ord enfeeble and I'm onyl really after one of those. Maybe your dice rolling is better than mine, but I don't like the odds.

**PrinceRaven**

Enfeeble is still very useful whether you play it as stacking or not, reducing Toughness to reach instant death thresholds or cause more wounds, reducing Strength to weaken stuff like Hammernators before an assault, slowing stuff down and forcing them to strike at initiative 1 if they charge.

**Kain**

Smite is a satisfyingly adequate power, it won't take home any prizes like Endurance and Enfeeble for buffers/debuffers or Iron Arm and Warpspeed for CC killers, but four S4 AP2 attacks is nothing I'd complain about and it makes for a nice enough TEQ and MEQ slayer.

Enfeeble+Haemorrage can make entire guard blobs or Firewarrior bricks flop over dead with or without stacking.

**-Loki-**

ruminator wrote:
Enfeeble doesn't stack and I've always played it like that

I'm curious - was this in a FAQ? Because nothing in the power description to me makes it sound like it doesn't stack.

**HerbaciousT**

-Loki- wrote:
ruminator wrote:
Enfeeble doesn't stack and I've always played it like that

I'm curious - was this in a FAQ? Because nothing in the power description to me makes it sound like it doesn't stack.

I remember a thread on this a few weeks ago. I think it was something to do with the working of maledictions saying that 'different' maledictions stack. There was debate as to whether the same malediction cast from two different psykers counted as 'different' maledictions. Sadly I have to admit that the wording to me sounds like a unit cant be double-Enfeebled. T2 SM would be hilarious though!

On Topic, Im not too big a fan of Zoans atm. I never seem to have any luck with them. I may just be using them wrong. Im going to use them in more of a support role and see how that works. I may have been too aggressive with them.

I disagree about Hive Guard being useless though. My unit always does great. Im even thinking about adding a second brood of 3. YMMV of course.Everyone has different play styles and units they find work for them.

**ruminator**

Are two enfeebles different maledictions, or are they the same malediction cast by different units? I'd always say the latter.

Problem with smite is that it's a nice multishot AP2 but it's only 12" range. With warp lance I worried about 18" range, 12" range means dead zoanthrope next turn.

**PrinceRaven**

ruminator wrote:
Are two enfeebles different maledictions, or are they the same malediction cast by different units? I'd always say the latter.

Problem with smite is that it's a nice multishot AP2 but it's only 12" range. With warp lance I worried about 18" range, 12" range means dead zoanthrope next turn.

That depends entirely on how you define different, which is why there's so much ambiguity and debate.

Yeah, the short range of most witchfires Zoanthropes have access to causes issues, unless you put them in a Spore, of course.

**-Loki-**

I never even looked at the malediction stacking on 'different' maledictions like that. Neither did my gaming group, who is perfectly happy with stackable Enfeebles.

That said, even non stacking Enfeeble is useful. When fighting Space Marines, going from wounding on 5's and being wounded on 3's to wounding on 4's and being wounded on 4's is massive. Especially when you have Poison and T3 Marines means you're rerolling failed wounds as well. Bringing Thunderhammers and Powerfists down to S6 is massive for the survivability of MC's - doubly so if they also have Iron Arm. Bringing S3 T3 armies to S2 T2 gives Tyranid infantry the Marine advantage, wounding on 3's and being wounded on 5's, plus makes those armies powerfists even more useless.

So yeah, I'll stick with Biomancy on my Zoanthropes. Endurance and Enfeeble are too potentially awesome to pass up, while their stock powers are completely redundant in 6th edition. I will, however, look into Telepathy.

**Kain**

I find the Warp lance still getting a lot of use to deal with the infamous Necron AV13 wall of deathly doomy doom or IG or Space Marine Siege Assault Vanguard tank horde.

**-Loki-**

The problem is, that's the only place it has a use. If your opponents only play Necron walls of death and tank heavy Guard and tank heavy Space Marines, then designing your anti tank around warp lance is helpful. Against everything else, you're better off basing your anti tank around other things. Simply being able to swap powers out won't help you if you based your anti tank around Warp Lance.

And really, those are also the armies where Hive Guard spam still has a use. I'd be hard pressed to recommend Zoanthropes with stock powers over Hive Guard in those limited situations.

**Kain**

Hive Guard against nine LRDs is a hard sell. One person in my FLGS is attempting to bring back the old maxed out LRD charge, once even bringing eighteen in a double FOC game and simply relying on grinding down any opposition while dropping down vet squads from vendettas onto objectives once everyone who could stand in his way was dead.

The space marine siege assault vanguard player combines the rather annoying rerollable armor save space marines with a damn wall of squadron'd predators and/or vindicators, maybe the occasional land raider in double FOC games. The zoanthropes can not only kill the tanks with what amounts to effectively garaunteed penetration, but can kill the space marines who are otherwise tougher than terminators.

**Cyaneye**

Once I improvise a spore model, I'll use mine as deep-striking synaptic relays with their default powers. I tried the psychic power tables, and had horrid luck every time, plus it's hard to pass up the only ap3 shooting attack in the codex.

Though in a recent game I had to footslog (or would that be floatslog?) them up the board. They vaporized most of a havok unit with the ap3 blast and absorbed the entire army's shooting before they went down.

**shamroll**

I usually run Zoanthropes with stock powers. The randomness of the other powers make it difficult to plan for. A few of the Zoanthropes will always end up with mostly useless powers. Knowing that I have 2 strong damaging powers is always nice. Warp Lance is great for taking out tanks that can't be killed with brain-leech worms. Warp Blast is great for taking out MEQ or tight groups and at S5 it can cause some wounds.

I've also had HORRIBLE luck with PS and even DOM.

**PrinceRaven**

Psychic Shriek, Assail & Smite aren't random and quite useful (well, apart from Assail, that's only useful in dealing with high initiative enemies you're about to get into combat with) plus Telepathy isn't very risky at all for Zoanthropes, as of the 7 powers, the primaris is good (especially against Tau and Guard), 2 is situationally useful (I generally drop it for Psychic Shriek), 1 & are good, 3 is amazing and 5 & 6 are impossible to get, so out of 36 games you'll roll double 2s once, but the other 35 will give you 2 good powers.

**Xyptc**

Ah my favourite unit. I always try and include 6 in my lists at 1500 and above. They are simply too versatile to pass up on.

Biomancy is the normal choice because of the excellent buffing potential, but I have also gotten a lot out of Telekinesis.

OM is wonderful, and I've gotten a surprising amount of mileage out of Telekine Dome too. Sticking TD on a huge blob of Hormagaunts of Genestealers (ideally with some sort of FNP as well) is a great way to make a below-average unit really nasty.

I have occasionally used OM to flay flyers out of the sky, too. Which is very satisfying.