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Here is the rules situation:

A unit of Primaris Suppressors fire their auto cannons, splitting shots between a brood of 3 Venomthropes and a Hive Tyrant that's within the hit modifier bubble for said Venomthropes. The marine player resolves the shots against the Venomthropes first, and he kills 1. The brood is now down to 2, which would mean they no longer provide the hit modifier bubble to the Hive Tyrant. If all of the shots in a unit are simultaneous though, would this mean that the attacks against the Hive Tyrant would still be at a -1? Would the other Suppressors in the unit get the advantage of no more spore cloud even though, when they called their shots, the Venomthrope brood was at 3?

The Venomthropes' ability affects attacks that target a friendly unit while the friendly unit is within 6+" of (a sufficiently numerous unit of) Venomthropes.
All of the targets for an entire unit's attacks are chosen at the same time.
The Hive Tyrant was targeted while within range of a unit of 3 Venomthropes.
The Hive Tyrant receives the benefit.

Nothing in 40k is simultaneous. If a situation comes up where it would be, sequencing kicks in, and the player whose turn it is decides the order of operations. The attacking player can choose to resolve the shots at the venomthropes first, and if he kills one of them, the hive tyrant wouldnt get -1 to hit anymore.

2. Choose Targets
Having chosen a shooting unit, you must
pick the target unit, or units, for the
attacks....

Here the venomthropes and the hive tyrant gets targeted.

3. Choose Ranged Weapon

The weapons a model has are listed
on its datasheet. If a model has several
weapons, it can shoot all of them at the
same target, or it can shoot each at a
different enemy unit. Similarly, if a unit
contains more than one model, they can
shoot at the same, or different targets as
you choose. In either case, declare how
you will split the shooting unit’s shots
before any dice are rolled, and resolve
all the shots against one target before
moving on to the next.

This tells us to resolve all shots against one target before moving on to the next. The marine player decides to resolve all shots against the venomthropes first.

Shrouding Spores
Your opponent must subtract 1 from hit rolls for ranged weapons that target <HIVE FLEET> units....

Shrouding spores says to subtract 1 from hit rolls for ranged weapons. The hit rolls for the hive tyrant happens after all the shots against the venomthropes have been resolved. If one has been killed, and only two are left, there is no -1 to hit anymore.

p5freak is correct. The attacks are not simultaneous. Heck, multiple attacks by one unit against the same target unit are not simultaneous. That's why it is possible for some model in a unit to not get Cover Save Bonus while others do once the units outside of cover die.

Shots are resolved one at a time, as per core rules. They aren’t simultaneous. If a Venomthrope is killed the Hive Tyrant wouldn’t get benefit of the spores.

Yeah p5freak has it right. You can alter the outcomes by choosing the order of your targets wisely.

If you get p5freak, JohnnyHell and BCB all agreeing - that is about as definitive as it gets!

I also agree for what it's worth.

None of those responses address the fact that, when an attack targets the Hive Tyrant, it is within range of a unit of 3 Venomthropes, which appears to be what the wording of the Venomthropes' ability cares about.

Maethbalnane wrote:
None of those responses address the fact that, when an attack targets the Hive Tyrant, it is within range of a unit of 3 Venomthropes, which appears to be what the wording of the Venomthropes' ability cares about.

I see what you are saying but I think you are reading it incorrectly.

"Your opponent must subtract 1 from hit rolls for ranged weapons that target <HIVE FLEET> units (excluding MONSTERS) within 6" of any friendly <HIVE FLEET> Venomthropes."

Target isnt a timing restriction, it is saying that the shots in question must be targeting such a unit. It doesnt affect the roll until the roll is made, at which point if the Venomthropes are gone the rule no longer applies.

Maethbalnane wrote:
None of those responses address the fact that, when an attack targets the Hive Tyrant, it is within range of a unit of 3 Venomthropes, which appears to be what the wording of the Venomthropes' ability cares about.

You can only subtract 1 from hit rolls when you make the hit rolls. No hit rolls are made at the time when the unit is targeted.

'Target' is a verb which describes a particular moment in the attack sequence: Step 2.

"Apply [modifier] during Step 4.1 for attacks which meet [criteria] during Step 2" seems to me to be a perfectly coherent and internally consistent reading of this rule.

If there is a reason why this is not coherent / internally consistent, or if this reading is contradicted elsewhere by a rule/faq/errata of which I am not aware, please feel free to explain or direct me to it.

The timing is when a hit roll is made. If the target is not within range of a Venomthrope at that time, the ability does not apply. That's it really.

Isn't this argument kind of moot, since the OP said that the two targets were Venomthropes and a Hive Tyrant, but the rule cited by Stux wouldn't affect a Hive Tyrant anyway since it's a MONSTER?

 flandarz wrote:
Isn't this argument kind of moot, since the OP said that the two targets were Venomthropes and a Hive Tyrant, but the rule cited by Stux wouldn't affect a Hive Tyrant anyway since it's a MONSTER?

Not true for Venomthrope units of 3 or more models. Thus the OP's details of a unit of 3 at Step 2, and a unit of 2 partway through Step 4.
edit: the rule as cited earlier was incomplete

Fair enough. In that case, I'm not 100% on how the rule should go. My gut feeling is that p5 and the others are probably correct. Especially once BCB agrees, cuz you'll be unlikely to find a single person who knows (and plays by) the RAW as strictly as he does.

 flandarz wrote:
Isn't this argument kind of moot, since the OP said that the two targets were Venomthropes and a Hive Tyrant, but the rule cited by Stux wouldn't affect a Hive Tyrant anyway since it's a MONSTER?

Sorry I cut the quote short, there is an additional clause extending it to MONSTERS. The relevant bit to the argument is the bit i quoted.

It's also applicable to Malenthropes, so a valid question either way.

It´s also handy/important to know when shooting multiple different weapons at one unit with multiple wounds per model. Example from my last game: PM squad firing at primaris, it is better for me to first resolve the overcharged plasma, then the blight launchers and only then the bolters. This way a minimum of damage gets "wasted".

The modifiers are applied when the roll is made. An example of this is for when part of a unit is in cover. GW has ruled in their FAQ that once the models not in cover have been removed the saves get the cover bonus.

It would work in reverse for this case, the modifier being applied until the conditions occur from model removal that the modifier isn't given yet, so any shooting at the model after that point would not get that negative modifier.

The language used for Terrain and Cover is not the same as the language used for Venomthropes' Shrouding Spores.

If Shrouding Spores was worded in the same way as Terrain and Cover, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

It demonstrates how GW handles these type of things, however.

Only if you presuppose that the two are intended to work in the same way.

If you do not make that unfounded presupposition, then you are left with the very reasonable conclusion that THIS type of thing IS NOT THAT type of thing, as evidenced by their distinct rules language.

Modifiers are determined when you make the roll. As Stux pointed out, if the target isn't within range of the Venomthrope (or this case 3 since it's a Monster), you don't meet the qualifications to get the negative modifier.

With this rule, you meet the qualifications for modifiers in step 4.1 by having met qualifications in step 2. That is what the rules says.

Except by the time you roll, you do not meet the req of the rule. You're NOT in range.

The requirements in step 4.1 (the time you roll) are that you met the requirements in step 2 (the time you target).

Maethbalnane wrote:
The requirements in step 4.1 (the time you roll) are that you met the requirements in step 2 (the time you target).

No, it doesnt look back at the time you targeted. It checks at the time you roll if your target is in range.

Maethbalnane wrote:
With this rule, you meet the qualifications for modifiers in step 4.1 by having met qualifications in step 2. That is what the rules says.

I see where you are misguided. You may check range from the shooting unit to the target at step 2, but there is no statement about checking to see if the target is within range of other units to get buffs or negative modifiers at that step. These would not be checked until rolls are made where it would be necessary to determine if there are modifiers. So, in this case you wouldn't check to see if there's a -1 to hit with a second set of weapons in the unit until after the first set of weapons has been resolved. At that point you don't have the venomthropes to provide the -1 to hit.

Maethbalnane wrote:
The requirements in step 4.1 (the time you roll) are that you met the requirements in step 2 (the time you target).

Yes, which was to be within range of the unit targeted

Show me the rule that states at step 2 you are required to check any other range. You can't.