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Hey there, just got a package of zoanthropes/venomthropes to boost my swarm. Which one you would prefer? My swarm lacks ranged anti-tank so zoanthropes could do the trick, but venomthrope can add survivability. Any ideas for combination?

well, frankly, they are both some of the best units in our codex, so you`ll get use out of either really. however, id say that to begin with zoanthropes are the most generally useful (maybe get a tyrannocyte for them? very good at dropping behind enemy armour and frying them then) also, extra synapse never hurts. Squad of three and you may as well make one a neurothrope unless you are making a tournament army and every point counts.
Id still recommend getting another box as venomthropes are also really useful (though the amount of ignores cover stuff is getting ridiculous) but for the first unit id say zoeys are your best bet.

Both have their uses. Zoanthropes give you another Synapse unit and some potential anti-tank if your power goes off, plus each unit acts like a Warp Charge Battery. You can even put units of 1 Zoanthrope on the board and get 2 Warp Charges in the pool per single Zoanthrope. But they have no regular shots and are just horrible in CC.

Venomthropes are slightly better in CC, and their Shrouded buff is nothing to sneeze at. Still no shooting attack.

For what it's worth, I always bring 1 or 2 units of Venomthropes for the Shrouded, while I only bring Zoanthropes if I need more Synapse or want more Warp Charges.

Venomthropes to support your bugs then maybe zoans later to add more punch.

Zoanthropes are rather unreliable. More a choice of desperation than a solid anti-tank unit.
Thankfully, the kind of heavy tanks they are supposed to be good at killing can mostly be dealt with in other ways, or are just not very commonly taken. So you can get by without them.

You can either take multiple in a unit to increase warp lance shots per successful cast, or take them as multiple units of 1 to use as warp charge batteries (rather annoyingly, since they use the brotherhood of psykers rule you don't get extra warp charges for putting multiple zoanthropes in the same unit).


Venomthropes on the other hand are nearly always useful.
Tyranids are a squishy army, that lives or dies on their cover saves. Boosting those cover saves is always useful.
Yes there is a lot of stuff out there these days that can ignore cover, but cover is still what we've got to work with.

Thanks for all suggestions, I would propably go for 2 venomthrope and 1 zoanthrope, as my swarm is build for a tournament. The lack of anti tank is terrifying, but in the future i could get another box of zoanthropes.

Yep, I will echo what the others said. Zoanthropes are useful and great anti-tank, warp charge generators, and synapse providers.

However, all of those jobs can be done by other options in the codex. On the other hand, venomthropes are the only unit that can provide shrouded and make ALL of your units MUCH more survivable. The base +2 to cover is so incredibly helpful, particularly if you are planning to run swarms of little guys. Put them in any cover and they are saving on a 3+. Sure, there are a plethora of ignores cover weapons out there these days. But not everything is.

IMO, I would always go venomthropes first, zoanthropes second.

Zoanthropes are inarguably better. They are Anti MEQ, Anti-vehicle, Synapse, Psykers and anti-psyker (due to being a ML 2 squad and having Shadow in the Warp). You could also splt them into 2 or 3 units to provide additional firing options, spacing for Synapse, psychic defense. They are fairly durable with 2 wounds and 3++.

Venomthropes are nice, I like the 2+ shrouded, but the IB rules make them bad as with everything with IB, and there's far too much Ignores Cover to rely on them. They are useful but only in combination with other units, and they don't do much else besides as they are poor in combat and don't have shooting. Anything which extends the range of your army is a great idea, but Zoanthropes have a 30" threat range and Venomthropes 6". You also have to bunch up more so Blasts and Templates, already a bane of horde armies, get much more powerful. If your opponent rocks up with lots of templates, especially Torrent flamers (Dreadknights, Hellhounds, Heldrakes, etc) you're going to suffer big time.

Concerning the 'thrope' family it generally goes, Malanthrope>Venomthrope>Zoanthropes.

Malanthropes are basically buffed up Venomthropes that provide shroud, spore cloud, synapse, pretty good in CC and can provide preferred enemy to your nids if it wins CC. The main issue with Malanthropes is they're FW. However they're great models, fairly cheap for FW at £50 a pop (which isn't cheap in general) and the Nid FW book just got it's paperback version. That said only two units in the book are really worthwhile.

The main issue between Venomthropes and Zoanthropes is they have completely different roles. Venomthropes are there to support your other units, while Zoanthropes are tank busters.... which also provide synapse, which makes sense in the fluff but on the table that's the only reason to keep them close to allied units. It's a shame Venomthropes don't provide synapse and is the main reason many go with the more durable Malanthropes.

My recommendation would be 2 Malanthropes then go with the Zoans. The main reason the Malanthropes fill the Venom's role much better.

If you don't have any Malanthropes go for a squad of each, maybe split them both into 2/3 smaller squads depending on your needs.

Don't buy anything yet lad!!!!! Wait til new rules drop unless it's for modelling purposes!

buy a set of magnets, build both : )

For maybe 20 bucks you can buy the extra bits (tails, chests, and back spines) to build both on ebay. Build 3 of each.

 oldzoggy wrote:
buy a set of magnets, build both : )

Kinda hard to do with that set..

Not as hard as you might think, but you do certainly need the correctly sized small strong magnets and do some drilling especially in the top of the "legs" part.
However it beats spending 20 bucks + shipping on parts with ease ; )

 oldzoggy wrote:
Not as hard as you might think, but you do certainly need the correctly sized small strong magnets and do some drilling especially in the top of the "legs" part.
However it beats spending 20 bucks + shipping on parts with ease ; )

No it doesn't. Magnets and tools and time so you can have 3 models that can be either unit or effectively get a second $70 kit for 20 + shipping

It all depends on how you value your time / hobby time I guess. Since those magnets aren't likely to cost more then a few euro's for more than you will ever need in this project. Also wow I never knew that this kit was that expensive... and that the GW dollar to pound / euro ratio was this screwy. 40 pound / 52 euro is a lot but 70 dollar :\

 oldzoggy wrote:
It all depends on how you value your time / hobby time I guess. Since those magnets aren't likely to cost more then a few euro's for more than you will ever need in this project. Also wow I never knew that this kit was that expensive... and that the GW dollar to pound / euro ratio was this screwy. 40 pound / 52 euro is a lot but 70 dollar :\

Its like... 66 in reality. But then tax and what not.

Magnets are great. I use them all the time. Well worth the investment. But for that kit. Less than half the cost to have 3 of each is WAY better.