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Okay hear me out! I am new to the hobby but saw people have 1) disregarded Tyranid. 2) Disregarded specific units in the roster. None so much it seems as the Hive Crone...

Why I think it is now S tier quite simply comes down to 2 words: VORACIOUS AMMUNITION - For those unaware this is the new Adaptive physiology that when a model dies in a unit you roll a d3 and inflict that much mortal wounds to the target.

Idea is as follows: 2 hive crone each equipped with VORACIOUS AMMUNITION. This works out to be a measley 286 pts. 30'" movement range means you can start them quite far back and be out of range of most ranged firepower if you go 2nd and still get in right onto the enemy. TAKE KRAKEN. When your turn starts move the hive crones onto the enemy. Be smart with placement get around to their back line so you can make a charge onto valuable range/ artillery units yet still be in range of all your guns onto weaker infantry or multiwound elite.
move units forward and pepper the enemy with everything but the hive crones or until the set up has been made. Get multi wound units or vehicles down to 1 or 2 wounds on a model. This is like preparing your hive crone to take the shot.

Okay you have gotten to a point that is advantageous for your hive crones to now attack. SPLIT your fire, 1 range weapon one unit, the 2nd into another unit, the third into yet another unit. Use weapons intelligently and effectively to ensure 1 of each model dies. Now You hopefully take out at least 1 model from each unit. Roll D3 to each of those 3 units and bam you have potential of 9 mortal wounds from 1 hive crone. Now use any other units that have not shot yet that could help set up the next hive crone. Or right away if the wounds or units are there. Now thats another potential 9 mortal wounds. all this ontop of any damage you inflicted with your range weapons.

Now charge phase comes around and you smack your crones into their backline. Any artillery or guns that you do not want firing. Range cant target you in combat. Hope your crones survive from combat till next turn.

Meanwhile at the frontline you take swarm lord and you slingshoted a group of genestealers and or hormagaunts up the map to tie up their front line.

Now once it is your next turn. This is where kraken comes into play... Fall back with your hive crones, Shoot again on anything you can and charge back in. If you want you can even pull out your other mellee units like the genestealers and hormies. You can then have your big guns like exocrine, or hive guard fire into the vehicles you tied up with your crones. Let the hive crone shoot its weapons all around picking specific units and commence another charge into and backline threat that has not been taken out.

In theory I think it would make for a completely devistating rush army that would catch your opponent off guard and dish out tonnes of mortal wounds. What are your guys thoughts on it? I think because Hive crone has 3 different ranged weapon profiles it can make the most out of the New Adaptive physiology Voracious Ammunition. Even if you use just one hive crone at 143 pts this could be very strong. What do you guys think? Is this in theory possible to do?

Two Dakkafexes can potentially inflict 24 mortal wounds with Voracious Ammunition for about 200pts, each having four weapons. They don't have the same mobility and can't expect to tie up backline vehicles turn 1, but then again, I think the most likely outcome of that particular maneuver is the vehicle falling back and the rest of their army nuking your Hive Crones.

If the opponent is smart to begin with, they'll see two flyers and deploy to screen around their backline vehicles. You can't charge into combat with a Basilisk if there's a ring of Guardsmen around it preventing your Hive Crone's rather large base from fitting.

Ultimately, I think the issue is that there are more useful adaptive physiologies than Voracious Ammunition. It's a cool idea, but the requirement to actually kill at least one model means either you split fire at chaff (where bonus MW aren't that useful) or you concentrate fire onto a tough unit (so you get your D3 against that unit, and that's it). And it provides no help against vehicles, too.

All that means that you're generally better off using your two Adaptive Physiologies on big broods of Warriors or Genestealers, or monsters. I suspect, if you want a pair of speedy shooty bugs to be a thorn in the enemy's side, you'd get a lot more mileage out of a pair of flying Hive Tyrants with Dermic Symbiosis.

Sorry my friend, but the ability says to select ONE enemy unit that had one or more models die this turn, not EACH or anything similar. It doesn't matter how many different enemies you shoot at and kill, only one will ever take the extra d3 mortal wounds.

I thought it was only up to a maximum of one model death. So That 22 mortal wound dakkafex doesnt make sense.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
This is what I am reading from.. Is this incorrect wording??

Voracious ammunitions: Either host to nests of ever-hungry bio-ammunition or unique organs generating a constant stream of biochemical substances, this xenos brute’s far-reaching touch continues to sear and consume long after it has moved on to other prey.

At the end of your Shooting phase, all enemy unit that had one or more models destroyed this phase as a result of an attack made by this model suffer D3 mortal wounds.

I think that is the incorrect wording. I have the Blood of Baal book (Nid player myself!) and saw the leaked wording, and lots of folks were talking about giving it to something like an Exocrine that could shoot twice. Some people said it didn't work that way as it was "choose one unit". I checked the wording in the book myself when I received it. It is indeed "pick an enemy unit", and not some other wording that allows differently. Sorry :(

Yup, just checked my book and Yarium is correct. I own the actual thing and totally missed that difference between initial reporting and the actual rule.

Absolute waste of an Adaptive Physiology slot then.

This is so dumb crones are trash. The imagined scenario this would work in is laughable. Hey guys my mandrakes are s tier now all it requires is the enemy to keep rolling ones on his dice every time. Patehtic the entire tyranid army is pathetic now.if it's not primaris it's not worth the real pounds you spent in fact it's not worth the postage .