My first game with v9.2:

Biel-Tan vs Bugs!, 3000 points

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"EPIC: Total War" Lead Developer

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Shouldn't the respawn cost for WE be 2 per 1 DC? That way Trygons would cost 4 and Hierodules 6 to spawn! In other words: Hierodule will NEVER respawn (maybe seldomly with the "+1D3 for proximity" change) and Trygons only seldomly near a Dominatrix. I am currently hoping that the 3/1DC spawn cost is a typo and not a nerf that makes some Brood creatures effectively unspawnable.

And by the way, why did Hormagaunts get First Strike? They are not that fast/quick in 40k and it makes them too similar to Genestealers in my opinion. Isn't CC5+,EA+1 and Infiltrator enough to make them as good as a Termagaunt with his FF5+? I think the First Strike does not quite fit the fluff and pushes them over the Termagaunt.

Personally, I would test the 9.2 list with the following changes:
War Engine unit spawning cost: 2 Spawning Points/1DC (I assume this was a typo.)
Assault Group for 125 pts; Replace one Tyranid Warrior with a Hive Tyrant for +50 points.
Gargoyle Flock for 75 pts.
Gaunt Cluster for 50 pts.
Zoanthrope Cluster deleted. (They were left in there by mistake.)

Note that this list does not contain an actual rules change (unless I assume a typo was made). I would also play Hormagaunts without First Strike (see above), but that would be a rulses change... Lowering the point costs of the groups that were hit the most by the Warrior = LV change (which I don't see as bad per se) makes them still competetive choices. Otherwise, I fear these will be left by the wayside or - if taken in serious numbers - result in an unfun "bash the Tyranids" game. With the lowered points cost, we can still oberserve the effects of the changes made to the Nids while preventing the players from becoming too frustrated. If the Warriors and Gaunts rule the battlefield, the changes could still be reversed, but I don't expect that to happen.

Nice Batrep Chroma, I will read it shortly. Seems like the Tyranids got bashed quite heavily.

Hormagants definately didn't need both first strike and +1 EA. One of the other would have been sufficient, they're now noticably superior to Termies.

I also cannot understand the logic of LV for warriors et al.

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Epic: Hive Development Thread

Well, they're pushed to the extreme for playtesting purposes.  Most Tyranid players, other than Dave, thought they sucked, so they've gotten a big boost... and I *still* debate on whether to take Termagants instead.  If they prove to be overwhelming, they'll be toned down.  Go playtest.  

I also cannot understand the logic of LV for warriors et al.

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"EPIC: Total War" Lead Developer

Now living in Boston... any EPIC players want to meet up?

I believe the FS on the Hormagaunts was a C&P error. I'll be testing 9.2 Friday hopefully.

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Dave

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Because it's supposed to be a horde of "tooth-and-claw", not reappearing War Engines... one of the biggest complaints that non-Tyranid players have had about spawning is that war engines can appear "from nowhere"... so, it's *supposed* to be tough to do and easy for the enemy to thwart.

Any lucky swarm can bring back a Trygon, but only a secure Dominatrix can bring back a Hierodule.

You can't honestly tell me an opponent would be happy seeing a swarm Marshal back a Hierodule and then rally back another Hierodule?

I still like the idea of "Brood Hives" to give a local spawning boost, but that's an idea for another day.

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"EPIC: Total War" Lead Developer

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Because Warriors tower over the lesser Gaunts, draw "shoot the big ones fire", and it's for playtesting.  That's the logic.

I believe the intention was to promote common heavy armies, so WE effectively became one-off in the list.

But the whole question of spawning is moot anyway. Originally the intention was to generate a feeling of *unlimited* waves of bugs sweeping across the battlefield, and also partly to reduce the number of bits a player needed. However, it has always proved hard to balance and play effectively (and I guess that is down to individual interpretations of how it should feel).

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"Play up and play the game"

Vitai lampada
Sir Hemry Newbolt

Make that Dave and me. Okay, I don't play Tyranids, but I do play against them. I don't think they need both First Strike and EA+1. Heck, I'm not sure they need either of them. It's bad enough that Stealers have both.

Other thoughts:
Thanks for making Warriors LV. Now I can achieve BTS more easily.

Is +2 for engage really necessary? I think it's too much. +1 seems fine to me.

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"I don't believe in destiny or the guiding hand of fate." N. Peart

But no one in the world of 40k shouts "Shoot what they're riding!"  *laugh*

Marine and Ork bikes, as well as Rough Riders, have the mounted special rule to represent their "vehicle-like" nature.

Look at a Tyranid Warrior model... in 40k, or EPIC, or the Dawn of War II demo... they tower over Gaunts... they're *obvious* targets... especially for an enemy who has experience fighting Bugs.  

Again, this is a *playtest* change.  Honestly, I lost fewer Synapse creatures in my first game with v9.2 than I ever have before... and this was against an AT-packing Eldar army!

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"EPIC: Total War" Lead Developer

Now living in Boston... any EPIC players want to meet up?

Chroma, has there been any thought about spawning at a significant distance from the enemy? One of my niggles is that spawning tends to be a little random, concentrating on particular broods rather than providing a *wave* of bugs spread generally across the battlefield. So, a related question is whether there is any way of promoting the notion of re-organising swarms to feed bugs forwards?

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"Play up and play the game"

Vitai lampada
Sir Hemry Newbolt

In the same way that Ogryns tower over ratlings?

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Epic: Hive Development Thread

Yep... and Crisis Suits over Fire Warriors.

EPIC is missing a "unit classification" to denote these infantry that are bigger than normal guys, but not a vehicle either... eg, a "Heavy Infantry" catagory that would clear up a lot of oddities.

This is an attempt at replicating that effect.

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"EPIC: Total War" Lead Developer

Now living in Boston... any EPIC players want to meet up?