spore mine cluster!!!!

[neomangas]

well... here is something I overlooked!
I think these little pest could hold up to something!
they have dropped 50% in price and in my opinion got a lot better!
now you move them very slowly in what ever direction you want in stead of scattering them d6...
but the main crazy thing is the strength of the explosion is +1 for every additional spore! so a group of 6 is S9 ap4 large blast! no cover!!! and for only 5 points each!
lets say they miss the mark... they are still a pretty cheap distraction!

now what I was unsure about... there is not much clarification on what makes them explode?? if you deep strike these and they land on the enemy do they explode?! if they move and touch an enemy do the explode?
it says in the description that they can run and charge but they do not attack in close combat instead they detonate? do you need them to get into close combat for them to detonate? I would find that pretty odd?

what do you guys think?

[nyvyan]

Yea as far as I know, they will detonate within 1" of an enemy model, even through deep striking. Which will, together with the new +1S rule, make them an awesome distraction/way to bottleneck opponents.

[rpricew]

I'm not sure it works that way... It only says they explode in close combat. The 1" thing was the 5th edition codex.

[neomangas]

I so hope this is true and a FAQ does not destroy my dreams... you could max out 60-90 points on three units... and drop these off all over your homies deployment turn 2... camping cultists in the back... goodbye! this would make Tau fire warriors cry! its only logical they detonate once they touch the enemy! surely!

[neomangas]

because them deep striking into an open space... kinda makes no sense what so ever...

[vampiremonkey]

Spore mines are a bit strange in this dex but they sound great ,also i have spotted something which may make tyranid players really think.
When the spore mine charges an enemy unit its attack is to detonate .
So what if they charge a tank -lets take a russ with rear 10 armour value.
The spores detonate at intiative 10 step which means they are in combat because intiative steps are a subphase of close combat...... it goes on in the dex to say you get a auto hit per model under the blast marker but not what facing on tanks . If its technically close combat then hits are worked out on the tanks rear armour facing .
In the rules infantry attacking a tank in close combat strike the rear because they shoot at visions slits and go for areas that can be damage. The spore mine attack worked out on rear armour can be explained by the spores latching onto the tank blowing up doing damage to vital spots . ....... just a thought.

[rpricew]

90 points of disruption goodness!!! Sounds like a fun experiment

[Xenos]

The thing is a unit of grots would blast them out of the sky with ease. I don't think you'll ever get to detonate them but they are an excellent distraction.

[revx]

really instead of charging them its better to spreads them out at max coherency so you limit your opponents movement and force them to waste a unit of shooting.

[scrotatohead]

Jan 13, 2014 11:09:49 GMT nyvyan said:

Yea as far as I know, they will detonate within 1" of an enemy model, even through deep striking. Which will, together with the new +1S rule, make them an awesome distraction/way to bottleneck opponents.

I believe that's old codex. They actually explode now as an "attack" in close combat. You actually charge them into assault so they are b2b with the enemy. You're still only going to be able to put half the template over enemy models but the S4+1 per additional spores is pretty cool.

[tanagra]

Are spore mines that are fired from a biovore subject to the "Cannot assault the turn it arrives" rule? Cause if not, that would make a near miss still salvageable with the new and improved Assault capable version ^.^

[Sensei]

Jan 13, 2014 15:24:54 GMT scrotatohead said:

You're still only going to be able to put half the template over enemy models but the S4+1 per additional spores is pretty cool.

That's exactly why I'm not sold on them. If they each moved individually after deployment, kept the barrage rule based on number of mines, or if they had a special rule that allowed them to somehow pull themselves into the middle of a unit, they'd be great. I think points (and the fast attack slot) are better spent on other options. When you think about it, a full unit costs 30 points for the chance at a single large blast that might go off and at most is only going to have half of the template over targets.

Furthermore I don't think they can actually get to strength 10... I know the rule says to a max of 10, but it says a spore mine is S4 and gains +1 S for each additional spore. At max you can have 6 spores which means there are 5 additional spores so max S is capped at 9.

There could be some utility to spreading them at max coherency but they aren't guaranteed to come in turn two, and don't they have to deepstrike together? I can't remember deepstrike rules off the top of my head, but I don't think they can drop in a long line at max coherency. A single unit that has no other good target will wipe them, or a unit with split fore just laughs. Most opponents would be better to ignore them and if they manage to make a charge at half distance, and survive overwatch, they can only cause wounds with half the template. They are better than last codex, but still not worth paying points for IMO.

[Sensei]

Jan 13, 2014 16:02:08 GMT tanagra said:

Are spore mines that are fired from a biovore subject to the "Cannot assault the turn it arrives" rule? Cause if not, that would make a near miss still salvageable with the new and improved Assault capable version ^.^

Could be useful at soaking overwatch, but if you are shooting spores at a unit, there probably isn't a unit in charge range because of risk of scatter. Also, you only get d3 spores if the first blast misses no matter how many biovores. A unit of 3 only has a 1/3 chance of landing 3 spores if it misses.

[coredump]

Here is my take on all of the details:

thetyranidhive.proboards.com/thread/44891/spore-mines-clusters-cysts-burst

[Sensei]

Interesting point that they can pile in. Biovores and harpys have some weird tricks, but like you said rules leave a lot of questions for resolving blasts in cc. Still not worth paying for as a fast attack, but at least misses might be able to do something, even if it is just soak overwatch.