funny tactic

[hadriel]

so i recently bought a 2nd or 3rd biovore and noticed they are very small, and well looking at some other pictures I came to the Realization 2nd are very very small in comparison.

now wouldn't it be funny to use one of these models as either a tyrant or swarmy and have people forget about them because of there size until they get destroyed by it it has been working with my biovore i hid it behind a building to deny LOS and the other person forgot about it

[Psychichobo]

I've seen people consider and try this, but it doesn't go down well. Only at tournaments could you possibly justify it since it'd be legal, but the 2nd Ed Tyrant is so small he's usually used as a Prime these days.

People don't tend to like what is essentially modelling for the advantage though. It does feel unfair to the other person, I've had it done to me before, and accidentally done it to someone with a very well-painted Lictor (camo scheme accidentally matched the terrain piece he was in and we both forgot him until near the end when he finally moved and killed something).

[stinckpickle]

Dec 3, 2012 0:19:18 GMT Psychichobo said:

I've seen people consider and try this, but it doesn't go down well. Only at tournaments could you possibly justify it since it'd be legal, but the 2nd Ed Tyrant is so small he's usually used as a Prime these days.

People don't tend to like what is essentially modelling for the advantage though. It does feel unfair to the other person, I've had it done to me before, and accidentally done it to someone with a very well-painted Lictor (camo scheme accidentally matched the terrain piece he was in and we both forgot him until near the end when he finally moved and killed something).

That's hilarious! Do you have any pics of the paint job. Must be good for it to actually work.

Hadriel-Yes you "could" do this, but people probably won't play you after a while. It's a little too cheesy for my appetite.

[Illithid]

If the model matches the rest of your force and you actually have a 2nd Ed. Army, sure! I still have a few of the old carnifex and 2x tyrants (not that I use them) - essentially I could run a 1000pt 2nd Ed. army.

But if you are just buying them for advantage, that is a no no.

[commandersasha]

"Modelling For Advantage" is the key phrase here, and yes it very much goes against the spirit of the game.
I have an entirely Proxy army, Skaven-Counts-As-Tyranids, and have put a lot of work into ensuring that my rats come out the same size as their 'Niddy counterparts; even then, if it's a close call as to whether they get or confer Line-If-Sight or cover, I will err on my opponent's side: win by winning, or lose, but don't win by cheating!

[Anggul]

The 2nd ed Hive Tyrant is now a Tyranid Prime model really. A very nice one at that.

[hadriel]

Ok good to know the only 2nd ed m9del I have is a biovore and I got him not releizing the size difference. I just saw a second ed army on ebay and thought it was funny. But I didnt think about using a old tyrant as a prime, wouldnt there still be a big size difference for it?

[stinckpickle]

prime doesnt have a model, so you can make it whatever you want. (within reason)

[WestRider]

Not that much difference in overall size. Here's my Tyranid Prime converted from a 2nd Ed Tyrant, next to a current Warrior for size comparison:

[biorivera]

Modelling for the advantage hits the nail on the head. The only way this is a "funny" tactic is the smell of cheese/beard residue all over it imo ;P

If you show me a trygon that's just a head sticking out of the ground, I'll say "cute" and then when I measure for shooting treat it as if the model was the factory height(and if you don't like that you don't have to play me just like I don't have to play you- just know that when I talk behind your back and to your face about trying to get away with something like that I'm going to make other players not want to play you either).

I personally feel that modelling for coolness when done with that intent is acceptable. And another distinction is that what is a "little" advantage? because sure 1" is only an inch, but when the whole model is only 4" tall....that's 25% which is a difference in cover determination.

Also I feel like I might get some hate because I seem to be representing the rigid authoritarian ruleship that allows gaming for the win to get so.....sleazy and unfriendly. I'd say though that most people have SOMETHING they enjoy they get competitive over. I'm no tourney hot-dogger but understand that the big tourneys....people are there to WIN. You can be there to have fun, but so are they and to them their height of fun may be winning a major tourney. If that scene doesn't appeal to you I personally think you picked a bad hobby(one where there is an objective loser at the end).

Now, would I ever get up someone's behind about modelling for the advantage? I never have to date. I appreciate conversions, and so long as they aren't obviously getting an advantage I'm fine with that. But if they are, the first thing I'm going to suggest is allowing me to pretend the model is standard size for rules purposes. If you aren't okay with that, I have a hard time believing you aren't modelling for the advantage- which I think is pathetic(but that's just me) unless you KNOW your opponent is going to play with the same type of advantages. i myself have conversions I use, that I try my best to keep near the correct model size.

beyond the financial element this is a very real reason why at tourneys(at GW sanctioned ones anyways) they only allow GW made models- it largely eliminates this subjective judge call problem.

Trust me, I was PISSED when I found out that the tervigon model was so huge after I had already converted two fex's into tervi's. But frankly, no one made me convert them. As a matter of fact- I remember very distinctly talking to my friend irl and saying "watch them make the tervigon a bigger model than the fex that way I can piss pure unfiltered rage" and I called it. Based off the fact I had that kind of foresight, can I really blame anyone but myself? for a hobby so expensive, I should have known better and waited instead of being the typical reactionary idjit and being like "RAWR WTF GW FIX MY MISTAKES UR SO DUMB". As a result, I converted my tervigons to devil-fex's. Some people can choose not to follow that example, but if we get in a tourney and the increased hitbox makes a difference in a win(if something I want like a prize is on the line), I'm calling a judge to make you treat it like the official model.

Sparknotes: conversions are cool, but remember the rules. you're playing a wargame, and people don't like it when their opponents give themselves advantages of that type and some(more than others) will call you out.

[Psychichobo]

@stinkpickles: I don't have any pics sadly, but there's plenty of similar stories. Jungle Camo lictors get lost the most from what I hear, mine's a creamy rock colour that got lucky one day.



As for modelling for the downright advantage, I once saw a guy with Bloodletters crawling. Yup.