Hello again, Danny from TFG Radio here to talk about one of the most laughably terrible units in the game, so get ready for some salt and hopefully for humor to lift our spirits as we talk about the Pyrovore. Be sure to check out Frontline’s Tactics Corner to see what good models look like.
The Pyrovore is meant to be a light infantry sweeper that helps the little bugs punch through the line by taking out the chaff, but its limited range and tendency to suck and die makes it a liability.
Wargear:
Flamespurt: S5 AP4 flamer weapon.
Acid Blood: When wounded in melee, a chance to inflict a wound on the enemy.
Acid Maw: May exchange its melee attacks for one S5 AP2 attack instead.
Options:
May take 2 more for a unit of 3.
Ok, so on the surface, there are a few things to like. A heavy flamer isn’t bad. Acid Blood is ok, super situational, but ok. Acid Maw is actually not too terrible as it at least gives the Pyrovore a chance to hurt a Terminator unit or some such, but with a unit size of only 3 at max, you really aren’t getting a lot of mileage out of it. 3 S5 AP2 attacks at initiative 2 isn’t setting the world on fire, especially for over a hundred points.
Special Rules:
Instinctive Behavior (Feed): If it fails an LD6 test out of synapse, on a 1-3, the unit attacks itself (counted as 4-5 if the Pyrovore is alone), on a 4-5, this bug cannot run/shoot and must attempt assault the closest viable enemy. On a 6, it does the same but receives Rage.
Very Bulky: 3 models for transport.
Volatile: If a Pyrovore is slain by Instant Death, every model within D6 inches suffers a S3 AP- hit.
Ok, so if you are thinking “these guys aren’t so bad”, you aren’t paying attention. IB Feed is terrible for a unit, and the Pyrovores have a chance to slowly eat themselves. Very Bulky is mostly useless as at max unit size of 3, they easily fit in a Tyrannocyte, and Volatile is well, bad. At T4, there is a whole lot of S8 out there, and that means these little bugs are going to pop pretty easy, and S3 AP- is pretty worthless, except against things like Gants, so yah, it mostly sucks for the Nid player, not as a reason for your opponent to be mindful of it.
Ok, so how can you try to use these? You don’t. Well, you can take 3 for a unit of flamer goodness unit that marches up the field and hopes to get within 8 inches of enemies before a swift and terrible death. Oh wait, they will likely die to small arms well before that happens. You can also load them up into a Tyrannocyte and try to drop some flaming death into the backfield to clear away objective campers like Scouts. Of course, this is almost 200 points for a unit that does nothing with a bad scatter. Really, the best use I can think of besides paper weight is to use them as objective campers in your backfield as 2 or 3 D3 S5 AP4 wall of death hits in Overwatch isn’t too bad, especially if you run into a meta heavy with Genestealer Cult. That is really the one time these bugs are legit scary to an enemy is when they are running lots of little 5-man hybrid units to try and ambush away. You are also barely paying over 10 points per wound on these guys, so 3W each isn’t terrible, really. I guess. If they dropped Acid Blood and made each model 15 points cheaper, they’d be slightly less terrible.
Of course, the fundamental problem here is that these bugs just can’t leverage their weapon with any consistency and impact. Everyone wish lists for Torrent, and if they had it, they’d certainly be much better, but they don’t, so let’s wait for 8th edition I guess. A T4, they are very susceptible to Instant Death, and chances are, any unit bringing S8 in melee is going to be able to shrug off Volatile. Again, that rule is more a hindrance for the Nid player than the enemy as it pretty much means they have to stay far away from our little bugs. They are far too slow to be able to get to the enemy and spray them down with flame, and while Acid Maw is cool, with only 3 in the unit, it isn’t that cool. They are also not at all resilient, so even the standard Bolter is going to start giving them problems.
So yah, the Pyrovore is pretty terrible, and even in casual play, it is a waste of points. Even in Kill Team it is pretty worthless. Just in general, don’t take them. If you have them, I’m sorry. Convert them to Biovores where they can get some use, or paint the hell out of them as a nice display piece. The only time to take them is to troll a GSC player. Of course, if you do this and win, be sure to gloat for YEARS. You’ve earned it. Sorry for the salt, but the truth must be said, and well, check out TFG Radio for a bit more. Next up, the Fast Attack choices!
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