Hormagaunt Biomorph cc effectiveness

Black Katalyst said:

16x Hormagaunts Charging (Toxin Sacs)

Versus WS3 T3
48 attacks
32 hits
26 wounds

Versus WS3 T4
48 attacks
32 hits
16 wounds

Versus WS4 T3
48 attacks
24 hits
20 wounds

Versus WS4 T4
48 attacks
24 hits
12 wounds

Click to expand...

You are slightly off on your calculations for toxin sacs. It should look like this with the corrections underlined.

]16x Hormagaunts Charging (Toxin Sacs)

Versus WS3 T3
48 attacks
32 hits
21 wounds

Versus WS3 T4
48 attacks
32 hits
16 wounds

Versus WS4 T3
48 attacks
24 hits
16 wounds

Versus WS4 T4
48 attacks
24 hits
12 wounds

Black Katalyst said:

16x Hormagaunts Charging (WS Adrenal Gland and Toxin Sacs)

Versus WS3 T3
48 attacks
32 hits
21 wounds

Versus WS3 T4
48 attacks
32 hits
16 wounds

Versus WS4 T3
48 attacks
32 hits
27 wounds

Versus WS4 T4
48 attacks
32 hits
16 wounds

Click to expand...

You are slightly off of you calculations for this as well due to the same error as the toxin sacs. It should look like this with the corrections underlined.

16x Hormagaunts Charging (WS Adrenal Gland and Toxin Sacs)

Versus WS3 T3
48 attacks
32 hits
21 wounds

Versus WS3 T4
48 attacks
32 hits
16 wounds

Versus WS4 T3
48 attacks
32 hits
21 wounds

Versus WS4 T4
48 attacks
32 hits
16 wounds

Black Katalyst said:

16x Hormagaunts Charging (no Biomorphs) = 46 wounds
16x Hormagaunts Charging (WS Adrenal Gland) = 52 wounds
16x Hormagaunts Charging (Toxin Sacs) = 74
16x Hormagaunts Charging (WS Adrenal Glands and Toxin Sacs) = 80 wounds

So…

16x Hormagaunts (no Biomorphs) = 160 points
16x Hormagaunts (WS Adrenal Gland) = 176 points
16x Hormagaunts Charging (Toxin Sacs) = 192 points
16x Hormagaunts Charging (WS Adrenal Glands and Toxin Sacs) = 208 points

Which means…

-With WS Adrenal Glands, you receive 6 more wounds at 2.7 points per wound.
-With Toxin Sacs, you receive 28 more wounds at 1.14 points per wound.
-With Toxin Sacs and WS Adrenal Glands, you receive 34 more wounds at 1.41 per wound.

Click to expand...

The correction would make this part of your calculations look like this. Again, with corrections underlined.

16x Hormagaunts Charging (no Biomorphs) = 46 wounds
16x Hormagaunts Charging (WS Adrenal Gland) = 52 wounds
16x Hormagaunts Charging (Toxin Sacs) = 65 wounds
16x Hormagaunts Charging (WS Adrenal Glands and Toxin Sacs) = 74 wounds

So…

16x Hormagaunts (no Biomorphs) = 160 points
16x Hormagaunts (WS Adrenal Gland) = 176 points
16x Hormagaunts Charging (Toxin Sacs) = 192 points
16x Hormagaunts Charging (WS Adrenal Glands and Toxin Sacs) = 208 points

Which means…

-With WS Adrenal Glands, you receive 6 more wounds at 2.7 points per wound.
-With Toxin Sacs, you receive 28 more wounds at 1.68 points per wound.
-With Toxin Sacs and WS Adrenal Glands, you receive 34 more wounds at 1.71 per wound.


In the end this does not change conclusion, just though I would point it out as it slightly blunt the effectiveness of the toxin sacs. Overall very nice job, it really helps to put the bimorph cost compared to effectiveness into perspective. In the future you could try to include a way to factor in the units size as that effects it survivability and should also be a concern (21 basic hormogaunts will last longer than 16 WS adrenal glands and toxin sacs ones).

Again good analysis though :yes:

Very good analysis, but I'd like to point out a few more things to consider.

- AG will also increase the defensive capability of your hormogaunts (against WS 5, or WS 2), While TS will do nothing for their defence.

- As is shown quite clearly by your analysis, TS are, in general, more useful than WS glands. But this is in general. Against marines AG will do almost the same job as TS ( 22.2% of your attacks will wound vs. 25%) For half the price.

- Also, as is shown in your analysis, the key difference between AG and TS is that AG won't do a thing when you face WS3, while TS is always usefull (within the confines of this discussion, anyway). But Against WS 4 AG will do as well (or nearly as well) for half the price.

So, to add to your conclusion. TS are, in general, more usefull than AG. But if you plan on playing vs. lots of marines AG is the way to go. And (im not saying this is the same everywhere), in my experience more than 50% of all armies out there are marines or chaos marines. Even armies that are base WS 3 will often have some WS 4 units so you can make use of the AG (example: sisters of battle).

All this superb theory-hammer has got me thinking. So I couldn't help but offer up some more.

So....

You have two 132-point hormogaunt broods, charging in on the enemy with every gaunt able to hit. One is 11 hormogaunts with Toxin Sacs, the other is 12 hormogaunts with +WS Adrenal Glands. So, How do they compare?


Vs. WS4 T4
11S: 8.25 wounds
12WS: 8 wounds

Vs. WS4 T3
11S: 11 wounds
12WS: 12 wounds

Vs. WS3 T4
11S: 11 wounds
12WS: 8 wounds

Vs. WS3 T3
11S: 14.67 wounds
12WS: 12 wounds

+S outpreforms +WS in 3 out of the 4 situations, including against marines. There are other benefits in choosing WS hormogaunts, like the defensive benefits against WS 2 and WS 5, and fact that you get an extra wound on your squad of gaunts. This, coupled with the fact that S just barely beats WS vs. marines, leads me to to recommend WS as the superior biomorph.

That extra wound counts for alot. For example: modify the same example as above, but say that each brood has suffered 4 (or more) wounds casualties from shooting by the marine squad that they will be charging in on. Now, with WS you get a bigger squad that deals more damage on the charge.

Really, the most important factor is the WS of your opponent, so the versatility factor of +S is a bonus I can't ignore. I'd say the two choices are pretty well balanced.