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Hierophant

2022-08-07T10:42:31Z

2601:1C0:5C01:EAA0:8C75:4C36:E268:D52E: /* But they have spindle legs... */

[[File:Hierophant Nid.jpg|500px|thumb|right|Doing the Jack-O pose before it was cool. Those little specks are about to have a bad day.]]
If you wanna tell your friends to go fuck themselves because you BROUGHT YOUR $400 MODEL TO FUCKING DESTROY THEM. 2000 point limit? Fuck you. Reasonable amounts of wounds? Fuck you. Ever winning the game? FUCK YOU. The '''Hierophant''' (''Tyranicus giganticus'') is a [[Forge World]]-only fuckhuge [[Tyranid]] biotitan which is a fucking engine of destruction. It has a large arsenal of bio-weapons and is the Tyranid response to [[Gargant]]s and [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan]]s. The largest playable Tyranid unit in the game, it stands at 10 inches without a stand. However, in the fluff it is 15 meters tall. To put this to scale, the average height of a Imperial Guardsmen stands at around 1.5 to 1.8 meters tall while a average Space Marine is 2.5 to 2.7 meters, so on the table you can expect the size difference between a Hierophant and most things to be approximately fluff accurate - in other words it's pretty fucking huge.

They also weigh at around 51 tonnes, which in real world terms is not actually that massive. Compared to many sauropod dinosaurs (not to mention things like tanks), this is rather light. Furthermore it would be a rat compared to the Blue Whale. Figures that GW would end up failing at scale again.

Not a Hierogylphic covered Elephant. [[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure |Nor a JoJo stand.]]

*'''Height:''' 15m
*'''Mass:''' 53.5 tonnes
== But they have spindle legs... ==

With that in mind, the Heirophant is probably not all that dense. While the dinosaurs prove that land creatures can safely get that large, dinosaurs have legs under their bodies like pillars, while the Heirophant's front legs go up to the "knee" then down again. From a structural perspective the body is hanging off the limbs. Additionally, for the Hive mind to create a creature that can only invade Earth-sized or smaller worlds is likely be a waste of time (unless it turns out that larger worlds in 40k don't allow the kinds of fortification that need a Hierophant to attack). Instead of being a huge brick like a Carnifex, the Heirophant is probably light for its size, armored and structured in a self-supporting way to enable it to suffer broken bones and split armor without being killed before it can perform its mission. Purely speculation, but one could assume it has legs made entirely the hard chitin Tryanids use for armor, with muscle and bone only extending far enough to give mobility and reinforcing structure; Terran life forms do this as well - it's why chickens have big drum sticks but much less meat on the rest of their legs. The inside of the beast would most likely be entirely metabolic structures and weapon organs (standard Tyranid fare), but with a dense and powerful digestive system in the lower front area to take in energy - remember that petroleum, what we use for fuel, is refined from oil which was created from just plants that have been changed by the earth, and it has a very high energy density. As such, it's not too hard to imagine the Hierophant being powered by some kind of organic gasoline, though it would need a lot of fuel to create enough energy-dense petrol; thus, either it needs to constantly "nurse" off a hive ship or the hive mind just has hormagaunts jump in its mouth to give it enough energy to fight. The supportive structure is likely a porous, hard (and regenerative) supporting material with a dense bone-core and plated chitin armor, segmented like an insect. The odd shape of the body probably protects vitals from infantry, smaller beasts, and flame weapons; it can walk over barricades and could even use it's circulatory system to move heat generated from movement or energy weapons to it's top, ensuring weapons organs function at peak efficiency. Alternatively, it might be at least partly supported by the hive mind, like a Zoanthrope.

[[File:Hierophant, Knarloc, Squiggoth_Size_Comparison Earth Creatures2.PNG|542px|thumb|left|The Hierophant isn't that large by comparison, but you do have to remember that the other creatures in this table are not born with biological railguns.]]

Of course, unless its weight is mitigated by psychic hijinks or it being filled with helium (or better yet, a considerable vacuum), there's no explanation for how a 51-ton creature on FOUR POINTED LEGS doesn't sink balls-deep into the ground the moment it makes planetfall. Even if the legs are made entirely of [[Kaldor Draigo|invincible plot armor]] and immune to getting blown off, the immense weight of the bug focused on four tiny points would pierce right through the ground like a tent stake with a truck dropped on it. In the derpy creature's defense, 40K has never paid much attention to the problems that arise when you take something like an [[Harridan|eagle]] or a [[Dreadknight|baby carrier]] or a spider and scale it up a thousand times, so at least it isn't much worse than other creatures. But no, titans would not sink into the ground because their feet are large enough and shaped flat and so would spread weight. Dirt reaches maximum compression extremely quickly as does sand and really any terrain that isn't liquid. This is why mechs/titans/etc. are actually reasonable and vertical bodies allowing more surface area for more weapons and their size allowing for large power sources and thick armor just from scale. Hierophant legs are sharp stabby bits, totally different and probably so sharp they can go through adamantium like it isn't there.

It's also worth noting that all those giant dinosaurs were very slow beyond being able to take a large stride, and most large Earth animals on land have to actually be extremely cautious with their movements because it's surprisingly easy for them to break bones from relatively small falls due to their sheer mass. Even at elephant size, a slip down a few meters can cause some pretty serious injuries. While for the giant sauropods high speed movement would be next to impossible and so much as tipping over would likely be fatal. Meanwhile, the Heirophant is noted to be extremely fast (easily capable of outrunning people with jetpacks) and shrugs off tank shells like annoying gnats and can easily get into high speed rough and tumble melee fights with Titans and Stompas so even with Forgeworld's rather low weight estimations, the Hierophant is already a very much impossible beast thanks to its sheer agility (being far faster to react and move and substantially more agile than most smaller animals) and its incredible resilience and probably no sense of self preservation. A bruthakayosaurus may be bigger but it's more fragile, slower, and would have had to spend a great deal of its day doing nothing but eating to sustain itself while the Hierophant can run around at high speeds over the course of a Hive fleet's assault on a targeted planet.

[[Crunch]]-wise, this is the most powerful Tyranid model in the game. It's extremely durable, [[Rip and Tear|throws out more attacks per turn]] than any single model - besides a CSM model that gets lucky a demon weapon, a Dreadnaught with blood talons since it can more attacks, and An'ggrath if rolls lots of 6s - and packs two S10 [[Bio-Cannon]]s, which are sadly only AP3. It's only BS3, but with that many shots it's not going to matter. As the number of attacks it has, plus the fact that it's a gargantuan creature, would indicate, the main area it excels in is close combat: Apocalypse exclusive [[Daemon]]-lords are likely to die against it. It's damn hard to kill, too, having 10 wounds, toughness 9, and can regenerate and get a wound back by rolling a 6, and it gets to roll a six for every remaining wound it has.

[[Phil Kelly]] has one, and he called it Nancy. 'nuff said.

== 8th Edition ==

Holy fucking christ.

The Hierophant has always been a great choice. Although it was extremely expensive, it always pulled its weight. The only problem was that the Tyranids never had a true badass TITAN. At the end of the day, the Hierophant was just a gigantic 'Nid.

Then 8th Edition happened and turned that shit RIGHT THE FUCK AROUND.

The Hierophant Bio-Titan is just that. A bio-TITAN.

3+-5+ WS, 3+ BS, S10, T8, 6-3 Attacks, an armor save of 2+ and an invulnerable save of 5++, all while moving from 12"-3". You may have noticed I skipped the wounds. We'll get to that.
Bio-Plasma Torret is pretty much a Flamer with 2D6 hits. Did I mention the Pistol rules? It's [[Bio-Cannon]]s are now... Dire Bio-Cannons? Whatever, the stats are pretty much the same, but the AP is now -2 and the Damage is '''2D6'''. And yes, you still get two of them. They are Macro 6 weapons, basically meaning Titanic weapons. So yes, 12 S10 AP-2 2D6 shots on a single target is possible. And if that just was not enough [[Dakka]] for you, for the value price of D3 Mortal Wounds, you can double the strength of your bio-cannons. See also: [[Rape]].

The Hierophant also has some great Melee options as well, with Lashwhip Pods and Monstrous Scything Talons.

Although the Lashwhip Pods only do 2 Damage, you get 3 hit rolls for every Attack. You wanna use this against big crowds. The Monstrous Scything Talons have Sx2 (That's 20 fucking Strength), AP-5 (No Armor saves whatsoever), and, yet again, a Damage of 2D6. 6 attacks of S20, AP-5, and 2D6 Damage is most likely a kill to damn near anything that looks at you funny.

You also can get Incendiary Ichor (It's just Acid Blood) or Swarm Incubation Chamber (Can carry 20 Gaunts or Genestealers/6 Hive Guards, Warriors, or Tyrant Guards, AND a Prime or Broodlord. An example would be 20 Genestealers and a Broodlord, or 6 Warriors and a Prime.). Both are free.

All that for just the low, low price of-
Shit. It's now 2060 pts. AND a Power of 90.

Oh yeah, the wounds.

'''50.''' The Hierophant is now 5 times the Lord of War it once was.

So, worth it? Probably. Just sad we won't be seeing Hierophants in non-apocalypse games, even though they were usually reserved for apocalypse games anyway.

[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Epic 40,000]]

[[Category: Xenos]]

[[Category: Tyranid]]

[[Category: Megafauna]]

{{Tyranids-Creatures}}
{{40k-Tyranid-Bioships}}

Proxy

2022-08-07T10:32:33Z

2601:1C0:5C01:EAA0:8C75:4C36:E268:D52E: /* Other miniatures */

{{skub}}

In general, a "proxy" is a substitute or go-between. For example, a proxy server takes web page requests from a computer and transmits in on their behalf, and then passes the resulting page back. Using [[meme|seven of them at once]] yields a similar level of defense as sitting in the middle of the [[Iron Warriors|Iron Cage]].

==Proxy models==
In [[wargames]], "proxy" is used as a verb: to "proxy" a model means to use some other model to represent it. For example, [[Jokaero]] look rather silly, but [[AT-43]] Karmans look way cool, and they're made to the same scale, so people can and do use them as substitutes. Or, for another, Dark Eldar Mandrakes have awesome models, but crappy rules (as of 5e this has been fixed), so people like to use their models to represent other, better units.

In tabletop terms there are a variety of different approaches to proxying stuff but they fall into three major schools of thought (presented in glorious technicolour and descending order of quality/respectability):

===Conversion===
This is the practice of using existing models and making modifications to create either a personalised version of the original, or a different vehicle entirely. In either case the reason is normally to make better looking minis than are officially offered. Very minor conversions are extremely common, as practically all players like to customise their dudes and tanks to some degree and most modern plastic kits are built to be flexible and interchangeable so that minor conversions are as simple as gluing on different bits. More aggressive conversions can involve jamming together bits from multiple kits (known as kitbashing) or using practically no official parts of models at all (known as scratch building). Conversions that build from a single kit are practically always acceptable, and kitbashed or scratchbuilt models are normally fine as long as it's clear what they are supposed to be, what things they have on them and they fit the aesthetic. Various companies make conversion kits and parts to work with/around 40k models and specifically to fill in the gaps in terms of weapon options which are either never officially offered or only available from forge world. Of course for Orks [[Looted|you can pretty much please yourself]].

===Other miniatures===
This is fairly simple approach where you buy models (either from the same game or another) that look better or are cheaper and use them to represent something else. The key to finding acceptance in this school is in finding models that actually work in context. Being in the right scale is critical, and matching the aesthetic of the army is fairly important, you may get away with a Gundam model in a [[Tau]] army (the Rick Dias is your bet btw), but [[Space Marines]]? Not so much. Using single minis or a small group of them to represent specific things (characters or veteran units) is generally ok, they often look better or are way, way, WAY cheaper, and in friendly/unofficial games NOBODY is going to give a single fuck if you're not using Cadians, Catachan or the like to represent your Imperial Guardsmen. (Seriously, $45 for a box of ten Guardsmen?)

Also fun fact: GW licensed products also count for warhammer world at least: it's the rule's clause that also allows the old 2ed titans tanks GW did not technically make through armor cast and the like. It also let's means you can technically drop a Bandai's Warhammer 40,000 Chibi model and it be table (if not tournment) legal at a GW store.

===Random objects===
This is normally the go-to for young or poor (or cheap) gamers playing friendly games, and even for veteran grown-ups to test how expensive things play without having to buy the units in question. It's certainly not unheard of for big games like Apocalypse to be played with 95% of the forces as some kind of proxy simply because people want to play the game but it'll take thousands of pounds and months of diligent modeling and painting to make the forces most of which won't ever see the table again. Whole games can be played with proxies in this fashion (this gamer suggests using paper instead of random objects so you can write on them so you can't lose track of stuff) because we all get bored and since you're a gamer going outside or meeting attractive women is pretty unrealistic so you do what you gotta do. The absolute master of the random object stand-in is the paper warhound titan, plans of which can be found on google. Print it out, cut along the dots, fold and tuck in the flaps and boom; a to-scale titan.
[[Image:Coke_pods.jpg|thumb|right|Look at this. GW LOOK AT THIS.]]
The degree to which this practice is accepted officially depends on the company and setting. Battlefront Miniatures (makers of [[Flames of War]]) is pretty chill about proxies, while [[Games Workshop]] forbids them from their official tournaments and stores.

The skill of the conversion can make or break the acceptance: a [[Land Raider]] masterfully built out of Lego bricks (or a whole army, like [https://secure.flickr.com/photos/jerac/sets/72157625354017872 this one]) will likely be accepted (and maybe even complimented), while a Land Raider represented by a juice box probably won't.

One of the most common things to do is to proxy Drop pods with soda cans, they're about the same size, don't ever move, functionally useless once they hit the board, and most hobby stores at least sell soda, so they're readily available for younger players.

==Trading Card Games==
In many casual groups for TCGs (most notably Magic: The Gathering), a proxy card is a card that [[counts as]] another card. There's a couple of situations where this is relevant to the way people play.

* For deck testing, proxies are a fact of life. A group of people all need to be able to test any card available but actually getting hold of them can be extremely hard especially when a new set is released. When you stack that up with decks that they need to test against but won't be playing, the costs just keep going up. So proxies are what gets used a lot of the time to make sure that you can cover all the bases quickly and easily.
* There are tournaments (especially in extremely old formats where cards can be hilarious expensive, upwards of thousands of dollars) where proxies are in fact allowed. While these tend not to be official WoTC ones, they are still big, well organised events with very large prize pools. In these cases they generally let you proxy a set number of cards to try and get more people playing. That generally works because people always want to play Magic and especially the furiously complex formats where they can demonstrate their mental acuity (or lack of it) but can't spring the ten grand for a deck.
* In casual formats proxies are occasionally allowable. Many groups who play commander allow for a set number of proxies, either to keep the circle fresh and let people try things or to keep costs down in what can be an expensive format too. Similarly when people put together Cube sets they might use proxies too. Depending on how and why they do it, this is either very cool or very not cool. If it's because you won't shell out the eight bucks for a rare then that's not cool. When you do it to add 'power' to the cube without adding an extra few grand to the price tag, that's normally fine.
* Play with cards that don't actually exist. Always a casual event, except when official RND teams do this in private.

A side case for this are the really sexy, well produced proxies that some people have come out with. They are often as nice as official cards, although you can tell the difference. If you proxy using these kind of things then they become a LOT more acceptable. A borderless Jace, full art Dual Lands or any card with its modern text is almost always acceptable outside of the sanctioned formats. People sneer at proxies because they detract from the feel of the game. If a proxy looks sexy and conveys the right feel of power and awesome, as opposed to "feeling like a proxy", then no-one complains.

Additionally proxies help people be freer with who they play their cube with. These cards cost a LOT of money. Like two months salary lots of money. But they are small and very easily lost, damaged or stolen. When you play with people you trust then it's not that big of a deal, but you need eight to draft and sometimes that means you end up with friends of friends, or just that guy you met at a GP. Having a set of proxies for most/all of the expensive cards means you don't need to worry about that. The expensive stuff stays at home, while everyone still gets the same kind of fun from the experience. We're not screwing around when we say these things are expensive. A cube is something like 700 cards. Many of them will cost a few bucks, some will cost tens and some may cost hundreds. This is a stack of cards that will cost over a thousand dollars at a minimum, and often closer to five thousand, potentially up to tens of thousands. I hate to keep harping on it, but it's true. Proxies let you protect your investment from dicks and sticky fingers, and people understand that.

==Notable Proxies==
These proxies have a special place in [[Neckbeard|our]] hearts, mostly for their [[FAIL|ubiquitous horrendousness]]:

[[File:2003-10-09-012 soda.gif|200px|thumb|right|Proxies can also be an endless source of amusement.]]
* ''Soda cans/bottles:'' The infamous carbonated Drop Pod. New or cheap 40k players often use these, sometimes two or three at a time. Anyone who even thinks of using them in tournaments will have [[Indrick Boreale|multiple simultaneous and devastating offensive boots]] [[Butthurt|shoved up their buttocks.]]
* ''Toy tanks:'' Any suitably scaled Tiger II or Sherman can and has been proxied for any other tank in any other game. Notably, [[Leman Russ Battle Tank|Leman Russes]] and [[Land Raider|Land Raiders]] are the most egregious proxy offenders both due to GW's outrageous prices, and lazy design, (hold a Land Raider model and a Mark V side by side some time)
* ''Game non-specific models:'' Some people (especially Russians) try to cash in on other peoples' need for cheap models. These often look neat, and tend to hold enough respect that their owners can get away with only having about two tanks. And using them in every game. For every system. ALWAYS.
*''Empty model bases'': either as objective markers, or for [[That Guy|greedier people]], stealth units.

==See Also==
* [[Counts As]], where an old unit is used as a proxy for a new one
[[Category:Miniatures]]