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[Madman198237]

We have two turns before fighting starts, right?

Grand Design: Floodborn
Long years of trial and error, of injury and destruction, has finally wrought a great change in the Plague itself. The ability to morph one type of Plague-controlled biomass into another type, of the Hive Mind's choosing. For instance, a human could be converted into raw biomass, which is then converted into a Genestealer.

[Tack]

Well that's

Ymgarl Strain: (1) Ghazkull
Camouflage: (1) MNII
Floodborn: (1) Madman

Which, unless someone new joins or Urist votes, is an impasse.

[NRDL]

+1 to camouflage.

[Madman198237]

We have time before the game actually  starts, now is the time to get a really cool new power. Camouflage isn't urgent, it's just a regular design, so we should do that next turn.

[Happerry]

Ymgarl Strain: (2) Ghazkull, Happerry
Camouflage: (2) MNII, NRDL
Floodborn: (1) Madman

[Urist Mc Dwarf]

Ymgarl Strain: (2) Ghazkull, Happerry
Camouflage: (3) MNII, NRDL, Urist
Floodborn: (1) Madman

[Madman198237]

Why camouflage? What are we going to do next turn? Remember, we have this turn and one more before the game starts, and I think that a biomass conversion upgrade will help us be more flexible in the long run.

Also, it lets us use a plague of locusts as a means to expand our hive mind.

Who doesn't love plagues of locusts!?

[Shadowclaw777]

Ymgarl Strain: (3) Ghazkull, Happerry, Shadowclaw
Camouflage: (3) MNII, NRDL, Urist
Floodborn: (1) Madman

@Tack, I think the consensus is that we spent 2 Die on Effectiveness so it's at a advantage, and everything else is a 1 for. I think their also shouldn't be the ability to spend extra dice to roll at advantage, what's the point of a revision if we were always going to have a advantage in effectiveness and bugs, for example?

[My Name is Immaterial]

Why camouflage? What are we going to do next turn? Remember, we have this turn and one more before the game starts, and I think that a biomass conversion upgrade will help us be more flexible in the long run.

Also, it lets us use a plague of locusts as a means to expand our hive mind.

Who doesn't love plagues of locusts!?

Here's my thinking:

The first few turns, we should focus on claiming as much territory as possible, so we can maximize our Manpower and Supplies. Camouflage will help us secure Habs and Mines, while vehicles will help deliver infantry (assuming they can move 2 or more hubs) to the front lines faster, helping us grow faster. My concern with the biomass thing is that it may not be effective, for its investment: there are some really easy hard counters, the first of which being slow speed; it'll be a lot easier to deploy it behind our lines, since we won't have to worry about them being killed out in the open by a couple cultists with flamers or protective suits. I'd be willing to switch my vote to your plan, if we can get trucks researched now or next turn, so we can establish front lines FAST.

I'm also concerned about the fact that the primary Chaos unit is the CSM, which acts as a hard counter to literally everything except genestealer ambushes and tanks. I doubt that a plague of locusts will do anything against a CSM.

[Madman198237]

Revisions can give extra abilities or more flexibility to a successful design, and while yes, you CAN double up, you might also end up wasting the die.

Anyway, the Ymgarl strain and Camouflage were started as the SAME THING. Why is it separated?



You don't seem to understand how I propose we use this biomass: It'd be a means to convert one type of friendly unit to another, not a unit of its own type.


And the locusts idea is simple---the SM suits are NOT permanently self-sustaining, right? As in, "got to open the helmet sometimes", right?

[My Name is Immaterial]

You don't seem to understand how I propose we use this biomass: It'd be a means to convert one type of friendly unit to another, not a unit of its own type.

I suppose I didn't understand how we would use it, then. I thought it was more of a mind-controlling/chest-burster thing that would boost our Manpower income and help infiltrate the Upper Hive. I'm not sure I totally see how just a simple Cultist -> mutant/genestealer transformation would help all that much. Can you elaborate?

And the locusts idea is simple---the SM suits are NOT permanently self-sustaining, right? As in, "got to open the helmet sometimes", right?

1d4chan says that a loyalist Marine can survive for 50 days inside his suit, but I couldn't find any supporting evidence for that on the Lexicanum, which did say that since they have air recyclers and nutrient reserves, they can survive for days without having take a break. That's assuming that they're not wearing Fleshmetal, which fuses to the wearer's body.

[Madman198237]

A cultist is MUCH less powerful than a Genestealer.


Sorry, I've confused you. Probably because I've got two sets of ideas that I've been explaining and proposing here.

My short-term plan, if you guys vote my way:
Make the method to convert one type of Hive-Mind controlled biomass to another (Human to Genestealer, for example).
Make a type of swarm bug, that plants eggs in non-Hive-Mind creatures, then eats said creatures.

---Using these two inventions, we can harvest large amounts of biomass and create any creature we can design. It makes it easier for us to expand and gives us EXTREME adaptability, since we'll be able to make any unit we need, whenever we need it.

Anyway, I want to do this NOW while we have the time, since camo is perhaps one design and a revision if it gets screwed up.

[My Name is Immaterial]

A cultist is MUCH less powerful than a Genestealer.

Aye, I'm just not sure why you'd not just... build a Genestealer. Then you have a cultist, and a Genestealer.

My short-term plan, if you guys vote my way:
Make the method to convert one type of Hive-Mind controlled biomass to another (Human to Genestealer, for example).
Make a type of swarm bug, that plants eggs in non-Hive-Mind creatures, then eats said creatures.

---Using these two inventions, we can harvest large amounts of biomass and create any creature we can design. It makes it easier for us to expand and gives us EXTREME adaptability, since we'll be able to make any unit we need, whenever we need it.

Anyway, I want to do this NOW while we have the time, since camo is perhaps one design and a revision if it gets screwed up.

I think part of the problem I was having was that you're using the word "biomass", and I'm thinking in terms of "manpower". In that case, I do support deploying the swarm bug thing into the habs, but being able to have a truck to load them into will help a lot more in the short term than coversion.

[Madman198237]

No, the truck won't really help, not until the game starts. BEFORE the game starts, however, we could start the Grand Design in motion so it finishes sooner, rather than later.

OK, so the advantages of the biomass-conversion trait are MASSIVE: We can deploy the relatively unobtrusive bug or bugs to various habitation areas, and then the infected person dies. Following that, the body is slowly eaten away by an ever-growing colony of bugs, which then bursts out and infects several hundred others. So on, and so on, until we have enough to start drawing massive numbers of bugs back to our "base" and converting them into useful units like Genestealers. Think of it like a constant means of self-expanding production, if you will.

Building a Genestealer AND a Cultist requires a Human and plenty of resources.

Biomassing a cultist into a Genestealer increases combat and multiplication ability (Genestealers can "infect" others with our genes, resulting in us gaining more "recruits"), while not costing any resources other than said cultist.

Anyway, the overall point is that adaptability is key, and it also gives us a path to unlimited specialized creatures.

[Tack]

So, votes are still tied between Ymgarl and Camouflage.
Need a swing.

I think there also shouldn't be the ability to spend extra dice to roll at advantage.

Unfortunately, you're right. which might've just made the game harder for you. I was running it off the Draig system which has discrete prototype and design rolls, so yeah that won't work.
People will still be able to throw extra dice into a grand design, to make it go faster.


In return, I'll give a hint re- madman. There's an alert bar, which goes up based on inhuman troops, and battles higher on the map.
A swarm of alien bugs rapidly chewing through people in the habs is going to bring the inquisition down on you almost immediately.
Figured I'd warn you rather than drop 60 alert on the bar from turn 1.