The Psychic discipline of Biomancy brings a mix of familiar and new powers to the table. Based on the manipulation of biological energy, this discipline provides a variety of abilities to boost your own units as well as reducing the effectiveness of your opponent's.
Only five of the nine armies with access to psychic disciplines may choose Biomancy: Space Marines, Space Wolves, Blood Angels, Imperial Guard and Tyranids.
Every psychic power from this discipline has a Warp Charge of 1. So, all psykers have access to the full range of powers, making drawing a specific power from the deck more unlikely than the other disciplines I've covered to date.
(1) IRON ARM - This blessing targets the Psyker, increasing strength and toughness by +D3. Roll the dice once and that value applies to both stats. The Psyker also gains the Eternal Warrior special rule.
This power is similar to the old Codex Daemonhunters Daemonhost power Warp Strength. Eternal Warrior is a very nice bonus to this ability, making the Psyker exceptionally resiliant. The strength bonus applies to any weapons being wielded, so their close combat potential gets a significant boost - and the toughness increase combined with Eternal Warrior makes taking overwatch fire a lot less of a concern.
(2) ENFEEBLE - This malediction targets an enemy unit within 24" causing the unit to suffer a -1 penalty to both strength and toughness. In addition, the unit moves as if it were in difficult terrain.
This power has the potential to really make a unit vulnerable to damage. Lowering a unit's toughness opens up the possibility that weapons which could not would normally now become a threat. Additionally, the spectre of instant death from strength six or higher weapons can turn a rock solid deathstar unit into a handful of models in the dead-pile with a few well-placed shots. Multi-wound models like Ogryns, Ork Nobz, and swarms need to be wary. Also, this abiltiy can reduce the effectiveness of Feel No Pain should their reduced toughness cause attacks to now cause instant death. Dark Eldar beware!
Their lower strength makes the target unit less effective in close combat and restricts its ability to launch an assault.
(3) ENDURANCE - This blessing targets a friendly unit within 24". The unit gains Feel No Pain, It Will Not Die and the Relentless special rules.
This power has a great deal of flexibility in terms of what units it can be cast upon. Even vehicles can benefit from the It Will Not Die special rule. Tyranid armies could use this power in conjunction with Regeneration to restore wounds rapidly. Relentless makes units with heavy weapons mobile and feel no pain helps with survivability.
Only five of the nine armies with access to psychic disciplines may choose Biomancy: Space Marines, Space Wolves, Blood Angels, Imperial Guard and Tyranids.
Every psychic power from this discipline has a Warp Charge of 1. So, all psykers have access to the full range of powers, making drawing a specific power from the deck more unlikely than the other disciplines I've covered to date.
(1) IRON ARM - This blessing targets the Psyker, increasing strength and toughness by +D3. Roll the dice once and that value applies to both stats. The Psyker also gains the Eternal Warrior special rule.
This power is similar to the old Codex Daemonhunters Daemonhost power Warp Strength. Eternal Warrior is a very nice bonus to this ability, making the Psyker exceptionally resiliant. The strength bonus applies to any weapons being wielded, so their close combat potential gets a significant boost - and the toughness increase combined with Eternal Warrior makes taking overwatch fire a lot less of a concern.
(2) ENFEEBLE - This malediction targets an enemy unit within 24" causing the unit to suffer a -1 penalty to both strength and toughness. In addition, the unit moves as if it were in difficult terrain.
This power has the potential to really make a unit vulnerable to damage. Lowering a unit's toughness opens up the possibility that weapons which could not would normally now become a threat. Additionally, the spectre of instant death from strength six or higher weapons can turn a rock solid deathstar unit into a handful of models in the dead-pile with a few well-placed shots. Multi-wound models like Ogryns, Ork Nobz, and swarms need to be wary. Also, this abiltiy can reduce the effectiveness of Feel No Pain should their reduced toughness cause attacks to now cause instant death. Dark Eldar beware!
Their lower strength makes the target unit less effective in close combat and restricts its ability to launch an assault.
(3) ENDURANCE - This blessing targets a friendly unit within 24". The unit gains Feel No Pain, It Will Not Die and the Relentless special rules.
This power has a great deal of flexibility in terms of what units it can be cast upon. Even vehicles can benefit from the It Will Not Die special rule. Tyranid armies could use this power in conjunction with Regeneration to restore wounds rapidly. Relentless makes units with heavy weapons mobile and feel no pain helps with survivability.
(4) LIFE LEECH - this witchfire power is a S6 AP 2 Assault 2 attack with a range of 12". If at least one unsaved wound is caused, the psyker regains one wound lost earlier in the battle up to it's starting number of wounds.
While short-ranged, this power has stopping potential against even the most well armoured units. In a pinch it can be used against lightly armoured vehicles. Regaining wounds is a very rare ability on the 40k battlefield and as such it can go a long way to keep your psyker in the fight. As almost all psykers have at least two wounds, those with three or more wounds may find this power more attractive.
It is my interpretation that should a psyker cast a double 1 - Perils of the Warp and only have one wound remaining at the point that they cast the power, they suffer their last wound and are immediately removed as a casualty. The power is resolved, and any casualties are removed as normal - but the psyker having already being removed as a casualty cannot regain a wound.
(5) WARP SPEED - this blessing targets the psyker. The psyker gains +D3 Initiative and Attacks and gains the Fleet special rule.
The benefit from these stat increases is obvious. One important point to note is that if the psyker is joined to a unit without the fleet rule, the psyker gains no benefit. So, in some cases it may be worthwhile to separate the psyker from a unit they have joined in order to retain the fleet ability prior to charging.
(6) HAEMORRHAGE - this focussed witchfire power has a range of 12". The target model must pass a Toughness test or suffer a wound with no armour or cover saves allowed. If the target is slain, select another model at random within 2" and perform a toughness test. If that model is slain, select another model within 2" and continue the process until a model passes its toughness test or there are no models within range.
It is important to note that the range of 12" is only for the original attack and that models outside of the 12" range can be affected by the series of toughness tests. Models with more than one wound which are forced to make the toughness test will cause this power to stop its progress. As such, when considering a unit to target, be sure they have only a single wound in order to propigate these toughness tests.
When used in conjunction with the Enfeeblement power discussed above, mid-to low toughness units could see significant numbers of models fall casualty to this power.
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Should any of these powers when they are rolled up not be to your liking or
align with your army's tactics, you can always opt to change one of them to the
PRIMARIS POWER of the discipline. These powers always have a Warp Charge of 1. For Biomancy, the power is:
(P) SMITE - This witchfire power has a 12" range and has the profile: S4 AP 2 Assault 4.
This is the same power which is available to Librarians in Codex Space Marines. While it is short ranged, the AP 2 of the shots make it bypass the armour of any non-vehicle target. A great prelude to an assault, this power will be favored for psykers with a high ballistic skill facing heavy infantry.
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Biomany presents an interesting range of powers, including lethal short ranged witchfire, blessings which enhance the psyker, powers that make the enemy vulnerable and even prey upon the weak. Armies like Blood Angels, Space Wolves and Tyranids which are at their best in close will find the offensive powers from this discipline very useful. Armies like Space Marines and Imperial Guard which tend to keep the enemy at range likely will find limited utility from this discipline, but the chance to draw Enfeeble and Endurance may keep them coming back for more.
Biomancy - Warping the mind and body.
While short-ranged, this power has stopping potential against even the most well armoured units. In a pinch it can be used against lightly armoured vehicles. Regaining wounds is a very rare ability on the 40k battlefield and as such it can go a long way to keep your psyker in the fight. As almost all psykers have at least two wounds, those with three or more wounds may find this power more attractive.
It is my interpretation that should a psyker cast a double 1 - Perils of the Warp and only have one wound remaining at the point that they cast the power, they suffer their last wound and are immediately removed as a casualty. The power is resolved, and any casualties are removed as normal - but the psyker having already being removed as a casualty cannot regain a wound.
(5) WARP SPEED - this blessing targets the psyker. The psyker gains +D3 Initiative and Attacks and gains the Fleet special rule.
The benefit from these stat increases is obvious. One important point to note is that if the psyker is joined to a unit without the fleet rule, the psyker gains no benefit. So, in some cases it may be worthwhile to separate the psyker from a unit they have joined in order to retain the fleet ability prior to charging.
(6) HAEMORRHAGE - this focussed witchfire power has a range of 12". The target model must pass a Toughness test or suffer a wound with no armour or cover saves allowed. If the target is slain, select another model at random within 2" and perform a toughness test. If that model is slain, select another model within 2" and continue the process until a model passes its toughness test or there are no models within range.
It is important to note that the range of 12" is only for the original attack and that models outside of the 12" range can be affected by the series of toughness tests. Models with more than one wound which are forced to make the toughness test will cause this power to stop its progress. As such, when considering a unit to target, be sure they have only a single wound in order to propigate these toughness tests.
When used in conjunction with the Enfeeblement power discussed above, mid-to low toughness units could see significant numbers of models fall casualty to this power.
+++
Should any of these powers when they are rolled up not be to your liking or
align with your army's tactics, you can always opt to change one of them to the
PRIMARIS POWER of the discipline. These powers always have a Warp Charge of 1. For Biomancy, the power is:
(P) SMITE - This witchfire power has a 12" range and has the profile: S4 AP 2 Assault 4.
This is the same power which is available to Librarians in Codex Space Marines. While it is short ranged, the AP 2 of the shots make it bypass the armour of any non-vehicle target. A great prelude to an assault, this power will be favored for psykers with a high ballistic skill facing heavy infantry.
+++
Biomany presents an interesting range of powers, including lethal short ranged witchfire, blessings which enhance the psyker, powers that make the enemy vulnerable and even prey upon the weak. Armies like Blood Angels, Space Wolves and Tyranids which are at their best in close will find the offensive powers from this discipline very useful. Armies like Space Marines and Imperial Guard which tend to keep the enemy at range likely will find limited utility from this discipline, but the chance to draw Enfeeble and Endurance may keep them coming back for more.
Biomancy - Warping the mind and body.
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