The Book of Fire Ant Swarm

[Margloth]

Only 6 years? Are you forgetting the 2 years you've been dealing with Allies and Sidekicks?

[Griffin]

Oh, and btw, melee height advantage doesn't work against them and can't climb for sure. Also, they fall and are susceptible to falling damage even when they try to move down just one space. There have been times where I would bond with them with Ant-man and basically drop two off of a bridge and hope for the best as I needed to maximize my attacks or stings.

[johnny139]

Originally Posted by Griffin

I worked in Pest Control for about 6 years.... I know Ants pretty well, and I promise you that Fire Ants definitely scavenge, forage, and hunt. In point of fact, I saw a thick trail of Fire Ants cleaning the bits of fat and meat out of my grill just yesterday.

Just because something scavenges doesn't mean it's a scavenger, though - a scavenger is a distinct biological term for an animal that seeks out already-dead things to eat. The word "scavenge" is only loosely related to the classification "scavenger."

For example, a dog will scavenge for dead stuff (like roadkill) and eat it, and a lion would be more than happy to take an already-killed carcass away from another animal. But neither would be classified as scavengers.

[Griffin]

Originally Posted by johnny139

Just because something scavenges doesn't mean it's a scavenger, though - a scavenger is a distinct biological term for an animal that seeks out already-dead things to eat. The word "scavenge" is only loosely related to the classification "scavenger."

For example, a dog will scavenge for dead stuff (like roadkill) and eat it, and a lion would be more than happy to take an already-killed carcass away from another animal. But neither would be classified as scavengers.

You are absolutely right. Scavenger is a specific biological animal, and it is used to specifically refer to them. However, the term can also be loosely applied in a general sense to any animal, person, or thing that scavenges. I have had this debate with my friend who is a taxidermist when I called a raccoon a scavenger.

[johnny139]

Yeah, but these guys aren't scavenging, they're hunting! Unless there's some odd variety of HeroScape that involves feeding bugs with corpses.

(Not that it really matters; I don't think "Hunter" or "Predator" would be particularly accurate representations either.)

[Griffin]

I think Predator would have been kinda cool, but oh well. Hey, that tunnel power can be great for grabbing temporary or Permanent glyphs or just sitting on E-Glyphs, that is kinda scavenger like.

~ Griffin, justifyingly

[All Your Pie]

I'm rather curious as to why the ants don't have any sort of climbing power that allows them to ignore their height when moving up and down terrain. Was it just to keep costs down, or was there some thematic reason?

[Griffin]

Originally Posted by All Your Pie

I'm rather curious as to why the ants don't have any sort of climbing power that allows them to ignore their height when moving up and down terrain. Was it just to keep costs down, or was there some thematic reason?

Climb x2 could have replaced their tunneling power, however, they were not competitive enough to be worth 10 points, and they were too good and too cheap at 5 points.... so we beefed up the power on tunneling to hopefully compensate for the power level and then also include their amazing climbing powers all in one neat power that also represents their colonized behavior.

[Hidicul]

Shouldn't the o in Destructable object in Poison Sting be capitilized?

[Griffin]

neither the "D" or the "O" should be because the term is common not proper.

[Griffin]

However, the "D" is capitalized because it starts the sentence.

[Sam]

I can't seem to open the Fire Ant sticker pdfs - it says "404 not found" for both the single and sheet of 20. Can someone help?