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2000 point 'Nids (WIP)

1K views 25 replies 5 participants last post by  MattyMorgs 
#1 ·
Well, before 5th edition came out (When I played more, before the ravages of University befell me once more) I had a decent list thought up, tweaked and fixed up by a couple LO members. Unfortunately, 5th edition came out and around the same time I didn't have as much time to play, and now I fear my old list would be outdated.

So I was hoping that other Tyranid players with experience in 5th edition (As I sadly have none) could help me out in planning out my army again. Fortunately, I have few enough models that I'm pretty much starting from scratch again.

So far, my 'army' consists of a Battleforce (Sniperfex, Death Spitter/Strangler Warrior group[Not sure if I want to keep these guys in or not], Genestalers, 8 x Spinegaunts, 8 x Termagaunts, a few Ripper Swarms), a Dakkafex, Sniper-Tryant with Guard, 2 Zoanthropes, and a Ravener.

As it stands, there's a couple things I know I'd like to add. First is some kind of Flyrant (Everyone loves the Dakka-Flyrant, but i just love the idea of modelling an Assault-Flyrant. I'm rather torn between what would be good and what would look cool).

Next would likely be another Sniperfex, and probably another Dakkafex. This still leaves an Elites slot empty. I'm rather tempted to grab a Lictor or two here, mostly because I love the model, (And because the little bit I played with my Warriors before 5th came out resulted in lackluster performance on their party. They're quite firmly glued together, and mostly painted, so changing them up isn't really an option here. Also, as much as I would tend to love shoving another Carni of some sort into my Elites, opponents tend to yell 'Cheese!' when you shove in too many Monstrous Creatures).

Troops is what I need help with the most I think, as I've been hearing horror stories now and again about how 5th edition isn't so good for armies whose troops were formly expendable in 4th. With only 16 Gaunts, 8 Genies, my troops selection is both very sparse, and easily open to comment. The main hurdle is the weaponry supplied in the Gaunt boxes, and the somewhat tight University budget I must live on (ie. No buying extra boxes just for the weapons, and leaving everything else unused). This is why I would really have to churn out 8 Spinegaunts and 8 Termagaunts per box.

Any and all help from 'Nid players more experienced with 5th would be great, and as I start getting more suggestions, I'll start churning out an army list.

Thanks in advance.
 
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#2 · (Edited)
I don't have any experience with Tyranids in 5th edition because Tyranids are an army I've been conceptualizing, but have not committed to collecting yet. I do however, have experience with 5th edition rules and have done extensive research on the Tyranids. So...

It's true, Troops now win and lose games. With that in mind, Tyranids need to take tons and tons of Troops to be successful because the primary Troop choices, specifically the Gaunt variants, are all extremely fragile. Most of the lists I see use Spinegaunts because they're cheaper and will pretty much do the same thing as Termagants.

So, in regards to the money issue I would make half of the Gaunt boxes Spines and the other half Hormies. Hormaugants are much more expensive than both, but give you an extremely fast unit that can dish out its fair share of pain in CC, or, if you don't want Hormies, get some green-stuff and make everything a Spinegaunt.

You're still going to need to buy at least 4 boxes. I would say in your standard 1500 point list there should be a minimum 72 Gaunts of one variation or another.

It's not much, but no one has posted, and I hate to see '0' replies when I open the Army List boards. I've posted a fair share of lists that have received nothing in return, it frustrates me.
 
#4 ·
So, in regards to the money issue I would make half of the Gaunt boxes Spines and the other half Hormies. Hormaugants are much more expensive than both, but give you an extremely fast unit that can dish out its fair share of pain in CC, or, if you don't want Hormies, get some green-stuff and make everything a Spinegaunt.
As good of an idea as green-stuffing Spinefists for my Gaunts would be, I just don't think I could stand having to do it for half of the savage number of Gaunts I would need to stay competitive.

You're still going to need to buy at least 4 boxes. I would say in your standard 1500 point list there should be a minimum 72 Gaunts of one variation or another.
Case in point, I wouldn't want to greenstuff 72 Spinefist arms for 32 Gaunts.

Spinegaunts are great and cheap, so they are my Gaunt of choice for objective games.

Genestealers are still lovely, but the new Rending rule (rends on the wound roll rather than the hit roll, only an extra d3 on tanks) hurt them and the Lictor, but now Preferred Enemy is just great, and Feeder Tendrils are a mich more attractive option.

I love both kinds of Flyrants, but the Dakka build performs better and is a tad cheaper in all that I have seen.
The group I play with tends towards Annihilation games; In fact, I think I've only ever played on objective based game before. I'm sure Spinegaunts are still a decent option, but I'd generally prefer something with a bit more power to them. Cannon fodder troops don't help much when you both need them, and don't have enough stuff to support them.

I was tentatively considering Genestealers, mostly because of the nerf to rending (Which was one thing I knew for sure about 5th). I suppose though that taking feeder tendrils on the stealers (Or at least getting them into CC with a model that had them) would certainly help offset the number of dice you lose between rolling to hit and rolling to wound. I'm curious if it would be more worth the points though to take say, Feeder Tendrils on the Genies themselves, or just make them Scuttle and hope they get in range of some Lictors. The other alternative is a Infiltrating squad with a Broodlord, but that kind of limits my HQ options unless we end up playing some kind of Apocalypse game.

As for the Flyrant issue, I know that Dakka Flyrants are the better performers, but it's more of a psychological thing when you're opponents see a wonderfully taloned beasty flying down the board at them with an invulnerable save, ready to rip them to shreds. Again, it's mostly a battle between what's ruleswise effective, and what's psychologically effective.

So, I suppose, taking some of this advice, I'll draft up a quick first version of an army list.
(Sorry about all the comments in the list. Stream of consciousness to get my reasonings across, and make it easier for you people to point out the flaws.)

2000 Point List


HQ

Tyrant; Enhanced Senses, Toxin Sacs, Barbed Strangler, Venom Cannon, 1 Tyrant Guard
~202 points
(Strangler is mostly because I'm running a bit of a Psychic Choir army. It's tempting to give this Tyrant Scream as well, but I know he's not going to be within 18'' of other models as much as the Zoans would be supporting Synapse, so I'll leave the psychic power slot blank, and maybe open to suggestions.

There's a couple options here for my second HQ;
Tyrant; Enhanced Senses, Toxin Sacs, Winged, 2 x Twin Linked Devourers, Warp Field
~196 points
OR
Tyrant; Adrenal Glands(I), Toxic Miasma, Winged, 2 x Scything Talons, Warp Field
~187 points
(I opted for just Toxic Miasma, instead of Toxic Miasma+Adrenal Glands(WS) because the change between WS 5 and WS 6 really only makes a difference when fighting opponents of equal weapon skill, and you wouldn't be going for opponents of weapon skill 6 very much with this guy anyways).

Elites

Dakkafex; Enhanced Senses, 2x Twin Linked Devourers, Flesh Hooks
~114 points
Dakkafex 2; Enhanced Senses, 2x Twin Linked Devourers, Flesh Hooks
~114 points
Standard Dakkafexes right here, with a Flesh Hook twist to navigate some terrain, in case I can get an advantage doing it.
The next elites slot is where I'm wondering what to do. I was considering maybe 2 Lictors (160 points) to support any CC troops I might include (Such as Genestealers or Hormies), and because that extra point on units of Genestealers adds up pretty quickly when I already have to put Extended Carapace on them just so they can survive (I play against a lot of AP 5 weapons, mostly MEQ's). Add in the fact that I might want to add scuttlers on the silly things just to ensure that they get close enough to do some damage, and you've already got an assault troop at 23 points a pop. No need to make them 24 if I don't have to. Suggestions for what to do with this Elites slot are open.

Troops

All I know that I'm going to do here is shove in a decent number of Spinegaunt squads, and probably roll with some kind of squad(s) of Genies, and maybe Hormies depending on how much I want to either convert some to Spinegaunts somehow, or spend a few extra points on Termies.

Fast Attack

Really not much here. I mostly have the Ravener because it's a cool model, and they don't really do much in small groups of by themselves, so unless I wanted to take a decent number of them, which I probably won't have the points for with all the troops, I'm pretty much out of options. Gargoyles are out of the question because they are both extremely expensive to buy, and I have not the materials around to convert them myself from even MORE boxes of Gaunts I would have to destroy. And Spore Mines are just silly, although Bio Acid are almost tempting to try and make up for the Tyranid deficiency of vehicle destruction.

Heavy Support
Only section I really know everything that I think I want in it.

Sniperfex; Bonded Exoskeleton, Enhanced Senses, Flesh Hooks, Reinforced Chitin, Barbed Strangler, Venom Cannon
~184 points
Sniperfex; Bonded Exoskeleton, Enhanced Senses, Flesh Hooks, Reinforced Chitin, Barbed Strangler, Venom Cannon
~184 points
Standard Sniperfexes, again with the Flesh Hooks so that I can place them up on advantageous pieces of terrain. The +T and +W biomorphs are to ensure their survivability, because in playing smaller games with just the one I have, they really did the most, and survived the longest, because of it.
3 Zoanthropes; Synapse Creature, Psychic Sceam
~165 points
Standard Psychic Choir material right here, mostly to compliment the 3 Barbed Stranglers I have, since I have no idea what does and doesn't require leadership checks in 5th, and which of those might be advantageous for me to lower leadership on. I have Synapse on them instead of Warp Blast for a couple reasons. First off, I don't want the damn things blowing up their own heads trying to hit vehicles with BS 3 AND having to take a psychic test, and secondly, with the large number of Gaunt troops I'll have to take, 2 Tyrants holding up the synapse just ain't going to cut it. And with the pitiful 18'' range of Warp Blast, I'm never going to get the silly things close to vehicles alive, since they're always in the back, behind vehicles. I might as well just keep scream on them and be done with it, since it can only help me when the opponent has leadership checks to do.

=1159 points already determined, and I haven't even taken any troops yet. It's certainly going to be interesting to see what people suggest I could/should fit into those remaining 841 points (681 if I decide to take a least 2 Lictors for my 3 Elites choice)

Again, any and all input would be appreciated. I'd prefer to have this army more well planned out, lest I have a repeat of my Chaos Marines. (ie. I played Word Bearers before the codex change, and was quite mad when I realized the bulk of my army (Daemons) were now basically Marines that couldn't shoot first).
 
#3 ·
Lets see, everyone is right on the dot about having tons of troops, because ours, unfortunately, are fragile all around.

Spinegaunts are great and cheap, so they are my Gaunt of choice for objective games.

Genestealers are still lovely, but the new Rending rule (rends on the wound roll rather than the hit roll, only an extra d3 on tanks) hurt them and the Lictor, but now Preferred Enemy is just great, and Feeder Tendrils are a mich more attractive option.

I love both kinds of Flyrants, but the Dakka build performs better and is a tad cheaper in all that I have seen.

Overall, we are still competetive, just much more Troop reliant.
 
#5 ·
Yeah, I play mostly Annihilation games too (in fact I can only recall one game with my brother that was objective based), so I keep two lists, my Nidzilla/Genestealer list and my Spinegaunt heavy Nidzilla list. If you are more casual, just make a list that can do the killing with none of the filling.

Anyways, the list looks good, I still like a Dakka Flyrant (test one out, you'll see) for the HQ. I have never really liked a Sniper Tyrant (not enough strength on the guns), but you have part of a Psychic Choir going, so the BS would come in handy.

Those Snipers are soaking up a ton of points, just loads, with those defensive upgrades. They will hardly ever use it, and with those points you could probably fit those Lictors in. Really, to put it in perspective, my Sniperfex has only died once, and thats when my brother got a lucky Terminator Lord + Retinue Deepstrike literally on its ass, defensive upgrades wouln't have made any difference. Otherwise he just sits back and lays down fire, they don't take many shots, and the base stats are plenty to keep it alive long enough. Those points are better spent elsewhere.

Genestealers look like a nice addition, finish off those fleeing and pinned squads with a deadly charge, so I would suggest taking at least two squads, even barebones, just to bring the pain.

If you can take the points, give Psychic Scream to your Tyrants, it will make your Tyrants that much stronger, and they are harder to kill off than your 'Thropes.

Lots of Dakka here, I like it.
 
#6 ·
Anyways, the list looks good, I still like a Dakka Flyrant (test one out, you'll see) for the HQ. I have never really liked a Sniper Tyrant (not enough strength on the guns), but you have part of a Psychic Choir going, so the BS would come in handy.
Mostly why I have him in the list, really. The extra BS for the pinning. I can't really think of what I'd include other than him, besides maybe a Broodlord to bring more Genestealer pain.

Those Snipers are soaking up a ton of points, just loads, with those defensive upgrades. They will hardly ever use it, and with those points you could probably fit those Lictors in. Really, to put it in perspective, my Sniperfex has only died once, and thats when my brother got a lucky Terminator Lord + Retinue Deepstrike literally on its ass, defensive upgrades wouln't have made any difference. Otherwise he just sits back and lays down fire, they don't take many shots, and the base stats are plenty to keep it alive long enough. Those points are better spent elsewhere.
I'm mostly paranoid, especially since I have a heavy-weapons-happy friend who plays Space Marines. But I suppose I could do without most, or all of the defensive upgrades, since me and most of my other friends have vowed never to play his Marines again.

Genestealers look like a nice addition, finish off those fleeing and pinned squads with a deadly charge, so I would suggest taking at least two squads, even barebones, just to bring the pain.
I certainly like Genies, they just happen to be a HUGE target for other people, because of the fear they instilled from the old rending rules. As it is, Extended Carapace is almost a necessity. Depending on what kind of points i can scrape up, I'll see what I can do with these guys.

If you can take the points, give Psychic Scream to your Tyrants, it will make your Tyrants that much stronger, and they are harder to kill off than your 'Thropes.
I was considering putting it on the walking Tyrant, I just don't know how often he'll be within 18'' of other models, what with his longer range weaponry. And I'd rather have an invulnerable save on the Flyrant than Psychic Scream, since you can only take one power on a Tyrant at a time.

2000 Point List (First Revision)

HQ

Tyrant; Enhanced Senses, Toxin Sacs, Barbed Strangler, Venom Cannon, Psychic Scream, 1 Tyrant Guard
~212 points

There's a couple options here for my second HQ;
Tyrant; Enhanced Senses, Toxin Sacs, Winged, 2 x Twin Linked Devourers, Warp Field
~196 points
OR
Tyrant; Adrenal Glands(I), Toxic Miasma, Winged, 2 x Scything Talons, Warp Field
~187 points

Elites

Dakkafex; Enhanced Senses, 2x Twin Linked Devourers, Flesh Hooks
~114 points
Dakkafex 2; Enhanced Senses, 2x Twin Linked Devourers, Flesh Hooks
~114 points
2 Lictors
~160 points

Troops

8 Genestealers;
~128 points vanilla, 160 points with Carapace, and an ungodly amount more with anything else
8 Genestealers;
~128 points vanilla, 160 points with Carapace, and an ungodly amount more with anything else
16 Spinegaunts
~80 points
16 Spinegaunts
~80 points
16 (Some kind of gaunt)
~80 points if I go with more Spinegaunts (somehow), 160-192 if I do some flavour of Hormies
16 (Some kind of gaunt)
~80 points if I go with more Spinegaunts (somehow), 160-192 if I do some flavour of Hormies

Fast Attack

Nada, really.

Heavy Support
Only section I really know everything that I think I want in it.

Sniperfex; Enhanced Senses, Flesh Hooks, Barbed Strangler, Venom Cannon
~149 points
Sniperfex; Enhanced Senses, Flesh Hooks, Barbed Strangler, Venom Cannon
~149 points
(So tempted to keep the defensive upgrades on these guys, but we'll see how they play without them.)
3 Zoanthropes; Synapse Creature, Psychic Sceam
~165 points

=1259 points (741 left)

As it stands for the troops, I could take 16 vanilla genies, 32 Spinegaunts, and 32 vanilla Hormies. If I decided to take more Spinegaunts instead of Hormies, I could pull out some 16 Carapace Genies, 64 spinegaunts, and still have the points to pull out 20 more for a grand total of 84. (What a nightmare to paint >. <)

So it seems that taking pure Spinegaunts with Genies is the best way to get pure numbers on the table. Hormies would likely never make it to CC, or at least if they did they likely wouldn't do too much being vanilla. There's not really much I could do otherwise to get Upgraded Genies and Upgraded Hormies into the list without cutting back even more on things I've already got.
 
#7 ·
Looking better, if you are really nervous about defensive upgrades, I would suggest just putting extended Carapace on, it helps you dodge those missile launchers with AP3.

A Broodlord sounds awesome to me if you are unsure about the walking Tyrant, he is basically an amazing Genestealer that pops up right on he enemy's lines. Lots of fun!

Spinegaunts and Genestealers make a good combo of cheap troops and effective melée that will keep your opponent on their toes and do you well in most any battle. Hormagaunts can be modeled as Spinegaunts if you have some extra spinefists, so they aren't totally useless.
 
#8 ·
Looking better, if you are really nervous about defensive upgrades, I would suggest just putting extended Carapace on, it helps you dodge those missile launchers with AP3.
Most anything that's going to be shooting at my 'Fexes are AP 2, so Extended carapace is more of a waste of points than anything. Just Bonded Exoskeleton would likely be a better investment, since it'll make it harder for things to wound. (And it's 5 points cheaper)

A Broodlord sounds awesome to me if you are unsure about the walking Tyrant, he is basically an amazing Genestealer that pops up right on he enemy's lines. Lots of fun!
I kind of like the walking Tyrant, but at the same time a Broodlord might also be a good decision. Mostly to have something up close to enemy lines that could support / be supported by the Lictors. I'll mess around with both a bit once I actually start playing more again and see what I prefer.

Spinegaunts and Genestealers make a good combo of cheap troops and effective melée that will keep your opponent on their toes and do you well in most any battle. Hormagaunts can be modeled as Spinegaunts if you have some extra spinefists, so they aren't totally useless.
The Hormagaunt thing was mostly just pissing around with ideas, since you never get enough Spinefists to outfit all 16 Gaunts in a box, and I have neither the patience nor the skill the greenstuff that many Spinefists. If anything I'd just make the other half of the Gaunts I get Termagaunts and call it a day. They're only one point more, so it's not a "huge" difference in the long run for points, and I won't have to go out of my way to either get more Spinefists, or try and model my own.

2000 Point List (Second Revision [More complete version])

HQ

Tyrant; Enhanced Senses, Toxin Sacs, Barbed Strangler, Venom Cannon, Psychic Scream, 1 Tyrant Guard
~212 points

There's a couple options here for my second HQ;
Tyrant; Enhanced Senses, Toxin Sacs, Winged, 2 x Twin Linked Devourers, Warp Field
~196 points
OR
Tyrant; Adrenal Glands(I), Toxic Miasma, Winged, 2 x Scything Talons, Warp Field
~187 points

Elites

Dakkafex; Enhanced Senses, 2x Twin Linked Devourers, Flesh Hooks
~114 points
Dakkafex 2; Enhanced Senses, 2x Twin Linked Devourers, Flesh Hooks
~114 points
2 Lictors
~160 points

Troops

8 Genestealers; Extended Carapace
~160 points
8 Genestealers; Extended Carapace
~160 points
16 Spinegaunts
~80 points
16 Spinegaunts
~80 points
16 Termagaunts
~96 points
16 Termagaunts
~96 points

Fast Attack

Nada, really.

Heavy Support

Sniperfex; Enhanced Senses, Flesh Hooks, Barbed Strangler, Venom Cannon
~149 points
Sniperfex; Enhanced Senses, Flesh Hooks, Barbed Strangler, Venom Cannon
~149 points
(So tempted to keep the defensive upgrades on these guys, but we'll see how they play without them.)
3 Zoanthropes; Synapse Creature, Psychic Sceam
~165 points

=1931 (69 points left)

Could use those 69 points to either add more Gaunts to the squads (not many though) or put some flavour of defensive upgrade on the heavy 'Fexes.

Alternatively, I could put a Broodlord, with some more Genies instead of the walking Tryant.

Broodlord; 8 Genestealers with Extended Carapace
~230 points

Ends up being a few more points than the walking Tyrant if I take a full boxload with him, but ends up giving me more models and more potential, really. Could maybe take off a Genie or two and give him Feeder Tendrils, if I really wanted to. Help out in case the Lictors don't make it into CC with the same squad.

I kind of like the Broodlord option, only problem being is it kind of obsoletes the whole "Psychic Choir" thing that was kind of going on in my army, leaving the Zoans costing more points than they need to, or less a relevant psychic power. Would probably switch out the Scream for Warp Blast or something if I went with a Broodlord.
 
#9 ·
If you are going for the Psychic Choir, go all out with two Hive Tyrants with Psychic Scream walking with the Zoanthropes (wings will disrupt the line moving in sync). Otherwise, give the Broodlord Feeder Tendrils at least, if not more (Toxin Sacs and Extended Carapace come to mind) as he can become absolutely beastly with the right upgrades.

This is shaping up to be a good list, I like where you are going with it.
 
#10 ·
If you are going for the Psychic Choir, go all out with two Hive Tyrants with Psychic Scream walking with the Zoanthropes (wings will disrupt the line moving in sync). Otherwise, give the Broodlord Feeder Tendrils at least, if not more (Toxin Sacs and Extended Carapace come to mind) as he can become absolutely beastly with the right upgrades.
My only concern about putting Extended Carapace on the Lord is that it'll be a waste while he still has Genies with him (Majority saves and all that fun stuff. Not sure if it really matters unless they somehow can manage to pinpoint him in the unit though).

Psychic Choir was kind of a cool idea, but for some reason I remember Leadership checks having less to do with CC resolution than it used to in 5th (I might be wrong) and as such it really only affects Pinning tests, which never really seem to work anyways. (At least with my luck). So if I'm probably switching to the non-Choir version anyways, if that's true.
 
#11 ·
Extended Carapace really helps once the Genestealers are down and the Broodlord alone is left. It reall does help a ton, my Broodlord has taken out a whole squad of Grey Knight Terminators and a Command Squad with two Power Fists in combat on his own, all the while fending off the other tons of Guardsmen with that improved save. It would have been over if not for the upgrades I had on him.

I like the idea behind the Psychic Choir, its just the practice is tricky. If you think you can pull it off consistently, I would go for it, if not, don't half heartedly do it.

In 5th, Leadership is still important, just as important as in 4th. A lot of units are fearless, but not enough to make a Choir build useless.
 
#12 ·
I suppose it's more of a case that most things I fight have decent leadership, and I wouldn't have all 5 Psychic Screams in range of a single unit at once. 5 leadership is still something that people can roll under, and probably 3 Screams savage you could expect around a unit still leaves most at 7. I guess it's more that I'm not confident enough in how much the Dice Gods love me to have the whole, Barbed Strangler pinning-fest actually be effective, or just a waste of points and effort. I'd probably feel better making myself a variant of the list that works well, and then switching later to a scream list for fun.
 
#14 · (Edited)
My only concern about putting Extended Carapace on the Lord is that it'll be a waste while he still has Genies with him (Majority saves and all that fun stuff. Not sure if it really matters unless they somehow can manage to pinpoint him in the unit though).
I was under the impression that Mixed armour was nixed in favour of the allocating hits to indivdual models (i.e. you get blasted by 10 bolters after to wound rolls you only a few on the broodlord and saves are rolled seperately from the rest of the group.) I could be wrong tho been I while since I check my BRB; I have 3 versions of the rules floating around my head.

EDIT:- Have BRB; yeah this is how it runs.

Psychic Choir was kind of a cool idea, but for some reason I remember Leadership checks having less to do with CC resolution than it used to in 5th (I might be wrong) and as such it really only affects Pinning tests, which never really seem to work anyways. (At least with my luck). So if I'm probably switching to the non-Choir version anyways, if that's true.
Again it was my impression that in 5th ed when you win your opponent checks Ld verses the amount of wounds they lost by plus any other modifiers (Psychic Scream) and Initative checks later they get caught or run away.

Assuming I'm correct, A broodlord makes an excellent addition to a Psychic Choir. He deals out the pain, takes little damage and with a possible I8 he catches everything that runs away in his claws. And that's not even including his retinue.

EDIT:- Again this is how it works, except Initiative is counted from the majority of the squad :D
 
#15 ·
Ah, well. I've been busy over the past couple days, but the last couple posts have some useful information in them. If Majority Saves have been nixed in 5th, then I might as well put a better save on the Broodlord. I might as well keep the Zoans the Screaming type, because Warp Blast really doesn't sound all that good to me, and I might as well take what leadership advantages I can get. So, i think I'm able to draft up a near final version of the list.

2000 Point List (Second Revision [More complete version])

HQ
Still really tempted to model a Scything Flyrant, so we'll keep both of these here, for now.

Tyrant; Enhanced Senses, Toxin Sacs, Winged, 2 x Twin Linked Devourers, Warp Field
~196 points
OR
Tyrant; Adrenal Glands(I), Toxic Miasma, Winged, 2 x Scything Talons, Warp Field
~187 points

Broodlord; 8 Genestealers, everyone with Extended Carapace
~240 points

Elites

Dakkafex; Enhanced Senses, 2x Twin Linked Devourers, Flesh Hooks
~114 points
Dakkafex 2; Enhanced Senses, 2x Twin Linked Devourers, Flesh Hooks
~114 points
2 Lictors
~160 points

Troops

8 Genestealers; Extended Carapace
~160 points
8 Genestealers; Extended Carapace
~160 points
16 Spinegaunts
~80 points
16 Spinegaunts
~80 points
16 Termagaunts
~96 points
16 Termagaunts
~96 points

Fast Attack

Nada, really.

Heavy Support

Sniperfex; Enhanced Senses, Flesh Hooks, Barbed Strangler, Venom Cannon
~149 points
Sniperfex; Enhanced Senses, Flesh Hooks, Barbed Strangler, Venom Cannon
~149 points
(So tempted to keep the defensive upgrades on these guys, but we'll see how they play without them.)
3 Zoanthropes; Synapse Creature, Psychic Sceam
~165 points

=1959 (41 points left)

41 points to do with as I please. Any suggestions? Not really enough points to start adding many more Gaunts or anything, so it'd likely be put towards upgrades.
 
#16 ·
Sorry ahead of time for the double post.

So after looking around for a bit, I think I've changed my mind about Lictors. The fact that they cost almost double here in Canada what they do in the US is a bit of a turn off ($20 something US versus $35 Canada? Our currencies aren't THAT far apart guys...)

Any suggestions on what to do to fill that gap? Another Fex or sorts is always a good plan, but at the same time I don't really want to be hauling around 5 Fexes and a Tyrant if I ever want my friends to like me again. Warriors are an option I suppose, and I can get a box of them for just a little more than a Lictor.
 
#17 ·
They aren't even 20 something over here, tough luck!

Warriors work out very well, I like them a lot, especially against swarms, when you kit them with Deathspitters, a Barbed Strangler, Scything Talons, and Toxin Sacs. It keeps them light on points (at least a little bit) and they work pretty darn well.
 
#18 ·
Cheaper, or more expensive than that? I would have loved Lictors if they were the $20-something that they are in the US, but at $35 bucks a pop here I might as well spend just a little more and grab Warriors. 3 Models for the price of one that'll probably end up doing more, what with providing synapse and actually being able to shoot.

Any recommendations on how many warriors to take? I've got 160 points to play around with, removing Lictors.
 
#19 ·
You can fit in 6 Warriors for 152 points:

1 Warrior with a Barbed Strangler, Scything Talons, and Toxin Sacs for 36 points

5 Warriors with Deathspitters, Scything Talons, and Toxin Sacs for 31 points

Which gets you a nice little Synapse point that can really hurt things, but it will run you about the same as those Lictors (even though you shouldn't have to pay that much for them...). I would try eBay for either one you go with, much cheaper.
 
#20 ·
Warrior boxes are still around $45 or so here, but for 3 units that can put the hurt on about as well as the price of one, I'd probably rather go Warriors. As for eBay, I'm mostly just hesitant about having stuff shipped and all that fun stuff.
 
#21 ·
For your HQs, and this is my own personal preference, I LOOOOOVE the one-two punch you can pull with a CC Flyrant and Broodlord. It is instant CC threat that ties up squads that would otherwise shoot at your other big and little critters slowly making their way up the field. For the Flyrant if you go Dakka I'm personally not conviced that ES and TS are worth the points. It was also a tough decision to come to but I have all but stopped running Warp Field on mine because it has never made that much a difference. It will die the same way: lascannons and power c/klaws. A 1-in-6 chance to save against that isn't worth the points for the upgrade. I think you'll get better results out of a CC version with Flying, 2x Talons, Miasma, Sacs, and if you are feeling spunky Adrenal WS.

Regarding the Broodlord give that sucker Carapace, Sacs, Hooks, and Feeder Tendrils and he can't get any more perfect...that is until you run 11 genies with Carapace with him! There's no reason not to max out this brood. If you are dropping the points for these guys you should just make them go all out and be a huge and literal thorn in their side. Close to 300 points worth of hoss, infiltrating 'Stealers will instill fear in most people's hearts and buy your army time to move up!

Your Elite choices aren't too shabby either. You can't go wrong with a Dakkafex. Two of them will prove to be a huge threat, but with your two HQs eating faces in CC turn one it will be difficult to allocate the firepower to deal with them immediately. Free shots for you! The Lictors are nice, I've been wanting to use mine for so long now. You probably can with your units of Genestealers. On that note...

These guys like EVERYTHING else above are also high on the threat rating. You'll wear at your opponent's nerves with all this coming at them. Remember that if you make them Scuttlers it gives them "Scout" which means...do-do-dooooo!...you can use them to Outflank. With two Lictors sniffing for prey conveniently where you want to send your genies, you can come in off a board side and reroll to hit in CC all day long.

Speaking of huge threats, you have your poo-ton of Gaunts to throw around, clog up firing lanes, give cover, hold objectives, or otherwise harry your opponent. The more of these guys the better. While I understand you don't want to mod up that many Spinegaunts, but they are efficent for their points. If nothing else just proxy your Termies as Spines in your local scene unless your group is super hard on WYSIWYG rules...

But I digress. Your Heavy choices are just that. I used to love Sniperfexes and still have a few modeled up, but honestly you will only ever hit with your VC half the time and despite its strength you will only ever glance most vehicles. I know it is cliche and done to death but at least get a chance for a pen with a Boomfex (Strangler, Talons) and free up some points to field more/other units that will be more efficient at doing what you wanted your Venom Cannon to do. As for the Zoanthropes with the build it looks like you want to run you might be better of sticking to mind bullets over Psychic Scream. It at least gives you another shooting option and doesn't make your opponent have to rely on losing in CC with your enemenies who happen to be 18" or less away from these very important Synapse creatures.

Hopefully there were some things I mentioned that might help you out. But it all boils down to the general advice of don't load up too much on your bugs. Make them do one thing and spread out the threat levels. Check to see if your army has target priority coverage (troops, support armor/units, heavy armor/units) and redundancy so if one squad falls others can take up their mantle. Quantity over quality, bodies over bullets, that's the Tyranid way! =)
 
#22 ·
For your HQs, and this is my own personal preference, I LOOOOOVE the one-two punch you can pull with a CC Flyrant and Broodlord. It is instant CC threat that ties up squads that would otherwise shoot at your other big and little critters slowly making their way up the field. For the Flyrant if you go Dakka I'm personally not conviced that ES and TS are worth the points. It was also a tough decision to come to but I have all but stopped running Warp Field on mine because it has never made that much a difference. It will die the same way: lascannons and power c/klaws. A 1-in-6 chance to save against that isn't worth the points for the upgrade. I think you'll get better results out of a CC version with Flying, 2x Talons, Miasma, Sacs, and if you are feeling spunky Adrenal WS.
I'm quite torn, really. If it was easier for me to get a hold of magnets, I'd just magnetize him and try both. As it stands, I might just leave weapons off for the time being and proxy both configurations, see which I like best.

Regarding the Broodlord give that sucker Carapace, Sacs, Hooks, and Feeder Tendrils and he can't get any more perfect...that is until you run 11 genies with Carapace with him! There's no reason not to max out this brood. If you are dropping the points for these guys you should just make them go all out and be a huge and literal thorn in their side. Close to 300 points worth of hoss, infiltrating 'Stealers will instill fear in most people's hearts and buy your army time to move up!
I'll see what I can do with this guy, with the points available. Might not have a full retinue, but I know for sure I'll upgrade the Broodlord a bit.

Your Elite choices aren't too shabby either. You can't go wrong with a Dakkafex. Two of them will prove to be a huge threat, but with your two HQs eating faces in CC turn one it will be difficult to allocate the firepower to deal with them immediately. Free shots for you! The Lictors are nice, I've been wanting to use mine for so long now. You probably can with your units of Genestealers. On that note...
As much as I'd like to field Lictors from a gameplay perspective, for a monetary perspective these guys cost just a bit too much for my tastes. For just a little more here, I can buy a box of warriors, which gets me three units for the price of one. I hadn't checked lictor prices in a while, and was hoping they'd be more along the lines of Zoans/Guard/Raveners (Low to middle $20's), but at $35 bucks a pop, I might as well go for Warriors or something, since they're not much more expensive.

These guys like EVERYTHING else above are also high on the threat rating. You'll wear at your opponent's nerves with all this coming at them. Remember that if you make them Scuttlers it gives them "Scout" which means...do-do-dooooo!...you can use them to Outflank. With two Lictors sniffing for prey conveniently where you want to send your genies, you can come in off a board side and reroll to hit in CC all day long.
Again, this kind of keys back in with the Lictors, in more ways than one. We don't usually play Apocalypse games, or any games that really end up with anything other than "armies march against each other and the last one standing wins". We don't usually play with objectives, we don't usually play with strategies and all that Apocalypse stuff, so the deep-striking, outflanking rules that the Lictors and Scuttlers would help with really don't come into play for the games that my group plays. If we played like that more though, it's certainly a good suggestion.

Speaking of huge threats, you have your poo-ton of Gaunts to throw around, clog up firing lanes, give cover, hold objectives, or otherwise harry your opponent. The more of these guys the better. While I understand you don't want to mod up that many Spinegaunts, but they are efficent for their points. If nothing else just proxy your Termies as Spines in your local scene unless your group is super hard on WYSIWYG rules...
I don't usually play in a store. Me and my friends usually go to one of each other's house and play, and we're not really that hardcore about stuff, so saying that they're Spinegaunts probably wouldn't be that much of a problem for them. I mostly just had them kept as Termagaunts because like you said it'd be a pain to mod up so many Spinegaunts.

But I digress. Your Heavy choices are just that. I used to love Sniperfexes and still have a few modeled up, but honestly you will only ever hit with your VC half the time and despite its strength you will only ever glance most vehicles. I know it is cliche and done to death but at least get a chance for a pen with a Boomfex (Strangler, Talons) and free up some points to field more/other units that will be more efficient at doing what you wanted your Venom Cannon to do. As for the Zoanthropes with the build it looks like you want to run you might be better of sticking to mind bullets over Psychic Scream. It at least gives you another shooting option and doesn't make your opponent have to rely on losing in CC with your enemenies who happen to be 18" or less away from these very important Synapse creatures.
Most of the problem with the Boomfex is that I've already got one Sniperfex converted and painted, and I don't really feel like / have the money to either take him apart and change up the parts, or simply buy another one and shelf the old one. Freeing points might be nice, but my hands are kind of tied with one of them already converted/painted.

As for the Zoanthropes, I'm a bit dubious about Warp Blast. Having to roll the dice 3 times to try and hit stuff, with the Tyranids subpar ballistics skill, makes me a bit edgy. Psychic Test, Roll to Hit, and then Roll to Wound. There's a few too many places to fail there for my liking, especially with my hit and miss relations with the Dice Gods. I wouldn't mind taking Warp Blast, but we'll just have to see how it will perform for me first. I'll probably proxy a Warp Blast and a Scream configuration, and see what I like best.

Hopefully there were some things I mentioned that might help you out. But it all boils down to the general advice of don't load up too much on your bugs. Make them do one thing and spread out the threat levels. Check to see if your army has target priority coverage (troops, support armor/units, heavy armor/units) and redundancy so if one squad falls others can take up their mantle. Quantity over quality, bodies over bullets, that's the Tyranid way! =)
Indeed. I think that's the starting mistake of most Tyranid players, is overloading units. There's just so many options for your bugs to make them good, that you often end up overloading them to the point of hogging up half the points you can use with one unit. There were a few helpful suggestions, and after a bit of thought later I'll probably come up with another list. Every little bit of help is appreciated, because it results in making a better list.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Sorry for the double post, but my last one was long enough as it was without me editing an army list into it.

HQ

Tyrant; Winged, Toxic Miasma, Adrenal Glands (WS, I), 2 x Scything Talons
~156 points

Broodlord; Extended Carapace, Feeder Tendrils, Toxin Sacs
8 Genestealers; Extended Carapace
~253 points

Elites

Dakkafex; Enhanced Senses, Flesh Hooks, 2 x TL-Devourers
~ 114 points

Dakkafex; Enhanced Senses, Flesh Hooks, 2 x TL-Devourers
~ 114 points

6 Warriors; Enhanced Senses, Extended Carapace, Barbed Strangler, 5 x Deathspitters, Scything Talons
~203 points

Troops

16 Spinegaunts
~80 points

16 Spinegaunts
~80 points

16 Spinegaunts
~80 points

16 Spinegaunts
~80 points

8 Genestealers; Extended Carapace, Scuttlers
~184 points

8 Genestealers; Extended Carapace, Scuttlers
~184 points

Heavy Support

Sniperfex; Enhanced Senses, Flesh Hooks, Barbed Strangler, Venom Cannon
~149 points

Sniperfex; Enhanced Senses, Flesh Hooks, Barbed Strangler, Venom Cannon
~149 points

3 Zoanthropes; Synapse Creature, Warp Blast
~195 points

=2021 points (21 points over because of Scuttlers. Basically my only option would be to drop a Warrior, because there aren't really 21 points of superfluous upgrades.)

Bit of a change up, using some of the advice that has been given.

Tooled up but fairly cheap Flyrant, minus the Warp Field, since the things that end up killing a Tyrant really don't make a 2+/6+ save combo all that worth it. Tooled up Broodlord and squad, for putting the hurt/scaring the life out of people. Standard Dakkafexes, and a very shooty Warrior squad. 6 templates really should put the hurt on infantry squads. Stand Spinegaunt troops and some more Genies. Cheap Sniperfexes, kept that way because even if the Venom Cannon is a bit wishy washy, I'd still rather have a few more shots a turn out of these guys. Blasty Zoantrhopes, for some extra shootin' action. All fairly basic stuff from suggestions, so hopefully this is going to be the last/one of the last lists I'll have to post, haha.
 
#24 ·
I like it, its really looking good. I would put in Warp Field rather than Warp Blast, because being safe from Missile Launchers, Battle Cannons, and Thousand Sons fire really is nice, and Warp Blast works well, but it is quite unreliable (you need to pass a Psychic Test, BS test, and then a strength test for just one shot) unless you are using 'Thropes to pop a tank. On a CC Tyrant you will really only fire it once before you charge, so it will hardly ever make up for its points.

Trust me, Warp Blast seems attractive on a CC Flyrant (a quick deliverance of anti-tank), but having used it, it did next to nothing for me in the four games I tried it. I think it got maybe one casualty on a Marine squad and shook a Rhino in those games. Really not worth it overall.

If your main opponents don't run many of the AP3 weapon variety and skip straight to the Lascannons, Plasma Guns, and Melta Guns, don't bother with either power, and save the points for something else, possibly Scuttlers for the Genestealers so they can come in straight to assault range (Outflank maneuver).

Otherwise your list is looking really good, I like the nice mix you have in it, it looks like it will perform well!
 
#25 ·
Edited the list a bit in the post above. Didn't feel like posting it AGAIN. Most people I play don't use Missles, Battle Cannons, or Thousand Sons. It's pretty much always Lascannons, Meltas, and Plasma. 35 points for Warp Field just isn't going to help me much with what I play against. As it is, if I add the suggested Scuttlers, I'm 21 points over even without adding the extra points of Warp field on top of that. About the only option I can see for fixing my points problem, is to drop a Warrior. There aren't really any upgrades I can take off things I've already got that wouldn't be pretty helpful, except maybe the Initiative Adrenal Gland on the Flyrant. I5 is pretty good already, I6 just lets him hit on par with Genies, and you're not going to want to shove the Flyrant into something with higher Initiative than it anyways. Probably some other things I can shave off, I'll see what I can do.
 
#26 ·
If you need good magnets you can look online or go out to your local Radio Shack (or that type of store) and pick up some 1/8" rare earth magnets. You get 2 for $2 (at least here) but those little buggers will hold just about any plastic arm on. Get a pin vise, too, as that helps make the cavity in the body for them. I'd recommend a good, thick super glue and some drying accelerant to dry it in place quickly. Glue both sides and make one flush to the cavity. That means you can paint over it and none will be the wiser and you never have to worry about it dislodging with all those layers.

Time consuming? Yes.
Annoying? Yes.
Worth it? YES!
:dance:
 
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