As it is, I don't have 6 carnifexes with which to make your typical Tyranid list. My other army is Tau, and I've never had one unit act as a crutch that allowed the rest of the list to keep pace with other armies, every unit is viable, and there are many ways to deal with each sort of problem. Tyranid army lists are driving me bonkers, as we're forced to depend on Carnifex to do a lion's share of our work, and to have a strong force capable of surviving a bit of incoming fire we have to max out on the Carnifex. Hence, I'm trying to do a series of experimental lists to prove that Tyranids can work without having to depend on Carnifex to win.
I dub thee, the "Leviathan Pincer" list.
This army is actually two 1000 point lists, so I will post everything in it and assume that for every one unit, there is another.
1 Hive Tyrant +Enhanced Senses +Extended Carapace +Toxin Sacs +Twin-linked Deathspitter +Venom Cannon +Psychic Scream
3 Tyrant Guard
1 Lictor
4 Warriors +Deathspitter +Scything Talons +Toxin Sacs +Extended Carapace
1 Warrior +Barbed Strangler +Scything Talons +Toxin Sacs +Extended Carapace
8 Gaunts +Spinefists
10 Hormagaunts +Adrenal Glands (+I) +Adrenal Glands (+Ws) +Flesh Hooks +Toxin Sacs
10 Genestealers
Tactics play a significant role in this list, so allow me to explain:
The goal of this army is to approach the enemy from two flanks, using the Hive Tyrant and guard, backed by the Warriors, as a virtual shield for the Hormagaunts and Genestealers. The two Pincers will move to the enemy's flanks, softening the enemy up with varied firepower (Warriors to deal with infantry squads, Hive Tyrants trying to disable enemy armour, and Zoanthropes dealing with the greater threat of the two). Once in range, the goal is to assault with both the Hormagaunts and the Genestealers simultaneously, Genestealers assaulting the closest enemy unit and Hormagaunts assaulting the next-closest unit. My hope here is to simply beat the enemy, being in range of at least two Psychic Screams will reduce the assaulted squad's leadership by -2. When the enemy squad breaks (at least a -3 modifier for losing assault by 1) they will be pursued by Initiative 5 and Initiative 6 broods, which should be able to easily catch the enemy as they flee and wipe out entire broods. Lictors are in the list to provide early distraction from my pincers, to deal with heavy firepower units early (or land-raiders if they're present) and to provide their Feeder Tendrils to the assaulting squads. The Hive Tyrant will join the fray when in range, as Tyrant Guard are actually very good at close combat, along with their ranged-combat oriented Tyrant. Gaunt squads were included to hold rear objectives.
The list has a good model count (76), and a very balanced mix of shooting and assault capabilities. Unfortunately, the assault elements of the list are limited, having to stay behind the slow moving shooting elements until in range, and vulnerable to any sort of firepower. Once in range, they will be devastating to my foe, I'm just worried about their getting there. My other concern is the possibility of facing a Land-raider list. Tyrants, Zoanthropes and Lictors can kill them, but it's going to take a lot of persistence.
Comments are more than welcome, remember I'm trying to wield a list without using Carnifex at all (and Biovores have stepped out of the picture when 5th came into play).
I dub thee, the "Leviathan Pincer" list.
This army is actually two 1000 point lists, so I will post everything in it and assume that for every one unit, there is another.
1 Hive Tyrant +Enhanced Senses +Extended Carapace +Toxin Sacs +Twin-linked Deathspitter +Venom Cannon +Psychic Scream
3 Tyrant Guard
1 Lictor
4 Warriors +Deathspitter +Scything Talons +Toxin Sacs +Extended Carapace
1 Warrior +Barbed Strangler +Scything Talons +Toxin Sacs +Extended Carapace
8 Gaunts +Spinefists
10 Hormagaunts +Adrenal Glands (+I) +Adrenal Glands (+Ws) +Flesh Hooks +Toxin Sacs
10 Genestealers
Tactics play a significant role in this list, so allow me to explain:
The goal of this army is to approach the enemy from two flanks, using the Hive Tyrant and guard, backed by the Warriors, as a virtual shield for the Hormagaunts and Genestealers. The two Pincers will move to the enemy's flanks, softening the enemy up with varied firepower (Warriors to deal with infantry squads, Hive Tyrants trying to disable enemy armour, and Zoanthropes dealing with the greater threat of the two). Once in range, the goal is to assault with both the Hormagaunts and the Genestealers simultaneously, Genestealers assaulting the closest enemy unit and Hormagaunts assaulting the next-closest unit. My hope here is to simply beat the enemy, being in range of at least two Psychic Screams will reduce the assaulted squad's leadership by -2. When the enemy squad breaks (at least a -3 modifier for losing assault by 1) they will be pursued by Initiative 5 and Initiative 6 broods, which should be able to easily catch the enemy as they flee and wipe out entire broods. Lictors are in the list to provide early distraction from my pincers, to deal with heavy firepower units early (or land-raiders if they're present) and to provide their Feeder Tendrils to the assaulting squads. The Hive Tyrant will join the fray when in range, as Tyrant Guard are actually very good at close combat, along with their ranged-combat oriented Tyrant. Gaunt squads were included to hold rear objectives.
The list has a good model count (76), and a very balanced mix of shooting and assault capabilities. Unfortunately, the assault elements of the list are limited, having to stay behind the slow moving shooting elements until in range, and vulnerable to any sort of firepower. Once in range, they will be devastating to my foe, I'm just worried about their getting there. My other concern is the possibility of facing a Land-raider list. Tyrants, Zoanthropes and Lictors can kill them, but it's going to take a lot of persistence.
Comments are more than welcome, remember I'm trying to wield a list without using Carnifex at all (and Biovores have stepped out of the picture when 5th came into play).