Tyranid Questions!

Email from JT:

Hey man, I appreciate the insight on my new "choir" list (I like
calling them screamers... sexier). Anyways, in a list I'm going for,
what do I do about the big bastards? I understand now that I shouldn't
mix CC with shooting, but I'm always afraid of greater daemons,
avatars and the like.

Also, what are the logistics on this sort of tactics against Marine
Equivalents? Power armor is a big concern of mine, since the only AP3
or better is on my Zoans, and I'm guessing they're not so accurate
against small squads.

Again, I appreciate the help, boss.

JT

Reply:

Glad my choir list helped out!

To answer your questions:

1. Mixing CC and Shooting. I think this is a misconception among many tyranid player. IMO there are things in the army that can mix and things that can't. The big 3 are warriors, carnifexes, and tyrants. Warriors need to either be equiped for CC or Shooting. Carnifexes IMO can mix (hence the BOOMFEX!!!!). IMO Tyrants should always be shooting because it is the one BS4 thing in the army.

2. To deal with the big guys simply torrent them with devourers. They will eventually fail those saves.

3. To take care of MEQ simply put tons of wounds on them they will eventually fail those 3+ saves.

Fairly simple stuff, but sometimes that is what works ;-)

Hope that helps!

The Stelek Mission

So for today, I write on the mission that has been become known as the "Stelek Mission." The goal of ths mission is to eliminate any imbalances in the current mission system as well as many of the current tournament "off the wall" missions. Note that I have added in a few of my own tweaks to make the mission IMO even more balanced. So without more waiting here is how the mission works:

Battlefield Setup: The battlefield is to be setup in a non-cluttered balanced mirror setup. This means that each table quarter should have an equal number of terrain pieces of equal size. For example: If a table quarter has a x-sized forest terrain and a x-sized bunker (x is just a variable to represent the size of terrain piece; I.E. small, medium, large) in one table quarter then the opposite table quarter should be setup in a similar manner. Here is a visual example of a well balanced board setup:

The Green Patches are forests and the black Boxes are either bunkers or buildings. The box is a building or other difficult terrain area terrain that will provide a cover save. Note this is not to scale and can be setup differently and can have more or less terrain to your liking but the key is to have enough terrain for good cover but not too much that it make a tank take a dangerous terrain test anywhere it goes.

Deployment: Same as the standard 40K mission. Man that was easy ;)

Who goes FIRST?!?: To determine this use the standard mission rules in the 40K rule book.

Objectives: This mission uses both KPs and objectives. There are always 5 objectives and 5 KPs. Here is how both of these work:

Objectives: Place 5 objectives as follows. Place 1 in the dead center of the board. Next place an object 17" away from each corner of the board. In addition those 4 "corner" objectives cannot come with in 12" of any board edge. The normal rules for capturing objectives in the 40K rule book apply. Here is how the objective placement should look (the red dots are the objectives):

Kill Points: Basically before the game you choose 5 different enemy units to be a kill point unit. This means that they follow the rules for Kill point missions in the 40K rulebook with the follwing exceptions:

• "Reinforcements"- upgrades like without numbers and send in the next wave will not award additional kill points if they are killed multiple times.
• Splitting Squads (aka Combat squads ect...) - if an opponent chooses to split a squad and you choose that unit as a kill point unit then only 1 of the 2 "new" units becomes a kill point unit. This choice is of the one who chooses the KPs of the original unit.
• Combing squads (aka Imperial Guard Infantry squads) - If a player chooses to combine 2 or more squads that are kill point squads then the new combined unit only counts as 1 KP. In addition the other player can choose x-number of new kill point units. X is the number of KP he would lose from that squad combination, I.E. if a player combines 2 KP units together then the other player could choose 1 more KP unit; if a player combines 3 KP units into one new unit then the other player can choose 2 more Kill Point units and so on...

Who WINS? - Each objective/KP is worth 1 point. The winner is simply the one with the most points at the end. No minor victor minor loss crap just WIN/LOSE/DRAW... the way it should be.

So that is the "Stelek Mission" with a few tweaks by me. I hope that Stelek will drop in and give his thoughts on my take on his mission!

The Future...

So with the new codex coming in just over 3 months I thinking of things to do when it comes out. Obviously a codex review is in order but what else... I think a "Know Your Foe" series. What do you all think? Throw some ideas my way. :)

Happy October

So it's October and as we all know the Tyranid's 5th Edition Codex is out in January. So what to do for the next 3 months... Well between school and college basketball I figure I'll try to get a new army started. That new army will be a mech guard army! So I'm putting my nids on hold and only playing non-Nid armies (unless some local puck challenges me) till the new codex comes out, but I hill still help you all out if you want it. ;)

So here are just a few things to show you all what I'm working on! Tell me what you think?

500pt Bitch Slap Nid List

HQ

1. Hive Tyrant w/ x2 TL Devourers, Enhanced Senses
2. Hive Tyrant w/ x2 TL Devourers, Enhanced Senses

Troops

1. Ripper Swarms x3
2. Gaunts x8 w/ Spinefists

Heavy Support

1. Carnifex w/ Scything Talons, Barbed Strangler
2. Carnifex w/ Scything Talons, Barbed Strangler

If the game you are playing only requires 1 troop slot then replace the troop section with theis:

• Gaunts x8 w/ Spinefist, without number

Ok so here is how it works, quite simple actually. Basically you just target their troops (avoid their super killy unit if they have one by good spacing) and make them play for a draw. If you place your objective then place it out of LOS (or in cover) and keep your gaunts in that cover (GtG for a 3+ cover save) and in the late game move one of your Tyrants back for synapse. And people say that Nids suffer at low point cost. I beg to differ!

Ok so here is another crazy 500pt list (note it requires the one troop rule)

HQ

1. Hive Tyrant w/ x2 TL Devourers, Enhanced Senses
2. Hive Tyrant w/ x2 TL Devourers, Enhanced Senses

Troops

1. Gaunts x8 w/ Spinefists, Without Number

Heavy Support

1. Carnifex w/ Rending Claws, Barbed Strangler
2. Carnifex w/ Rending Claws, Barbed Strangler
3. Zoanthrope w/ Synapse

Army works the same but you put the zoanthrope by your objective in cover (or out of LOS would be better) and provide synapse to the WoN gaunts! I only know of one list that could reliably beat this list but I not going to give it unless you all really want to know it...

Nids Help/Build Request

Email from Zubin Lal - >Hey, >I have a question on Nids. Would it be smart to have an "elite warrior" army which would be "tricked" out Warriors with lots of Carapace armour upgrades and Syching Talons. Sorry if questions are newby but I'm new :). >Thanks, >Z

Reply:

Thanks for the email Z :)

OK well all warrior armies are not my fav and not really that competitive but I will see what I can do.

The first thing to realize is what you need in the list. There are 3 major things that are needed:

1. Anti-infantry
2. Anti-vehicle
3. A CC threat

Now those 3 things are important to a good army build. The only problem is that Nids don't have a great anti-vehicle option (don't try to pretend that a carnifex or warp blast is one because well it is not). With that the best I can do is well make do with what they do have.

The next step is to pick the units that we can have in the army while sticking to the "theme" of the army being warriors:

HQ

• Warriors

Elites

• Warriors
• "Elite" Carnifexes
• Lictors would be here but they cost too much and we need the slots for warriors ;)

Troops

• Gaunts
• Genestealers if points allow

Fast Attack

• Well there isn't much to do here. I mean flying warriors look cool but a 5+ armour save is not :(
• We could use raveners but leaping warrior (spoiler alert are better IMO)

Heavy Support

• Zoanthropes
• Carnifexes

OK now that we know what we can take it is now time to lay out the structure of the list. Now this list is going to be a bit min maxish but most nid list are like that now...

OK so where to start....

Oh yeah warriors. So the army will only need two types of them; Shooty and Combat warriors.

First type up will be shooty. These will have the following loadout:

• Toxin Sacs
• Deathspitters
• One different weapon-symbiote for each warrior (this is for wound allocation - go look it up on a 40k forum and you will find something about it and how it works)

Each warrior will run 27pts plus the cost of the second weapon. In addition on warrior will be armed with a barbed strangler instead of a death spitter.

Ok so onto the CC Warriors. There loadout will be as follows:

• Leaping
• Adrenal Glands (I and WS)
• Extended Carapace
• Flesh Hooks
• Toxin Sacs
• Rending Claws
• Scything Talons

These run about 37pts each.

OK so now we have our warriors as we want to take them so lets put that in the back of our head and get to the rest of the stuff in the list.

Next up is the carnifex. Ok so these are not "warriors" but I like to think of them as big fat warriors ;)

OK so for this list I will use a build of carnifex called a boomfex. It is equipped like this:

• Scything Talons
• Barded Stanglers

So this runs 113pts and serves as a jack of all trades for the list.

Onto the zoanthropes. They are quite simple. They have warp blast and synapse. These guys serve as an anti-tank/MEQ unit (althou they are not the most reliable they are all the nids have for anti-tank that will destroy a vehicle at range).

OK so we now know everything in the list other than the troops section. So lets recap on what we have:

2 units of 6 shooty warriors (as HQ) - 392 pts

2 units of 5 close combat (as elites) - 444 pts

1 Boomfex (taken as an elite choice) - 113 pts

2 Boomfexes (taken as Heavy Support) - 226 pts

3 Zoanthropes w/ synapse and warp blast - 195 pts

This brings the point total to 1376 pts so far. That leaves 124 pts for troops. Not much so lets see what we can drop. Lets drop one boomfex that gives us 237 pts to work with... much better.

For troops we need some small units of WoN spine gaunts to provide mobile cover and to claim objectives after they die and come back on the board. Lets take 2 broods of 8 of them. That leaves us with 109pts. With those points lets buy an outflanking brood of genestealers. Give them feeder tendrils and scuttlers and you are done. Take and brood of 6 of them and that is it. That unit costs 120pts so we are 11 pts over. So where to shake a 11 pts? Lets just drop one synapse off 2 of the zoanthropes. We are now done.

So here is the final list:

1500 Pts - Tyranids Roster

HQ: Warriors (6#, 196 pts)

1 Warriors @ 196 pts (Toxin Sacs +1 St; Lash Whips x1; Deathspitter; Synapse Creature)

1 Warriors (Toxin Sacs +1 St; Scything Talons x1; Barbed Strangler; Synapse Creature)

1 Warriors (Toxin Sacs +1 St; Rending Claws x1; Deathspitter; Synapse Creature)

1 Warriors (Toxin Sacs +1 St; Scything Talons x1; Deathspitter; Synapse Creature)

1 Warriors (Toxin Sacs +1 St; Deathspitter; Spinefists; Synapse Creature)

1 Warriors (Toxin Sacs +1 St; Deathspitter; Fleshborer; Synapse Creature)

HQ: Warriors (6#, 196 pts)

1 Warriors @ 196 pts (Toxin Sacs +1 St; Lash Whips x1; Deathspitter; Synapse Creature)

1 Warriors (Toxin Sacs +1 St; Scything Talons x1; Barbed Strangler; Synapse Creature)

1 Warriors (Toxin Sacs +1 St; Rending Claws x1; Deathspitter; Synapse Creature)

1 Warriors (Toxin Sacs +1 St; Scything Talons x1; Deathspitter; Synapse Creature)

1 Warriors (Toxin Sacs +1 St; Deathspitter; Spinefists; Synapse Creature)

1 Warriors (Toxin Sacs +1 St; Deathspitter; Fleshborer; Synapse Creature)

Elite: Warriors (5#, 225 pts)

5 Warriors @ 225 pts (Adrenal Glands +1 In; Adrenal Glands +1 WS; Extended Carapace +1 Save; Flesh Hooks; Leaping; Toxin Sacs +1 St; Rending Claws x1; Scything Talons x1; Synapse Creature)

Elite: Warriors (5#, 225 pts)

5 Warriors @ 225 pts (Adrenal Glands +1 In; Adrenal Glands +1 WS; Extended Carapace +1 Save; Flesh Hooks; Leaping; Toxin Sacs +1 St; Rending Claws x1; Scything Talons x1; Synapse Creature)

Troops: Gaunt Brood (8#, 64 pts)

8 Gaunt Brood @ 64 pts (Spinefists; Without Number)

Troops: Gaunt Brood (8#, 64 pts)

8 Gaunt Brood @ 64 pts (Spinefists; Without Number)

Troops: Genestealers (6#, 120 pts)

6 Genestealers @ 120 pts (Feeder Tendrils; Scuttlers; Rending Claws)

Heavy Support: Carnifex (1#, 113 pts)

1 Carnifex @ 113 pts (Scything Talons x1; Barbed Strangler)

Heavy Support: Carnifex (1#, 113 pts)

1 Carnifex @ 113 pts (Scything Talons x1; Barbed Strangler)

Heavy Support: Zoanthrope (3#, 175 pts)

1 Zoanthrope @ 175 pts (Toxic Miasma; Synapse Creature; Warp Blast; Warp Field)

1 Zoanthrope (Toxic Miasma; Warp Blast; Warp Field)

1 Zoanthrope (Toxic Miasma; Warp Blast; Warp Field)

Total Roster Cost: 1491

If you want an expanded list to 1750 or 1850pts ect... then just ask :)

*note that this army is not the most competitive but it would be fun to play :)*

Things to remember about MECH

Here are 3 things to remember about mech.
1. If they are shooting army then they want to shoot from the fire points on the vehicles. If they are assualting then they have to wait a turn to assault (unless they has LR or open topped vehicles)

a. Note that a crew shaken or stunned result will not allow the unit inside the transport to shoot unless they get out which just makes them like any other foot unit or forces your opponent to waste a turn of shooting with that unit.
b. Note that an assaulting mech army outside of LR (not much we can do but then again you won't see more than 2 of them or the enemy will be outnumbered even to Nidzilla lol) and Open-Topped (hey venomcannon penn those vehicles HELL YEAH) will have to get close in order to guarantee an assault the next turn. This allows two things to happen:

1. You can surround the tank not allowing them to disembark and therefore have to move again.
2. You can choose which unit they will have to charge (AKA gaunts lol)

2. A shooting army doesn't want to get out unless it has too or is doing some type of rhino rush. An assualty army will not get out until they can assault.

a. Note that a unit that has to get out to shoot is usually a unit with weak armour (IG, eldar, ect) or Space marines (wow bolters and a melta gun or flamer "real scary"). Also note these die to BS or TL Devourers quite easily.
b. see the above but note the same thing to them dying.

3. If they do get out they are just like any other foot army except they move a little fast for a couple of turns. This takes away their advantage.