Tallarn 110th Redux: Battlegroup Ptolemy.

So I've finally rebased all my Tallarns to actually be in a desert as they should be. Some grey rocks chucked in for a bit of variety...

Anyway, I now have 1850 (and a little extra) points to take with me to the tourney later this year. So now I can focus on other stuff (such as Warmachine which my buddy and I just got into among other things).

But either way, here they all are, with redone bases and a bad attitude...

A couple of things to note.
1) The Ogyrns now have official GW bases, so I won't get docked for that!
2) Yes that is a commisar all his lonesome. He will be leading the 3 squads of infantry with attached Autocannons. You will also notice there is only 1 vox between the three of them for that reason.
3) The mortars are there in the pic as well as a partial squad that was left over. I wanted them to be in the picture just 'cause they still look awesome.
4) That squad under the Vendetta is a grenadier veteran unit as you can see from its 3 meltaguns and pack 'o explosives (that little guy single handedly took out a Chaos Soul Grinder back at my last tourney)
5) Why battlegroup Ptolemy? Well, he was one of Alexander's Generals who took over Egypt after Alexander's death. He fought in the desert and prevailed, so I figured why not name my commander after him. Besides, Ghengis Khan didn't seem to fit a guy with a comb-over...

Part 4: Mid-Zilla Tacitca!

After running through the first 3 Tactica articles I find myself at the most challenging one. The reason I say this is because this section of the book is by far the most flawed and for that reason I personally would only run this type of list as a "for fun" list. Let me explain.

Basically, back in 3rd ed NOBODY took Warriors, Zoanthropes, Raveners, etc. for one simple reason: they got destroyed by instant death weapons. The second someone showed up with a Leman Russ or a devastator squad with missile launchers you could basically just kiss those squads goodbye. So fast forward to 4th ed where Phil Kelly and Andy Chambers understood that in order to make one of the most iconic units in the Tyranid Codex (Warriors) useful again they needed to do something about being able to instant kill these creatures so they gave everything within Synapse range eternal warrior. While I admit that might have been too far for 5th ed, something along those lines were needed for the current codex (either making them cheaper or giving them toughness 5 and two wounds). For some unknown reason though it feels like Mr Crudace never actually looked back at the older Tyranid books to see what worked and what didn’t and decided that a complete re-write (for the 4th codex in a row) was in order and reverted back to 3rd ed, and like 3rd ed you very rarely see these creatures anymore.

It’s a shame when you think about it though. Some of my favorite units through the years have been the Mid-Zilla type creatures like the ones I listed above. I love my Raveners, even now, easily one of my fav units in the books. I really want to love Warriors too, but alas they are just way too expensive for what they do and they also suffered the single biggest nerf in the codex, yes, even bigger than Carnifexs. What was that nerf you ask? Deathspitters. Turning them into a devourer (we already have THREE other ones in this book btw – MC Devourers, Stinger Salvo, and Devourers all 18’ range, str 4-6 and Assault 3-6 with almost no AP) was such a massive mistake for the most iconic gun in the codex which has ALWAYS been a single shot blast weapon (since it shoots beetles that EXPLODE...so how that equals multi shot I will never know lol).

With all that being said I have been doing a lot of thinking about how to make this list work. While it is probably the least competitive route to take in the 5th book I think it could be incredibly fun, and depending on what kind of match up you get it can also be incredibly tough to deal with.

The first thing to do is take a quick look at which units fit this type of army the best:

HQ
- Tyranid Prime
- Parasite of Mortex
- Hive Tyrant (will explain)

Elites
- Lictors
- Deathleaper
- Zoanthropes
- Hive Guard
- Pyrovores (you know they had to show up in a least one list :P )
- Venomthropes

Troops
- Tyranid Warriors
- Termagants
- Hormagaunts
- Genestealers
- Spore Pod

Fast Attack
- Raveners
- Shrikes
- Gargoyles

Heavy Support
- Biovores

Unit Overview:

Tyranid Warrior/Shrike Primer: Like the Hive Tyrant, these guys have so many ways to just eat up points and give you nothing back in return. If you want to run this unit then you really need to focus what their battlefield role is. There are two main routes to take these guys:

1) Shooty Warriors: The first option is making them “shooty” warriors. The main function of these guys is objective grabbing, with a small amount of harassment and covering fire. When running “shooty” warriors you really want to strip them down to the basics. What this means is giving them NOTHING in the way of upgrades. Give them the standard scything talons and deathspitters, that’s it. What is vastly more important then upgrades for this way of running them is numbers. I would say a min of 6 is needed, but 9 is preferred. The last two things that I would do is add a shooty prime (Dual Boneswords, Deathspitters, Regenration) and give them a barbed strangler. Now you have 27 x str 5, BS 4 shots and a large blast template. It will cost you a lot of points but it might actually do something.

2) Close Combat Warriors: In my opinion this is the option to take every last time. Warriors naturally are just so much better in combat then they are at shooting. If you do go this route then there are two ways of running them.

The first is with one of the two bonesword options. I personally just do Lashwhips, Boneswords and Toxin Sacs. They are pricey (they each cost the same as a regular Land Speeder) but if they hit home they pretty much erase anything that isn’t an assault terminator, and even then depending on their numbers can do quite a number on them too. This type of Warrior/Shrike I would normally keep the numbers to 4-5 strong (for both regular warriors and shrikes).

The second option is a unit with scything talons, rending claws and toxin sacs. I do really like this option as a cheaper alternative as you have just so many wounds and so many attacks, all re-rolling wounds against T4 or lower. You can also really threaten vehicles, not to mention they are almost 20 points cheaper per guy then one with boneswords/lashwhips so you can get a full unit of 9 for the same price a unit of 6 cost with the lash whips. People also greatly under estimate just how powerful this unit really is and how long it takes to get rid of it if you aren’t equipped to fight them, which is another big bonus of this route.



Tyranid Prime: I have gone over this guy a couple times in other articles so far in regards to where to put him. Basically, like the other type of lists arming him with a Bonesword option is 100% a must. I normally just give him dual boneswords and adrenal glands and call it a day. He is just as good as a Hive Tyrant on the charge and costs literally half as much and is an independent character. As far as where to put him you have some options with this type of list. At a first glance the most obvious would be with Warriors. This is true except the only time you really want to put him with that squad is if they are “shooty” Warriors to take advantage of his BS4 (which makes the deathspitters go from HORRIBLE to just ‘okay’). The other options would be with some of the elite units like Venomthropes, Zoanthropes, Pyrovores and Hive Guard to help protect your ‘specialist units’. The last option would be to throw him in a huge unit of Termagants. All of a sudden this guy has 20-30 wounds to go through to help get him into combat.

Parasite of Mortex: For this list I like to think of this guy as your Tyranid Prime with wings (why can’t Tyranid Primes take wings anyways?). He is the only option to lead your Shrikes into battle. Another amazing use for him, like I mentioned in the Horde Tactica, is to have him lead your Gargoyles. Like the Prime in a Termagant unit they act as an escort to help him get where he needs to go.

Hive Tyrant: The only Monstrous Creature I have included in this list, and he is here for only one reason and that is Hive Commander. One thing I do love doing is getting a full unit of 9 warriors with nothing but rending claws, scything talons and toxin sacs and outflanking them with this ability. It allows you to put an incredibly heavy hitting combat squad potentially into your enemy’s ranks. Great fun.

Lictors/Deathleaper: Like the All Reserve list these guys work very well in this type of list. The big thing is to use them as a distraction, normally being placed near heavy support options in your enemy’s deployment zone. Doing this helps take the heat off of the main bulk of your army.

Hive Guard/Zoanthropes: Same as all the other lists, just there to deal with Transports and Battle Tanks respectively. Putting the Zoans in a pod for this list is 100% personal preference, but since most of the time you WON’T have Hive Commander it will be a bit of a gamble. Since you wont have much in the way of Monstrous Creatures to help you deal with tanks, I would do my best to use all my elite slots here (or one of each, maxed out, at the very least)



Pyrovores: First off, let me just say I am not suggesting you take these guys. These guys were never play tested. It’s obvious just looking at the entry that they are just biovores (probably the worst hand to hand combat unit in the book) with a heavy flamer and a power weapon. You can have some fun with them though, mainly in the form of throwing them in a pod and deepstriking them into the enemy’s lines. You really want to get them stuck in with hopes of exploding, although if the person you are facing has any concept of what they do, they will probably just rapid fire them to death with little effort. What I am saying here is only take them in casual games and just try to have as much fun with our mega throwaway unit as possible.

Venomthropes: Exact same tactic as in the horde armies. Just throw your Prime in the middle of the squad since you will have nothing in the army to block line of sight.

Termagants/Hormagaunts: These units are basically just use to screen your units of toughness 4 creatures. Like the Nidzilla article I also use them as a buffer to absorb those initial charges from elite CC units. Nothing will ruin this army’s day like a juicy unit of Assault Terminators getting into your midst.

Genestealers: I have included these guys as they are Toughness 4. Just set them up with toxin sacs and you are good to go. Due to general lack of Hive Commander you will find infiltrating them will probably be the best option.

Raveners: Ah, Raveners, how I love thee. In this blogger’s opinion the only way to go is just give them rending claws. I find guns on these guys is a complete waste due to the fact that you will always be fleeting, so you will never get a chance to shoot. For this type of list I would always take this squad in a unit size of 6-9 (6 being my fav size so far). A unit of 9 though gets 45 WS 5, Init 5 attacks on the charge, re-rolling 1’s to hit and rending. It really packs a punch and has 27 wounds to boot!



Gargoyles: Run them with your shrikes as a mobile cover unit. I would still take both upgrades always just in case they ever do make it into combat as they can still be very deadly once they get there. Plus seeing a huge winged flank for this type of army would be fantastic.

Biovores: With this type of list a Biorvore unit could be really good. Fairly cheap, great range and can help suppress those problem units like devastators or units that you will be want to be charging in a turn or two.

Sample List:

HQ
Tyranid Prime – Dual Boneswords, Deathspitter, Regeneration (shooty warriors)
Tyranid Prime – Scything Talons, Bonesword/Lashwhip (CC warriors), Regeneration

Elites
Hive Guard (3)
Zoanthropes (3) – Mycetic Spore
Lictors (3)

Troops
Tyranid Warriors (6) – Scything Talons, Deathspitters x 5, Barbed Strangler
Tyranid Warriors (6) – Scything Talons, Rending Claws, Toxin Sacs
Termagants (18)

Fast Attack
Raveners (6) – Scything Talons, Rending Claws

1500pts on the dot

As you can see this army has 29 multi wound models equaling 75 x toughness 4 wounds. I focused on having some smaller units, each with a bit of combat punch to them since both warriors units each have a prime tailored to what the unit does and you also have the Raveners. I also included the Zoanthropes in a pod as well as Lictors to help add a bit of a “distraction” element to the army.

Tactics:

In my mind there are pretty much two ways of running a “Mid-Zilla” type army.

1) MSU (multiple small units): This is more or less the sample list I posted above. You have a decent number of smaller units each tailored to one specific job to complete and multiple threats to the enemy. With this type of army it is really important to have units like the Lictors and Zoanthropes coming in from alternate deployments to help distract from the main bulk of your army.

With the sample list above I have one unit that is designed to camp my home objective (my shooty warriors) while the rest of the army is designed to hit the enemy with multiple waves. I have my Lictors, Zoanthropes and Raveners there for the initial wave followed up by the Combat Warriors and the Termagants for the secondary wave/objective scorers. This list also plays on the Target Saturation game that most Nid armies use to their advantage. You present choices of shooting the semi-deadly stuff up in their faces right away, or shoot at the warrior squads that need quite a bit more firepower to deal with. The last bonus for this type of army over the second type is it has quite a bit of flexibility in how your units operate on the field and you can hit quite a few targets all at once.

2) MLU (multiple large units): With this type of Mid-Zilla list you will have most of your units tied up into large blocks. While your unit count goes way down in this list (as does your flexibility), each unit is considerably tougher due to their size. You have some huge blocks of units, normally consisting of 27-30 wounds each, all incredibly powerful if they actually get there.

The main advantage to this playstyle is that you give up very few kill points. People have to really focus firing each unit in order to actually deal with it. This type of army really starts coming into its own once you start playing larger games, as you can fit in a couple of these large units, and then add in some of the supporting units as well. Dealing with 9 deep striking Raveners and 9 outflanking combat warriors that all come in on the same flank on the same turn can be super tough (and those two units are only about 600ish points for 54 wounds). If you manage to get through one squad, then the other will really hit home. Chances are though, if you don’t have a huge amount of instant killing weapons you wont be able to deal with either of them.

Playing a Mid-Zilla type army can be really fun, as a lot of the more interesting units in the book are in that group. I personally think that the toughness 4 creatures on their own in their current form will be incredibly challenging to play just due to the current meta game. Virtually every army you see on the battlefield today is a parking lot packing weapons designed to kill parking lots, which spells doom for this type of list.

Even though I think there are quite a few major problems with the current form of the Tyranid Codex (which I am sure everyone is sick to death talking about lol) there are a couple of things it does really well. The main thing is the fact that there are now so many ways to play this army to both have fun and still be competitive, which is a HUGE improvement over the last couple of books. If you are willing to really play test out units and not just play the standard internet lists you can make something really different and unique. My main goal with these 4 articles is to get people thinking about those playstyles and how to combine them into something that works for them instead of just taking as many Hive Guard and Tyrannofexs as possible.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this articles as much as I have had writing them and as always, if you have any questions/comments/suggestions please feel free to ask in the comments section.

Part 3: Horde Tactica!

After playing my last couple of Tournaments and casual games with a completely stripped down Nidzilla or All Reserve army I figured it was time to tackle the most Iconic Nid build of them all…the HORDE! This one has really taken me a while and a complete shift in thinking to finally get the hang of and I think now that I have started playing it I am finding it a pretty fun and refreshing way of doing things (I can’t believe as a Nid player I am actually saying playing a Horde is a refreshing way of doing things lol).

The obvious main focus on this type of list is your little dudes doing a bunch of the work instead of your big guys which will only be there for support. Now, the big question is “How to make all the pieces work together?” I think this style of play, more than any other requires synergy from your army. Both the “All Reserve” and “Nidzilla” type armies are fairly self-contained. A Trygon will kill the crap out of a unit of marines regardless of what else is there while a horde of little guys will need some buffs and help making it across the field to actually do some damage.

First thing I want to do is post a “sample” sort of "for fun" list of what I have been running for my Horde list and then break down what the essentials for making this work as there are a lot of subtle little things that I am sure many will question when they see it. So here it goes!

HQ
Tyranid Prime – Dual Bone Swords, Adrenal Glands

Elites
Venomthropes (2) – (Tyranid Prime goes here)
Hive Guard (3)
Hive Guard (3)

Troops
Termagants (20)
Tervigon – Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands, Catalyst, Cluster Spines
Hormagaunts (20) – Toxin Sacs
Genestealers (7+Broodlord) – Toxin Sacs

Fast Attack
Gargoyles (20) – Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs
Harpy – Twin Linked Venom Cannon

Heavy Support
Carnifex – Dual MC Devs
Carnifex – Dual MC Devs

Total Points: 1847

Here is a quick breakdown of the list and how everything works:

Tyranid Prime + Venomthropes: This is the one that I have been thinking about the longest and have done the most testing. The Venomthropes are the single most important unit in the book to make this list work. The fact they give everything a 5+ cover save completely changes the dynamic of the force. The biggest issues involving them and the thing I have put the most thought into is: “How do I make sure this unit isn’t turned to paste turn 1?” Putting the Prime in here greatly increases this unit's survivability. The reason for that is because he can eat all those missile launcher shots that would otherwise kill these guys and you can start doing stuff with wound allocation. The point is to put as many wounds as you can on him. Another awesome thing about this unit is they are actually decent in hand to hand, specifically assassinating characters. The ‘thropes make anything they touch initiative 1 so you can freely get in those str 6 bonesword attacks (on the charge) before pretty much anything goes. Another nice thing is this unit can hold it's own against hordes as well due to the fact that the Venomthropes have toxic miasma (so anything in base to base has to take a toughness test or take a wound) and you also wound most things in the game on a 2+ with a re-roll (2+ poison at str 4).

Their biggest asset though is the massive buff they give your army. Obviously the 5+ cover save on shooting is huge. The other massive benefit is how they change assaults when you get assaulted. Everything that assaults you has to take a Dangerous Terrain roll and your units count as having Defensive Grenades. I played an ork player over the weekend who charged my lowly 11 Termagants (free unit from the Tervigon) with 20 ‘Ard Boyz. He initially had 80 attacks but after you take into account the dangerous terrain roll (he lost 6 guys) and the grenades it brought the attacks down to 42. So just having the Venomthropes there literally cut his damage output in half. When you have a unit of 3 with the Prime you can also spread it over a much larger area effecting as many units as possible (always place the Prime in the middle to help spread their influence). The last amazing thing with this unit is it allows you to play in any Terrain environment. Draw a table at a tourney with little to no terrain? Who cares! Just place your gaunts as a screen and set up your Venomthropes near them and now your entire army gets cover and you don’t have to make difficult terrain rolls!



Hive Guard + Zoanthropes: Obviously these units are just there for anti tank and I included the Zoans for extra synapse as well as the fire support. Since I don’t have Hive Commander I really don’t want to have anything that starts in reserve hence the lack of a pod. The strength of this list is having a massive amount of targets from turn one while everything marches forward and the Zoans are no exception. These guys will eat up A LOT of the first couple turns anti tank because people are terrified of their Lance shots. So if they go 2 rounds taking missile launchers in the face instead of the rest of the army then they have succeeded in their job.


Termagants: These guys are the back bone of this army. You will notice I didn’t just buy the 10 to get the Tervigon in the list (although a min of 20+ is better). The reason for that is you want a decent sized shield up from turn 1 that you can use to give the rest of your army a 4+ cover save. The tactic I really like using is actually casting catalyst on these guys on turn 1. Now you have a unit that is about as resilient as marines giving the rest of your army a cover save. The larger the starting squad size the better. Their other main role is acting as a shield against assaults from other armies. You want those assault termies hitting these guys then countering with all your fast assault troops.

Another thing I really want to try is making a squad of 20 with devourers to go with these guys. I think they would do very well in this list as they can pump out so many shots. Just walk them forward, shoot something into the ground, wait for them to assault you so they have to take dangerous terrain rolls, you get defensive grenades and then you get to roll for counter assault with leadership 10 because of the Tervigon.



Tervigon: Horde list pretty much = Tervigon. With the way I have my army set up I have two main tactics that I enjoy using with these units depending on what is needed.

The first main tactic I employ with this list since I have Venomthropes in my army is to try and draw people into assaulting the Termagants with their assault units. The main reason for this is what I outlined in the Termagant entry and that is my units now have Counter Assault on LD 10, Defensive Grenades and the enemy have to take Dangerous Terrain Rolls. So I basically remove all the benefits of charging for the enemy while applying almost all the benefits of charging for my own unit as well as taking out some guys because of the Dangerous Terrain rolls. The other major bonus is that you have drawn them close to the main bulk of your army which completely primes that squad for a counter charge.

The second main tactic I use is being able to go on the offensive when needed since I have added Adrenal Glands to the Tervigon. Just make sure you run your Tervigon instead of shoot so he stays within 6" of your Termagants when you charge. It makes your Gants Init 5 and str 4 on the charge with Toxin Sacs so you re-roll wounds against T4 and lower which is super handy and greatly increases your damage output. Another really nice thing about having both buffs is after your main unit is in combat the extra squads that the Tervigon creates to help counter assault will also benefit as well. It turns your super cheap screening squad into something that you can use to do a considerable amount of damage.

Hormagaunts: I really enjoy having these guys in my armies. They are my answer to Assault Terminators, Thunder Wolf Calv, etc. Using their really high initiative and with toxin sacs means you can put a huge amount of wounds on whatever it is you charge. I love their speed as well. Rolling 3d6 for difficult terrain and fleet is also great. These guys combined with the Gargoyles are your heavy hitting counter assault units. As far as upgrades go I ALWAYS take Toxin Sacs and if you have left over points then take Adrenal Glands. In my opinion bare Hormagaunts are a complete waste of time. So take them and upgrade them or just leave them at home.

Genestealers: With this list I almost always infiltrate them (again, typically no Hive Commander). I like putting them on an objective outside of my deployment zone to start applying pressure before the game begins or use them as a counter assault unit. My normal set up is taking between 8-10 Stealers with toxin sacs and a Broodlord. They do amazing damage and have great utility with the Broodlord. Another great way to run them is totally naked and at maxed size (so 20). The unit comes in at 280pts and really fits the theme of the army well and can do a stupid amount of damage (60 rending attacks on the charge at Init 6, WS 6 is nothing to sneeze at). Regardless of how you arm/run them they are just a fun unit lol.

Gargoyles: This unit is made for this list. They have amazing speed are super cheap and can screen your larger models like the Carnifex’s and Tervigon or when mixed with Termagants can just flat out block LOS to your Venomthropes. This unit is so good the only reason I am not maxing the unit out is because I only own 20 of them currently lol. The biggest bit of advice I can give is ALWAYS take both upgrades. At only 1 point each there is no reason not to and it just makes them incredible. Another amazing combo with these guys is mixing them with a Hive Tyrant with Old Adversary. If you can paroxysm a unit first you now hit on 3's with a re-roll...then wound on 4's with a re-roll. Also, any "6's" to hit auto wound which means on T4 or lower you put out an incredible amount of wounds.

Harpy: Oh, Harpies. I have such a love-hate relationship with these guys. They are incredibly over priced, I would even go as far to say the most overpriced unit in the book, and are way too fragile for what you pay. That being said I feel they fit this list very well. They provide long range “stun” support (with the Venom Cannon) which in turn helps your army get across the table (I have literally NEVER missed with the main gun in about 7 games). The fact that they have wings so are somewhat fast is great too and helps keep them out of trouble. I also like the two templates plus the spore mines they can put down. Mostly it does a decent job in this list as a support creature. Another nice thing about them is you can use them for multi charges on high initiative units (since anything the harpy charges cuts their init in half) to allow your creatures time to get their attacks in first.

Carnifex: I have been using these guys more and more lately and have been having huge success with them. There are a couple of reasons why I am taking them in this list over Trygons and Mawlocs. First off they are small and can reliably get a 4+ cover save (but get the standard 5+ of the Venomthropes regardless). Secondly, it give this army some decent mid-range fire support which I find really helps. In this type of list I always arm mine with Dual MC Devourers. It makes them good (no great) at everything and they are a constant threat. You can take out light to medium tanks at range and you still have 4 base attacks to deal with things in CC not to mention being Str 9. These guys have been the stars of my list the last bunch of games I have taken them in. They have done everything from mashing Mega Nobz into a fine paste in CC to gunning down units of Space Marines at range.

Units that work that aren’t in my list:

- Parasite of Mortex: Oddly, this guy fits in very well. You put him with the Gargoyles so he kind of functions like a Broodlord. He also will start pumping out bases of Rippers when you get in CC which will help add to the “Horde”. Another nice thing is he gives you that forward Synapse to help keep everything moving.

- Hive Tyrant: Certain builds of Hive Tyrants are 100% made for this list. A Hive Tyrant with something like a Venom Cannon or 1-2 sets of MC Devourers and Old Adversary with some guard make all those little critters just incredible. These guys just improve everyone around them as well as giving some fire support for the rest of the army. Only reason it isn't in the above list is just because I was going for something a bit off the wall.

- Biovores: These guys can add some serious fire support to help soften up enemy hordes. With that said in all honesty these would be one of the last things I take just because your hordes have such large damage potential.

- Trygons: Like all Tyranid lists Trygons are always a welcome addition. Used pretty much the exact same as in the Nidzilla list. Your big heavy hitter.

- Tyrannofex: Again, like in the Nidzilla list just included for extra fire support/suppression of tanks. One nice thing in this list is you can get him that 5+ cover save from the Venomthrope and you can guard him with all your little bugs.


Tactics:

The main thing with this army is how you initially set everything up. I typically set everything up around the Venomthrope unit to maximize my cover saves. I set up the Tervigon behind the Termagants and try to shield the entire army with my Termgants (ie to give everything a “cover save”). Similar to my Nidzilla list I tend to “bookend” my army with the two Carnifex’s to help protect me from deep striking dreads and other edge threats. I will almost always set the army outside of cover with the exception of the Tervigon (or other MCs) just to make sure he doesn’t get shot at so I can max out my movement.



After the main set up it’s all about marching the army across the board, trying to pop transports along the way as well as suppress battle tanks with the Harpy. The key point is to use the Tervigon to try and keep that shield of Termagants going. This is incredibly important for 2 reasons. 1) Gives you the 4+ cover save for your army, and more importantly 2) Protects you from nasty assaults and gives you the counter assault (which is where this army wins). The biggest thing to keep in mind is to make sure you are MORE than 12” away from Transports (specifically Land Raiders and Stormravens) otherwise they will drive through your Termagant wall, forcing them to move out of the way with tank shock and then deliver those assault troops right into the heart of your army.

The main focus is getting units out of their transports, absorbing them into the “Termagant” wall then counter assaulting/shooting them with units like the Gargoyles, Hormagaunts and Stealers. It is such a simple technique but it is amazing how effective it can be, especially against angry armies like Blood Angels and Orks. One last nice thing about how this army is set up is how balanced it is. Unlike ultra “focused” armies like Nidzilla and the Reserve Bomb this list really doesn’t have a specific weakness and there is definitely something to be said for that.

This is pretty much the most straight forward way you can play Tyranids. It is all about setting up your units in ways where they can support each other in kind of a “web of synergy”. While it is by far the least sneaky way of playing Tyranids something about it just feels “right”. I gotta say I love setting up this army seeing a bunch of big squads of bugs, with some middle sized bugs and a couple of large bugs supporting them. Just looks awesome on the field and is just incredibly fun to play. As always please ask any questions or post any comments in the comments section and I will be more then happy to answer them. Happy Hunting!

Great Devourer Comes to March Madness!

Over the weekend I was able to attend a tournament for the first time this year. It was a smaller tourney (only 16 players) that had a bunch of my friends going, so it promised to be a good time (and it didn’t disappoint). The day was split up into 3 games, with missions from the main rule book all with “secondary” and “tertiary” missions that add up to a lot of points (10pts for the main objective, 7pts for secondary and 4 for the tertiary). To also spice it up even more there were “Secret” objectives that were also worth 4pts so a possible 25pts total per game (although it was almost impossible to get it all, which was good). One really interesting thing though is that Marines only made up HALF of the players! There were 2 Demons, 2 Eldar, 2 Orks a Tau player and a Tyranid player (aka me!). **Disclaimer! My Phone died right before the first game so all I had was my iPhone so I applogize in advance for the horrible pics :( *

Here is the list I took:

The Tyranid Army:

HQ
The Swarmlord + 2 Tyrant Guard

Elites
Zoanthropes (3) – Mycetic Spore
Hive Guard (2)
Ymgarls (10)

Troops
Termagants (15)
Tervigon – Catalyst, Toxin Sacs, Cluster Spines

Heavy Support
Carnifex Brood (2) – Dual MC Devourers
Trygon – Adrenal Glands

1800pts on the dot




I had two goals for this tournament, even above that of winning any games or prizes. 1) Fire a full salvo with the Carnifex’s every game and 2) Get into a meaningful combat with the Swarmlord just once!

Game 1: GRUDGE MATCH! Tyranids vs. Space Marines! - Objectives

The first game everyone was able to issue a challenge to someone else in the tourney. I issued the challenge to my friend Scott West and his super tough Space Marine army (he went 6-0 at the last major event here in Calgary). The mission was 5 objectives, with kill points being secondary. My secret mission was “Kill all Fast Attack” and Scott had none so I automatically picked that one up (ah thank you!). Here is Scott’s list:

HQ :
Master of the Forge

Elites :
Assault Termies (5) – Thunder Hammer/Storm Shields, Land Raider Redeemer
2 x Iron Clad Dreads in pods

Troops
Tact Squad (10) – Plasma Cannon, Melta Gun, Sarge with Power Fist (I think)
Tact Squad (10) – Plasma Cannon, Melta Gun, Sarge w/ Power Fist – Drop Pod

Heavy Support
3 x Dakka Dread (due to master of the forge)




Hi Points:

- Trygon charged the first Ironclad and got SEVEN penetrating hits, blowing it smithereens then charged the Land Raider, got 1 hit (due to needing “6’s” to hit), penetrated and rolled a “6” for damage, blowing it to bits (then got shot to crap lol)
- Dakka Fexes gunned down a 10 man tact squad then blew up a dread in CC
- Zoans wiped out a 10 man Tact Squad that was out in the open in one turn with warp blast (got all 3 hits with the blast templates)

Low Points:
- Only one I can think of is my Ymgarls rolling like crap to get out of difficult terrain to make a charge on the Terminators

Final result: Victory for the Tyranids. I achieved almost all my objectives. Scored the main (objectives), secondary (Kill Points) and my secret. Scott was an awesome guy to play against and until my Fexes hit is main battle line holding the objective it could have been really close. Also, he was just WAY too timid with his assault Termies, which I think ended up costing him the game (maybe just too timid in general).

Game 2: Tyranids vs. Space Marines! – Kill Points

This game was against my friend Kevin Kent. We have met many a time in battle during tournaments and he always gives a tough game and this was no different. The mission was Kill points with the secondary being two objectives with the deployment of Spear head. The terrain was somewhat sparse on this table and he had the second shootiest list in the tourney. I reserved my Carnifexs and Trygon as they would be just shot to crap and I was hoping to get him to focus on killing the Swarmlord, who I was going to present as a major threat to him (ie running him down the middle). There was a piece of terrain in the middle which I chose to have my Ymgarls charge out of. My Secret Objective was making sure my Tervigon didn’t die…which he didn’t. Kevin’s List:

HQ
Master of the Forge – Conversion Beamer, 2 Gun Servitors w/ Plasma Cannons

Elites
3 x Dakka Dreads (dual Twin Linked AC)

Troops
Tact Squad (5) – Razorback, twin Las
Tact Squad (5) – Razorback, twin Las
Tact Squad (5) – Razorback, twin assault cannon

Fast Attack:
Land Speeder Tornado – Multi Melta, Heavy Flamer
Land Speeder Typhoon – Multi Melta
Attack Bikes (3) – Multi Meltas

Heavy Support
2 x Devastators (5) – 4 x Missile Launchers
Thunder Fire Cannon

High Points:

- My Swarmlord was a complete beast. He literally took almost 5 full rounds of shooting from most of the army. It was madness. He also earned me 3 kill points in the process.
- Trygon popped up, gunned down 2 remaining devastators from one squad, charged in and killed the master of the forge and the thunder fire cannon, awesome stuff.
- My lowly Termagants managed to immobilize the one razorback with their Fleshborers RIGHT before the Swarmlord charged making it so all his attacks auto hit then surrounded the tank to force an emergency embarkment which meant the unit inside was auto-pinned.
- My Carnifex unit were stars again in this game. They killed a unit of marines on the objective after blowing up their transport with their Devourers. Good stuff.

Low Points:

- I 100% botched my Ymgarls. I had a choice between the attack bikes in the open or his devastator gun line in cover. I chose the gun line since they were doing so much damage and completely screwed the difficult terrain roll. This one thing alone cost me the win in this game
- My rolling was starting to slip. He shot his last unit that could shoot at my Trygon (which was a Dakka Dread) and wounded the Trygon 3 times and I failed all 3 armor saves on a 3+ which ended up tying the game.
- Those attack bikes went on to kill my zoanthropes and contest one of the objectives (so in essence they cost me 11 points)

Final Result: Tie. Despite the complete pounding I took to the mountain of firepower Kevin had I still managed to do just enough damage to pull out the tie. I focused on the transports and the small marine squads as they were an easy 6 KP. This was one of the most fun games I have had in a tourney and Kevin is just an awesome guy to play against.

Game 3: Tyranids vs. Eldar – Capture and Control

Ah, my old nemisis…Jason Hall and the Eldar. The mission was Capture and Control (aka Hurry up and “Tie”) with Dawn of War as the deployment. The tertiary objective was “Hold Everything In Reserve” so I figured “Why not, the Swarmlord gives me +1 to my reserve rolls”. OH MAN! Was THAT a mistake haha. I was anxious to see if the “Eldar Curse” was still alive (ie. Every game I have against Eldar they roll amazing and I roll so poorly). Good to see it was! I had just the most horrendous rolling I have ever had in my life this game. I am not kidding or trying to hide behind this an excuse. I mean it was to the point of being comical how bad it was. The Secret Objective was to NOT kill Jason’s Falcon. Jokes on you Eldar! I COULDN’T KILL ANYTHING! Lol. Before I go into more detail here is Jason’s list (easily my fav elder list I have seen):

HQ
Yriel
Eldrad
Warlocks (8) – 3 Spears, 4 Destructors, 1 Enhance, 1 Embolden – Wave Serpent – Scatter lasers, Spirit Stones

Elites
Fire Dragons (5)

Troops
Dire Avengers (10) – Bladestorm, Dual Kats – Wave Serpent – Bright lance, Spirit Stones
2 x Guardian Jetbikes (3) – Shuriken Cannons

Heavy Support
Falcon – Holo Fields, Spirit Stones, Eldar missile launcher
2 x War Walker Squadron (3) – Dual Scatter Lasers (so 48 str 6 shots a turn lol)




High Points:

- I didn’t get tabled. You might laugh reading this but I am serious. I am SO LUCKY there wasn’t a turn 7 because at that point all I had left was a unit of 10 Termagants on the objective and a single Hive Guard.
- My Carnifex’s saved the game again. I managed to get one halfway up the field and I gunned down his one jetbike squad (only did one unsaved wound on 12 twin linked str 6 shots lol). The Jetbikes that were holding his objective broke right off the table (rolled an 11 for his leadership test and then 15 or something for their fall back)

Low Points:
- Oh man, how can I even put this into words? Well, let me try!
- I managed to get only half of my army onto the board from reserves when rolling on a 3+. The stuff that DID come in I really didn’t want in (ie Ymgarls and the Zoans since I went first and nothing was on the board at this point)
- His first round of shooting had one unit of War Walkers do 9 wounds to Ymgarls in cover (4+) which I failed 7 of the 9 armor saves. Then I took one more wound from the jet bikes and failed that too (so 8 failed on 10 rolls).
- Zoans got turned into mulch from the Dire Avengers Bladestorming
- Turn 3 I had to make 4 reserve rolls on a 2+ and failed 3 of them. The only thing that came in was my Termagants. My Trygon, Carnifexs AND Hive Guard all failed the roll.
- No less than 5 times during the game I was required to make 4 x 3+ armor saves and failed ALL of them. Literally every time the war walkers opened up I lost a Monstrous Creature.
- I had to make 3 cover saves on 3 termagants who went to ground…and rolled 3 x 1’s


Final Result: Tie. HOW I managed to tie I will never know. The only thing I COULD do this game was just focus on the objective and hope that I get the small amount of luck needed to kill his troops. I think Jason was too focused on all the secondary objectives (including the secret) that he lost sight of the overall objective. Despite having the worst rolling game of my 40k career I still had fun. I knew what kind of game I was in for after the first round of shooting so I had nothing else I could do but laugh. We joked around a lot as he just murdered the shit out of me.

Final Tournament Result: First Overall. To say I was surprised that I won first overall is an understatement. I was already starting to head over to get my gear when the Tournament Organizer read out my name for first place. I think the only way I would have been more surprised is if I woke up the next morning with my head sewn to the carpet lol. One thing of note that I found out later is my games were against the top 4 players ONLY. I played the 2nd Place finisher (Kevin Kent), 3rd Place (Jason Hall) and 4th Place (Scott West). So it was a VERY tough and brutal path to top place lol.

Final Thoughts:

The Tournament: Overall it was a pretty fun day. I really lucked out by the fact that I only had to play friends and they were all awesome to play against (was genuinely difficult to figure out a best sport). It was the tournament organizer’s first time running an event and it did show. Things took quite a while to get going and all the score cards weren’t clear as to what things were out of etc. Despite those couple of hick ups the day went very well, all games ended before time and the prize support was huge for the size of event. Another really sweet thing was the Terrain was great. All the sections with trees actually blocked line of sight and there was great coverage on all the tables.

The Nid List: After 8 tournaments with this army, 5 Best Overalls and 3 Best Painted, I have to say it is time to retire these guys for the for-seeable future. The number 1 thing I found is that I NEED a change in play style. As far as the list goes I don’t think I would take the Swarmlord again. He literally did NOTHING that a normal Tyrant couldn’t do for 100pts less. Heck, a Tyrant with Armored Shell would have been infinitely better for this tourney as volume of fire killed him 2 out of the 3 games. I won’t be doing any tournaments until my Dark Eldar are ready so that might not be till the later half of this year as the wife is due in July.

As Far as my two goals went I did manage to fire the Carnifex’s every game and they did something awesome every game. The surprising thing is that they were consistently the best unit in the army, despite what math-hammer and the internet says. That being said 2 more Trygons would have been much more powerful. As for the Swarmlord he got into combat with an Ironclad dred and 2 x 5 Man Marine squads..that’s it. Sigh lol. BENCHED!

Vendetta, Ogryn Chimera, Tallarn Sentinel Done

Its about time, but I have FINALLY finished the Vendetta, the Ogryn Flamer Turret and the Tallarn Sentinel Scout. I'm really happy with all of them. The Vendetta took a LONG time to do, but the outcome is really good I think. Although I still have to dull coat everything (except the canopy), I figured I'd post since I can now start on the easier stuff for the Tallarn 110th Battlegroup. I didn't bother painting the other weapon loads just yet since I'm only going to use the Vendetta, but when I decide to use 'em I'll finish them off. The priority is to get everything ready in time for the tourney, and so I can start painting something else...

Probably the hardest part of the Vendetta was the camo scheme. I had to highlight and shade each panel by hand. Next time I'll do a spray job (when I get a spray set). Something cool to note, the canopy also has the camo scheme going up onto it. The base is a bit meh, but since it matches the rest of the army, I had to do it. When I start my Black Templar army, I'll start doing better bases.

Had to give 'em the fighter pilot's helmets even if this is an Apache/Blackhawk type attack transport. And I even named them Cougar and Merlin. Maverick and Goose was just lame (and their helmet's weren't as interesting). I have removed the magnetized twin linked lascannon so you can see the names better. You can also see the screws painted onto the turbine fans to show that they are turning, although now that I think about it, they should be a blur right now..... oops.

This shot gives you a good view of the underside. I felt like WW2 British fighters were the way to go, so underside=sky blue, topside=camo. Also get a good shot of the magnetized twin linked lascannons.

Next up is the Sentinel. Quite a nice Forge World model. So now I have 2 scouts, and 2 heavies. These guys will flank along with the Vendetta with the help of the Astropath..

The multilaser is magnetized, so can be pulled off and replaced with a lascannon if I so choose. For now, the multilaser stays..

Forge World did such a nice job of the detail on the driver, that I felt it was necessary to swing his door open so you could see him better. I have no idea why the door is open... Maybe he needed a better look, or perhaps it got blown open by mistake. Either it took some very careful exacto knife work to cut it out and glue it on properly.

And last up is my favourite conversion, the Ogryn Heavy Flamer turret. He came out GREAT, and he can even rotate, as well as be pulled off for easy returning of the chimera to a regular vehicle. I'm still debating whether to give him a hose leading from the gun down into the Chimera, or have some kind of tank next to him, but for now he'll do.

Next up will the rest of the Tallarn troopers to fill out the platoon of 30, the commissar, and the Astropath. After this lot, that should be easy...

Pack Attack at Game Summit 2011

A couple of weekends ago I had the chance to attend Ottawa's Game Summit held at the Napean Sports complex.  In a word it was awesome!  There were games of every variety and style, there was vendors, painting clinics and a garage sale.  In my opinion this is exactly what a gaming convention should be and the 40k tournament had 65 entries with the best overall and best sportsman winning tickets to the Grand Tournament in Las Vegas.  The tournament was 1850 points with normal composition rules.  

This is never a good roll, but was it for the wolves.....

Part 2: Reserve Bomb Tacitca!

Any Tyranid players out there sick and tired of just setting their army up on their side of the board, marching across the field for 3-4 turns, getting shot to pieces and having a small amount of their force to try and catch up in the final turns of the game? Yeah, me too, and that is what led me to playing in this way. In my personal opinion this is by far the most competitive way to play Tyranids with the 5th ed Codex and it’s also one of the most fun. It is so much fun to finally be dictating the games on YOUR terms. So, without further adieu let’s get to it!

The first thing I want to get into is what you will need in order to play this type of army. Certain units, even ones you would normally think are crap, fit very well into this play style. Anything that can come in via deep strike, outflank or unique deployment are perfect. Here is a quick list of units that are ideal for this army:

HQ
- Flying Hive Tyrant (this is the only one that is a MUST). Note: he MUST have Hive Commander.
Elites
- Ymgarl Stealers (this is the other that I would have to say is virtually an “auto include”)
- Zoanthropes in a pod
- Lictors/Deathleaper
- Hive Guard
- Doom of Malantai in a pod
Troops
- Tervigon (only as troops so you can outflank with Hive Commander)
- Termagants (regular)
- Termagants w/ Devourers in a pod
- Hormagaunts (only if outflanked due to Hive Commander, if not use gargoyles instead)
- Genestealers
Fast Attack
- Raveners
- Gargoyles
- Shrikes
Heavy Support
-Trygon
- Mawloc
- Carnifex in a pod (specifically a dakka fex or a screamer killer)

Now, there are a bunch of units on that list that seem fairly “suspect” and I would typically avoid like the plague (specifically the lictors) but they actually work well in this list. Now that I have listed them I am just going to do a quick rundown on how they should be used.

Hive Tyrant: The main thing this guy is used for is Hive Commander (the +1 to reserve rolls) and Paroxysm. What I normally do is land him beside those pesky long fang/dev squads and paroxysm the crap out of them, greatly crippling their ability to return fire (i.e. they are only hitting on 6’s). If he actually lives past getting your army on the board then that is a bonus. Due to the nature of this army I typically only arm him with dual scything talons, wings and his two psychic powers. He comes in at 255pts (so super cheap for a flying tyrant). You could also make him a Dakka Tyrant which would be equally good.

Ymgarls: I am rapidly finding out that this is one of the best units in the book, hands down. The reason this unit is so important to this type of army is their ability to act normally the turn they come in (i.e. get into assault). Because of that they really are the ultimate boogeyman in an army of boogeymen. The best targets for these guys are similar to the Hive Tyrants: Devastator/Long Fang Squads, or anything that is not in a transport (IG blob squads are amazing targets). Charging the squad you paroxysm is by far the dirtiest way to use these guys. A friend of mine paroxysm’d a squad of 30 ork boyz, then charged them with 10 Ymgarls and chose “+1 Toughness” for the first turn. That means the orks hit him on a “5+” then wounded him on a “6+”, so it didn’t even matter if he was charging into cover. Needless to say by the time it came back around to his turn, the “boyz” were gone.

Lictors/Deathleaper: This is one isn’t one of the strongest choices you can take, but does actually have its benefits. Since your entire army is coming into the game via reserves you actually get around the single largest weakness for Lictors, and that’s getting shot to crap the turn they show up since they can’t do anything for a turn. Their ability to be placed anywhere they like is quite good. I would place them near stuff where the enemy has to deal with they (ALWAYS in cover btw). What this does is draw attention from the stuff in your army that actually matters. I personally would always just take a Deathleaper instead of lictors because he is just better in every way and has some extra use against psykers, but you will use him in the exact same way.



Hive Guard: Ah, so you noticed I put in hive guard. They are just one of those units where there really isn’t any reason why you WOULDN’T take it. They still fit into the over scheme of this army, and that is “come from all sides” which can include your own table edge. Another great thing is you can actually USE your Trygon tunnel every once in a while. The Hive Guard is the single best unit to use through that as you pop up behind enemy lines and throw tonnes of Str 8 shots into their rear armor. If that doesn’t work out you have a 30” range the turn you come in, which should put you in range most of the time. Another option since you don’t need LOS is to just start them on the board and hose transports turn one.

Zoanthropes/Doom: Basically the Zoan’s tactics don’t change at all. Just land them near those land raiders/leman russes/transports. Same goes for Doom, landing it near as many units as possible, especially if they are out in the open.

Mycetic Spore Pod: As I mentioned in previous articles, it’s a complete waste of points putting guns on these guys. Just land it as close to units/transports as possible and lets its “ripper tentacles” do their thing. The point of these isn’t to do damage but get units you want “stuck in”...er...”stuck in”.

Tervigon: Basically same goes for this as the Hive Guard. They are just so stupidly good why WOULDN’T you take it? Two ways to use him would to be either set him up out of Line of Sight (if you can) or outflank him with hive commander if you have nowhere to hide him. In this type of army I ONLY give him Catalyst as you typically won’t have enough Termagants to make Toxin Sacs worthwhile.



Termagants (Basic): These set up in your own deployment zone to camp an objective, hopefully out of LOS, but not a big deal. Other than screening your Tervigon/other creatures there isn’t much other use for them. In this type of list I only take them in units of 10 and the only reason to have them is to make my Tervigon scoring.

Termagants (Devourers): A unit of 20 of them in a pod costs 240pts and it is worth every penny. The turn they land they put out 60 (yes 60) str 4 shots at 18” range. They just bring serious hurt. Due to my play style I reserve them for larger games.

Hormagaunts: As I said in the unit list if you aren’t outflanking them with Hive Commander don’t bother taking them.

Genestealers: This unit is made for this army. You can either infiltrate if there are obvious places to put them out of LOS or just outflank these suckers. As far as setting up these units I normally take them in blocks of 8-9 (8 stealers with a broodlord for example) and they all have toxin sacs. It comes in around 200pts and is just amazing.

Raveners: Believe it or not I try to include these guys in all my reserve lists. It is the only time I will actually deep strike them as nobody shoots at them…ever. In my experience everyone is just so focused on your Tyrant and Trygons to bother with the mini Trygons (aka raveners) hiding in the corner. The nice thing with these guys is they are so damn fast you don’t need to deep strike them anywhere near the enemy, which also helps people not shoot at them. You and I know that they have a min charge range of 19” and a max of 24” so they are one of the nastier things in your arsenal.

Gargoyles: Mainly used as a Hive Tyrant Screen. I always deep strike them in between my Hive Tyrant and the rest of my opponent’s army. They are also just a great, cheap unit with great speed once they can start acting like normal.

Shrikes: Shrikes work very well in this list like most things and that is 100% due to target saturation overload. Just throw boneswords, lashwhips, toxin sacs, scything talons (or devourers, 100% personal preference as they are both free) and you are good.

Trygon: Made for this army. Gets safe deep strike for free and has a built in shooting attack that can harm the rear armor the turn he comes in. With these guys you just get super aggressive and watch everyone try to shoot him while everything else in your army remains untouched (which is fine). There really isn’t much more I can say other then take 2…or 3. This typically is the type of list where "Priming" at least one of your Trygons is really helpful. It gives you some more shots the turn you come in to put on the back armor of tanks and it gives you that much needed synapse in the backfield.

Mawloc: The nice thing about Mawlocs is starting them on the board turn one and burrowing them at the start of your turn. Gives you a unit that comes in the following turn that you don’t have to roll for and it completely messes up parking lots and is a wonderful distraction. One thing to keep in mind though, is if you have the points/model ALWAYS take a second Trygon instead of one of these guys. Trygons are just flat out better in every way and after about 50 games using Mawlocs I am now starting to convert them over to become Trygons instead.



Carnifex in a pod: It’s just another unit to saturate your opponent with Target Priority. I personally would only do 2 different set ups for this guy. Either A) Dakka Fex (i.e. 2 MC Devs) or B) Screamer Killer (2 sets of scything talons and bio plasma). Keep them cheap and effective, don’t overload them with useless upgrades (well, this goes for ALL Nid MCs). The only thing that you really need to keep in mind for this unit though is it performs the exact same function as a Trygon, costs more and is 2 kill points instead of 1. That last point in particular makes me almost always go Trygon instead of Carnifexs for this list.

Phew! That was a lot more writing then I was expecting lol. As you can see everything in that list has a special way to enter in from reserves and allows you to fight the enemy on YOUR terms. Another thing that is super fun about it is almost everything is fast. Lots of things with wings, fleet or beasts which gives you that much more flexibility.

Now that we have our Unit list we need to know how to get the most out of it. Here are some very important tips on how to get the most out of this army.

The most important thing when playing All Reserve Nids is making sure you go second. It’s normally fairly easy since most people want to go first, especially if they see you are playing nids (they figure they will just shoot you up for 3 turns while you flail all over the board). The two main reasons for wanting to second are A) You get to see your opponent set up their army and they have to commit to it (i.e. if they have podding dreadnoughts and declare that they are podding in they HAVE to stick with it) and B) They lose 2 turns of shooting at you. You basically take them from shooting you 5 turns in a row down to 3, while you get 4 turns. It is a HUGE advantage. Going first isn’t an auto lose either; it just makes it bit tougher that’s all. Most players don’t know what to do when you set up NOTHING and say “I am done setting up, your go”. It honestly flusters even the best players, which is one of the main reasons this list works so well. I have seen people make serious errors in both deployment and what they will actually shoot at just because everything is coming in from reserve.

Overload one flank. This is important for many reasons. As most Nid players know the only way you reliably win games is by using the synergy of your force, and this tactic really plays on that. Also, depending on the terrain is set up, and how spread out your opponent is, you can greatly cut down on their firing lanes limiting the damage you take on that first turn. They have one turn to assess what is coming at them and deal with it. That’s it…1 turn! If they make mistakes you are there to feast on their delicious meat bodies of baloney meat.



Target Saturation. One of the two real strengths with this list is how much you overload enemies with things to shoot at that are in their face. Most of the units listed above are all very deadly so most of the time they will end up shooting one thing and the 5 others they ignore will cream them the next turn. It’s why units like Lictors and Raveners work well in this list. Both units CAN do well if they are allowed to run a-muk, which 9 times out of 10 will happen. The main job YOU have as the Nid player though is assessing the units that will ruin your day on the turn you come in. It is the main reason why I have so many units dedicated to taking out the enemy anti tank (paroxysm/ymgarls/etc.). If you can neuter much of their anti tank, they can’t deal with your MCs and your next turn they are toast. You want to stun as many vehicles as possible with shooting (like your Trygons shooting attack, devourers, etc.) which means the units inside can’t shoot either. If they get out to shoot you then your opponent has done half the work for you. It is another reason why I love overloading the weak flank is it makes your job of picking the right targets easier as you reduce the stuff you NEED to deal with.



Here is a sample list that I am currently running with great success:

HQ
Hive Tyrant – Wings, 2 Sets of Scything Talons, Paroxysm, Leech Essence, Hive Commander

Elites
Ymgarls (10)
Zoanthropes (3) – Mycetic Spore

Troops
Tervigon – Cluster Spines, Catalyst
Termagants (10)
Genestealers (10) – Toxin Sacs,

Heavy Support
Trygon
Trygon

1500pts

As you can everything can deep strike or outflank minus the 50pts of termagants (which don’t need to). I have many units that are functional the turn the arrive and almost everything fills a “niche” in the army.

Well, there you have it! Give the army a try and if anyone has any questions please feel free to post it in the comments section. I will try to finish off the last two army types, “Mid-zilla” and “Horde” at some point in the near future.

- Ghoulio