So, one of the host of Dice Like Thunder, TrickyDick (aka Richard) is taking Tyranids for a spin and has posted in their forums a 1500 point list. I decided that since I have some experience with this codex to try to help him out and offer him an alternative 1500 point list that might be more playable. Remember my philosophies on Tyrnaids: Each unit has a specific purpose, use them for that. And, send big things to assault small things and small things to assault big things.
So here goes:
1 Hive Tyrant with 2 sets of Scything Talons, Life Leech and Paroxysm, and Wings – 260
As a monstrous creature, the hive tyrant doesn’t really benefit from the power weapon status of the bone sword and most things it could insta-kill are eternal warrior anyway, so why bother. And at I5 the Tyrant is normally faster then most units it is attacks, so the lash whip normally does nothing as well. However, the ability to re-roll all attacks, and unlike Preferred Enemy, the rules state re-roll all misses in combat and mentions nothing about ‘with a WS’ so you can re-roll vs tanks, is just more useful. The only time the I5 is a problem is if the Tyrant is in hand to hand with a special assault unit or an independent character. And if this has happened something has drastically gone wrong with your game, as this is not where you want your tyrant. Fly it with the unit of Gargoyles in front of it, providing a cover save and send both units after smaller, less threatening scoring units. Use the Paroxysm ability to lower the WS and BS of units you intend to hit and send in the gargoyles as well. With this combined unit, you should mow down most troop choices.
2 Units of 3 Hive Guard each – 300
No real explanation needed here. These are your transport busters, throwing out 6 STR8 shots at BS4. Remember that they do not require line of sight so you can hide them behind a building and still bust open those transports and eat the gooey insides! If there are no transports on the field, then these guys can double out any non-eternal warrior model T4 or below. Hello there Nob Bikers!
2 Tervigons with Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands, and Catalyst – 390
Just use carnifexes for these for now, heck, you’re not using them anymore. These guys are so good. First, these will be runs as troop choices that are T6 with W6. If you can get these guys in cover they are really hard to knock off by shooting. And if there is an assault unit on the way, poop out gaunts to slow them down. Some people like to sit back on objectives with these guys, and that is a good tactic, but I am also a fan of running them up with the boys and really using those gaunts to their full potential. Use a unit of Hive Guard in front of this guy for a cover save, surround by those gaunts to give the Hive Guard Cover, and try to keep at least on model of each Termagant Mob within 6”. All of a sudden those gaunts get pretty scarry on the charge, hitting on 4s, wounding on 4s and re-rolling wounds on the charge (vs T4 or worse), with feel no pain. Heck, with the ability to wound any model save for tanks on a 4+, this mob can take down almost anything!
Remember, in kill point missions, you do not have to use his Brood Progenitor ability. And even in objective missions it is tactically sound to hold this back for the first turn. I find that by running two of them, one will roll doubles and poop out round one, but the other will hang in there. If you are lucky, you’ll produce some where between 30 and 60 gaunts during the course of the game, which is a 150 – 300 point advantage to you!
1 15 Termagant Squad – 75
1 16 Termagant Squad - 80
Objective holders and can be objective takers. And with the tactics described above, can take down almost anything. Best used in large numbers to bog down units.
1 11 Hormagaunt Squad with Toxic Sacs – 88
A pretty mean unit if you can get them into hand-to-hand. On average they will need 4s to hit, re-rolling 1s thanks to their talons, and with the toxic sacs wounding anything on a 4+. No too shabby. I tend to run these guys in front of the Trygon in the list as a speed bump. However, they both have fleet and could really ruin someone’s day, if they get there. If nothing else, a scoring unit that will draw fire for a round or two.
1 12 Gargoyle Squad with Adrenal Glands and Toxic Sacs – 96
Used to run with the Hive Tyrant, but they are cheaper then homagaunts with a similar build with one less attack, can auto-wound on 6s in hand-to-hand, and on the charge re-roll to wound T4 or worse. One of the knocks on these guys is that they need a synapse babysitter, which the Tyrant will do just fine for. Their shooting is piss poor but they can be beasts in combat.
1 Trygon with Adrenal Glands – 210
I normally start these guys on the table. While their Deep Strike Ability is pretty cool, if you are lucky, they come in on turn 2 or 3, suffer a full round of shooting and are well on their way to being dead before you ever get to use them. Remember, these guys are fleeting monstrous creatures, so I tend to start them on the board, fleet, and really give my opponent something to think about. It is real easy to get these guys into hand-to-hand by turn two and if you are assaulting the right unit, you’ll be very happy with the results. You might also want to screen these guys with the hormagaunt squad to keep any units that might threaten it in hand-to-hand away for at least a turn. Send this thing at tanks and troop choices.
Total, 61 models to start with the potential for over 100, 1499 Points.
That's the list. Try it out and let me know what you think. Everyone out there, try it and tell me what you think! Good Luck Richard!
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