New Tyranid Tactics

Recently my friend Ko'vash and I have been furiously dueling between his Tau and my Tyranids to improve our tactics and deeper thinking (plus nobody else wants to play me). This has definitely given me a greater insight into developing my tactics even though we have barely changed our army lists.

So firstly, here are the army lists:

Tyranids:
- Swarmlord with Tyrant Guard with Lash Whips - 410
- 2 x 2 Hive Guard - 200
- 2 x Tervigons with Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands and Catalyst - 390
- 2 x 15 Termagaunts - 150
- 12 Genestealers and 13 Genestealers - 350
= 1500

Tau:
- 2 x [Shas'el with Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod and Multi-tracker; 2 Shas'vre with Plasma Rifles, Missile Pods, Targeting Arrays and H-W Multi-trackers plus 1 with a Drone Controller and 2 Gun Drones]

- 2 x 3 Crisis Suits with Twin-Linked Missile Pods, Flamers and Multi-Trackers with a Team Leader with a Gun Drone

- 2 x Hammerhead with Railguns, Burst Cannons, Multi-tracker, Disruption Pod, Flechette Dischargers and 1 with a Target Lock I believe

- 2 x 6 Fire Warriors with Devilfish with Gun Drones and Disruption Pods

= 1500 ish

Tyranid Prime: Tactical Musings

One of the recent experiments I have been investigating in my Tyranid army is the inclusion of a Tyranid Prime. I made the model out of a desire to make something awesome out of a spare warrior but now having used 'Peter Prime' in the field, he may become more than a trophy model.

Firstly, I run Peter with a very generic role in mind and his bio-morphs reflect this. He always hangs out with a unit of gaunts (usually Devourers) to provide some proper close-combat support to my weaker models and some extra light firepower. Equipped with dual boneswords, adrenal glands and a deathspitter he is a little over 100 points but does his job very well. The deathspitter can deal reliable damage but it is in the assault he really shines: charging with the gaunts he strikes first (I6!) so his power-weapon cannot be diluted through wound allocation and at a whopping S6 his numerous attacks usually make a decent mess of whatever he meets. This is great for providing a little surprising punch to a gaunt unit to help them definitely kill that unit in the assault. Even after the initial charge he is very effective which helps swing combat results when his gaunt bodyguard get only half the attacks in subsequent phases.

Another great use for him I have found is assassination. With my big Swarmlord and Tervigons hanging about little old Peter slips through the net most times unnoticed. This means he can go and make a mess of an enemy commander, special unit or similar which is made much easier with his dual boneswords (remember the 3D6 instant-death!). I once took down a Demon Prince who otherwise would have wreaked my army with Peter.

Finally, as he is such a small target he is often ignored and when put in a unit of gaunts the whole unit is lost among the monstrous creatures and other targets. This lets Peter become a very firm rock of synapse when my Tervigons start dying and the Swarmlord is away from the objectives beating face. Being 'babysitter' may not sound like a great position but it is often the crux of a game, keeping synapse on an objective and keeping the Hive Guard picking the correct targets.

Overall, my Tyranid Prime is my Swiss Army knife, able to fill any role I want him to from close-combat assassin to fire support. I think he will remain in my standard army for the time being.....

The Paper to my Rock

Today I was thinking about more 600 point Schools League lists that I could potentially run into and how I could beat them and I found a potentially devastating Dark Eldar list that would wreak my Tyranids. I could only hope for a draw against this and maybe a win in an objectives game. All of these armies I hope will not turn up but if they do I may be able to kill them with my Hive Guard but it will all depend on the circumstances and it would be close...

Here are two of the worst I've invented:

HQ - Hemonculous (forgot how to spell and don't have the codex with me) with Venomblade - 55
Troops - 5 Kabalite Warriors in Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons - 110
5 Kabalite Warriors in Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons - 110
5 Kabalite Warriors in Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons - 110
5 Kabalite Warriors in Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons - 110
Heavy Support - Ravager with 3 Dark Lances- 105
= 600

Then list two:

HQ - Hemonculous (forgot how to spell and don't have the codex with me) - 50

Elites - 3 Kabalite Trueborn with 2 Splinter Cannons in Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons - 121

Troops - 5 Kabalite Warriors in Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons - 110

5 Kabalite Warriors in Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons - 110

Heavy Support - Voidraven Bomber with 4 Monoscythe missiles and a Flickerfield -195

= 586

So both these lists utilise Splinter Cannons effectively which means my Tervigons are in trouble and at 36" range I have no counter attack ability. They will also be able to scythe through my gaunts and murder my only offensive capability in my Hive Guard very easily. Only defense I have is that they cannot run me over so I could sit on an objective all day and just hit the deck to get cover and hopefully survive till the end.

If I face these lists it will be a hard push....

Should I take Devilgaunts?

My most recent musings of Warhammer have been mainly about Devilgaunts and whether I should include them in my standard Tyranid list. For those who don't know 'Devilgaunts' are just Termagants with Devourers. Mostly I have been thinking of whether to replace my Termagaunts with Devils completely or go half and half.

I love their guns, they look so alien and dangerous.

The advantages of using Devils instead of regular gaunts is their 18" range assault 3 gun. This means that they can pump out a ton of damage and in my list, where I have included 40 of them, that's 120 shots! The range is also a great help as those extra 6" make a huge difference I have found as I can safely hit away from beyond rapid-fire range. If they do move up then to rapid-fire anyway then I just assault with them or the Shrikes. It's win-win.

However, this does come at a cost. Twice the cost actually of a regular gaunt which means that they only have half the wounds, half the attacks and half the bulk. But they are much more intimidating. In my current list my opponents just ignore my mass of normal Fleshborer Termagaunts and blast away at the Shrikes, Venomthropes or Tervigons. The slow speed of normal gaunts and the lack of ranged gun (12" is not a ranged gun) means my opponents have 2-3 turns before the gaunts become a threat. With Devils though that time becomes 1-2 turns depending on the situation. They will have to deal with them as they are a much larger threat too and can deal much more damage than the Termagaunts ever could.

But then this makes them more of a target and an expensive target at that! But this all comes back to my list supporting one another as my Venomthopes can provide protection from both shooting and assault and the Tervigons provide more bonuses for assault and Shrikes prove excellent counter-assault units.

Anyway, I can just spawn more Termagaunts if I ever need them......

Tyranid Tactics: Counter-Charger Castle

So, we now know how to stick together and how to 'pin' enemy units for further devouring and now we will look at how to make a counter-charge castle. This is almost the complete opposite of pinning as it involves slow units charging first followed by fast units. However, the counter-charging castle is a vital tactic of my armys; it is very effective and leaves your opponent with no good options. So lets look deeper.....

The Castlers

I split my counter-charging units into two groups; Walls and Arrows. Not all units are suitable for these roles so you need to put some planning into this maneuverer. Supporting units are also excellent and help exponentially but are not vital so I won't talk about them here.

Tyranid Tactics: Pinning Units

One major weakness with the Tyranid army is that it is largely very slow and close combat orientated. Most armies can run away as fast as we can chase them which means you need a way to stop your enemy from just running rings around you (this has become especially important in today's mech heavy meta-game). Here are some ways to 'pin' your opponents army sot hat you will always be able to get into CC.

Envelopment

This technique is very simple to understand but not so to use. Simply it is surrounding your opponent with so many threats and models that they have to be in range of something big and threatening. This is usually the objective of a horde army as you have so many models it is impossible to avoid them all. Orks are the masters of this technique. 

Tyranid Tactics: Keeping the Swarm Together

This article is all about the tactics I have developed over my Tyranid 'career'. This is obviously just based off of my experiences, army list and play styles so take everything with a pinch of salt.

Stick Together

The first thing to realise when thinking about Tyranid tactics is that Tyranids only work when together, split up they crumble. This is emphasised by Synapse which forces you to keep your army together and punishes you harshly if you don't. I have found that if I attempt to spread my forces out then the Synapse creatures will be spread out too which can sometimes leave only 1 or 2 Synapse creatures babysitting 3 - 4 instinctive units. If your enemy targets the Synapse creatures and kills them then a large chunk of your army just went out of your control. If you are spread out then your other Synapse creatures will be unable to reinforce the de-synapsed side quickly enough for it to matter. If you group up then no matter which of your Synapse creatures goes down there will be another to control the horde.

The addition of area of effect (AoE) bonuses in the 5th edition codex has made sticking together even more important as it can give your entire army amazing bonuses and abilities which can often mean the difference between winning and losing. Venomthropes are an excellent example which make everything more difficult to kill but there are many other units such as Tervigons and Hive Tyrants which also provide many bonuses. When stacked these bonuses can turn even simple Gaunts into death machines; this is the whole point behind my Tyranid swarm list.

Another reason to stick together is that many of the most powerful Tyranids are slow and if split apart from weaker elements will not be able to provide any support, either in the form of AoE buffs or combat prowess. Tyranid units mostly work best when used in unison with one another with the best example being a Hive Tyrant and Hormagaunts vs a Tactical squad with a Powerfist. The Hormagaunts can tie up the powerfist and get Preferred Enemy while the Hive Tyrant can tear apart the rest of the unit with impunity.

Furthermore, most Tyranid weapons are mostly short-ranged so if the army is spread apart then your army cannot focus on one enemy unit or section. This goes against on of the most important rule of 40K, fight 50% of their army with 100% of yours.

Lastly the disadvantages. Sticking close together means you become more susceptible to template weapons which is why I hate my friends Imperial Guard so much. If you are not careful then those templates will destroy your army very quickly.

Additionally, sticking together means things get in the way of other things very easily. This happens a lot if you are trying to run forward ASAP but usually ends with incredibly bunched up models being vaporised by templates. The best way to avoid this is to understand some things need to be held back while other sprint forward as a first 'wave'. However if these waves are too small then they will blown apart as the second wave comes into range.

Another thing about 'over-crowding' is that if the enemy charges into one of your weaker units, say Terminators charging Gaunts, then it is usually difficult for your more suited units to get to the fight and help out because your own army is in the way. This is even more-so if the charged unit is large and so wraps completely around the enemy within 1 turn of combat. The best way to stop this is to have a fast reaction combat unit which can fly in the centre of your army. When something looks set to charge, fly your (Shrikes in my case) over behind the soon-to-be-charged unit and wait for them to absorb the blow before counter-charging.


Hope this helps all the other Tyranid Hive Fleets out there.

Eldar Tank Upgrades

After having read a post by Kirby over at the 3++ about Eldar tank upgrades which got me thinking about my army list. Mainly about how expensive the upgrades are and if they are really worth it. So here's a quick overview about each tank upgrade which are available to all of the Eldar tanks and my opinions of them.

Holo-Fields

Holo-Fields have always been one of my favourite upgrades of the entire game. It makes the tank 3 times as survivable although is almost a third of the cost of the tank itself. I would always take these as it made my tanks legendary at survival as my regular opponents never managed to kill them. I would always take them. But my opinion changed as I began to realise how much I was spending on the upgrade. I also found that my Fire Prisms never got to shoot in a game as they were always stunned, shaken or had their gun blown off. This effective made them 150 point battering rams. Not what I wanted. Now I don't take them on Fire Prisms but I would every time if Eldar could ignore crew stunned and shaken.

Star Cannons Redeemed!

On Monday I played a game against my Marine playing friend with my Saim-Hann Eldar. The game ended in a draw by extreme bad luck on my part and good luck on my opponents (1 Lascannon, turn 1, 1 hit, 1 penetrate, 1 failed cover save, 1 explode result, 1 dead Wave Serpent. THEN 3 wounds on the Dragons inside, 2 die, failed pinning test, failed morale test, run off the board. All from1 Lascannon!!!!) I know stop complaining about luck, it's all in your head but I happen to live in my head too so.....

Anyway, I wanted to discuss my Star Cannon Vypers, not luck and about how they became amazing when I gave them good fire lanes and still get cover from return fire. They really managed to convince me in this one game that Star Cannons are worth taking and maybe better than Scatter Lasers which I was considering switching them out for. The AP2 helped a lot by not giving my opponent an armour save especially when I also positioned them so the unit didn't get cover either. It more than compensated for only 2 shots.

Plasma is better.

Fire Dragons: Suicide Squad?

Being the latest addition to my Saim-Hann army these guys have been at the forefront of my attention for a few weeks now, enough time for me to have some doubts. Since I have been snowed in I have been playing many practice games against myself (I was proxying my friends lists) and have found them to be less than what I hoped.

Have my (limited) painting skills been wasted?

I had imagined these guys leaping out of their near invulnerable transport before they blow up a tank, any tank, in a huge fireball of death 99.9999% of the time. I mean 5 meltaguns at BS4 are guaranteed to kill any tank. Aren't they?   

Well no, they aren't. I found that their Wave Serpent kept dying to Hive Guard or Missile Launchers, even with its energy field and cover saves. When they did get there that BS4 seemed more like BS2 when I couldn't hit anything, always rolling 1 or 2 hits. Then their melta weapons always fell flat, I rolled snake eyes twice in a row when I only had 3 hits! The AP1 did help but I was surprised when they just knocked off guns and immobilised things. So much for a 'guaranteed kill'.

More Eldar Tweaking

After a few more games there are some more things I have realised about my Eldar list. It is that they cannot deal out enough wounds on a target, especially one in cover.

The main problem here I think is the Star Cannon Vypers. They are excellent at slaughtering marines out of cover but my opponents now that too. Thats why they never get clear shots at anything or what they're shooting at is in terrain (devestators). Also against my Tyranids they fare badly at killing even 20+ gaunts so I need more shots. So I am thinking the way to go now is Scatter Lasers.

Is Laser better than Plasma?

Themed Army Building

Yesterday Fritz posted a great article about themed army list building. Clicky

This started me thinking about my own armies, especially the themed ones like my Eldar and upcoming Tau. Specifically if they do/will work well in the way I intended and if it fits within the initial theme of my army. Although my armies aren't incredibly odd or different but it was still interesting to think about how the army would perform in the 40K universe and how that translates to the table.

I think my armies are fairly themed (apart from the Tyranids which are just made to kill) which I enjoy finding and inventing stories about while still being competitive. I try to make unique armies, not run-of-the-mill internet 'auto-win' lists and enjoy giving all my models names but does it mean I cannot compete against these 'auto-win' armies. 

11th Company Podcasts

Following a link posted by OSH I have now discovered and fell in love with the 11th company podcasts. I never even knew how podcasts worked a few days ago but now I have listened to 2 episodes of their fantastic programming. It is really good advice, easily explained with good interviews with many tips and tricks on how to get better at 40K in general. They also speak about specific armies and go into great detail about many strategies and such.

Check it Out!

'Unbeatable' Tyranid 1500

I'm not making any wild claims about having made the first properly unbeatable army list ever because that's impossible with the dice and variable terrain and commander skill etc......

But my friends are having a very hard time beating this particular list now that I have perfected its use and tactics. I'm not sure why they find it un-killable but I have managed to win games even when I forget an entire unit (or two).

I want to think it's my own tactical brilliance but I am more sure it is my friends inability to destroy it due to their army composition and/or tactics. It has gotten to the point that they refuse to accept that it is actually beatable even when I show them the weaknesses.

Battle Report Conclusion

So Ko'vash let victory slip from his grasp and the game ended in a draw. With the help of EoV of course.

So where did Ko'vash go wrong and where did EoV go right? It all happened between turns 2 and 4.

The first dramatic event was when EoV neutralized both hammerheads by blowing one up and destroying the railgun on the other. This meant the bastion was safe as Ko'vash had no other weaponry that could even scratch it. So instead of killing it he contested it with the kroot. The kroot weren't going to move and any effort to get them off would still result in a contested objective. So that took the game down to 3 objectives.

These kroot.