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.....

Swarmlord Completed!

I was never happy with the Swarmlord as he was very wobbly as I hadn't pinned him and had really rushed building and painting him. His paint had also chipped a lot really quickly as I hadn't bothered with varnish either.

So with some 'spare' time I had between exams I redid him entirely: pinned him to his base and waist; pinned his Bonesabres on; went over the cracked paint; washed him again in Badab Black (love this stuff); painted his details like teeth and eyes and even put detail onto the Bonesabres. All in all I am proud of him and even baptised him with a name: Say hello to Harry!

Where are my Tyranids GW??

OK this is sort of a rant but a rant worth saying.

WHY HAS THERE NOT BEEN A SINGLE TYRANID RELEASE WAVE YET!?!?

This has been bugging me for some time as I love my Tyranids and would love to see more and better models but this just isn't happening.... No new models, no Forgeworld stuff either, no hint of any updates or anything that could be construed as such. It's a sad time to be a Nid.

What's worse is that not only are the 'poster-boy' armies like Space Marines getting more attention than us bugs ( I can deal with that) but just recently the Dark Eldar have been given their THIRD wave of new models!

OK I admit they did need some major releases but if you look at everything that has been done to Tyranids it is just depressingly sad. The FAQ came out 8 months after the codex and that actually made the codex worse. Then although our codex is filled with units with no models at all (Tervigons, Swarmlord, Sky-slashers, etc...) we have not been given a single new model since the codexs' release.

Arg rant over.....

P.S. The Drak Eldar stuff is sweet though... just wish Tyranids would get some of that modelling love...

Swarmlord Painted

I actually painted this guy up a while ago but I just haven't had time due to my exams: they're killing me!!

But anyway, he still isn't 100% done as his torso is in two bits and his legs are a bit wobbly so he will need some repair work but his paint job is tabletop standard which is the important thing. I intend to improve his Bonesabres and add some more detail but I cannot be bothered the now, too much going on. As always enjoy what I've done so far however and leave some advice on what I can improve please.

Swarmlord WIP

Hey everyone,

This is the Swarmlord, also known as Harry, ready to be sprayed and painted. He was built during of a large paint/model-athon where I have managed to finally complete my last 8 Devilgaunts and my Tyrant Guard (pics soon).

Tyranid Prime Conversion

Hey everyone,

I have been very busy of late with my exam revision but here is what I have made in my spare time, a Tyranid Prime. Enjoy!

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 List Development

As I continue to play Tyranids my army continues to evolve, appropriate. I have found that my current list has two weaknesses which are addressed in this list. Firstly, my Venomthropes never lived past turn 1 in my last 5 games so they need protected. The easiest way to do this is to add a Prime to the unit to provide instant death protection and close combat power.

Next is to add some anti-infantry firepower as all my killing potential is in the assault, I need something to soften up my targets before assaulting. Here my old Devilgaunts step in to provide buckets of shooting at a decent range. Very cool.

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. 

Finished Painted Tervigon

I had great fun building this Tervigon and even more fun painting it in my simple colour scheme. I made it from a Trygon kit and a spare Carnifex head. Hope you like it:

So what do you think?

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.

'Finalising' my Tyranid Army List

After almost a year of having the new codex I think I have finally decided upon my 'standard' Tyranid Army List. I will go over the tactics I commonly use in depth over the next few weeks as this army really needs a lot of explaining if you are to fully understand it, let alone get it to work.

HQ

Tervigon

- Toxin Sacs

- Adrenal Glands

- Catalyst

= 195

Tervigon

- Toxin Sacs

- Adrenal Glands

- Catalyst

= 195

Schools League Decisons

With only 1 week to go until Schools League I am still undecided on what to take.

On one hand I want to take my Eldar as they are fast, have a lot of S6 shooting and are my best painted army. I would take the following list for Eldar;

HQ - Farseer, Jetbike RoWit, Guide, Singing Spear - 118
Troops - 3 Jetbikes, Shuriken Cannon - 76
Troops - 4 Jetbikes, Shuriken Cannon - 98
Troops - 4 Jetbikes, Shuriken Cannon - 98
Fast Attack - 3 Vypers, Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannons - 210


Total = 600

The idea would be to just pummel the enemy with hundreds of S6 shots mainly from the Vypers being guided by the Farseer (21, S6. BS3. reroll to hit shots!). It is highly mobile but has no AP4 or less shooting and no gun higher than S6. I have also not won any of my practice games with this.

Tyranid 1500 Swarmy Swarmy

With Christmas coming up and hopefully some more Tyranids along with it I am thinking of all the ways I can use the reinforcements. Mostly I am wanting a swarm as now I use lots of warrior-sized beasts like Raveners, Zoanthropes and Hive Guard so want a change of pace. 

A good old Tyranid Swarm seems like a good way to go as people have difficulty dealing with the spawned Gaunts from my Tervigon when they have support from Venomthropes, the Hive Tyrants Old Adversary power (giving them preferred enemy) and the Tervigon giving them Feel no Pain. So if they have problems with 20 Gaunts, think about the problems of 90+ Gaunts, all with the above benefits but preferred enemy. The Hive Tyrant was just to expensive for what it does and the arms keep falling apart.

Mmmm..... Biomass......

Friday Fluff: Tyranid Ravener Senses

Second installment of my Friday Fluff series, this time about one of my favourite units in the Tyranid Codex, Raveners. Firstly here's the piece of fluff from the unit entry I am talking about:

'Though Raveners have a merest fraction of the Warrior's intellect, their auditory and visual senses are far superior. A Ravener's hearing and vision are sensitive to a broad range of vibrations and energy-bands. As a result, a Ravener can hear the smallest tremor on the surface and it can 'see' the energy-forms emitted by vox transmissions, sensor-stealth technology and even the emissions of teleport homers. So accurate are the Raveners senses that even a small brood can effectively seize upon an unguarded signal, instinctively tracking its point of origin and following the electromagnetic waves to its source. Thus does the technology of the Raveners enemies become their undoing.'

I smell prey.......

'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.

Infested Bastion (Almost Done)

Hi guys and gals,

Here's just a quick update on my first bastion that I should in its first stages yesterday.

Here's the pictures:

Overview pic. Looks normal.

Tyranid Terrain

Hey bloggers.

Here's some pictures of my terrain which is based around the idea that the buildings on the planet my Tyranids have been harvesting have been ruined and are slowly being overgrown by the Tyranid-sped plants and alien flora. They are also being torn apart by huge underground Tyranids or something.....

Anyway here they are:

Do you see the little arm tearing at the razorwire?

The ripper infestation.

This is a GW crater with an aquatic plant and static grass. These are so simple but effective.

The Tyranid plants are just aquatic plants screwed into the bottom. They are very cheap but are amazingly nice and Tyranidy. They really add character. 

So what do you think?