Email: Nids for WargamesCon

Just wanted to respond to an email quick because I know time is winding down for this event.

From Traceoftoxin:

"If it's not too much trouble, I'd like your input on the list I plan on taking to wargames con later this month. With the terrible representation of tyranids (as in none) at adepticon, I wanted to see what I could do with the gribblies. I know the list is weak to venomspam, but that's pretty much most tyranid lists out there. Besides that, I have a strong forward presence with stealers, good mid-board control with the mini fexstars as well as tervigon support as needed. Besides venomspam my major fear is jotww, hopefully I can use stealers to create a proper buffer and use placement to ensure at worst I lose one model to it. The primes give me forward sitw to help with GK, and good assault moves will allow primes to put paladins at i1 while fexes throw out instant death and hopefully gaunts can keep draigo out of the important fight. Theoryhammer, all of it, but that's 40k in general. Anyways, here's the list.
 
2x1 tyranid prime - lash whip and bonesword, scything talons, regen, ts 
3x2 hive guard 
2x10 termagants
2x20 genestealers
2 tervigon - catalyst, cluster spines, ag, ts, scything talons
2x1 carnifex - 2 tl devourers, frag spines, ag

A few upgrades in there raise eyebrows, regen/ts on the primes, st on the tervis, ag on the carnifex. It's 70 points total in upgrades, which doesn't get me a whole lot that I need otherwise. S10 helps for twc, i4 let's me assure mutual destruction with dreads, etc. Regen helps with the wound allocation, ts gives better wound odds vs t4+, st are dirt cheap and when tervigons start swinging they need all the help they can get.

What do you think"

 
Traceoftoxin ~

I don't have much to say about the list actually, it's pretty lean and mean already.  I know this is one of Hulksmash's favorite builds, or was before he stopped using init1 MC's to mitigate JoTWW.

If anything, I would get toxin sacs onto one or both units of genestealers.  I haven't championed this loadout personally, but things have changed since necrons came out.  Wraiths are our new bane and toxin sacs will also help you tons against GK's.

Here are some examples:
My Nids vs Necrons game
Reecius's Nids vs Necrons game

You could drop the frag spines and adrenals from the fexes, the talons on the tervigons, and regen on the primes to get some of the points, then a couple genestealer bodies for the rest.  If you're going to kit out the fexes for shooting and walk them behind stealers or gaunts for cover, you'll be shooting yourself out of assault range or blocked behind your own units anyways.  Regarding the str10 vs TWC, they have twice the threat range so if you get an assault move on them, your opponent goofed.  They can rapid fire your gaunt screen down and assault you to keep your str down.  By giving toxins to the genestealers, a unit of 18 will usually handle TWC.  Regen is neat on primes, but I've never once had it pay off and change any outcomes, and I've used it a lot.  If you infiltrate the stealers and run the mini fexstars behind them for cover and synapse, you can keep the tervigons all the way back and won't be needing scything talons.

The only other advice I can offer is practice as much as you possibly can against as many people you possibly can from now until the event.  Even if you have to set up on your floor with proxies, run some deployment scenarios and roll out 2-3 turns of a game.  I believe there's a point we reach in list design where you need to be happy with what you have and switch to practice mode.  There's so much more to learn by practicing various mission types and deployment types against common armies like razorspam MEQ and horde xenos.

My ideal GT prep consists of maybe 1 month list design, practice and tweaking, then 2-3 months solid practice.  I'm not saying this is a winning formula because I've never even placed at a singles GT, but that's what I need to feel comfortable with one list and be confident in my decisions which also helps play quickly.  For local RTT's, I always play 1-2 practice games the same week of the event with the missions the event will use.

I hope some of that makes sense or helps in some way.  Even if you don't change the list, practice like crazy!  Good luck and let me know how it goes.  If you want to take pictures and write batreps, I'll glady publish them for you.  Say hi to Jay Woodcock and Shaun Kemp from DaBoyz if you see them, they taught me most of what I know.

Also, good luck to BBF and any other readers that are going to WargamesCon.  Maybe I'll make it out for that event one of these years.


 

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