With the possibility of next month's event going to 1850pts, I've been thinking over some lists. Here's one I want to try out. LMK what you think.
Parasite of Mortrex (warlord)
Tyrant + devourers x2, wings, old adversary
Hive Guard x2
Hive Guard x2
Zoanthropes x3
Termagants x30
Hormagaunts x30 + toxins, adrenals
Tervigon + claws, toxins, adrenals, catalyst, onslaught
Gargoyles x30 + toxins, adrenals
Aegis Defense Line + Quad Gun
I'm liking the new mechanics of big fearless swarms not dying to "no retreat" anymore. So this list has 3 of them. Zoans hang back and man the quad gun and homefield objective with the 30 termagants. Probably go biomancy and throw out 24" blessings/maledictions. I know what you're about to say.
Tyranid FAQ:
"Are tyranid units inside buildings subjected to instinctive behavior and can they manual fire emplaced weapons. No"
"Emplaced weapons" (p96) are weapons attached to buildings. Aegis defense line is battlefield debris (not a building)(p105) and the quad gun is a "gun emplacement" which has different rules (p105). RAW for now is that we can fire guns on a defense line.
PoM with gargoyles and hormagaunts rush up to tarpit stuff and are actually really good at glancing vehicles to death now. With swarms of 30, it's also easy to auto-kill the embarked units with glancing hits. It's also worth noting the huge footprint of 30 body swarms makes it really easy for the tyrant to fly serpentine and give them PE. Rippers are a lot better now also with the new fearless rules.
Again, the warlord in a squad of 30 is a hard point to claim and the only "easy" first blood targets would be hive guard, which can be easily hidden in small units.
Parasite + 30 gargs is a brilliant unit ... been enjoying it myself.
ReplyDeleteSo wish I could get those gorgeous nids of yours to NOVA one of these years!
It was going to be this year but having our first child screwed up travel plans.
DeleteHopefully next year.
There are two options on emplaced weapons: (1) Manual Fire, and (2) Automated Fire. Gun emplacements behave pretty much exactly like manual fire on emplaced weapons, and have no automated fire option. Probably better to err on the side of caution and not read the rules as permitting Tyranids to fire gun emplacements when they cannot manual fire emplaced weapons.
ReplyDeleteYou might also consider the Tervigon's default psychic power: Dominion. It extends the Tervigon's Synapse to 18" at the start of the turn. If you have the Hormagaunts and Rippers race ahead and Dominion to maintain Synapse, it'll blink off at the start of your next turn, and then the Hormagaunts have a chance at Rage. Then move the Hormagaunts closer to the Tervigon, and have the Tervigon cast Catalyst: netting +2 attacks on the charge and Feel No Pain. Get some Venomthropes in there and they should get through Overwatch pretty reliably.
Personally, I think the FAQ addresses tyranids hiding in buildings to avoid IB rolls and fire weapons. Are you saying GW intends tyranids to be the only army in the entire game to have no anti-aircraft ability on purpose? Have you seen a batrep with 6 night scythes and 3 doom scythes?
DeleteCorrect me if I'm wrong, but I thought a Flying Monstrous Creature could Vector Strike Flyers?
DeleteI believe they can. However, vendettas and stormravens will probably be the most common flyers being imperials and the best you can hope for with vector strikes is knocking off a hull point.
Deletethat is my only hesitation.... is 30 too big of a brood? I would think you could accomplish just as much with 20ish models (garg or HG). You could get 3 broods of 20 instead of 2 broods of 30. (more or less)
ReplyDeletePoM/gargs is on my list of units to cycle into my lists...
I'll have to play out several scenarios with 20 vs 30. My initial reaction is that there is no "too big" with the fearless change.
DeleteWe used to be able to send assault troops up in a column with a narrow front rank and a long tail so we wiped out our targets in the second assault phase. Now, sending up a narrow column gets you in big trouble when all casualties are pulled from the front.
My swarm formations are running much broader now. This means you must take more casualties before you lose the front rank and the distance they've covered. It also helps one big swarm of 30 threaten to tarpit multiple units.
It's more about control than kill power or lost kill power. 30 termagants can now tie up 5 hammernators the whole game and have a decent chance of actually winning that fight.
With the new rules for Pile In and no 6" Defender's React, I think a 30 man brood is going to be a bit wasted. It will hold up to shooting a bit more effectively, but I have to agree that dropping them down a bit in number would be a good idea.
ReplyDeleteI have always like the Parasite, it is good to see him being used. Also, have you thought about a Spore Pod with some Devogaunts, so they can drop down Turn 2 or 3 and unload a bunch of shots into a vulnerable/key enemy emplacement? I like the idea of using the small arms fire to backup the huge swarm moving forward - plus they get to take those 60 overwatch shots if they get charged and are now a great tarpit if they do until a Tyrant or other unit can bail them out.
I used 2 podded units of devilgaunts in the next game against Courtney. At this point it's just about having too many things I want to use and cutting it down to what synergizes best within the list.
DeleteI regularly used a brood of 15 devilgants in a spore in my 40k5 edition list - a great unit for sure. I don't think though that I'll be using any spores in 40k6. Since killpoints are not a common mission objective in 40k6 spores are not as detrimental to your army now.
DeleteI like the concept of the list: MC's and fearless critters are the nid mainstay for now.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I'm doubting is the 10pt per hormagaunt, i find it too expensive for t3/6+.
Perhaps drop 6 TS/ad gaunts for 10 vanilla to work as a screen?
ReplyDeleteI've been seriously considering reviving my Swarm/PoM lists - PoM+garg brood + Swarmy's 18" buff range, plus the new major psyker abilities? Yes please!
ReplyDeleteI don't see why Nids couldn't use a Quad Gun in Battlefield Debris. The FAQ only say Nids can't use Emplaced Weapons inside buildings. An Aegies Defense Line is not a building (and a Gun Emplacement is not an Emplaced Weapon).
ReplyDelete30 buffed Gargoyles with PoM + PE and Invisibility from Swarmlord...
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ReplyDelete