Tuesdays Tabletop Talk - Tyranid Tactica (Part 3)
IMPORTANT NOTE THAT THIS SERIES IS NOW OUTDATED AS THE CODEX HAS BEEN RELEASED. Read about our first impressions here: The Hive Fleet Cometh
Welcome back to Part 3 of the Tyranid Tactica series. For those who are just joining us, here are the links to the previous segments (Part 1, Part 2). If you've not read the past 2 articles, I recommend a look at those first (or just a glance through) for a more complete understanding of the choices and terminology in this article. I will be looking to build a non-Forgeworld pure Hive Fleet army for this exercise even though GSC Genestealers are currently more aggressively costed than <Hive Fleet> ones. Without further ado:
The most important thing we need to do whenever we build a list is to figure out: What do we want the army to do?
Some players might want to bring a host of flyers, or maybe all single-wound infantry to invalidate opposing weapons that do more than 1 damage. For the purposes of this exercise I will be focusing on building a Take-All-Comers (TAC) list that we can bring to a tournament and at the same time, not feel bad using in a casual game. Back to the question at hand, we will want to have:
1. the tools to handle all 5 unit types we will be facing and
2. have a sufficient amount of models to capture objectives
as that is the most common way of scoring victory points in most of the Eternal War and all of the Maelstrom of War missions.
My first choice in the list has to be Old One Eye simply due to his efficiency at taking out TEQ and non-Flying vehicles. It gives us a great HQ choice to start off with regardless of whether we will be bringing Carnifexes and OOE's lack of synapse.
- Old One Eye => 140 pts
Continuing on the topic of Vehicles and TEQ, we might want some ranged choices to deal with them because getting into melee is not always easy to do (even if it might be easier than ever this edition) and we will definitely be bringing Genestealers.
- Exocrine => 228 pts
- 2 units Hive Guard with Impaler cannons (3 models each) => 288 pts
- Trygon Prime with a Biostatic rattle and Adrenal glands => 219 pts
Even though the Shock cannon version of the Hive Guard is highly against all types of vehicles, the limitation of its effectiveness against all other unit types becomes a bit of a hindrance in taking them in a general TAC list. If your meta consists of a lot of Stormraven spam or mechanised armies, feel free to use Shock cannons on Hive Guard instead.
The choice of a Trygon Prime over a Trygon (about a 39 point difference) is due to my intention in using the Trygon Prime as a forward synapse for a turn or two and if I had a flying Tyrant or another synapse coming down in a Tyrannocyte, I would prefer the cheaper option.
For some melee variance and to complement the ranged anti-TEQ and anti-Vehicle units there's nothing better than a unit or two of Genestealers and a Broodlord to marshal them around and act as a front line Synapse provider.
- Genestealers x 20 => 240 pts
- Broodlord => 162 pts
We are up to 1277 point at this juncture and need to start looking at the anti-infantry and utility roles.
For Anti-Light infantry options, as we already have a large unit of Genestealers, our next best two options come in the form of Devilgaunts and Raveners so:
- Termagants with Devourers x 20 => 160 pts
- Raveners with dual scything talons and spinefists x 6 => 156 pts
These can either set up with the rest of the army or deepstrike in tandem with the Trygon Prime (the Gaunts can be set up along with the Trygon in its tunnel) for a dual anti-transport and light infantry punch where needed.
That leaves us with 407 points to play around with. With the number of deep striking units that are able to pop up 9" away and deal a targeted alpha strike now, I find it crucial to bring a maximum strength unit of 30 Termagants as a screen for the units that pack more of a punch in the army. A couple of minimum-sized units of Rippers can help fill the gap we have in cheap objective capping units as well.
- Termagants (with Spinefists or Fleshborers) x 30 => 120 pts
- 2 units of Rippers (3 bases each) => 66 pts
*The case for Spinefists vs Fleshborers on Termagants: While Fleshborers do more damage than Spinefists point-for-point, my purpose of having termagants, in addition to screening, is to tie up opposing dedicated assault units (as most assault units are not able to fall back and charge again in the same turn). This means that I tend to have my Gaunts in melee combat more often than not and being able to fire the pistols (Spinefists) while in melee is more useful to me than being able to kill one or two more light infantry a turn. Thus I prefer my screening Gaunts to be carrying Spinefists but only in cases where I am not bringing any Tervigons. With Tervigons, you will want to bring Fleshborers as Gaunts carrying Fleshborers can be replenished by them.
A utility unit that doesn't fit into any of the efficiency results but which I find of great use is a unit of 2 to 3 Biovores. These provide a source of mortal wounds beyond Smites and can help finish off models with 1 or 2 wounds left. The spore mines produced by Biovores missing their targets can also help block off narrow passages and/or force enemy units to make the difficult decision of taking up to d3 mortal wounds each mine if they end a charge phase within 3" of one. If producing a spore mine is more important than the potential to do 1 to 3 mortal wounds, the Biovores can be moved so that they hit on 5+ instead of 4+.
- Biovores x 3 => 108 pts
With the inclusion of Biovores, we are down to a mere 113 points. This leaves us with the difficult decision between including another utility unit that makes the advancing group harder to hit, Venomthropes, or a back line Synapse unit to prevent our fire base of the Exocrine, 6 Hive Guards, and Biovores from having to target the closest enemy unit when shooting (due to Instinctive Behaviour). Alternatively, we could leave the Biovores at home as they are the arguably the least efficient unit amongst the 4 above-mentioned back line units. That said, there are not that many <Hive Fleet> Infantry units for the Venomthropes to buff unless 2 of the deep striking trio of Trygon+Devilgaunts+Raveners deploy and advance with the main group.
Considering all the options above, I ended up with the following making up 1999 pts in a TAC list:
Anti-Transport/Tank
Hive Guard with Impaler cannons x 3 => 144
Hive Guard with Impaler cannons x 3 => 144
Trygon Prime => 219
Anti-Infantry
Termagants with Devourers x 20 => 160
Raveners with spinefists & dual scything talons x 6 => 156
Multi-role
Broodlord => 162
Genestealers x 20 => 240
Exocrine => 228
Old One Eye => 140
Utility/Synapse/Obj-Capping
Tyranid Prime with Boneswords & Deathspitter => 112
Termagants with spinefists/fleshborers x 30 => 120
Rippers x 3 => 33
Rippers x 3 => 33
Biovores x 3 => 108
Total: 1999 pts
I decided not to bring the Venomthropes mainly due to not having enough <Hive Fleet> Infantry along the main assault line. With 5 deepstriking units and a back line, the 20 Genestealers and 30 termagants just don't seem to warrant a 93 point expenditure for the -1 to hit and feels better spent on a finisher like Biovores (for 108 pts). In tournaments where Forgeworld models are allowed, I would definitely prefer a Malanthrope (Tyranid MVP anyone?) to replace the Tyranid Prime as it fulfils both the Venomthropes' role as a synapse for the back line.
Alternative Modules
I like to set my lists up into modules that are interchangeable with different modules for variety or a different play style. Consider the non-Ripper deepstriking units as a single module in the army above.
Deepstrike Module (535 pts)
Trygon Prime => 219
Termagants with Devourers x 20 => 160
Raveners with Spinefists & dual scything talons x 6 => 156
If you prefer a more attrition style of play or don't like risking a quarter of your army too far ahead of your main line, they can be easily replaced by:
Attrition module (503 pts)
Tervigon => 250
Termagants x 30 with 20 Fleshborers & 10 Devourers => 160
Venomthropes x 3 => 93
This module gives you a "regenerating" unit of Termagants with some anti-infantry firepower and a much beefier advancing line that warrants the inclusion of Venomthropes in the list. It does lack some of the anti-infantry and anti-tank presence of the deepstriking module though.
For those preferring a more claws-on approach, they could consider a Tyrant-wing in the following guise to replace the back line (2 x Hive Guard + Exocrine) units:
Tyrant-wing module (516)
Hive Tyrant with Wings, Slimer Deathspitter, MRC & Adrenal glands => 186
Hive Tyrant with Wings, Slimer Deathspitter, MRC & Adrenal glands => 186
Hive Guard with Impaler cannon x 3 => 144
This gives a much more aggressive approach in tandem with the deepstriking units and can save us some points via the Trygon Prime by taking a regular Trygon.
Final thoughts
Even though this exercise might be specific to the Tyranids, the principles behind it are applicable to any army list. Always know what you want from the various units in your army and be aware of any potential synergies that might outweigh pure efficiency.
Personally, I love the de-buffing potential of the combination of both Hive Fleet and Genestealer Cult psychic disciplines (Horrify + Mass Hypnosis anyone?) and have tried to include a GSC Magus in every Nid army list I've created so far even though a couple of his abilities might be wasted without any other GSC units around. I will be looking at the potential of the Genestealer Cult faction (as all GSC units have the Tyranid keyword) alongside the traditional Tyranid faction, calculating their efficiency, and looking at various list-building combinations down the road so do stay tuned.
I hope this series has perked your competitive streak (even if you don't play competitively) and inspired you to build better army lists and play more games. If you've liked the articles and found them helpful thus far, do share The Crossroads with your friends and gaming buddies/groups to spread the love. A more knowledgeable community is a better community to play and improve in!
Cheers,
the BenCH
Bio: Benjamin Chia is an avid gamer and has been playing Warhammer 40k since its 3rd edition and collects Space Marines (of various chapters), Tyranids, Aeldari and Sisters of Battle. A trainer of Analytical Thinking Skills, he buys more models than he should and is procrastinating his attempts to finish painting his armies before more shiny models are released this 8th edition.