Tyranid Beaky list review, and random thoughts

 

Got up this morning and read the paper before driving off, and just about dropped my Cheeri-Os! Right there on Family Cuircus, gotta love that! (This reminds me of a Fox Trot from a few years back...)

 

 

So, happy Halloween everybody! Bonus points for dressing up as anything 40k related! Anyway, I was asled in a comment to do a full review of my BeakyCon list... it seemed like a good idea! Until I win a GT, there's room for improvement (or new dice... game 5 cough...)

So here we go! For referrence, my list below:

 

Tyrant: Shell, OA, twin Devourers, one guard

Flyrant: twin devourers

3 Hive Guard

3 Hive Guard

10 gants

19 gants

20 gants

Tervigon, 3 powers, TS/AG

Tervigon, 3 powers, TS/AG

Tervigon, 3 powers, TS/AG, Crushing Claws

2 Biovores

 

If you read any of my battle reports, you know how this list rolls: Psychic powers make this super tough, I go almost all Biomancy. Then, I bunker down on objectives while blasting at anything that gets near, assaulting with poisoned gants and MCs as I see fit.

 

Unit by Unit review:

 

Walking Tyrant: My Warlord, he has to be good right? Slow moving, but an absolute brick to kill. He was underwhelming at times, (see his saves in games 5/6) but overall he's tough as balls, and dishes out the damage. Old Adversary makes things nearby scary at shooting. Bonus points for being a psycher! He makes a good counter assault unit, with some gants as support, reasonable anti air, and is also my "anti Space Wolves" unit for giving the finger to Missile launchers.

 

B

 

Flying Hive Tyrant: Devourers are nasty, and wings can get him in a great position to use them. He's there to take out isolated flyers (he gets overwhelmed by 3+ I'm afraid). It's great to have a fast moving unit in a very slow army, he can hit just about anywhere. However, he is very fragile and a huge target to enemy players... As long as I remember t play him cautiously, I give him a...

 

B+

 

(2x) 3 Hive Guard: These are mech killers, pure and simple. At BeakyCon, I saw real "mech heavy" lists twice, and they were great both times. But, against Necrons, and the IG/Space Wolves and Orks? Not so much. A lot of the time they were just ineffective. So, what to do here? They're really a "mech deterrent" more than anything else. Mech was our nemesis before, but now maybe not so much? We can out objective them I think. At least one unit is required, but I might think about dropping one... only problem is, what for? Still, a big target sign. I'll be testing out Ymgarls again perhaps.

 

C+

 

2 Zoanthropes: Instead of for their Lances, I used these as cheap psychic powers. Overall, they're good at buffing my troops or weakening the enemies, plus I need not worry about cover. And hey, synapse is nice right? I think I need to be a bit better at positioning them, but that was the one of the first times I'd used Zoeys, so I think it's alright.

 

B+

 

10/19/20 gants: These are meatshields, objective holders, and surprisingly deadly in CC. Don't ignore poison weapons, they'll mess up a Lord of Change in a heartbeat! They're also unlockers of Tervigon joy, which is never bad. For the low price and large unit footprint, the damage possible is great, as well as the toughness of 20 wounds. Put them near Tervigons for Comedy Gold!

 

A-

 

Tervigons: 3 psychic powers is a must. With Biomancy, there are really 4 good rolls one can get. 3 gies a guarentee, plus the increased likelihood of the greatest of them all... Iron Arm... going from 2 to 3 powers increases the odds by 25% of getting this sacred savior of Tyranids. Anyways... got off track there. These guys are great! Scoring, tough, cheap, and they can pack a mean, mean punch! Smash will kill all characters you challenge, and you're tough enough to weather the storm and punch back. These are absolutely essential to every truly competetive Tyranid army. We're underestimated on the GT scene, but I'd put the Tervigon as one of the three best all around units in the game. (Night Sycthe, Flamers). 3 is a boon, as it's redundant (yes, spammy...) and they can churn out the models to frighten any opponent. My only thought is to drop Crushing Claws on the one Tervi. Thery're really there in case I need to kill one model, then the Tervigon is a wrecker. No question here on the grade:

 

A+

 

2 Biovores: For the price of a 5 man combat squad, I lose a wound, lose a save point, but gain 2 Barrage Weapons... I'm sold! Biovores aren't a competetive choice, and for the life of me I don't know why... They achieved something in all 6 games (except maybe the 9 scythe list), and thanks to a bad reputation, normally lasted a few turns until my opponent realised that they needed to die. I think I could use a second squad here if I can find where to squeeze them in. Overall, dropping Sniper Pie Plates on my opponent is fun! Plus, it keeps me engaged in all turns. I HATE going round one without rolling a dice in anger because I just have zero things in range... So this is fun for me. Doubting Nids players, try these out!

 

A-

 

Final list thoughts: It syncronizes well, and is tough as heck. I love it, but nothing is perfect... more playtesting will come, as always, and I could make some changes. I wouldn't mind another fast/surprise quick assault unit... Maybe gargoyles, Raveners, or Ymgarls? Dropping one Hive Guardbrood, and two gants, gives me 20 gargoyles with Poison/Furious Charge. For "friendly" games I'll drop one Tervi, then probably add said gargs, and then an extra Biovore I think, and one more gant so both broods hit 20. I may also try out the Swarmlord more, but I still think he's not quite at the Walking Tyrants level... your mileage may vary.