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Night Lords wrote:

Dashofpepper wrote:Get Orks.

They're more fun and more competitive. The new Tyranid codex didn't do Tyranid players much in the way of favors.

A little hypocritical that you complained about people on here saying Orks are a weak book (when they're not), and then turn around and say the exact same thing about Tyranids (when theyre not), dont you think?

Here's the thing though. People who claim that Orks are a weak codex.....I crush them. I either crush them, or they are afraid to back up their opinion with actions.

You're welcome to bring your most painful Tyranid list and I will crush it too. There's no combination of entries in the codex or army lists that I've seen built or played either against me or against someone else that I have had trouble with. Within my sphere of knowledge and influence, two things are proven facts to me personally:

1. Orks do not suck.
2. Tyranids struggle to be competitive or powerful.

I feel comfortable saying that authoritatively because my gaming sphere encompasses the continental U.S. for tournament/GT play, and the world for friendly play (IE, Vassal). If you think that I'm mistaken about my analysis of tyranids, assemble yourself an 1850 list or a 2k list or something and come show me that I'm wrong. I'd be glad to be mistaken, but knowledge and experience dictate otherwise.

So if I were to do 'nids whats a good strategy for them?

Night Lords wrote:Both are great armies, but for the reasons mentioned in the above post (easier to play, no need to convert), I would say a new player is better off with orks.

Agreed. Orks are the better starter army.

A pity lictors aren't any good... I really like the concept behind them.

Tetrisphreak whats your strategy for nids?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Is there any nid player that can give me some strategies if I do nids?

From the sound of your question at the end it sounds like Tyranids are piquing your interest more than orks. If that is the case, i have to say that if you love the flavor and feel of an army, you will be able to develop strategies for it over time no matter your skill. One of the main reasons I have stuck with 'Nids even after multiple disappointing games is that I love the models, I love the feel of the army, and they just suit my attitude on the tabletop - devour everything! Hahaha!

That being said, here are a few things that I have learned for myself and gleaned from others on dakka. Credit to those where it is due.

1.) First and Foremost, Tyranids are typically *weaker* point-for-point than other armies. What i mean is, a 200 point trygon will typically lose in CC to a 200 point assault terminator squad (a 200 point carnifex most definitely will). This is mitigated strongly, however, because proper combinations of tyranid units will actually give them a higher game value than the points costs reflect. Finding these synergies is one of the most fun things about the army. it's like unlocking a new Blitz for Sabin on FFVI. Oh yeah, i went there.

2.) So, from the above statement, another strong tyranid army tactic is to run your whole army as if it were one unit of models. Keep everything together, so that gaunts can support tervigons by blocking deathstar units or bubble-wrapping, or providing cover saves to mid-sized bugs behind them, etc etc. I'm not saying to run a tetris formation like IG chimera walls, but simply avoid splitting your army to pursue units spread across the board. Run a weak flank, it will serve you well as a 'Nid player

3.) Synapse. Our biggest asset, our biggest liability. Having fearless is amazing when you're trying to hold down an objective on turn 6. it's absolutely horrible when you lose combat by 6 gaunts and have to take 6 saves on a trygon that happened to be in the same melee. Maneuvering and model placement is more important in a Tyranid army than (i'd say) any other. Keep objective holders in synapse whenever possible, and try to structure your synapse placement so that you can ignore instinctive behavior, charge and be out of synapse range (removing models when possible to keep out of the synapse bubble), so that if you lose combat you can merely fall back instead of taking multi-wounds.

As it's getting late for me and i've had a long day, I'll end with one more point:

4.) Target Saturation (Satch, as i call it). While it is very tempting to do an all-drop list (i;ve contemplated and even played such a list before. it's certainly fun, not quite competitive however) what happens more often than not is that your units come in one at a time instead of all at once. The problem here is that when your opponent only has one carnifex/trygon/tyrant that is threating him within charge range, he has very little to think about. shoot it, kill it, shoot it. When your entire army (i run a Monster Farm list which is the next evolution of Nidzilla) is advancing across the board, especially in the weak flank formation, target priority goes out the window. Frazzled opponents will look at the mass of large monstrous creatures and instead of focusing on one until it is completely dead, they make the mistake of splitting fire across your ranks leaving many partially wounded, yet still functional, large beasts. Take advantage of this mental trick and use it against them. 3 trygons with 2 wounds remaining hitting the enemy's lines will cause far more damage than one trygon with all 6 of his wounds.

That's all for now. Specific questions on strategies make it much easier to address any issues you may be having. i suggest getting a battleforce and a trygon kit, the codex, and playing a few small games. Trygons are always handy, and knowing whether you prefer swarm or nidzilla will direct you towards future model purchases. (PS my monster farm list is a hybrid of swarm and nidzilla because typically you have 90+ gaunts by the end of the game (though half are usually dead) and still 8-10 tyranid monstrous creatures.)

I personally like the look of the Nids better that the greenskins but its all really personal preference.

Dashofpepper wrote:
You're welcome to bring your most painful Tyranid list and I will crush it too. There's no combination of entries in the codex or army lists that I've seen built or played either against me or against someone else that I have had trouble with. Within my sphere of knowledge and influence, two things are proven facts to me personally:

1. Orks do not suck.
2. Tyranids struggle to be competitive or powerful.

I feel comfortable saying that authoritatively because my gaming sphere encompasses the continental U.S. for tournament/GT play, and the world for friendly play (IE, Vassal). If you think that I'm mistaken about my analysis of tyranids, assemble yourself an 1850 list or a 2k list or something and come show me that I'm wrong. I'd be glad to be mistaken, but knowledge and experience dictate otherwise.

except that's like Michael Jordan saying there's no white guy who could beat him in basketball. (not that you're the MJ of 40k). And Mike beats Larry Bird 100 times out of 100. His experience says no white guy can beat him. And he's right. Does that mean all white players are bad at basketball? Larry Bird is bad? THUNDER DAN MAJERLE IS BAD? On a global, objective level, no. They aren't the best of all, but by no means does that mean they're bad. Elitist.

i'm not a 'nids played, but i've watched a few games (I have to say, this is a great way to learn tactics and stuff.)and I reckon with the right Synergy they can be effective. They're more scalable than Orks too, so if you decide in the future to do big Tourneys like 'Ard Boyz, that might give you an advantage. 'Nid have some cool new models too. I chose Orks because I like the fact you can convert just about anything really cheaply and easily, but 'Nids have some nice stock models, so it's up to you really.