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Korias1004 wrote:


Don't have the BRB handy but I thought the reason why we all say the Crone got nerfed hard was because vector strike dropped to only 1 attack rather than the D3.

1 hit against ground targets
D3 against zooming and Swooping targets.

Just looking at IA4. I see why the Dima was spec'ed as is. It was meant really as a Zone Mortalis/Cities of Death MC. In the tight spaces with limit movement options, getting caught in the same hallway as one will be bad.

barnowl wrote:
Just looking at IA4. I see why the Dima was spec'ed as is. It was meant really as a Zone Mortalis/Cities of Death MC. In the tight spaces with limit movement options, getting caught in the same hallway as one will be bad.

Except it base size makes it too big for Zone Mortalis

Eldercaveman wrote:

barnowl wrote:
Just looking at IA4. I see why the Dima was spec'ed as is. It was meant really as a Zone Mortalis/Cities of Death MC. In the tight spaces with limit movement options, getting caught in the same hallway as one will be bad.

Except it base size makes it too big for Zone Mortalis

The base is wider than 4"? Other than that I don't recall a base size limit on ZM.

Are Tervigons viable in a competitive sense as a support unit?

195 points seems like a bit too much for this edition..

Also what about ten Genestealers with a Broodlord for 200 points?

No to either. (Competitive sense)

Tervigon is too expensive for what it does, Genestealers are terrible in any sense.

Frozocrone wrote:
Are Tervigons viable in a competitive sense as a support unit?

195 points seems like a bit too much for this edition..

Also what about ten Genestealers with a Broodlord for 200 points?

Neither are particularly competitive choices.

I don't mind Tevigons at <1000 pts. The Terms add a decent percentage of points in Termagants to justify their massive points cost at lower levels IMO. Still far from auto-take. Anything above 1000 and they are really really bad.

Genestealers rely on numbers and support. Fixing a couple of them into a list just gives you an overpriced easy to kill target. They can work in numbers tho, imo - alot of people don't like attempting to absorb this preferring to rule them out as crap, but with the right support and enough numbers to make a difference, they are one of the better CC units in the game. Broodlords aren't terrible, but often you are struggling to make the points for enough Stealers and they just can't be justified for the tank and damage they take away from a unit.

I've seen this a few times in regards to units that need the right support to be any good... Maybe ive just glazed over where this was explained but could you give me an idea of what sort of support would be needed to make a blob of genestealers work at, say, 1500 and 1850? I've got 80 of 'em and would love to at least dust a few off and get table time

Venomthropes and alternative (or difficult) target choices for your opponents. Even supported, you'd have to accept that your 80 genestealers are points that could be spent on better units.

I disagree completely, Genestealers are our hardest hitting CC units for the points beside the Dima, except unlike the Dima they have Infiltrate to help secure second turn assault. Often enough they are the best unit on the field and you wish you'd brought a few more in the games where the support is less relevant.

The main support they need IMO is something to deal with their lack of frags. Living Artillery for a bunch of pinning Blasts are nice, Stranglethorn Cannon Harpys are nice, especially if you glide them the turn before the stealers assault, and assault with them to force I1 on your opponents units. You don't want to be striking last win Stealers (en masse as well), especially since they have I6 for a reason. Numerous ways to do this, including spammed Broodlords for the Horror (I like this one least as it's least reliable, does however throw your list out the least and Broodlords come with benefits of their own), and any combination of Pinning Weaponry/powers spurred on by the Deathleaper Assassin Brood formation which gives the -1 to all enemy units Pinning rolls while providing nice assault support wherever you may need it on the map.

The other thing is obviously Venomthrope. Stealers don't need Synapse however but a squad of Shrikes or Warriors behind them can also be nice, if you leave them just out of Synapse range and GtG, it's quite easy to claim a 2+ army wide save in your opponents first turn of shooting! and moving the Synapse unit up the field gives them all fearless and allows them to move again. Just don't lose your Synapse I take one Flyrant as my HQ for this purpose, Swoop him up from backfield, still leaving him behind the Stealers, but T6 Flying 3+ with a mink cover save (possibly bonused by a Venom) is a hard Synapse to move p, especially when it's still 12" behind your Stealers. You need a HQ anyway, you cannot however afford two.

I've experimented a lot with Stealers. A lot of support is viable, just dn 't take less than 40 of them or it's a wasted investment ~_~ they are a glass cannon who need the numbers to ensure they do can do enough! otherwise a bit of firepower cuts down their offensive potential far too quickly. 1850 I'd say.

Cambonimachine wrote:
I've seen this a few times in regards to units that need the right support to be any good... Maybe ive just glazed over where this was explained but could you give me an idea of what sort of support would be needed to make a blob of genestealers work at, say, 1500 and 1850? I've got 80 of 'em and would love to at least dust a few off and get table time

The short answer...Shrouded, and Pinning. anything to allow you to arrive in CC more or less intact. The "goofiest" thing I've done (a trick I use constantly) is give them a screen of gaunts. Let the Hormies eat the overwatch, then join the combat with the Stealers, that way they arrive intact, and fight at their own iniative.

But sadly, there is really no "good" way to use them.

Problem with relying on a screen of units to take the iniative penalty, as I've seen mentioned before, is that you want to be aiming to assault as quickly as possible, that turn 2 assault through infiltrate is pretty important with Stealers. The screen does nothing for your initiative there, Same issue with CC Flyrant, someone mentioned this as their way to get in into combat at max Iniative without frags, I never got around to responding but its generally a bad idea. Take advantage of it where possible, and a Horm screen is a good idea for granting cover to your Stealers, however it's not to be relied on for a frags alternative or else you are nerfing your army before you even put models on the table.

Pinning is good. Living Artillery is the very best pinning weaponry in the game that I can think of for any army.

pinecone77 wrote:

Cambonimachine wrote:
I've seen this a few times in regards to units that need the right support to be any good... Maybe ive just glazed over where this was explained but could you give me an idea of what sort of support would be needed to make a blob of genestealers work at, say, 1500 and 1850? I've got 80 of 'em and would love to at least dust a few off and get table time

The short answer...Shrouded, and Pinning. anything to allow you to arrive in CC more or less intact. The "goofiest" thing I've done (a trick I use constantly) is give them a screen of gaunts. Let the Hormies eat the overwatch, then join the combat with the Stealers, that way they arrive intact, and fight at their own iniative.

But sadly, there is really no "good" way to use them.

TAG's Genestealer Tactica.

Firstly, and this is important. Genestealers suck. They are overcosted by 1/2 and lack the mobility options of Shrikes and Raveners (who have a similar killing power). Even Hormagants are faster. They lack the survivability of a house fly, and they need support to be effective. There are very, very few scenarios where they would make a better choice than Shrikes or Raveners in an army. Or even Hormagants.

However, there are ways to use them and win some games. Here are 10 suggestions to help you pull this off.
1) Don't take upgrades. Genestealers are too expensive already, and upgrades just make them more so. Quantity over Quality here.
1A) that includes a broodlord. It is always better to take more genestealers than a broodlord. Don't be impressed with his pinning ability. Most things genestealers want to assault can't be pinned. If it can be pinned (i.e. Necrons) it still needs to fail a pinning test at -2, and that just isn't going to happen often. It will work for you once in 5 games, and anything that inconsistent is not worth it.
2) Run them in large squads. 15 is a good number. Never less than 10. This helps with support as well.
3) Support them. There are two ways to do so.
3A) Malanthropes. To be useful at all, Genestealers need shrouded. To be effective they need preferred enemy. The Malanthrope can help with both. It can also tank wounds on its 3+, and eat challenges. If Genestealers could take a Malanthrope instead of a brood lord, they would be a very good unit. I think 2 Malanthropes are best if you are running Genestealers.
3B) Venom + Swarmlord. Swarmlord can give Genestealers furious charge, preferred enemy, and potentially Feel No Pain. That is a ton of support. If only it didn't come in such an expensive package.
4) Don't outflank them. It may seem like you can outflank them as a way to offset their abysmal mobility. However, if you do so, the might not come in turn 2, and they can't start seriously contributing until turn 3 or 4. It is a costly unit to not have contribute for 1/2 of the game.
5) Do Infiltrate them. Unless you are facing drop pods, or are confident you opponent will put something in range for a turn 1 charge, you want these genestealers at midfield asap. However there are some tricks.
5A) Focus fire is not a part of the 7th edition rulebook. Abuse this. Infiltrate the Genestealers to midfield making sure that as many as possible are in ruins, and that those models are closer to the enemy than the models out of ruins.
5B) Remember the support. Congaline the genestealers back to your deployment zone to make sure they get Shrouded from a venom or malan. If you do this, the 1st few genestealers get a 2+ cover save.
5C) Fear Flamers. If you enemy has flamers in their army you want to infiltrate somewhere that the flamers can't get to you on turn 1.
6) Distract your opponent. Remember that the second someone wants to kill a mob of genestealers, they all drop dead instantly. Give them something else that they want to kill. Flyrants can sometimes do this. Gargoyles with better mobility can seem scarier. Lictors can infiltrate, and you can talk up their leathality. Deathleaper is usefule here.
7) Gargoyles. Genestealers are bad at being overwatched. That means you've got to get something to them ASAP to help them eat overwatch. Gargoyles are that thing. Also use the gargoyles to screen genestealers whenever possible. Hormagants can work this way, but are not as good as gargoyles.
7A) Sometimes you can use gants or gargoyles to bring more units into a combat. Because combat results are all added together, you might be able to do enough wounds with your genestealers to sweep a couple units at a time. If not, once in a while you can use this trick to keep the genestealers in combat on your opponent's turn.
8) Multi-Assault. Genestealers suffer from a similar problem to the Dima. In the current age of min sized squads, they can kill those squads too effectively, and not stay locked in combat so that they can survive opponent's shooting. However, Genestealers have a solution to this that Dima's don't. With many models, they can multi assault. A good choice is to multi-assault them into a Rhino or other vehicle, and also into a unit that they can stay locked with. Try to put as many attacks in the first round against the vehicle so that you don't wipe out the other unit. You can always kill them on your opponent's turn.
9) Don't take them against opponents who ignore cover Without a cover save they are dead. Wave serpent spam, Tau are genestealer kryptonite.
10) Take something else as well. Even if you follow all of these steps, and get lucky in the game, your genestealers are probably only good for 1 big assault. That means you need something else in your army which can mop up the rest of your opponent's forces. Once your genestealers get below 5, drop them back to an objective. They are done.

We aren't going to see Genestealers at top table any time soon, but if you follow these suggestions you can use them to help you win games.

Most your advice is pretty good, but I fear you're slipping back into the exact same mistake you made last time you commented on Stealers... You did the maths, you saw that they out damage many dedicated CC units in combat... I don't think you had Shrikes on that list but I don't see how they out damage Stealers in CC even with a dual melee load out...

However you are probably right that massed Shrikes might be better all round because of their durability and less reliance on support. I don't have the models to test it lol I mean we've all got 50 stealers laying around, who can say the same for shrikes

 SHUPPET wrote:
Most your advice is pretty good, but I fear you're slipping back into the exact same mistake you made last time you commented on Stealers... You did the maths, you saw that they out damage many dedicated CC units in combat... I don't think you had Shrikes on that list but I don't see how they out damage Stealers in CC even with a dual melee load out...

However you are probably right that massed Shrikes might be better all round because of their durability and less reliance on support. I don't have the models to test it lol I mean we've all got 50 stealers laying around, who can say the same for shrikes

Shrikes weren't on the list but Raveners were. Genestealers slightly more damage per point. Raveners had a much, much higher survivability per point. Shrikes are essentially the same as Raveners with more options and 1 less initiative. I'll look up the exact numbers if you want.

As I said when I posted the math. Just because Genestealers do slightly higher damage per point than a Ravener doesn't make them better. Greater mobility on raveners is gigantic. Also the rate at which ravener/Shrike damage potential declines is much, much, much slower than Genestealers. In fact if you look back to the post where I did all of the math I commented on the fact that Genestealers had the worst mobility options of anything on the list.

I have a feeling that if you ran them extensively in games you would see what I'm talking about. Genestealers are good for one charge. They kill something, and then are themselves killed. Raveners on the other hand can pull off multiple charges per game while preserving their unit integrity. Also, Raveners / Shrikes are better at multi-assaulting because 1) Overwatch is less threatening, 2) The charge bonus is less impactful.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
To put it into a real life scenario. 6 Raveners with Rending claws and 15 Genestealers both cost 210 points.

If they both Charge a unit of 10 Tac Marines with no upgrades:
Marines fire 20 Overwatch shots. 3.33 hits. 1.66 hits. I'll round it to 2 for future calculations.

So 2 Genestealers go down to overwatch, and 1 Ravener takes 2 wounds to overwatch but doesn't die.

Now they are in. Both have higher initiative than space marines. Genestealers do 39 Attacks while Raveners only do 30 Attacks. The Genestealers kill 7.2 marines (Rounding down to 7). The Raveners kill 5.56 Marines (also rounding down to 5).

The marines hit back. They Kill 1 more genestealer, and put a wound on a Full wound Ravener. Assuming they don't break or they run, and we catch them, the next round of combat will look like this.

Genestealers do 24 Attacks. Raveners do 24 Attack <- as you can see despite killing more marines in round 1, they are no long any killier than Raveners for round 2. They both kill 4.4 marines meaning both units have statistically eliminated that Tactical Marines.

So they charge another squad of 10 Tac marine. It looks like this.
On the charge both units take 2 wounds from overwatch, both units do 30 attacks. Both units kill 5.56 marines. Both unit lose 1 wound.
Next round. Genestealers do 18 Attacks. Raveners do 24 Attacks Genestealers kill 3.33 marines (aka there is statistically 1 left.) Raveners statistically kill the rest of them.
At this point there are only 9 Genestealers, but there are still 6 Raveners (2 with 1 wound, 2 with 2 wounds, 2 with 3 wounds).

Because of their multi-wound nature Raveners have much more staying power, and potential to continue contributing to the game in a way that Genestealers do not. That, coupled with their grossly superior mobility, and Raveners make a much more effective assault unit. There are exceptions, for instance assaulting Walkers, but the exceptions are rare and not sufficient to base list building decisions on unless you are list tailoring to a specific opponent.

Thanks!

Scy Talons give an extra attack, if taking a larger brood, you can sprinkle in some scy talons to give it more punch for not many points.

You can also go to ground for the Sv boost, and then use synapse next turn to allow the charge.

The points you put into ScyTals are better put into more genestealers, for more offense and defense to the unit

 SHUPPET wrote:
The points you put into ScyTals are better put into more genestealers, for more offense and defense to the unit

Very correct. Genestealers don't need more attacks, they need more wounds. It costs 14 points to add 1 wound and 2-3 attacks (charge). Meanwhile it cost 8-12 points to add 2-3 attacks. So, for the cost of roughly a gant, you get the same increase in attacks, but also get an extra wound. That is the better way to go.

In many ways, I wonder if there wasn't a plan to make Genestealers 2 wounds each. That would make their points cost make sense.

They would be fucktons better balanced at 2 wounds each.

tag8833 wrote:

 SHUPPET wrote:
The points you put into ScyTals are better put into more genestealers, for more offense and defense to the unit

Very correct. Genestealers don't need more attacks, they need more wounds. It costs 14 points to add 1 wound and 2-3 attacks (charge). Meanwhile it cost 8-12 points to add 2-3 attacks. So, for the cost of roughly a gant, you get the same increase in attacks, but also get an extra wound. That is the better way to go.

In many ways, I wonder if there wasn't a plan to make Genestealers 2 wounds each. That would make their points cost make sense.

I would probably die in joy even as the rest of the world realized that something had gone horribly wrong.

Out of curiosity, what do you think of multi-CAD "stealer shocks?"

Basic gist being a pair of tervigons for HQs, multiple units of Genestealers (some small for back field scoring) for the compulsory troops, and the rest being Gargoyles and some Shrikes with a minor fortification in the back field with something sitting on a comms relay. Turn one will be some minor pushing, while you throw some gargoyles up to early screen and push and then deep strike in several more full brood on top of the enemy on turn 2, for some very reliable assault options?

Why would you take multiple CAD's?

Just take one CAD and the MSU genestealer formation (manufactorum I believe).


You can always opt to run something like:

Flyrant x2
5 strong genestealers x5
2 large squads of gargs/w toxin
Genestealer formation with 5 squads of 5 genestealers
2 malenthrope
2 squads of stock carnifex

This would be a very scary list to deal with. A gunline army would be mowing down the formation genestealers first 2 turns and then the rest of your army would be all over him. It has AA, Anti-AV, and Anti-infantry all at once while also having a large number of scoring units and bodies for board control.

 Unyielding Hunger wrote:

tag8833 wrote:

 SHUPPET wrote:
The points you put into ScyTals are better put into more genestealers, for more offense and defense to the unit

Very correct. Genestealers don't need more attacks, they need more wounds. It costs 14 points to add 1 wound and 2-3 attacks (charge). Meanwhile it cost 8-12 points to add 2-3 attacks. So, for the cost of roughly a gant, you get the same increase in attacks, but also get an extra wound. That is the better way to go.

In many ways, I wonder if there wasn't a plan to make Genestealers 2 wounds each. That would make their points cost make sense.

I would probably die in joy even as the rest of the world realized that something had gone horribly wrong.

Out of curiosity, what do you think of multi-CAD "stealer shocks?"

Basic gist being a pair of tervigons for HQs, multiple units of Genestealers (some small for back field scoring) for the compulsory troops, and the rest being Gargoyles and some Shrikes with a minor fortification in the back field with something sitting on a comms relay. Turn one will be some minor pushing, while you throw some gargoyles up to early screen and push and then deep strike in several more full brood on top of the enemy on turn 2, for some very reliable assault options?

I think that is not a very good list. It includes Tervigons who are overcosted, and underpowed, not very threatening and slow to contribute. Are you planning to deep strike Gargoyles? They don't shoot much, and they are fast enough that they can start on the board and guarantee a turn 3 charge, so there is no point to deep strike them unless you are playing skyblight. It is never going to make sense taking min squads of stealers as objective scorers when we have rippers.

Overall, I think it violates several of the key suggestions for running genestealers effectively.

tag8833 wrote:

6) Distract your opponent. Remember that the second someone wants to kill a mob of genestealers, they all drop dead instantly. Give them something else that they want to kill. Flyrants can sometimes do this. Gargoyles with better mobility can seem scarier. Lictors can infiltrate, and you can talk up their leathality. Deathleaper is usefule here.
10) Take something else as well. Even if you follow all of these steps, and get lucky in the game, your genestealers are probably only good for 1 big assault. That means you need something else in your army which can mop up the rest of your opponent's forces. Once your genestealers get below 5, drop them back to an objective. They are done.

If you have enough Shrikes and Gargoyles, you might satisfy #6, but you would need a ton of Shrikes to satisfy #10.

tag8833 wrote:

 SHUPPET wrote:
The points you put into ScyTals are better put into more genestealers, for more offense and defense to the unit

Very correct. Genestealers don't need more attacks, they need more wounds. It costs 14 points to add 1 wound and 2-3 attacks (charge). Meanwhile it cost 8-12 points to add 2-3 attacks. So, for the cost of roughly a gant, you get the same increase in attacks, but also get an extra wound. That is the better way to go.

In many ways, I wonder if there wasn't a plan to make Genestealers 2 wounds each. That would make their points cost make sense.

Word, there are lots of ways to make Stealers worth taking...add something in, or lower the cost. Both of those arguments boil down to "over priced as is" I'd like to see the price drop, but making them 2W would also put them on the "worth looking at" list.

tag8833 wrote:

 SHUPPET wrote:
The points you put into ScyTals are better put into more genestealers, for more offense and defense to the unit

Very correct. Genestealers don't need more attacks, they need more wounds. It costs 14 points to add 1 wound and 2-3 attacks (charge). Meanwhile it cost 8-12 points to add 2-3 attacks. So, for the cost of roughly a gant, you get the same increase in attacks, but also get an extra wound. That is the better way to go.

In many ways, I wonder if there wasn't a plan to make Genestealers 2 wounds each. That would make their points cost make sense.

That is not an accurate comparison.

For 14pts you get 2 more attacks and 1 more wound, and *sometimes* a third attack.
For 8 points you get 2 more attacks
For 12 points you always get 3 more attacks

Or think of it this way, for 28% more points, you get *50%* more attacks normally, and 33% more attacks on the charge.
For 'roughly' a gant? A stealer is only 14pts, so the difference of 6pts is a big deal....

I would never put scy tals on every stealer, just like I would never put devourers on every gaunt. But a brood of 15 stealers, with 5-8 scy tals in the back..... The 'cheap' stealers will be the ones to die to overwatch, and the first to die CC; the Scystealers will be the ones left alive on subsequent rounds, which is when their *50%* increase in attacks will be a big help.

coredump wrote:

Spoiler:

tag8833 wrote:

 SHUPPET wrote:
The points you put into ScyTals are better put into more genestealers, for more offense and defense to the unit

Very correct. Genestealers don't need more attacks, they need more wounds. It costs 14 points to add 1 wound and 2-3 attacks (charge). Meanwhile it cost 8-12 points to add 2-3 attacks. So, for the cost of roughly a gant, you get the same increase in attacks, but also get an extra wound. That is the better way to go.

In many ways, I wonder if there wasn't a plan to make Genestealers 2 wounds each. That would make their points cost make sense.

That is not an accurate comparison.

For 14pts you get 2 more attacks and 1 more wound, and *sometimes* a third attack.
For 8 points you get 2 more attacks
For 12 points you always get 3 more attacks

Or think of it this way, for 28% more points, you get *50%* more attacks normally, and 33% more attacks on the charge.
For 'roughly' a gant? A stealer is only 14pts, so the difference of 6pts is a big deal....

I would never put scy tals on every stealer, just like I would never put devourers on every gaunt. But a brood of 15 stealers, with 5-8 scy tals in the back..... The 'cheap' stealers will be the ones to die to overwatch, and the first to die CC; the Scystealers will be the ones left alive on subsequent rounds, which is when their *50%* increase in attacks will be a big help.

So let us take the best case scenario for your argument. 8 Points for 2 Scything Talons and thus 2 attacks. VS. 14 points for another genestealer, and thus 2 attacks.

If you had the option for an upgrade that was "Additional Biomass" that gave the Genestealer one more wound (with EW), and that upgrade cost you 6 points, would you take it. I would. If your answer is "No", then you probably want to take Scything Talons on some/all of your Genestealers.

It seems the conventional wisdom is that Tervigon's are bad, but is it possible to build them in a way to make them less sucky? I ask this as someone just starting their Tyranid army trying to figure out what to buy, knowing the answer will probably be no.

I get the arguments against them. They're expensive, their shooting ability is laughable, their psychic ability worse, and I pretty much agree. I also understand why dumping more points into an already over-costed model seems counter intuitive, but bear with me.

What if you added Adrenal Glands, Crushing Claws, and maybe even Electroshock Grubs to it? It seems that doing so would make this thing a pretty effective vehicle hunter. The glands gives it mobility and increases it's strength on the charge. The claws add another point of strength and give it Armourbane. That's 2-3 hits that will glance AV14 armor and penetrate everything else reliably. Electroshock Grubs are optional, but if you do take them you'll be able to tear through pretty much any HP3 AV13 vehicle in a single turn and, with some luck, a LAnd Raider equivalent as well.

Thoughts?

The answer is definitely no, and anybody who tells you otherwise is likely either as new as you or someone who refuses to accept that it HAS been nerfed into unplayability from last edition. Don't listen to anyone telling you to play them.

However, if y have to use the model for whatever reason, low points games are where he will do slightly better. Also outflanking him with eGrubs in an aggressive list might POSSIBLY make you not so disappointed in the fact that you brought him and not another Mawloc. But it's unlikely. and this is assuming barebones+template btw! not some crappy close combat kitted Terv


The problem with crushing claws/AG is that he is already the most cost effective target in the dex to shoot at. Giving him those upgrades makes him the cost of a Flyrant without wings. Every wound they take off him is worth 40 points, that's almost double as much as a Mawloc for the same survivability and likely more damage. It's highly unlikely he'll make it to combat, but if he does it will be turn 3 at best since he has zero mobility, but often never at all.

He's one of the worse models in the dex, at lower points games his versatility and free points are more relevant and he isn't quite so squishy so I sometimes play him at <1000. Other than that he's p bad.

Gazra wrote:
It seems the conventional wisdom is that Tervigon's are bad, but is it possible to build them in a way to make them less sucky? I ask this as someone just starting their Tyranid army trying to figure out what to buy, knowing the answer will probably be no.

I get the arguments against them. They're expensive, their shooting ability is laughable, their psychic ability worse, and I pretty much agree. I also understand why dumping more points into an already over-costed model seems counter intuitive, but bear with me.

What if you added Adrenal Glands, Crushing Claws, and maybe even Electroshock Grubs to it? It seems that doing so would make this thing a pretty effective vehicle hunter. The glands gives it mobility and increases it's strength on the charge. The claws add another point of strength and give it Armourbane. That's 2-3 hits that will glance AV14 armor and penetrate everything else reliably. Electroshock Grubs are optional, but if you do take them you'll be able to tear through pretty much any HP3 AV13 vehicle in a single turn and, with some luck, a LAnd Raider equivalent as well.

Thoughts?

The tervigon is not all that bad in many ways, but as people have pointed out, it's expensive for what it does. Ask yourself what kind of army list you want to play, and the tervigon's place in the list. For example, I like playing aggressive lists that get up in your face as quickly as possible, relegating the tervigon to backfield support. For that role, a single unit of warriors is half the cost and just as durable against anything that isn't strength 8+. In cover, they're even MORE durable against non-strength 8 (9 wounds to 6). The other killer cost for a tervigon is that it means you can take one less flying hive tyrant. If you make it a troops selection (which seems nice) then you have to pay the gant tax, effectively making the troop tervigon even more expensive. One up-side is that you can get away with a single tervigon and 30 Gants as backfield objective support due to the tervigon spawning 2-3 troop choices most games (which RAW are Objective Secured, though there are some that debate that oddly). Even so, that's still a minimum of 315 points for 2 troop units (plus the freebie units), which leaves you less for the rest of the army. And what you get for those points is just not that impressive.

I feel like the best way to run Tervigons would be en masse (like 3 plus 3 max size gant squads). You have 3 incredibly durable troop choices, 3 huge troop units, and you can spawn an average of ....48 extra bodies or so. I actually should figure out the real number. If there is a 44 % chance of failure for each roll, with 10.5 Gants spawned per roll, how many Gants are spawned on average before the Mamma Jammas are exhausted? Point being, it's in that neighborhood and that's nearly 140 bodies (all OS) plus the surprisingly durable Tervigons for the low low cost of 1045 points. That might seem like a lot, but it's not much worse than the space marine OS drop pod spam lists. It's more durable but has less firepower. It's not going to win tournaments, but I guarantee 90 percent of lists you'll run into simply don't have enough anti-horde to deal with it. The issue with that is that it's BORING. Many people in my meta have stopped playing marine drop pod armies because they find them extremely linear and boring, but this takes that to a new extreme. And it's just a lot of models to move. But it's probably the best way to field Tervigons, sadly

You're kind of making me want to run 2 CAD's.

Walkrant
Tervi
Tervi
30 Gants
30 Gants
Venomthrope

The Swarmlord, 1 Guard
Tervi
Tervi
30 Gants
30 Gants
Venomthrope

1845 points. Swarmlord can give a bonus to a relevant squad, 120 gants can clog up the treads somewhat, and 4 tervigons should provide more bodies for the grinder when needed. Everything is fearless all the time, and now I need to go paint the 80 gaunts I have waiting for paint because this needs to be played.