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Alright, so I'm a competitive player, and I'm a Tyranid player. I play Chaos for fun, but for anything serious I bring Nids. The general consensus is that Tau are bad new for Nids, and based on math hammer I don't disagree. So, what to do, how to adapt? The standard tactic against gunlines (and I love playing guard or SM) is to hit him with lots of reserves, usually Flyrants, the Doom, and 2 Ymgarl broods, all at the same time with Hive Commander. I haven't actually played the new Tau yet, but I hate to be unprepared.

BUT, near as I can tell, Tau could do pretty well vs. that. Interceptor heavy means Broadsides could quite possibly kill the Doom before he gets that important damage in. Also, Intercepting HYMP could blow any Ymgarls away, before super overwatch kills the rest. Right now, I've already added more Biovores to my competitive lists, to hit Pathfinders and the like while discouraging a Tau opponent from staying in a single bunch. However, that is fallible because Tau now have ignore-cover and LoS weapons like Missiles.

But honestly... how would Tau deal with a mawloc? The Mawloc is THE ultimate anti castle. Usually an opponent who sees a Mawloc just decides "well, I'll spread out then." But Tau lose some significant advantages when they choose to do this, and it would allow Ymgarls to make it into CC without overwatch of death. I think with the rise of the Tau in the competitive scene that a single Mawloc could be very very worthwhile... He's considered "decent" against other armies, enough that he isn't useless. But imagine dropping a Mawloc on an opponent. Assuming he has his drones to the outside, as most Tau do, he could hit some Broadsides and probably kill at least one model or two. If he castles anyways, then the squad very well couldn't move and would just auto-die! Even if not, Thats a 6 wound MC right in my opponents face. He has to deal with that, or there's a unit gone next turn, and with any luck he just burned his Heavy weapons trying (maybe succeeding) to kill the Doom of Malan'tai with Interceptor. Against standard opponents it just becomes easier to play the objective game by using him as a late game contesting unit in addition to the damage he could cause.


So, what do you think? I've spent some time looking through the mathhammer, and he could be the key to Tyranid evolution. The metas changing, and lately it hasnt been doing Nids any favors.

Well, to be honest, the mawloc just wont do enough damage on average to make up for it's points even if it direct-hits a FW squad. It WILL disrupt their fire-control but will hit the dust first turn almost always. They are just too expensive for the low damage output in my opinion.

If you WERE going to opt for it, go big or go home. Triple Mawlocs would be far too much for the tau to bring down in a single turn before they follow up with assaults. This is quite an investment however.

It could work. If you can break my target priority, you could buy yourself another turn to get your big bads into CC.

And if you are running FMC or Winged Warriors (forget what they are called) that one turn could be just what the doctor ordered.

I say give it a shot and come back with your findings.

I can't speak for their effect on Tau, or their general cost effectiveness, but I will tell you a quick anecdote about Mawlocs that will show another benefit.

I went to a regional tourney (25-30 odd players) recently with a super cheesy 1850 list (IG Primary. 4 Sabres with a LC on a Quad, 2 Earthshaker Carriages, with allied Daemons. LoC, 18 Fleshhounds, Demon Prince) and there was a player there running a bog standad Nid List (Dual Flyrants, Doom in a can, Tervigons) with one big exception. Somehow he fit a Mawloc in. I was TERRIFIED I would play him. They are absolutely the hard counter for Platform spam Guard (who, IMO are still a better Army than Tau...but maybe not to Nids. I don't know)

 ImotekhTheStormlord wrote:
Well, to be honest, the mawloc just wont do enough damage on average to make up for it's points even if it direct-hits a FW squad. It WILL disrupt their fire-control but will hit the dust first turn almost always. They are just too expensive for the low damage output in my opinion.

If you WERE going to opt for it, go big or go home. Triple Mawlocs would be far too much for the tau to bring down in a single turn before they follow up with assaults. This is quite an investment however.

He wouldn't be alone! Think 2x5 Ymgarls, Doom in Pod, 3 Zoanthropes in a Pod, and a mawloc. The Mawloc is an auto come-in, while the rest is on a 2+, and depending on terrain either 2 Flyrants swooping in or 2 Flyrants coming in from reserves. He's a potent disrupter, and I think the Tau player wouldn't intercept him because he's done his damage, and would focus all possible heavy fire onto the other threats. But, then he's running out of his guns to shoot the Mawloc his turn.

Mawlocs are not as good a TAC unit as some of the other units IMO. It may work well against a castled-up Tau player, but what about all the other armies? What if it scatters? It will be as good as dead next turn against the might of Tau shooting. There is a lot of downside to running Mawlocs and that is mainly if you face an army in a tournament that just doesn't care.

However, that's not to say they aren't useful. I believe a tyranid player won a tournament recently and his list involved 1-2 mawlocs. The main benefit of mawlocs IMO is that they can f*ck with enemy deployment. They are a psychological weapon just as genestealers, ymgarls and biovores are. Psychologically, they can disrupt your opponent's gameplan and that is always a good thing. How much damage they will do for sure? Probably not too much, especially against Tau. But if you send 2 flyrants in his face and drop the Doom and ymgarls right inside his deployment zone, then the combination of all the units working together just may do the job. It's not about the unit itself, but rather, how he synergizes with the rest of the list.

As for the changing meta not doing bugs any favor, I'd have to disagree. Gone all the damned, old Runes of Warding Eldar allies that every competitive tournament army that could take always seemed to do....and in my book, that's a f*cking woohooo! thing.

 jy2 wrote:
Mawlocs are not as good a TAC unit as some of the other units IMO. It may work well against a castled-up Tau player, but what about all the other armies? What if it scatters? It will be as good as dead next turn against the might of Tau shooting. There is a lot of downside to running Mawlocs and that is mainly if you face an army in a tournament that just doesn't care.

However, that's not to say they aren't useful. I believe a tyranid player won a tournament recently and his list involved 1-2 mawlocs. The main benefit of mawlocs IMO is that they can f*ck with enemy deployment. They are a psychological weapon just as genestealers, ymgarls and biovores are. Psychologically, they can disrupt your opponent's gameplan and that is always a good thing. How much damage they will do for sure? Probably not too much, especially against Tau. But if you send 2 flyrants in his face and drop the Doom and ymgarls right inside his deployment zone, then the combination of all the units working together just may do the job. It's not about the unit itself, but rather, how he synergizes with the rest of the list.

As for the changing meta not doing bugs any favor, I'd have to disagree. Gone all the damned, old Runes of Warding Eldar allies that every competitive tournament army that could take always seemed to do....and in my book, that's a f*cking woohooo! thing.

Oh I agree on the Eldar part! I just don't really play Eldar locally so I haven't "felt" the change, just read it and laughed. Against a normal army: Any gunline, Mawlocs are good against. Its an extra tool for dealing with those distant objective holders. Against Necrons, not too useful true... but hey, I've never had trouble against Crons. Still, any psychological weapon that forces my opponent to spread himself out will leave gaping holes for the Doom to come in. I actually could see it working with my list. A tough Anvil of Tervigons advancing, and a Hammer of Ymgarls coming in with the Doom and Zoeys blasting away. This suffers against armies capable of castling up and shooting away effectively, especially with interceptor. The losses I've had usually come from (excluding "bad luck" cases, that just happens) gun lines with massed firepower. One exception was an old Eldar list, but new Eldar look to have a few exposed infantry units like Warp Spiders, Scorpions, and Reapers, not to mention Wraith-blobs. The only way to mitigate this damage is to spread out max 2" which will create a larger footprint, so harder to miss! Any opponent that spreads out that much will be vulnerable to my other "outriders" while potentially being unable to engage my whole army with his whole army.

I play against Tau very regularly, and the two units that I absolutely love are Biovores and Mawlocs.

The Mawloc is a wonderful psychological weapon, and the large blast is a great tool for backfield destruction. I think that they're a bargain!

The problem with Mawlocs is that they're generally outclassed by Biovores when it comes to dropping templates. A Mawloc is roughly equivalent points-wise to 2 broods of 2 Biovores each. The Mawloc will putting down 1 Strength 6 AP 2 template every second turn, the Biovores will be putting down 4 Strength 4 Ap 4 templates which scatter less if you're in line of sight. Biovores will do more damage against anything that isn't a Terminator army. Plus Biovores are a lot safer than Mawlocs, as they can be 40 inches away sitting behind a big rock and still doing damage, while the Mawloc has to get up close and personal.

However the Biovores can be eaten up by small-arms, like outflanking kroot, and really don't want to be in assault. A Mawloc is often quite happy in.assault, particularly versus Tau.

That said, Mawlocs ought not worry about interceptor fire. Interceptor will only be used by Tau players against things which will shoot at them, or be able to assault the turn they arrive. Instead, the mawloc should aim to move heavy weapons out of LOS of your other deep strikers, or at the least provide a cover save for this (since there are no intercepting markerlights...). One of your best bets is to make a Skyray move, so those s8 missiles don't zap your flyrant or the doom.

I think a Mawloc has room in lots of lists. I also think it is one of several options nids have to deal with Tau. I think the best option in a kroot-light meta is to spam tervigons. If there's over 30 kroot in most Tau lists you face, I would suggest more ymgarls, or gargoyles, which are a really neat counter to Tau gunlines in particular.

 PrinceRaven wrote:
The problem with Mawlocs is that they're generally outclassed by Biovores when it comes to dropping templates. A Mawloc is roughly equivalent points-wise to 2 broods of 2 Biovores each. The Mawloc will putting down 1 Strength 6 AP 2 template every second turn, the Biovores will be putting down 4 Strength 4 Ap 4 templates which scatter less if you're in line of sight. Biovores will do more damage against anything that isn't a Terminator army. Plus Biovores are a lot safer than Mawlocs, as they can be 40 inches away sitting behind a big rock and still doing damage, while the Mawloc has to get up close and personal.

I would quite happily bring both options; 2-4 biovores and a mawloc is a nice combination.

 PrinceRaven wrote:
The problem with Mawlocs is that they're generally outclassed by Biovores when it comes to dropping templates. A Mawloc is roughly equivalent points-wise to 2 broods of 2 Biovores each. The Mawloc will putting down 1 Strength 6 AP 2 template every second turn, the Biovores will be putting down 4 Strength 4 Ap 4 templates which scatter less if you're in line of sight.

Except the Mawloc isn't an artillery unit, its job is to shut down enemy firepower either through eating a bunch itself (being a 6 wound MC right in the opponent's face) or by locking things down in combat where they no longer pose much a threat. The main purpose of Terror From the Deep isn't to inflict damage but rather allow for extremely aggressive placement of the Mawloc (if it happens to kill anything in the process so much the better) and thanks to its other rules it generally only gives the enemy one, maybe two turns tops to deal with it via shooting.

 jy2 wrote:
There is a lot of downside to running Mawlocs and that is mainly if you face an army in a tournament that just doesn't care.

Just for the sake of elaboration, which tournament armies do truly not care? Off the top of my head, the only two that really spring to mind are the flying circus Daemons and Wraith + Scythe Necrons. Both have strong counter-assault elements and means to mitigate melee tie-up in ample supply which limits the Mawloc's main trick (perpetually hiding in combat), though it still has some utility in hunting objective-sitters/contesting points (it can just be packed in a corner somewhere out of sight until needed).

 Strat_N8 wrote:

 PrinceRaven wrote:
The problem with Mawlocs is that they're generally outclassed by Biovores when it comes to dropping templates. A Mawloc is roughly equivalent points-wise to 2 broods of 2 Biovores each. The Mawloc will putting down 1 Strength 6 AP 2 template every second turn, the Biovores will be putting down 4 Strength 4 Ap 4 templates which scatter less if you're in line of sight.

Except the Mawloc isn't an artillery unit, its job is to shut down enemy firepower either through eating a bunch itself (being a 6 wound MC right in the opponent's face) or by locking things down in combat where they no longer pose much a threat. The main purpose of Terror From the Deep isn't to inflict damage but rather allow for extremely aggressive placement of the Mawloc (if it happens to kill anything in the process so much the better) and thanks to its other rules it generally only gives the enemy one, maybe two turns tops to deal with it via shooting.

 jy2 wrote:
There is a lot of downside to running Mawlocs and that is mainly if you face an army in a tournament that just doesn't care.

Just for the sake of elaboration, which tournament armies do truly not care? Off the top of my head, the only two that really spring to mind are the flying circus Daemons and Wraith + Scythe Necrons. Both have strong counter-assault elements and means to mitigate melee tie-up in ample supply which limits the Mawloc's main trick (perpetually hiding in combat), though it still has some utility in hunting objective-sitters/contesting points (it can just be packed in a corner somewhere out of sight until needed).

Very well put. Necrons pretty much would ignore Mawlocs but I think I already matchup with Crons very well. Although, I imagine if he dropped off some Warriors that a Mawloc could wreck them. Even Daemons usually have a couple base troops hiding in the back. Pink Horrors could take reasonable damage, as well as having trouble dealing with the Mawloc right after that. Allied Cultists would also take some pain. The more I think about it the more I like it. I think I'll be trying him out for a few weeks!

Doesn't the malwoc's ability to damage units it arrives under only work if it scatters ontop of them. As I understand it, by deep striking rules, you have to place the model in a legal position before rolling scatter. By this logic, in order to hit anything you have to scatter onto them. Combined with only being able to "Fire" every other turn makes them unreliable.

 Thaylen wrote:
Doesn't the malwoc's ability to damage units it arrives under only work if it scatters ontop of them. As I understand it, by deep striking rules, you have to place the model in a legal position before rolling scatter. By this logic, in order to hit anything you have to scatter onto them. Combined with only being able to "Fire" every other turn makes them unreliable.

Terror from the Deep allows you to "aim" your deep strike on enemy models.

 PrinceRaven wrote:

 Thaylen wrote:
Doesn't the malwoc's ability to damage units it arrives under only work if it scatters ontop of them. As I understand it, by deep striking rules, you have to place the model in a legal position before rolling scatter. By this logic, in order to hit anything you have to scatter onto them. Combined with only being able to "Fire" every other turn makes them unreliable.

Terror from the Deep allows you to "aim" your deep strike on enemy models.

Found it. Specifically, the FAQ gives you permission to place the malwoc on an enemy model. I retract my argument. This one had been bugging me for a while.

The answer shouldnt be mawloc, it should be artillery! though the mawloc is acting as both artillery and an MC. I dont think its that great of an MC to waste 150+ points on

I usualy run 1 mawloc and am satisfied with him.

He doesn't often kill alot but thats oke i don;t bring him for that its yust a good bonus, Whenn he shows up in the enemy ranks its not something the opponent can ignore

He smashed up something disrupted themm and is now a T6 6W monster that takes alot to kill threatening annything around him.

If he gets shot to dead thats okey because otherwise all those shots would have likely killed something more inportant to me like a tervigon or a flyrant.
The Mawloc already did alot if he buys me a turn not getting my army shot at he has done enough.

If he gets charged he keeps themm busy and is likely to hit and run and yust go on smashing tanks or reburrowing to repeat the fun

He isn't the big threat in the army, but he helps delivering themm safely to do their deadly deeds

Mawlocs are actually one of the cheaper MCs the Nids have. It might require some list rework, but 3 Mawlocs on a 2000 point list is very doable. Don't get me wrong, they have zero shooting so your Turn 1 and 2 may lack some damage. But with 3 Mawlocs in their deployment and the rest of your army bearing down on the enemy, it's a rough list to handle. Obviously, you'd include 2 Flyrants, 2 Tervgions, and Doom to keep the list as competitive as possible. 170 for a Mawloc with Toxin Sacs is a steal - 6 wounds at T6. Good luck!

Someone from my FLGS brought a list with 3 Mawlocs, Doom, and 6 Ygmarl Genestealers to a tournament. It was BRUTAL. Too many wounds on the list to hurt it. The Mawlocs burrowed Turn1 and deepstruck Turn2 and did some (very little) damage. However, it did split up the enemy army some. And on Turn3... well, nothing really survives that many attacks at S10. Make sure to keep them out of Synapse for maximum damage (rage).

Obviously including that much cc-oriented MCs has it's weaknesses so I wouldn't suggest 3 Mawlocs without knowing your Meta. My meta is heavy on foot-slogging infantry and Aegis Defence Lines. YYMV.

Why not try Lictors to try and assassin units. They can appear 1" away from any model, are fearsome in CC and pack 2 Str 6 Rending shots each, with a 6+ cover save in the open and grant reserve bonuses. So either your oppoent ignores ad they become deadly to vehicles and things that can't overwatch. Or he shoots them up and you can charge those Ymgarls and Flyrants full pelt?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Drop behind some Londstrike Hammerhead or Devilfish, or a Commander or Cadre Fireblade and take him out.

Plus, if you take Deathleaper he has the power to lower a Character's Leadership, rending on a 5+, makes units move slower through cover and has Shrouded and Stealth.

 Deadshot wrote:
Why not try Lictors to try and assassin units. They can appear 1" away from any model, are fearsome in CC and pack 2 Str 6 Rending shots each, with a 6+ cover save in the open and grant reserve bonuses. So either your oppoent ignores ad they become deadly to vehicles and things that can't overwatch. Or he shoots them up and you can charge those Ymgarls and Flyrants full pelt?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Drop behind some Londstrike Hammerhead or Devilfish, or a Commander or Cadre Fireblade and take him out.

Plus, if you take Deathleaper he has the power to lower a Character's Leadership, rending on a 5+, makes units move slower through cover and has Shrouded and Stealth.

Point for point, Ymgarls are better than Lictors in every way. The reserve bonus is useless, I already have Hive Commander, and by the time they are in most of my reserves will be anyways. Dropping them in, they average one penetrating hit on a Rear Armor 10 vehicle. So, I get one chance to roll a 6 before dying.

I want to mess up my opponent, and I can do so with what I have before I add a Mawloc. However, Interceptor weapons hurt so I'm looking for an equalizer. Mawlocs hit before Interceptor, while Lictors arent truly a threat until my next turn. This lets "lesser" units like Tac marines and Firewarriors deal with the Lictors, as their threat is delayed compared to Zoeys or the Doom or Mawlocs or Ymgarls.

Basically, Lictors dont pose a threat at the same time as Ymgarls, and so can be ignored. Plus, not that deadly...

Ymgarls are only deadly when the enemy is near area terrain. Likely they are, but if you come across an opponent who has Ymgarl experiance and avoids the area terrain, who worse, a player who covers the entire area terrain that could be a threat (and thus causing them to spawn in and be destroyed by being unable to deploy). Worse still is the Tau player who bunches up his infantry and doesn't care for your Ymgarls either way.

On the other hand, Lictors can appear anywhere you want and can strike anything. Sure, easily shot to bits compared to other CC creatures, but packing Rending, rerolls 1 to hit, Stealth and Flesh Hooks they become something to be feared if left unchallenged. They can quickly take down vehicles with lots of high strength Rending. And 1 pen is all it takes to stop a Vindicator or Leman Russ firing its Blast next turn.

All I'm saying, try them out in a casual setting against a semi competitive enemy, and see how it goes, then move up to competitive.

What do ymgarl do?

For the most part best way to beat tau right now is target saturation, they are good at dealing with one thing at a time but when everything is suddenly at there door steps, they generally freak out.

Also, why not try spore mine clusters. They are depoyed before objectives and other units, so can be used to bunch up or spread out the enemy by area denial, and are AP Large Blasts just floating around enemy deployment zones, which for Tau isn't nixe, particualrly if they go Kroot, Pathfinder or Firewarrior heavy.


Also, Lictors may be a good unit to deal with Pathfinders. Drop in, take out a couple, then force them to waste a turn dealing with Lictors, where they are not Railrifling your models or Lazing up targets


Automatically Appended Next Post:
@Desubot

Ymgarls are Genestealers that have a smaller brood size, no Broodlord, and cost nearly twice as much, can't hold objectives and are Elites. In return they can choose to enter resrve through deploying into a secret, predetermined piece of terrain, can assault from resrmerve if the choose to do so in that way, and gain either +1 Str, Attack or Toughness (which counts for Overwatch) but not the same each turn, and have a 4+ save instead of 5+.

 Deadshot wrote:
Also, why not try spore mine clusters. They are depoyed before objectives and other units, so can be used to bunch up or spread out the enemy by area denial, and are AP Large Blasts just floating around enemy deployment zones, which for Tau isn't nixe, particualrly if they go Kroot, Pathfinder or Firewarrior heavy.


Also, Lictors may be a good unit to deal with Pathfinders. Drop in, take out a couple, then force them to waste a turn dealing with Lictors, where they are not Railrifling your models or Lazing up targets

Spore Mines are just horrible. If I place them, my opponent will just put a Riptide or a vehicle nearby, neither of which it will do any damage to. And why Lictors when you can take Ymgarls? Drop in, assault them, kill them, is better than shoot a few and hope they are distracted. 3 Lictors is 195 points... 5 ymgarls is 115.

Yah. Ignore the Lictor and Spore Mine talk. TL Devourer Carnifex spods are golden atm. Mawlocs have there moments. It's preference for Heavy Slots. Carnifexes, Trygons, or Mawlocs. Whatever you get, you should probably get 3 of the same. Biovores are an honorable mention, but way different playstyle then the other 3.

Like I said, Ymgarls are easy to avoid and deal with if your opponent knows how. Just deploy far enough away from area terrain. Also, 5 T4 W1 models are not going to make it one turn against the Tau unless you are assaulting a vehicle, in which case Lictors are better due to higher number of attacks, strength and Scything Talons, and can possibly damage in the shooting phase.

Ymgarls are not going to deal with massed Overwatch at all andcan be easily maneuvered to be ineffective during deployment and Lictors can deploy anywhere.

Spore Mines can hurt a Riptide and it means you can dictate where he deploys such things, as well as making him deploy his squishier stuff far enough away.

 Strat_N8 wrote:

 jy2 wrote:
There is a lot of downside to running Mawlocs and that is mainly if you face an army in a tournament that just doesn't care.

Just for the sake of elaboration, which tournament armies do truly not care? Off the top of my head, the only two that really spring to mind are the flying circus Daemons and Wraith + Scythe Necrons. Both have strong counter-assault elements and means to mitigate melee tie-up in ample supply which limits the Mawloc's main trick (perpetually hiding in combat), though it still has some utility in hunting objective-sitters/contesting points (it can just be packed in a corner somewhere out of sight until needed).

Allow me to elaborate.

When I talk about the effectiveness of certain units, I always look at it from the perspective of how well it can do against my armies. If it is effective versus them as well, then IMO it is a good TAC unit. My armies:

- Necrons. Don't care. You (referring to the Mawloc) only have wraiths initially as a target. My warriors will be in flyers until Turns 5 when you jump out for objectives.

- Tyranids. Don't really care as well. You kill some gribblies and maybe put 1W or so on an MC. Doesn't really phase me at all.

- Chaos Space Marines. You may hurt my oblits, but other than that, you'll mainly be hitting zombies. Whoop-di-do.

- Chaos Daemons. Grinders and FMC's don't care. Min-sized troops will be deepstriking. Heralds+horrors, well, horrors are cheap anyways. I can afford to lose a few.

- Orks. You kill some ork boys or maybe put a couple of wounds on my nob bikers. You could go after my lootas, but that is trading a 170-pt unit for about a 100-pt unit. Orks will survive. They also don't really care.

- Grey Knights. Currently, I am running Draigowing + henchmen (or perhaps necron allies). No skin off my teeth if you want to target a 12-pt henchmen unit, or you can go after my paladinstar but I guarantee you will lose the mawloc on my turn.

The mawloc is good against mostly the MEQ armies. However, against a lot of the Xenos armies, he is just not as effective (though I believe he can be effective against Tau).


Also, if you are familiar with the mawloc, there are ways to play against it to minimize its threat.

1. Spread out a little more.

2. Do not surround your unit such that when he shows up, there is nowhere for your unit to go (and thus be destroyed).

3. Place some of your guys on the upper levels of the ruins.

4. Reserve your more vulnerable units (i.e. troops). You'll probably already do this if you are running MSU troops without transports anyways.

5. Stay in your transports until you absolutely have to get off.

6. Just take it in the gut and then kill it on your turn.

7. Just laugh when he scatters off target, hitting nothing.

 Deadshot wrote:
Ymgarls are only deadly when the enemy is near area terrain. Likely they are, but if you come across an opponent who has Ymgarl experiance and avoids the area terrain, who worse, a player who covers the entire area terrain that could be a threat (and thus causing them to spawn in and be destroyed by being unable to deploy). Worse still is the Tau player who bunches up his infantry and doesn't care for your Ymgarls either way.

On the other hand, Lictors can appear anywhere you want and can strike anything. Sure, easily shot to bits compared to other CC creatures, but packing Rending, rerolls 1 to hit, Stealth and Flesh Hooks they become something to be feared if left unchallenged. They can quickly take down vehicles with lots of high strength Rending. And 1 pen is all it takes to stop a Vindicator or Leman Russ firing its Blast next turn.

All I'm saying, try them out in a casual setting against a semi competitive enemy, and see how it goes, then move up to competitive.

On the other hand Lictors have a critical weakness; Flamers. They ignore all their saves and get average wounds on them. And Tau suits in my experience love to pack flamers to kill assaulters through overwatch.

Ok, they have a weakness to flamers, just like most Nids. That's why you go after the vehicles which can't overwatch or models without flamers.