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I'm a new Tyranid player, and I've done some research and watched a lot of battle reports to try and come up with a successful way to play a troop heavy Tyranid army. I did play this list today and it performed surprisingly well. Though my opponent and I are both quite green in terms of experience with the game and lots of mistakes are made by both parties I'm certain.

I accidentally deepstriked my gargoyles and rippers out of synapse and close to a flamer, so my rippers got smacked with 10 wounds instantly :( . Anyway here's my basic list, I've tried to tailor it to at-least have something of an answer to most of the armies i could come up against. Though at the moment I've only got one regular opponent and he plays DA. I don't wish to build a SM murdering list though I want to have a general list moreover, I want to make sure it includes Hormagaunts in some way, because I love the models even though they're not particularly competitive.

I do have a lot more to finish building, (I purchased a swarm box). So when it is all said an done I will have access to 40 Hormagaunts and 40 Termagaunts, which i intend to do a 20/20 split of fleshborer and devourers, and a 20/20 split of Adrenal Glands/Vanilla hormagaunts. Which I'll want to incorporate of course.


HQ
Tervigon <295>
#Crushing Claws, Cluster Spines, Regeneration, Shreddershard Beetles, Norn Crown

Elite
Venomthrope <45> Squad of 1

Venomthrope <45> Squad of 1

Zoanthrope <50> Squad of 1

Heavy Support
Carnifex <170> Squad of 1
#Crushing Claws, Stranglethorn Cannon, Bio-plasma

Fast Attack
Gargoyle Brood <60> Squad of 10
#Deep Strike

Troops
Termagaunt Brood <65> Squad of 10
#Fleshborers (4), Devourers (5), Strangleweb (1)

Termagaunt Brood <84> Squad of 16
#Fleshborers (11), Devourers (5)

Ripper Swarm Brood <95> Squad of 5
#Spinefists, Deep Strike

Hormagaunt Brood <126> Squad of 18
#Adrenal Glands

Tyranid Warrior Brood <95> Squad of 6
#Deathspitter (5), Scything Talons (6), Barbed Strangler

I'm not a big fan of AG on gaunts. They already have Fleet, and if you really want to take an upgrade, they seem to get way more out of poison.

With all these gribblies, there's no reason to not take Endless Swarm. Get those gribs back on a 4+!

I am a fan of gribblies myself. I agree that looking at Formations is a very good idea.

To add more "power" look at adding a Tyrant, then you can turn the Tervigon into a Troops, and Outflank it with Hive Commander.

Adding a Carnifex or two will give you more answers for heavy armor, and more support for the Gaunts. A basic "meta rule" for Tyranids is "Avoid upgrades, buy more figures instead" . I would prefer to put more Hormies on the table, rather than boost the ones I have.

For larger games a second Tyrant is strongly recommended.

The current agreement about builds is that Brain Leeches Rawk! So most folks build a Carnifex as a "Dakkafex": Two sets of twin linked Devourers: Brain Leeches 12 S6 shots twin linked for 150 points.

The same for Tyrants, "Dakka'rant" Twin Brain Leeches, Thorax hive (Electro grubs) for 240, Hive Commander, and Old Adversary are popular add ins.

Good luck! And welcome to the Hive Mind!

pinecone77 wrote:
Avoid upgrades, buy more figures instead" .

Boys over toys!

I agree with pine on everything else. TLDWBLW (Twin Linked Devourers with Brain Leech Worms) are extremely strong. The problem becomes: if you really want a troop heavy list, Heavies and HQs that use TLDWBLW are quite expensive, so the amount of troops you can take is pretty low. Honestly, though, Tyranid troops are pretty weak. Gargoyles are only slightly more expensive than Gaunts and are WAY more useful and mobile.

The "Endless Swarm" Formation looks something like:

Warrior Brood
Termagant Brood, x3
Hormagaunt Brood, x3

any Brood of gaunts (Horma, or Terma) can re-spawn 4+ with the same upgrades etc... because of this upgrades make a little more sense, so adding Glands and Devourers can be worth while, if you have the points.

It is a little light on Synapse, so you'll want to add plenty in your base "CAD". (I like using two Broods of Warriors myself) If you have a Trygon or two they can work well with the Swarm because the re-spawns can Tunnel Assault instead of having to walk.

Bare Bones Endless Swarm: (Example)

HQ: Tervigon, Thorax hive: Electro 205

Troops: Warrior Brood, x3 Cannon 100
Troops: as above 100

Formation: Endless Swarm: 700
Termagant Brood, x10 +5 Devourers 80, x3 240
Hormagant Brood, x15 Toxic 120, x3 360
Warrior Brood, x3 Cannon 100

700+ 405= 1105 plenty of room for say Venothrope,Zoanthrope, Carnifexen, a Trygon etc....

This will be a lot more powerfull with Winged Tyrants

Thanks for all the replies fellow Hive Minds.

My ideology with AG on the Hormagaunts was so that I could if needed Glance vehicle rear armor, because it gives em' 4 strength on the charge when otherwise they'd be useless against vehicles.

I do think the idea of the endless swarm formation is very keen, especially if I staggered the upgrades as to increase my odds of getting those points again. (Give one squad AG, one TS, etc)

Thanks for the feedback, currently just waiting for some spare money to collect up again so I can go get more models.. Curse you GW


Also, are Warriors unable to be attached to the squads? What are the tyranid options for characters that could be viable as melee additions to the squads. I think the Prime is the only one that can be right?

Currently the "best" answer for Nids is Haywire, as far as Vehicles go. A Thorax hive with Electro grubs is 10 points for a S5 Template that has Haywire. It is so dang good that you need to justify not taking it.

The second best is Carnifexen S9 is a heck of a can opener, and they get D3 Hammer of wrath. After that it gets real silent...

Zoeys are a good source of durable Synapse, and come with Warp Lance/ Blast, and any Big Bug can smash...

I highly recommend building up a living artillery node. 1 exocrine, 3 biovoee, and a warrior brood. The exocrine and biovore have been returned their points over and over again every game I play. Living artillery helps cover a lot of the nids weak points (ap2 shooting and longer range shooting.)

Not the most knowledgeable about Tyranids but this seems like a solid list without any glaring weaknesses.

 Alaxandir wrote:
Thanks for all the replies fellow Hive Minds.

My ideology with AG on the Hormagaunts was so that I could if needed Glance vehicle rear armor, because it gives em' 4 strength on the charge when otherwise they'd be useless against vehicles.

I do think the idea of the endless swarm formation is very keen, especially if I staggered the upgrades as to increase my odds of getting those points again. (Give one squad AG, one TS, etc)

Thanks for the feedback, currently just waiting for some spare money to collect up again so I can go get more models.. Curse you GW


Also, are Warriors unable to be attached to the squads? What are the tyranid options for characters that could be viable as melee additions to the squads. I think the Prime is the only one that can be right?

Many many versions ago Warrior went into Broods like sergeants, but not anymore. Tyranids are not nearly the CC wave they used to be. CC is usually in the form of a Big Bug, or a medium to large bug (Lictors, and Tyrant Guard) Shrikes are about the best assault bugs (Winged Warriors) there are also Ravagers, but they need Synapse, and they are lightning fast, so the often outrun their Synapse. So...use Shrikes, or Just use Shrikes...

You can "pod" in a CC threat, but that is normally a Big Bug, like a Dimecteron, or a Carnifex.