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Back in late 2015, I participated in an Escalation league in an effort to get my Tyranid army painted up as well as get in some game time.

I learned two things - Tyranids are easy to paint and that the codex sucks.

So, at the end of the Escalation league, my 900 point force consisted of the following painted models (the force went through some unit swapping, so there are more models here than I used in the game at any one time):

20 hormagaunts
35 termagants
10 gargoyles
2 carnifex (with magnetized arms)
4 Zoanthropes (I only used 3 in the game)
3 ripper swarms
1 tervigon

Though I didn't continue playing in a league after that, I did continue to paint my remaining hordes (I have tyranid minis all the way back to the 1st space hulk game).

I chose the Behemoth paint scheme only because I had some older tyranid models (my space crusade tyranid warriors and a half-painted carnifex) already painted that way. I was going to go with Leviathan (I had bought some hormagaunts already painted up in that scheme), but initially I hated it. The scheme did eventually grow on me, however.

As of this moment, I have the following:

60 hormagaunts (12 bought painted in Leviathan colors, 12 bought painted in Behemoth colors)
46 termagants
10 gargoyles
3 ripper swarms (plus a bunch I haven't based)
8 spore mines
2 pyrovores/biovores
27 genestealers
1 genestealer patriarch (metal)
3 carnifex (1 bought painted)
6 venomthrope (w/ 3 leftover parts to be built into full models)
5 neuothrope
1 hive lord
1 tervigon
1 mawloc (bought painted, needs repair)
1 trygon (bought painted)
1 tyrannocite
1 hauraxpex
6 raveners
3 hive guard
12 Space Crusade Tyranid warriors
9 modern Tyranid warriors
4 lictors

Down the line, I'm hoping to pick up another Tervigon, a Tyrannofex and a harpy/crone. Contemplating picking up a flying hive tyrant at some point.

I'll be adding some individual shots, but these are some pictures I took while getting a handle on what I have and still needed painted:

The horde as of January:



Shot of the right side:




Shot of the left side:




Genestealers (ironically, with terminators in thw works behind them....)




"Big Momma" - my Escalation HQ unit