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I really like the idea of Deathleaper and Lictors in general, so I made this list as a prototype for making his formation work. C+C requested, looking for good ways to synergize things.

++Deathleaper Assassin Brood++ (380)
-Deathleaper
-5x Lictor

++Combined Arms Detachment++
HQ (480)
-2x Hive Tyrant w/ wings, TLD, E-grubs

Elites (95)
-Venomthrope
-Zoanthrope

Troops (170)
-12x Hormagaunt
-Tyranid Warriors: 2x Deathspitter, 1 Barbed Strangler

Fast Attack (155)
-Hive Crone

Heavy Support (220)
-2x Biovore
-Mawloc

Total: 1500

Looks fairly good.

The Lictors offer two bits of synergy to your army - positional advantages to deep strike and two leadership penalties (a -1 for Paranoia and Ill Discipline and a -D3 for It's After Me!)

I would try and build your army around these.

You'll probably find a second Mawloc would do you more good than the Hive Crone - accurate Shai-Hulud! action can devastate a lot of armies.

As to the leadership penalty, the best way to take advantage of it is psykers. Between two Winged Tyrants and a Zoanthrope, you should hopefully get Psychic Scream at least once, but you could increase the potential for leadership-based shenanigans if you can find points for a Neurothrope upgrade and/or a Malaceptor.

Essentially, your four key tactics are

(1) hold some lictors in reserve - accurate deep strike reserves of expendable units make great objective snatchers in maelstrom games.

(2) scatter the other lictors around the board in concealed positions. Don't hesitate to go to ground to keep them alive - they're there for their area effects, not killing power.

(3) Mawloc-bomb key enemy units. How cavalier you are with them depends on if the enemy is within range of the lector but if you do it right, the ideal attack is to land in the midst of a valuable unit, kill loads of stuff but not everything, get a second attack, kill even more stuff but not everything, mishap, and roll "Delayed" - the most likely result - go back into reserve and do it again next turn!

(4) Hit enemy units with massive chained Ld penalties then throw the Tyranid Telepathy-esque attacks at them. If playing something like a Tzeench Daemons or Grey Knights army, you can potentially rack up a -4Ld penalty - with It's After Me 'knocking out' the Ld of an attached independent character - and be throwing 3D6 rolls against this.

What about this?

Death leaper assassins brood 380
- death leaper
- 5x 1 lictor

Flyrant 240

3x Mulcolids 45
20x hormagaunts 100 (use however 2 small squads one big one?)

Malanthrope 85
Zoanthrope w/ neurothrope 225

3x Mawlocs 420

This list would be good against infantry with light to medium armour the only unit here really capable of dealing with heavy armour would be the zoanthropes. The mawlocs would cause huge issues if the deep strike is a direct hit causing potentially 6 blasts which can then burrow next turn if they didn't mishap malanthrope gives shrouded and synapse to gaunts while moving up the zoans are good for warp lance and leach life from the neurothrope

 Adam_1994 wrote:
What about this?

Death leaper assassins brood 380
- death leaper
- 5x 1 lictor

Flyrant 240

3x Mulcolids 45
20x hormagaunts 100 (use however 2 small squads one big one?)

Malanthrope 85
Zoanthrope w/ neurothrope 225

3x Mawlocs 420

This list would be good against infantry with light to medium armour the only unit here really capable of dealing with heavy armour would be the zoanthropes. The mawlocs would cause huge issues if the deep strike is a direct hit causing potentially 6 blasts which can then burrow next turn if they didn't mishap malanthrope gives shrouded and synapse to gaunts while moving up the zoans are good for warp lance and leach life from the neurothrope

Well, the Tyrant can use, a Haywire template, if you swap one Mawloc for a Carnifex, that would add some extra can opening ability. Just trim two gaunts to pay the difference.

The flyrant in my list has already got the 10 points included for the template weapon it would be 230 without it.