Beware the Great Devourer!
From beyond the depths they come, united under the single never-ending purpose to wipe out all non-Scottish actors who have played James Bond. . .
Unit Photos
Winged Hive Tyrant
w/twin-linked Devourers
This Winged Hive Tyrant is a conversion using a Hive Tyrant's legs and tail combined with a heavily converted Carnifex torso and head along with heavily converted Dragon wings. The conversion was done on commission by Insaniak
.
You can read the entire blog detailing the construction and painting of this big beastie right HERE.
The model has rare earth magnets embedded in it which allows me to switch between x2 Sctyhing Talon arms and x2 twin-linked Devourers. This also gives me the ability to add or remove Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands and Implant Attack Biomorphs.
In 5th edition, this guy is a little pricey and vulnerable for my tastes, but I gots 'em, so I might as well use him! The way I typically run him now is:
- w/x2 twin-linked Devourers, Hive Commander, Wings, Paroxysm, Psychic Scream - 285 points.
Hive Commander gives me the +1 to my Reserve rolls which really helps if I decide to Deep Strike the Tyrant and/or outflank with the Genestealers. Paroxysm can great to hit a unit I plan to charge although I have to give up shooting one set of Devourers to do it. I almost never use Psychic Scream, but the other two powers (The Horror and Leech Essence) are even worse IMHO, so that's what I take.
I have so few models that are actually threats in this army that sometimes I pay the points for Regeneration even though this puts the Tyrant over 300 pts. Because in a small point game if I can even regenerate one wound, often this can be the back-breaker for my opponent's small army! Obviously as the army size grows, hopefully I will have other threats in the army that can take a bit of the pressure off of the Hive Tyrant.
Zoanthrope
The Zoanthrope adds a bit more Synapse and anti-tank punch to the army.
I'm definitely planning on adding 1-2 more Zoanthropes to the unit as one of my first priorities.
Tyranid Warriors
I have Warriors just because I like the way the models look. The Warriors standing on the rocks are a conversion, with their legs being repositioned (using a bit of greenstuff to fill the gaps) to make them look like they are about to 'leap' off the rock. In the last codex they had the 'leaping' upgrade. They also had the 'extended carapace' upgrade in the last codex, which is why I added that extra plate of armor to their abdomen.
When I do use them in a game I keep them as cheap as possible by taking only:
- w/Scything Talons, Rending Claws, Toxin Sacs (not modeled) - 35 points per model.
Genestealers
My stealers are from when I was running a 'stealer shock' army in 4th edition (with the 'scuttler' upgrade). Now, the only upgrade I (only sometimes) give them is:
- w/Toxin Sacs - making them 17 points per model (instead of 14).
Spinegaunts
The Spinegaunts are a hold-over from 4th edition (are we sensing a theme yet?), but are absolutely ridiculous in 5th edition. How in gods name the codex author could make Spinefists cost an extra point when they are a completely inferior weapon to the standard Fleshborer is beyond comprehension.
With that said, they currently run:
- w/Spinefist upgrade - 6 points per model.
I often play them as 'counts as' Fleshborers, just because Spinefists are utter crap.
Raveners
I used to run two Raveners as separate units in 4th edition, but you can't do that anymore (minimum squad size is now 3).
However, the introduction of the new plastics allowed me to add another model that doesn't look exactly the same, which was great. Yet again, these aren't really the strongest unit in 5th edition, but I run them as follows:
- w/Rending Claws - 35 points per model.
Meiotic Spores
Meiotic Spores are really a scare tactic as they usually freak the opponent out more than they actually cause damage, although there is always a game or two that helps to reinforce their fearsome reputation by nuking all of the opponent's best units.
With the publishing of Imperial Armor Apocalypse it is no longer legal to field Meiotic mines up to three as a single Force Organization Choice (it's one per FOC now) so unfortunately that means I'm usually not able to fit more than two into the army (as the Raveners take up the other Fast Attack slot).
Tyrannofex
This used to be a standard "Gunfex" pattern Carnifex that I described in my 4th edition Carnifex article.
Its no longer a valid weapon configuration in the current codex, so I tend to play it as a 'counts-as' Tyrannofex:
w/Rupture Cannon, Cluster Spines, Desiccator Larvae - 260 points.
It provides the much needed Anti-vehicle firepower while the stealers and Tyrant try to take care of the enemy infantry. Just as with the Hive Tyrant, I sometimes give him Regeneration because of the small army size and he's one the lynchpins. Once the army gets bigger, I'll undoubtedly stop using Regeneration.
What's Next?
This painting style takes so long to do that I've come to the conclusion that I just can't expect to get more than 1-2 units a year finished. With that realization in place I've had to accept that I can't build this army to take advantage of any codex specialties because by the time I finish, it won't be long until a new codex come along and changes all the optimizations up again.
Therefore, my goal with this army is simply to build units that I like the look of, and do my best to fit them into the strengths of whatever the current codex is.
My immediate goals for the army are:
- Convert the Gunfex to be a legal Carnifex carrying a Barbed Strangler and twin-linked Devourers.
- Possibly convert the Warriors to have either two Boneswords or a Bonesword & Lash Whip.
- Add 1-2 more Zoanthropes.
- Add 2-3 Hive Guard.
- Add 1-2 Venomthropes.
- Add a unit of 10 Termagaunts.
Basically, whenever I add a group of new models to the army, my plan is to force myself to paint up 10 Termagants along with it. That way I'll eventually get up to a respectable amount of painted Gants, without going insane.
Sample Army List
Here is my 1,200 point army list which uses nearly all the models I have painted. It isn't terribly effective (putting it nicely), but it is what it is!
It's actually a tiny bit over 1,200 points, but I'm usually playing in only friendly environments with this army, so I find people will easily agree to a 1,210 point game if I ask ahead of time nicely.
HQ
- Hive Tyrant w/x2 twin-linked Devourers, Hive Commander, Wings, Paroxysm, Psychic Scream - 285 points
Elites
Troops
- 3 x Tyranid Warriors w/ rending claws, scything talons, toxin sacs - 105 pts
- 8 x Genestealers w/toxin sacs - 136 points
- 8 x Genestealers w/toxin sacs - 136 points
- 10 x Termagants w/(counts as) Fleshborers - 50 points
Fast Attack
- 3 x Raveners w/rending claws - 105 points
- 1 x Meiotic spore - 35 points
- 1 x Meiotic spore - 35 points
Heavy Support
- Tyrannofex w/Rupture Cannon, Cluster Spines, Desiccator Larvae - 260 points
1,207 POINTS TOTAL
Comments and Discussion
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