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Just got the latest Tyranid Codex and it is not clear if troops can take different weapons in the same troop unit/brood.

For example, if I have a unit of three Tyranid Warriors, can they each take different weapons from the list (excluding the situation where the rules state that 1 model may take a specific weapon)? So - one warrior can take a devourer, one warrior takes two sets of scything talons, and the third takes a venom cannon?

Same goes for Termagants - for example, if I have a brood of 12 models, can some be armed with the flesh borer and some armed with deathspitters or does the whole brood have to take the same weapon?

Thanks for any help with this issue.

gcrutch wrote:Just got the latest Tyranid Codex and it is not clear if troops can take different weapons in the same troop unit/brood.

For example, if I have a unit of three Tyranid Warriors, can they each take different weapons from the list (excluding the situation where the rules state that 1 model may take a specific weapon)? So - one warrior can take a devourer, one warrior takes two sets of scything talons, and the third takes a venom cannon?

Same goes for Termagants - for example, if I have a brood of 12 models, can some be armed with the flesh borer and some armed with deathspitters or does the whole brood have to take the same weapon?

Thanks for any help with this issue.

No, they cannot. All Warriors must take the same weapons, except the one who takes a "Heavy" weapon. Same for Termagants.

OH no - that means I have some re-modeling to do. :(

My Warriors are equipped from the 4th edition Tyranid Codex.

by the way - thank you for the answer.

gcrutch wrote:OH no - that means I have some re-modeling to do. :(

My Warriors are equipped from the 4th edition Tyranid Codex.

by the way - thank you for the answer.

Yeah, it sucks sadly. Your best bet is to just say they "counts as" one option and do them gradually, rather than rush them.

I asked the question a while back too mate, same I had 4th Ed. Nid warriors, All I did was chop the Deathspitter arms off and glue & paint some devourer ones on..

Sorted, I now field all 6 of them yay

I thought Termagants can be mixed?? I'll check...

Personally I'm relieved that I didn't go for the 'variety' that Warriors were capable of in the 4th edition Codex. Deathspitters and Scything Talons, though mainly it's an aesthetic choice because my first Tyranids were the 1st edition Wasp-Dragons, and having Scything Talons as the secondary limbs on all my Tyranids really ties the army together.

I think every single multiple-model unit in the codex says 'the entire brood may take...' at the top of it's listings. We can't get away with the would allocation minigame like ork nobs. Even on Carnifexes which is crap. If you take more than one you need to keep piling the wounds on one Carnifex exclusively until he dies then move on to the next victom and that makes regeneration much less useful than if you had a pack of carnies spreading the wounds around.

Termagants can take a strangleweb for every 10 termagants- but stranglewwebs are junk, so whatever.

Stranglewebs are pinning weapons, and units that have Gone to Ground don't require Assault Grenades to be assaulted without an Initiative penalty.

Stranglewebs are Strength 2 Template weapons that wound against strength, with no AP value. They're carried by Toughness 3 models with a 6+ armour save. Also, they cost as much as 2 termagants.

But sure, go crazy with those bad boys.

The old 'Nid codex was probably my favorite 40k codex of all time. Talk about ultimate customization. The new one while effective is nowhere near as fun.

Even if the stars align and you do manage to get an unsaved wound with the craptacular strangleweb, who fails leadership tests these days anymore? Not enough units in the game to make it worth spending points on a weapon just for that ability that's for damn certain.

Armies affected by pinning:

Imperial Guard (L7), Space Marines (Ld9), Space Wolves (Ld8), Blood Angels (Ld9), Chaos Space Marines (Ld10), Dark Eldar (Ld9), Eldar (Ld8), Necrons (Ld10), Tau (Ld8), Orks (Ld7).

Armies capable of ignoring pinning

Dark Angels, Chaos Space Marines, Tyranids, Chaos Daemons, Orks.

There's plenty of units in the game that are worth a relatively small chance of pinning, including Sternguard, Lootas, Assault Terminators, any Space Wolf unit, Imperial Guard Combined Squads, Ork Nobz, Tau Battlesuits, Kroot, Dire Avengers, Long Fangs, Dark Reapers, etc.

Quite aside from preventing the unit from shooting at your army, charging it, or moving away from your assault units, being pinned makes Assault Grenades un-necessary. The Lictor, the Carnifex, the Harpie, and the Deathleaper are the units that have Assault Grenades. You need stuff like Spore Mines, Biovores, Barbed Stranglers, Stranglethorn Cannons, and Stranglewebs to take up the slack.

Biovores are pinning too, have a much longer range and are more durable. They fire indirectly, and at a better Strength, and with better AP.

Stanglewebs are junk included to let neat old models be used, the same as Spike Rifles.

False dilemma. Pinning tests are taken if any wounds are scored by a pinning weapon. The more pinning weapons you have shooting, the more have the opportunity to wound and cause pinning tests. Units don't fail pinning tests because they get unlucky, they fail them because someone shot enough pinning weapons downrange. A unit of Termagants with three Stranglewebs has the potential to cause three pinning tests on a unit.

Find me some models that are Str 2 for a whopping 4+ to wound and with low enough leadership that it's worth even thinking about putting points from anywhere else in your army at all and we'll talk. Until then the Strangleweb is crap and pinning weapons are still crap on top of that.

SumYungGui wrote:Find me some models that are Str 2 for a whopping 4+ to wound and with low enough leadership that it's worth even thinking about putting points from anywhere else in your army at all and we'll talk. Until then the Strangleweb is crap and pinning weapons are still crap on top of that.

Grots moving up in the late game to snag multiple objectives.

SumYungGui:

If you could actually post facts and figures rather than simply smearing your own unsubstantiated and poorly articulated opinion across the thread, maybe complying with your request wouldn't be a waste of my time.

BRB, pg 110, 'to wound chart', Str 2.

Strangleweb costs double what the model carrying it costs.

Pinning weapons must cause unsaved wounds to even trigger a leadership test.

There, the same facts you've already been told laid out just for you without any opinion and substantiated with references from rule books. Looks a lot like what has already been said, but hey whatever. I do hope they are articulated well enough for your exacting standards though.

SumYungGui wrote:BRB, pg 110, 'to wound chart', Str 2.

Strangleweb costs double what the model carrying it costs.

Pinning weapons must cause unsaved wounds to even trigger a leadership test.

There, the same facts you've already been told laid out just for you without any opinion and substantiated with references from rule books. Looks a lot like what has already been said, but hey whatever. I do hope they are articulated well enough for your exacting standards though.

It's also a template weapon, meaning it ignores cover saves and has a significantly larger hit potential than a Devourer. I'm not saying it's a good weapon, only that it's far better than what you make it out to be.

Mahtamori wrote:I'm not saying it's a good weapon, only that it's far better than what you make it out to be.

And the fact that you can take three of them in a squad is kind of cool...

Mahtamori wrote:It's also a template weapon, meaning it ignores cover saves and has a significantly larger hit potential than a Devourer. I'm not saying it's a good weapon, only that it's far better than what you make it out to be.

Except it needs 6's to wound anything worth pinning.

ductvader wrote:And the fact that you can take three of them in a squad is kind of cool...

And for only 30 more points you could have bought 10 Termagants and a Tervigon!

Gwar! wrote:Except it needs 6's to wound anything worth pinning.

And they get an armour save. And then have to blow the pinning check.

And the T3, 6+ save Termagants with Stranglewebs have to survive to get within template range.

SumYungGui:

Actually, I do appreciate that you've taken the time to try and justify your opinion.

However, the fact that a pinning template weapon hits on 6 against T4 & T5 opponents isn't really an issue because, as mentioned, they're hit automatically and often in large numbers. As for being close enough to use it, 8" is even longer than the Termagant's 6" assault range, so it has range to spare. Causing unsaved wounds is not a problem, particularly if you have three of the weapons firing at once for a potential three pinning tests. Surely you've played with units that have multiple template weapons before.

Consider the chance of pinning a unit of Imperial Infantry armed solely with Lasguns, and then compare it to the chance of the firepower of two extra Termagants making a difference so that the squad fails a morale check and falls back. When you run the numbers you'll find that spending 30pts on three Stranglewebs is far more effective than an additional six Termagants.

Speaking of models with weapons that cost twice as much as themselves: Space Marines Lascannons come to mind, an equally useful weapon that makes up for a shortfall in the model that carries it.

Nurglitch wrote:Space Marines Lascannons come to mind, an equally useful weapon that makes up for a shortfall in the model that carries it.

Lascannon = strangleweb? Really? Most of the rest is sound, but that comparison seems to be. . .reaching.

Read it again, Kirsanth.

kirsanth wrote:

Nurglitch wrote:Space Marines Lascannons come to mind, an equally useful weapon that makes up for a shortfall in the model that carries it.

Lascannon = strangleweb? Really? Most of the rest is sound, but that comparison seems to be. . .reaching.

He is talking about points costs, although, to be fair, a Lascannon isn't 32 points.

Not to mention the Lascannon is (in the new codexes) the 2nd worst heavy weapon option for (Tactical) Marines.

I did. . .

I really miss how a lascannon on a space marine is comparable to a strangleweb on a gant.

The actual use is not comparable. Especially when refering to the utility (functionality?) it adds to the model.

Or maybe I missed the point.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

Gwar! wrote:Not to mention the Lascannon is (in the new codexes) the 2nd worst heavy weapon option for (Tactical) Marines.

I guess that works, if you are meaning it is simply a bad idea.

My bad.

Okay, I'll spell it out.

What can a Space Marine with a Bolter not be able to engage? Anything with AV11+, and anything beyond 24". A Melta Gun will do the first, but not the second. Beyond Melta range a Lascannon will be better than a Melta Gun against AV14. That 48" range is better for engaging enemy vehicles on the first turn, and considerably better than a Missile Launcher's S8. There's a reason why people run those Lascannon-based Razorbacks.

A Lascannon won't help a Space Marine overcome a lack of Assault Grenades, but that's okay because Space Marines automatically come with Assault Grenades. Conversely a Strangleweb will help a swarm of Termagants charge a unit in difficult terrain, and/or help other Tyranid units charge a unit in difficult terrain, because so many Tyranid units lack Assault Grenades.

I field Stranglewebs against Tau. They hate me for it.