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Is there a good way to make a 'flying' nid force?  Flying Tyrant, a large base of flying warriors, Lots of flying rippers, and Zoathropes (which technically don't fly, but their floaty-ness allows them to fit aesthetically).  Any suggestions?  This is mostly a fun project, but I wanted to see what I could do to make it more competitive. 

First off, it is impossible to make an all flying force since there is no way to take flying units as a troops choice (flying Rippers become a fast attack choice like flying Warriors).

You can make a flying themed army that features several flying units but you'll have to fill in the rest of the army to compliment.

The thing you have to remember is that flying warriors are really expensive and very vulnerable to any kind of enemy fire. That means I'd emphasize taking supporting units that would be able to quickly close with the enemy and get into close combat on turn 2.

Since Raveners aren't an option (with all those spots taken up by either flying Warriors or Rippers), your best bet would be a combination of scuttling Stealers and Spinegaunts.

However, this type of army would really struggle against mechanized armies (especially skimmer-based mech armies) so you'd be foolish not to take some anti-vehicle fire in the form of at least 2 Gunfexes.

Finally, I'd take 3 Zoanthropes (Warp Blast/Synapse) to add some additonal anti-tank fire to the army and to provide synapse for Escalation missions where your warriors and Tyrant start off the board.

 

I do want to mention that scuttling Stealers are signifigantly better in all capacities (except for providing Synapse) than flying Warriors. They are essentially just as fast as the flying Warriors in the first turns of the game, they fight better, they're more resilient (with a 4+ save) and they cost signifigantly less points.

Overall, you'd be generally better off sticking with scuttling stealers than flying Warriors in almost every case.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

I hear you on the fragility of warriors (as compared to their point value). I thought that rippers stayed troops when flying... I don't have the codex yet, so this is all off the top of my head. I like the idea of using scuttling stealers however. I may have to get over my aesthetic concept for this army... obviously if you are correct about the rippers force org slot. Thanks again.

Yep, both flying Rippers and Warriors become Fast Attack choices. Sorry.

not only is it possible it is a reality

my wife wanted a flying nid army without having to buy a gazillian gargoyles

 

so here is how it breaks down-

HQ

winged tyrant-warp field, increased strength, initiative and weapon skill, with intiative 10 +1 strentgh bio-plasma, rending claws,  scything talons, miasma

troops

3 ripper swarms X2

fast attack

8 winged warriors X3 with intiative 10 +1 strentgh bio-plasma(hitting skimmers on 4+  with +1 strength oh yeah) increased initiative, increased weapon skill, increased strength, flesh hooks, rending claws and scything talons and the brood leader has a barbed strangler

elite

5 carapaced X1 leaping warriors outfitted as above

heavy support

3 zoanthropes with warp blast

 

the entire army is synapse except for the rippers who are fearless and expendable and almost everything flys except the rippers and leaping warriors. technically the throaps don't fly either but they do hover

sure flying warriors have a crapy save but you need to do 2 wounds to even take 1 down and if they get to you in CC it will be icky

 

it isn't quite done yet but man am i tired of painting warriors >_<

eehh.. no probs.  I can work it out some other way. 

Hey Mughi, sounds cool.  This was what I had in mind with the warriors.  I was thinking that with enough of them, getting them into CC where they can do the real damage would be possible.  Yakface has a great point about the Genestealers,  I will have to play around with some options in proxy to see what way to go. 

I like winged warriors, they are good backup for a winged tyrant. Talons, rending and +1I for 41pts.

I am not sure about leaping rippers, they are expensive and don't have much killing power. Leaping rippers are better IMHO.

Xenite: What are you planning modelwise?

Oh you know me, something complicated that will take a million years. Sometime after I get my IG for the tourny done, I will post something on the fugees forum about the project. When I get a unit of warriors finished, I will post images in the modeling section here.

Squat Tyrano Flyers?

Posted By Orlanth on 04/22/2007 1:47 PM
I like winged warriors, they are good backup for a winged tyrant. Talons, rending and +1I for 41pts.

I am not sure about leaping rippers, they are expensive and don't have much killing power. Leaping rippers are better IMHO.

Again, I want to point out that for 46 points (5 points more) you get two scuttling stealers with extended carapace.

For those 5 points you get a WS6 (as opposed to WS4), an Initiative of 6 (Instead of 5), totaled up you get an extra Attack (or two extra on the charge) a  4+ save (instead of 5+) a unit that covers more ground on the crucial first two turns of the game and a unit that starts on the board in Escalation.

Of course the Warriors also have a few positives: They still dole out their full Attacks in close combat even when they've suffered a wound (where as you lose a full Stealer with each wound suffered), they are immune to all morale/Ld, they move faster than the stealers in the later turns of the game and most importantly they provide fast Synapse.

 

All of the Stealers improved stats are really crucial in combat. The 4+ save alone is massive as even a single squad of bolters firing at the winged warriors will take out several models. The WS and I of 6 that stealers have is what makes them the bane of other elite combat units in the game like daemonettes.

So if you're looking to build an army around a unit that you need to actually do most of your damage for you, the stealers really are the way to go. The warriors can provide you synapse and can work as a back-up but you'll need something else to really do your damage.

 

Posted By yakface on 04/25/2007 12:03 AM

For those 5 points [....]  a unit that covers more ground on the crucial first two turns of the game and a unit that starts on the board in Escalation.

All of the Stealers improved stats are really crucial in combat. The 4+ save alone is massive as even a single squad of bolters firing at the winged warriors will take out several models. [...]

Whilst I will hardly disagree that stealers are a lot more efficient in combat than the winged warriors, there are couple of counter points to raise in the interest of fairness.

Moving faster in the first 2 turns. Whilst its true that a 6" scout move plus 2 moves and 2 fleets will average 1" more over 2 turns, there are couple of downers to that calculation.  Fleet is obviously random, you may get higher movement, you may also get lower. The guaranteed flying move is a lot easier to plan with as you aren't going to fail a charge or reach cover due to a bad fleet roll.  Also a scouting move directly forward 6" is of dubious use  - it happens before you know who goes first so unless there happens to be cover at just the right point 6" in front of your deployment, you are taking a chance putting yourself in the open and in range of that many more enemy guns.  Of course if there is cover in front of you then on your turn you just risked slowing down even more when it comes to going through it on your turn (or round it).

The save and bolters - 'will' lose several warrior models to a squad of bolters is a bit of an exageration, I'm assuming we are talking 10 bolter toting marines here.  They are most likely to kill 1, about a 35% chance of 2 , 5% of 3. Plus if we are talking in terms of 'models' lost then the stealers 50% save in such a situation sort of cancels out the 2W per warrior, so they lose the same number of models on average as the warriors, and of course in the face of anything else other than ap5 the warriors lose less models. 

My standard ten-man mobile marine squad (in DA or Chaos) is a vet/champ with Fist and pistol, a plasmagun, heavy weapon, and 7 guys with bolters. My chaos actually usually has the icon bearer carrying a BP & CCW instead of bolter. So that?s 15 or 14 bolt shots (4.99 or 4.66 wounds), 2 plas (1.12), and nothing from the heavy, for an average of 6.1 or 5.8 wounds on 5+ save warriors. That?s usually three models dead.