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So, for the last few weeks I have been finally been playing regularly with my bugs in a local campaign.  Given what I have and my lot of opponents(lots of Guard, Tau, and other Bugs, only one Necron and two Marines) this is the list I have been using.

Flyrant with wings/Adrenal I and W, Toxin Sacs, Flesh Hooks, Implant Attack, 2x Scything Talons

Walk-Rant with Venom Cannon, 1x Scything Talons, Toxin Sacs, Extended Carapace, Enhanced Senses, Adrenal I

4 Warriors with Enhanced Senses, Toxin Sacs, Extended Carapace, and 2x devourers

20 SpineGaunts

18 Hormagaunts

2x10 'Stealers with Extended Carapace

2xGunfex with Venom Cannon, barbed strangler, Enhanced Senses, and Extra Wound

The list comes to exactly 1500 points.

As far as performance goes, I have noticed some good points, and some extremely bad points

1.  The Flyrant, as badazz as he is supposed to be close combat, always flubs the charge(usually causing no casualties) and wastes time.  I am considering just making him the shooty version, despite the fact that I usually need him to kill other Monstrous Creatures.  Rate-C

2.  Walking Tyrant- His shooting is only good for knocking around speeders, and for him to get into close combat, someone has to stray too close(like Veiling Necron Lords).  He does provide an anchor for my little bugs, but I can't seem to get much damage out of him.  Rate-B 

3.  Warriors- I initially equipped them for CC, but since they cannot fleet anymore, this option is pointless.  When they get to shoot, however, they can cause serious damage to infantry with 16 Twin-Linked, Living ammo bolter shots.  Short range and my inability to roll armor saves means they usually get a couple of turns of shooting and are then vapourized all at once. Rate-B

4.  Spinegaunts-Against this particular field of opponents, 20 just doesn't last against all those gauss blasters and pulse rifles, even with cover.  However, they usually get to stick around and charge something and surprise me sometimes.  Cheap and relatively effective as a distraction and in anti-infatry work. Rate-A

5.  Stealers-Even with Extended Carapace and heavy use of cover, none of them live past turn 4, and are usually so depleted they have no impact in combat(one or two left out of twenty) by turn three.  One nasty and often repeated trick is for the Necron opponent to simply Veil his immortals into line of sight and blow whole units away at once.  At this point, they are 400 points of targets that I just cannot protect and never see combat.  Rate-D

6.  Hormagaunts-Similar to Spinegaunts, except much faster.  The long charge range is a huge plus, but at 18 they are too easy for my opponents to wax. They are fine, but I need more of them. Rate-B

7.  Gunfexes- A big disappointment.  I guess I shouldn't have expected much from Nid shooting, but they never kill anything but speeders and the occasional Monolith when I get a lucky glancing damage roll.  Otherwise, the lack of ap and accuracy that would make orks laugh(with my rolling at least) limit them to light vehicle killing and medium vehicle stunning only.  They are still rather durable, however, and usually last the game. Rate-C

 

    The Army:  All of my little critters are blasted off the board quickly, even using cover and hiding behind terrain pieced from as many guns as possible while advancing.  Necron Destroyers, Crisis suits and the like simply sit at max range and blast away with impunity, as my Venom Cannons are either tied up shooting at vehicles or bouncing off their armor save.  Most games end up with the Fantastic Four stomping on things and making a big mess, but my opponents have learned to basically shoot off my gaunts and stealers and then hide his units far away from what is left to preserve VP's.  I especially hate Gamma level missions.  Winning isn't impossible or even a discouraging prospect, but every game ending the same way with only my 4 TMC's left is getting boring and frustrating.  We are now moving to 1750 points games and I need to re-evaluate this set-up.

     So far, I have thought of two prospective routes.

1.  Hormagaunts get into combat fast and are relatively effective, especially against these shooty opponents.  Genestealers simply get Gaussed off the table, so I am considering using a several units of Hormagaunst( about 24 each) as my troops to overwhelm my opponents with targets, and dropping stealers altogether.

2.  Go full-on Godzilla.  My big bugs usually last the game intact with anything smaller long gone, and I when I win it was on their shoulders.  Why not just go with the Zilla list completely.  I would probably use Zoanthropes instead of a third Gunfex.  They are disappointing enough and Zoanthropes would give me the option to use the Scream Choir.

Well, what do you guys think? Am I correct in my analysis or are there gaping holes in my reasoning?  Any advice or general suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

it's not a bad army list, and maybe it just doesn't suit against your particular regular (Necron and Tau only?) opponents - natuarally they're staying on the other side of the board and shhoting you as much as possible, as they're not that great at HtH. Which leads to your obvious upgrade - fast troops which will get into HtH real fast and both stop the enemy shooting and also be ready to thern HtH the rest of the enemy to death. So yeah, some big swarms of fast hormies (with your Stealers scuttling along behind) would probably do well. Maybe some rippers (or even winged rippers, although they're expensive) as sacrifice units to soak up the enemy fire and occasionally get into HtH too.

Godzilla's a good list, but against your particular oppnents I suspect you'd just end up with 6 TMCs iat the end of the game (instead of your current 4) and feel just as frustrated.

I'd drop the Scything talons on the walking tyrant and give him Toxin sacs, a set of twin-linked devourers and a venom cannon. That makes his Venom cannon Str 8 and 6 devourer shots at Str. 5. He has more shooting and is better suited for that than close combat. I'd drop the warriors and juice up your Hormagaunt numbers, or even your stealer numbers. Use your TMC's as a wall to hide your stealers as you advance. Use your spine gaunts and hormagaunts to lock the opponent's units down so the stealers can make it to combat safely.

Capt K

 

Don't go full Godzilla, just cause that's what everyone else and their mom is doing. If your friends were jumping off a bridge would you do it?

 

1) Flying Tyrant. Going with the shooty version gives you more flexibility for sure (although he tends to cost more). If you equip him with Implant Attacks, Toxic Miasma, +1 Inititative and Acid Maw (besides the normal Enhanced Senses, Toxin Sacs and x2 TL Devourers, of course), between his massive shooting and the Implant Attacks he should be able to kill pretty much any enemy character in the game on the turn he charges. If you're going to put this many points into a unit you really need to give him Warp Field too.

 

2) As CaptKaruthers pointed out, your walking Tyrant should be turned into a gun-platform. Do not spend any points on upgrades beyond Toxin Sacs and Enhanced Senses. Instead spend the points on a Tyrant Guard (or two). Not only do the Tyrant Guard provide superior protection compared to any biomorph upgrade, but they also enhance the unit's CC ability should you actually need to fight in CC.

 

3) Warriors. Dump 'em. Take one Dakkafex to replace them. While you won't get as many shots as you do with the Warriors, the unit is generally more durable and its shooting can hurt a wider array of targets. In short, it is a better unit all around. If you do want to keep some Warriors around for extra Syanpse stick with the super cheap variety:  Rending Claws/Scything Talons and Extended Carapace (and that's it).

 

4) Consider a 2nd unit of Spinegaunts (or take a few more and split them into 2 units). Also if you give your Stealers Scuttlers (see below) you'll definitely want to give your Spinegaunts Scuttlers as well. This allows them to soak some fire from enemy units that fail target priority tests and to quickly engage enemy shooting units to prevent them from firing for a turn while the rest of your army advances and shoots.

 

5) For your stealers, consdier going the full shock route. That means taking another unit of stealers and giving them all Scuttlers (+3 points per model). That extra 6" move before the game means that Stealers can potentially charge on turn 1 and definitely on turn 2. This drastically reduces the amount of time your opponent has to blow them away and increases their overall potential. Of course you still need to pick and choose where you attack for them to do enough damage to be worth it, but that's where strategy actually comes into play.

If you don't want to buy more stealers (or put more points into your existing ones), still consider giving your Spinegaunts Scuttlers. You can use them to tie up enemy units for a turn to prevent them from firing at your Stealers while they close.

 

6) Hormagaunts are good, but suffer when Escalation is in effect. Keep the ones you have (and keep them cheap), but if you're going to get more gaunts stick with cheap-o Spinegaunts.

 

7) You may have had bad experiences with Gunfexes, but I think it has more to do with the armies you've faced. You'll need a Gunfex in certain situations and then you'll be glad you had them. Make sure you don't underestimate the importance of a solid unit that can hold objectives and table quarters consistently. Also, never forget that the Barbed Strangler is Strength 8 and causes pinning checks. That means any T4 creature is instant-killed by it (like standard Necrons), which can be awfully useful every now and then.

 

Other suggestions are: a trio of Zoanthropes to provide Synapse in Escalation missions, especially if you decide to dump the Warriors (as I think you should). Also, small broods of Raveners (1-2 models) can be a great way to get relatively cheap scoring units into the army and a way to add more speed into the army.

 

So in short I think you should:

 

A) Switch your flying Tyrant to a x2 TL Devourer version.

B) Take a TL Devourer on your Walking Tyrant along with the Venom Cannon and consider adding a Tyrant Guard or two to the unit.

C) Drop the Warriors and get at least one Dakkafex.

D) Get more Spinegaunts and give them all Scuttlers.

E) Consider getting more Stealers and giving them all Scuttlers.

F) Take 3 Zoanthropes with Warp Blast and Synapse.

G) Consider adding a couple of Raveners to the army (in units of one).

 

If you follow my advice you'll have a much shootier army (upgraded through: flying Tyrant, walking Tyrant, Dakkafex and Zoanthhropes) and a much faster army (Scuttling Spinegaunts and Stealers plus some Raveners to go along with the Hormagaunts).

This will make your army both deadlier at range and able to swarm your enemies earlier in the game, which means they'll take less fire, which means they're be more of them in combat, which means they'll do better in combat.

Overall, your army will be better.