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I have not played 40 K in about 2 years, but picked up the 5th ed book. I have an old marine army, and LOTS of Nids. I would appreciate some advice on how to make a competitive list for 5th ed using the following models in my collection:

20 Hormagaunts
12 Termagaunts
54 Genestealers
2 broodlords
Forge world Hive tyrant with 2 sets of Scything talons
3 tyrant guard ( old metal ones)
2 lictors
10 ripper bases
1 Carnifex

I would like to do an army with little to no shooting, just close with and assault, eat, rinse wash repeat.

Any Nid players out there, your advice on what works and what doesnt would be appreciated, and I am not opposed to buying some new models if needs be

--Thanks!

Run a stealer shock army.

You can run the tyrant + friends as a super unit, toss in rippers with leaping...a super fex hiding behind the tyrant unit for cover saves, and if you have points left you can fit in some WON gaunts and/or lictors.

What is a "Stealer Shock" army?

I definitely want to use most if not all of my stealers, and at least one broodlord

Are lictors not any good?

Lictors are fun, but most people won't put them in a "competitive" list. The rending nerf has hurt them a bit in 5ed.

Definately worth it for FLGS lists, the fear factor is a bonus, assuming your opponent has bad memories of them from previous editions. They are still nice in lists that rely on scuttling units as you get your reserve re-rolls from the pheremone trails.

If you search this forum for "stealer shock" you'll probably find a bunch of good lists explaining how it works.

Well, given your models Stelek's advice is pretty accurate. You'll be using a Broodlord and a Tyrant as your HQ choices, with a healthy retinue for your Broodlord. As far as upgrades go, you'll want the Broodlord to have Feeder Tendrils at least, and his retinue with Acid Maw. Acid Maw comes out far ahead of Scything Talons, and Extended Carapace is a waste in 5th at all times.

Your melee tyrant does pretty well with a two-man guard retinue with Lashes. -2 attacks for people attacking you really puts a damper on them.

An example 1500 point list you could run with your models as is...

HQ:
Hive Tyrant - 2x Talons, +1I, +1WS, +1S, Toxic Miasma
2x Guard Retinue - Lash Whips
-218

Broodlord - Feeder Tendrils, +1S, Flesh Hooks
8x Genestealer Retinue - Acid Maw
-246

Elite:
2x Lictor
-160

Troops:
9x Genestealers - Feeder Tendrils
9x Genestealers - Feeder Tendrils
9x Genestealers - Feeder Tendrils
9x Genestealers - Feeder Tendrils
-612

5x Ripper Swarm - Leaping
5x Ripper Swarm - Leaping
-140

Heavy:
Carnifex - 2x Talons, +1WS, Scythe Tail, Toxic Miasma, Extended Carapace
-148

Total: 1499
_________________________________

To run this effectively, you'll want your wall of swarm bases lined in front of your Genestealers and leaping at things in combat. People won't want to shoot at them since they pose so little a threat, but having a 30-wound wall generally means that they can both tie up multiple units at once, but also survive the oncoming counter-attack from it. Just be careful not to leap too far away from your Genestealers, since they have a potential 24" threat range and Genestealers only have 18" (perfect fleets on both). It's even worse on a good ripper fleet roll and a bad Stealer roll, so just be careful. If you don't have your Stealers come in on the very next turn, they will all be wiped out during your assault phase, and they're a waste of points.

Lictors are fun and best ran in pairs. They can operate decently as a solo pair, but tend to die pretty quickly in this case. I personally use them just before my Broodlord and Retinue gets into assault, giving supporting overkill ability or enabling you to tie up two units that might both be sitting in the same cover.

Feeder Tendrils on Genestealers is practically a must because it's such a great upgrade for only one point. Acid Maw is a better upgrade per model, but its cost makes its effectiveness equal to Tendrils on more bodies, and more bodies means more wounds in the unit. An alternative to 36 Tendril Stealers is running 30 Scuttler Tendril Stealers (divided however you please, I'd probably go four squads of 7 and add 2 to the Retinue), and you'd be at 1487 points, 13 points to play around with.

For not having a single gun in the army and only two TMCs, most opponents would still be very scared of this list if played right. In an objective-based game, don't try to leave a pack of Genestealers sitting on one of your back objectives. 140-153 points is a ton for a unit to just sit there. Instead, send them out with the rest of the army to wipe your opponent off of their objectives.

Also, don't forget the Broodlord's Infiltrate allowed them to outflank just like the Scout/Scuttler Genestealers. Whether you take the scuttlers or not, that unit is a very nasty surprise for an opponent.

Cool. Great advice guys, thanks very much. I will try the list and see how it does for a few games.