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Ok I played this guy about a week ago at 1000 and 1500 pts and won (with my nids) no problem. However just played again last night and got thrashed at 2000 pts. At this size game he had so many heavy weapons it was extremely difficult to reach him in assault.

His list included 2 leman russ, 1 demolisher, 1 hellhound and 2 chimeras. Along with some infantry (3 bases each) with mortars, autocannons and 2 w/ lascannons. With this sort of firepower on the table I felt I was fighting an uphill battle from turn 1. I tried to compensate somewhat by bringing lots of hormagaunts to the table and they proved their worth. Regular gaunts died in droves as did my tyrants, fexes and warriors. My big guns proved pretty ineffectual (3 VCs and 4 BSs) and seemed to do no more than stop 1 or 2 tanks firing a turn.

Admittedly setup was a big plus for him, we had 3 objectives on the table, and with spearhead deployment my deployment zone was the only 1 without an objective in it, essentially forcing me to come to him.

I also admit I made a few mistakes through the game...only having a flyrant as my closest synapse for my hormies (sooooooo stupid) and a few other mishaps that could have been avoided if I knew the rules better.

Anyway enough of the rant. To my main point...How do regular opponents of IG overcome their massive amounts of firepower in larger games? I see that in smaller games its not so important because of their inaccuracy...generally the big stuff gets there in time to cause mayhem. But at larger points games its just ridiculously hard to overcome.........

How did you set up terrain?

Cover Saves should be helping you keep your squads a bit healthier as you advance and you should have some large terrain pieces to obscure your MCs.

Admittedly spearhead is the worst deployment for most swarm armies

Take more big bugs, they weather the firepower pretty easily and the tanks do nearly nothig to them. Then they get to his lines and munch everything.

With my gaurd I usually crush hoard nids but have a hell of a time with nidzilla.

DS 2x32 gargoyles, [if you have the models] that will send the IG into a panic

There was a lot of terrain in the centre but not so much around the edges (which is where the objectives were). Basically as I advanced into the open (and an objective) he would use his battle cannons to pummel me. If I stayed in cover he would use his mortars and hellhound to hurt my swarms.

I also find spearhead the worst deployment type. Too many units into such a small space.

I had 5 mcs, a winged tyrant who got downed in turn 1, a venom tyrant who did nothing all game (couldnt even make glancings against av12), an elite strangler fex, and 2 sniperfexes. My theory was that they would punish him from afar whilst my gaunts would close quickly with the cc flyrant and some warriors. Unfortunately the big guns of my army really seemed to have no effect. I knew I should have taken a couple of lictors...

I was talking to my friend today (he plays nids too, among other things) and he was saying Raveners are nasty against IG. Not sure how, I don't play nids nor pay attention to them.

And yes, from experience I can tell you that Spearhead is the worst deployment for hordes.

hmmm, I was just thinking about the same thing. After we finished my opponent told me that IG fear fast charges the most. SO next time I will be following a fast attack route. Also my hormies really shined in that game.

Passing leadership tests left, right and centre (for being out of synapse) and going on to massacre 2 heavy weapons teams, 1 ratling sniper squad as well as about 20 guardsmen. 1 guy really stood out though. After taking a volley of lasfire he stood alone, with no synapse. Passed his leadership test, charged a squad of 10 guardsmen. Killed 1. Guardsmen attacked back, 4 hits, 1 wound, I make my 6+ sv. He fails LD test, I catch him, wipe the squad out.

But anyway, my point is that I think next time Im gonna be using scuttling stealers, lictors, hormies and raveners. See how it works...

As a Guard player, I've got to admit I enjoy playing Tyranids more than new Orks or new Space Marines. It seems to be a more even fight, perhaps because the two codexes are from the same generation.

Keep in mind that when playing Guard, the first turn or 3 (particularly in Spearhead) are likely to be frustrating as you take severe casualties. But if you can get even 1-2 decent assault squads into melee, you've likely won the game. If you have any infantry with a base move of 12", those are really dangerous for Guard as they close the range very fast. Do Tyranids have any decent outflankers or infiltrators?

Vs the tanks, I'm no expert on what Tyranids have available... but remember most IG vehicles have a 10 rear armor, so are often easier to take down in assault than by shooting the front armor.

Do you have any scuttling genestealers? Two packs of outflanking genestealers should help you close the gap quickly.

Im planning on buying some raveners and I already have 40 stealers and 40 hormies. Is that enough?

Too many stealers, not enough hornies

well, I was only planning on using 24 stealers, but I have 40. Im a bit stuck with the gaunts till the end of the month. But oh well..........

the best thing imo is to deep strike a decent squad (2-3 lictors/4-6 raveners/a big squad of gargoyles) into their ranks to grab ur opponents attention, he will be so focussed on destroying the immediate danger in the middle of his army, that the onli shooting he will have reli is his tanks, which you can combat by using the available cover to ur advantage, so you shud have at least 1 turn of moving without taking enormous casualties.

wen ur moving ur fex's, try to keep them out of sight of the heavy weapons teams, so try to keep a building or a tall piece of cover inbetween them.

on another note, the hormagaunt that punched well above his weight when outside of synapse, i think he should get a prize, like a guardsman on his base, or a repaint to make him look slightly different to the rest!!!