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To save time, i'll leave out the normal biomorph upgrades and go straight to the weapons 0.o
Wondering which are the most common combo Tyranid player chooses and why.

Tyrant:
*2x scyth talons + warp blast ( decent melee and shooting without taking up ranged weapon)

*venom canon + death spitter ( with upgrades, its 3x str 8 / 1 str 7 blast ranged shooting )

*barb strangler + devourer ( 6x str5 , 1x st5 large blast , anti infantry? )

Tyranid warrior:
*devourer : 4x str 4 shots

*deathspitter: 1 str 6 blast

Gaunts:
Not sure math hammer of Fleshorer ( +1 str + reroll to wound ) vs spine fist ( twinlinked )

EliteFex:

*barb strangler + scyth talon ( hit or miss, str 8 large blast , some what ok in CC)

*bioplasma +2x scyth talon ( decent CC )

*TL deathspitter + TL devourer (4xstr 6, 1x str7 blast , enough to take some light vehicle maybe?)

*2 TL devourer + enhance sense ( 8 str6 shots )

Now one immediate concern is the warriors compared to dakka fex. For the same pointish,
we can get alot of deathspitter warriors , more wounds, immune to instant death etc etc)

How viable are the shooty Tyranid armies?

I havnt played current edition 40k, but doesnt close combat still block LOS for shooting?
so if i throw in a few CC units with blocking LOS in mind, doesnt that successfuly provide great protection?

Ok for the tyrant I would say the first (without the blast but with wings) or one that you missed...the dakkatyrant. I choose those two because in cc the flyrant is pretty much plain awesome, and the dakkatyrant because small blasts go better on warriors and VC and BS go better on fexes. He also pumps out more shots more accurately than a dakkafex fex.

For the warriors its deathspitters for me, although I have put together a couple of models armed with a twin -linked devourer. Expensive, but probably more useful against meqs.

For gaunts I always take the fleshborer no questions asked. The reason...its 1 pt more and it means they actually might kill something.

For the elite fexes I would say always go BS or dakka. BS works ok on medium vehicles and is great against hoards. On the other hand the dakkafex is better against light vehicles and whips down meqs.

Nids can make great shooty lists, though their largest flaw in such a list is its inability to deal with really heavy armour (AV14, 2+ saves) at range. I think its a question of balance. Nids arent bad in cc even if you take the shooty route, but they can be totally awesome in cc if you equip them for it.

Im not sure about the LOS question. I havent got my rulebook on me and by the time I get home Im pretty sure someone else will have answered the question.

CC does not block line of sight for shooting. All (almost all) shooting uses true line of sight. If you can see it you can shoot it.

So, yes, the Yellow Marine squad has LOS to shoot your Ranged Nids

there you go

lambadomy wrote:CC does not block line of sight for shooting. All (almost all) shooting uses true line of sight. If you can see it you can shoot it.

So, yes, the Yellow Marine squad has LOS to shoot your Ranged Nids

Oooh... thought it would be near impossible to see through the mangle CC bodies xD
there goes the idea :x

Well...it may physically be, but if your shooty nids are MCs then I doubt it. Only way to know is to go and lay some models out and look out of their eyes. But there is no rule in 5e that says CCs work differently for blocking LOS, so it's just TLOS

well that makes sense, though it does provide you with a cover save.

If you wanna make a shooty nid force then lots of (18) warriors w/ deathspitters is probably the way to go, 3 fexes with VCs and BS, 2 tyrants w/ devourers and lots of gaunts to shield your guys. If you wanna be really mean give your tyrants guard, that way they also get cover saves from the gaunts. If you have the points also put in an elite fex. Tyrants w/ guard will also give cover saves to your heavy fexes if deployed right.

Pretty much been said already.

Tyrant:
- CC: Winged + 2x Scything Talons
- Shooty: TL-Devourer

Warriors:
- CC: Scything Talons, Rending Claws, Leaping with toxin sacs and extended carapace if you have the points.
- Shooty: Blast spam with Deathspitters + Barbed Stranglers

Carnifexes:
- CC: 2x Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands (WS), Toxic Miasma is your most efficient CC monster (known as the ninjafex)
- CC: Crushing Claws, Scything Talons, as many biomorphs as you want (known as the godfex)
- Shooty: 2x Devourers, enhanced senses (basic dakkafex, all the craze back in 4th ed, still packs a punch)
- Shooty: Barbed Strangler, Scything Talons (new 5th ed variant)
- Shooty: Venom Cannon x2 or VC + BS, your gun-fex, packing the only S10 gun in the nid army, the only reliable way to stop (not destroy) heavy armour from range.

Gaunts:
- Spine fists: Cheap screens meant to die
- Fleshborers: Cheap screens that stand a chance to kill something.