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I am wanting to see what people consider to be the more competitive lists you can make for the bugs.

I am starting the army for the purpose of winning tournaments, and the Tyranids are a little more complex to wrap your head around.

If you want a army to win tournaments with buy Orks, IG, or Chaos


Nids have been bumped to tier 2 since 5th ed released.


That being said there are 3 options:

Nidzilla - 2 tyrants 5 Carnifex, 3 zoanthropes, 1 unit of guants WoN, and a unit of genestealers outflanking

Genestealer shock attack - brood lord, genestealers, 3 zoanthropes. Everything outflanks except the zoans.

Warrior spam - up to 46 warriors all of them have +1Str and deathspitters and scything talons (one in every unit will has a TL Barbed strangler instead, to abuse the multiple wound rules, and for pinning), 3 zoanthropes , then outflanking genestealers and a squad of spineguants WoN fill the troops slot.


If you want a more exact list / strategy LMK

Clthomps wrote:If you want a army to win tournaments with buy Orks, IG, or Chaos


Nids have been bumped to tier 2 since 5th ed released.


That being said there are 3 options:

Nidzilla - 2 tyrants 5 Carnifex, 3 zoanthropes, 1 unit of guants WoN, and a unit of genestealers outflanking

Genestealer shock attack - brood lord, genestealers, 3 zoanthropes. Everything outflanks except the zoans.

Warrior spam - up to 46 warriors all of them have +1Str and deathspitters and scything talons (one in every unit will has a TL Barbed strangler instead, to abuse the multiple wound rules, and for pinning), 3 zoanthropes , then outflanking genestealers and a squad of spineguants WoN fill the troops slot.


If you want a more exact list / strategy LMK

I think the biggest reason got thrown to tier 2 was because most of their most competitive lists relied on a minimal number of troops, and people are still trying to play them that way. This doesn't work so well in 5th, considering now only troops are scoring. I think tyranids would work better if people stopped building 4th edition lists for them.

Aside from Genestealer spam, how can you do troop heavy 'nids? Gaunt ranges are pathetic and Hormagaunts are horrendously overpriced. With the new combat resolution rules, you take extra casualties after the fight. Plus, any player with a modicum of experience will know to shoot the synapse and watch the Gaunts flail about like Michael Jackson.

And, let's compare the swarmy 'nids to those major three armies. An ork boy, point for point, blows a six point Gaunt out of the water. Those gaunts are going to disappear right quick when they're being clustered by them thar Daemon Princes. Good luck catching the damn Eldar, let anlone actually dealing enough damage to get through the rerollable saves and what not.

I'm not saying that 'nids suck, but swarmy 'nids aren't exactly the best way to go.

RustyKnight wrote:Aside from Genestealer spam, how can you do troop heavy 'nids? Gaunt ranges are pathetic and Hormagaunts are horrendously overpriced. With the new combat resolution rules, you take extra casualties after the fight. Plus, any player with a modicum of experience will know to shoot the synapse and watch the Gaunts flail about like Michael Jackson.

And, let's compare the swarmy 'nids to those major three armies. An ork boy, point for point, blows a six point Gaunt out of the water. Those gaunts are going to disappear right quick when they're being clustered by them thar Daemon Princes. Good luck catching the damn Eldar, let anlone actually dealing enough damage to get through the rerollable saves and what not.

I'm not saying that 'nids suck, but swarmy 'nids aren't exactly the best way to go.

Well, in fifth, 2 out of 3 missions revolve around troops. When your troops suck, your army sucks...2 out of 3 times. That's the problem Tau has. At least a large part of it.

Genestealer spam is a way to go, but I think you're underestimating hormagaunts. Point for point an ork boy is probably the most efficient army in the game. But, if you get the charge off, which you should with fleet and a 12" charge, a slightly smaller squad of gaunts can easily take out 30 boys. Sure, you lose models when you lose combat but it is infinitely superior to being wiped out and you really shouldn't be charging into combats which you can't win. And I run my large h-gaunt squads backed up by two tyrants with devourers and three guard each. Not the easiest things in the world to kill, especially since you can run it behind your gaunts (usually a small squad of w/out #) and get 4+ cover. I slaughtered a double lash army last night.

Perhaps you're right, tyranids aren't the top of the tier anymore, but what I should say is that if you don't start taking scoring units into consideration you'll find your army on the bottom.

This is something I'm very curious about too because I really like the look and feel of the tyranid army. In my opinion genestealers are just too expensive in terms of points, since bolters ignore their armor save and they virtually cost the same as a space marine. You can easily get about or even 3 gaunts in for the prince of 1 too. Zoanthropes and monstrous creatures are a must-have, and in 1500 points I think it's the best way to spend your heavy support, HQ, and elite slots, can't offer much because I've never really played them but after a look at the codex that's what I think looks best at first glance :p

I saw a Tyranid player take 2nd or 3rd in a tournament that featured Nob Bikers and Fateweaver Blood Crusher spam.

Implant Attack on virtually everything crippled these armies.

Implant Attack is a no brainer for nids these days.

Tyranids definately got some nice bonuses and no-brainers in 5th:

Feeder tendrils for loads of rerolls
Outflanking 'stealers
Implant attacks for use against popular multi-wound allocation junk
Easier templates
Units providing cover saves for each other
Running TMCs
Shadow of the Warp still works nicely vs. psykers

If you are looking for something winny, just dip into that pool. Seems like a combo of 'stealers and combo CC/shooty TMCs seem to be most popular lately.

I wouldn't give up on big swarms of either gaunt flavor, though. Keep 'em fearless with some synapse nearby and they can stretch across multiple objectives like Orks.

- Blackbone

whitedragon wrote:Implant Attack is a no brainer for nids these days.

Here, here.

My tyrant/tyrant guard all with implant attack eat nob bikers.

Template Spam is a good way to go and I know a Nid player who did well with HtH nids at adepticon (he was 9th in battle but had low painting scores).

i think Blackbone hit it on the nose

@ zoot: don't underestimate properly equipped outflanking stealers. against any army with long range support chilling in their own deployment zone, these critters are nightmarish

But isn't it easy enough for your opponent to stay away from the sides when it comes to outflanking? :( I imagine Tau would have a lot of problems with outflanking genestealers because you could essentially box them in and they'd have to split fire, but would they be any good against CSM and SM?

If i understand your question Zoot, there is no doubt an MEQ player should be able to prepare and take down a handful of stealers but its incredibly disruptive and deadly.

this has been my experience anyway I'm sure others out there deal with them better than me

Unfortunately, like many army building tactics, outflanking 'stealers benefit from duplication. The more units you can hit them with at one time, the better it seems.

I find duplication kind of boring, but it is less bothersome in Tyranid lists than others like Chaos.

- Blackbone