Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hello everyone, I have been creeping around this forum for quite some time and just got around to making an account.
I have a "No Mercy~Meat Grinder" game against a Tyranid player coming up in which we both are custom tailering our armies to specifically beat the other. So i will be making my marine list just to beat nids, and he his nids list just to beat marines.
The scenario is a custom version of 3rd edition meatgrinder, where you deploy on table edges 18" apart and just play until one army is completely off the board (no turn limit). The board we will be playing on is about 4x4, for a 1500 pt game. We play with a good amount of terrain (not too much) but it will definately favor his armie's close quarters style. I am at a significant disadvantage as far as board size and terrain goes, these two factors are certain.
My question to you guys is: what can i take in my list that will completely crush his nids, and what kinds of tactics should i use during the game? (regarding deployment, manuevering, target priority, etc.)

He will be using (most likely):
1 CC Winged Tyrant
2 CC Carnifex (decked out, like 200 pts a pop, with 5 wounds, 7 T, and regen etc.)
1 Broodlord w/ full retinue (probably outflanking)
3 zoanthropes w/ warpblast
1 x 30 hormies
the rest of the points are termigants and spinegaunts.

Right now i am running an all comers/friendly-ish list like this:
Vulcan
5 TH/SS Termies in LR Redeemer
5 sterngaurd
2 MG/MM tac squads in rhinos
2 vindicators
1 whirlwind

My initial thoughts are:
Keep a counterassault squad (ie. TH/SS Termies) for when his MC's hit my lines.
Get Large Blasts and template weapons down to deal with the lil guys.
Keep the flanks mechanized for when the broodlord squad comes on.
Focus on taking out the winged tyrant first, as this is usually my biggest threat.

I have about 3800 pts of marines and all kinds of good stuff to switch out (including 1000 pts of Grey Knight allies) so i am completely open to all unit types.
Remember, this is not a friendly game as far as gameplay goes, (it is still very friendly in spirit!).
Any knowledge or wisdom you have to offer is much appreciated.

I've actually watched a game that was very very similar to this.

Marines one and had the exact same Heavy support. Whirlwind didn't really do that much, but the Vindicators were good. What they did was they drove around the Rhinos with the Tactical squads in it. They were Combat Squaded and the other half with a rocket launcher would stay in a building while the Rhinos drove around with the bolter half and shot at the Hormagaunts and Genestealers as they drove past. Rhinos had the extra storm bolter on them and we doing 8 str 4 ap 5 shots per turn. Vindicators drove around as well.

It was seize and control but the vehicles basically circled around the Tyranids shooting at them. A Carnifex started going around smashing all the tanks though, but only after a combat with Venerable Dreadnought; which had Drop Poded onto the Tyranid side on turn 1. It won that when the Venerable wanted to reroll an imobilized result and got a wrecked instead, leaving the Carnifex on one wound. When the Rhinos were destroyed the combat squad would get out and shoot at the nearest target. In this game also the Carnifex charged one space marine with a meltagun, they remained in combat for three turns. The Winged Tyrant however flew around shooting at combat squads (it had two twin linked devourers). The Winged tyrant actually seemed to be the most threatening thing against that marine army. Nearly everything else was stopped by the Vindicators or the drive by Rhino tactics. A combat squad acompanied by a captain (don't remember equipment sorry) got out of the second Rhino and ran for the objective. The game ended with the Tyranids holding no objectives and just out of range of contesting the marines objective. The SM captured the Tyranid objective.

Tyranid list (just got it from the Tyranid player now)
2 sets of won (8 each)
2 barbed strangler fex
2 warrior broods with deathspitters and barbed strangler (3 warriors each)
2 genestealer squads (11 each)
a dakka flyrant

From memory the SM army was
Captain
Venerable Dreadnought, normal with Drop Pod. Pod was normal
2 tactical squads, meltagun and Missle launcher. Rhino transport with extra storm bolter
2 Vindicator with storm bolter i think
Whirlwind

The Tyranids seemed to need to rely on cover as they approached CC. Also I've never seen a Vindicator go poorly against a Tyranid list. The Whirlwind wasn't so great as it would miss a bit, but that cover save ignoring blast looks fun.

I never really considered the drive by rhino tactic. My tac squads may do just that in the game, originally i was just going to stand and shoot, but perhaps moving amongst the gaunts is actually a good idea.
I pretty much always field two vindicators in every game i play, just by habit. They should be able to handle anything he throws at me, however i will have to turn them around to get at the flanking stealers.. They will definately have to be out ahead of my main army to get more than a single shooting phase off i should think.
I have a similar experience with whirlwinds, they are supposedly very good against nids (and look so on paper), however i never seem to kill much of anything with them because of the indirect fire scatter rule.

Also, try to keep your army in a bunch of large groups instead of splitting them up a lot.

I've versed this same Tyranid list that I posted before and altough it was seize and control I managed to kill everything.

The main part of what I used to attack them was a single Vindicator. On either side of it and just a bit to the front was a dreadnought (one standard one with heavy flamer and assault cannon). Behind the Dreadnoughts were a combat squaded tactical squad, just behind the Vindicator. They had 4 bolters and a flamer each. Then I just slowly moved it 6" a turn accross the field. Outflanking Genesteallers with a Broodlord (might just have been infiltrate I don't remember as it happened before the game I mentioned before) showed up and the enitre force turned and moved straight back to allow the Vindicator to get a claer shot. As there was nothing else to shoot at the Genestealers and Broodlord were first hit by a shot from the Vindicator wiping out about 4-5 of them. Then the assault cannon dreadnought shot at them with the cannon wiping out a couple more, followed by the other Dreadnought's Storm Bolter and Multi-Melta. There were about two Genestealers left and they were wiped out by the remaining 8 bolter shots. I managed to quickly regain the formation the following turn.

This game ended as a loss though because some outflanking Genestealers showed up near the objective and wiped out the sniper scout squad guarding it. Then continuing their luck took out a Terminator squad, then a command squad. The Captain killed a Carnifex that came charging over to the objective as well. Genestealers were removed from the objective, but we ran out of time and there was nothing of mine close enough to contest anything. Although two Space Marines with bolters had managed to make it just 2" away from contesting his objective and making it a draw. The Assault cannon Dreadnought was also with the two Space Marines. On the objective was the only remaining Tyranids, which was about 4-5 hormagaunts.

One of the reasons I might have lost was because I put too much into that formation and had to abandon it near the end of the game.

Something to be aware of- if the tyranid player puts without number on a single unit of gaunts you can't win.

Yeah that's how I lost the objective capturing game I just mentioned.

Highwind,

n0t_u has good advice with regarding mounted. Playing on a 4x4 at 1,500 does tend to favor the CC driven army, so stay in the Rhino. Worse case he charges the rhino, pops it, and out come a double tapping marines... with a flamer.

I don't know if you have these unit available, but I've been truly impressed with Land speaders with double heavy bolters - a new configuration in the new dex. A unit of 3 is fairly in expensive in points, but can kick out buckets of fire power. 18 S5 shots on the move.

Storm shield Term also rock, great blunting unit for the fast CC units -> his Tyrant.

OddJob. wrote:Something to be aware of- if the tyranid player puts without number on a single unit of gaunts you can't win.

Something to note on this note:

Forcing Tyranids to take the first turn negates this, or at least mitigates it fairly well.

In the game n0t_u mentioned I did go first (tyranid player), gaunts died turn two iirc and came back to sit on the objective, The game finished on turn 6 with his last squad just off the objective. My point is, making sure the Tyranid player gets the first turn will not discount the value of without number gaunts, in fact, its a much better Idea not to kill them sometimes if you can help it so they cant come back on the objective. CC Flyrants or even walking tyrants with guards can be a real issue if you rely on tanks too much a flyrant will pop your rhinos and other light tanks with ease, even a dakka flyrant can manage it.

lol yeh like today's game I lost. Killpoints was what again 14 to 2. Then again in objectives, just out of range of contesting your one to make it a draw. If only that guy hadn't convinced you to not hide your Genestealers from the Vindicator, like you were doing when he mentioned it, and instead make them get into CC with that Tactical Squad.

Big things eat your Rhinos, or peel it open to eat the marines inside eitherway driving at full speed everywhere seems to help a little bit.
That was also the first game the Red Dreadnought went crapily. Drop Pods next to the objective, shoots the stealers on the objective that turn, then the turn after before charging into CC geting hit once and wrecked in the building. One punch kill >_>

Im a chaos player,I thought it would be ok if i put my two cents in. I made this list that I have not used yet but will be planning on using though. I have a couple of assualt squads. But my idea was to go second in the game. and be more on the aggresive side one come with flamethrowers with havocs and a troop choice.I was thinking if was ok to go the attack because I dont like just waiting for the tyrnids to come and attack my squads. So what do think?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I play as chaos, and I was wondering if using more of a aggersive attack would be ok. Coming with transports and the infantry would constists of having flamethrowers. So tell me what you think. I would also have other squads as well.