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Hey there. I'm not a tournament player but i definitely don't play to loose. I usually run a Monsterous Creature (Nidzilla) list as i find it the most effective at crushing most opponents that don't know it's coming.
Just recently i wrote a list that is a little more friendly to use, but not much! It's definitely a bit more 'shop' friendly anyway. It at least makes 12 year old kids think they have a chance.... LoL!
I played a game last night against Black Templar's & am delighted to say that i creamed them. After that i played against Ork's. Unfortunately, the player concerned obviously knew what list i was running by the time we played & wrote a list to counter it. Lot's of Power Claws etc. (that's my way of saying i lost)
If your interested here is my list.... it's pretty fast & quite shooty. 1500 points.

HQ
Devil Tyrant (Same thing as a Dakka, but i don't like the word Dakka)
Guard x1
Enhanced Sense
Toxin Sac's
Extended Carapace
Twin Devourers x2

Broodlord
Extended Carapace
Feeder Tendrils
Flesh Hooks
Toxin Sac's
Retinue:-
Genestealer x6
Extended Carapace
Scythes
Flesh Hooks

Elites
Combat Warriors x5
Extended Carapace
Flesh Hooks
Toxin Sac's
Leaping
Adrenal (w/s)
Adrenal (I)
Rending
Scythes

Lictors x2

Troops
Genestealer x8
Extended Carapace
Flesh Hooks
Genestealers x8
Extended Carapace
Flesh Hooks

Heavy
Devilfex (Dokkafex)
Extended Carapace
Reinforced
Enhanced Sense
Twin Devourers x2

Sniperfex
Extended Carapace
Reinforced
Enhanced Sense
Venom Cannon
Barbed Strangler

There you go. For a total of 11 Kill points. It's a pretty tough Army I reckon. Plenty of high initiative fighting units & some seriously tough big guys.
It's probably not the best list for objective games as Genestealers can be shot to pieces pretty easy but it's fun to play.
Also, if you can get your Lictors to assault with the Genestealers that is some awesome carnage! Power armour? Pah!

The only amendments i would probably make to this list in retrospect is that i would probably drop the Combat Warriors & make the Heavy choice Devilfex an Elite.
Then add a Combatfex (stats to follow) in the Heavy slot. This would probably leave a few points spare. Use them where necessary. Another Guard on the Tyrant, more Carnifex upgrades, more troops..... Whatever really.

Combatfex
Scythes x2
Extended Carapace
Reinforced

Thanks for reading my waffle.
You can't escape the Hive Mind!

I'm the original poster's mate, and have been on the wrong end of his army's scything talons several times (I was also at the recent power-klawing he alluded to).

I thinks it's a pretty hard list, I consider the devourers the most dangerous part against my eldar because of their range, and I'd like to hear some opinions on whether combat carnifexes are considered as good. Maybe the sniperfex should switch the venom cannon for scything talons? It doesn't seem capable of hurting any vehicles except vypers, ork trukks etc.

Also, I think that for pure killing power the combat warriors are unnecessary - you don't need the synapse in this list and genestealers might be more cost-effective.

I-bounty-hunt-the-elderly.....? Hilarious!

A few large problems I see with this list...

A tyrant in a 1500 list is good IF you are using him with a horde or are throwing him up the field with wings. You don't have a gaunt to your name. In an objective mission, this list is made of fail. With three scoring units, two of which can be forced off your objective easily enough, you're pretty hurt.

Your lictors are pretty useless. The best thing they do IMO is rerolling when your genestealers outflank from reserve, and since none of them do, it's useless.

Your warriors are getting pulped with no cover saves from little gaunts in front of them, which isn't good at all. Plus, you have no good AT. The best AT is a zoanthrope from 18" or a godfex, and you have neither.

So yeah, just my two cents...

Also, I have always had problems with BT. With their preferred enemy oaths letting you reroll EVERYTHING, it's pretty mean. My best friend plays BT and he maxes his squads of twenty with HQs in his squads. He usually creams me when not playing objectives since he has half the KP I do.

My brother does the Nidzilla thing as well, so I started cyborking everything...including grots. This swamped him down enough that I could get my Power Klaws in their to mess him up. So I agree with Lorgar, get more gaunts to take objectives and deal with large-volume-of-hits-required scenarios.

Lorgar's_Blessed wrote:A few large problems I see with this list...

A tyrant in a 1500 list is good IF you are using him with a horde or are throwing him up the field with wings. You don't have a gaunt to your name. In an objective mission, this list is made of fail. With three scoring units, two of which can be forced off your objective easily enough, you're pretty hurt.

Your lictors are pretty useless. The best thing they do IMO is rerolling when your genestealers outflank from reserve, and since none of them do, it's useless.

Your warriors are getting pulped with no cover saves from little gaunts in front of them, which isn't good at all. Plus, you have no good AT. The best AT is a zoanthrope from 18" or a godfex, and you have neither.

So yeah, just my two cents...

Also, I have always had problems with BT. With their preferred enemy oaths letting you reroll EVERYTHING, it's pretty mean. My best friend plays BT and he maxes his squads of twenty with HQs in his squads. He usually creams me when not playing objectives since he has half the KP I do.

Oh really. If this list is made of fail then why do i win with it?
Granted the Warriors aren't the best but Lictors are one man, 80 point assassins. If one Lictor & a few Genestealers get into combat with pretty much anything, that thing is going to die, & as long as it kills something worth more than 80 points i am happy.
Objectives. I couldn't give a a s**t about holding objectives. I really don't see why Tyranids would want to do this anyway. My philosophy with Tyranids is KILL EVERYTHING, that's how i win with them. Plus, it's a lot more fun. If my enemy chooses to kill all my troops choices in the first two turns & i was bothered about holding an objective, then i would simply re-pay the favour in my turn. If i can't win, neither can he!
The walking Tyrant i run with Devourers is without a doubt the hardest Tyranid in the Army. It can take out an entire squad by shooting, has 6 wounds with just one guard, a 2+ save & can flatten anything that tries to fight it in C/C. I do like the winged Tyrant as well though, so at least we agree on one thing.
Zoanthropes... Kinda hit & miss. Godfex, yeah maybe. Quite expensive though.
Gaunts, why bother. No killing power, not too bad with shooting (if in large numbers) & they need synapse.
Even a brood of 32 gaunts can quite easily be bladestormed, flamed, rapidfired to pieces. So why bother. At least Stealers can tear almost anything apart.
Despite your condescending comments thanks for your input.

Klueless, chill out mate. He's having a go at your list, not you, and that is why you put it up here right?

I've got to support the lictors and dakka tyrant though, they're pretty killy and the lictors can give preferred enemy to more powerful units, appearing reliably all over the board (we play with a lot of terrain). I agree that the warriors are a little bit weak. Not downright bad, but not the greatest. How many gaunts could you fit in the list if you stripped the genestealers and monstrous creatures of some upgrades?

A few things I would amend here:

I would actually take out that Devil/Dakka Fex in place of a 2nd sniper fex. They may not be great at killing tanks, but they will at least keep them stunned long enough to get close and rip them to shreds in close combat. Also very good against vindicators and other similar tanks which all you have to do is knock off their main weapon and they are then generally useless.

Less is more for tyranids. Taking out the extended carapace and reinforced upgrades off the fexes would give you an extra 80 points for more warriors or genestealers. Cut enough points in other areas and you could put in another devilfex for 113 points (two devourers and enhanced senses).

A wall of even the cheapest gaunts would help save some of your other units from being cut down before they get into close combat. Throw in a 10-15 man squad of spinegaunts in front of the genestealers and warriors and it would give them a cover save from AP4 and better weaponry.

Lictors supporting other units via preffered enemy. YES. Good tactic.

Anyway, thats just my opinions at least. I prefer to run more cheaper units than a few upgraded units, but of course everyone has different preferences and play styles.

I have thought about the idea of a few more Dakka/Devil fex's. I do think they're quite good for their points. I'm not sure i can deal with loosing the Tyrant though. It's just such a killing monster people can't ignore it! Plus, even if it does get killed with AP weapons, it's gonna take most, if not all of the opponents fire power to knock it out.
Would probably drop the Warriors, which are heavily upgraded in replacement of another Devilfex. The points i saved would probably go towards a Combat fex & then maybe, just maybe, I'll think about some Gaunts. I would still rather run Stealers though. I can see how the meat shield tactic works well though.
I do like outflanking Stealers, but with the other upgrades i like to give them it makes them way too expensive....
Thanks for your input AXYL.

I like this list, always have done. It's very intimidating to play against. Devil Tyrant is an absolute troop mincing shooty beast and still scary enough in close combat. First name on the teamsheet for me at any rate.

I think the CC warriors have there place but probably not in this list. Where they've worked has been in the big swarm style armies with lots of Gaunts/Homogaunts. Combined with lots of hormogaunts and stealers racing across the board they're pretty scary.

How much are those 6 warriors worth? Could you swap them out for a decent sized unit of Gaunts with Without Number?

I know you're an advocate of winning by annihilation and not necessarily worrying about objectives, but it would be pretty annoying to wipe out a scoring unit, only to have it reappear at the other end of the board to camp on a home objective.

Either that or just take another unit of stealers. 16 scoring models doesn't really impose any pressure on your opponent to hold objectives, he can play a waiting game knowing he only has to hold one objective and kill 16 4+ save models.

Anyways, i think you've had enough success with this style of list to know it performs pretty solidly.

Hey dude. I totally agree with the comment about the Warriors. I didn't actually find them that useful in the last few games i played. They, at best, held up a Bike unit for a while whilst they slowly got chipped away. As they are upgraded to the max i will definitely be dropping them.
Your gonna laugh at this, the Warriors actually cost more than the Tyrant! Foolish, i know. The Warriors were tallied up at 225, the Tyrant with a guard was only 191!
Stupid really.
With the spare points i would consider adding more Stealers as I'm really not a fan of Gaunts, or possibly a 10 swarm brood of Rippers with Leaping. They would probably tie a unit up just as long as the Warriors did & would cost a fraction of the price!
If i was gonna run Gaunts, it would either be Hormogaunts, to tie people up while the stealers run up, or Gaunts with Fleshborers. In the past i have had surprising luck with their shooting! Any thoughts on Devil Gaunts? (Gaunts with Devourer's) I have heard they are quite useful when run in Broods of 16. x32 shot's, 18" range, re-rolls to wound? They would need the toxin sac's upgrade but would still be cheaper than a Hormogaunt. Would consider running some of these & leaving them on an objective in cover.
Thanks for your input.

Klueless wrote:I have thought about the idea of a few more Dakka/Devil fex's. I do think they're quite good for their points. I'm not sure i can deal with loosing the Tyrant though. It's just such a killing monster people can't ignore it! Plus, even if it does get killed with AP weapons, it's gonna take most, if not all of the opponents fire power to knock it out.
Would probably drop the Warriors, which are heavily upgraded in replacement of another Devilfex. The points i saved would probably go towards a Combat fex & then maybe, just maybe, I'll think about some Gaunts. I would still rather run Stealers though. I can see how the meat shield tactic works well though.
I do like outflanking Stealers, but with the other upgrades i like to give them it makes them way too expensive....
Thanks for your input AXYL.

So, to make a 'friendly' version of Nidzilla, you just replaced a couple monstrous creatures with a warrior squad. Now you will take out the warriors and put in Carnifexes, giving you... a Nidzilla list again. I don't follow the point of this whole exercise.

Just checked. They're actually the same price as a Hormogaunt. But at least they can shoot.
Gaunt 4
Devourer 4
Toxin Sac's 2
Total 10
Thoughts welcome.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Fearspect wrote:

Klueless wrote:I have thought about the idea of a few more Dakka/Devil fex's. I do think they're quite good for their points. I'm not sure i can deal with loosing the Tyrant though. It's just such a killing monster people can't ignore it! Plus, even if it does get killed with AP weapons, it's gonna take most, if not all of the opponents fire power to knock it out.
Would probably drop the Warriors, which are heavily upgraded in replacement of another Devilfex. The points i saved would probably go towards a Combat fex & then maybe, just maybe, I'll think about some Gaunts. I would still rather run Stealers though. I can see how the meat shield tactic works well though.
I do like outflanking Stealers, but with the other upgrades i like to give them it makes them way too expensive....
Thanks for your input AXYL.

So, to make a 'friendly' version of Nidzilla, you just replaced a couple monstrous creatures with a warrior squad. Now you will take out the warriors and put in Carnifexes, giving you... a Nidzilla list again. I don't follow the point of this whole exercise.

Point taken, however. If i was going to be a true bastard & run a MC list to the max. I'd drop the Broodlord with the Retinue, add my Winged Tyrant. Drop the Lictors & The Warriors & add three Devilfex's, then run a few squads of Outflanking Stealers & 3 Carnifex's as Heavys. I have already used that list MANY times. It's hilarious watching people try to take down so many monsters! Firing everything they have & at best taking down one monster & a few wounds. The idea of the list above was to make people think they have a fighting chance.
Get your point though. I did kinda contradict myself in the above comment.

I think that the 2+ saves on all the monstrous creatures are good, but maybe it would be better to just take more models? A devilfex, a close combat fex (2 scything talons) and a stranglefex (b. strangler and scything talons all come in at <115 points right? Try putting 5 of those in the list and then a tyrant and some genestealers/gaunts. the 2+ saves don't help against meltaguns or power fists, and the 3+ base save is still good protection against lesser weapons.

I'd definately consider dropping extd. carapace on shooty fexes.

By all means shoot at my 3+ save fex, by the time you kill it the rest of my stuff is in CC and my shooty fexes guns are useless anyway.

Excellent point derekbadger.