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In the new rules, its been said that taking warrior over genestealers is a much better choice. I'm going to be doing comparisons.
In this the assumption is that the warrior have scything talons, rending claws and toxin sacs making the model - 35 points (replacing their devourers with rending claws is free!)
Also that the assumption the genestealer has scything talons, rending claws and toxin sacs making the model - 19 points each

So taking 2 stealers is 38 points, 3 points more than the warrior then you'll have 4 attacks 2 wounds and a 5+ save.
Whereas for 3 points less, you get 4 attacks 3 wounds a 4+ save. (Plus they have synapse!)

Personally the way it stacks up points wise, i totally think warrior is definately worth its point value now, you get 1 more wound then you would to get 2 stealers for the same points, and you get a 4+ save which means you actually get a save against bolters.
For pure aggresive tactics i always think the stealer will be there because you can get a brood lord and you do get more attacks.
But for surviveability and brood control i think warrior are definately going to be appearing in my lists in broods of 5+.



Post what you think, are stealers still much better, are warrior cool but you still wont use them? Please post away, No flames!

Your doing it wrong ...

Genestealers are an Alpha strike unit ether sitting 12"-18" from the enemy, forcing them to deal with them or out flanking to remove ranged threats

Warriors are a shooty CC unit. They have Synapse, shadow of the warp, a better save, more wounds ... oh and guns nothing like shooting some one before you charge them.

... personally i don't think you can compare them ... at the very least not with the weapons load out you gave them... Heck take a standard unit of warriors and slap on dual boneswords ... they'll rip through most things and anything with multi wounds better watch out, since they force a test on 3D6.

..also genestealers don't need upgrades ... if you've got the points left over then maybe a tooled out Broodlord other wise no need.

I actually like my stealers better now. Cheaper and can be taken in larger broods + Bl is better IMO.

I'd have 6 broods of them if it wasn't for wanting some Troop Warriors as well.

While warriors do get more wounds, there are a few issues.

First, warriors dont get fleet or move through cover or infiltrate/outflank. Thus, they are much slower, and nids need to apply pressure early and often.

Second, the bonus attack on the charge means that 2 stealers get 2 more attacks than a single warrior would.

Third, and this is the most important. Warriors enhanced survivability is actually a liability against s8 weapons. A s8 powerfist is 3 times stronger versus warriors than genestealers, and genestealers outnumber warriors 2 to 1. What squad DOESNT take powerfists/powerklaws/THSS termies/missile launchers/las cannons/meltas/ect ect ect.

So, if you are facing most modern forces that maximize s8+ weapons, then you are paying double the points for warriors for exactly zero extra durability, less close combat, and a slower model.

IMHO, warriors are best served with dual bone swords and toxin+adrenal as a small force to metagame specificly versus nob bikers and other tyranid armies in events where you will likely face such lists. The scariest model for a tyranid like a carnifex/trygon in the game is the dual bonesword toxin adrenal warrior. Just 1 50 point warrior can reliably expect to kill a carnifex on the charge, and has about a 50/50 to kill a LD10 trygon prime before it swings.

That said, swarmlord can also fulfil this roll just fine, and swarmlord adds more utility in my current nid army, so I use him.

Tri and DevianId are quite right.

The survivability of warriors can be increased by target saturation. The same weapons that ID warriors are the ones that are used to harm MCs, so a bit of clever placement can make it your opponents headache who he wants to hurt. And warriors can give cover saves to MCs.

The Broodlord was touched upon, but I'd like to add that depending on your opponent, the -1Ld effect from Aura of Despair can be really useful, and in best case applied from round 1. Combine with a devourer to force -2 morale checks. Combine with Shadow in the warp to make a typical psykers chance to succeed 37% instead of 50%. The Hypnotic gaze is also a useful IC hunter. A lot of utility is gained when you swap three stealers for one broodlord.

I like the Broodlord, but mostly as a wound allocation tool. AKA, lets say your brood of stealers is reduced to 5 models and a broodlord. It is almost IMPOSSIBLE for any unit to kill this unit with one round of shots. They would have to wound 18 times to put 3 wounds on the broodlord, who would need to fail all 3 saves. Thanks to the broodlord being pretty scary to most enemies in assault, they would need to expend an additional unit shooting at it to finish it off.

For me, however, this wound allocation tool is only really useful if facing enemies with lots and lots of shots--not armies with few really powerful shots like missile launchers and las cannons. In the current metagame, this means horde shoota orks, Horde IG, and the like are when the Broodlord would add the most survivability. And against these enemies, stealers are less effective than gants.

Basicly, if your metagaming against most tourney heavy antitank armies, more regular stealers will be better than a broodlord--more attacks, more chances to rend rear armor, more total wounds. If only the Broodlord had power weapon or 2d6 armor pen attacks standard would he be a 'powerfist or powerklaw' good upgrade character. Heck, even if he granted the squad a grenade psychic power he would be worth it. As it stands, his psychic powers dont interact well with the rest of the nid army, like the mentioned devourers, as they only work in the assault phase, AFTER you wanted the -1 LD to help out.