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I am interested in making a bunch of spore pods and wanted a 1500 pt list. Ideally, everything the list either DS or can outflank.

HQ - tyrant w/wings, armored shell and 2 sets of devouers Leech and what other power? - 300
EL - Zoanthropes (2) in Spore pod w/barbed strangler - 175
TR - Warriors (4) w/ Rending Claws, ST and Toxic Sacs in Pod w/barbed strangler (other option would be for twin swords) - 215
TR - Genestealers (8) - 112
TR - Genestealers (8) - 112
TR - Hormogaunts (16) w.Toxic Sacs in Spore pod w/Barbed Strangler - 183
TR - Termagaunts (20) in spore pod w/barbed strangler - 155
HV - Carnifex 2 sets of devouers in pod w/barbed strangler - 245

Total 1497

Battle plan: Tyrant is for clearing transports, zoans for clearing out tougher armor. Warriors and Hormogaunts are the main assault and hopefully can stay close together. Stealers are for outflanking/objective taking - two squads so hopefully one makes it. Hormogaunts are for objective sitting. Carni is mainly for hitting tougher troops (my buddy likes to bring terminators) but is also a backup AT if the zoans die quick.

Ideally, with 5 pods on the board each dropping large pie plates of pinning, I can pin a unit each turn to give the nids a chance to close in on troops.

I know I am a little short on AT, but feel good about anti-transports with lots of str 6 shots.

Thoughts are welcome - more about tweeking the list than making massive changes.

Thanks in advance!

Zoans are main AT weapon, with tyrant and carnifex as back up (in assault)

You can't have Armoured Shell AND Wings on the Hive Tyrant for one. Have Paroxysm on the Tyrant for his 2nd power.

If you're having weapons on the spore pods Twin Linked Deathspitters are the far better choice. If you use those Barbed Stranglers they have a VERY easy chance of hitting your units that have just disembarked from the pod, Remember they have to shoot at the nearest enemy unit.

Genestealers in my opinion NEED Toxin Sacs, they get to re-roll wounds against space marines and get more Rending which makes them deadly.

I would personally not have Carnifexes and actually take a Trygon or Mawloc for less points.

-I play a Deepstriking/Outflanking Tyranid force and usually field about 3-6 Spores in a game & plenty of Genestealers.

A good Hive Tyrant variant in my opinion is one I use for killing characters. Hive Tyrant w/ TL Devourers, Lashwhip/Bonesword, Hive commander, Old Adversary, Implant Attack, (Acid Blood maybe), and Wings.

I love the DS list with Nids, its all up in your face and it needs to deliver as much pain as possible as soon as it comes down so alot of your options fall perfectly inline with this.

Heres some thoughts..

HQ - tyrant w/wings, armored shell and 2 sets of devouers Leech and what other power? - 300
(Take the power that gives a unit 1 WS/BS, probably the most useful with leech a close second. Armoured shell is cool but pssobly not needed)

EL - Zoanthropes (2) in Spore pod w/barbed strangler - 175
(Zoans in Pods = awesome. Pods have a BS of 2, how often do you think you are going to hit with that Strangler, if you think its woth the odds versus points then keep it, otherwise get rid).

TR - Warriors (4) w/ Rending Claws, ST and Toxic Sacs in Pod w/barbed strangler (other option would be for twin swords) - 215
(Do you really want to be dropping in a non shooty unit. It might die before it gets into CC...possibly. I personally feel there are better options for the DS list. Such as Devilgants 14 gants with devoureres = 42 shots. Watch your opponenet cry as he tries to make around 10 saves on average).

TR - Genestealers (8) - 112
TR - Genestealers (8) - 112
(You need Toxin Sacs on Stealers, That gives them a re-roll to wound mopst things and therefore more chances to get those auto rending wounds. Personally I wouldnt use Stealers unless I could afford Broodlords. BL's with 3 wounds and a better save give you muchy more survivability when it comes to wound allocation. The downside is they are expensive but so so worth it).

TR - Hormogaunts (16) w.Toxic Sacs in Spore pod w/Barbed Strangler - 183
(Again I would drop the weapon on the Pod and I wouldnt bother dropping in CC troops. These guys have fleet. If your going to use them take Hive commander on your Tyrant and Outflank with them instead. Thats up to an 18 inch range to get itno combat).

TR - Termagaunts (20) in spore pod w/barbed strangler - 155
(I'd lower the unit to like 14, drop the barb strangler and give these guys devourers. You might need to introduce some more synapse into your list though for this to be effective).

HV - Carnifex 2 sets of devouers in pod w/barbed strangler - 245
(Again I would suggest dropping the weapon from the pod but thats just my personal preference.)

In all, you don't seem to have much to deal with Heavy armour that can come down and deal with it straight away. Thtas something I really suggest looking at.

This is my Nid list for comparison.

HQ
HT with Wings + Hive commander TL devourers x2

ELITE
Doom + Spore

Zoans x2 + Spore

Zoans x2 + Spore

TROOPS
14 Termagants with Devoureres + Spore

14 Termagants with Devoureres + Spore

Tervigon

HEAVY
Trygon Prime

L0rdF1end wrote:
HQ - tyrant w/wings, armored shell and 2 sets of devouers Leech and what other power? - 300
(Take the power that gives a unit 1 WS/BS, probably the most useful with leech a close second. Armoured shell is cool but pssobly not needed)

IIRC You can't have Armoured Shell and Wings, it says you can choose One of the Following - Thorax Swarm, Armoured Shell, or Wings. Also, the 1 WS/BS is Paroxysm

thanks for the thoughts!

Here is my updated list:

HQ - tyrant w/wings, 2 sets of devouers Leech and Paroxysm and Hive commander - 285
EL - Zoanthropes (3) in Spore pod w/barbed strangler - 235
TR - Warriors (4) w/ Rending Claws, ST and Toxic Sacs in Pod w/barbed strangler - 195
TR - Genestealers (10) w/toxic sacs - 170
TR - Genestealers (10) - w/toxic sacs - 170
TR - Hormogaunts (20) w.Toxic Sacs - 160
TR - Termagaunts (20) in spore pod w/barbed strangler - 155
FA- 3 spore mines
HV - Carnifex 2 sets of devouers and frag spines in pod w/barbed strangler - 250

total 1495

The stealers and hormagaunts can all outflank, which will keep the enemy units more towards the middle of the board.
I deploy the spore mines in the middle of his deployment zone as area denial early in the game.
Zoans are AT
FEx and Tyrant are transport killers
Warriors and termeagaunts are objective holders (warriors can also be used to hit enemy objectives or provide synapse)

Still would advise against the Barbed Stranglers, save some points and use Twin-Linked Deathspitters.

-Also I hate Carnifexes

Tyrant is bang on, problem is with wings it needs a support unit like gargoyles to block LOS or else will get shot to pieces. What you could do is drop wings and take the tyrant on foot with a tyrant guard. Use cover well and you'll get cover saves.

You don't need a strangler on the pod. It has ripper tentacles as standard and the barbed strangler means needs to fire at the nearest enemy. I'd save points.

I don't see anything else wrong the the list tbh. Not as much deep striking as I thought but the outflanking on all troops is nice. Btw have you thought of termgants with devourers in a spore pod? 3 shots each and a unit of 20 while pricey puts out a lot of fire power.

I have a small unit of gargoyles I could run with the tyrant to give him cover - that is a good idea, but I thought they had to block at least 50% of the model because he is a MC - maybe they would - good thought.

My thought with all of the barbed strangelers is that they can cause pinning. I know they shoot at the closest target, but if I drop the zoanthrope pod or the carnifex pod near a transport, the cargo can take out the vehicle and the strangler has a shot at pinning the guys inside. It won't always work, but i think worth the extra 5 points over the twin linked spitter (which at str 5 and BS 2, even with the twin link is only going to cause maybe one wound)

I am going back and forth with dropping the hormogaunts and bringing two smaller units of termagaunts with devourers instead.

I like the fex because he forces you to deal with him right now. He'll do some damage the turn he comes in (hopefully) with 12 twin liked str 6 shots, but if he isn't taken out right away, he is going to cause some problems.

I'd like to run a 1500 pt list with 6+ pods, but other than the doom, I am not sure what else is worthwhile taking in the list.

Maybe more warriors?

Other thoughts are very welcome, especially about adding more pods!

They do need to block 50% and the gargoyles do exactly that. Head, arms, body & legs are counted tails and wings do not count to draw LOS to but do block LOS. Gargolyes cover all the body and arms and bit of the legs.

Give it a try on the strangler - theory is just but don't expect it to hit much even if twin-linked.

How do you make the Mystic spores?

I made mine by spraying foam into a box and having it harden, then cut them into squares & cut them down until they were the right size (about 3" or 3.5" diameter) and then you add wire for tentacles and paint.

I can post a picture (is there an easy way to do that on the forum?)

Here are two pics of my unfinished spore pods

I still need to add the tentacles - planning to use some little plastic snakes I ordered online - paint them to match

Also need to finish the bases.

The warrior is there for size comparison.

They are cones off of a magnolia tree ( i think) primed black, then sprayed with a brown textured paint. I highlighted some of the strings coming off in white. It is based on styrofoam.

Something you might consider trying is to use the 40 pts from armored shell plus another 20 scraped from somewhere else to give your flying tyrant a single tyrant guard. Yes, as long as the guard is alive you can only move 6", but having the infantry mixed w/ your monstrous creature allows you to screen your tyrant w/ gaunts. When the guard inevitably dies, you then have 12" jump pack movement and can be in the enemy's face largely unharmed. Try it.

If you give a winged tyrant a guard then you may as well go on foot and save the points. The guard is just a bullet shield and holds you back until it's dead; which may be some time. Get gargoyles as a cheaper and better synergy bullet shield instead.