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I am looking to start play WH40k, I have been reluctant up to this point, but I finally broke down and played a 500pt game with a friend of mine and enjoyed the game. I am sure that we barely touched the ins and outs of the game, but I enjoyed it just the same. Anyways, I digress.

I am looking to start a Tyranid army, and for now would like to get the BB, and learn to play from there. Mostly cause I am not looking to make a huge investment at first, with time I am sure I will put plenty into an army if I like it.

So, I am looking for advice as to different ways to set up units. Keep in mind at this point I would say that games are only going to be between 500 and 1000 points.

First unit I am mulling about is the termagaunt brood. S4 is average, so it is going to take 4+ to wound most models. This of course can be offset by equipping the Devourer, but the doubles the point cost of each model, on the plus side it extends my range 6" and triples my fire output. The math suggests that will only increase my damage output by 50%, so is the extra range with that points. If not then what would be the suggested build and why?

Next I would be looking at the Hormagaunts, toxin sacs and adrenal glands seem to be a toss. The armies I need to boost to wound I don't need initiative to beat, and the armies I need initiative to beat I don't need the toxin sacs to wound. I guess the push on the toxin sacs is a force a re-roll, but with low strength mean that only works on Eldar. Or do you just take both and call it a day?

With genestealers I run into a similar problem as the hormagaunts, it seems that both additions would be excellent, but for different situations. which one to take, or do you just take both?

And finally, how to setup HQ and synaptic units from the BB. I thought about going with a warrior prime, and 2 warrior broods (obviously I would need to buy a warrior box or 2 to make this work). Or does it make more sense to just do 2 warrior primes?

Either direction, I have to imagine regen on the prime is a must. After that what is a good weapon load out? Are the paired BS really as powerful as they look on paper?

Maybe ultimately someone could point me to a comprehensive source of information on what works with the Nids and why.

I would suggest heading to this thread and giving it a read..

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/319613.page

It's not "perfect" but it's got a lot of information and you can make your own decision based on opinion and things others have attempted.

How does BB stand for Battleforce?

Battalion box perhaps?

BB = Battlebox, sorry that maybe the Warmachine showing thru since that is what the start box is called for the armies in Warmachine and Hordes.

AspireToGlory wrote:How does BB stand for Battleforce?

At small games, I'd recommend two boxes of Tyranid Warriors and two boxes of Hormagaunts as a base for the army.

The two boxes of Warriors gives you a 5 man unit of Warriors, a nice synapse base in small games. And since you and your friend are both new playing small games, you won't need to worry about 18 missile launchers instagibbing your Warriors. The 6th Warrior, use it to make a Tyranid Prime. This will be your HQ choice, and is a really nice, customizable option. Kind of like a mini Hive Tyrant.

The Hormagaunts, run them naked or with one of the upgrades. Running both gets expensive, and you don't want a fragile 200+ point unit when you're starting. Toxin sacs seem to get better mileage.

As for expanding it, you'll want more troops, more synapse, some anti tank and some muscle. More troops, a unit of Termagants can be useful, but you could also go with a unit of Genestealers and outflank them for a surprise to your friend. Probably both - 20 Termagants will only run you 100 points.

Anti tank can be done a couple of ways, the most reliable are Hive Guard and Zoanthropes. Zoanthropes are my personal favorite - they have a delicious S10 lance psychic power, the best anti tank hit in the game. But its short ranged and requires a psychic test. They also give more synapse. Hive Guard don't have synapse, but have the more reliable anti tank, a gun that fires twice from behind walls with strength equivalent to a Space Marine missile launcher.

For muscle, you've got Heavy Support. Carnifexes, Trygons and Mawlocs. Mawlocs need to be supported - preferably by more Mawlocs, and aren't the easiest to use, so I'd suggest Carnifexes or Trygons. Trygons have more wounds, and are faster, Carnifexes have strength 9 so the wreck things in melee like nobodies business and are easier to get cover for. Trygons are the hotness right now, but I personally think Carnifexes are only a little overpriced and completely underestimated.

I'd suggest against a Tervigon, even though they're a great unit, if only for the fact that there's no official model, and you're only starting out. The last thing you want to do is get annoyed with the hobby because you need to do a difficult conversion.

mauler78 wrote:BB = Battlebox, sorry that maybe the Warmachine showing thru

Haha, I thought you must be coming from WHFB.

@ Loki

Thank for the insight to getting started. My friend is not new to the game in fact he has like 4 armies of various sizes and I am sure could bring lots of punishing pieces to the table. He does however understand the need for learning games, and to show me the game, not how to get my face punched in so I hate it and never want to play again.

sounds like I could start with a BF box and a warrior box and have something to play some low point games with for a few game nights and see where I want to expand from there.

Generally, in the new codex, Termagants are considered more competitive than hormagants. While this is mostly due to the Tervigon, if you eventually want to play higher points totals, you're probably going to need Termagants anyway.

Irdiumstern wrote:Generally, in the new codex, Termagants are considered more competitive than hormagants. While this is mostly due to the Tervigon, if you eventually want to play higher points totals, you're probably going to need Termagants anyway.

And LOTS of them. Usually one full unit (30 models) plus whatever is spawned during a game (mathematical average is like 21 per game I think?). Of course if you take another unit of minimum size that's ten more, then whatever else is spawned by the second Tervigon.....yeah.