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Hello, I am still a relatively new tyranid player, and I’ve tried using lictors before, but it just never works out, their T4 and can only have 3 in a unit always gets them killed, any suggestions on how I might actually use them for say… a lictor rush? Or are they hopelessly and completely not worth their points cost?

(Also, I've heard good and bad about the Deathleaper, any input is appreciated, thanks!)

Not really worth their pts cost.

That said; they are not a bad unit. They suffer from over-pricing, a gimped special rule, and severe FOC competition, but they are still very much a usable unit if you don't like the alternatives.

A lictor rush type army would only really be viable at 1250pts or less, as the amout of mech people casually bring is far less. This means you don't need hive guard.

For the actual army; go full-on psychological warfare. Genestealers, two squads of lictors, ymgarls, and maybe gargoyles will make a nice reserve army. Try using lictors to pop up behind tanks with their S6 flesh hooks and stun them; they may buy a turn of safety for other units.

All in all, Lictors not a great unit, but nowhere near unusable.

They're not awful in themselves, and a full-on psychological warfare army (as Gutrip suggests) would be rather cool.

Their biggest problem is all the cooler choices competing for the same unit slots :(

Clang hit the hammer on the head but cool is not the choise I would use.

It is very hard to get a good nid list withouth at least one or two squads of hive guards. This is simply that everything is in transports these days and you need to pop those transports. In this case your lictors would run out of cover, destroy a rhino in close combat, and get shot to death by the 10 to 5 marines inside.

Here is what I would do.

HQ - Tyrant, venom cannon, hive commander, 1 Tyrant Guard.
HQ - Prime with boneswords, regen

EL - 3 Lictors
EL - 3 Lictors
EL - 3 HIve Guard

TR - 18 Genestealers
TR - 24 Hormagants
TR - 10 Termagants
TR - Tervigon, catalyst, toxin, adrenal

HV - Mawloc,
HV - Tyrannofex with rupture cannon


The Tyrant will bring in the Lictors on a 3+ turn 2. You have 3 units to shoot at enemy transports before the Lictors arrive. I prefer to dump Lictors into Terrain and take advantage of their 3+ cover save in trees. The Stealers and Mawloc are designed to get the enemy to jump into the terrain where the Lictors can take advantage of them. People will want a cover save vs. the Mawloc and they will want to use the lack of defensive grenades from the Stealers to make them go last. This will be the incentives to have them go into terrain where the Lictors can get to them in relative safety.

Plus once the Lictors are established on the table, the Mawloc can deep strike off the Lictors and never scatter.

Hive guard, Tyrannofex and Tyrant can shoot at tranports to help out the Lictors. I through in a Prime to attach to the Hive Guard and make them more survivable. The big Hoppy unit is used as a cover screen for mostof your army. The Tervigon can be the objective grabber with it's babies and if you go first you can infiltrate the Stealers close to the enemy and then snake them back to the Tervigon for a 1st turn catalyst (feel no pain). Interestingly enough you could also choose to outflank with the Tervigon to present a back table objective grabber.

6 lictors seems like an aweful lot of points dumped on to them. There aren't that many DS units anyways

The OP is looking for way to use Lictors. I don't think he wants to go out and win the next ETC. The Lictor DS ability is a throw away ability. It is not part and parcel to the Lictors performance on the tabletop. It can be used with a Mawloc, but that's about it.

Remember Lictors are one of the few units in the Bug codex that comes with grenades. It can engage an enemy unit in cover and strike first. More often then not the preferred strategy against Bugs is to hide in terrain and go first when the bugs assault you.

I've been considering testing Lictors as well. I play against Eldar and Marines with Typhoon speeders all the time and I have a lot of difficulty getting my Hive Guard into Range.

With Lictors, I could drop into cover and try for some rear armor shots and then at least have some units in my opponents back field.

Here's a 2k'ish list I'm considering trying next time I play.

Hive Tyrant (1) -
---TL Devourer (2) -
---Wings (1) -
---Hive Commander (1) -
---Regeneration (1) -

Lictor Brood (3) -

Lictor Brood (3) -

Termagant Brood (10) -
--Mycetic Spore (1) -
---Cluster Spines (1) -

Termagant Brood (10)
--Mycetic Spore (1) -
---Cluster Spines (1) -

Tervigon (1)
---AG, TS, ST, Cluster Spines (1) -

Tervigon (1)
---AG, TS, ST, Cluster Spines (1) -

Ravener Brood (3)
---Rending Claws (3) -

Ravener Brood (3)
---Rending Claws (3) -

Tyrannofex (1)
---Rupture + Dessicator + Cluster (1) -

Tyrannofex (1)
---Rupture + Dessicator + Cluster (1) -

Pop a transport and then assault a unit in cover next turn-- they strike at initiative order.

I've had decent results the few games I ran a unit of lictors in a deepstrike oriented army. They actually are decent and if they were in FA or a bit cheaper I'd be much more inclinded to take them.

Everyone keys in on the difficulties of using phermone trail but that's just a last resort/insurance kind of thing. They got a laundry list of abilities and gear: Fleet, stealth, hit and run, S6 rending shooting and assault and no scatter DS are pretty nifty. And one of the only units not affected by assaulting through terrain? That's also very handy.

Pretty much. You need to use Lictors to eliminate the benefits of camping in difficult terrain, so that your broods can pile in. Fortunately they can charge from a flank or from the rear, leaving the front open to assault by your regular forces.

Also remember that they themselves do not Deep Strike. They are placed. They'll typically have Cv3+ and sometimes even Cv2+ if there's a bunker or fortified ruin around.

Two Lictors can have a similar effect to an Assault Cannon when they land, if your opponent let a tank get too close to cover.

I like fielding deathleaper, but only in a 2k game where I have other things to deal with tanks...

Besides that, lictors I have only ever fielded twice I believe.

They perform moderately well holding non-combat-effective units in CC, and attacking the rear armor of vehicles. They are not the greatest unit as far as CC goes, but they can be useful. The flesh hooks can be ok as well, provided you have to be in Charging range, but at least you have a small chance of inflicting a casualty...

Imo Lictors can only be used for disruption but they're quite good at that. They're hard to kill (2+ when to ground) and impossible to ignore. This gives the rest of your army the time to close in for the kill.

Problem with lictors if they compete for an elite slot. Make them FA and I might consider them, but would always take hive guard, zoanthropes, doom, veomthropes instead. Elites is a very competitive slot for tyranids unlike, say, IG.

Maybe proxy the models for something else if you own them already? Tyranid prime/warriors/ymgarl/maybe even raveners?

I played this list in a 3 person FFA against my friends (SM and CSM)

HQ - Parasite of Mortex
Troops - 10x Genestealers
- 10x Genestealers
-10x Genestealers
Elites - 2x Lictors

I don't have the list in front of me right now, but that is what I can remember. The parasite is by no means an amazing leader, but his instant death rending and 12" movement was nice. He didn't really shine until I started spawning rippers left and right. My opponents were understandable disturbed by my entire troop section outflanking. I was able to fleet of foot into CC within like 2 turns before a land speeder buzzed me and took out nearly a dozen stealers. I ran up and immobilized the speeder, wrecked it, and then ran about not really trying to seriously win. I was able to nearly kill a daemon prince with a brood of genestealers and survived in CC for like 3 turns thanks to terrible rolling on my friend's part. Eventually he deep struck in some chaos termies and I massacred them before they could charge me, spawning several rippers in the process. My lictors burst out of hiding and wasted some scouts then hunted down noise marines before being finished off by a captain.

I would like to stress that while this was by no means competetive, it was hilariously good fun to play. It felt like space hulk all over again, but with a ripper spawning harpy monster and lictors! My friends were absolutely terrified of my genestealers and so focused most of the game on systematically hunting me down. Once I threw winning out the window and started quoting Aliens it became on of my most amusing games to date.

Parasite isn't a great leader until you stick him with gargoyles and keep the power fists in base contact with a garg so they can't go deliver him to his gooey maker.

I am inspired though, lictor list! I will see what I can come up with today and post it up

I'm intrigued by Deathleaper and I'm going to try him in my next list along with some Lictors. If I drop him down behind a tank with Rear Armor 10, odds should have me getting a glance or a pen every other round. In the earlier rounds, I'll pick him back up via "Where'd he go". In later turns I'll consider leaving him on the board as the threat of instadeath is a bit lower.

--This should get me 4+ rounds of rear armor shots on a vehicle.
--Reduced LD for enemy psyker
--Objective contesting late in the game, especially on far objectives that would have been safe for my opponent if I didn't have him on the board.
--He might also allow me to tear up some squads in the back field, depending upon some other variables.

Here's the new list I'm considering:

Hive Tyrant (1) - Deep striking in, looking for rear of vehicle on 1st round in.
---TL Devourer (2) -
---Wings (1) -
---Hive Commander (1) -

Lictor Brood (3) - Arrive via Chamelionic Skin into some cover, look to cause havoc in the backfield.

Deathleaper (1) - As per above

Termagant Brood (10) - DS in via pod ontop of objectives
--Mycetic Spore (1) -
---Cluster Spines (1) -

Termagant Brood (10) - DS in via pod ontop of objectives
--Mycetic Spore (1) -
---Cluster Spines (1) -

Tervigon (2) - Possibly outflank one, depending on objectives, otherwise start on the board with Tyrannofexes.
---AG, TS, ST, Cluster Spines (2) -

Ravener Brood (4) - DS
---Rending Claws (4) -

Ravener Brood (4) - DS
---Rending Claws (4) -

Tyrannofex (2) - Start on board, bust up transports to slow enemy down.
---Rupture + Dessicator + Cluster (2) -

guvnah wrote:I'm intrigued by Deathleaper and I'm going to try him in my next list along with some Lictors. If I drop him down behind a tank with Rear Armor 10, odds should have me getting a glance or a pen every other round. In the earlier rounds, I'll pick him back up via "Where'd he go".

you /can/ pick him back up, but at the end of your movement phase, not your shooting, so if he shoots, he stays.

Mmmm, my mistake, tactic is a little riskier then and he'd need to be deployed into cover.

Cover + .5 nightfighting could give him reasonable survivability.

Lictors can be useful, but overall, I'd rather have other units fill the place of Elites.

This all changes in 1000 Point games, where, my lictor can munch the small squads.

If you want to use them and say "wow the real heroes of this game were my lictors" then play them in planetstrike. They can be placed anywhere on the board and then assault a unit and just need to survive so that the rest of your army can just deep strike in next to the lictors.

They can be placed anywhere on the board and then assault a unit and just need to survive so that the rest of your army can just deep strike in next to the lictors.

Are you sure about that? I though planetstrike rules for assaulting on arrival were for units with the deepstrike rule. Lictors do not have that rule...

I believe Winterman is right, pheromon trail doesent say you deep strike, and in adition it says specificaly "Lictors may not more or assault on the turn they arrive, although they can shoot (or run) normally."- pg 41 of the Tyranids Codex.

That's true. It sucks lictors don't actually deep strike the plan sounded good in my head. And yea broodlord I know they can't usually assault but planetstrike let's infantry with deep strike assault the turn thy come on.

Play Tau, one should be enough to take out all their infantry

saddly...I just loved Lictor though now they are not as good as they used to be. Dont bother with them. If you must then use them with care. theyr are very fragile. Last two games i played with the death leaper i think i would have been better off with another 10 genestealers or 6 ymgarl wandering the field.

I've had Tau Fire Warriors routinely kill a Lictor in close combat. A single Lictor sucks hard core compared to their glory days in 2nd ed. I need to test out running a small brood of them in my budding "attack from all sides" list.

Just one question.. whats with all the "An all out discussion on how to use the <Insert tyranid unit here>, and not get tabled in the process."?

Whats wrong with something like "Tyranids-Lictors: Tactics"

It's the internet, everything must be made to sound as serious and life or death as possible.

Lictors and the deathleaper where really hit hard.

They always start the game in reserves. That means that the best they can do is arrive on turn 2... maybe. Then, their special rules for boosting reserves and preventing scatter only apply the turn AFTER it comes in. That means that by turn 3, it will start helping at best.

But... when looking at a lictor/deathleaper... the pharamone trail is all people look at. The lcitor has some fairly decent CC stats, and it doesn't scatter when it arrives because it doesn't deepstrike.

On the few occasions I have used a lictor(well a deathleaper really) , I have found keeping it AWAY from the enemy is the best way to go. Your opponent will want that KP, and will divide one or 2 units off their ranks to chase after them (I am not just copying this from some website... it really works)

People forget that the lictor has stealth. Go to ground in area terrain for a 2+ cover save. The later it arrives, the BETTER. "what do you mean wisdom? Don't I want it out as soon as possible?" NO. The lictor/deathleaper serves 2 purposes. Coming in sooner, it is a distraction. It divides your opponents attention. Coming in later however, makes it a great objectives contester. Plague marine getting on your nerves? Put your deathleaper/lictor within 3" of the objective. Vuala. Contested. Now your opponent has one less objective than you.

deathleaper has WS9. WS4 has a hard time touching it and most other models are 50 50 in close combat. Ranged? lets roll for night fighting every time you fire at me and then IF you see me, I get my cover save.

Lictor... I barely knew her. =) but seriously... I am not sure what to do with these guys. Deathleaper. It is a nice little model to mess with your opponent with. Are either of these worth their points? that is for you to decide.