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My brother always field that darn Swarm Lord or a Hive Tyrant of similar load out, some times with Tyrant Guard but not all the time, how do you dispose of these dam things quickly, i know that Plague Marines (I play Chaos Space Marines) are great at holding it up in close combat they last till the late turns of the game, but barely hurt it ever. i have tried Typhus because he wounds on a 4+ and has a force weapon but he get instant kill by it before he can attack. I charged it Kharn on his last wound and he took 2 wounds off before he died. I have killed them before but it takes so many turns.

I was going to try an approach of a squad or two of chosen with 5 plasma guns and shoot it to bits before combat because it only gets its 4++ in close combat. I tried a predator with a las cannon on top and heavy bolters on the side and a havoc launcher, but that was more anti-gaunt than anti- MC . i have also tried two squads of Havoc's with auto cannons and tried forcing massed armor saves but the tyrant guard stopped that. I know that Havoc's with las cannons will deal with it but that's to many points to waste on one thing.

What do you guys have to say about killing a swarm Lord, what has work effectively for you.

I've only ever managed it once, and it took 3 Wraithlords and an Avatar charging it to stop it.

Your best option would be to shoot it, honestly. There's very little in any codex, never mind Chaos Space Marines, that can take on the Swarmlord in a head to head fight.

Obiliterators would work well I think; use the Lascannons on him until you can get into range to double-tap him with TL-Plasma; the Swarmlord has no invulnerable save until he gets into close combat.

Alternatively, Abaddon can do it. I'd say he's one of the few things in-game that can physically challenge the Swarmlord. Still, the odds arn't great especially since Abaddon will have to re-roll any successful 4+ invuls he makes.

I would say hit it with as many Plasma Guns you have.

Iranna.

How are Plague Marines great at holding him up? He ignores their armor and FnP like anything else.

The best way to deal with the Swarmlord is the same way to deal with almost any scary Tyranid unit...shoot it a bunch. No invul and only a 3+ armor.

I'm not too familiar with the CSM codex, but swarming him with bodies also works well. As powerful as he is, the Swarmlord only has 4 attacks.

Siphen wrote:How are Plague Marines great at holding him up? He ignores their armor and FnP like anything else.

The best way to deal with the Swarmlord is the same way to deal with almost any scary Tyranid unit...shoot it a bunch. No invul and only a 3+ armor.

I'm not too familiar with the CSM codex, but swarming him with bodies also works well. As powerful as he is, the Swarmlord only has 4 attacks.

ahem, thats a 2+ plus armour if you can make it!
depends how it is specialized, shoot it if it has CC weps and CC it if it has guns.
of course he could be a troll and have 1 CC weapon and 1 Shooting weapon.
ask what he is upgraded with.
EG dont go near it if it has a bonesword(s) and implant attack, for on a six it auto deals casualties.
or try and get close if it has a HV VC and some other unearthly shooting weapon.

and for the swarmlord, do not underestimate him. when he takes damage he could use LE, and close to HV SHOOTERS he could paroxysm them.
(leach essence drains life and the other one makes the weapon skill and BS 1.

Siphen wrote:How are Plague Marines great at holding him up? He ignores their armor and FnP like anything else.

The best way to deal with the Swarmlord is the same way to deal with almost any scary Tyranid unit...shoot it a bunch. No invul and only a 3+ armor.

I'm not too familiar with the CSM codex, but swarming him with bodies also works well. As powerful as he is, the Swarmlord only has 4 attacks.

I know, its weird. My brother can only ever manage to hit and wound 2 of his 4 attacks with him against Plague Marines. and then with the no retreat due to fearless they always pass their saves and if they die FNP brings them back.

So you would all agree massed plasma gun fire, that hitting on a 3+ and wounding on a 3+ and he ain't got no invulnerable save from ranged attacks.

And why i think of it, with Zoenthropes must they always take the 3++ save and is it only for shooting attacks ??

Zoanthropes have a true invulnerable save, just gun them down with boltguns.

Killing a Swarmlord generally involves getting past Tyrant Guard, and the screening troops. It's not an easy job.

Short answer; shoot him, don't walk within 12" of him and shoot him again until he dies.

Remember not to disembark unless you have to, you can fire 12" out the hatch and you have no need to get within 6" for melta range. Nids can struggle against vehicles, and even if he kills the Rhino in assault you still just shoot him in the face again next turn. The Guard are a pain I guess, but you should easily have the firepower to deal with 2-4 T6 3+ save guys with Plasma, Melta and Lascannons from Oblits etc (and if you can't you have zero chance of beating Nids considering that's half their army lol). Assuming you have a fairly standard Chaos list you probably have 3-4 squads in Rhinos with double Plasma/Melta which should be enough to kill off any Guards and put a dent in the Swarmlord in a single round. If he only has a couple of wounds left a big squad of Marines with a Fist could probably finish him off, as could a squad of Berserkers (just buries him with wounds), but its not ideal since at the very least he is going to take some of them with him.

Do you have enough S6+ guns to take him down and still deal with the rest of his list (understanding that even if you have AP3 or better weapons, while the Tyrant guard is up, he'll probably almost always have a cover save)? If so shoot him down while staying outside the 12" bubble of death charge threat. Staying outside of 18" with non vehicle units is preferable so he can't Leech wounds back. If you don't have that kind of firepower, avoid him as best as possible while you neuter the rest of his list (and you should seriously take another look at how your list is built). He's not fleet so he is at best moving 6+d6" a turn if you don't give him anything to charge.

FNP don't work against attacks that ignore saves or cause ID, Swarmy does both so not sure how your Plague Marines are getting back up.
CSM can spam plasma better than most armies, both in elites and heavy slots. Also relentless bikers with plasma can stay well back and are too fast for Swarmy to catch.

Missiles or Lascannons

Both wound on 2s and ignore armour saves. No invuln against ranged damage. Pretty simple.

TedNugent wrote:Missiles or Lascannons

Both wound on 2s and ignore armour saves. No invuln against ranged damage. Pretty simple.

Yes but if the Swarmlord has Tyrant Guard with him then he will most likely be getting a cover save. That means that one-shot, armour ignoring weapons lose half of their effectiveness right away against the Swarmlord.

Spam Plasma, kill Swarmlord.

I think it's CSM's answer to the monster.

Iranna.

rubicant99 wrote:FNP don't work against attacks that ignore saves or cause ID, Swarmy does both so not sure how your Plague Marines are getting back up.
CSM can spam plasma better than most armies, both in elites and heavy slots. Also relentless bikers with plasma can stay well back and are too fast for Swarmy to catch.

I believe he said they pretty much auto pass their no retreat armor saves, so he only loses 1 or 2 per combat phase. 10 plagues could hold him up a while.

Iranna - Tyrant guard are part of the same unit aren't they? So whilst providing extra bodies to allocate wounds to, how can they grant a cover save to the Swarmlord?

rubicant99 wrote:Iranna - Tyrant guard are part of the same unit aren't they? So whilst providing extra bodies to allocate wounds to, how can they grant a cover save to the Swarmlord?

Say I have 1 Tyrant and 2 T-guards together. They are a unit. The T-guards are standard infantry, non-monstrous creatures. If the T-guards are at all obscured or in terrain then they get the normal cover save. And since more than half the unit is in cover, then the Tyrant will also get a cover save.

Also, any Tyranid player worth his salt takes 1-2 T-guards to soak up wounds, ensuring their big nasty 200some point melee monster gets into melee. Honestly, I can't think of a better way other than focus fire with weapons that ignore his armor

CSM? Then you should have 1-2 Lash, meaning you pull the screening Termagants from the Tyrant Guard to strip the unit of its 4+ cover save. You can also (depending on how good your opponent is) send it backwards to make sure it never reach combat.

N.I.B. wrote:CSM? Then you should have 1-2 Lash, meaning you pull the screening Termagants from the Tyrant Guard to strip the unit of its 4+ cover save. You can also (depending on how good your opponent is) send it backwards to make sure it never reach combat.

Lash can be quite risky; if you're in range to lash then you're also in range of Shadows in the Warp from the Swarmlord and taking a psychic test on 3D6 isn't as easy as it looks.

However, I think N.I.B is right; you won't kill it without risking yourself.

Iranna.

Iranna wrote:I've only ever managed it once, and it took 3 Wraithlords and an Avatar charging it to stop it.

Your best option would be to shoot it, honestly. There's very little in any codex, never mind Chaos Space Marines, that can take on the Swarmlord in a head to head fight.

Obiliterators would work well I think; use the Lascannons on him until you can get into range to double-tap him with TL-Plasma; the Swarmlord has no invulnerable save until he gets into close combat.

Alternatively, Abaddon can do it. I'd say he's one of the few things in-game that can physically challenge the Swarmlord. Still, the odds arn't great especially since Abaddon will have to re-roll any successful 4+ invuls he makes.

I would say hit it with as many Plasma Guns you have.

Iranna.

How in the hell can Ababddon deal with to Swarmlord? He's WS9 BS3 S6 T6 W5 LD10 SV 3+, his guard are T6 and give him a 4+ cover, he has a 4++ in CC, he can make you WS1 and has d3 S3 AP2 hits and can do both in the same turn, he can give himself preferred enemy or furious charge, he deals ID and makes you re-roll your invulnerable saves.

Best bet is to hit him with Lash, pull him and his guard out of cover and dump plasma, missiles and lascannons on him.

If i was fighting mr swarmlord with my orks. I think i would have to spam loota shots at him :( He's one of the few units in the game i would think twice about charging with 30x boyz) He makes people cry sometimes.

broodstar wrote:

How in the hell can Ababddon deal with to Swarmlord? He's WS9 BS3 S6 T6 W5 LD10 SV 3+, his guard are T6 and give him a 4+ cover, he has a 4++ in CC, he can make you WS1 and has d3 S3 AP2 hits and can do both in the same turn, he can give himself preferred enemy or furious charge, he deals ID and makes you re-roll your invulnerable saves.

I did say the odds weren't great.

However, if we're talking about pure 1v1 between Abaddon and Swarmy, it can be done.

Abbadon may be hitting on 5s due to Paroxysm, however, with a potential 10 attacks at S8 and re-rolling To Wound rolls (of 2+), Abaddon can make the Swarmlord think twice about taking a charge from him.

Furthermore, the Swarmlord will be wounding on 3s due to Abaddon's T4(5) and Abaddon is immune to Instant Death.

Again, odds definately arn't in his favour, but he can do it.

Iranna.

Easy:

With regular marines send a stern-guard full squad, combi meltas, if you can have Vulkan He'stan you will re-roll the meltas shoots, flamers and hammers, so will be between 7 and 10 melta hits, with no invul the lord and the guards are dead.

With chaos, just take a Termi-suicidal squad with the same combi melta configuration, the combi plasma also works ap2 and the 2+ save for termies will keep them to die from get hot, shoot him and them assult him with power fist, he will die like the bug he is.

I used this two tactics all the time with those two armies in games and always work, just try to kill him fast. Use drop assault with marines or a raider for chaos, if you are fancy, take a csm squad in a rinho, give them a personal icon and teleport your termis right in the lord face, but you will have to be good with the dices, because if you fail the roll for reserves the swarm lord will eat all your poor csm.

and remember, any chaos terminator squad with abbadon in, is a Da..m Frea...g, nasty squad, so if you have the points put him.

I think Skulltaker on a Chariot could prolly take on the Swarmlord. Someone do the math on that for me and they'll earn a Fishy Stick.

Iranna wrote:

N.I.B. wrote:CSM? Then you should have 1-2 Lash, meaning you pull the screening Termagants from the Tyrant Guard to strip the unit of its 4+ cover save. You can also (depending on how good your opponent is) send it backwards to make sure it never reach combat.

Lash can be quite risky; if you're in range to lash then you're also in range of Shadows in the Warp from the Swarmlord and taking a psychic test on 3D6 isn't as easy as it looks.

Lash is 24" range, you'll be 12" out of SitW.

Swarmlord is tough

Only played him once and I got through his guard but not through him

Havocs with AP3 or better weapons, lascannon preds, land raiders, csm terms with combiweapons as above

SW do well with Swarmy as they spam ML longfangs.

I've done it a few times with a C'Tan Shard. He has issues with T7 if he doesn't get a Furious charge off.
Was by no means an auto-won fight, though.

Mine always dies before it ever gets into combat. People just shoot it to death immediately because of it's tremendous threat priority. Unload rockets or termies into it and it dies pretty easily. If you're trying to kill it with non-specialist squads or without AP 2-3 ranged weapons then you should not expect to kill it at all.

3 full broadside teams would do it....... but that's a lot.. and Tau

Does shield breaker work against Swarmlord?

then it'll be easy :'D

Taking out the swarm lord is like taking out any Tyrant.

Piping hot plasma

LunaHound wrote:Does shield breaker work against Swarmlord?

then it'll be easy :'D

Nope, Blade Parry is a special rule.

But if you're able to have a Vindicare, you're also able to Force Weapon him.