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I dont know if this belongs in this thread, but i would like to work on a ranged tyranid list. Would the battleforce be a good play to start or should i build up an army over time atm i have a unit of jeanstealers i mean genestealers. Basic troop choices why would the ranged gaunts be a good investment or should i go melee for my nids. This choice came about once someone else in my group decided to go SM's and CM's i was very annoyed but i feel that with dipping i can paint a good nid starting army.

But to the point and a summary good nid units to pick up right now and are the gargoyles worth their price

Wow that was difficult to read

I'll go into more details later, but here's a quick rundown.

Tyranids are a close combat army. You definitely want to bring some shooting, but you don't want to try to out-shoot the opponent. We rely mostly on psychic powers and combat to get anything done.

The battleforce is not a good buy for starting the army. It's expensive and you'll rarely use half of what you get.

Gargoyles are definitely worth their price. They can fit into nearly any list. They're the cheapest jump infantry in the game and with a few 1 point upgrades, they're decent on the charge.

Most important units to pick up...that depends on what you want to play. The best units in our book are definitely the Tervigon, Hive Guard, and the Flying Hive Tyrant. Trygons are pretty solid, as are Zoanthropes and Gargoyles. Almost everything else is mediocre, but YMMV. Some people swear by Broodlords. I personally love Hormagaunts.

My personal suggestion: Pick a points amount; 1000 points is usually a good starting level. Get a copy of the codex and make a list. You can post it here (or pm me if you want - I love talking about nids ) and get feedback. Then you can buy the models to make that list. If not, just go with the "rule of cool"...buy the models you think look awesome!

thanks, i typed that at midnight and i was exhausted still am.

A few things you have to consider with nids:

They are not an easy army to learn. One of the hardest to master and require a very good knowledge of how individual pieces of phases work.

They are not tourney competitive. They were poor in 5th and got worse in 6th. A lot of the bread and butter (genestealers, cfexes, warriors, lictor) are not viable due to poor rules, nerfs from 6th, or simply better choices. The 5th codex has incredibly bad internal balance and both the new unit fluff the fluff->rule of the units added in 5th is mind-numbingly bad when you consider what tyranids were supposed to represent.

The army is very mono-dimensional. Due to the multitude of poorly written units, the number of units you will want to field diminishes a lot as the competition gets better. Tervigons, Tyrant, Swarmlord,Tyranid Prime, Hive guard, Zoans, raveners, Doom, Termigaunts, Ymargls, Trygons. If its not in that list, you probably shouldnt run it against a decent-good player.


If you are still set on starting nids, ebay is your friend. A lot of people are selling their nids after the nerfs that hit them in 6th.

A good starting point for an army is something like this:
Tyrant
Tyranid prime (convert from warrior or ravener as there is no model)
2 Hive guard
2 Zoans
6 Ymargl genestalers (use regular genestealers and add gaunt AG/TS bits to buff them up a bit)
Tervigon
40 termigaunts
5 raveners (used 1 to make prime)

The battle box really isnt that good of a deal for nids since hormigaunts are so incredibly difficult to use now and termigaunts just do the job better. That list of units can

k thanks, i just want an army that is different than my dark eldar i am working a shooty dark eldar list or am going to be in a few months.

Glad to know that i can depart from the shooty and go to get stuck in. Hey i want a fun army to play and once that looks like creepy alien monsters

I have seen some amazing things with psychic powers and it is still pretty shooty.

2 Flyrants with 2 x Devourers
3 Hive Guard
3 Zoanthropes
1 Tervigon
1 Biovore
5 Deathspitter Tyranid Warriors
10 Termagaunts

He switched out all the psychic for - I believe Biomancy.

The flyrants get in your face quick. The biovore pot shots as does the hive guard.
The tyranid warriors outflank off of the flyrant ability. This means they should get some shots in on flanks or rear of enemy.
Now I think he went with the Doom of Malantai in a spore.
I know you should have some points left over at 1850 so you could probably squeeze in another tervigon or a trygon or perhaps some better troop or fast attack.

As stated, this is not an army for the feint of heart and it does have a steep learning curve to acheive something against all comers.

hey the fact that i am up agianst orks and SM's with sisters thrown in i am the only one not using a durable list.