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Hello all, I was digging through my 40k stuff and unearthed s small Tyranid collection that has been neglected since about the release of 4th edition. It consists of about 30 hormagaunts, about 40 termagants, 9 warriors, 3 metal ravenors, about a dozen genestealers (a few old ones, and a few from Battle for MaCragge), an old metal hive tyrant, an old metal carnifex, 8 metal gargoyles, and about 20 or so spore mines. I think I sold off all the bioweapon bits for the gaunts/gants years ago, so they are just scything talon/fleshborer armed respectively. The warriors are partially assembled, but for most, the weapon selections have not been made yet.

A few things to keep in mind as background info...

The last Tyranid codex I got was 3rd edition, which is when I sold most of my 2nd edition metal stuff off on Ebay.
I really like the current model range, especially the newer plastic kits.
I am on a tighter budget these days, as my hobby comes in behind the wife, and our two kids (soon to be 3) in priority.
I plan to do this slowly and paint what I have before investing heavily in new stuff.
I plan on selling the metal stuff on ebay or maybe trading it here in the swap shop, as there are updated plastic versions that are much better looking IMHO.

My questions are as follows:

1. For those with experience playing Tyranids more recently, and considering a smallish budget, what is a good direction to start growing this into a viable 6th edition list?

2. Considering a slow army growth plan, what should I set as a priority for my first few purchases?

Thanks so much in advance for your advice!

If I were you, get the new codex and a Tervigon. Then build a 500 point list to get you playing. Once you've had a few games, you'll know what you want to add according to your local meta. Start small and work your way up, don't spend your time fretting over 1,850 point lists off the bat. Have fun and consume all!!!

You've got a great base to a Tyranid army already. The prime thing you'll want are:

A flyrant (winged hive tyrant). With Flying Monstrous Creature rules, they're fantastic.
A Tervigon or two. These will go well with your Termagants, and allow you to spawn additional Termagants mid game for more scoring units. You'll probably want another box or two of Termagants to go with these.
A couple of Trygons or Carnifexes. These are the real hitting power you have. You'll likely get better mileage out of Trygons, but don't completely rule out Carnifexes if your local area isn't too competitive.
A few Zoanthropes and Hive Guard. These are the stars of the Elite slot. Hive Guard for destroying vehicles, and Zoanthropes for massed psychic powers. Psychics are a really strong aspect of Tyranids in 6th.

As for priority, all of these are about equal. They're things your army would really benefit from in different ways, so look at how you are suffering in a few games to see what you need. If you find yourself running low on scoring units due to enemy fire, Terigons will help. If you find yourself having trouble with enemy transports, a few Hive Guard would be better to add sooner. If you find you're lacking any real hitting power, grab Trygons or Carnifexes first.

That said, you do seem to be short on Synapse with only a Hive Tyrant and Warriors (which aren't very good now) to provide it, so Zoanthropes or Tervigons will provide some more durable Synapse.

Also, yeah, the codex would help.

Really good advice, thanks. Looks like I'll be getting a Tervigon first. Then perhaps the Hive Tyrant kit and a couple of Hive Guard.

Still, gotta get to painting these little bugs first...