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 Strat_N8 wrote:
As a small thing to chew on, a Fortification detachment with 3 Sporocysts with Venom Cannons is only 372 points for three 5D6 S8 AP-1 shots a turn plus any mortal wounds that may be dished out by the spores they spit out. If you space them just so, you can also pretty much cover the entire backfield with synapse with only a single synapse creature committed to powering up their synaptic resonator ability.

Each venom cannon got d3 shots, so thats 15xd3 shots. Thats about 30 shots and 10 hits. A toughness 6/7 MC or vehicle gets about 7 wounds and after a 4+ save you're talking about 3/4 wounds. Meh..

shogun wrote:
Each venom cannon got d3 shots, so thats 15xd3 shots. Thats about 30 shots and 10 hits. A toughness 6/7 MC or vehicle gets about 7 wounds and after a 4+ save you're talking about 3/4 wounds. Meh..

Oops... I don't know why I put D6 instead of D3. Fixed it.

Still, might be worth playing around with. That many shots leaves some room for variability and if nothing else they offer a nice 18'' no-go zone via their spore chimney.

 Strat_N8 wrote:
As a small thing to chew on, a Fortification detachment with 3 Sporocysts with Venom Cannons is only 372 points for three 5D3 S8 AP-1 shots a turn plus any mortal wounds that may be dished out by the spores they spit out. If you space them just so, you can also pretty much cover the entire backfield with synapse with only a single synapse creature committed to powering up their synaptic resonator ability.

Edit: Corrected mistake. I'm tired...

I don't think you need 3 of them, but they are cool anyway. AFAIK the spore mine launchers can be fired for overwatch. When they miss, you can place 3 spore mines just in the path of the charger. Maybe they will not even be able to charge you after that, because the spores are in the way. If they are able, however, they will get into the explosion of the 3 spore mines doing a maximum of 9 Mortal Wounds to them!

A few 2000pts games under my belt, and I feel you have to be lucky and live in an area were Forgeworld (Malanthrope) is allowed in tournaments, if you want to be competitive with a big bugs list. Without cover they die soo easily.

To the same end I want to reiterate what Reece and Frankie are saying - in 8th ed, if you want fun (balanced) games, you NEED 3-4 big LOS blocking terrain pieces. Especially if you play nids.

Someone mentioned a few sites before, that current lists are either hordestyle or Nidzilla or a mix inbetween of both.


How do new Nidzilla look alike? I am asking cause i really liked this style of army since my wh40k beginnings with tyranids in 4th edition .

Here is my Nidzilla, it's heavy melee focused and with lots of flying monsters.

Outrider Detachment

Hive Tyrant with wings (1) - 212pts
1 Hive Tyrant: Two pairs of monstrous scything talons,Prehensile pincer tail

Lictor (1) - 45pts
1 Lictor: Flesh hooks,Grasping talons,Rending claws

Lictor (1) - 45pts
1 Lictor: Flesh hooks,Grasping talons,Rending claws

Gargoyle (30) - 180pts
20 Gargoyle: Fleshborer,Blinding venom

Harpy (1) - 178pts
1 Harpy: Two stranglethorn cannons,Stinger salvo,Scything wings

Harpy (1) - 178pts
1 Harpy: Two stranglethorn cannons,Stinger salvo,Scything wings

Hive Crone (1) - 156pts
1 Hive Crone: Drool Cannon,Tentaclids,Scything wings,Wicked spur,Stinger salvo

Tyranid Warriors (3) - 66pts
3 Tyranid Warrior: Scything talons,Rending claws

Termagants (12) - 48pts
12 Termagant: Fleshborer

Mawloc (1) - 105pts
1 Mawloc: 3 Scything talonss,Ditensible jaws,Prehensile pincer tail

Mawloc (1) - 105pts
1 Mawloc: 3 Scything talonss,Ditensible jaws,Prehensile pincer tail

Supreme Command Detachment

Hive Tyrant with wings (1) - 212pts
1 Hive Tyrant: Two pairs of monstrous scything talons,Prehensile pincer tail

Hive Tyrant with wings (1) - 212pts
1 Hive Tyrant: Two pairs of monstrous scything talons,Prehensile pincer tail

Hive Tyrant with wings (1) - 212pts
1 Hive Tyrant: Two pairs of monstrous scything talons,Prehensile pincer tail

Lictor (1) - 45pts
1 Lictor: Flesh hooks,Grasping talons,Rending claws

Points: 1999


I have 30 Gargs for screening + 12 Termagaunts if i need them (but the normal gaunts are more for backfield objective camping). Warriors are my midfield synapse for the Gargs, as my Tyrants will rush forward to the enemy lines with Harpies and Crone. Lictors and Mawloc will deepstrike right into the enemy for distraction.

If you ask why the Stranglethorn cannon on the Harpies, i like them. They are more versatile in my opinion (more shots, predictable dmg and +1 to hit if you fire at big blobs, and they wound most things on the same until thougness 7 or higher or thougness 3 or below, were the venom cannon wounds better)

I know i play no genestealers, but i lack the trygon to the deliver them and i only have 16 of them. Alternative option is to play them as GenestealerCult Purestrains, so the get Cultambush and they could be included into the army with no Problem since they have the Tyranid faction keyword (even Tyranidpsypowers work on them as the only mention Tyranid unit).

 N.I.B. wrote:
A few 2000pts games under my belt, and I feel you have to be lucky and live in an area were Forgeworld (Malanthrope) is allowed in tournaments, if you want to be competitive with a big bugs list. Without cover they die soo easily.

To the same end I want to reiterate what Reece and Frankie are saying - in 8th ed, if you want fun (balanced) games, you NEED 3-4 big LOS blocking terrain pieces. Especially if you play nids.

Could you share with us what kind of list would be competitive in general games? Just horde army oder a mixture? Would you take the medium sized bugs like Hive Guard and Warriors?

Ah yes, the dakkafex is only 12 shots. Thought it was 24. I mean that is one up for the dakka tyranofex then. Cheapest S5 shots in the codex.

Was thinking about this list (2000):

SPEARHEAD DETACHMENT
- Tyranid prime

-3x venomthropes
-3x pyrovores

-3x biovores
-3x biovores
-3x biovores
-3x biovores
-3x biovores
-3x biovores

SPEARHEAD DETACHMENT
- Broodlord

-3x pyrovores
-3x pyrovores

-3x biovores
-3x biovores
-3x biovores
-3x biovores
-3x biovores
-3x biovores

Over the top, maybe?

Hey guys.

I'm thinking about starting up a Tyranid army. I used to run a small Nid army back in 4th. I jumped back in for 8th and made a Necron army, but I feel the swarm calling me back.

What units are currently looking viable? Any that seem useless? Any general consensus on army lists?

I have a few termagaunts and genestealers from a Battle of Macragge set I picked up cheap, and a couple raveners still in blister. What would you guys recommend for some future purchases? I was looking at the Swarm box and the Start Collecting box, but I wasn't sure if Gargoyles are useful or not?

 SHADOWSTRIKE1 wrote:
Hey guys.

I'm thinking about starting up a Tyranid army. I used to run a small Nid army back in 4th. I jumped back in for 8th and made a Necron army, but I feel the swarm calling me back.

What units are currently looking viable? Any that seem useless? Any general consensus on army lists?

I have a few termagaunts and genestealers from a Battle of Macragge set I picked up cheap, and a couple raveners still in blister. What would you guys recommend for some future purchases? I was looking at the Swarm box and the Start Collecting box, but I wasn't sure if Gargoyles are useful or not?

Everything seems to be viable at the moment to some extend.

My top 5 Units of 8th Edition (not counting in special chars):
- Broodlord
- Genestealers
- Exocrine
- Hive Guard
- Trygon/Alpha-Trygon

 Astmeister wrote:

 SHADOWSTRIKE1 wrote:
Hey guys.

I'm thinking about starting up a Tyranid army. I used to run a small Nid army back in 4th. I jumped back in for 8th and made a Necron army, but I feel the swarm calling me back.

What units are currently looking viable? Any that seem useless? Any general consensus on army lists?

I have a few termagaunts and genestealers from a Battle of Macragge set I picked up cheap, and a couple raveners still in blister. What would you guys recommend for some future purchases? I was looking at the Swarm box and the Start Collecting box, but I wasn't sure if Gargoyles are useful or not?

Everything seems to be viable at the moment to some extend.

My top 5 Units of 8th Edition (not counting in special chars):
- Broodlord
- Genestealers
- Exocrine
- Hive Guard
- Trygon/Alpha-Trygon

I'd say (for both Tyr and Cult):

Swarmlord (CQC Powerhouse and his double movement is godlike, needs guards and so he's a bit pricey)
Broodlord (Best HQ by far only second to Swarmy for his buffs mostly)
Genestealers (Best "elite troop accompanied by swarms of gaunts to soak up damage)
Hive Guard (Best shooting unit in our codex by far)
Exocrine (The second MC worth mentioning 'cause the damage is pretty high)

Patriarch (A better Broodlord)
Neophyte (Our best options for Mini lascannons and bodies)
Rockgrinder (Go Incinerator + Demolition Cache)
Primus (His bonuses are really good)
Sentinel (60 pts Lascannon, not bad!)

I feel like I'm in crazy town when the carnifex doesn't even make top 5?

at 112 points my carnifexs will block out the sun.

 GreaterGood? wrote:
I feel like I'm in crazy town when the carnifex doesn't even make top 5?

at 112 points my carnifexs will block out the sun.

Top 5 say's nothing because it's all about the synergy within the armylist. Carnifex can be cheap but it is still slow and could die fast doing nothing. But 9 carnifexes..hell...that could be a different thing.

You could drop a tyrannocyte with 6 tyrant guard mid field and let 5+ flying hive tyrants move within 3 inch and cast catalyst on the hive guard. Tyrant guard could soak up all wounds and then next turn the flying hive tyrants could go nuts. So does that make flying hive tyrants nr: 1? We will see..

 GreaterGood? wrote:
I feel like I'm in crazy town when the carnifex doesn't even make top 5?

at 112 points my carnifexs will block out the sun.

Carnifi?

Carnifexes are cheap because they don't accomplish anything.

 997Turbo wrote:
Carnifexes are cheap because they don't accomplish anything.

Exactly, and being a MC is detrimental today

What's the best loadout for Tyrant Guards that are attached to the Swarmlord?

Noctem wrote:
What's the best loadout for Tyrant Guards that are attached to the Swarmlord?

You don't 'attach' to a HT anymore... just be 'near' them to absorb hits

GodDamUser wrote:

Noctem wrote:
What's the best loadout for Tyrant Guards that are attached to the Swarmlord?

You don't 'attach' to a HT anymore... just be 'near' them to absorb hits

Either way, question remains the same =P

I know that stabby bugs seem to be a thing now...but anyone have a shooty list? I dug out my old box o' bugs, have the following:

70 termagant
46 hormagaunts
40 Genestealers
12 Warriors, mostly with ranged + scythe weapon
3 brood lords (metal)
4 Carnifex, unarmed awaiting loadout
1 Lictor (metal, current)
1 Lictor (metal, OOP)
2 Zoaenthrope (metal, previous gen)
1 Zoaenthrope (metal, super old style)



Still on sprue/in box/unassembled
--
1 Hive tyrant/flyrant/Swarmlord
3 Warriors
32 hormagaunts
8 termagant

Was planning on buying around 100$ worth of new toys to augment what I had, but need to pick a direction -- shooty or stabby.

GreaterGood? wrote:I feel like I'm in crazy town when the carnifex doesn't even make top 5?

at 112 points my carnifexs will block out the sun.

People are insane. Top 3 unit in the dex if not the best. I can quote people laughing at me when I said the same thing about Mawloc at the start of 7th Nids, and look how that turned out.

 SHUPPET wrote:

GreaterGood? wrote:I feel like I'm in crazy town when the carnifex doesn't even make top 5?

at 112 points my carnifexs will block out the sun.

People are insane. Top 3 unit in the dex if not the best. I can quote people laughing at me when I said the same thing about Mawloc at the start of 7th Nids, and look how that turned out.

I've tested them in multiple load outs and every time found them very underwhelming. What load-out have you found best?

I'm running my carnifex's with twin scything talons, thresher scythe tail, adrenal glands, and bio plasma.

I'm running a minimum of three in every list. They take WAY more effort to remove than thier points should. I haven't even tried Old One Eye yet. I think With OOE they are an auto include. They can't be ignored, and T7 W8 with a 3+ is way harder to remove than people think.

Once my new order of 5 canifex broods gets in and I build an OOE I'm going to try running them with the crushing claws.

You can always go crazy and deploy like 15 Carnifexes and the OOE in a spearhead detachement.

 997Turbo wrote:

 SHUPPET wrote:

GreaterGood? wrote:I feel like I'm in crazy town when the carnifex doesn't even make top 5?

at 112 points my carnifexs will block out the sun.

People are insane. Top 3 unit in the dex if not the best. I can quote people laughing at me when I said the same thing about Mawloc at the start of 7th Nids, and look how that turned out.

I've tested them in multiple load outs and every time found them very underwhelming. What load-out have you found best?

only had a few of games so far, so to be fair, I haven't tested the entire dex. In this case though I don't feel I need to to know great they are. Running them cheap as possible, max out Devourers . Using it to thicken out the army and add some real weight and dice which they do even better than they did in 7th. currently running 6 because its what I have the models for, might consider 9 although that depends on how well I find Tyrannofex working which I AM currently testing.

I also have found Carnifexes to be underwhelming. Their guns are cheap and they have a lot of wounds considering they don't degrade. They may be one of our best bets for cheap volume of fire, but I don't know....it just doesn't seem nearly as good for the points as many other armies' shooting. It feels like if I'm bringing a Dakkafex to a gunfight, I'm going to not do well.

I do like the scytals carnifex. Give him adrenal glands, stand him next to old one eye and go to town.

Also, previously being a dakkafex still meant something in combat. Now, you're just strength 6 and that's it. I feel like I'd rather do my shooting from less than 1" away

But that probably does bear some discussing - if we HAD to thin out a horde by shooting at it, or just generally wanted decent volume of fire, what would we use?

Biovores are great at killing tough things because of the mortal wounds. Exocrines are great at killing elite infantry and generally anything T7 or less. Hive guard can kill the tougher vehicles.

TBH, maybe this is where we SHOULD ally in GSC. Access to some awesome, AWESOME psychic powers and sadly all of the guns. IG tanks, even neophytes are great for the points. And the GSC tanks are pretty good too. Plus it allows us to have some cult ambush, and I think people are really writing that off too soon. You're going to be able to get a 9" charge a lot more than you think, and sometimes even closer than that.

But if you're set on staying pure Nids (which I respect)....OH WAIT. OF COURSE. The flesh borer hive Tyrannofex. That's 20 hits and like 13 wounds a turn. Not amazing, but pretty durable. And with Forge World and the Barbed Hierodule, it's only going to get better.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 N.I.B. wrote:
A few 2000pts games under my belt, and I feel you have to be lucky and live in an area were Forgeworld (Malanthrope) is allowed in tournaments, if you want to be competitive with a big bugs list. Without cover they die soo easily.

To the same end I want to reiterate what Reece and Frankie are saying - in 8th ed, if you want fun (balanced) games, you NEED 3-4 big LOS blocking terrain pieces. Especially if you play nids.

I mean, just look at how terrain placement was in 7th and 6th. They divided the board up into 6 sections and placed D3....D3! pieces in each section.

I think that some people, probably due to just lack of terrain in general, play on boards that have too little coverage. We call those boards "Planet Bowling Ball". It's a shooting gallery, and obviously favors heavy shooting armies (not us). So yes, absolutely play on a table that has at least a few pieces that can BLOS. I'm not saying each piece should block a Hierophant from being seen at all, but some is necessary. I think on a 6 x 4 with average sized pieces of terrain, you should have AT MINIMUM 5 to 9 pieces. How many depends on how large the pieces are. A lot of tournaments will try for 5 to save money and just make each one decently large and have it block LOS.

I've not used a Malanthrope yet (obviously because the points haven't been released and I'm not on that power level kick) but tbh I probably won't. Not being able to be targeted is great. Buffing big units is amazing. But I find that as long as I keep throwing bodies at the opponent (read: Genestealers) they have their hands (and typically their guns) focused on them. Or they're actually in combat. Not too many armies have enough units that can fall back and shoot, or enough units of bubble wrap if you're smart about your pile ins. But the DIMACHAERON. LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE BALLADS I WILL WRITE TO HIM/HER/IT. ALL OF THE BALLADS.

Anyway, my point of this post is this: use our best in game closing speed to mitigate how much fire our big guys are taking. If you don't have a unit or three that COULD make a 9" or better charge, I think you're wasting a lot of potential. Especially because some armies just won't bring bubble wrap units. And then you can sink your teeth into the real tasty stuff right away.

Completely agree. A Dakkafex in 8th is garbage in combat, which is a huge loss in utility. Purely shooting you average only 6 hits, most likely wounding on a 3 at best. So 4 wounds at -1 which isn't very impactful. Assault Carnifexes are only strength 6 so the big stuff they want to be going after is likely wounding on 5's. Very meh.

There are more multi wound infantry now though, so the Carnifex does have more utility on that front, especially since almost all multi wound infantry is T5 or below.

 luke1705 wrote:
I also have found Carnifexes to be underwhelming. Their guns are cheap and they have a lot of wounds considering they don't degrade. They may be one of our best bets for cheap volume of fire, but I don't know....it just doesn't seem nearly as good for the points as many other armies' shooting. It feels like if I'm bringing a Dakkafex to a gunfight, I'm going to not do well.

I do like the scytals carnifex. Give him adrenal glands, stand him next to old one eye and go to town.

Also, previously being a dakkafex still meant something in combat. Now, you're just strength 6 and that's it. I feel like I'd rather do my shooting from less than 1" away

But that probably does bear some discussing - if we HAD to thin out a horde by shooting at it, or just generally wanted decent volume of fire, what would we use?

Biovores are great at killing tough things because of the mortal wounds. Exocrines are great at killing elite infantry and generally anything T7 or less. Hive guard can kill the tougher vehicles.

TBH, maybe this is where we SHOULD ally in GSC. Access to some awesome, AWESOME psychic powers and sadly all of the guns. IG tanks, even neophytes are great for the points. And the GSC tanks are pretty good too. Plus it allows us to have some cult ambush, and I think people are really writing that off too soon. You're going to be able to get a 9" charge a lot more than you think, and sometimes even closer than that.

But if you're set on staying pure Nids (which I respect)....OH WAIT. OF COURSE. The flesh borer hive Tyrannofex. That's 20 hits and like 13 wounds a turn. Not amazing, but pretty durable. And with Forge World and the Barbed Hierodule, it's only going to get better.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 N.I.B. wrote:
A few 2000pts games under my belt, and I feel you have to be lucky and live in an area were Forgeworld (Malanthrope) is allowed in tournaments, if you want to be competitive with a big bugs list. Without cover they die soo easily.

To the same end I want to reiterate what Reece and Frankie are saying - in 8th ed, if you want fun (balanced) games, you NEED 3-4 big LOS blocking terrain pieces. Especially if you play nids.

I mean, just look at how terrain placement was in 7th and 6th. They divided the board up into 6 sections and placed D3....D3! pieces in each section.

I think that some people, probably due to just lack of terrain in general, play on boards that have too little coverage. We call those boards "Planet Bowling Ball". It's a shooting gallery, and obviously favors heavy shooting armies (not us). So yes, absolutely play on a table that has at least a few pieces that can BLOS. I'm not saying each piece should block a Hierophant from being seen at all, but some is necessary. I think on a 6 x 4 with average sized pieces of terrain, you should have AT MINIMUM 5 to 9 pieces. How many depends on how large the pieces are. A lot of tournaments will try for 5 to save money and just make each one decently large and have it block LOS.

I've not used a Malanthrope yet (obviously because the points haven't been released and I'm not on that power level kick) but tbh I probably won't. Not being able to be targeted is great. Buffing big units is amazing. But I find that as long as I keep throwing bodies at the opponent (read: Genestealers) they have their hands (and typically their guns) focused on them. Or they're actually in combat. Not too many armies have enough units that can fall back and shoot, or enough units of bubble wrap if you're smart about your pile ins. But the DIMACHAERON. LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE BALLADS I WILL WRITE TO HIM/HER/IT. ALL OF THE BALLADS.

Anyway, my point of this post is this: use our best in game closing speed to mitigate how much fire our big guys are taking. If you don't have a unit or three that COULD make a 9" or better charge, I think you're wasting a lot of potential. Especially because some armies just won't bring bubble wrap units. And then you can sink your teeth into the real tasty stuff right away.

Im running 2x 3 strong Dakkafex units, supported by 2x Fleshborer Fex and 2x Exocrines, with a few small Ravener units to help throw gak off them in CC and help control the board. I think the Dakkafex is nice in numbers, 300 points for 24 T7 wounds makes them likely the tankiest unit in the dex point for point except the Mawloc, and it comes with double the wounds per slot so it thickens out the army much more anyway. And en masse, they have the same number of S6 hits as they did last dex point for point - actually, slightly better. They've lost their CC versatility but its whatever, they were bad vs infantry last game and very rarely make to CC against the vehicles of good opponents anyway, it just means that the threat of CC that stopped vehicles coming in close has been removed, but has now been fitted on to other stuff you are taking anyway so its whatever its a nerf to one aspect of them but I'm not expecting to see significant changes to game outcomes there


On the flipside of all this, Broodlords + Genestealers look ridiculous in general. I'll wait to see how capable other armies are of chewing through Genestealers with the removal of blasts and templates before I say which is best in my opinion because they are potentially so great that spending points on other stuff better just be stuff to compliment Stealers in some manner. Dakkafex is definitely legit however, for sure.


BTW do we have rules for the Dima?

Genestealers are hands down the best unit in the Index.

With army construction rules being what they are, I'm afraid that in a competitive sense we might be trading our max Flyrant armies in for max Genestealer armies. Not in a 1850 divided by Flyrant extreme, but in a "every competitive Tyranid army starts with 60-80 Genestealers at a minimum" way.