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So point of this thread:

The Fyrant is awesome. Next to the Tervigon, it's the Tyranid's only true AA, it's amazing anti-infantry, and it can go light to medium tank hunting. So, no wonder why they are a "auto take" in the most competitive lists. I would like to find out how people use them or have had them used when playing against Tyranids.

In the poll I've laid out just a few ways Flyrants are typically used. Please help me discuss what might be the best way to use Flyrants to their maximum effectiveness.

For the sake of this thread, and because you'd be considered a troll if you don't agree, a Flyrant is kitted out with wings (duh) and dual brainleech devourers.

I, to start things off typically will play my Flyrants in tandem. Rarely do I substitute one for the Swarmlord. It's go big or go home, you send them flying from the beginning, landing in area terrain if you can, and do as much a damage as you can. Now, I'm not saying this is the best way to play them....I typically get antsy and wanna do some damage. Tyranids aren't known for their turn 1 damage output so it get bored some times :-/


Fire away!!!

i hate playing againgst the damn thing.

The tyranid codex as a whole needs help, but 2 flyrants, 2 tervigons, and 2 trygons is one of the cheesiest and least fun to play againgst armies in the game.

I usually always take 2 full spore pods full of devourer gants, and so I always give my flyrants Old Adversary.
Re rolling 1s on 60 str 4 shots gets nasty, especially if you can enfeeble the target first. 22 wounds will reliably lessen most units.

I think Flyrants should be played conservatively unless your opponent is very weak in shooting. Against a Guard Template army it can pay to be aggressive, but usually my Flyrants spend the entirety of turn 1 hiding. There will always be situations this isn't true, like getting Iron Arm vs certain armies, but people who play aggressively with them often lose them.

If you're gonna bring a flyrants bring 2. If you're just gonna bring one might as well take The Swarmlord with guard instead, this is of course competitively, if you're looking to have fun, go ahead with the flyrant. Its lots of fun getting to move 24 inches, vector striking, skyfiring. Competitively a good flyrant costs around 305pts if you give it 2 TL devourers, regen and old adversary for 460 pts you get 3 guard and the swarmlord. They will outlast and kill more guys that the Flyrant. Plus the Swarmlord is mastery level 2 and can grant FC or PE to a unit within 18 inches, you get more synapse range and you can get deadly combinations on biomancy, again this is competitively.

Eihnlazer wrote:i hate playing againgst the damn thing.

The tyranid codex as a whole needs help, but 2 flyrants, 2 tervigons, and 2 trygons is one of the cheesiest and least fun to play againgst armies in the game.

Clearly you have never played against the Necron French Bakery of Doom, Wraithwing, Heldrake + Night Scythe spam, Riptide spam, GK+Necrons or Daemon Flying Circus if you consider a variation of the only consistent competitive build Tyranids have to be cheesy.

Considering Flyrants are quite fragile for their points and one of them will be your Warlord it's best to play them conservatively early game. As the game progresses I'll gradually be more aggressive with my Flyrants, or if my opponent slips up and I can exploit a weakness in their deployment to be aggressive without much risk. If given the choice I recommend erring on the side of caution, at least until the main bulk of your army makes contact with the enemy.

Schwarmfuhrer wrote:
Competitively a good flyrant costs around 305pts if you give it 2 TL devourers, regen and old adversary for 460 pts you get 3 guard and the swarmlord.

"Competitively" you won't waste points on regeneration ever regardless of platform and probably won't bother with Old Adversary (guns are already twin-linked and the flyrants are likely going to be operating away from the army so minimum return on investment). The stupid things are already chewing up around a quarter of your points and die whenever something with a gun better than a bolter looks at them funny, no point in making them more expensive than needed.

And yes I am bitter. At our local shop I have yet to see any flyrant really do anything other than go down under a hail of fire turn 1 at the hands of IG, Tau, or either sort of Eldar (4th and 6th edition books in the case of craftworlders). The only one to survive past turn two that I can remember seeing was one that was stashed behind a BLOS rock outcropping all game, and even then it died as soon as it showed itself turn 5...

Eihnlazer wrote:
i hate playing againgst the damn thing.

The tyranid codex as a whole needs help, but 2 flyrants, 2 tervigons, and 2 trygons is one of the cheesiest and least fun to play againgst armies in the game.

Its also the only decent competitive build Nids have at the moment, and even it get regularly roflstomped now by Tau and Eldar ...

Flyrant: Fliers, fast skimmers, back field armor

Deathleaper (I always take him...): combos with the doom, occasionally takes out a target in the backfield. He also is good at sweeping units.

Doom: Wraithknight, Daemon characters, FMC, low leadership armies like Tau and Eldar.

Pyrovores/Biovores: Anti-objective holders. These are for killing those 10-man cultist squads hiding behind a ruin, guardians, necron warriors or tau behind a wall. AP4 is huge. I have trouble hitting with multiple barrages... I don't roll enough direct hits I guess. I'm going to experiment with pyrovores because they cost the same.

Tervigons: Obvious, psychic support, scoring, and creating gaunts to trigger overwatch

Gaunts: if you have a group of 3-6 left in a brood either sit them on an objective in the back or fling them into combat to trigger overwatch. Tyranids are the only army that can afford to leave a squad on objectives as they advance across the field.

Gargoyles: AG/TS always. 30 is recommended. They are excellent at catching and killing things like the wraithknight, riptide and daemon characters. They are also good crowd control. In my last game I multi-assaulted guardians, a wraithknight and wraithguard to tie them up while the doom sat within 6" and did most of the killing.


These are the models I typically field. I dunno, hopefully this was useful.

I always reserve my flyrants. They stay protected during turn 1 - no having to worry about going second and having them lit up because you didn't get the opportunity to switch them to swooping mode. In addition, in turn two I have a mess of units dropping on top of my opposition so it creates a whole load of target priority issues for them.

I think that most people that have issues with playing Flyrants they are only bringing one. It's important to force the opponent to either split fire or focus fire one down.

Additionally, I agree with most people saying they are fragile. This is true. That's why they need to be played smart. If you score an Iron arm you hugely increase your survivability but then you should use that Flyrant to stuff down your opponent's throat.

I think as one of our greatest assets, it also is a crutch that Tyranids HAVE to have in EVERY competitive list. They are too expensive to justify losing too early, but as many people do (which I think is a mistake) is reserving them.

When you reserve them, your giving the opponent the chance to rip apart your MORE important TROOP Tervigons. Then what? You HOPE they arrive at the same time, and you HOPE they don't scatter or get intercepted.

Start them behind LOS or in cover. Chances are you'll get the night fight bonus to your cover save or even if you save a few of those incoming shots, casting endurance on them as a response is a way to gain back those wounds.

Idk, I also wanted to know from those people who play against them, where do they lie on your target priority? Why? As many people pointed out, nid lists aren't that different so you know what you can expect squaring up against one.

roxor08 wrote:
I think as one of our greatest assets, it also is a crutch that Tyranids HAVE to have in EVERY competitive list. They are too expensive to justify losing too early, but as many people do (which I think is a mistake) is reserving them.

When you reserve them, your giving the opponent the chance to rip apart your MORE important TROOP Tervigons. Then what? You HOPE they arrive at the same time, and you HOPE they don't scatter or get intercepted.

Start them behind LOS or in cover. Chances are you'll get the night fight bonus to your cover save or even if you save a few of those incoming shots, casting endurance on them as a response is a way to gain back those wounds.

I think that starting them on the table is a valid strategy as well - particularly if most of your force is on the board at the beginning of the game. However, when you are mostly placing your army in reserve, I find it more advantageous to reserve them for the reasons above. I usually run hive commander on one and a comms relay ADL so they are coming in on a rerollable 2+ so they are virtually guaranteed to drop in together on turn 2. As for scattering, with a 24" move and 18" range on the guns, why would you ever deepstrike them? In most cases you'll have range to something worth shooting at just by swooping in from normal reserves.

As for the tervigons, one is outflanking anyway so isn't exposed, and the other is behind an ADL (with endurance if I go first). Good luck taking him out in the first turn, and by the second turn there are a ton of bigger threats right in their face, so there usually isn't much fire heading downrange at him past the first turn. All of the things that you listed to protect the flyrant would be in place for the tervigon, and the tervigon has more wounds to deal with whatever gets thrown at him, as well as once the reserves come in, more time for endurance to gain some wounds back. At least 50% of the time Hard to Hit and Iron Arm aren't going to help as your opponent will be going first and/or have skyfire weapons.

I'm not saying starting them on the table is always bad, but it's not always the better choice either. It comes down to how you employ your army and what you are facing.

Eihnlazer wrote:
i hate playing againgst the damn thing.

The tyranid codex as a whole needs help, but 2 flyrants, 2 tervigons, and 2 trygons is one of the cheesiest and least fun to play againgst armies in the game.

I just played nids for the first time in 10 years, and thats what they brought,
2 flyers, 2 spawners, and two tuneling guys.

tabled him by turn 5 with very little effort...


was a fun game, i dont think its OPowered considered how poor shape the codex as a whole is in.

I am much more annoyed by the demon/chaos dlying circus,

That being said, to the OP, Flyrants are really good when used agressivly I think, get them into CC turn 2 with something that doesnt want to be in CC and you are usually wiping out squads at a time, if not more if you can get the dis organixed charge in.

 Maelstrom808 wrote:

roxor08 wrote:
I think as one of our greatest assets, it also is a crutch that Tyranids HAVE to have in EVERY competitive list. They are too expensive to justify losing too early, but as many people do (which I think is a mistake) is reserving them.

When you reserve them, your giving the opponent the chance to rip apart your MORE important TROOP Tervigons. Then what? You HOPE they arrive at the same time, and you HOPE they don't scatter or get intercepted.

Start them behind LOS or in cover. Chances are you'll get the night fight bonus to your cover save or even if you save a few of those incoming shots, casting endurance on them as a response is a way to gain back those wounds.

I think that starting them on the table is a valid strategy as well - particularly if most of your force is on the board at the beginning of the game. However, when you are mostly placing your army in reserve, I find it more advantageous to reserve them for the reasons above. I usually run hive commander on one and a comms relay ADL so they are coming in on a rerollable 2+ so they are virtually guaranteed to drop in together on turn 2. As for scattering, with a 24" move and 18" range on the guns, why would you ever deepstrike them? In most cases you'll have range to something worth shooting at just by swooping in from normal reserves.

As for the tervigons, one is outflanking anyway so isn't exposed, and the other is behind an ADL (with endurance if I go first). Good luck taking him out in the first turn, and by the second turn there are a ton of bigger threats right in their face, so there usually isn't much fire heading downrange at him past the first turn. All of the things that you listed to protect the flyrant would be in place for the tervigon, and the tervigon has more wounds to deal with whatever gets thrown at him, as well as once the reserves come in, more time for endurance to gain some wounds back. At least 50% of the time Hard to Hit and Iron Arm aren't going to help as your opponent will be going first and/or have skyfire weapons.

I'm not saying starting them on the table is always bad, but it's not always the better choice either. It comes down to how you employ your army and what you are facing.

I see what you're saying. You take an ADL though? I've yet to see a Nid player who takes one. Typically the points are better invested elsewhere. Although, the comms relay make sense to get a rerollable 2+. I haven't thought of that.

I think the idea of kitting out one of the armies best support units to simply anti infantry unit is not the wisest of descisions and why i rarely play the flyrant. If you want a Tyrant that's good at assault then go for the swarm lord. They hive Tyrant should be used in a support role as a battle commander other then a slash and bash role IMO

roxor08 wrote:
I see what you're saying. You take an ADL though? I've yet to see a Nid player who takes one. Typically the points are better invested elsewhere. Although, the comms relay make sense to get a rerollable 2+. I haven't thought of that.

I tend to play in the 2k range so there is some points to spare if you squeeze them here and there. A lot of Nid players will drop objectives on the opponent's side of the board and go 100% aggressive. I drop them on my side and then alpha strike with 80% of my army on turn 2, focusing on keeping my opponent bottled up in his deployment zone. I deny on his objectives and hold mine uncontested while keeping him on the back foot... that's the theory anyway. It works well up until I run into another reserve list like a drop pod army or AirCron. Then it mostly comes down to who went second and is able to counter the other's reserves.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Hyrule Hero wrote:
I think the idea of kitting out one of the armies best support units to simply anti infantry unit is not the wisest of descisions and why i rarely play the flyrant. If you want a Tyrant that's good at assault then go for the swarm lord. They hive Tyrant should be used in a support role as a battle commander other then a slash and bash role IMO

Flyrants still provide support in the form of synapse, old adversary, and the occasional psychic power. The guns are not strictly anti-infantry either. Between vector strike and the 12 TL S6 shots, you can absolutely tear up enemy flyers and light armor. I only turn my flyrants on the infantry if I don't have any other targets or there is something that just has to die Right Now.

I think that starting them on the table is a valid strategy as well - particularly if most of your force is on the board at the beginning of the game. However, when you are mostly placing your army in reserve, I find it more advantageous to reserve them for the reasons above. I usually run hive commander on one and a comms relay ADL so they are coming in on a rerollable 2+ so they are virtually guaranteed to drop in together on turn 2. As for scattering, with a 24" move and 18" range on the guns, why would you ever deepstrike them? In most cases you'll have range to something worth shooting at just by swooping in from normal reserves.

As for the tervigons, one is outflanking anyway so isn't exposed, and the other is behind an ADL (with endurance if I go first). Good luck taking him out in the first turn, and by the second turn there are a ton of bigger threats right in their face, so there usually isn't much fire heading downrange at him past the first turn. All of the things that you listed to protect the flyrant would be in place for the tervigon, and the tervigon has more wounds to deal with whatever gets thrown at him, as well as once the reserves come in, more time for endurance to gain some wounds back. At least 50% of the time Hard to Hit and Iron Arm aren't going to help as your opponent will be going first and/or have skyfire weapons.

I'm not saying starting them on the table is always bad, but it's not always the better choice either. It comes down to how you employ your army and what you are facing.

Wow... outflank a Tervigon, move him on, cast a power, spawn gaunts, run the tervigon to get in support range, assault with the gaunts but try to stay within 6" of the tervigon for buffs... assaulting from reserves, brilliant!

Thatguyoverthere11 wrote:

I think that starting them on the table is a valid strategy as well - particularly if most of your force is on the board at the beginning of the game. However, when you are mostly placing your army in reserve, I find it more advantageous to reserve them for the reasons above. I usually run hive commander on one and a comms relay ADL so they are coming in on a rerollable 2+ so they are virtually guaranteed to drop in together on turn 2. As for scattering, with a 24" move and 18" range on the guns, why would you ever deepstrike them? In most cases you'll have range to something worth shooting at just by swooping in from normal reserves.

As for the tervigons, one is outflanking anyway so isn't exposed, and the other is behind an ADL (with endurance if I go first). Good luck taking him out in the first turn, and by the second turn there are a ton of bigger threats right in their face, so there usually isn't much fire heading downrange at him past the first turn. All of the things that you listed to protect the flyrant would be in place for the tervigon, and the tervigon has more wounds to deal with whatever gets thrown at him, as well as once the reserves come in, more time for endurance to gain some wounds back. At least 50% of the time Hard to Hit and Iron Arm aren't going to help as your opponent will be going first and/or have skyfire weapons.

I'm not saying starting them on the table is always bad, but it's not always the better choice either. It comes down to how you employ your army and what you are facing.

Wow... outflank a Tervigon, move him on, cast a power, spawn gaunts, run the tervigon to get in support range, assault with the gaunts but try to stay within 6" of the tervigon for buffs... assaulting from reserves, brilliant!

Oh boy. The Tervigon must spawn before it moves. Arriving from reserves is moving, there is a general consensus that the Tervi can't spawn after arriving from reserves. Also, Blessings/Maledictions can't be cast on the turn you arrive from reserves sadly.

Sadly, you have to wait a turn to do most of that since you can't spawn/assault/cast blessings or maledictions on the turn you come in from reserve, but he does provide synapse + the broodmother benefits for my devilgaunts and he's quickly in position (assuming he comes in on the right side) to do all of those things next turn.

The Army I am facing, what powers I get and terrain on the board play a role in how I use my flyrants.

They cost to many points to let them get mowed down early on, so if I don't end up with IA/endurance( even then vs some armies) I will look to keep my distance.. block los and take shots where I can.

Most of my builds have a couple of pods and a trygon or two dropping in which is when I change to aggressive with the flyrants.

I do have a 20man gargoyle unit for bubblewrap if the board doesn't have a set up that I think I can use to my advantage.