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So I keep going around and around about which army I want to start with.
I am stuck between 'nids, GK and Necron.

and then I came across this tyranid swarm box:

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat440294a&prodId=prod2340100a

which i found even cheaper on amazon/ebay.

Nids players out there, is this a good starting point for a new tyranid player? If you were starting over again and knowing what you know now, would you start with this box?\
Thoughts?

That looks like a great starting point. Especially if you can find it cheaper. Just remember that a lot of people are considering Nids to be "40k Hard Mode" right along with DE.

Yes and no.

The biggest thing holding me back from buying this myself are the hormagaunts.

Their model breaks from the foot to base connection making it a NIGHTMARE to repair.

They aren't terrible in combat but to make them sort of okay versus things you need to buy them poison sacks and idk about you but I don't like sinking points into a horde unit.

I don't do it yet, but most people are shifting towards using purely warriors as troops and are having more success than me and my gaunts as troops.

I collect Nids, and I definitely want this box. It's a great start.

Also do you play for fun? Need to win? Also what kind of player are you? A shooty player or an assaulty player? How about hordes or few elites? Maybe a combination of all of them?

If you want to start Nids, I say this is an Excellent start for them. And the codex too.

i

Davor wrote:

Also do you play for fun? Need to win? Also what kind of player are you? A shooty player or an assaulty player? How about hordes or few elites? Maybe a combination of all of them?

I will be playing for fun mostly. But knowing myself in other games I will eventually want to get competitive as I get better with the game. Sitting back and shooting seems boring to me (hence why I ruled out tau very quickly). As far as the size of the army, I cant decide the quality vs quantity debate.

Wolfnid420 wrote:Just remember that a lot of people are considering Nids to be "40k Hard Mode" right along with DE.

I am okay playing an army that has a steep learning curve. IMO it usually makes you a better player in the long run.

The box set is pretty good, especially since you can give the Hormagaunts guns to make them Termagants instead (if that is what you want).

Great attitude Smote! I feel the exact same way. It makes getting a good game all the more satisfying.

I have those 3 exact armies and Nids are the most fun for me.

The Swarm box is a great deal if you want to field a relatively swarmy list.

I bought the Swarm box when it came out to add to my already large Tyranid army. I definitely suggest it as a starting point with one caveat; It has no HQ choice. Also, Hormagaunts are not so good so you might consider just keeping their scything talon arms off and just swapping them out for guns to make more Termagants because as a Tyranid player you can never have enough Termagants. Ripper Swarms are useless. Seriously useless, just use the Rippers as base decorations for the Carnifex you will get more enjoyment out of them in this way. Gargoyles are still a solid choice but you will need to buy another box to make the swarm viable to run, ten is just to small and makes for an easy kill point. The Carnifex is all awesome, no complaints there.

You will need to buy an HQ to fill in the army and I would strongly suggest a Hive Tyrant box. You can magnetize it to make a walking Tyrant, a Flyrant, or Swarm Lord depending on your personal taste. Later you could buy two boxes of warriors to make a prime and a group of warriors to go with him, the problem is if you buy one box and make a prime you wont have enough warriors to fill a brood out.

Arbiter_Shade wrote:
It has no HQ choice. Also, Hormagaunts are not so good...Ripper Swarms are useless.

The swarm box has a carnifex that you can build as Old One Eye, so it does have an HQ.. It's totally a viable army right out of the box. I bought this box to add to my 3000 points of nids because I wanted to play a bit more swarmy (I did the rough math, and it came out to a savings of over $80 bucks on gw retail prices.. even more so if you buy from a different retailer).

Also, Hormagaunts are my favorite unit (very fluffy..), so when you are just starting out, play with everything and see what you like, then tailor in the future.. If you have an extra 40 hormagants lying around because you hate the unit 6 months from now, then whatevs, $80 bucks over the course of your army wont kill you. (and what people say about them breaking off their base is totally true.. very annoying.. I use greenstuff to get them back on the stand..)

And actually, rippers play an important role in our army.. They are the only fearless tarpit we have left.. Don't count them out just yet, because in turn 4 when all your synapse is dead, all your gargs/gaunts/gants will run away from combat, but the rippers will keep a unit tied up.

Arbiter_Shade wrote:Also, Hormagaunts are not so good...

You can do cool things with them, but you have to be smart about it. They're cheap and fast enough to block off sections of the board, restricting enemy movement. By spreading them out enough you can even force fast skimmers or flyers to overshoot where they want to be, limiting their effective damage.
Hormaguants with Adrenal Glands can kill AV10 transports through weight of attacks. Not only that, but if you have enough to fully surround the vehicle and glance it to death, the passengers can't legally disembark and are automatically destroyed.
Finally, the Endless Swarm formation can be used alongside Trygon tunnels to keep feeding guants into the enemy deployment zone, which can be a nightmare to deal with for some opponents, especially if you cut down their anti-infantry in the first few turns. Great for grabbing last minute objectives (don't forget Hormas can run D6+3" out of the tunnel).

Make sure you glue washers or pennies under their bases to keep them upright, though. The sculpts aren't too stable.

Arbiter_Shade wrote:Seriously useless, just use the Rippers as base decorations for the Carnifex you will get more enjoyment out of them in this way.

I use Rippers as wound counters for the larger bugs. All my multi-wound models have an section covered in magnetic paper on the base, and I have dozens of painted Rippers each on a small piece of plasticard with magnetic paper underneath. Depending on how many Ripppers you need, you can either count up or down with them, with the final wound removing the model. Looks way better than trying to keep a die on the base the right way up all game.

0wlc0der wrote:And actually, rippers play an important role in our army.. They are the only fearless tarpit we have left.. Don't count them out just yet, because in turn 4 when all your synapse is dead, all your gargs/gaunts/gants will run away from combat, but the rippers will keep a unit tied up.

Why not just buy more synapse with those points? A basic ripper brood is almost another Zoanthrope, which in turn is another psychic power to help get Catalyst or Dominion.

Friends don't let friends use rippers.

I would grab the Swarm, as everything serves a purpose; including those rippers. This was my last match with the 5th edition book, but I had a decent match where I took a Prime with my trademark Screamer-Killer Carnifexes with a screen of Rippers. They were completely ignored right up until I multi-assaulted his squads of marines, forcing the overwatch onto my bases, and leaving my valuable CC deathstars unharmed to quickly mop up his army.

Yeah, the Swarm box, a Hive Tyrant, and a box of gargoyles gives you a very solid force. And you can buy add ons as you wish.