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How do Formations for Tyranids work in conjunction with the normal force organization chart?

Is it how they ally with themselves?

I'm a new Nid player, and want to eventually be competitive with them, but am currently confused.

Basically, you have your Primary Detachment. Along with the Primary Detachment you can take a Fortification, an Allied Detachment (except for Nids), special Allied Detachments (again, except for Nids), a Lord of War, and an unlimited number of Formations.

Each Formation acts as a separate Detachment and does not use up your allied detachment.

So for example, you could take:
Primary Detachment
- Flyrant
- Flyrant
- 10 Termagants
- 10 Termagants
- 10 Termagants
- 10 Termagants
- 10 Termagants
- 10 Termagants

Skyblight Swarm
Endless Swarm
Incubator Node
etc.

Wow, so a primary and any formations I want within my points limit? Awesome.

Formations are basically a way to ignore the regular FOC. You take a set of units with certain restrictions, and as well as some new special rule(s) they're essentially 'free' FOC-wise.
This means units in a formation don't take up the normal slots, letting you field more than the usual maximum. It's worth pointing out they don't contribute to the minimum either, so you can't use Troops from a formation toward your mandatory 2.

They do still act the same way as normal for scoring, etc.

Keep in mind some tournaments don't allow Formation. Wich is very silly, unless they at least house-rule that Nids can allie with themselves.

Like the onslaught tourney where I live that takes place in a month... no dataslates but can take allies so my nids are automatically at a disadvantage lol

Brutal Viking wrote:
Like the onslaught tourney where I live that takes place in a month... no dataslates but can take allies so my nids are automatically at a disadvantage lol

I would not worry too much...the majority of the nid formations are quite...underwhelming (a few look good on paper, but in practice are not really worth it, unless you were wanting to use those models anyway).

The book is bland, boring and uninspired - but you can indeed get a lot of strong builds out of it.

Find one that suits your style, and see how it goes.

I disagree, the formations really open up options for Tyranids competitively, especially the Living Artillery Node and Skyblight Swarm.

Bioblast node is pretty awesome if you use Carnifexes, Warriors and Tyrannofexes, which I always did anyway. It's free out-of-foc slots for models I always use... yes please!

Yep, and even the Synaptic Node has its uses.

Unless GW faqs BRB psyker powers back in, FW starts caring about us again, and we get Spods back and/or we get a "what the codex should have been" supplement/lulzy allied minidexes, formations are currently our main saving grace.

 Kain wrote:
Unless GW faqs BRB psyker powers back in, FW starts caring about us again, and we get Spods back and/or we get a "what the codex should have been" supplement/lulzy allied minidexes, formations are currently our main saving grace.

FW open day previewed a rather gribbly looking monstrous creature that appeared to be a massive Hive Tyrant with a gaping maw in its chest. In addition to the dual devourer arms, it's apparent someone at FW still loves the bugs.

I just wish the same could be said for the studio.

 -Loki- wrote:

 Kain wrote:
Unless GW faqs BRB psyker powers back in, FW starts caring about us again, and we get Spods back and/or we get a "what the codex should have been" supplement/lulzy allied minidexes, formations are currently our main saving grace.

FW open day previewed a rather gribbly looking monstrous creature that appeared to be a massive Hive Tyrant with a gaping maw in its chest. In addition to the dual devourer arms, it's apparent someone at FW still loves the bugs.

I just wish the same could be said for the studio.

GW responded to the community's disappointment in the prior codex by...giving us more of the same only a lot of old builds (i.e pretty much all the competetive ones) are outright invalidated. Better get buying those Venomthropes, Crones, and Flyrants!

And warriors, lots and lots of warriors because nearly every ground based formation needs at least three models.

Even though none of the problems that made people dislike warriors were fixed.

Actually that sums up the codex. Virtually none of the problems with the old book were fixed save for Hive Tyrant, Tfex, and Carnifex costs being docked down, Venomthropes predictably being changed from a flat 5+ cover save to shrouded, and us having a few more options for anti-air.

Out of the new units, the Haruspex is an answer to nobody's questions save for getting a monstrous creature in elites (one that looks like a hentai monster and generally disappoints in battle), the Exorcine is useful if not quite a stand out, and the Hive crone is good but ummm...why does it have a drool cannon when it's profile gives it a completely different set of targets from the crone and would make much more sense on the harpy?

It's like your newborn baby coming out as a skeleton and the doctors charging you to put organs, muscles, and skin on it.

It has a Drool Cannon because someone in GW thought that since the Heldrake has been so popular Tyranids should get a bad version of it.

 -Loki- wrote:

 Kain wrote:
Unless GW faqs BRB psyker powers back in, FW starts caring about us again, and we get Spods back and/or we get a "what the codex should have been" supplement/lulzy allied minidexes, formations are currently our main saving grace.

FW open day previewed a rather gribbly looking monstrous creature that appeared to be a massive Hive Tyrant with a gaping maw in its chest. In addition to the dual devourer arms, it's apparent someone at FW still loves the bugs.

I just wish the same could be said for the studio.

After the Malanthrope, I have no doubt that'll be a 200pt T5 Infantry model. But at least the fluff will be cool!

 xttz wrote:

 -Loki- wrote:

 Kain wrote:
Unless GW faqs BRB psyker powers back in, FW starts caring about us again, and we get Spods back and/or we get a "what the codex should have been" supplement/lulzy allied minidexes, formations are currently our main saving grace.

FW open day previewed a rather gribbly looking monstrous creature that appeared to be a massive Hive Tyrant with a gaping maw in its chest. In addition to the dual devourer arms, it's apparent someone at FW still loves the bugs.

I just wish the same could be said for the studio.

After the Malanthrope, I have no doubt that'll be a 200pt T5 Infantry model. But at least the fluff will be cool!

Poor thing went from the capital D DOOOOOOM of anything with a toughness value to a budget HQ.

Ouchies.

To be fair, their latest Tyranid product was actually something Tyranid players have been screaming for since 5th edition, dual Brainleech Devourer arms for Flyrants.

I won't disagree that the rules for their stuff leaves a lot to be desired, but that's fairly typical for GW - units starting powerful then the pendulum swinging too far the opposite direction.