Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I was wondering if anyone had some good tactics/units to take for Nids when dealing with wave serpent/jet bike eldar.

Dual dakka flyrant as always;
Fortress of redemption operated by some zoanthropes to scare eldar with high-S pie plate so they don't castle so much. small squads of shrikes might be useful for threat projection if they can find LoS blocking terrain mid-field. Backfield objective babisitter Tervigon + gaunts +biovores to pie-plate to death anithing theat comes out of serpents.

 Ratliker wrote:
Dual dakka flyrant as always;
Fortress of redemption operated by some zoanthropes to scare eldar with high-S pie plate so they don't castle so much. small squads of shrikes might be useful for threat projection if they can find LoS blocking terrain mid-field. Backfield objective babisitter Tervigon + gaunts +biovores to pie-plate to death anithing theat comes out of serpents.

Disagree with this. I'm no Tyranid player but nothing there worries me if I'm playing Eldar.

Dakka Flyrants for example aren't very good versus Wave Serpents. The WS have enough twin-linked shooting to take them down, and will always be jinking as they're firing snap shots anway.

You need an option to take down Wave Serpents

That option is the rest of the army. Two Flyrants, two dakkafex, play the objective. Fire some warp blast from twin Zoa broods in a week or so when the new rules drop. The Flyrants are what you WANT to be shot so let them die. Win through board control, Objective Secured and more bodies where they need to be.

Tyrannocyte delivered Hive Guard with their Ignores Cover S8 in Serpent rear armor works too. If you can get inexperienced Eldar players to show their tail.

Well, eldar with serpents are one of the strongest point and click armies. All you can do is hope to outplay them.

Flyrants will draw enough fire to distract the opponent at least.

Now you can also drop big "spore bombs". I'am going to use 4(separate) of them and drop them near sum wave serpents. If the want to remove them then the have to shoot at them (15 points each) and if the not then its a possible S8,ap 3 ignore cover bomb in their face. Force them to jinx and reduce their shooting output.

I don't think the spore bombs are going help in this case. To darn slow. While nice to deep strike next to target, Eldar are too fast to get caught by it.

I'm thinking about using 2 Exocrine in Tyrannocytes. That gives me 12 S7 AP1 shots wherever I want them, or blasts if bunched up. Going to put Hive Guard and Biovores behind a agies with comms to help the Tryannocytes come in turn 2. Maybe a venomthrope back there as well.

My wife uses a three serpent/dual WK jetbike army. When I beat her, its because my three flyrants get their electroshock grubs into range. Using Onslaught on your tyrants can help make this happen turn 1 sometimes, but often its about survival of your tyrants.

Take a Bastion always. AV14 means Wave Serpents can't touch it. If they brought Fragons, you should have enough gants to bubble wrap it from them to prevent infiltrating shenanigans. If they expect to take their WS all the way within 12" then you just rear arc em with the egrubs and devourers.

Tyrants outside LOS behind the bastion, then fly them up and they become much harder to kill. Still try to use BLOS to keep them safe from more than 2 WS a piece.

If he takes a Wraith Knight, feel free to use a Dimachaeron in a spud and laugh as you instant death his 6 wounds. If he is really just using bikes and serpents, don't bother. Dima can't catch either of those units.

Lictors can be effective against Wave Serpents actually. But only if taken en masse via the Deathleaper Assassin Brood. But dropping 2 lictors behind each WS is sure to ruin his day. Flesh Hooks can force him to jink and the subsequent charge with rending claws will make mincemeat out of rear armor.

They also guide in Mawlocs which do work. By that I mean they can eat entire units of TEQ. And if they don't, it's Nbd because you spent a paltry amount of points on a chunk of tough wounds with an okay number of attacks and smash for AP2.

Don't bother with Hive Guard. They're crappy BS and the number of shots you get for their price is ridiculous especially with that range on the gun. The haywire guns aren't really worth it either. Might work better in a spud but we have yet to see.

Mucolids can't catch a Wave Serpent that just shoots and scoots. They have nothing to fear from our ugly little 15 pt exploding seed. Same goes for jetbikes. They're worthless against Eldar except maybe some area denial, but a unit of 3 jetbikes which usually never shoots anything all game anyway will be able to remove it no problem and then take the objective with OS. Better to just bring rippers so you can deepstrike on the objective and claim it so the jetbikes can't have it. They're much harder to remove anyway. Easy to BLOS, get cover saves and more wounds.

If you're taking an Exocrine and Biovores, May as well grab some warriors and make it the living artillery node. But none of those units are going to give you much against jetbikes and wave serpents. I would just skip that entirely.

Instead I would bring some gargoyles and Hive Crones. Possibly Skyblight but harpies are meh. But OS, refreshing gargs are good, so it's up to you. Hive crones firing two tentaclids a turn should be able to put some glances on wave serpents and although the flamer is ap *4* not the almighty three to remove marines and jetbikes, it still has good use against an Eldar army once the serpents are dead and gone. It could even be used in combination with vector strike to hurt Wave Serpents (Str8 on side + Str 6 on rear) if the Crone runs out of 'clids.

And as always, play smart.

spaztacus wrote:
I don't think the spore bombs are going help in this case. To darn slow. While nice to deep strike next to target, Eldar are too fast to get caught by it.

I'm thinking about using 2 Exocrine in Tyrannocytes. That gives me 12 S7 AP1 shots wherever I want them, or blasts if bunched up. Going to put Hive Guard and Biovores behind a agies with comms to help the Tryannocytes come in turn 2. Maybe a venomthrope back there as well.

Thats why you need more units to surround the serpents and force them either move away or shoot at a single unit and get shot/assaulted by the other. Drop a dakkafex (or two) at one side and the 4 spore bombs at the other side.

I believe the Exocrine shoot with ap2. Even two of them will only manage to get about 1 hull point when the wave serpent use jinx. Your better of with a dakkafex (apart from de flying hives).

2 Flyrants are a base, must have, WITH Electrogrubs
Crones are nice to force a jink from the skimmers, and Vector Strike helps
Hive Guard are not TAC that great, but decent at targetting Wave Serpents especially if there is LOS blocking terrain
A bunch of Gargoyles with Adrenal Glands are both very fast and can take out Serpents in assault, making them a good unit. A single 30 squad would do well
Tyrannofex in Drop Pods with EG can strip a Hull point, and are good enough in assault to make him want to zip away, almost certainly turbo boosting to get far enough

Personally I (will be when I have Pods) run a pair of Flyrants, a single Crone and two Tyrannofex in SPods with EG and Adrenal Glands so they are a good threat in CC as well as shooting.