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 just added a flyrant to my collection with two twin-linked brainleech devs. Im wondering what the proper usage for it involves? What targets do I go after? Should I swoop or fly? Vector strike instead of shoot? Any help would be awesome guys!

 Midnightdeathblade wrote:
I just added a flyrant to my collection with two twin-linked brainleech devs. Im wondering what the proper usage for it involves? What targets do I go after? Should I swoop or fly? Vector strike instead of shoot? Any help would be awesome guys!

This post should go in the Tactics forum.

Sorry..If a mod could move this it would be much appreciated!

A Mod should come along soon and move this over..

In the mean time here is a link to the Tyranid tactics thread http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/572843.page

Everyone in there is pretty friendly and would be more than willing to answer your questions

Thank you sir!

Shorthand:

The Winged Hive Tyrant is one of the best units in the codex.
Suggested armament is double-dual devourers (two twin-linked pairs) and a thorax swarm of electroshock grubs.

The resulting bug is very tactically flexible - having a shedload of twin-linked S6 fire, and the ability to lay down a flamer template with haywire if it needs it.

How to use it?

Solo Tyrant:

Start on the board, assuming you can find decent cover. The ability to start on the board and be available turn 1 is one of the biggest advantages of flying monstrous creatures over 'normal' flyers. The risk that goes with the advantage is obviously the risk of being killed on turn one whilst still grounded; usually people put them in cover with a nearby venomthrope - a 2+ cover save is enough to protect them from all but the most determined assault.

Take off and swoop as soon as possible and stay swooping throughout the game. T6, 4 wounds and a 3+ save are hard to kill by flyer standards. They're not hard to kill by the standards of things on the ground. Keep in the air where artillery and plasma cannons can't attack you and you should be safe.

Engage whatever. You're a very good flyer-killer; the 360' arc of fire of a monstrous creature helps a lot, and massed S6 fire kills everything from dreadnoughts to grots. If a unit is dug into cover, overfly them and use vector strikes and the thorax swarm to winkle them out of cover.

The only time you should consider slowing to gliding speed is if you need the tyrant to claim an objective. He can fight in an assault, but nine times out of ten he'll be better spending his time shooting.

If you have Shield of Baal: Leviathan, consider an Ace upgrade - the Tyranid Ace table is one of the best ones.


Skytyrant
The other good option is a melee tyrant with wings in a Skytyrant formation detachment. You've got 20-60 ablative gargoyle wounds that an enemy has to chew through in the 1-2 shooting phases before you're on the enemy. A thorax swarm is still a good buy, as are the melee bio-artefacts and biomorphs.

Adrenal glands is a so-so - I had this debate in the other tactics thread. Furious charge is nice but you can get poison cheaper and S7 doesn't massively improve your ability to bust tanks or cause instant death, so it's probably most useful for Fleet. However, to benefit from fleet, you need to issue all the gargoyles with adrenal glands too - and at 1/3 the price of a gargoyle, that gets expensive, fast.

Recommended weapons - a thorax swarm of your choice, a pair of scything talons, and a second melee biomorph or bio-artefact. The Reaper of Obliterax is king of the melee weapons, but I think is pricey - it's more worth it for species which can't take a lashwhip and bonesword normally (like a Trygon Prime), whilst the Maw-Claws aren't any better than normal rending claws but once bloodied will confer preferred enemy to any surviving gargolyes in the brood, too. The Ymgarl Factor has its moments as you can challenge an opponent and a monstrous creature with a 2+ save is kind of horrific to try and kill. You pays your money and takes your choice.

Don't forget it's synapse and psychic functions.

Synapse wise it allows you to put things that have gone to ground back into the fight instantly just by flying near. This is great for genestealers and lictors.

Psychic they are ML2 and very mobile in 6th you had to loose 6 Dev shots to fire off a lance this is no longer the case. Also the utility of most of the Nid psychic powers is only inhanced by beeing so mobile...

The problem is that you're taking 1.
Take 3 instead.

Yeah, not much to add...two is practically mandatory, they are just so dang good. Three is probably the "break point" where the expense starts to eat into the function of the rest of the army.

There are currently two main army builds...Using Tyrants to boost the Army, (Two) and the Tyrants Are the army... (4 or 5 Tyrants, almost no troops etc...) The juries out on what is "best". I suspect it will come down to style in the end. (it always does. )