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Hello, I am relatively new to the game and looking for some advice on how to grow and advance my army. I started with the Shield of Baal: Deathstorm starter kit (Blood Angels and Tyranids). I really enjoy the look, game play, and fluff behind the Tyranids so I decided to begin there for my first army. I picked up the codex and got to work. Since then I have painted (and repainted!) my army and picked up a flying Hive Tyrant per the recommendation of some friendly folks at my local store.

I am currently sitting at 750 pts. with the following list below:

*Flying Hive Tyrant
(2) Twin-linked Devourer w/ brainleech worms
Pincer Tail (had an extra 10 points to spend)

*Children of Cryptus
8x Genestealers w/ Rending Claws & Scything Talons
Spawn of Cryptus

*(3) Tyranid Warriors
Venom Cannon, Rending Claws
2x Deathspitter, 2x Rending Claws

*Carnifex
Bio-plasma
Crushing Claws
Stranglethorn Cannon

I am looking to fill this list in with more units to allow me to play at higher point values. Logically I would increase to 1000, 1250, etc...

Toxigaunts, a Mawloc, and Zoanthropes looked like nice inclusions after reading my codex.

I would love to hear any recommendations on which units I should buy or even different configurations for my current forces.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

The ten points on your Flyrant should go towards Electroshock Grubs. Better bang for your buck. Even if you didn't, getting an upgrade that is directly against the use of the unit is a bad idea. Old Adversary would have been a better choice than the tail upgrade. But, E-shock grubs give a Haywire shot that is very useful in a good amount of situations.

The Carnifex... Well, it's a bit of a points dump as it is. It's not going to survive like that. I'm all for Screamer Killer types, and that is similar to your build but with a Cannon which, sure, I can get behind that too as a utilitarian Carnifex, but you need delivery. I would hold off on that particular unit for now and get two Zoanthropes in a single Brood and however many Termagants you have the points for. Keep the Carnifex for when you can afford the Tyrannocyte it needs to get into the enemy's backfield.

Children of Cryptus... aren't ideal. I have a lot of fun with Genestealers but they are not a good unit anymore. If it's what you have, it's what you have and there are tricks you can use with Go to Ground, the Dominion power and Infiltrate, but at the end of the day, that's 210(?)pts that can die VERY easily to Bolters and will die IMMEDIATELY if your opponent has Ignores Cover anything. That means Sternguard Veterans from Space Marines look at these guys and they're dead. Be aware of that problem and plan to change them out sooner rather than later if you want to be competitive at all.

Your Warriors are actually exactly how I like to run them (but don't anymore because the points for Claws is usually better spent elsewhere in my lists). I would add two more as you go on or use them for a Formation. Living Artillery Node for instance. Five Warriors is the sweetspot for being a useful unit on the table when you have bigger bugs (multiple Flyrants and multiple Carnifexen) that the opponent would rather shoot at.

It's not a bad place to start while learning the army. Pretty balanced and if you have the Zoanthropes instead of the Carni, you have a strong presence in all four phases of the game.

Good advice.

Did you magnetise the Carnifex? if you did, you can experiment with different loadouts, the current "gold standard" for Carnifexen is twin sets of Devourers, with Brain Leeches. I also really like the old school "Screamer Killer" build. (Carnifex, with Bioplasma, two sets of Scything, Adrenal is optional) But getting into range is an issue, that's why Adrenals can be useful. One strong choice for monster delivery is the Tyrannocyte, that can put a MC, or a Brood into the foes backfield, and do additional work.

I think my first and best advice is get some Gaunts. Having a few Broods of Hormagaunts, and/or Termagants will give you a lot of options, and let you take control of chunks of the table. The second thing you should look at is the 'Thropes, both Zoanthropes, and Venothropes add a lot of Force Multiplier effects, that make every one else better. The third suggestion, is another Winged Tyrant. It is just so dang good, that nothing else can match it for improving a lists power.

The current "gold standard" for a Winged Tyrant, is twin sets of Devourers, with Brain Leeches, and a Thorax hive, with Electro grubs this runs 240. Both Old Adversary, and Hive Commander can be very useful, and possably Fighter Ace. It depends on your local "meta". and on your personal "style"

I think my best advice is build up a 1000 point force, and find what works for you. Then add a Formation to boost up to the 1500 to 1850 range. Some of the most popular (and effective) Formations are Living Artillery Node, SkyBlight, SkyTyrant, and Deathleaper Assassin Brood. I personally really like SkyTyrant (a third Tyrant) and Living Artillery. I also find a lot to like in the HyperToxic Node, but I am not totally sold on it yet for competitive play.

I suggest you go for magnets on both Carnifexen, and Tyrants. The game can change, and todays "must have" can become tomorrows "wtf!" Other units that can be very useful are Rippers, with Tunneling, and a Malanthrope, it is Forge World. It is a kind of "super" Venomthrope.

In any case, good luck! And welcome to the Hive Mind!

Thank you both for the great comments!

Is ignore cover very common? With stealth and shrouded my Children of Cryptus get a 4+ in the open - has been very useful for dodging fire and makes them nearly impossible to hit while in cover. I think I will play around with them a little more to see how they perform.

Since I have relatively little exposure to other Tyranid units, it is hard for me to understand how they perform.

I will probably look towards Hormagaunts w/ Toxin Sacs and Zoanthropes moving forward. This should give me a nice, big synapse bubble between them and the warriors.

I saw that I can do 2x Zoanthropes and add a Neurothrope to the brood. How good is the Life Leech power that it has? (I think that's what it is called).

No, I did not magnetize anything, I just built them to look cool (Hive tyrant has scything talons instead of the devourers). Since I will just be playing casually for now, I don't think people will mind that they look different than what they are.

What do you think about upgrading the Tyranid Warriors to have a Prime?

In summary I will consider adding the units below
*(20) Hormagaunts w/ Toxin Sacs
*(3) Zoanthropes (maybe with a Neurothrope?)

Again, thank you for the great advice!!

The Children don't get Stealth and Shrouded. The Shrouded would come from the bonus of using the Formation in Deathstorm, which means using the Warriors and Carnifex /exactly/ as they are shown, with all their bad equipment. They have Stealth only on their own.

I haven't actually used the Neurothrope but it pops up often enough that I expect there's something good there. Someone else would have more to say there.

A Tyranid Prime isn't an upgrade. It's a whole other unit and not worth the massive points cost, or he monetary cost unless you just happen to have a spare Warrior kit you're not needing. A Hive Tyrant, any Hive Tyrant, is a better choice and you already have the cream. The Flyrant. There's no need to include a Prime.

Hormagaunts actually work well with Zoanthropes because the Zoa has the option to run every turn with no downside. It has more of a chance of keeping up with the brood and extending your Synapse as you go along. Limits your shooting phase though. I never have more Hormagaunts than Termagants but that is a personal preference for my playstyle.

Feldon wrote:
Thank you both for the great comments!

Is ignore cover very common? With stealth and shrouded my Children of Cryptus get a 4+ in the open - has been very useful for dodging fire and makes them nearly impossible to hit while in cover. I think I will play around with them a little more to see how they perform.

Since I have relatively little exposure to other Tyranid units, it is hard for me to understand how they perform.

I will probably look towards Hormagaunts w/ Toxin Sacs and Zoanthropes moving forward. This should give me a nice, big synapse bubble between them and the warriors.

I saw that I can do 2x Zoanthropes and add a Neurothrope to the brood. How good is the Life Leech power that it has? (I think that's what it is called).

No, I did not magnetize anything, I just built them to look cool (Hive tyrant has scything talons instead of the devourers). Since I will just be playing casually for now, I don't think people will mind that they look different than what they are.

What do you think about upgrading the Tyranid Warriors to have a Prime?

Sadly the Prime is currently overcosted, and so sees no use. If you do use one a good way would be to build a Warrior Brood up to 5+ models and try Outflanking or Podding them into the backfield... I have not used a Neurothrope...it certainly looks like a usable unit though.

Not trying to rain on the parade, but a basic "rule" to winning with Tyranids is to avoid costly upgrades, and just field more figures. So I think "vanilla" Hormagaunts would give more value. The one thing Toxic Hormies do do is trash Waraith Knights and Riptides. Any sort of high Toughness critter really.

Ignores cover is a Tau "thing" and Psychers can get it as well. Also some weapons can ignore cover as well. I think you can run a whole "Spawn of Cryptus" Formation, that has special rules, and that might be a fun thing to try.

In summary I will consider adding the units below
*(20) Hormagaunts w/ Toxin Sacs
*(3) Zoanthropes (maybe with a Neurothrope?)

Again, thank you for the great advice!!

Strangly, my reply is inside the quote... Sorry about that.

Bummer on the no shrouded... that really felt like exactly the upgrade the genestealers needed to make them a threat for getting into CC.

Well I think I can easily switch between Hormagaunts and Toxicgaunts depending on how they perform. Maybe i'll get 2 packs (24 gaunts) and play around with the numbers to see if a bigger swarm out performs a smaller, but deadlier poisonous swarm.

Side tracking here - the Carnifex. I need to keep it in the list for now (using all my models currently!). How should I change it to fit my list? It appears I am very shooting oriented with the Flyrant, Warriors, and current Fex setup. Only the crytpus kids are melee. So should I commit the Fex to purely ranged attacks, purely melee, or keep it as a hybrid? I would like to keep a place for this guy until my army is big enough to have options.

Shrouded is given with Venomthropes, but they can't Infiltrate so there'd be a while where you'd have to make do outside of it and on an Objective. If there's an Objective in 4+ cover, ruins and such, you can Infiltrate in if possible, Go to Ground and there's a 2+ Cover save but the unit can't move or Assault unless they get in Synapse range (Dominion creates Synapse for the Broodlord) or it wears off normally. So, they can grab some early Objectives if you're lucky, then bunker down for the rest of the swarm to come up with a Venomthrope and there's your Shrouded. Not ideal, but it might be something for you to try later on.

Shooty is where the game is right now and the issue with the Carni isn't what it does, but that it's the only one that does. Lack of other targets means anyone that knows the first thing about Nids is going to 'shoot the big ones'. Always been the main thing against Tyranids. Having two Devourers, just like the Flyrant, is the popular choice because of how many targets it can take on. Strength 6 is very potent against all Infantry and light armor. I'd either convert it to that or leave it as it is because a Melee only version would just die with even less return.

What do you think about replacing the Fex with a Mawloc at some point? Would net me a few points if I don't put any upgrades on the Mawloc. It sounds like a great unit for disrupting a gun line - which appears to be the main downfall of Tyranids.

That would be a good choice at lower point games. Never put upgrades on a Mawloc though, they run just fine naked. Only thing you need to augment it is the Lictor and with clever flying on the Flyrant's part, you'll keep it in Synapse for when it pops up. The Mawloc is prone to scattering away from where it needs to be, which is why a Lictor is advised to guide it in, but at 750pts, the risk is worth the reward.

Interesting.. what about using Deathleaper instead of generic Lictors? It seems like it would be capable of surviving a little better due to enemies only being able to snap shoot at it.

Could Deathleaper be put in a unit with 2 other Lictors and arrive from reserves in one deep strike?

Another thing I noticed is a lot of these unique Tyranids have built-in Warlord Traits - do they only get this trait if I elect to have them be my warlord or do they always get it?

Thanks!

Wow! A Carnifex with Crushing Claws AND a stranglethorn or venom cannon? Amazing!
Post a picture of your carnifex!

I actually still haven't used the Deathleaper but I have been meani to. There's just too many points there and it doesn't provide Synapse. I never can bring myself to even proxy my old Lictor for a Deathleaper for a game. But, I can tell you it can't join a squad. Doesn't have Independent Character. If you get yourself a Lictor, by all means try it as a proxy model for a game or two, see if you like it.

The Warlord Traits only activate if the creature is your Warlord. It's so having a character can make a command difference but it doesn't apply as much to Tyranids. We have some seriously poo Traits in the codex. The Leviathan campaign supplement has much better traits.