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Hey guys. Tax season is here and after toying around with the idea of starting to play 40k for a while now, I"m finally going to take the plunge and buy my first models with some of the fun money from my taxes. I'm going to be playing Tyranid.

I did a few proxy battles with my roomate who plays, and I found the army somewhat frustrating to play, but fun as well. Synapse was a huge problem for me as well as dealing with tanks, as he is a AM player. After looking around for awhile online, I found that most players stick to a kind of simmilar theme, especially in lower point games; Dakka flyrant+Venomthrope+As few troops as possible and then filled their list out from there. What started as me playing an army that looked like

Swarmlord
Genestealers
Lots of Gaunts+Gants
Raveners

Ended up looking like
Flyrant w/ TL Devourers
Dakkafex
Venomthrope
30 Termagants
Tervigon

I certainly did a lot better, but I couldn't help but notice tyranid need some pricey stuff to play a somewhat competitive list (I have no idea, really, how good it was, certainly it was better than what I was using, though.) Lots of Heavy supports/elites and few troops. Well, I'm a beginner in both painting and playing, so I'm not after the most cutthroat lists right away, but I do want to have fun and win at least be able to win 50/50ish.

I'm coming into this with a budget in my head of what I want to spend; around 300 and I want to get around an 800 point list going. I'm willing to go over by a bit if it's going to help me out, and I can add on in the future if I like the game/hobby and if I don't, it's not like I lost a big chunk of cash in the process. My roomate is interested in going halfsies on the new Shield of Baal starter to kickstart his Space Marine collection, so that is definitely something that would probably be cost effective for me. 60ish bucks buys me a fex and a some extra modles (warriors aren't great from what I understand, but they're at least not super terrible,) a rules book, templates, etc, and the fex is about 40 by itself on ebay. Other big boxed sets that are an option are the Tyranid Swarm box ( 10 Gargoyles; 40 Hormagaunts; 40 Termagants; 1 Carnifex; and 4 Ripper Swarms,) and the Wrath of the Hive mind Box (1 Hive Tyrant, 1 Tervigon/Tyrannofex, 3 Tyranid Warriors and 20 Termagants plus 3 ripper swarms.) Both of these can be had for 120-140ish USD on ebay. Purely gameplay wise, the wrath of the hivemind set seems to be geared toward a better army, already including a flyrant, and a tervigon, though they don't give you enough termagants to play the Tervigon as a troops, and you'll have no termagants to poop out anyway assuming you're playing them as troops in the first place. You get around 200 USD worth of modles (GW prices, at least), so not bad. The Swarm box just is a lot of units to have a pretty big selection to choose from, thought that might not be necessarily the best (though, bonus fex', not bad!). Either way I'm planning on having to drop at least a bit on a venomthrope as after playing with one nids seem really squishy without one.

So, I'm throwing it to you guys! What would you say is a good idea for a beginner tyranid player? Once again, I'm not looking to be cuthroat right away, but I'd like to win at least some of the time and have a good time painting and playing. Are the boxed sets a good deal in your opinion, or am I better off going mix and match? What units should I absolutely stay away from, and which units should I give a try? Once again, I'm going for an 800ish point list, give or take.

Thanks for your help! Sorry if this was the wrong forum, but this seemed like the best option out of the available 40k forums! Have a nice week!

Alright so I would definitely start out with the Wrath of the Hive Mind. It'll give you a tyrant which should probably be made into a flying hive tyrant (magnetizing helps save money too). It also will give you a tervigon and some gants to start out with. I usually always run a tervigon as one troop and 30 gaunts as the other. The warriors aren't so bad either as they can help with synapse as well as being a multipurpose unit that can be geared towards close combat or shooting depending on what you want to spend. They also are another troop choice which is good for snagging an objective if it comes down to it. That all goes for $165.

Honestly from there it depends on what you're wanting to run for a list. I would probably pick up some more gants as you'll need them for the tervigon. At low list values it would also be wise to run multiple hive tyrants so you could get another one of those so you could field another flying monstrous creature. Honestly the swarm box would be more models for you money and it sits at $170. Picking up another Tyrant costs $53.75. Although this might be something worth picking up later and just proxy any models the tervigon pops out with others.

So at 800pnts if you get just the wrath of the hive mind and an extra tyrant you could run 2 flyrants with brainleech devourers, a tervigon with the miasma cannon, and 30 gaunts for 800pnts IIRC the point listings. The only thing you would need is more termagants which you could probably find great deals on ebay for just some big lot of gants. That would be a total of $218.75 for the Wrath box and the hive tyrant plus whatever the gants cost you which shouldn't be too much.

Serverus has the right idea. Though I will put out a warning that tervigons mileage will vary. Sometimes it is just going to spit out a few troops and dry up. Always remind yourself that even if it gave you 3 gaunts that you are running completely knew troop squad. That squad can run on to an objective and win you the game.

Make sure that you take some time and look at the formations in the Baal book and the other book put out for nids recently (sorry, don't have it on hand). These formations are really powerful, and a great thing to build an army around.

Flyrants will help against guard, as they are good at posting themselves behind a gun line of tanks (landing), shooting and then still assaulting what is left.

Might also be worth looking at the "Skyblight Swarm" formation. It is 805 points base, but if you and your opponent are ever interested in going to 1000 points, you can really upgrade the formation well and get some good special rules out of it.

All good advice! Nids can be good with more than just the current "Net darling" I personally run two Broods of Hormagaunts with dang near every list I build. Either the Wrath, or the Swarm box give terrific value. Because the Tervigon is of moderate value (currently) you might look at magnetizing and also have a Tyrannofex It is one of my all time favorites for lower point games. I run it with Acid Spray, and a Thorax hive for a second Template, Electro grubs for Haywire, to mess with pesky armored vehicles. I like putting Adrenal Glands on for 200 points total. She is almost unkillable in a low point game. And she can wipe out whole units with amazing ease.

You'll want a Tyrant (with Wings), the next big purchase is the the Venothrope/ Zoanthrope box, if you build one Zoey, and two Venos, you will be happy about 90% of the time. I like running two Zoeys, but I double the Venos for durability any way.

After Winged Tyrants, the Heavy slot is the strongest part of our Codex, so filling out there is a good idea, each makes a fun project, andadds a lot of table strength. I personally consider Mawloc to be a super star, but if you have bad luck, it can perform dismally.

If you get the Baal box, it kind of forces how you build, so consider building how you wish instead. I think the Brood lord mob is possably playable, the rest I just don't see as very good. The the special rules it grants are dang good, so that might save it.

I normally suggest the Swarm Box, and a Tyrant, that gives you a lot of Tyranids, and you can make a very good 500 to 1000 point force right there. Add a box of Warriors, a Box of 'Thropes and you will have plenty of options.

Once you have a 1000 points built, and have a bunch of games played you can look at adding a Formation to jump up to 1500 to 1850. Living Artillery Node is a very good one, and I personally Love Sky Tyrant.

The "best" Current build for a Carnifex is the same as a Tyrant two twin linked sets of Devourers with Brain Leeches, but that could chang, so magnets are your friend.

In any case, Welcome to the Hive Mind!