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.

So, my local shop had an Apoc event today that was just epic. Anyway, I finally got a good look at Nids on the table, and they just look amazing! Granted, the guy who was running NIds is probably one of the most talented painters at my local GW shop, but that's kinda beside the point.

There are a couple of sub $200 box sets to start Tyranids: Tyranid Swarm and Wrath of the Hive Mind. Are either of these boxes a good start for Tyranids? If so, which would be best?

Thanks

SG

Depends on the list you want to run. If you're interested in a swarmy list than the tyranid swarm box is an amazing deal for the price

Be warned, the Tyranid codex has a reputation for being pretty poor on the TT unless you spam Flying MC's.

Best way to start nids
->Watch a lot of battle reports, and figure out what you would want to play. Then test if it works in vassal.( https://vassal40k.wordpress.com/ )

->Buy some models for cheap to practice painting on and figure out a nice coloursceme

Then slowly start to build of your army. Don't buy any faster then you can paint. Building a large quantity of the same models will only result in a lot of unpainted models and sprues on your desk and might actually slow down the process. Painting a horde army can be rewarding, but having to paint the 100+ gaunts already on your desk might feel like work..
So no I would not advice either of those boxes. A single box of gaunts, gargoyles or mines (from ebay) might be a better way to start.

Also note that normal Tyranids armies are currently not considered "top tier" armies.
Most tournament tyranid armies are not original at all and look something like this: Some mines for minimal troops, maxed out flyrants for HQ, mawlocks and something else
But that doesn't mean that you have to build an army that looks anything like this to have fun and win games.

Agreed that you have to know what list you want before you buy. There are a lot of models that only work in one sort of list, like the Tervigon for instance or Warriors, and if you buy them and then want to do a Flying list, well there's a bunch of wasted money.

Just as a warning. On top of the lousy nid dex, keep in mind that if GW keeps updating dexes to 7th ed at the same rate then IMO nids will get a new dex in 5-6 months. And GW being GW, it is a toss up what may happen. The few good units, such as the flyrant with devourers, may be nerfed badly - no way to know and with 2 bad dexes in a row GW doesn't have a good batting average with nids at the moment. I'm saying this because if starting you could spend a lot of money to try to get an army that is useful only to find the money wasted in a short period of time.

That said, I would wait the few months and build your tyranid army based on the next dex.

Personally I love a lot of Big Bugs, shooty Big Bugs, but this is all your own personal preferences.

our FLGS has a ton of tyranids on display. When I was wanted to start out with Tyranids they were kind enough to let me borrow the display units for a few games to get a feel for how I wanted to play them.

I then bought the codex, had a read through to get an idea of what kind of army I wanted and then started buying.

Started with genestealers, a carnifex, warriors, gaunts, and a Hive Tyrant, and have been slowly growing from there

It is also worth looking at the supplements since they have most of the powerful formations, really good alternative detachments and some units that are just missing in the codex.

I play for fun. I don't play to compete (as the game is not set up to be competitive). So, I just want to find something that I'll enjoy playing regardless of whether I win or lose.

SG

The Tyranid swarm is probably the better value for models, but what depends the most is what models actually appeal to you. Whether it's an endless swarm or a rampage of hideous beasts is entirely up to you, especially if you aren't concerned with the competitiveness of the army.

So pick what seems cool or cinematic to you and roll with it. GW's lousy rules come and go, but the Hive Mind lives on forever.

ServiceGames wrote:
I play for fun. I don't play to compete (as the game is not set up to be competitive). So, I just want to find something that I'll enjoy playing regardless of whether I win or lose.

SG

That actually isn't helpful because of the MASSIVE choice you have in playstyles. You could run Skyblight and Skytyrant, where two Flyrants are escorted by 50+ Gargoyles and other Flyers. You can run Kraken, with swarms of Termagants, Tervigons, other small bugs and landbound big bugs like Carnifexen, Exocrines and Tyrannofex. Leviathan, with three Flyrants minimum, Shrikes, Malanthropes, Tyrannocytes and other 'new' stuff. A digger list with Trygons, Mawlocs, Ravenors and a Swarmlord to change Reserve Rolls. And none of those choices are competitive. They're all just meant for casual play and will lose as often if not more than they win.

There are a massive amount of tyranid battle reports on youtube have fun watching.

I can recommend, as a person who has got the box, the wrath of the hive mind box set. Tervigon is a fantastic, although overpriced unit that can spawn hordes of small termagants for a few turns, or its alternative, the tyrannofex, is great for bringing some heavier firepower to the table, without having to run into melee! The hive tyrant is fantastic, I recommend making this a flyrant, a trio of wrarriors adds further synapse and are versatile (and good conversions for hive guard / biovores. Plus you get 20 termagants!

Otherwise, I can't recommend the swarm box as I don't have it. But it has very good value - the amount of models you get is worth the price if your looking at hordes.

If you are buying some monsters / dual kits also buy some magnets. They are worth it. They are really not that expensive and its fun to be able to use both.

ServiceGames wrote:
So, my local shop had an Apoc event today that was just epic. Anyway, I finally got a good look at Nids on the table, and they just look amazing! Granted, the guy who was running NIds is probably one of the most talented painters at my local GW shop, but that's kinda beside the point.

There are a couple of sub $200 box sets to start Tyranids: Tyranid Swarm and Wrath of the Hive Mind. Are either of these boxes a good start for Tyranids? If so, which would be best?

Thanks

SG

They are both quite good, I like the Swarm, but you'll need to add a Tyrant to make it work. So that is an extra expense.

I definitely agree that you need to be careful about building the army too fast. Its very easy to see a pile of grey models pile up and feel completely unmotivated to paint. Take it from someone who has 300+ nids on his desk right now...

That being said, the swarm box and a tyrant is a great start to an army. It is a great deal and gives you a good amount to play with to figure out your style. I would highly recommend those two as a starting point.

I'd suggest compiling all your Nid questions into one thread. It cuts down on subofrum spam and if the topics are related there is no issue.

There is also a comprehensive thread on Nids there with lots of useful summaries/tactics and ideas on page one:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/572843.page