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I'm currently planning a reasonably fluffy genestealer cults and tyranids allied list, nothing super competative, but at the same time, I don't want to always have my ass handed to me.
As it stands, I hope to use most of the stuff in the Genestealer cults range (with the exception of the IG stuff), and then a mix of Genestealers in tyrannocytes and termagants with tervigons. I'll probably chuck in the obligatory venomthropes to avoid as much instinctive behavior nonsense as I can.

But I really like the the models for the Exocrine and the Tervigon, and the idea of lumbering cannon-monsters just appeals to me, especially as a contrast to the chittering hordes of 'nid infantry. Could anyone please tell me what they typically get used for or what the conventional wisdom behind using them is?
Cheers!

Sounds fun!

I just want to make a few clarifications so you don't end up with models you don't need. (just trying to be helpful)

"obligatory venomthropes to avoid as much instinctive behavior nonsense as I can"
I assume you mean either zoanthropes or malanthropes, as venomthropes won't help much against IB.

"Tervigon" + "lumbering cannon-monsters"
Do you mean the tyrannofex? That's the big gun bug in the Heavy Support Section. The tervigon has pretty poor options for big guns.

1. Having plenty of synapse is key to a well balanced Tyranid army, but it may be lees of a need for you as genestealers and GSC stuff doesn't require it. If you already have a tervigon and a zoanthrope, then you might have all you need. It really depends on your ration of IB bugs to stealers/synapse.

2. The big artillery bugs do very different things. The exocrine looks great on paper. It either shoots lots of plasma shots or a large blast plasma shot. The drawbacks are that it has such short range, it drops to BS 3 if it moves, and if you opponent has good cover, it may not do much. But it certainly isn't a bad choice. It's mostly there to kill MEQs that are closing on your army.

3. The Tyrannofex can be really good. Most people don't take the big S10 cannon as it only has two shots and has terrible AP. The best you can hope for is slowly knocking hull points off of vehicles. The 20 shot fleshborer gun is cute, but ends up doing very little damage. The Acid Spray, combined with cluster spines can put LOTS of hits on an enemy unit. That's how I've used mine in the past. And for those zenos armies with a 4+save, it can really ruin their day (no cover save from the acid spray). It's great for moving at the enemy, drawing fire away (6 wounds, 2+ save) and making them take lots of saves. This might divert attention from your primary assault units.


Did that give you some of the insight you were looking for?

Good Luck!

 kungfujon wrote:
Sounds fun!
just trying to be helpful

Don't worry, you certainly have been helpful! The mix-up with Venomthropes and Zoanthropes was an accident waiting to happen, so particularly thanks for setting me straight there (though, as my nearest GW stockist is in either China or Japan, I don't think there's too much danger of me accidentally wasting money).
I definitely meant tyrannofex. It's been a long week, and cheap Korean beer sure isn't helping me think any straighter.

If I was to go for three big gun nids, would you have any recommendations for the composition? I'm leaning towards 2 exocrines and 1 tyrannofex. Does that sound alright? Is 3 too many, given their kind-of-limited roles? And are they pretty much stuck in the "hulking distraction" pile? (To be fair, 1D4chan puts them there, so I sort of expected that)

Thanks for your help!

The only upgrade I would recommend for the HS shooting monsters would be Adrenal Glands, just for Fleet alone. FC can help with finishing off some vehicles should it come to that, but that reroll can either help you get into better firing positions/camping objectives, or can work with Onslaught to make your guys into psuedo-fast monsters.

If you are open to options in your heavy support section, Mawlocs and Dakkafexes are always popular.

The Mawloc's entry attack works very much like a shooting attack and does pretty good damage (good str, good AP, possibly two hits).

Dakkafexes (Carnifex with two twin-linked devourers) are a great/cheap mobile weapon with 12 twinlinked shots per fex in units of multiple models.

But between the Exocrine or the Tyrannofex, I PERSONALLY would prefer the Tyrannofex. I have always liked making my opponent take lots of saves and the AP4 of the acid spray is good against all but MEQs. The exocrine looks good on paper, but I'm constantly frustrated by its short range. I often choose one of the exocrine/tyrannofex, then add a unit of carnifexes, and usually a mawloc.

The heavy support section the the tyranid list is usually full, but don't forget to leave room for your GSC units! :-)

But, honestly, unless you are playing in a very competitive environment, play what looks cool. That's the best part of this game.

But don't play pyrovores. They're terrible. ;-)

Enjoy some bibimbap for me!

Good advice! My fav for Tyrannofex is Acid spray, and a Throrax hive of Electro grubs. That gives you Two Templates...one with Torrent, one with Haywire. and its in the only 2+ Big Bug we have.

I personally don't much like Exo... But you can take one inside a Living Artillery Node (LAN) and it's a dang good formation. My "go to" Heavy slots are Twin Template Tyranno, and Two Mawlocs, but I really like Mawlocs. Two is usually better than one because they are a little hit or miss, so having more chances helps a lot.


Good luck! And welcome to the Hive Mind!

Quick point - if you're running genestealers, there's literally no point not doing it in the cult, as they're the same exact price but are substantially better!
If you do that, you can't put them in a T-cyte though, but that's fine since cult ambush is better for them!

Probably the best thing I can say for the tyrannofex

Tyrannocyte. The drop pod spore esque thing.

you can load a tyrannofex into one and deep strike with zero risk.

Add in the acid spray (a S6 torrent) and either cluster spines or a thorax swarm and you can gut an infantry unit per shooting phase. It's tough as hell (2+ save) and whilst not great in assaults, it's okay (its still a monstrous creature) and anyone charging it takes one wall of death from the acid spray, and anothrr from the thorax swarm. The electroshock grubs are the best because they give you a weapon which can hurt vehicles - and a haywire wall of death can theoretically flash-fry a charging dreadnought in one go.