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This is a competitive list for ITC, (At least until NOVA comes up with it's own rules). It doesn't change much from the main rulebook except that you always roll off for first turn and the person that finished setting up first gets a +1 to their roll.

Battalion Detachment 1
HQ
Swarmlord - 300
Broodlord - 162 (Warlord w/ +1 Attack on Charge trait)
Troops
30x Hormagaunts w/ A. Glands - 180
28x Termagants w/ 15 Devourers - 172
27x Termagants w/ 15 Devourers - 168
Battalion Detachment 2
HQ
Malanthrope - 90
Old One Eye - 140
Troops
3x Ripper Swarms - 33
3x Ripper Swarms - 33
3x Ripper Swarms - 33
Heavy
3x Carnifex w/ Talons, Deathspitters and Thresher Scythe - 324
Patrol Detachment
HQ
Patriarch w/ Familiar - 162
Troops
20x Purestrain Genestealers - 200 (Cheaper after the recent Errata)
Total : 1997 pts
CPs: 9

Setup: I put the Malanthrope just a couple inches from the front and center of my line. Then surround him with Old One Eye, 3 Carnifexes and Swarmlord. To his left or right, I'll put 30x Hormagaunts and string 1 so that it's just within 3" of the Malanthrope. The Termagants will be deployed on whatever flank is needed, depending on the map and my opponent's deployment. The Patriarch and Purestrain will arrive via the cult ambush. The Broodlord will start among the Hormagaunts.

Psychic Powers: Typically, the Swarmlord will have Catalyst and Onslaught while the Broodlord will have Horror. I might give the Broodlord Onslaught instead, I'll need to play some to see what the best combo is. The Patriarch will have either Mind Control or Mass Hypnosis, depending on what kind of army I'm facing. If I'm fighting a swarm or gunline army the Mass Hypnosis. If I'm fighting a bunch of fliers then Mind Control.

Strategy: This will obviously depend on what I'm facing, but in general it's good to have a plan.

General Strats: The ripper swarms will arrive on turn 3 close to objects and out of site. Their entire purpose in life is to capture objectives that have been neglected by the main combat. I'll try to place objectives in odd corners where no one will want to waste units to go to or risk losing the main fight.

Vs. Hordes (Orks, Nids): Against other melee armies, the Termagants are going to be the stars of the show. I need to prevent the charge against them. To this end, I will use the 30x Hormagaunts as a screen for the Termagants, and I'll have the Broodlord stay close to them to provide synapse. My Carnifexes will stay in front of Old One Eye and Swarmlord on the first turn so that Swarmlord and Old One Eye don't get alpha charged by a Trygon/Stealer/GSC Ambush.

Vs. Gunline (AM, Tau): Here is where the Cult Ambush should help a bit. The Patriarch will take Mass Hypnosis to prevent at least 1 unit from using Overwatch (conscripts would be ideal). Then I'll use Onslaught and Catalyst on the Hormagaunts and the Swarmlord's Hive Commander ability to move them 20 to 30 inches and still be able to charge. The Broodlord will try to keep up (8+d6 move) and I'll chain some gaunts back to him for synapse. I'll spread them out a bit and declare charge on 1 target. Only the first model that I move with their charge must end it's move within 1" of the target... The rest can move any direction I want, including 2" away from other units that I did not target. Then during the Pile-in.... that's when they must move to the closest enemy model (6" for Hormagaunts). At that point, I've basically multi-charged but only received overwatch from 1 or 0 units (Mass Hypnosis). The obvious exception to this is Tau who can overwatch with multiple units without being targeted. Hopefully enough Hormagaunts survive to force 2 or 3 units to fall back on the next turn. Catalyst will come in play here to keep them alive so that units stay locked in combat until my opponent's turn. The goal of the Hormagaunts to prevent units from shooting. If they actually manage to kill a unit (I doubt it) then that's a bonus, and their 6" consolidate might force another unit to forgo shooting next turn. If I'm fighting a blob of conscripts, then I'll probably fall back withe hormagaunts on my next turn so I can clear the remianing conscripts out with my approaching horde of Termagants and Carnifexes. The Hormagaunts will then move somewhere they can threaten another unit on turn 3, thus forcing my opponent to either shoot at them (fine by me) or accept that they'll be locking another unit or two into combat on turn 3. Hormagaunts are annoying and they're cheap enough that I can just throw them away for the sole purpose of absorbing shooting.

Vs. Airborne Spam (Astartes): I haven't fought this and it'll be a tough fight. My Carnifexes and Termagants will be hugging the Malaonthrope like their life depends on it (cause it does). They're my only chance at shooting down airborne units. The rest of my army will be spreading out as much as possible to try and force a Stormraven to hover. Swarmlord, Broodlord and Patriarch will smite every chance they get. Hopefully it's an objectives mission. The Patriarch will take Mind Control, and I may start it on the field. Airborne units like Stormravens want to get close so they can rapid fire, so with a 8+d6 move, the Patriarch can more easily get within 12" for Mind Control than if I risk using Cult Ambush and get one of the results that will not put it within 12".

Vs. Mixed (Everyone else): Against more balanced list, it'll just be a matter of combining the above strategies and changing my play based on the needs of the mission. Losing the Swarmlord on turn one would be a pretty devesting loss to this list, and I'm gambling on the Malanthrope being enough to keep him on the board. I just need at least 1 use of the Hive Commander to either get Hormagaunts across the board or Old One Eye. If he's able to absorb a lot of fire doing it, then that's fine.

This is a good list I really like the strategies. One thing I would add or change though is maybe fitting in some extra anti tank weapons. I suggest a unit of 3 hive guard with shockguns. It's only 117 pts, and you can put them with the malenthrope and carnixes. Their 3+ BS can help against fliers and are assault weapons so need to worry about BS loss and can keep mobile. You can maybe take out the brood Lord and replace it with another malenthrope for synapse control or a unit of shooty warriors, and take out just a few termaguants, stealers or hormagaunts to shave off the points to put them in.

Thanks. I'm working on getting Hive Guard and I will try them out soon. To fit them in, I can remove a Carnifex.

The Broodlord has both a Synapse and Psychic Power, so replacing him with a Malanthrope would only serve to increase the amount of things I can shroud. The broodlord has done a lot of work for me as a warlord so I'm probably keeping him in. Synapse really hasn't been a problem. The broodlord is difficult to kill as a character that keeps up with my melee units, and the Malanthrope is able to keep up with the slower units.

It was pointed out to me though, that GSC Genestealers are Elites, thus my list is illegal. To fix that, I can add 10 more Genestealers and create a Vanguard Detachment for the GSC. To get the 100 points for that, I can remove a Carnifex or I can remove the Adrenal Glands from the Hormagaunts, and remove 18 regular Termagants (making them units of 19 and 18 with 15 devourers each).




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Another option to fix the GSC Patrol Detachment would be to remove Adrenal Glands from the Hormagaunts, and 5 Termagants. Then add 10 Neophyte Hybrids to make the Patrol Detachment legal.

I like the idea of adding some basic GSC infantry, they have the option of bringing in some AT, or simply holding ground.