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So I just picked up Tyranids and I know a lot is in flux right now so finding solid information is tough but I was wondering if these seemed like workable units to use:
2 Hive Tyrants with wing
6 Hive Guard
30 Termagants with Devorer
2 Tyrannofex

I'm realizing now a little late that I think I would have preferred Hormogants or at least just stock weapon on the Termagants.

I can't seem to make sense of relics. I haven't played a game yet but to an uneducated read through it seems like the Norn Crown could be super relevant but everywhere I read says this thing should never, ever be taken.

Hello ever helpful DakkaDakka.

I posted a while back that I'm new to Tyranids and got some help with my purchases but now I'm staring down that last 500 points to head to 2k and could really use a hand.

I'm currently running a Kronos battalion of:


I'm not sure I have enough on the board exactly to take advantage of being Tyranids. I've been looking at Genestealers for options but I'm not sure a 500 point investment in them is enough. I am a big fan of the Pyrovore/Exocrine/Hormagaunt models. And I'm certainly not entirely opposed to replacing my Termagants (that's about 320 points of troops there).

This is for competitively casual/local tournament play.

Thanks in advance - you're always the best.

Much appreciated!

Overall Kronos has some neat fluff but I'm not entirely sold on them. I'll admit I'm really struggling to know which warlord traits, hive fleets, etc are solid in the book.

I think I overbought on Tyrannofex long term - I have a Custodes army that scares the daylights out of me locally that I wanted to be able to put a little fear in them from coming too near my stuff. So my picture in my head was largely everything but the Termagants remaining pretty stationary.

I think Exocrine + Hormagants might be the best bet for me as I'm not a hyper fan of the Genestealer models (but I do love using great units to crush friends). Condense down that Termagant group a bit too so I can have a larger squad.

I'm looking at Norn Crown for my relic because I'm struggling so badly at picking out what is good in the book.

Just got back from my very first Tyranids game playing against Dark Eldar. He played a pretty good mix of Archons, Wyches, Kabalite, Venoms, and Raiders and I played:



I don't think I've ever lost a game of 40k as badly. I'm sure a lot of it was army inexperience (for example I won turn 1 and barely moved anything at all).

The Hive Tyrants were incredible. The Tyrannofex were great until turn 2 when they just got tied up in combat by Wyches.

I'm thinking of dropping a Tyrannofex, 3 Hive Guard, and all the Termagants to replace them with a Broodlord, 3 8x Genesteal squads (2 acid maw per), and a Mawloc.

I think I tried to play an overly shooty Tyranid army against one of the better shooty armies in the game and lost that battle.

I like to think most times I can look at a unit and understand why it is popular but the one that I really do not get is Ripper Swarms.

I don't understand the use of them and the points cost is fairly similar to just 10 plain Termagants.

Just got back from my first tournament and thanks to a lot of advice from here I'm pretty happy with the results. We played 1000 points on 4'x4' tables and had 20 players.

I ran:
Hive Fleet Leviathan
1 Hive Tyrant (Wings, Miasma Canon)
1 Hive Tyrant (Wings, Venom Canon)
9 Genestealers (2 Acid Maw)
3 Rippers
3 Rippers
3 Hive Guard
1 Tyrannofex (Acid Spray)


I faced Necron Destroyer spam (12 Destroyers!) first and wound up tabling my opponent on turn 5 of 6. I did not play to missions very well here because I'm used to just play games without mission rules.
I faced Death Guard with Typhus, Daemon Prince, tons of Cultists and walkers, 2 Biologus Putrifier, and Predator next. I royally screwed the pooch on this one. He admitted before the game there was no way he should win this one. Turns out because I raced to get in to close combat fast he annihilated me. I should have stood and shot and made him come to me.
I faced Imperial Knights last and this was one I was afraid of all day because they were significantly present. It was a pretty close game but I wound up tabling him on turn 5. He ran one big Knight and three Helverin. The big guy just couldn't chew through Tyrants. He was my first opponent to really recognize the Tyrannofex as a huge threat on such a small table though.


Overall I went 2-1 and placed 9/20. I appreciate all the help figuring out what units were solid here.

I have only been playing Tyranids a few months but when I play them they feel like they are in a great spot. I have only had one game where I have felt like I stood no chance (against Dark Eldar).

I feel like we are just fine right now.

I do wonder why I am having a lot of success with a unit that most people aren't running though - Acid Spray Tyrannofex. They are the Boogeyman of my playgroup.

I am really struggling with how to use Genestealers and am thinking I may just replace them with Rippers to spend on more MC (I play Nidzilla).

Just got back from an ITC Primer event. My first 2k games ever, second tournament, and definitely had never looked at the tactical objective cards before.

I went 1-1-1 for the day tying DE, beating Necrons, and getting tabled by Orks.

I ran:
Kronos Battalion of 2x Flyrants (Miasma Cannon, Venom Cannon), 10 Termagants, 2x Rippers, 6 Hive Guard, 2 Tyrannofex (Acid Spray)
Kraken Battalion of Swarmlord, Broodlord, 15 Genestealers, 2x Rippers.

Wow did the Broodlord suck. Swarmlord was kind of meh too. 300 to catapult the Genestealers just didn't seem worth.

The Tyrannofex again we're the MVP of the day. Even the Flyrants didn't really perform well shooting or melee.

Really need to decide if I need two battalion or if I drop one HQ and run a single battalion and spearhead with 3 Tyrannofex.

My acid spray Tyrannofex are always, always my MVP.

Because of the sheer number of shots an unnmoved Tyrannofex can put out (and re-rolling 1s as Kronos) they tend to be pretty versatile. In Orks I use them to mow down troops, against Knights they do decently, and against DE they do really well against the vehicles if they try to get in range for the troops.

I would highly encourage trying them out.

 gigasnail wrote:
the flamer auto hits, kronos doesn't help it.

It does have the other BS 4 strength 5 shot option as well.

As a person who has been running double Tyrannofex, a Trygon, and the Swarmlord I couldn't be happier with these point drops.