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Hey guys, newer user and new nid player.
I was wondering what the viability of the Nidzilla lists. to elaborate lists that field as many as the big scary monstrous creatures as possible.
any help or insight you give would be appreciated!

Is it going to win a major tournament? Probably not.

Can it compete at a typical FLGS and be an interesting experience for the pilot and opponent? Yes.

Carnifex spam is alive and well post-FAQ and was pretty strong beforehand. It'd work.

Spam Carnifexes, iirc, they can be taken as 3 models per unit, so you can field up to 9 of them. They are very versitale as well, can fill the role of both shooty and choppy. If you like, you can consider 3 FHT and an OOE as HQ. Then also some Harpy and Hive Crone as fast attacks which can quite reliably perform a 1st turn charge to buy your Carnifexes some time to get into enemy line or into good firing position.

This is what I came up with:

+++ Nidzilla (Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition) [110 PL, 2000pts] +++

++ Battalion Detachment +5CP (Tyranids) ++

+ No Force Org Slot +

Hive Fleet: Kraken

+ HQ +

Neurothrope

The Swarmlord

+ Troops +

Genestealers: 5x Acid Maw
. 20x Genestealer: 20x Rending Claws

Hormagaunts
. 30x Hormagaunt: 30x Adrenal Glands

Ripper Swarms: 3x Ripper Swarm

++ Spearhead Detachment +1CP (Tyranids) ++

+ No Force Org Slot +

Hive Fleet: Kraken

+ HQ +

Old One Eye

+ Heavy Support +

Carnifexes
. Carnifex: Enhanced Senses, Spore Cysts, 2x Two Devourers with Brainleech Worms
. Carnifex: Enhanced Senses, Spore Cysts, 2x Two Devourers with Brainleech Worms
. Carnifex: Enhanced Senses, Spore Cysts, 2x Two Devourers with Brainleech Worms

Carnifexes
. Carnifex: 2x Monstrous Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands, Bone Mace, Spore Cysts
. Carnifex: 2x Monstrous Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands, Spore Cysts, Tusks
. Carnifex: 2x Monstrous Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands, Bone Mace, Spore Cysts, Tusks

Carnifexes
. Carnifex: 2x Monstrous Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands, Bone Mace, Spore Cysts, Tusks
. Carnifex: 2x Monstrous Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands, Bone Mace, Spore Cysts, Tusks
. Carnifex: 2x Monstrous Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands, Bone Mace, Spore Cysts, Tusks




First turn is literally just advance with everything, first turn charge with the genestealers/hormagaunts, tagging whatever you can to prevent shooting. If you can get onslaught off with the hormies and your opponent has some screens up front you might be able to get off both charges thanks to swarmlord.

Turn 2 sit the shooty fex's in the middle of the table, blasting anything they can, and have the rest of your army just grind your opponent to pieces.

Not many lists will have the firepower to kill 10 carnies + swarmlord AND 50 troops very quickly, expecially if you tie up a good chunk on turn one.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Just for fun I added up the points for having all the carnifex's you can into a list and it came up to 217 PL/4772 with equips maxed out and mostly melee fex's.

We can take 37 carnifexen since we have multiple datasheets and they can squadron.

Right now Nidzilla lists are about B rank (on the normal S A B C D video game scale). You won't win GT's with them, but you will do well at small events and in casual games. With practice and played well, you can likely threaten top tables, but have some bad match ups that will be a problem.

Nidzilla does well at target saturation, is fun to play, is fun and easy to build (modeling wise, by Tyranid standards), and several of the Hive Fleets work well with it.

Some misc thoughts.

Avoid the temptation to run units of small bugs. One of the big advantages of this style of list is that you give your opponent no good targets for their anti-infantry units. A single unit of Genestealers or 'gaunts sounds appealing, but is going to be very hard to keep alive because EVERY anti-infantry gun is going to shoot at them. We don't have great ways to get first turn Genestealer charges any more, so they rely on 'thrope -1 to hit and the 5++ invul, which is not enough unless you go heavy (40-80 models) on the 'stealers.

The Swarmlord is fun but tricky. His extra move trick can get a fast monster into CC first turn. If you use it on a flying Tyrant or Harpy/Crone, it can reach almost then entire board, regardless of deplyment. On the other hand, he is a HUGE fire magnet. The 4++ invul and -1 to be hit from a 'thrope might keep him alive for 2 turns, but not much longer. Tyrant Guard help a little, but are expensive.

Hive Tyrants with wings are very good. They hit hard, have good guns, and can deep strike. The FAQ made it so we can't take 8 of them in one list anymore, so everybody is down on them, but they are still strong and 2-3 of them is very much worth it.

Trygons are iffy. They cost a lot for poor toughness and not enough wounds, so they die quick. If they survive long enough to get anywhere, or make the charge after deep striking, they hit HARD. Mawlocs, which use the same model (just magnetize the head) are very useful. Deep strike them next to vehicles or characters, deal a few mortal wounds, and the other player has to focus on them for a turn. They are cheep enough that you don't mind them dying, and it buys you the turn you need for the walking part of your army to get in.

Carnifexes (carnifexen? carnifexi?) are good. You can put a lot of them on the table and they hit hard. The -1 to hit upgrade is priceless on them. Consider running some of them as pure guns, with the 1+ to hit upgrade and 4 gun arms (deathspitters and devourers are both good), and some as pure melee. I don't like mixing CC and guns on the same carnifex, because that reduces the efficiency of the various upgrades you can take on them.

Sooner or later you are going to want at least one Malanthrope. It is a Forgeworld model that is effectively a super Venomthrope. It gives out the -1 to hit bubble, has a few more wounds, and is a character, which is super important. It is also an awesome model. Venomthropes are not characters, so they can be targeted, and once they go below 3 models, the -1 to hit bubble stops working on monsters. If you run multiple Hive Fleets, be aware that the aura is Hive Fleet specific.

Consider using Hive Guard. If you give them Shock Cannons you can use Raveners to deep strike them. They functionally work as an anti-tank sniper that pops up and kills a vehicle a turn. The other gun option is very good as well. Sit them out of line of sight and murder things.

If you want units to screen, use bombs. You don't have to worry about first turn charges anymore (yay FAQ?), so you can keep a few units of bombs (any type works) in reserve, then deep strike them in front of who ever you want to protect. This give you flexibility.

Hive Fleet wise, I suggest either Kraken for more reliable advance. Fall back and charge in the same phase from Kraken is also really really useful. Leviathan for the feel no pain is also worth trying. With as many wounds as you have, sooner or later you will make some of those 6+++ saves.

If you are willing to mix Hive Fleets, consider a small detachment of Jormgmundr and or a small Kronos detachment.

Jormgundr isn't great for the main force, because you don't get the benefit if you advance, but in enables Raveners to deliver infantry units, like shock Hive Guard and Termagants with devouerers. The warlord trait is an ignores cover bubble around the warlord. The Jorgmundr detachment would consist of a pair of Neurothropes, Hive Guard/Termagants, Raveners, and 2-3 units of Rippers. This gives you a battalion (sweet sweet CP) that entirely deep strikes. The Rippers have deep strike, and are used to grab objectives, or pop out to block charges/deny deeps strikes. The Nerothropes both go in the Ravener tunnels (costs a CP each), and come in with the shooty unit. They can smite, and ensure that you have synapse. Remember that synapse is hive fleet specific, so you need them with the shooty unit. If the shooty unit is Hive Guard, a 6 model unit averages about 5 moral wounds plus 3-6 saves on a vehicle, then the same again when you double shoot them. If the shooty unit is devilgants, they remove infantry units, then they remove more infantry units when you double shoot them.

The disadvantage of the Jorgmundr detachment is that it is expensive, and it burns CP. In order to do the drop and double tap a shooty unit, your spending 5 CP. The advantage is that it gives you a tool to clear out hordes, or a tool to remove vehicles at range. Nidzilla lists can be built to do one of those two things, and the drop detachment fills in the gap. If you go this way, I would recommend the Hive Guard, because a gun tank in a corner can be extremely frustrating to deal with otherwise.

Kronos is also a poor choice for your big monster Hive Fleet, (because you want to be moving every turn), but brings utility. The Kronos specific stragegium is the best pychic denial in the game. Kronos complements Impaler Cannon Hive Guard quite well (hitting on 3s, reroll 1's, 36" range means you don't need to move them very much). A Kronos battalion that consists of two Neurothropes (cheap HQ), 3 Rippers (cheap, deep striking Troops), and a bunch of bombs (cheap, deep striking models) can really shut down casters. The idea is you deep strike a Kronos unit near a caster that you want to mess with each turn in order to have units within the 24" range of the strat. You don't mind if they get shot to death, because they have done their job just by existing during the other players casting phase. The Neurothropes move forward aggressively and smite things. The warlord trait is short ranged, but hurts casters as well, so you can consider making one of them your warlord.

If you want, you can have one Neurothrope babysit a unit of Hive Guard, or a unit of Biovores. The Biovores are trolltastic, because the bombs they spawn when they miss count as from their Hive Fleet, and so count for the strat.

Another option with Kronos is to use Flying Hive Tyrants, one of them being your warlord. You play them aggressively, deep striking them on top of casters, and don't worry too much when they die. I'm not fond of this idea, but others say it works.

Final thought. There are some shooting based Nidzilla lists that use Exocrines, Tyranofexes, Hive Guard, and Biovores + 'thropes as a gunline. They use either Kronos or Jorgmundr (reroll 1's to hit in shooting vs counting as being in cover) and can be entertaining to play.