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I have always liked Monstrous Creatures and would like to start playing around more with them.But i am having a bit of problems figuring out the best way to run them.The most obvious armies are nids and daemons but im not sure which will do it better? Are there any other books which lend it's self to running alot of Big nasty monsters.

The eldars can also do it, but it is not what you are looking for I belive.

Nids and Daemons are for people with special interesert. I would wote daemons since they will probably get better supoort in the near future. The tyranid codex is not for beginners.

I am biased to vote for for Craftworld Eldar here, because that's all I play, but next to tyranids, Eldar get some easily spammable Monstrous Creatures in the Avatar and Wraithlords. Wraithlords crush even hive tyrants with S10 in CQC and the Avatar is just a really meaty HQ choice that gives fearless to friendlies.

Tyranids are the only codex that has a bunch of MCs. They have HQ, Fast Attack, Heavy Support, and Troops (when you buy a group of Termagants you can get a Tervigon as a troop choice). They are the only race that can actually build an almost 100% MC list. Most non-Imperium codexs have at least 1 MC but not to the same extent as Tyranids. Yes you can always spam what few MC's the codex does have but you will still need a lot of other non-MC units for troops and HQ.

Tyranids aren't a top tier competitive army but running an Nidzilla list is fun. For a competitive list that uses MCs, probably deamons would be best if you ran the flamer/pink horror/screamer list and then sprinkled in some deamon princes and an HQ MC.

Lets not forget Necrons, They can have 3 C'tan shards and up to 9 canoptek Spyders (elites and Heavy support)

Grey Knights can also take the Dreadknight

Nid's can do the MC Mash the best.

I'd say Daemons, you can do 5 FMC's. Fully customizable with all the options for Greater Daemon HQ's and Prince Heavy's. However, Nids have Troop Tervi's so you can go full on Monsters that way.

I want to give an honorable mention to the Chaos Space Marines. Maulerfiends, Helbrutes, Heldrakes, Princes. It's not as good as it used to be, but it's still worth playing.

Aren't heldrakes, maulerfiends and Helbrutes vehicles, not MCs?

They are pretty monstrous though

I think demons have the coolest monsters. Especially the blood-thirster.

 Ascalam wrote:
Aren't heldrakes, maulerfiends and Helbrutes vehicles, not MCs?

They are pretty monstrous though

They may be vehicles, but they look like dinosaurs, which makes them monsters in my book.
And you can ally daemon monsters too! What fun!

Tyranids, Grey Knights, Daemons of Chaos, Chaos Space Marines, Eldar, Dark Eldar, and Necrons all have access to Monstrous Creatures of one sort or another; they've all got pros and cons far beyond the simple question of Monstrous Creatures. What else are you looking for in a list?

I could see a Monster army catching on in a flash.

A competitive MC list is all im really looking for .I have always liked daemons but with their current rise in popularity due to the new update i don't know if i wanna jump on the bandwagon .

 Niiai wrote:
The eldars can also do it, but it is not what you are looking for I belive.

Nids and Daemons are for people with special interesert. I would wote daemons since they will probably get better supoort in the near future. The tyranid codex is not for beginners.

Nids and daemons are for people who want to play Nids or daemons, I like how not playing SM makes it special interest. Daemons maybe getting a new book around Jan. So if you can I'd hold off on them till then unless you can A: buy more models in a few months. or B: don't care if the competitiveness of your models change soon.

That being said I think Nids are easier to play then Daemons. Every time I lend my daemons to someone they give up turn 1-2.

Nids MC will give you cost efficient MC with no inv save. Daemons MC will give you more specialized MC.

 BladeWalker wrote:
I'd say Daemons, you can do 5 FMC's. Fully customizable with all the options for Greater Daemon HQ's and Prince Heavy's. However, Nids have Troop Tervi's so you can go full on Monsters that way.

Funny, nids can do 5 flying monsters too.
Having troop monsters crap out scoring units is stupidly good. You can get 2 flying HQ's, 3 Flying Fast Attacks, 3 monster heavy support and 2 troop monsters at under 2,000 points.

-Matt

Eldrad
Avatar
10 Harlies w Shadowseer, Kisses
4x3 Guardian Jetbikes
3 Wraithlords w Shriucannon, Scatter Laser

Archon w Shadowfield, Agonizer, Drugs
2x 15 Warriors w Splinter Cannon
Talos w chain flails
3 Beastmasters, 4 Razorwings, 5 Khymare

Aegis Defense line

1965 (throw in 35 more points of stuff)

That template gives you 5 really tough monstrous creatures and is pretty different than some of the other choices.

Tyranids for MC, definitely. That's like IG for tanks.

Eldar for MCs . . . /facepalm

My current Nidzilla list has 7 MCs at 1850 - Flyrant, 4x Carnifex, 2x Tervigon. Loads of fun, and surprisingly effective.

Well, I'd consider CSM with 3 Maulerfiends, 3 Hellbrutes, 1 or 2 Hellturkeys, and some Spawns. Such an army could put pressure upon the enemy from the start.

 60mm wrote:
Tyranids for MC, definitely. That's like IG for tanks.

Eldar for MCs . . . /facepalm

I take it you've never been on the receiving end of wraithwall.

If you go Daemons, you can't get more competitive than Fatecrusher.

Fateweaver is of course an MC, and Bloodcrushers might technically not be MCs they're certainly chunky and punchy enough to fit the bill. Fill out with some basic troops, another Greater Daemon, Princes and if you like Soul Grinders.

deviant cadaver wrote:

 Niiai wrote:
The eldars can also do it, but it is not what you are looking for I belive.

Nids and Daemons are for people with special interesert. I would wote daemons since they will probably get better supoort in the near future. The tyranid codex is not for beginners.

Nids and daemons are for people who want to play Nids or daemons, I like how not playing SM makes it special interest. Daemons maybe getting a new book around Jan. So if you can I'd hold off on them till then unless you can A: buy more models in a few months. or B: don't care if the competitiveness of your models change soon.

That being said I think Nids are easier to play then Daemons. Every time I lend my daemons to someone they give up turn 1-2.

Nids MC will give you cost efficient MC with no inv save. Daemons MC will give you more specialized MC.

deviant cadaver, do not be rude on the forums please. There are at least 5 diferent non SM armies that do not involve really odd rules.

Demonic deployment is not for everyone.

Tyranids synapse and badly sticked together codex is not for everyone.

 DakkaHammer wrote:

 Ascalam wrote:
Aren't heldrakes, maulerfiends and Helbrutes vehicles, not MCs?

They are pretty monstrous though

They may be vehicles, but they look like dinosaurs, which makes them monsters in my book.
And you can ally daemon monsters too! What fun!

So Ghazzy and any other MegaBoss is a MC by that logic.....Okidoki. So I guess Ill say Orks with Dreadbash or SpaceMArines with a similar dreadbash. Its ok they are vehicles, they are large!

Scarab farm sounds pretty scary at double FOC. It would be generating 54 new wounds of scarabs per turn.

 JGrand wrote:
Eldrad
Avatar
10 Harlies w Shadowseer, Kisses
4x3 Guardian Jetbikes
3 Wraithlords w Shriucannon, Scatter Laser

Archon w Shadowfield, Agonizer, Drugs
2x 15 Warriors w Splinter Cannon
Talos w chain flails
3 Beastmasters, 4 Razorwings, 5 Khymare

Aegis Defense line

1965 (throw in 35 more points of stuff)

That template gives you 5 really tough monstrous creatures and is pretty different than some of the other choices.

Not to hijack the thread, but this list really intrigues me. I haven't really had much experience with DE, but I am starting an Eldar army. Currently I'm running two Wraithlords in it, and I was thinking about ponying up for the Avatar and another Wraithlord. You have a good sized allied force here, but would it be worth it to take a minimum DE HQ and Troops just to fit in the pain engine? Is it a decent MC, I've never actually seen one used before.
Thanks for your help!

 KingCracker wrote:

So Ghazzy and any other MegaBoss is a MC by that logic.....Okidoki. So I guess Ill say Orks with Dreadbash or SpaceMArines with a similar dreadbash. Its ok they are vehicles, they are large!

Actually that's not quite my logic... I was more referring to the fact that the fiends and dragon still have teeth and claws. So the vehicles look (and act somewhat) the part of "monsters".

Although, Ghazzy is pretty monstrous too.

Not to hijack the thread, but this list really intrigues me. I haven't really had much experience with DE, but I am starting an Eldar army. Currently I'm running two Wraithlords in it, and I was thinking about ponying up for the Avatar and another Wraithlord. You have a good sized allied force here, but would it be worth it to take a minimum DE HQ and Troops just to fit in the pain engine? Is it a decent MC, I've never actually seen one used before.
Thanks for your help!

As for minimizing the DE troops, you certainly could take a min squad to take backfield objectives. I tend to think that the larger units behind an Aegis are pretty awesome now that many people have begun to de-mech. The main reason I added the Talos was to up the MC count for the OP, but I actually think it does have merit on it's own.

In general, Dark Eldar allies really help Eldar. The Harliestar is awesome in its own right, but has lots of synergy when used in a list with lots of hard to kill targets. As for the Talos, you get a 110 point toughness 7 MC. The Talos can really roll most MEQ and below in CC.

So, to answer your question, I do think that taking the DE allies would be worth it even if you took min troops as long as you are taking the Harliestar. If not, you are paying a "HQ tax" just to get the Talos. The other option to consider would be the Baron and a small Beastpack if you didn't want Harlies.

 Seerpath wrote:

 60mm wrote:
Tyranids for MC, definitely. That's like IG for tanks.

Eldar for MCs . . . /facepalm

I take it you've never been on the receiving end of wraithwall.

I'm not arguing whether or not it's effective. Spamming one MC to the max because it's your only choice, and it just being a really tall dude, has to be the most boring option available for an MC-focused list. Not trying to knock Eldar but MC is not their thing a long shot.

I'm not arguing whether or not it's effective. Spamming one MC to the max because it's your only choice, and it just being a really tall dude, has to be the most boring option available for an MC-focused list. Not trying to knock Eldar but MC is not their thing a long shot.

I don't really understand this comment. Wraithlords are actually pretty amazing. Yes, they are "really tall dudes", but they are also toughness 8 and have very customizable weapon loadouts in addition to st 10 and dual flamers. The Eldar/DE list I posted has three different types of MCs and 5 MCs overall. Plus, it isn't quite as generic as some other monster mash options.

Nids have:

Tyrants (foot, flying, Swarmy)
Tervigons
Carnifexes (standard, Old One Eye)
Trygon
Mawlock
Tyrannofex

Though these is a larger variety, many of these are relatively sub par. The Old One Eye is complete crap. The Tyrannofex is massively overcosted. The Mawlock is pretty mediocre as well. Not to mention that the bottom 4 options are fighting for 3 FOC slots (along with Biovores).

Most Nid lists end up using a number of MCs, but 2-3 are almost always Tervigons (for good reason). In addition to limited FOC, many of the others get expensive fast. Not saying that Nids can't do MCs well, just that the "diverse range" might not be quite so large when you actually look at it.