Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So I've recently been running my nids with a Swarmlord in my army list and I want to like him, I really do. I love the ability to just Biomancy the hell out of him and have smash through everything in his path. The main problem I've been having is that he's so slow. It seems to take forever to get him across the board and into melee with my opponents (my area's meta is VERY shooty, so once I get him there, he eats everything) and he usually won't be getting into combat until turn 4 or later since my opponents like to deploy as far back as possible in their DZ.

So what can I do with him to make him faster or more of a threat in ranged combat? With a shooty meta, is it really worth me taking him over 2 Flyrants instead?

You could try rolling on the telekinesis power list for the teleportation power.

Making a deathstar out of swarmlord, three tyrant guards and a tyranid prime can be pretty nasty. Doesn't make him any faster, obviously, but the unit is so durable it'll have a much easier time making it across the table.

I'd still take double flyrants on a competitive list, though.

There's only two ways I've been able to make any MC, especially the Swarmie faster:

Deploy toward the center of the board.

Have Harpies/Ravenors/Shrikes/Flyrant/Gargoyles/tunnel rippers (you know fast units) tie down units from the flank or rear.


Deploying in the center of the board while running will get your big guy in the fight faster (esp. with the longer charge range in 6th).
Avoid deploying him on the flanks if your target is faster (they can bait and switch easier too), as he'll be hard pressed to keep up or engage
anything worth-wild. Keep in mind the TMC's do have move through cover, so terrain is not a huge issue for them.

Using the faster deploying units will not only distract and attract that attrition fire, but if you engage them on the outside (sides and rear)
you still leave room for other units to smash in and bail them out. Timing is sorta important here as if the faster units engage long before
the slower ones can close in, you will loose the faster ones quickly.

Warp speed makes him fleet, which should speed up his cc to turn 3 vs shooting armies and turns 1-2 vs assault armies.

Typically Swarmlord isn't a front line threat but a midfield deterrent and home protector. Nobody wants to engage the Swarmlord in h2h so use that to your advantage while buffing faster units with preferred enemy or furious charge.

The problem with gaining fleet from warp speed is it only affects the psyker. So it only really helps if the swarmlord is not attached to any tyrant guard.

With the Swarmlord, getting him in combat is easier if he's headed towards an objective. Most of the time, your opponent can't really afford to sacrifice them (especially with Nids since you'll have equally pressing threats on all the objectives in all likelihood). I personally treat the Swarmlord as a psychic lynch-pin before a combat deathstar though.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 tetrisphreak wrote:
Typically Swarmlord isn't a front line threat but a midfield deterrent and home protector. Nobody wants to engage the Swarmlord in h2h so use that to your advantage while buffing faster units with preferred enemy or furious charge.

You can do the same sort of thing with the Doom of Malan'tai, land him near an objective and suddenly you have a ~12" bubble of death protecting your objective.

I suggest using the doom of malanti in a pod because as your opponent will avoid combat with the swarm lord he will try to run from it but if you have doom cut off their path it will slow your opponent down and really mess with them. I also suggest using termagants with devours in a pod. My friend uses about 3 squads of 18-20 in a pod and when those bad boys come down they usually wipe squads out. Use some of those termagant sqauds with trygons and if you have enough units to distract your opponent from your lord then he should be able to advance unharmed.

 Garbled wrote:
You could try rolling on the telekinesis power list for the teleportation power.

That is just going to get it shot up, since Swarmie can't charge after the teleport.