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.

Just looking for some views on taking Regen on Nid MCs. None, some, all, which ones etc etc.
Is it worth the points cost (friendly / semi competitive environment) and its pros and cons.

Friendly games, absolutely! The only times I'd actually reccomend it are when running a Prime star (2-3 Carnifex and a Prime or two) or a SwarmStar (Swarmy, one Tyrant guard and one Prime)

It's not a bad idea to put it on a tyranid prime, if only because it's relatively cheap there.
It's a bit too expensive to justify putting on much else.

Great on a Tyranid Prime under all circumstances.

Also fairly good on a Tyrannofex given how hard they are to put down.

When I have the points to spare, I like it on a Prime. Stick him in with a couple of Carnifexes, have someone cast Endurance, and screen them. By spreading wounds around, you get a armor or cover save, a FnP, It Will not Die and then Regen. That's a whole lot of survivability.

As said above, it's a gamble ability that's not guaranteed to get any points back. Let's do some speculation!

A tyranid prime is about 40 points per wound after upgrades. Regen is 1/4 that cost, so your chances of scoring at least 1 '6' during the game to get a wound back is outweighed by the relative cheapness of the ability.

A hive tyrant, with wings and devourers, is 65 points per wound. Regen is about 1/3 of that for the tyrant, but he has more wounds, and more chances to roll a '6' to regenerate. So not so bad there.

Tervigons - roughly 30 points per wound. The regen ability costs the same - so here it is not efficient, as it would require you to regenerate 2 wounds before you started seeing a payoff for the points investment.

Trygon - 35 points per wound. Regen is 2/3 that cost. This one for me is on the razor's edge, because the chance to equal out the points spent on regen is about 50/50. Take it in friendly games, don't in tournament games.

Carnifex - For similar reasons to the Tervigon above, don't take regeneration on a fex. With fewer wounds than a tervigon, chances to roll those 6's come up far less often. with 1 exception....

Stone Crusher Carnifex - here's where it's at. A forgeworld unit, stamped for 40k, but it's actually a decent model. Slightly cheaper than a trygon, with a 2+ armor save and good CC ability thanks to crushing claws. Regen is built into this one, plus it re-roll's 1's when trying to heal. I've scratch built one myself but it's worth getting a kit if you have the means to do so.


tl;dr - Tyranid Primes and sometimes Hive Tyrants are worth taking regeneration on, due to the low relative cost of the upgrades. Other MC's it's largely just a gamble biomorph, but can certainly be utilized in friendly games without much heartbreak.

Overlooking friendly lists, going easy on your opponent, as a joke and trolling, here's a comprehensive list of all the various serious competitive uses of Regeneration:
1. Put it on a Tyranid Prime who's in some sort of deathstar to increase its survivability a little bit.

Also consider the psychological effect - a dangerous unit that keeps regenerating can drive your opponent nuts, distracting them from your main strategy, and that can be worth far more points than what you paid for regeneration.

 Clang wrote:
Also consider the psychological effect - a dangerous unit that keeps regenerating can drive your opponent nuts, distracting them from your main strategy, and that can be worth far more points than what you paid for regeneration.

So they focus their firepower on it, taking it out in one turn, which is the exact opposite of what you want your opponent to do.

 PrinceRaven wrote:

 Clang wrote:
Also consider the psychological effect - a dangerous unit that keeps regenerating can drive your opponent nuts, distracting them from your main strategy, and that can be worth far more points than what you paid for regeneration.

So they focus their firepower on it, taking it out in one turn, which is the exact opposite of what you want your opponent to do.

A good opponent does that vs tyranids anyway - why should they wound 2 trygons instead of trying to take 1 out

 tetrisphreak wrote:

 PrinceRaven wrote:

 Clang wrote:
Also consider the psychological effect - a dangerous unit that keeps regenerating can drive your opponent nuts, distracting them from your main strategy, and that can be worth far more points than what you paid for regeneration.

So they focus their firepower on it, taking it out in one turn, which is the exact opposite of what you want your opponent to do.

A good opponent does that vs tyranids anyway - why should they wound 2 trygons instead of trying to take 1 out

exactly, against good opponents you've spent a bunch of points with no effect on the survivability on the model, against bad opponents you've spent a lot of points to decrease the survivability of the model.