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So we've been playing 500 point games near me while the other people start to get the hand of the rules. I play codex marines, and no matter what I seem to bring, I cant kill the flying hive tyrant. The list generally consists of two groups of 10 termagaunts, and 1 flying hive tyrant with 2 twin linked devourers, and old adversary. Ive tried mixing up my list and regardless it dosent seem to make much of a difference. Any suggestions?

Sit in cover, kill his troops (they're clustered because he only has the one synapse creature) and watch as he has to assault you to do any real damage with it (bring a power weapon on your HQ choice)

You outshoot gants, and he can't get the flyrant into range without bringing them into yours. Also, walk to his deployment zone for linebreaker, you'll likely get first blood...

Oh, also, naked tac squads not combat squadded are your friend, if you take upgrades, make them be power weps to beat his 3+ armour, probably maces to help get wounds on and/or scare him off.

No You should combat squad them. Because that means you have more chances for grounding tests. Also versus nids weight of fire is going to do more than high strength shots. Autocannon dreads or Rifledreads will do wonders for you. Also you can take blasts to deal with those gaunts, but have at least 3-4 groups of five marines

Take any source of TL guns that you can, since you are more likely to force grounding tests.

You could try and fit a stock LR, TL Lascannons and a TL HB should be able to knock it down and actually hurt it if it hits.

At 500 points though I can't take much cool stuff... He generally tends to ignore his troops completely and just use the hive tyrant. But it's 6 to hit in the air, and the 6 to wound, and then a 3 up save to down it. So I've been ignoring it and going for his troops but when he swoops into CC he's still hitting 4 times at higher initiate and better strength. Plus when he shoots its 12 twin linked devoured with brain leach work shots, so its reroll to hit, and then 1s to wound rerolling fails. Which just feels like madness.

Do I focus all of my shooting at the HQ? Or do I try and kill his troops and ignore it?

If possible, try and take Lysander, min troops then max out on combi-plasma sternguard.

Get your troops to shoot first, if they don't knock it down, get your sternguard to use TL Hellfire rounds to try and bring the beasty down.

If they do knock it down, then put it out of its misery with your combi-plasmas.

The list im thinking of running is:

Hq-
Librarian in termie armor
Goi and avenger

Troops-
10 man tac squad
Plasma cannon, plasmagun

5 man squad
Meltabombs

Fast-k
3 bikes
1 flamer


Edit- to add Lysander with stern guard are and combis, I would have to drop to one group of 8 marines , or 2 groups of 5 scouts, which I could give bolters. But is that still good if im not fighting nids?

 AtariAssasin wrote:
At 500 points though I can't take much cool stuff... He generally tends to ignore his troops completely and just use the hive tyrant. But it's 6 to hit in the air, and the 6 to wound, and then a 3 up save to down it. So I've been ignoring it and going for his troops but when he swoops into CC he's still hitting 4 times at higher initiate and better strength. Plus when he shoots its 12 twin linked devoured with brain leach work shots, so its reroll to hit, and then 1s to wound rerolling fails. Which just feels like madness.

Do I focus all of my shooting at the HQ? Or do I try and kill his troops and ignore it?

Re-read the rules for grounding. If you hit, you test for grounding, not if you hit and then wound. It doesn't matter if you hit with a Lasgun or a Lascannon, you still test before you roll to wound (or rather, regardless of the roll to wound).

I am aware of the groundig rule, but its not hard to save against it, and so far he makes it most of the time. I meant that after wounding and hitting, he still gets a 3+ save, meant down no wound, sorry.

Are you playing with standard rule book missions? If so just kill the troops (drop pod combi-flamers or TFC will make this easy). You should get first blood from this. Then run all your troops into his deployment zone to occupy his objectives (I am assuming he is leaving the termagaunts in cover on objectives). You should get line breaker + first blood versus his line breaker or warlord, GoI makes it easier to play cat and mouse with your warlord and it should be difficult for him to score line breaker and keep you off objectives.

Try something line.
Libby (100 pts)
3x Tac Squads; combi-flamer sarge (100 pts/each)
TFC (100 pts)

If you want to stay more TAC then get melta bombs on the sarges instead of flamers but it shouldn't make a huge amount of difference.

Play the mission objectives, that's a lot of points sunk into a unit that isn't a troops choice, hope for amazing dice rolls if you're playing Purge the Alien.

Epistolary with combiplasma, 165pts

Scouts with bolters 75
Scouts with bolters, sgt with meltabomb 80

2 attack bikes with heavy bolters 80pts

Thunderfire cannon 100pts

Total: 500pts.

Set up everything in cover. For your librarian...take the telepathy discipline. Roll to attempt to get puppetmaster, if the first roll doesn't succeed...take the primaris of Psychic Shriek. Roll again. Puppetmaster is the power you want to get, followed by Dominate. Psychic Shriek is useful. All the telepathy powers are useful, but you could potentially own the bug player with some fortunate psychic shenanigans. Bolter scouts force grounding tests, TFC pounds his weak, crappy troops. Attack bikes either shoot the flyrant to ground it, or use their mobility to shoot and assault the weinie bugs off objectives.

If you REALLY want to hurt it, I'd recommend an Aegis line with an Icarus lascannon, just so that you can take the lascannon (and so that he will have to assault through cover.
Remember that even with all his shots, he'll only average 2-3 wounds due to your 3+ armor save. And if he assaults you and kills your squad, that means he will be on the ground at the beginning of your turn and ripe for shooting at.
Bear in mind, though... If you can figure out how to simply tie him up, you don't have to kill it. It's two thirds of his army, and his gants have no synapse without him.

I'm with the vote of focusing the gants with TFC, once they're dead your opponent is pretty much boned.

I don't have a TFC, but I do have a vidicator and a whirlwind. Suggest either of those?

Either would be fine, I would personally go with the whirlwind to ignore cover and also hold in the back while the flyrant will be attacking other things, ignoring it. I would also take hunter killer missile on it to shoot at grounded flyrant or even hope for a six, that will hurt it pretty good.

 AtariAssasin wrote:
I don't have a TFC, but I do have a vidicator and a whirlwind. Suggest either of those?

Whirlwind. Cheaper and in this case much more effective. Even in cover, every wound is a dead gaunt and with the large blast there will be a bunch. He will aim the tyrant at it, though so be aware.

Maybe a list like this:

HQ:
Libbie w/TDA,,stormbolter,GOI, might of the ancients 130

Troop:
10 Tac w/flamer,HB 170
5 scouts 75pts
Razorback 40

Hvy
Whirlwind 85

You combat squad the Tac and use the 5 w/HB to bubble wrap the Whirlwind. That will give you potentially 5 squads shooting the flyrant, one of them twinlinked, that is a good chance to bring it down or wounded it.

The whirlwind should focus on clearing gaunt regardless of the flyrant being downed or not.

The Razorback should focus on flyrant. It will have a hard time wounding but has the best chance to hit.

Thanks for the input guys, I'll try to get some games in and see how it goes. So far my razorback that I took before was just turning into slag and giving up first blood, but i'll see how it goes. So basic gameplan is shoot the whirlwind at his gaunts, and then everything else at the flyrant?

Remember he doesn't get a save against the grounding damage.

For every squad that gets at least one HIT (doesn't have to wound even). The flyrant takes a grounding test. on a 3+ stays in the air. If not then it lands and you can fire at normal BS. Thats why i would say a bunch of different sources of shooting hence the combat squaded marines.

So we've been playing 500 point games near me while the other people start to get the hand of the rules. I play codex marines, and no matter what I seem to bring, I cant kill the flying hive tyrant. The list generally consists of two groups of 10 termagaunts, and 1 flying hive tyrant with 2 twin linked devourers, and old adversary. Ive tried mixing up my list and regardless it dosent seem to make much of a difference. Any suggestions?

It is difficult to see any balance in 40k at sub 1500 levels.

At 500 points, players really need to agree on restrictions for wounds, total armor values, and flyers. These things are not broken at a reasonable level, but at 500 points, they make it nigh impossible to create a TAC list.

Just go ALL TSM. Bolters are NIDS worst fear. You don't need anything fancy except rapid fire range. Take a Libby and give him prescience. DAKKDAKKDAAKADDKAAKDDKAAKAK