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Made in ca
Regular Dakkanaut




Rupture canon is not great at all. PE only adds an 8% chance to hit (50 to 58). Why you keep going on about that I don't know.

I love Tfexs though, but with acid spray.

I like to have the following in my HS
1 unit of 2 dakka fex
2 tfex
1 biovores
1 exocrine.
   
Made in au
Tea-Kettle of Blood




Adelaide, South Australia

My current heavy support at 1750 consists of 2 solo dakkafices, a Mawloc, an Exocrine and a unit of Biovores (Living Artillery Node, obv.)

 Ailaros wrote:
You know what really bugs me? When my opponent, before they show up at the FLGS smears themselves in peanut butter and then makes blood sacrifices to Ashterai by slitting the throat of three male chickens and then smears the spatter pattern into the peanut butter to engrave sacred symbols into their chest and upper arms.
I have a peanut allergy. It's really inconsiderate.

"Long ago in a distant land, I, M'kar, the shape-shifting Master of Chaos, unleashed an unspeakable evil! But a foolish Grey Knight warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose me. Before the final blow was struck, I tore open a portal in space and flung him into the Warp, where my evil is law! Now the fool seeks to return to real-space, and undo the evil that is Chaos!" 
   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran





College Park, MD

ImotekhTheStormlord wrote:
 Lansirill wrote:
Yeah, that 4+ is nice, but it's by no means reliable. You have a 1/8 chance of failing to bring back a single unit, which is slightly lower than a 1/6 chance. I know I wouldn't want to base my strategy of winning on rolling a 6 on a single d6. I'm not trying to suggest that these recurring troops are BAD, far from it, but I'd only be comfortable assuming a single unit comes back and I'd want to be sure I could handle the game if none of them did.


You went from a 12.5% chance of failure to a 17% chance of failure to a 83% chance of failure all through... odd... estimation


Yeah. I flipped my "good" and "bad" there. I should have said lose on a 6, but didn't bother going back since nobody replied. Then you had to go and make me correct myself.

Regardless, I wouldn't want to rely on any strategy that revolves around a single die roll, d6 or d8. Can't entirely recall why I posted the first time to really recall how relevant any of this is though.

 
   
Made in au
Tea-Kettle of Blood




Adelaide, South Australia

Nobody replied?

 PrinceRaven wrote:
Technically it would be not rolling a 1 rather than rolling a 6 for your comparison, no?


I feel so ignored

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/03/15 02:02:04


 Ailaros wrote:
You know what really bugs me? When my opponent, before they show up at the FLGS smears themselves in peanut butter and then makes blood sacrifices to Ashterai by slitting the throat of three male chickens and then smears the spatter pattern into the peanut butter to engrave sacred symbols into their chest and upper arms.
I have a peanut allergy. It's really inconsiderate.

"Long ago in a distant land, I, M'kar, the shape-shifting Master of Chaos, unleashed an unspeakable evil! But a foolish Grey Knight warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose me. Before the final blow was struck, I tore open a portal in space and flung him into the Warp, where my evil is law! Now the fool seeks to return to real-space, and undo the evil that is Chaos!" 
   
Made in us
Huge Hierodule





Louisiana

Look what I just added to my army!

Needs some green stuff and a paint job, but I'll be well prepared when 7th edition normalizes Lord of War slots!
[Thumb - image.jpg]


Been out of the game for awhile, trying to find time to get back into it. 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut



Cheyenne WY

 tetrisphreak wrote:
Look what I just added to my army!

Needs some green stuff and a paint job, but I'll be well prepared when 7th edition normalizes Lord of War slots!



So. Much. Envy.

The will of the hive is always the same: HUNGER 
   
Made in us
Powerful Phoenix Lord





Buffalo, NY

 PrinceRaven wrote:
You should tell them to make it fair(ish) and ban allies as well. A tournament that lets Taudar in but bans Deathleaper Assassin Brood is a tournament that needs to rethink its priorities.


Fortunately, this is one thing I don't have to worry about. While not outright banned, after about a month when 6th dropped, people stopped with Allies. Pretty much everybody runs a mono-army.

Greebo had spent an irritating two minutes in that box. Technically, a cat locked in a box may be alive or it may be dead. You never know until you look. In fact, the mere act of opening the box will determine the state of the cat, although in this case there were three determinate states the cat could be in: these being Alive, Dead, and Bloody Furious.
Orks always ride in single file to hide their strength and numbers.
Gozer the Gozerian, Gozer the Destructor, Volguus Zildrohar, Gozer the Traveler, and Lord of the Sebouillia 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





San Jose, CA

When Harry....



....met Sally.

 tetrisphreak wrote:
Look what I just added to my army!

Needs some green stuff and a paint job, but I'll be well prepared when 7th edition normalizes Lord of War slots!


That is, until Bob comes in....







BTW, I've been playtesting extensively with the Skyblight formation, running Double-FOC Ard Boyz-style games.


The Skyblight list I am playtesting:

5x Dakka Flyrants

Venom
Zoan

3x10 Gants
3x Tyranid Warriors

2x Harpies - HVC's
2x Hive Crones
44x Gargoyles (in 3 units)

Bastion



Game #1 was against Draigowing + Necrons (primary) - Draigo, 10 decked-out paladins w/FNP, 2 Overlords, 4 troops in 3 flyers and 6 AB's.


Game #2 vs pure Necrons - 3 D-lords all decked out, 15 wraiths, 5 troops in flyers and 6 AB's.


Game #3 vs Taudar - Buffmander, Ethereal, Farseer on jetbike, 4x10 fire warriors, 2x3 windrider jetbikes, 2x2 tetras, 6 pathfinders, 1 skyray, 1 wraithknight, Aegis w/quad-guns and 5 skyfiring HBC riptides!


Game #4 vs Eldar/Dark Eldar - 2 Jetseers, Baron, 9 seer council, venom, wave serpent-spam (4), 2x3 jetbikes and 3 wraithknights.


So far, I've finished 3 of those games. I'll post results when I'm done.


Anyone care to predict how Skyblight did against these armies?




6th Edition Tournaments: Golden Throne GT 2012 - 1st .....Bay Area Open GT 2013 - Best Tyranids
ATC 2013 - Team Fluffy Bunnies - 1st .....LVO GT 2014 Team Tournament - Best Generals
7th Edition: 2015-16 ITC Best Grey Knights, 2015-16 ITC Best Tyranids
Jy2's 6th Edition Battle Report Thread - Links.....Jy2's 7th Edition Battle Report Thread - Links
 
   
Made in us
The Hive Mind





Win 3/4. The TauDar army is skurry.

My beautiful wife wrote:Trucks = Carnifex snack, Tanks = meals.
 
   
Made in us
Huge Hierodule





Louisiana

I'm with rigeld2. All that skyfire AP4 is scary.

Been out of the game for awhile, trying to find time to get back into it. 
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut





United Kingdom

I'm going to be bold and say 4-0 with a very close victory for the last game.

   
Made in us
Tunneling Trygon






 jy2 wrote:

Game #1 was against Draigowing + Necrons (primary) - Draigo, 10 decked-out paladins w/FNP, 2 Overlords, 4 troops in 3 flyers and 6 AB's.


Game #2 vs pure Necrons - 3 D-lords all decked out, 15 wraiths, 5 troops in flyers and 6 AB's.


Game #3 vs Taudar - Buffmander, Ethereal, Farseer on jetbike, 4x10 fire warriors, 2x3 windrider jetbikes, 2x2 tetras, 6 pathfinders, 1 skyray, 1 wraithknight, Aegis w/quad-guns and 5 skyfiring HBC riptides!


Game #4 vs Eldar/Dark Eldar - 2 Jetseers, Baron, 9 seer council, venom, wave serpent-spam (4), 2x3 jetbikes and 3 wraithknights.


So far, I've finished 3 of those games. I'll post results when I'm done.


Anyone care to predict how Skyblight did against these armies?


Well then... Game 3 I think is the lone loss in the series, but there are a bunch of REALLY nasty armies there. However, I think the Skyblight loses its charm at double FOC, because then any army can be tailored to match it. At 1850, 1750 and lower it becomes truly brutal.


 
   
Made in us
Shas'la with Pulse Carbine





Do they all know that they are going up against Skyblight? #3 seems to be the only one that feels super tailored.

Tyranids will consume the universe!!! There is no chance for survival!!
.........eventually anyways......... 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





San Jose, CA

 jifel wrote:
Well then... Game 3 I think is the lone loss in the series, but there are a bunch of REALLY nasty armies there. However, I think the Skyblight loses its charm at double FOC, because then any army can be tailored to match it. At 1850, 1750 and lower it becomes truly brutal.

 Wolfnid420 wrote:
Do they all know that they are going up against Skyblight? #3 seems to be the only one that feels super tailored.

Actually, although it may appear so, but these lists aren't tailored. They are all solid TAC lists that can do well against any army.

The Tau list beats you through volume-of-fire. Here in the West Coast, players tend more to run skyfire burstides than they do iontides. Personally, I like the burstides better as an all-around shooter. IMO, and from my experiences playing against them, they perform better, though they also tend to cause more wounds from failed Novas as well. You're looking at potentially 60 rending S6 shots, of which 36 are twin-linked, and 120 S5 shots just from the Elite and Troop selections, and then you buff them up with markerlight support and wraithknight/riptide counter-assault defense. This type of Tau army will tear apart almost any army, both air and ground.....it's the perfect and arguably toughest test for our bugs!

BTW, in the battle against Tau (yes, that game is done), Skyblight bugs actually get favorable setups for them, including Dawn of War deployment, 1st turn and some awesome psychic powers (3 Catalysts, 2 Paroxyms, 2 Onslaughts, 2 Psychic Screams) for a potentially devastating alpha-strike. You know how pulse-bomb Tau likes to play right? Well, send in 2 flyrants with Onslaught on them and then cast Psychic Scream. On top of that, I get the Warlord Trait Intimidating Presence, where enemy units have to use their lowest LD instead!

Just 1 more game to play....




6th Edition Tournaments: Golden Throne GT 2012 - 1st .....Bay Area Open GT 2013 - Best Tyranids
ATC 2013 - Team Fluffy Bunnies - 1st .....LVO GT 2014 Team Tournament - Best Generals
7th Edition: 2015-16 ITC Best Grey Knights, 2015-16 ITC Best Tyranids
Jy2's 6th Edition Battle Report Thread - Links.....Jy2's 7th Edition Battle Report Thread - Links
 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





Eye of Terror

"... and some awesome psychic powers (3 Catalysts, 2 Paroxyms, 2 Onslaughts, 2 Psychic Screams) for a potentially devastating alpha-strike. You know how pulse-bomb Tau likes to play right? Well, send in 2 flyrants with Onslaught on them and then cast Psychic Scream. On top of that, I get the Warlord Trait Intimidating Presence, where enemy units have to use their lowest LD instead! "

Dirty !!!

My blog... http://greenblowfly.blogspot.com

Facebook...
https://m.facebook.com/Terminus6Est/

DT:60+S++++G++++M+++B+++I+++Pw40k89/d#++D+++A++++/eWD150R++++T(T)DM+++ 
   
Made in us
Huge Hierodule





Louisiana

Can't wait to read all all the batreps!

Been out of the game for awhile, trying to find time to get back into it. 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





San Jose, CA

 Dozer Blades wrote:
"... and some awesome psychic powers (3 Catalysts, 2 Paroxyms, 2 Onslaughts, 2 Psychic Screams) for a potentially devastating alpha-strike. You know how pulse-bomb Tau likes to play right? Well, send in 2 flyrants with Onslaught on them and then cast Psychic Scream. On top of that, I get the Warlord Trait Intimidating Presence, where enemy units have to use their lowest LD instead! "

Dirty !!!

That's why I'm a big advocate of flyrants. They are psychic force-multipliers that actually get exponentially better the more you run.


 tetrisphreak wrote:
Can't wait to read all all the batreps!

It'll be more like summaries than actual batreps, as there are a number of proxies in these games.




6th Edition Tournaments: Golden Throne GT 2012 - 1st .....Bay Area Open GT 2013 - Best Tyranids
ATC 2013 - Team Fluffy Bunnies - 1st .....LVO GT 2014 Team Tournament - Best Generals
7th Edition: 2015-16 ITC Best Grey Knights, 2015-16 ITC Best Tyranids
Jy2's 6th Edition Battle Report Thread - Links.....Jy2's 7th Edition Battle Report Thread - Links
 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





Central Oregon

Just finished a Skyblight BatRep vs my wife.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/585095.page#6637933

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/03/17 01:26:44


   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





San Jose, CA

Cool beans, bro. Thanks for sharing.





6th Edition Tournaments: Golden Throne GT 2012 - 1st .....Bay Area Open GT 2013 - Best Tyranids
ATC 2013 - Team Fluffy Bunnies - 1st .....LVO GT 2014 Team Tournament - Best Generals
7th Edition: 2015-16 ITC Best Grey Knights, 2015-16 ITC Best Tyranids
Jy2's 6th Edition Battle Report Thread - Links.....Jy2's 7th Edition Battle Report Thread - Links
 
   
Made in fi
Longtime Dakkanaut




Just noticed that in 1850 you can have

HQ
Tyranid Prime w/Deathspitter

Elite
3x 3 Lictors

Troops
2x 10 Termagants

Heavy
3 Mawlocs

Deathleaper's Assassination Brood
Living Artillery Node

What could go wrong with a list of 14 Lictors?
   
Made in us
Monster-Slaying Daemonhunter




Grand Rapids Metro

Naw wrote:
What could go wrong with a list of 14 Lictors?


Tau.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
...but to be fair...90% of my lists look strong until compared against Tau.

It's always yeah...that a great list because of this and this and that, but Tau...OH...yeah.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/03/17 17:30:45


Come play games in West Michigan at https://www.facebook.com/tcpgrwarroom 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Wichita, KS

 ductvader wrote:
Naw wrote:
What could go wrong with a list of 14 Lictors?


Tau.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
...but to be fair...90% of my lists look strong until compared against Tau.

It's always yeah...that a great list because of this and this and that, but Tau...OH...yeah.

Yep, Tau could easily do 30-40 AP 5 Ignores cover wounds to Lictors in a single round of shooting. So a Lictor or two should survive long enough to get killed by overwatch.
   
Made in fi
Longtime Dakkanaut




Then I am in luck as my Tau opponent does not care about netlists, he even fields Vespids occassionally. Otherwise I should just acquire Skyblight Swarm with the usual stuff and prerend to be original? Or wait for Tau/Eldar 7th edition where they have fixed everything idiotic?

If I can find time, I'll try to get a test game in Vassal. For tabletop playing there are too many figures to paint for me. Really awaiting for the third dataslates, in the meanwhile I will come up with these stupid ideas.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I also do not think that list is too weak. I have deployment options and 3 Mawlocs, 3 Biovores and an Exocrine can put out some hurt from distance.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/03/17 18:20:08


 
   
Made in us
Rough Rider with Boomstick





I think you're wrong on Tau being a problem for all those Lictors. They'll only have, usually, two sources of ignore cover firepower in the list, and those in turn will be pretty overkill vs small Lictor units. Say they go first and can kill two of the 3 strong Lictor Broods. That leaves you another and a bunch of singletons plus Deathleaper to rush the important units. They can't Overwatch them all.

Can you trade out the Artillery Node for some genestealers with Broodlords? Deathleaper and friends tanking leadership on his most important squads that then get hit by The Horror would go a long way toward mitigating the Tau firepower, and give you additional early assault threats.
   
Made in us
Huge Hierodule





Louisiana

Biophysical wrote:
I think you're wrong on Tau being a problem for all those Lictors. They'll only have, usually, two sources of ignore cover firepower in the list, and those in turn will be pretty overkill vs small Lictor units. Say they go first and can kill two of the 3 strong Lictor Broods. That leaves you another and a bunch of singletons plus Deathleaper to rush the important units. They can't Overwatch them all.

Can you trade out the Artillery Node for some genestealers with Broodlords? Deathleaper and friends tanking leadership on his most important squads that then get hit by The Horror would go a long way toward mitigating the Tau firepower, and give you additional early assault threats.


This. Tau or any shooty army really has only so many shots per turn. Saturating the field with multiple contacts results in a lot of wasted wounds with survivors being able to tie them down on the next turn.

It's not power gaming to take 15 lictors but it's not auto lose either.

Been out of the game for awhile, trying to find time to get back into it. 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Wichita, KS

 tetrisphreak wrote:
Biophysical wrote:
I think you're wrong on Tau being a problem for all those Lictors. They'll only have, usually, two sources of ignore cover firepower in the list, and those in turn will be pretty overkill vs small Lictor units. Say they go first and can kill two of the 3 strong Lictor Broods. That leaves you another and a bunch of singletons plus Deathleaper to rush the important units. They can't Overwatch them all.

Can you trade out the Artillery Node for some genestealers with Broodlords? Deathleaper and friends tanking leadership on his most important squads that then get hit by The Horror would go a long way toward mitigating the Tau firepower, and give you additional early assault threats.


This. Tau or any shooty army really has only so many shots per turn. Saturating the field with multiple contacts results in a lot of wasted wounds with survivors being able to tie them down on the next turn.

It's not power gaming to take 15 lictors but it's not auto lose either.

Not the Tau lists I face. Each riptide has SMS. Usually each vehicle has SMS. Each broadside has SMS. So if you are facing a 3 riptide, 3 broadside, 2 skyray list you are facing 32 BS4 TL S5 AP5 Ignore Cover / LOS shots which is 28-29 hits and 19 Wounds. Then, a list like that is going to include buffmander with a squad of 3 missle pod crises suits with 6 markerlights. Those suits are putting out another 12 BS4 TL S7 AP4 Ignore Cover shots which is 10-11 hits and 9 Wounds. Then you are looking at 10 markerlights (6 from suites, 4 from skyrays) all shooting at BS4. So 6 hits which either means 6 BS5 S8 AP3 Ignore Cover / LOS shots for 4-5 instant dead lictors, or those markerlights are granting ignore cover to the riptides which means something like 24 BS4 S6 AP4 shots which is 16 hits and 13-14 wounds. So I would say you are looking at 19 + 9 + 13 = 41 Wounds with no saves resulting in 13 dead lictors and 1 with 2 wounds. Lets say they overkill a few, and the actual total is more like 11 dead lictors, they have the possibility to pick up another 1 or 2 in assault.

I guess if Tau is running firewarriors, or Kroot, you are way better off. Probably only 8 - 9 dead lictors. Still, are you willing to lose 400-450 points in the first round of combat? Tau is essentially a hard counter to a 14 lictor list.
   
Made in us
Rough Rider with Boomstick





It doesn't change the numbers appreciably with all the twin-linking possibilities, but you should know that all suits barring Commanders are BS3, not 4. It might make a difference in your games someday.

All of those elements comes in real close to 1500 points and 4 elite slots, so it must be Enclave allies. Add in a very small number of Troops and the Enclave HQ, and that's pretty much an 1850 army. Against an army like that, I think I'd reserve the Lictors. On turn 2, you'd have a couple Mawlocs and 9 or so Lictors show up. Mawlocs attack in the Movement phase and can mulch Broadsides and Crisis Teams. Lictors just show up where they're needed. Skyray rear armor exposed? Pop in behind them and hammer rear armor with some flesh hooks. You could put a ring of Lictors around a Riptide so it couldn't get away without burning a Nova charge. They could just all show up beside the meager enemy troops and get ready to finish them off. If the Tau player spreads out to avoid massive Mawloc casualties, then the Lictors with their no-scatter deepstrike can pick on isolated elements. If they're bunched up, the Mawlocs can really do a lot of hits. At the end of that turn, the Tau player then has to decide on taking out Mawlocs or Lictors.

It's certainly not an easy win, but I think it puts the Nids in a position to make a game of it.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Wichita, KS

Biophysical wrote:
It doesn't change the numbers appreciably with all the twin-linking possibilities, but you should know that all suits barring Commanders are BS3, not 4. It might make a difference in your games someday.

Skyrays are BS 4. Commander is BS 5. Everything else is 3. I should have use BS 3 for my example calculations, I started with the skyray, and never updated it. I saw my mistake when typing up the post, but since I didn't account for any of the other firepower like the TL High-yield missile pods, I figured I was still underestimating a bit.

Biophysical wrote:
All of those elements comes in real close to 1500 points and 4 elite slots, so it must be Enclave allies. Add in a very small number of Troops and the Enclave HQ, and that's pretty much an 1850 army.

He usually runs Farsight primary with Tau allies for buffmander. That way he can run scoring crises suites. This was based on a list I saw last week. To fill it out he had 2 units of flamer suits, and a min squad of Kroot, and an Enclave commander.

Biophysical wrote:
Against an army like that, I think I'd reserve the Lictors. On turn 2, you'd have a couple Mawlocs and 9 or so Lictors show up. Mawlocs attack in the Movement phase and can mulch Broadsides and Crisis Teams. Lictors just show up where they're needed. Skyray rear armor exposed? Pop in behind them and hammer rear armor with some flesh hooks. You could put a ring of Lictors around a Riptide so it couldn't get away without burning a Nova charge. They could just all show up beside the meager enemy troops and get ready to finish them off. If the Tau player spreads out to avoid massive Mawloc casualties, then the Lictors with their no-scatter deepstrike can pick on isolated elements. If they're bunched up, the Mawlocs can really do a lot of hits. At the end of that turn, the Tau player then has to decide on taking out Mawlocs or Lictors.

That is certainly a better game plan than infiltrating lictors. He is probably going to interceptor the lictors that come in hoping to pop syrays, and I've trained him to fear Mawlocs, so he hasn't put his Broadsides on ground level in weeks. Most likely, most of his units would be on upper levels of terrain with everything else single file along the back board edge. So, unless you abandon the idea of Mawlocs doing damage, they are going to mishap off of the board about 1/2 of the time. So probably one Mawloc lands with 9 lictors, 3 of which are intercepterred. Leaving him the chance to Kill 1 Mawloc, and 6 lictors in his next turn which he will. On the other hand, that would buy enough time for Biovores to kill some marker lights, and the Exocrine to possibly get a shot off.

Biophysical wrote:
It's certainly not an easy win, but I think it puts the Nids in a position to make a game of it.

It is probably the best way to play that list, but I wouldn't count on winning.

I know some space marines, and IG that would have a lot of trouble with that list, but even a less aggressive tau player is likely to take it apart pretty easily. Maybe I'll proxy some of my warriors as Lictors and give it a shot against tau with some sort of Tax. Perhaps 40 Kroot and a Sniper drone team.
   
Made in za
Fixture of Dakka




Temple Prime

NamelessBard wrote:
Rupture canon is not great at all. PE only adds an 8% chance to hit (50 to 58). Why you keep going on about that I don't know.

I love Tfexs though, but with acid spray.

I like to have the following in my HS
1 unit of 2 dakka fex
2 tfex
1 biovores
1 exocrine.

I dislike borerfexes and sprayfexes because they only offer more short-ranged anti-infantry shooting that can't kill MEQs and TEQs on a points intensive platform in an army already chock full of short ranged anti-infantry shooting that can't kill MEQs and TEQs, and also they get the unit too close to assault range in a unit that does not have the weight of attacks, initiative, and weapon skill to fight it's way out of a decent tar pit. Why GW seems adamant on making sure the Tyranids have as little AP1-3 outside of assault as possible even when it makes absolutely no sense (so a rupture cannon can crack apart a baneblade, but bounces off Joidae Shchmodeer the Striking Scorpion? Hogwash) I don't know.

I do think that the Rupture cannon in particular suffers from a pretty acute case of Gameplay and Story seperation. What we get in a two shot wannabe railgun, what is described should have at least one special rule, and a gun platform evolved for the sole purpose of shooting things only having BS3? Come on GW. But as a whole, the Tyranids seem to have a problem with a haphazard application of flavorful rules in the codex proper.

Ultimately, despite the points drop the Tfex remains a fairly disappointing unit that only truly saw a points decrease, being made the last 2+ save unit in the entire army (you will be missed extended carapace carnifexes and armored shell tyrants) outside of some forgeworld units like the Stonecrusher Fex and heirophant, the loss of biomancy/telekinesis buffs/garaunteed catalyst and onslaught, and a change to how Regeneration works.

The big winner of the new book seems to be the Heavy Support and Fast Attack slots which have seen the most boosts and new stuff and the fewest nerfs, while the Elites got shafted, Headquarters has seen a lateral shift (though the Swarmlord, Tyranid primes, and Walkrants got screwed hard), and Troops has been a mixed bag with Genestealers and Warriors still not having their core issues fixed, Gaunts/Gants being made cheaper and the end of Devilgants in a can as a tactic, and Tervigons getting the smack down we, to be fair, all saw coming.

The dataslates are pretty sweet, and I have high expectations for any full supplement books and Forgeworld stuff to come. Escalation is perhaps a bit miserable for us due to the imbalance between Gargantuan Creatures and Superheavy vehicles and our lack of D-weapons and pie-plates to bring to the table (and ultimately, our rather limited selection of superheavies in the first place, I am hoping that Forgeworld and GW brings back more of the old Chapter-Approved Bio-titans though).

As for the new units.

Haruspex: GW, I was joking when I proposed a hentai monster for a new Tyranid MC. Overall, the Haruspex is a solution desperately looking for an answer. It's not a Pyrovore by any means, but even with the nerf to Zoanthropes, the loss of the Doom and Ymgarl Genestealers, and the wonkiness inflicted on Hive Guards, it's still not enough to really put them on the map in the Elites slot, where unfortunately is still where our most efficient vehicle killing is concentrated. It can work without literally having to bend your list around it like you do with the still horrible Pyrovores, but it's largely going to be a shelf-warmer barring some awesome sauce supplementary materials like new biomorphs or formations to buff it.

Exorcine: The Exorcine on the other hand, is much better, even if it does have to put itself uncomfortably close to the enemy to start laying down it's sweet firepower. The new formation also means you can deploy some without competing for jam packed heavy support slots, which is even better, and it fulfills a role the Tyranid army is actually lacking in; MEQ and TEQ killing shooting. And it fulfills this role quite well. Definitely worth at least trying out.

Hive crone: The air superiority unit the Tyranids needed so that Flyrants wouldn't have to pull flier killing duty all the time. This is probably the most welcome new unit with it's ability to efficiently dismantle even the brickiest of enemy fliers thanks to a hugely powerful vector strike and haywire missiles (which are sadly limited in shots) . The breath weapon is however, a tad confusing as it's rather out of place on what is otherwise a solid air superiority unit and vehicle killer, being an S6 AP4 Template that due to it's lack of torrent and/or AP3 is also never going to be the terror that the Heldrake is. I personally would have preferred a bio-plasma spitter, S7 AP2 Assault 3 18' or something like that, as it would have played into the dog-fighter role better, while the flamer went to the Harpy to further it's role as a bomber.

As for changed units I haven't already covered:

Hive Tyrants: Flyrants got cheaper, Walkrants got worse with the loss of armored shell and the inexplicable alterations to Boneswords and the inexcusable nerfing of Scything talons, both lost BRB powers which is a pretty saddening blow, and Tyrant Guard still lack even an option for a 2+ save when if any unit deserves some way to get a 2+ save in the Tyranid army based on their fluff, it's the god damn Tyrant Guard. The Bio-Artefacts are generally a mixed bag and the warlord traits are very much hit or miss. The Reaper costs substantially more than a Lashbone and Toxin sacs for...reasons, the Ymgarl is wonky but situationally useful, the Norn crown is ridiculously overpriced for a synapse range extender, the maw claws are kind of wasted on a MC, and the Miasma cannon is better off slapped onto a Trygon or a tervigon. I'd really just go with Flyrants.

Swarmlord: Nerfed down to actualy being inferior to what he was in 5e, the Swarmlord loses BRB powers and invulnerable save rerolls and gets ML3 in return. Because the Hulked out Swarmlord was totally something that needed to go when Screamer Stars or Uber-Princes/GDs with 2++ rerollables and T5-8 are still a thing. And as a slap in the face he costs five points more. He's not completely worthless, but he's now easily ganked by a generic MSS Necron lord, struggles with a generic Avatar of Khaine, now pretty much automatically loses to any SC with instant death and EW, and generally no longer has any point or purpose. He's been nerfed for at best, a tepid benefit and needs to hide with Tyrant Guards to not die the second someone trains some anti-vehicle or TEQ killer weapons on him. The greatest warrior of the Hive Mind can now be stalled all day long by a squad of god damn wyches. Forget him, when people say he's good at CC they forget that Shackle Scythe Overlords, Uber-Tzeentch Princes, Draigo, Abaddon, Skarbrand, Avatars, and Chaptermaster Smash fether/Bane are still things. Flyrants are the future. The day of the Swarmlord is over.

Old One Eye: Still garbage who's not as hard to put down as you would think.

Deathleaper: Situationally useful, but you absolutely want as much synapse as possible.

Tyranid Prime: Why the hell does this thing cost nearly two thirds more than before?! WHY!?!

Warriors: Still cost too much, still too squishy when S8 and AP4 are flying everywhere and if you're unlucky enough to be fighting Tau, will also ignore your cover because feth you.

Rippers: Still pointless garbage.

Raveners: See warriors, though they don't have to compete with Gargs, Harpies and Crones at leas thanks to formations..

Shrikes: See Raveners.

Sky-slashers: Take rippers, give them wings, and make them cost more and you now have a garbage unit that has a hard time taking cover to boot.

Lictors: Laterally shifted, but no longer absolutely have to be elites.

Pyrovores: For all the improvements to them, the nerf to acid maw and the loss of Spods to actually get them anywhere means that they are still a terminally useless and utterly pointless unit.

Carnifex: I still want my extended carapace, but the changes to carnifexes are still very much welcome. Made cheaper with new biomorphs, improved hammer of wrath, and better regeneration, the Carnifex has been substantially improved. A unit of pimped out screamer killer carnifexes (Crushing claws, another melee biomorph, a tail weapon, sacs and glands for fleet and rerolls to wound, regeneration, spines, and someone putting catalyst on them) can and will mash just about any unit in the game in short order on the first charge. It is expensive yes, but it's an epic wrecking ball that can take apart super-heavies. That being said, Dakkafexes are likely to remain the main usage for them, and the HVC remains pointless.

Biovore: Mostly more durable and available in a neat formation, still a good unit you can't really go wrong with and it makes most guard and xeno armies cry.

Trygon: Substantially more competition around this time, it's still a solid unit, but there is much more external and internal competition then when it was brought into the game from apocalypse way back in 5e. He's no longer even close to being the baddest non-HQ MC in melee for over 200 points around (a wraithknight will punch him to death in short order, a dreadknight can smite him dead in one blow, a well kitted Prince will butcher him, and so on so forth) and could do with a points cut or some buffs, but overall it remains solid. The nerf to scything talons is tragic however.

Mawloc: Inexplicably nerfed to no-longer push aside units as he emerges, making hilarious mishaps much more likely. *Sigh* He at least ignores cover now, finally reconciling the nonsensical nature of hiding in some bushes protection you from something eating your entire squad jaws style from below. This is now replaced with the equally nonsensical image of a single surviving grot quite possibly killing the thing as it emerges.

Overall, the Book itself is deeply disappointing, but the supplements seem to be good. I should be angry at GW for essentially forcing us to shell out more money for dataslates and supplements to compete with the Daemons, Marines, Guard, Necrons, Tau, and Eldar that dominate the scene currently but I'm so used to my favorite army getting screwed over with bad books, few and far between goodies from forgeworld, little focus in the fluff and video games and novels, that I just don't care anymore. At this point I'll welcome anything GW, the Black Library, Forgeworld, and whoever the hell is holding the liscense to make 40k games now throws at us to make up for four years of hardship.

 Midnightdeathblade wrote:
Think of a daemon incursion like a fart you don't quite trust... you could either toot a little puff of air, bellow a great effluvium, or utterly sh*t your pants and cry as it floods down your leg.



 
   
Made in us
Monster-Slaying Daemonhunter




Grand Rapids Metro

Naw wrote:
Or wait for Tau/Eldar 7th edition where they have fixed everything idiotic?


I don't really believe that there's anything wrong with these books...it's more the fact that other books that have come out/are coming out haven't kept up to their power levels.

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