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I hear alot about how its not very well writen, but frankly I dont care. How does it look from a gameplay standard? Any big draw backs for a new player (Brand new, with only gaunts) that make the army unplayable? Aside from the removal of the Mycetic spore, because that seemed kinda pointless.
Edit:By that I mean the removal of the Mycetic spore, not the spore itself.

Personally I think it's made the game more fun. I play for enjoyment not just to stomp my opponent.
The randomness is great because every battle can vary wildly from the last.

My biggest issue is how in attempting to unify the special rules across each codex all GW have done is create a uniquely named rule that then refers you back to a USR in the BRB.
For the bulk of rules it's okay but I've never spent so much time flipping through books to clarify things.

The biggest drawback is the new Instinctive Behaviour. Without Syanpse creatures your guys will go to ground, run away, or kill each other and then run away. It's a pretty restrictive book when it comes to list building, as you always have to worry about Syanpse, and a lot of the units in the book are simply not worth playing either because they're bad or because another unit in the book can do everything better.
On the bright side, if you like fielding lots of Monstrous Creatures like I do, all of the negatives are lessened a fair bit, as you have less to worry about when it comes to Synapse and most of the bad units aren't Monstrous Creatures anyway.

Well I won every tournament with the last codex w/ my drop pod list so I definitely like the last codex more. I miss drop pods with 6 str 6 and 3 str 5 on a MC. I dropped 6 of those with a doom and Zoans and everything was dead. Then you still had to worry about 3 Tervs coming up mid.

The new one isn't as forgiving/OP but more fun. I do enjoy playing the games but I haven't found a list that is undefeated like my last list.

 PrinceRaven wrote:
The biggest drawback is the new Instinctive Behaviour. Without Syanpse creatures your guys will go to ground, run away, or kill each other and then run away. It's a pretty restrictive book when it comes to list building, as you always have to worry about Syanpse, and a lot of the units in the book are simply not worth playing either because they're bad or because another unit in the book can do everything better.
On the bright side, if you like fielding lots of Monstrous Creatures like I do, all of the negatives are lessened a fair bit, as you have less to worry about when it comes to Synapse and most of the bad units aren't Monstrous Creatures anyway.

How many Synapse creatures would you recomend for a horde army of 1000 points? Also, what kind?
I'm thinking a squad of Warriors and a Synapse HQ, how would that work?

I would recommend at least 3 sources of Synapse at 1000 points. A Tyranid Prime is good Synapse Creature for a Horde army, as it can hide in troops units and make it very difficult to take down. On top of that, as you're probably already taking a big unit of Termagants, I'd recommend a Tervigon, Synapse, scoring, psyker, and the ability to spawn even more Termagants. For the third choice I'd suggest a Zoanthrope, but a small unit of Warriors could also work.

I agree with PrinceRaven at lest 3 synapse units are needed.

At 1000 points I'd work at 4 units as a brand new player of Tyranids. That way you'll saturate enemy targeting priority and provide you with some synapse "adjustment" if you make some deployment or other mistakes. Meaning having a spare synapse unit will provide you with some forgiveness.

1x Tyranid Prime
1x Tervigon
4x Warriors (4 - one with cannon)
2x Zoanthrope (I'd take 1 in two units)

That's 8 synapse models. One of the Zoans stays near the Exocrine (see below) and plays "backfield synapse support" although it's limited in range of course.

If you take a Tervigon make sure you take another big gribbly otherwise your opponent is going to point what few big guns he has right at it. I usually take an Exocrene and even march it forward a bit to get the enemies attention. Tyrranofex will work well too. Note I don't have to worry much about enemy spamming flyers I'm pretty sure that would change my build.

From my experience it's not nearly as bad as people made/are making it out to be.

In general GW fashion there are some 'wtf' moments when reading the codex/comparing it to the previous book, and it does feel largely rushed, but overall it's a pretty solid codex in line with all of the 6e books save Tau/Eldar.

Regarding the overall outcry about Spynapse- I don't understand this argument.

They actually made Synpase matter, and it should. It's an interesting game mechanic and it fits the fluff. Yes, it's more random now, and some of the critters have the potential to really do something terrible, but isn't that the point? This generally applies to the most basic Nids, who would probably behave the most erratically if their connection with the Hive Mind was severed.

If anything the new book forces Nid players to ensure that Synapse coverage is taken into consideration more to prevent this from happening, and with an overall reduction in points for a large number of Nid units it's not unreasonable to accomplish this.

TLDR, it's a decent book that is pretty fun to play with/against as long as you don't expect it to go toe-to-toe with the big boys (that are not balanced anyway).

The new synapse and lack of drop pods are the two biggest draw backs for me. Basically your opponent knows you are going to have to walk the board and he can plan accordingly. I used to love drop podding devourer gaunts back field. However, thats no longer an option, and even if it was with the new synapse rules it wouldn't be a reasonable risk.

XenosTerminus wrote:

In general GW fashion there are some 'wtf' moments when reading the codex/comparing it to the previous book, and it does feel largely rushed, but overall it's a pretty solid codex in line with all of the 6e books save Tau/Eldar.

Don't forget Codex: Chaos Daemons and Codex: Nurgle and Baledrakes either.

XenosTerminus wrote:

They actually made Synpase matter, and it should. It's an interesting game mechanic and it fits the fluff. Yes, it's more random now, and some of the critters have the potential to really do something terrible, but isn't that the point? This generally applies to the most basic Nids, who would probably behave the most erratically if their connection with the Hive Mind was severed.

I agree with Synapse being overblown but not for this reason. Actually, Synapse doesn't matter at all. The only worthwhile unit that needs it is the Termagant Brood. The others either have completely meaningless IB results (normal MCs), high LD (FMCs) or you will never see them because they are utterly crapsastic (Hormagaunts).

For one, I have 4 Synapse creatures in 1750 points and none of them are dedicated Synapse units in my army, just beatsticks (the two Flyrants) or support units (1 Tervigon and 1x2 Zoanthrope) that happen to have this special rule.

One of the best options for Tyranid synapse/cover right now is buying a bastion or other large building and hiding a model inside it.

If that, in a nutshell, doesn't explain what's wrong with the Tyranid book I don't know what else to day.

 streamdragon wrote:
One of the best options for Tyranid synapse/cover right now is buying a bastion or other large building and hiding a model inside it.

If that, in a nutshell, doesn't explain what's wrong with the Tyranid book I don't know what else to day.

I think this speaks volumes against Fortifications more so than Synapse/Cover.

XenosTerminus wrote:
They actually made Synpase matter, and it should. It's an interesting game mechanic and it fits the fluff. Yes, it's more random now, and some of the critters have the potential to really do something terrible, but isn't that the point? This generally applies to the most basic Nids, who would probably behave the most erratically if their connection with the Hive Mind was severed.

My only problem with making it more important is that there wasn't an increased reward for it as well.
We get the same fearless, but with added penalties if we're not inside Synapse. Oh, and one of the cheapest HQs was almost doubled in points because Synapse is so important. And his Regen was tripled in points.

XenosTerminus wrote:
They actually made Synpase matter, and it should. It's an interesting game mechanic and it fits the fluff. Yes, it's more random now, and some of the critters have the potential to really do something terrible, but isn't that the point? This generally applies to the most basic Nids, who would probably behave the most erratically if their connection with the Hive Mind was severed.

Just because something is in the fluff it doesn't mean it's good for gameplay. If you really wanted to tie things to the fluff, a Tyranid player could just bring every dead unit back on the following turn for free to reflect the never-ending swarm.

The problem with synapse is two-fold...

Firstly, a large chunk of synapse options are under-powered, over-costed, or more often, both. List building is very restricted due to this, as you end up wasting points for the sake of stopping your other units running away or eating themselves.

Secondly (and more importantly), it's an abysmally bad balance move. No other codex has such an extensive 'self-destruct' function built into their lists for opponents to exploit. If an Eldar player loses a Farseer, his punishment is to do without the benefits that Farseer gave out. If a Tyranid player loses a Tervigon or Tyrant, his punishment is for half his army to run away or simply kill itself.
I could stomach Instinctive Behaviour a lot more if they'd made the presence of Synapse more beneficial than it used to be, such as DtW/FNP buffs or linked it to SitW. But instead it's the opposite, it's a special rule that makes your army nigh-unusable if you lose it. How do you justify that when Eldar players don't lose Battle Focus when their HQ's die, and Marines don't lose Chapter Tactics alongside their Captain?

 xttz wrote:

XenosTerminus wrote:
They actually made Synpase matter, and it should. It's an interesting game mechanic and it fits the fluff. Yes, it's more random now, and some of the critters have the potential to really do something terrible, but isn't that the point? This generally applies to the most basic Nids, who would probably behave the most erratically if their connection with the Hive Mind was severed.

Just because something is in the fluff it doesn't mean it's good for gameplay. If you really wanted to tie things to the fluff, a Tyranid player could just bring every dead unit back on the following turn for free to reflect the never-ending swarm.

The problem with synapse is two-fold...

Firstly, a large chunk of synapse options are under-powered, over-costed, or more often, both. List building is very restricted due to this, as you end up wasting points for the sake of stopping your other units running away or eating themselves.

Secondly (and more importantly), it's an abysmally bad balance move. No other codex has such an extensive 'self-destruct' function built into their lists for opponents to exploit. If an Eldar player loses a Farseer, his punishment is to do without the benefits that Farseer gave out. If a Tyranid player loses a Tervigon or Tyrant, his punishment is for half his army to run away or simply kill itself.
I could stomach Instinctive Behaviour a lot more if they'd made the presence of Synapse more beneficial than it used to be, such as DtW/FNP buffs or linked it to SitW. But instead it's the opposite, it's a special rule that makes your army nigh-unusable if you lose it. How do you justify that when Eldar players don't lose Battle Focus when their HQ's die, and Marines don't lose Chapter Tactics alongside their Captain?

Army-wide Fearless is pretty damn powerful. While I mostly agree with the points you raised, you can't completely discredit its influence on the army.

Rigeld's hit the nail on the head. It isn't so much that Instinctive Behaviour makes Nids unplayable, it's that we aren't compensated for having to deal with it, and we have to pay a premium on Stealers and Synapse creatures for the prviledge of having a functional army.
Imagine if instead of having ATSKNF, Space Marines had And They Shall Run Away For No Reason Unless There's A Chapter Master Nearby, and then the bumped up the points for Chapter Masters because of how necessary they are.
This also creates an obvious weakness for any opponent to exploit. As unless you spent 14 ppm on naked unarmed Scout Marines without ATSKNF, all they need to do is take out your Synapse and you have lost any objectives based mission.

EDiT: Fearless is great, and also something the majority of armies have a better version of that doesn't go away when you kill a few models, nor do they have to worry about leadership 6 units running off the board thanks to their own leadership-based special penalty.

 PrinceRaven wrote:
Rigeld's hit the nail on the head. It isn't so much that Instinctive Behaviour makes Nids unplayable, it's that we aren't compensated for having to deal with it, and we have to pay a premium on Stealers and Synapse creatures for the prviledge of having a functional army.
Imagine if instead of having ATSKNF, Space Marines had And They Shall Run Away For No Reason Unless There's A Chapter Master Nearby, and then the bumped up the points for Chapter Masters because of how necessary they are.
This also creates an obvious weakness for any opponent to exploit. As unless you spent 14 ppm on naked unarmed Scout Marines without ATSKNF, all they need to do is take out your Synapse and you have lost any objectives based mission.

EDiT: Fearless is great, and also something the majority of armies have a better version of that doesn't go away when you kill a few models, nor do they have to worry about leadership 6 units running off the board thanks to their own leadership-based special penalty.

Good points. ATSKNF is pretty overpowered for the price a Marine actually pays for it (1 if you compare a generic Marine to the Chaos equivalent).

One thing I think the new book does is create a shooting priority emphasis on your opponent. Venomthropes are very good now, and there are some pretty threatening MC's in larger numbers on the board. It's not that easy to wipe Synapse out effectively unless the board lacks any LOS blocking terrain, or your opponent took the shootiest list possible.

XenosTerminus wrote:
One thing I think the new book does is create a shooting priority emphasis on your opponent. Venomthropes are very good now, and there are some pretty threatening MC's in larger numbers on the board. It's not that easy to wipe Synapse out effectively unless the board lacks any LOS blocking terrain, or your opponent took the shootiest list possible.

Shooting priority was always there for intelligent opponents. Stripping Fearless off of a ~113" circle (varies due to base size) per creature you kill should be way up there on priorities.
Once it's gone, kill enough models to force a leadership test (not hard with t3 and 6+ save) and they're running on average.

XenosTerminus wrote:

 streamdragon wrote:
One of the best options for Tyranid synapse/cover right now is buying a bastion or other large building and hiding a model inside it.

If that, in a nutshell, doesn't explain what's wrong with the Tyranid book I don't know what else to day.

I think this speaks volumes against Fortifications more so than Synapse/Cover.

Not really. The fortification is there to keep those two nigh-necessary models alive. That they can't be protected without resorting to a building (which is beyond unfitting for a swarm!) speaks volumes.

Synapse is stupidly important. The downside to synapse got cranked to 11, but the upside stayed right where it was at. The Tyranid Prime jumped an astounding 45 frelling points, with no stat changes mind, rather than dropping the price of other models even farther. Let's face it, the one point drop in price for Terms/Horms does not offset the increase in price to our reliable and survivable synapse units; units which either lost options (2+ armor save for Hive Tyrants) or took pretty big nerfs in addition to their points hike (Tervigons).

Before the collective hive minds jump my nuts, I'm not saying that the book is unplayable. I'm not saying that the book can not win games. I am not even saying the OP should drop Nids and go find another army. I'm simply pointing out that synpase and cover will be major issues for a horde army (or almost any tyranid army, really), and that keeping those models alive will be an uphill battle against any general with 2 brain cells to rub together.

XenosTerminus wrote:

Army-wide Fearless is pretty damn powerful. While I mostly agree with the points you raised, you can't completely discredit its influence on the army.

I'm not discrediting the effect of Fearless, I'm questioning why the army needs to be so utterly crippled without it. Eldar and Tau can both take units that grant Fearless bubbles, but losing them doesn't cause their units to unleash a torrent of shurikens or pulse fire at their nearest squad mate - they just lose Fearless.

Synapse isn't a buff in the normal sense - it's an essential requirement for the army to function. It should have been a positive benefit the enemy can choose to try and deny from you, not a weakpoint they can fire on to save ammo elsewhere.

This is what I'm getting at:

 streamdragon wrote:
Synapse is stupidly important. The downside to synapse got cranked to 11, but the upside stayed right where it was at.

 xttz wrote:

XenosTerminus wrote:

Army-wide Fearless is pretty damn powerful. While I mostly agree with the points you raised, you can't completely discredit its influence on the army.

I'm not discrediting the effect of Fearless, I'm questioning why the army needs to be so utterly crippled without it. Eldar and Tau can both take units that grant Fearless bubbles, but losing them doesn't cause their units to unleash a torrent of shurikens or pulse fire at their nearest squad mate - they just lose Fearless.

And those squads don''t have such a cripplingly low LD.

So many posts to exalt...

So many fun units deleted. So many decent units devalued and bad units still unplayable. Such a brutal rush job.
Demotivated me to try the new Codex. Will keep on playing the old one.

Doesnt Synapse only make all leadership tests successful?

 Hive Fleet Cerberus wrote:
Doesnt Synapse only make all leadership tests successful?

No. Units in synapse are fearless, they pass all morale tests, not leadership. They also automatically regroup before moving if they are forcd to flee.

JPong wrote:

 Hive Fleet Cerberus wrote:
Doesnt Synapse only make all leadership tests successful?

No. Units in synapse are fearless, they pass all morale tests, not leadership. They also automatically regroup before moving if they are forcd to flee.

In that case I dont see any major draw backs to not having them. They would be major boosts, yeah, but not having them wouldnt destroy your entire army. Atleast if your rolls are good.

 Hive Fleet Cerberus wrote:

JPong wrote:

 Hive Fleet Cerberus wrote:
Doesnt Synapse only make all leadership tests successful?

No. Units in synapse are fearless, they pass all morale tests, not leadership. They also automatically regroup before moving if they are forcd to flee.

In that case I dont see any major draw backs to not having them. They would be major boosts, yeah, but not having them wouldnt destroy your entire army. Atleast if your rolls are good.

...
When the models are LD6 and have to take a LD test outside of Synapse with a failure ranging from bad to annoying, yes there's major drawbacks.

That 30 man undamaged squad holding your backfield objective? Just ran off the table because you rolled poorly on saves for your Synapse.
That 30 man Hormagaunt unit about to roll 2-3 buckets of dice at that terminator squad? Decided to eat each other, then fall back and not assault because you rolled average.

The only units it's not that bad on are single model MCs. So Nidzilla is a thing again.

Not having Synapse does destroy your army, unless you deliberately build your army with units that don't have to worry about Instinctive Behaviour. For the most part you can do this until you run into the Troops section, where the only non-Synapse dependent units are really overpriced. Unfortunately, Troops win you games, so Tyranids can't just not take Troops.

 PrinceRaven wrote:
Not having Synapse does destroy your army, unless you deliberately build your army with units that don't have to worry about Instinctive Behaviour. For the most part you can do this until you run into the Troops section, where the only non-Synapse dependent units are really overpriced. Unfortunately, Troops win you games, so Tyranids can't just not take Troops.

Take Tervigons?

Non biomancy tervigons die very fast and they cost more and you have to take bigger guant units to take them as troops.