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All right, this is a 1,000 point (Technically 1,026 but I dont play competitively and could shave off 26 points) army, using mostly Gaunts

HQ:
Hive Tyrant with Bone Swords and Stranglethorn Cannon, plus Norn Crown, Toxin Sacs, and Regen biomorphs

Troops:
12 Termagaunts, Devourers
12 Termagaunts, Flesh Borers
12 Termagaunts, 6 Flesh Borers, 6 Spine Fists. Should I keep it this way, go all Spinefists or go all Flesh Borer?
8 Genestealers
12 Hormagaunts
12 Hormagaunts
12 Hormagaunts
3 Warriors, 2 with Deathspitter and Scything talons and 1 with Barbed Strangler inplace of Deathspitter

Heavy Support:
1 Carnifex with Scything Talons and a Stranglethorn Cannon, plus Regen biomorph

So, is this the most poorly optimized list ever, or is it actually kinda decent? Should get a second Genestealer brood in place of the Third Hormagaunt and Termagaunt broods? Should I merge the first two Gaunt broods into one, making 1 big group of gaunts and 1 small?

I think 12 guants is a little small, perhaps you could split one of the units in half and have two squads of 18? I like devourers and fleshborers - I don't really mess with the spinefists even if they are twin-linked. Also I'm not sure about the genestealers, eight is a good amount but they are pretty squishy. Warriors are good, (I like to put some melee weapons on them, boneswords for instance, have been 'instant deathing' a lot of local warlords. I love it.)
Carnifex are a good bet, in larger lists running a brood of them makes them more survivable(cycling positions for wounds)
Your list could also benefit from a venomthrope. These guys have been the unsung heroes of many of my games providing sometimes a 2+ save to units that would otherwise occasionally have none.

 digital-animal wrote:
I think 12 guants is a little small, perhaps you could split one of the units in half and have two squads of 18? I like devourers and fleshborers - I don't really mess with the spinefists even if they are twin-linked. Also I'm not sure about the genestealers, eight is a good amount but they are pretty squishy. Warriors are good, (I like to put some melee weapons on them, boneswords for instance, have been 'instant deathing' a lot of local warlords. I love it.)
Carnifex are a good bet, in larger lists running a brood of them makes them more survivable(cycling positions for wounds)
Your list could also benefit from a venomthrope. These guys have been the unsung heroes of many of my games providing sometimes a 2+ save to units that would otherwise occasionally have none.

Spines I want to try out because of the plus 1 attack for every unmodified characteristic, which I assume would be good for horde armys (Not that there are many more Hordy than the nids) and bigger creatures.
Edit: Oh, and a Venom I cant find away to shave some points off to fit, I'm already over the line. As for squad size, I assumed smaller squads would be better for lower points, allowing my alot more maneuverability. They'll probably fight like they are one squad, but still be separate so if need be one can flee.

You need some more synapse. As your going mostly foot troops you need venoms really.

You could perhaps add a trygon prime and a tyranid prime (put him with venoms to tank wounds.

Termagaunts I run as 50% spinefists and 50% devourers.

I'd be tempted to drop the genestealers, overpriced still sadly.

 Hive Fleet Cerberus wrote:
All right, this is a 1,000 point (Technically 1,026 but I dont play competitively and could shave off 26 points) army, using mostly Gaunts

HQ:
Hive Tyrant with Bone Swords and Stranglethorn Cannon, plus Norn Crown, Toxin Sacs, and Regen biomorphs

Troops:
12 Termagaunts, Devourers
12 Termagaunts, Flesh Borers
12 Termagaunts, 6 Flesh Borers, 6 Spine Fists. Should I keep it this way, go all Spinefists or go all Flesh Borer?
8 Genestealers
12 Hormagaunts
12 Hormagaunts
12 Hormagaunts
3 Warriors, 2 with Deathspitter and Scything talons and 1 with Barbed Strangler inplace of Deathspitter

Heavy Support:
1 Carnifex with Scything Talons and a Stranglethorn Cannon, plus Regen biomorph

So, is this the most poorly optimized list ever, or is it actually kinda decent? Should get a second Genestealer brood in place of the Third Hormagaunt and Termagaunt broods? Should I merge the first two Gaunt broods into one, making 1 big group of gaunts and 1 small?

The list is illegal as it stands now. You can only have 2-6 troop choices in a primary detachment. Obviously though you can merge a few, so no sweat. I would seriously consider switching both your carnifex and tyrant to have 2x TL Devourerers. They're the tits. It's really hard to argue with 12 TL S6 shots, and even better get your tyrant some wings

 astro_nomicon wrote:

 Hive Fleet Cerberus wrote:
All right, this is a 1,000 point (Technically 1,026 but I dont play competitively and could shave off 26 points) army, using mostly Gaunts

HQ:
Hive Tyrant with Bone Swords and Stranglethorn Cannon, plus Norn Crown, Toxin Sacs, and Regen biomorphs

Troops:
12 Termagaunts, Devourers
12 Termagaunts, Flesh Borers
12 Termagaunts, 6 Flesh Borers, 6 Spine Fists. Should I keep it this way, go all Spinefists or go all Flesh Borer?
8 Genestealers
12 Hormagaunts
12 Hormagaunts
12 Hormagaunts
3 Warriors, 2 with Deathspitter and Scything talons and 1 with Barbed Strangler inplace of Deathspitter

Heavy Support:
1 Carnifex with Scything Talons and a Stranglethorn Cannon, plus Regen biomorph

So, is this the most poorly optimized list ever, or is it actually kinda decent? Should get a second Genestealer brood in place of the Third Hormagaunt and Termagaunt broods? Should I merge the first two Gaunt broods into one, making 1 big group of gaunts and 1 small?

The list is illegal as it stands now. You can only have 2-6 troop choices in a primary detachment. Obviously though you can merge a few, so no sweat. I would seriously consider switching both your carnifex and tyrant to have 2x TL Devourerers. They're the tits. It's really hard to argue with 12 TL S6 shots, and even better get your tyrant some wings

Hmm, didnt notice that. For the Hormagaunts, Obviously that wont be a very big issue as they are all the same, but the Termagaunts leave me having to figure out where the weapon groups go. When Splitting the second one, should I put the 6 fleshborers with the group equipped with flesh borers and the Spinefists with the Devourers, or vise versa?
Edit: Also, about the Devourers, I might put 1 set on the Carnifex, as I want him to still be effective at Close Combat. The Tyrant is already built, so he's staying As-Is. Also, messing around with the list I removed the Genestealers and that gave me enough points for a Zoanthrope (To fill in the Synapse gap) and a Lictor/Venomthrope. How well would that work out? Sadly, I already own the Genestealers, but they can become pure Display pieces I guess.

I would change a couple of things about this list:
1) Drop regen and the norn crown from the tyrant. Switch the BS to BS/LW. You are paying so many points for those upgrades. Instead, you could use those points for 2 tyrant guard, which will ensure that the tyrant will survive into cc.
2) Drop the upgrades off the the terms. Some people like to run devs, but I would rather have double the bodies on the table. Nids win through numbers. By dropping the devs, you get another 12 terms.
3) No regen on the carnifex. Good opponents will focus on completely killing 1 MC at a time, preventing it from using regen and thus wasting 30 points.

I would something like this: 1000 pts exactly
Tyrant with BS/LW, desiccator larvae, TS
2 tyrant guard
20 terms
20 terms
20 horms
3 warriors with 2 deathspitters and a barbed strangler
venomthrope
2 carnifexes with bio-plasma

The venomthrope will give +2 to cover to all the other units. The horms will run in front of everything and absorb shots/ give cover to units behind them. Send the tyrant and the guard to kill w/e is the biggest threat. The warriors can hold the back objective or walk up and provide synapse. The 2 carnifexes should be kept in the same brood because then you can switch which one is in front so that they can absorb more wounds before dying. Use them to take out tanks and the bio-plasma can take apart MEQ and TEQ. With this list, you will take some punishment the first 2 turns. But then you will get in close and tear apart, as most 1000 point lists can't handle 63 troops and 3 MCs with a permanent cover save (except of course DE, with all of their poison. but that will always be the case for nids).

 Freytag93 wrote:
I would change a couple of things about this list:
1) Drop regen and the norn crown from the tyrant. Switch the BS to BS/LW. You are paying so many points for those upgrades. Instead, you could use those points for 2 tyrant guard, which will ensure that the tyrant will survive into cc.
2) Drop the upgrades off the the terms. Some people like to run devs, but I would rather have double the bodies on the table. Nids win through numbers. By dropping the devs, you get another 12 terms.
3) No regen on the carnifex. Good opponents will focus on completely killing 1 MC at a time, preventing it from using regen and thus wasting 30 points.

I would something like this: 1000 pts exactly
Tyrant with BS/LW, desiccator larvae, TS
2 tyrant guard
20 terms
20 terms
20 horms
3 warriors with 2 deathspitters and a barbed strangler
venomthrope
2 carnifexes with bio-plasma

The venomthrope will give +2 to cover to all the other units. The horms will run in front of everything and absorb shots/ give cover to units behind them. Send the tyrant and the guard to kill w/e is the biggest threat. The warriors can hold the back objective or walk up and provide synapse. The 2 carnifexes should be kept in the same brood because then you can switch which one is in front so that they can absorb more wounds before dying. Use them to take out tanks and the bio-plasma can take apart MEQ and TEQ. With this list, you will take some punishment the first 2 turns. But then you will get in close and tear apart, as most 1000 point lists can't handle 63 troops and 3 MCs with a permanent cover save (except of course DE, with all of their poison. but that will always be the case for nids).

I personally like to have an equal number of Terms to Horms, so the Horms can lock the enemy into CC so the Terms can A: Live B:Kill. As for the rest, it'll probably be me second list (This is my first one, built of cheap units) so I can build it over time, as 2 carnifexs do cost quite abit. However, this list seems to have a Synapse gap with only 2, I prefer to run 3 synapse squads to cover it all, or 2 with 1 norn crown.
Edit: Alright, messing around with the list, I realized something. As I shifted through my army builder program, I came to realize something: Termagants are cool as feth. So, obviously, edited my list around this. Oh, and if I DO roll with this list, I can be assured that EVERYONE at my FLGS will hate the hell out of me (Mostly because I will spend all of my money on extra Termagants, and its a so very "Stop Having Fun Guy" list). This may be a second list, as it uses mostly the same units as the first list so very little to buy.

HQ:
Tervigon

Troops:
Termagaunt Brood: 30
Termagaunt Brood: 30, 24 with Fleshborer, 6 with Spinefist
Hormagaunt:12
Tervigon
Tervigon

$300 dollars worth of Backup gants for the Tervigons to spawn. You'l note I have forgone my previous Philosophy of Hormagaunt meat shields, this is because my army will become AN INFINITE SWARM OF FREE TERMAGANT MEAT SHIELDS! MWHAHAHAHA

My 1k list is as follows and I've done well with it, hope it helps a little

Winged tyrant with twin devourers

2 zoanthropes as separate units
1 venomthrope

20 term
20 term
20 term
3 warriors

Exocrine
Fex, 2 twin linked devs and adrenals

I either give the Terms fleshborers or spinefists depending on the opponent

 Freytag93 wrote:
I would change a couple of things about this list:
1) Drop regen and the norn crown from the tyrant. Switch the BS to BS/LW. You are paying so many points for those upgrades. Instead, you could use those points for 2 tyrant guard, which will ensure that the tyrant will survive into cc.
2) Drop the upgrades off the the terms. Some people like to run devs, but I would rather have double the bodies on the table. Nids win through numbers. By dropping the devs, you get another 12 terms.
3) No regen on the carnifex. Good opponents will focus on completely killing 1 MC at a time, preventing it from using regen and thus wasting 30 points.

I would something like this: 1000 pts exactly
Tyrant with BS/LW, desiccator larvae, TS
2 tyrant guard
20 terms
20 terms
20 horms
3 warriors with 2 deathspitters and a barbed strangler
venomthrope
2 carnifexes with bio-plasma

The venomthrope will give +2 to cover to all the other units. The horms will run in front of everything and absorb shots/ give cover to units behind them. Send the tyrant and the guard to kill w/e is the biggest threat. The warriors can hold the back objective or walk up and provide synapse. The 2 carnifexes should be kept in the same brood because then you can switch which one is in front so that they can absorb more wounds before dying. Use them to take out tanks and the bio-plasma can take apart MEQ and TEQ. With this list, you will take some punishment the first 2 turns. But then you will get in close and tear apart, as most 1000 point lists can't handle 63 troops and 3 MCs with a permanent cover save (except of course DE, with all of their poison. but that will always be the case for nids).

Not a bad list Though it kinda depends, if his Carnifexen are magnitised, all is well. If not I personally Like Screamer Killers....but that might be sentimentality, rather than logic Myself I would build much the same, but use a Tyranofex for the heavy slot, Adrenal, and a Thorax hive runs 200, that leaves 80 unspent for more Troops, either boost numbers, or toss in one more brood (20x Spine/Term runs 80... ) (or you can afford wings and twin Brain Leeches for the Tyrant) Carnifexen are nothing to sneeze at though, if you can get into range, you can HOW just about anything into dust


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Hive Fleet Cerberus wrote:

 Freytag93 wrote:
I would change a couple of things about this list:
1) Drop regen and the norn crown from the tyrant. Switch the BS to BS/LW. You are paying so many points for those upgrades. Instead, you could use those points for 2 tyrant guard, which will ensure that the tyrant will survive into cc.
2) Drop the upgrades off the the terms. Some people like to run devs, but I would rather have double the bodies on the table. Nids win through numbers. By dropping the devs, you get another 12 terms.
3) No regen on the carnifex. Good opponents will focus on completely killing 1 MC at a time, preventing it from using regen and thus wasting 30 points.

I would something like this: 1000 pts exactly
Tyrant with BS/LW, desiccator larvae, TS
2 tyrant guard
20 terms
20 terms
20 horms
3 warriors with 2 deathspitters and a barbed strangler
venomthrope
2 carnifexes with bio-plasma

The venomthrope will give +2 to cover to all the other units. The horms will run in front of everything and absorb shots/ give cover to units behind them. Send the tyrant and the guard to kill w/e is the biggest threat. The warriors can hold the back objective or walk up and provide synapse. The 2 carnifexes should be kept in the same brood because then you can switch which one is in front so that they can absorb more wounds before dying. Use them to take out tanks and the bio-plasma can take apart MEQ and TEQ. With this list, you will take some punishment the first 2 turns. But then you will get in close and tear apart, as most 1000 point lists can't handle 63 troops and 3 MCs with a permanent cover save (except of course DE, with all of their poison. but that will always be the case for nids).

I personally like to have an equal number of Terms to Horms, so the Horms can lock the enemy into CC so the Terms can A: Live B:Kill. As for the rest, it'll probably be me second list (This is my first one, built of cheap units) so I can build it over time, as 2 carnifexs do cost quite abit. However, this list seems to have a Synapse gap with only 2, I prefer to run 3 synapse squads to cover it all, or 2 with 1 norn crown.
Edit: Alright, messing around with the list, I realized something. As I shifted through my army builder program, I came to realize something: Termagants are cool as feth. So, obviously, edited my list around this. Oh, and if I DO roll with this list, I can be assured that EVERYONE at my FLGS will hate the hell out of me (Mostly because I will spend all of my money on extra Termagants, and its a so very "Stop Having Fun Guy" list). This may be a second list, as it uses mostly the same units as the first list so very little to buy.

HQ:
Tervigon

Troops:
Termagaunt Brood: 30
Termagaunt Brood: 30, 24 with Fleshborer, 6 with Spinefist
Hormagaunt:12
Tervigon
Tervigon

$300 dollars worth of Backup gants for the Tervigons to spawn. You'l note I have forgone my previous Philosophy of Hormagaunt meat shields, this is because my army will become AN INFINITE SWARM OF FREE TERMAGANT MEAT SHIELDS! MWHAHAHAHA

This I don't like so much, Terv's are kinda overpriced in the current Codex, and you're buying multiples. A terv runs 195 naked, a Winged Assasain, or Dakka'rant runs 230. I consider the extra 35 more than justified. One Terv is still a good buy at any points level, but more than that is hard to see as optimal . If you have the figures, you can always try it out, and see. But I would never reccomend that someone spend a bucket of cash just to find out if it suits.

Devilgants are good, and are fairly cheap upgrades, so its a good place to park extra points. Most people use 50/50 or less so you can take "vanilla" gants as losses. I personally prefer Spinegaunts, but there is little differance in performance. It depends on who you are facing....( and Terv gants are "vanilla" by rule, so might as well be able to recycle losses)

 Hive Fleet Cerberus wrote:
I personally like to have an equal number of Terms to Horms, so the Horms can lock the enemy into CC so the Terms can A: Live B:Kill. As for the rest, it'll probably be me second list (This is my first one, built of cheap units) so I can build it over time, as 2 carnifexs do cost quite abit. However, this list seems to have a Synapse gap with only 2, I prefer to run 3 synapse squads to cover it all, or 2 with 1 norn crown.
Edit: Alright, messing around with the list, I realized something. As I shifted through my army builder program, I came to realize something: Termagants are cool as feth. So, obviously, edited my list around this. Oh, and if I DO roll with this list, I can be assured that EVERYONE at my FLGS will hate the hell out of me (Mostly because I will spend all of my money on extra Termagants, and its a so very "Stop Having Fun Guy" list). This may be a second list, as it uses mostly the same units as the first list so very little to buy.

HQ:
Tervigon

Troops:
Termagaunt Brood: 30
Termagaunt Brood: 30, 24 with Fleshborer, 6 with Spinefist
Hormagaunt:12
Tervigon
Tervigon

$300 dollars worth of Backup gants for the Tervigons to spawn. You'l note I have forgone my previous Philosophy of Hormagaunt meat shields, this is because my army will become AN INFINITE SWARM OF FREE TERMAGANT MEAT SHIELDS! MWHAHAHAHA

This list would be very difficult to fight at 1000 points for most people. It's not something I would personally run, but it has its place. Two warnings however:
1) Be careful about synaptic backlash. Because your only synapse is tervs, you have to keep all your troops close to them. But when a terv is killed, all terms within 12" will take wounds (possibly killing all of the small spawned units). It's a very high risk, high reward way to play, and the new codex made it a lot riskier.
2) Randomness of the spawning. On average, you should be getting 3-4 new units to soak up fire and take objectives. But that is on average. Other games, you will spawnout on doubles, and then you will have an enormous uphill battle to win. The last game I used tervs, I ran 2. On turn one, I rolled a 2-2-4 and a 4-1-4.
If it's the way you want to play, then that is great. Just know it doesn't leave you a lot of flexibility to change the list up.

For swarm list take venomthropes. 5+ cover save makes all the difference. More synapse too. Maybe tervigons if you have them. Or tyranid warriors to fill out gaps in the army.

 Freytag93 wrote:

 Hive Fleet Cerberus wrote:
I personally like to have an equal number of Terms to Horms, so the Horms can lock the enemy into CC so the Terms can A: Live B:Kill. As for the rest, it'll probably be me second list (This is my first one, built of cheap units) so I can build it over time, as 2 carnifexs do cost quite abit. However, this list seems to have a Synapse gap with only 2, I prefer to run 3 synapse squads to cover it all, or 2 with 1 norn crown.
Edit: Alright, messing around with the list, I realized something. As I shifted through my army builder program, I came to realize something: Termagants are cool as feth. So, obviously, edited my list around this. Oh, and if I DO roll with this list, I can be assured that EVERYONE at my FLGS will hate the hell out of me (Mostly because I will spend all of my money on extra Termagants, and its a so very "Stop Having Fun Guy" list). This may be a second list, as it uses mostly the same units as the first list so very little to buy.

HQ:
Tervigon

Troops:
Termagaunt Brood: 30
Termagaunt Brood: 30, 24 with Fleshborer, 6 with Spinefist
Hormagaunt:12
Tervigon
Tervigon

$300 dollars worth of Backup gants for the Tervigons to spawn. You'l note I have forgone my previous Philosophy of Hormagaunt meat shields, this is because my army will become AN INFINITE SWARM OF FREE TERMAGANT MEAT SHIELDS! MWHAHAHAHA

This list would be very difficult to fight at 1000 points for most people. It's not something I would personally run, but it has its place. Two warnings however:
1) Be careful about synaptic backlash. Because your only synapse is tervs, you have to keep all your troops close to them. But when a terv is killed, all terms within 12" will take wounds (possibly killing all of the small spawned units). It's a very high risk, high reward way to play, and the new codex made it a lot riskier.
2) Randomness of the spawning. On average, you should be getting 3-4 new units to soak up fire and take objectives. But that is on average. Other games, you will spawnout on doubles, and then you will have an enormous uphill battle to win. The last game I used tervs, I ran 2. On turn one, I rolled a 2-2-4 and a 4-1-4.
If it's the way you want to play, then that is great. Just know it doesn't leave you a lot of flexibility to change the list up.

I've seen alot of comments about synaptic backlash being a pain (which it is) however, couldn't you just give the Tervigons the Primaris power to extend the synapse range and have the termagants operate in the 12-18' zone as opposed to being within 12' all the time? Would have a double bonus of having the Termagants further up the board to hit with the flesh borers etc while the Tervigon can still hang back somewhat.

Also, I have read that you cannot take a solo Tervigon as the HQ because you need a warlord, and the Tervigon cannot be a warlord currently. So you may want to look into that.

Mad.. wrote:
I've seen alot of comments about synaptic backlash being a pain (which it is) however, couldn't you just give the Tervigons the Primaris power to extend the synapse range and have the termagants operate in the 12-18' zone as opposed to being within 12' all the time? Would have a double bonus of having the Termagants further up the board to hit with the flesh borers etc while the Tervigon can still hang back somewhat.

Also, I have read that you cannot take a solo Tervigon as the HQ because you need a warlord, and the Tervigon cannot be a warlord currently. So you may want to look into that.

You could do that. However, that means with 3 tervs you are creating 3 huge 24" bubbles where you don't want to place troops. Spawned units will also not be able to get out from range the turn they come in, as they can only be spawned 6 inches away. It is a nice idea, but it would be very hard to pull off.

Yeah fair enough. I can only see myself running one Tervigon as a troops choice in my lists personally, so I suppose it would be ok for my army.