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.

I don't have the new codex yet (it's one order from my LGS) so I wanted to see what the consensous was on weapon options for the tyrannocyte and the sporocyst. Do you bring deathspitters to keep them cheap, or Barbed Stranglers to help them harass infantry? For the sporocyst barbed stranglers also provide additional range to help with it's lack of mobility. I don't really know the point costs and I'm trying to build mine today, so it's hard to say which is better.

It's bs5+. If i could i would take it unarmed, but since i can't the cheapest option is the best option.

Lord Ruby34 wrote:
I don't have the new codex yet (it's one order from my LGS) so I wanted to see what the consensous was on weapon options for the tyrannocyte and the sporocyst. Do you bring deathspitters to keep them cheap, or Barbed Stranglers to help them harass infantry? For the sporocyst barbed stranglers also provide additional range to help with it's lack of mobility. I don't really know the point costs and I'm trying to build mine today, so it's hard to say which is better.

I intend to bring a sporocyst. I will be bringing it with deathspitters to keep it cheap, but if I was going to change them it would be to venom canons.

The sporocysts does the most when it's being ignored because other things are more threatening. If the guns are too good on it it will move up the enemies list of priorities and get taken out faster.

 Marmatag wrote:

1. Anti-tank is a problem. I'm seeing some "leafblower" kind of meta out here a little bit. Can't really stand up to it if it's screened well.
2. 20x Squads of hormagaunts are problematic in kill points games. They're easily rendered impotent.
3. Devourer termagants coming in from reserves are excellent at removing screens.
4. There are some nasty matchups we will struggle with badly going the horde route.
5. We dominate in objective based games. My opinion so far.
6. Kill points, we do not fair as well.
7. A tyrannofex with rupture cannons might not be the worst thing in the world to have in a list - I will see.
8. Our targetable HQs / characters will be targeted. Running multiple hive fleets is a recipe for disaster.

1. Our only counter to tank leafblower is to get screening units into them and just keep piling into them every turn so they can't shoot. None of our AT platforms are cost efficient enough to trade with heavy tank leafblower armies, I think. If we can lock them down, we can eliminate everything else and pick off tanks as targets of opportunity, but in general, yeah, IG leafblower with 100+ conscripts will be our worst out. We've said it from the start. It's just too strong of an army. Our best bet is to properly do assaults+pile ins, lock units from falling back, etc. If we can get our power units to tanks, they die no problem. GS, psykers, MCs all mess them up pretty well.
2. I figured as much, the extra 10 bodies really go a long way, you can take 15 casualties and still have enough bodies to lock a bunch of people up. You can take 25 and still have enough to eat an overwatch. Obviously in certain mission formats, 19/29 are the numbers, otherwise, max squad size imo
3. They're great at a lot. And with MTO style, they basically just get ignored. The Trygon means people aren't generally willing to send a mediocre unit to tie them up, either. Killing that trygon and dedicating an assault unit to them means risking the GS+Trygon doing their thing. Some armies will be able to handle all 4 units (Not to mention your other stuff), but many won't.
4. Like what? I've not felt like having more bodies was an impairment, including facing a pretty wide array of list styles. Your opponent can only do as many wounds as they have dice, so if you have enough bodies you can overwhelm many armies. Hordes also have a huge advantage for scoring, you can control the board pretty easily. Mobile armies can be kind of tough, with the best counter being great long shooting, but the other counter is having hordes so they can't get past you as you box them in.
5. More like a fact. A lot of high level players have been saying this since 5th (And players like Pajamapants have shown it), if time were not an issue, morale immune horde armies would win the vast majority of 40k games just because the mechanics of the game favor them.
6. Very true, unless it is modified KP. Check out warzone atlanta's missions I linked, even against a 6 model army with a 13 unit army, I was able to not give up a complete loss because of it.
7. On average it's a solid shooting platform, with d6 damage it will have a lot of variation on damage output, imo. I think Impaler Guard are better, because of their special rules. 240 pts of either does just about 6 wounds to vehicles, while an exo does 6.6. The efficiency is so close I would much rather have 36" ignoring LOS and cover. Against T8 the tyranno stays the same, while exo and HG both drop to 4.4. Tyranno you can CP to try for a 4-6 damage roll, but overall I just think hive guard will give more consistent results. Also, better against things with invulns. There's definitely not a clear answer to which is better, which is nice. Tyranno, exo and HG all perform very similarly with niches for each, so it comes down to taste.
8. Complete agreement. Unless you're playing all infantry, mixing tyrants is gonna end up with a detachment without synapse. Tyrants are not particularly tough. They will, on occasion, roll a bit high on their 4++ and you'll get some nice mileage out of them, but in general, they're about as tough as 2 Rhinos. Which is fair, because that's how much they cost. Two is about as durable as Morty or Magnus without his 3++. I've started dropping them near the malanthrope to increase survivability against strong shooting armies (Since there's no way you're blocking LOS to those big ass wings), but they're still not particularly tough. Smite is a tough cookie, too.

Spoletta wrote:It's bs5+. If i could i would take it unarmed, but since i can't the cheapest option is the best option.

Lance845 wrote:

Lord Ruby34 wrote:
I don't have the new codex yet (it's one order from my LGS) so I wanted to see what the consensous was on weapon options for the tyrannocyte and the sporocyst. Do you bring deathspitters to keep them cheap, or Barbed Stranglers to help them harass infantry? For the sporocyst barbed stranglers also provide additional range to help with it's lack of mobility. I don't really know the point costs and I'm trying to build mine today, so it's hard to say which is better.

I intend to bring a sporocyst. I will be bringing it with deathspitters to keep it cheap, but if I was going to change them it would be to venom canons.

The sporocysts does the most when it's being ignored because other things are more threatening. If the guns are too good on it it will move up the enemies list of priorities and get taken out faster.

Makes sense. I kinda want my pod to do something other than attempting to annoy tanks by bouncing into them, but It really is mostly for dropping swarmy next to a big pack of something to help tie things up on turn one.

 Traceoftoxin wrote:

 Marmatag wrote:

1. Anti-tank is a problem. I'm seeing some "leafblower" kind of meta out here a little bit. Can't really stand up to it if it's screened well.
2. 20x Squads of hormagaunts are problematic in kill points games. They're easily rendered impotent.
3. Devourer termagants coming in from reserves are excellent at removing screens.
4. There are some nasty matchups we will struggle with badly going the horde route.
5. We dominate in objective based games. My opinion so far.
6. Kill points, we do not fair as well.
7. A tyrannofex with rupture cannons might not be the worst thing in the world to have in a list - I will see.
8. Our targetable HQs / characters will be targeted. Running multiple hive fleets is a recipe for disaster.

1. Our only counter to tank leafblower is to get screening units into them and just keep piling into them every turn so they can't shoot. None of our AT platforms are cost efficient enough to trade with heavy tank leafblower armies, I think. If we can lock them down, we can eliminate everything else and pick off tanks as targets of opportunity, but in general, yeah, IG leafblower with 100+ conscripts will be our worst out. We've said it from the start. It's just too strong of an army. Our best bet is to properly do assaults+pile ins, lock units from falling back, etc. If we can get our power units to tanks, they die no problem. GS, psykers, MCs all mess them up pretty well.
2. I figured as much, the extra 10 bodies really go a long way, you can take 15 casualties and still have enough bodies to lock a bunch of people up. You can take 25 and still have enough to eat an overwatch. Obviously in certain mission formats, 19/29 are the numbers, otherwise, max squad size imo
3. They're great at a lot. And with MTO style, they basically just get ignored. The Trygon means people aren't generally willing to send a mediocre unit to tie them up, either. Killing that trygon and dedicating an assault unit to them means risking the GS+Trygon doing their thing. Some armies will be able to handle all 4 units (Not to mention your other stuff), but many won't.
4. Like what? I've not felt like having more bodies was an impairment, including facing a pretty wide array of list styles. Your opponent can only do as many wounds as they have dice, so if you have enough bodies you can overwhelm many armies. Hordes also have a huge advantage for scoring, you can control the board pretty easily. Mobile armies can be kind of tough, with the best counter being great long shooting, but the other counter is having hordes so they can't get past you as you box them in.
5. More like a fact. A lot of high level players have been saying this since 5th (And players like Pajamapants have shown it), if time were not an issue, morale immune horde armies would win the vast majority of 40k games just because the mechanics of the game favor them.
6. Very true, unless it is modified KP. Check out warzone atlanta's missions I linked, even against a 6 model army with a 13 unit army, I was able to not give up a complete loss because of it.
7. On average it's a solid shooting platform, with d6 damage it will have a lot of variation on damage output, imo. I think Impaler Guard are better, because of their special rules. 240 pts of either does just about 6 wounds to vehicles, while an exo does 6.6. The efficiency is so close I would much rather have 36" ignoring LOS and cover. Against T8 the tyranno stays the same, while exo and HG both drop to 4.4. Tyranno you can CP to try for a 4-6 damage roll, but overall I just think hive guard will give more consistent results. Also, better against things with invulns. There's definitely not a clear answer to which is better, which is nice. Tyranno, exo and HG all perform very similarly with niches for each, so it comes down to taste.
8. Complete agreement. Unless you're playing all infantry, mixing tyrants is gonna end up with a detachment without synapse. Tyrants are not particularly tough. They will, on occasion, roll a bit high on their 4++ and you'll get some nice mileage out of them, but in general, they're about as tough as 2 Rhinos. Which is fair, because that's how much they cost. Two is about as durable as Morty or Magnus without his 3++. I've started dropping them near the malanthrope to increase survivability against strong shooting armies (Since there's no way you're blocking LOS to those big ass wings), but they're still not particularly tough. Smite is a tough cookie, too.

Dont agree with number 8 at all, it depends completely on the list, if you DS 5 Mawlocs and 5 HT's, they will most likely go after the Mawlocks.

Same for Genestealers, if you charge 40 of them turn 1-2 and then DS the HT's into that mess, its going to be hard to pick a threat.

You need to threat overload, or dont play with 2-3 large easy options. If your playing Hive guard, Exocrines, Hgants and Neurothropes, then you DS 1 good HT and 1 unit of Goyles, yeah your HT will die b.c it the only forward threat.

 Amishprn86 wrote:


Dont agree with number 8 at all, it depends completely on the list, if you DS 5 Mawlocs and 5 HT's, they will most likely go after the Mawlocks.

Same for Genestealers, if you charge 40 of them turn 1-2 and then DS the HT's into that mess, its going to be hard to pick a threat.

You need to threat overload, or dont play with 2-3 large easy options. If your playing Hive guard, Exocrines, Hgants and Neurothropes, then you DS 1 good HT and 1 unit of Goyles, yeah your HT will die b.c it the only forward threat.

What? Why in the world would anyone target the mawlocs? That's absurd.

It's not hard at all. The AT weapons go after tyrants. Trust me, I just wrote 3 batreps explaining exactly what people do when you have 40 stealers, 2 trygons, 2 flyrants, 60 horms and 30 dev gants on them turn 1-2. Hint: They kill the flyrants/trygons, depending on which is a bigger threat to them, with their multi-damage weapons.

Amish, could you provide us some batreps of your play so we can have some idea what you're playing against? I'm struggling to really appreciate your take on a lot of things, and I think it would help if I could get some batreps from you that show how your ideas fare against other players in action, rather than in theory.

 Traceoftoxin wrote:

 Amishprn86 wrote:


Dont agree with number 8 at all, it depends completely on the list, if you DS 5 Mawlocs and 5 HT's, they will most likely go after the Mawlocks.

Same for Genestealers, if you charge 40 of them turn 1-2 and then DS the HT's into that mess, its going to be hard to pick a threat.

You need to threat overload, or dont play with 2-3 large easy options. If your playing Hive guard, Exocrines, Hgants and Neurothropes, then you DS 1 good HT and 1 unit of Goyles, yeah your HT will die b.c it the only forward threat.

What? Why in the world would anyone target the mawlocs? That's absurd.

It's not hard at all. The AT weapons go after tyrants. Trust me, I just wrote 3 batreps explaining exactly what people do when you have 40 stealers, 2 trygons, 2 flyrants, 60 horms and 30 dev gants on them turn 1-2. Hint: They kill the flyrants/trygons, depending on which is a bigger threat to them, with their multi-damage weapons.

Amish, could you provide us some batreps of your play so we can have some idea what you're playing against? I'm struggling to really appreciate your take on a lot of things, and I think it would help if I could get some batreps from you that show how your ideas fare against other players in action, rather than in theory.

Yeah I think it is a bit incredulous for people to shoot the mawlocs before the HT's.
Even in a MTO threat situation, people aren't dumb and lascannons are still very good, they will just shoot the HTs with AT weapons and shoot the GSs with everything else.

My best way of dealing with this has been to use our mobility to pull them apart on the objectives, and then go basically all in on one side of the board, and try to overwhelm their forces, and take a few objectives as well. Haven't played any high level tournaments but I would like to at some point and see how well that does.

The idea was "Give them more threats than just your HT's"

Not saying those examples are perfect, it was the idea of the examples to give you a visual instead of me just saying "dont put 1 threat as a target".

 Amishprn86 wrote:
The idea was "Give them more threats than just your HT's"

Not saying those examples are perfect, it was the idea of the examples to give you a visual instead of me just saying "dont put 1 threat as a target".

That's obvious. We all know that. But, if you have two hive fleets, whichever hive fleet needs synapse more is going to lose their HT first, and then be assed out.

Which is the point that Marmatag was making. You can't afford to run 2-3 different fleet detachments depending on Tyrants/Trygon Primes/Tervigons for your synapse. Even Tyrants, which are the most durable monster in our book, go down pretty quickly this edition. Most competent armies will kill at least 1 tyrant with shooting/psychic, and competitive armies can kill 2+.

 Traceoftoxin wrote:

 Amishprn86 wrote:
The idea was "Give them more threats than just your HT's"

Not saying those examples are perfect, it was the idea of the examples to give you a visual instead of me just saying "dont put 1 threat as a target".

That's obvious. We all know that. But, if you have two hive fleets, whichever hive fleet needs synapse more is going to lose their HT first, and then be assed out.

Which is the point that Marmatag was making. You can't afford to run 2-3 different fleet detachments depending on Tyrants/Trygon Primes/Tervigons for your synapse. Even Tyrants, which are the most durable monster in our book, go down pretty quickly this edition. Most competent armies will kill at least 1 tyrant with shooting/psychic, and competitive armies can kill 2+.

Exactly.

It's beyond easy to kill hive tyrants. A 4++ save is so streaky. Sometimes you'll play games where your tyrants are just juggernauts running around the field smashing face. Sometimes you'll lose them to literally 2-3 -3AP d6 damage shots, which essentially every army outside of a mirror match can produce with ease.

I love kraken but mobility isn't enough if you aren't getting passed screens. I need to playtest more.

I did play a game against guard, and I won, because I was able to surround his leafblower with hormagaunts. He also wasn't expecting my hormagaunts to move 44" turn 1, counting charge + pile in. Thanks Kraken & Swarmlord.

But i lost another game to Eldar, failing powers and charges. Rather painful. He actually had fire prisms, and did the twin linked hits and wounds stratagem with the heavy gun. When they shoot a trygon with -5 AP guns that do d6, hitting/wounding on 3s rerolling? Bye felicia.

Just had a great game against a great foot eldar player and list. We played ITC mission 3. I played my split Kronos/Kraken twin battalions. In short I lost but I learned a lot. Big take aways:

- Not loving the split hive fleets. Going to move to a mono fleet next game.

- HVC was not successful. Ran on two HT and they did ziltch. Going to switch to twin devourers.

- in ITC rules make sure to run units of 19. Got killed on secondaries.

- Trygons need a real good plan and deployment. I am thinking primes may be best to get a shadow of the warp close.

- Raveners are awesome. Take with two scything talons and spinefists so cheap and effective.

- Hive guard with implaers are sooo good.

- Probably best to blob genestealers to maximize buffs. Unit of 19 is mandatory in my next list.

 buddha wrote:
Just had a great game against a great foot eldar player and list. We played ITC mission 3. I played my split Kronos/Kraken twin battalions. In short I lost but I learned a lot. Big take aways:

- Not loving the split hive fleets. Going to move to a mono fleet next game.

- HVC was not successful. Ran on two HT and they did ziltch. Going to switch to twin devourers.

- in ITC rules make sure to run units of 19. Got killed on secondaries.

- Trygons need a real good plan and deployment. I am thinking primes may be best to get a shadow of the warp close.

- Raveners are awesome. Take with two scything talons and spinefists so cheap and effective.

- Hive guard with implaers are sooo good.

- Probably best to blob genestealers to maximize buffs. Unit of 19 is mandatory in my next list.

I think some of these takeaways are good, but in a take all comers list you will run into artillery and lose your hive guard first.

Trygons are better served with adrenal glands.

Running hormagaunts in squads of 19 is a big mistake. They can only get 4 total points overall for killing units above 10. Yeah they'll get 2 points per unit of 30 removed, but the loss in utility is simply not worth it. I tried a game with them like this, and it just went horribly. You're stopping them from scoring at most 2 points and you lose a HUGE chunk of your utility.

 buddha wrote:

- Hive guard with implaers are sooo good.

Hive Guard in general seem good. I ran a brood with Shock Cannons last week to try them out and they wrecked the opponent's vehicles. The mortal wounds on a 4+ are really nice, plus having the assault type lets them stay mobile while firing to full effect.

 buddha wrote:
Just had a great game against a great foot eldar player and list. We played ITC mission 3. I played my split Kronos/Kraken twin battalions. In short I lost but I learned a lot. Big take aways:

- Not loving the split hive fleets. Going to move to a mono fleet next game.

- HVC was not successful. Ran on two HT and they did ziltch. Going to switch to twin devourers.

- in ITC rules make sure to run units of 19. Got killed on secondaries.

- Trygons need a real good plan and deployment. I am thinking primes may be best to get a shadow of the warp close.

- Raveners are awesome. Take with two scything talons and spinefists so cheap and effective.

- Hive guard with implaers are sooo good.

- Probably best to blob genestealers to maximize buffs. Unit of 19 is mandatory in my next list.

You don't think rending claws are good on Raveners to turn them into mini genestealer packs?

 Lance845 wrote:

 buddha wrote:
Just had a great game against a great foot eldar player and list. We played ITC mission 3. I played my split Kronos/Kraken twin battalions. In short I lost but I learned a lot. Big take aways:

- Not loving the split hive fleets. Going to move to a mono fleet next game.

- HVC was not successful. Ran on two HT and they did ziltch. Going to switch to twin devourers.

- in ITC rules make sure to run units of 19. Got killed on secondaries.

- Trygons need a real good plan and deployment. I am thinking primes may be best to get a shadow of the warp close.

- Raveners are awesome. Take with two scything talons and spinefists so cheap and effective.

- Hive guard with implaers are sooo good.

- Probably best to blob genestealers to maximize buffs. Unit of 19 is mandatory in my next list.

You don't think rending claws are good on Raveners to turn them into mini genestealer packs?

I didn't find a need. Scything talons give +1 attack and the re-rolls. Due to their stats Raveners are best for mulching chaff or backfield units which doesn't need the rends and they aren't meant for charging into heavy infantry.






Automatically Appended Next Post:
Switching gears, has anyone used a scythed heirodule with any success post-codex? I have one sitting on a shelf and can't seem to find a great list to fit one in. Jorgamundur seems like the best choice for one but the rest of the list never comes together.

I would use a Barbed instead of a Scythed for Jorm. I would think you would want it sitting in the back blasting away with the +1 armor and using the healing strategem to keep it regenerating and alive.

For a Scythed I would go with... Kraken? So you can fall back and recharge to keep the striking first going at all times and allowing your other units to get their shots in to soften it's targets.

I might be mistaken but I think the Hierodules already had the ability to charge after falling back from combat in their monstrous behemoth rules. I'd probably use Behemoth or Leviathan personally, with the former to insure it gets into combat and the latter for a small survivability boost vs mortal wounds and the like should catalyst fail to go off.

Yeah both the heirodule's benefit more from other strats.


Jormy or Khronos is most optimal for the barbed, based on whether you want him more accurate or tougher.

Leviathan is mostly if you just want to gross your opponent out. 22 toughness 8 wounds with a FNP har har.

For a scythed I might take behemoth as it gives you very reliable charges. 3d6 take the highest and reroll if that's not enough.

What about the Kraken strat for increased charge range, as that is a crucial element for a scythed hierodule.

Played a game VS Mech Sisters.

Ran Jorm and Kronos. 2 Batallions 9 CP

Kronos was Malathrope, Neurothrope, 3 Hive Guard w impaler, and 3 Exocrines as my firebase. Gave them some gaunt bubble wrap

Jorm Was a tyrgon Prime w 29 devilgaunts in his hole with neurothropes and the Damecheron. (sp) with troop filler

The firebase was very nasty. -1 to hit all of them, plus the exocrine got 2 turns of using the strat that increases damage by 1. So 12 shots, BS 3 rerolling 1s for -3 3 damage is gross. Very good at killing tanks, even t8 ones. the base took down 2 other vechiles a turn. The trygon with devils was as good as expected. Buckets of dice but you do kill stuff, especially when you shoot twice with them.

Has adrenial glands on trygon as its a 100% must take. He rank in and crushed another tank.

The Damechion was a pretty big disappointment. He looks amazing as a model and on paper, but he never killed any infantry (always failing to wound a SOB somehow..) and never got 6s to wound with his claws. Not ruling him out, but feel he doesent fit well as im eating through CP and need more and he takes up to many points for a FA option.

I didn't have a issue with Synapse taking two fleets, but it is annoying to remember whos with who. Will need to use beads or something to mark it.

Other option is going with my orgional plan of all Jorm list. As it gives the deepstrike and your fire base is -1 to hit with a 2+ save

I have a very controversial question:

Is the Tyrannocyte dead apart from transporting Swarmlord?


I don't really see a reason to field one honestly. Maybe for an Acid Spray T-Fex?

I've been trying out a Jormungandr list with a bunch of Neurothropes. It has 4 Neurothropes, 3 Hive tyrants and a Broodlord for a good deal of Smite as necessary. It's also packing a 20 man genestealer unit, a bunch of biovores and pyrovores and a few hive guard. Raveners as a delivery system and the rest is mostly rippers.

It's doing quite nicely in the 3 games I've played so far, one against Guard, one against Marines and one against Chaos.

The stealers have Extended Carapace and with the Jormungandr trait and Catalyst are a very nice bulwark for the characters as well as an impressive melee threat. Typically I am dropping the Neurothropes, Stealers and Broodlord with one set of Raveners and the Pyrovores with the other set (so I don't Smite myself out of that 10" flamer range). The flying Hive Tyrants drop in different places depending on need.

The guard were the hardest matchup, but they only managed to kill 2 tyrants and about 10 stealers before I was through their screen and into their tanks at which point they couldn't do a lot. I killed 50-60 conscripts (from a bunch of squads) with shooting and Smite and the rest took a hammering from morale. I think he had ~150 to start and only 2 squads still in range of his Commissar with that relic after the shooting. He saved another squad with insane bravery, so I think he had ~ 30-40 conscripts left on his turn, which couldn't form an effective screen as they were all spread out in 1-10 man squads. I then took a hammering from the tanks and was on them the following turn. Fairly close game, the biovores helped a lot with finishing things.

The marines were an odd matchup as they were playing Guilliman with a mixture of tanks and infantry. probably had ~40 models all told. I held back on dropping until turn 3 and let him chase objectives getting out of position then dropped down to cut straight through to the primarch (there was only a Razorback between him and my forces where I dropped). He got back up again and started killing stuff, but was pulled down next turn by Stealers.

Chaos was nasty, brutal and short. Alpha Legion berserkers danced through my Rippers, hive guard and a bunch of biovores. I think I only had 2 models on the table at the end of his first turn. Then I dropped and gutted his entire backfield. The next 2 turns where 'serkers running into devourer fire then getting hit with a ton of smite and charged by stealers. We had a really fun game with that. Much carnage. FYI 'serkers charging pyrovores is hilarious.

I have had nothing but great experiences with claw/devourer Winged Tyrants. They're really durable in the face of the most common anti-tank weapons, they have a pretty good ability to remove screens, and they're going to be charging backline stuff on turn 2. The only thing they're really vulnerable to would be Guilliman-buffed heavy bolters or assault cannons.

I did misplay them badly in one game vs Eldar. I had 3 and put them all in deep strike, when I should have deployed at least 2 on the table to have easy charges on his Hemlocks. But even so they were my MVP units.

I've been playing them Leviathan for the 20% durability buff, alongside some other monsters like the Swarmlord and one or two walking Tyrants. Behemoth would also be a reasonable pick for better deep strike charge odds, but all I'm hitting is chaff anyway. I feel like I want 4 Tyrants in every list, and the fifth is still worth it even if I don't have a psychic power for him to cast on turn 1. More Tyrants lets you have redundant sources of psykery.

 Astmeister wrote:
I have a very controversial question:

Is the Tyrannocyte dead apart from transporting Swarmlord?


I don't really see a reason to field one honestly. Maybe for an Acid Spray T-Fex?

I'd probably lean more towards one of the big melee bugs rather than a T-Fex as a monstrous passenger, either a Haruspex (now 80 points cheaper) or Toxicene. Both want to get close and have tool kits to handle most threats once they get to a target, they just need a bit of help getting across the board intact. Also outside of Jormungandr Tyrannocytes are the only way to drop Shock Guard on a juicy vehicle target and even with Jormungandr they offer a way to conserve command points for more 'stealers. Tyrannocytes also offer a convenient flying model to trigger Leviathan's unique stratagem.

If nothing else, they are cheaper than a Trygon and don't consume heavy support slots. If you are building a list with a lot of Biovores/Exocrines/Dakkafexes they are a handy alternative for dropping 'stealers up close.

 Astmeister wrote:
I have a very controversial question:

Is the Tyrannocyte dead apart from transporting Swarmlord?


I don't really see a reason to field one honestly. Maybe for an Acid Spray T-Fex?

I hope not. I'd like to get a couple for my collection, I think they look cool. I rather like the idea of bringing a Haruspex or two in them. They have a move of 6" and can assault. They also have Fly, so they can float out of an Assault and shoot again if you want them too. Interestingly, their BS never drops unlike most Monsters/Vehicles. Barbed Stranglers firing at units of 10 or more do about double the damage over Deathspitters, so there might be something there. I briefly considered Venom Cannons before seeing their price hike over the index. Oof.

I think if you put your mind to it, they could be incredibly obnoxious for your opponent. You can also save on CPs.

If you wanted to put a Tervigon in a tyrannocyte, that does afford you the ability to actually get the Tervigon + 10 termagants as well, considering he can spawn them, and models held in reserve are at that point equivalent to reinforcement points.

Not sure why you'd do it, but it would be a way to get 1 monster and 10 guys out of a tyrannocyte.

How often are y'all actually able to not move your Exocrines or Tyrannofexes? Just doing the math, a Carnifex with a HVC is better against both kinds of vehicles point for point unless you account for the double shooting with no movement. If I'm taking a Kronos spearhead with 1x6 Hive Guard to double shoot, it looks like Carnifex may be the way to go unless I can reliably not move my Tyrannofex/Exocrine.

I only have experience with the exocrine. Now that their gun is 36" i place him on my deployment line and rarely if ever move it.

 Chippen wrote:
How often are y'all actually able to not move your Exocrines or Tyrannofexes? Just doing the math, a Carnifex with a HVC is better against both kinds of vehicles point for point unless you account for the double shooting with no movement. If I'm taking a Kronos spearhead with 1x6 Hive Guard to double shoot, it looks like Carnifex may be the way to go unless I can reliably not move my Tyrannofex/Exocrine.

Ive done a few games with Exocrines and Hiveguard sitting and never moving. One game as Kronos, the others as Jorm. I don't see the reason to ever move them with 36 inch range