Posted this over on another forum but wanted to link it to a thread here and felt it best to link from within. I played 2 games vs mostly Imperial Guard (pure competitive
IG in game 2). Sorry no pics this time!
So I FINALLY got to test out the new Nids codex (these holiday time trips really put a damper on
40k lol!). What follows is my list and what I played against, plus my best accounting of what happened in both games.
TLDR: I love Nids and am certain that they can be competitive at the very highest level.
My list (sorry for the long form, just copied and pasted from my notes)
The R and T are to remind me who is in reserves and who starts on the table! So hard to remember with 24 units!
Kraken Brigade:
Swarmy - 300 (w/pod 423) (2R)
Flyrant - 198 (R) (-1 to hit relic, warlord)
Neurothrope - 70 (T)
3 Lictor squads - 135 (3 R)
19 Genestealers - 228 (R)
18 Genestealers - 216 (R)
3 Rippers - 33 (R)
3 Rippers - 33 (R)
3 Rippers - 33 (T)
3 Rippers - 33 (T)
3 Solo Mucolid squads - 60 (3T)
3 Solo Biovore squads - 108 (3T)
Jormungdr Outrider:
Neurothrope - 70 (T)
29 Devilgants - 232 (R)
3 Raveners w/deathspitters, 1 Scytal, 2
RC - 88 (R)
2 Solo Mucolid squads - 40 (2T)
2000
13
CP
We did ITC championship mission 4 - Precious Cargo. It was testing a comp with no forge world, though I think that restriction will likely be lifted once chapter approved comes out. We forgot throughout to score bonus points for holding the opponent’s priority objective.
In the first game, I played against roughly 1k of Imperial Guard and 1k of Imperial soup (a baneblade plus assorted marines, mostly tacticals). It was two players who decided to slash their 2k lists to 1k so we could play a 3 man game (I had 2k, they had 1k each) while we waited for our fourth to show up. Come on, Steve!
The Guard player had....I think 2 tank commanders (plasma-cutioners), 2 Wyverns, 2 punisher Russes and I think that was it? It wasn’t a long game so I don’t exactly remember but that was the gist of it. He gave 30 or so of his points to the other player.
Hammer and anvil deployment, which actually kind of worked against them because although they deployed their tanks about as spread out and back as possible, they were forced to deploy closer together sideways than they might otherwise have liked to. In the end, it allowed me to tag multiple vehicles with my assaults many times. Of course, a multi-assaulting squad of Genestealers is tough to prevent when there are 15+ models.
It was kind of comical because when I explained to them what my list does with Swarmlord’s double move on a genestealer squad out of reserves, the guard player looked at his partner and said “hey can you screen my tanks with your tactical marines?” (Usually not done with
MEQ). Was a good idea, but not enough bodies to stop me.
For deployment, their tacticals set up to screen on the 24” line and saluted as they knew their fate. The tanks were further back, at varying depths so I couldn’t multi assault with too much ease. I had 13 drops in reserves, so I deployed 1 Mucolid and told him to deploy his entire army because he had 14 drops
. After that, I deployed the two neurothropes behind my Rippers, both of which sort of tried to hide out of
LOS but needed to be on objectives too, and the 3 biovores kind of took up most of the actual BLOS terrain in my deployment. The 5 Mucolids stood out in the open on my 24” line and said “COME ON! HIT ME!”. I won the first turn roll despite them getting +1, and I made them go first since everything I cared about was in reserves or a character who couldn’t be targeted.
Quick summary of each turn:
Team False Emperor killed all of my Mucolids, 1 Ripper and made me take a few saves on my Neurothrope because I made a mistake with one of them and gave them
LOS but not on my Rippers, so although the Rippers were closer, they could still target my Neurothrope. Whoops.
On my turn, I brought down everyone except the Rippers, 2 Lictors and the bigger genestealer squad. The marines did what they could, but 20 bodies were summarily dispatched of by the devourer gants, devourer Flyrant, and smites, and the Genestealers were able to charge and surround but not kill a Leman Russ, preventing it from falling back. Those same Genestealers also tagged a Wyvern, tagged a tank commander, encircled a terminator librarian (who by the way, killed more Genestealers in combat (7) than the rest of the army combined. It was that kind of game). The Swarmlord move with Kraken is just silly. You’re talking a 13” move on average, plus charge, plus pile and consolidate. So. Much. Mobility.
On his turn, his tanks shot a lot at my termagants, while the baneblade leveled its barrels at Swarmlord. It’s much improved, so naturally it did 1 unsaved wound to Swarmy. We mathed it out and it should have done about 4, assuming a judiciously used my Command Point re-roll. So sad for him. Really didn’t put a dent in my forces for the most part. Was not a great turn for the imperium.
On my second turn, it just got worse for them. Swarmy was too far away from anything that mattered to charge, so metabolic overdrive was nice to allow him to slingshot my second squad of Genestealers from a better position, which let them move 14” after dropping 9” away from the second half of his tank blockade.....they called the game once I made that multi-assault.
Thoughts from that game:
Biovores. Actually wow. Maybe I should make larger squads, but it could be tough to hide more models out of
LOS, and I don’t know what I would drop.
Termagants worked exactly like I thought they would in clearing out the screens, even though they didn’t expect to be shooting at
MEQ lol. Jormungdr’s 5+ save is beautiful.
Raveners get ignored a lot for the most part, and 3 wounds is really nice in case they aren’t ignored. I do like them having the guns a lot.
Bat Rep 2: Same list for me vs just the guard player (no baneblade)
He had:
4 tank commander plasma cutioners
2 punisher Leman Russes
2 Wyverns
1 Hydra
4 10 man guardsmen squads
2....5 man squads deep striking in somehow. Double melta and a plasma pistol. I think they were troops?
3 primaris psykers
He was using tallarn for the ability to outflank both punishers to try and get the drop on my Genestealers, as well as the ability to move and fire without penalty on all of his guns, not just the turret gun (I didn’t know it was only that one for Russes!)
Standard dawn of war deployment, same ITC mission (1 objective in each corner ish). Side note on the new ITC missions - wow so so much improved from the old ITC missions, which themselves were way better than the book missions).
Primary mission was to kill a unit each turn and hold at least 1 objective each player turn (1 point for each), with 1 bonus point going to the player who killed the most units in that game turn, as well as 1 bonus point to the player who held more objectives.
His secondary objectives were Headhunter (kill characters), Kingslayer (kill Swarmy) and Big Game Hunter (kill 10+ wound models). We looked at it since this was a learning experience for both of us and I don’t think he had better options in my list, but he needed to kill Swarmy, my Flyrant, and both Neurothropes, plus my Tyrannocyte to get 11/12 secondary points. I only had 3 10+ wound models so he couldn’t max on that, as each secondary can be scored up to 4 points. My secondaries were to kill 10+ man units (so his 4 infantry), Headhunter (kill characters), so his primaris psykers and of his tank commanders, and have units in his deployment zone at the end of the game (forget what that one is called).
He deployed across the entire board on the 12” line with his infantry models and spread his tanks all across so that it would be difficult for me to get more than 2 tanks with any single assault. I did generally the same thing as my first game, hiding everything out of
LOS except the Mucolids. One squad of Rippers was exposed if he moved up. He won the roll off for first turn and opted to go first. I opted not to seize.
IG turn 1:
He boldly moved forwards, advancing everyone to try and push my Genestealers back (basically I would be deploying them in my own deployment zone). But he did it smartly, without leaving me an opening to jump behind him. Dropped in 2 melta squads to deny my deep strike options further. Murdered 4 Mucolids. Killed a squad of Rippers. RIP first blood ?-2017. Left his punishers off the table so the Genestealers couldn’t feed :(
Nids turn 1:
Brought in literally only the Raveners and the Gants. I knew I needed to clear out his infantry models before I could bring in my Genestealers. Gants + neurothrope smites + Ravener Deathspitters killed his 2 heavy hitter squads of infantry (5 man), plus 2 10-man infantry squads. Did need to double fire to accomplish this, but split fire is a beautiful beautiful thing. This cleared out the entire center of the board, and his remaining 2 infantry squads were too far on the flank to deny me turn 2. Mission: accomplished. Goodbye Gants and Raveners
lol! I even gave the Gants Catalyst in the vain hope that some would live. Spoiler alert - they didn’t. We tied on held objectives, but I killed more units than he did, so I edged ahead on the primary, and I scored 2 secondaries for killing 10 man infantry squads.
End of Turn 1
IG - 2 Nids - 5
IG Turn 2:
He opted to keep his 2 punisher tanks off the table still, as he really was terrified of my Genestealers (and rightfully so). Shooting murdered all of the Gants and all of the Raveners (with not a lot to spare, but yeah. Saw that coming). Everything else was hiding out of
LOS. (So 3 Biovores, 3 Rippers and 2 Neurothropes). 1 Mucolid was still kicking, half out of apathy and half because I wasn’t moving to threaten anything. This Mucolid trend would continue through the end of turn 5
lol. He scored 2 on the primary but no secondaries.
Nids Turn 2:
The reckoning had to arrive, and it was ready to do so. I could only use the Lictor strat once a turn and I had 2 Genestealer squads, so ready or not, they were coming in. Nothing was close enough that made me want to use the Infestation nodes, as only his infantry had really moved up. So Swarmy and his 18 closest friends got up close and personal. Since his remaining screening units were too far away, Swarmy got to set up for a 9” charge (spoiler alert - he failed it with a
CP re-roll) and was able to direct the Stealers to tie up 2 plasma cutioners, neither of which would be able to fall back in between the board edge and a piece of terrain on the side of one of them. I threw down an expendable ripper squad to obsec an objective, and my Flyrant came in to clear out an infantry squad. I was able to smite down 1 of his primaris psykers who had roved up too far to try to deny my deep strike. In the end, I held 2 objectives and he held 2, and he spent 2
CP to deny me from killing the last few models in his second infantry squad because that would have allowed me to kill more units than he did. As it stood, we tied 2-2 on kill points that turn. I did score 2 secondary points - 1 for Headhunter and 1 for killing 10 man squads. I also scored 2 primary points, as we still both held 2 objectives.
End of Turn 2
IG - 4 Nids - 9
IG Turn 3:
Under duress, he is forced to bring in his two punishers on the left table edge (important for a later turn). He wanted to wait out both stealer squads, or at least be able to shoot at 1, but one is locked and one is in reserve. Go Hive Mind! Both punishers, a heavily wounded plasma cutioner, a full strength plasma cutioner, a hydra, and even 2 Wyverns all unload into swarmy (there really wasn’t much else to shoot at except maybe the Biovores with the Wyverns, or a few ripper squads). Unbelievably, Swarmy lives with 2 wounds! And I even re-rolled a 2 damage plasma shot, saving it with the second chance roll! I rolled a little above average. But usually I’ll have the Malanthrope covering him, so it’s not too crazy for him to live. Was a breaking point for
IG though. They only got a kill point by charging a primaris Psyker into a ripper squad! D3 damage on the force staff is no joke!
IG scored 2 points on the primary and 3 secondary points for Kingslayer, as they’ve done 9 + wounds. They only killed 1 unit, however.
Tyranid Turn 3:
Swarmy, though wounded, still has full access to the utility of his double move ability, which allows my second squad of Stealers to catapult into both of the two punishers on the left board edge. My Flyrant kills the last 10 man squad with his shooting, and then absorbs overwatch on one of the punishers, and helps the Stealers lock both tanks with their charge move. The Genestealers that have slowly been mulching away at a second plasma cutioner finally roll enough 6’s to kill it. In between smites and assault, one of the punishers drops. My neurothrope assaults a hydra, preventing it from firing next turn, though it could fall back. Both genestealer squads are still locking a single tank in combat and I’m on 3 objectives and have killed more units. I get 4 for the primary and 6 for my secondaries (4 for Kingslayer, 1 for the 10 man squad kill and 1 for killing a character). The game functionally was out of reach at that point, but the guard player wanted to play it out.
End of Turn 3
IG - 10 Nids - 19
IG Turn 4:
He has 2 Wyverns and a single plasma cutioner left that can fire, but Swarmy is the only target. He unloads all 3 models into Swarmy but rolls to wound exceedingly poorly, and with my last command point, I re-roll the last save I have to make to survive with 1 wound!!! Part of why Swamy lived is because he killed my Tyrannocyte to get a kill point and a secondary for killing a 10+ wound model. Scores 2 on the primary and 1 secondary.
Nids Turn 4:
My Genestealers fall back away from the punisher on the left board edge so they can go stop the Wyvern from firing, and the other squad falls back from the plasma cutioner to go assault a full strength plasma cutioner and leave the wounded one to Swarmy. My Flyrant falls back and smites the hydra for 3, while the neurothrope goes berserk with an 11 for smite, doing 6 mortal wounds to kill it!! My Flyrant screams and finishes off the last punisher. Swarmy smites to finish off the plasma cutioner. He slingshots the Genestealers coming off the left flank so that they can maybe assault the Wyvern, but they roll a 2,2,3 for their advance. Rip! They subsequently fail an 11” charge but do have catalyst. My other Genestealers make their charge to lock up the last plasma cutioner, and a lictor combined with a neurothrope to harass a primaris Psyker, killing it. The lictor then ties up a Wyvern. I get 3 points for killing 3 characters, which puts me at max for my secondaries. I get the full 4 on the primary again.
End of 4
IG - 13 Nids - 26
IG Turn 5:
In a last ditch attempt, he finally kills the Swarmlord, giving him 3 secondary points! He also holds 1 objective, giving him 5 total
VP this turn, but the game is out of reach and he can only fire with 1 Wyvern.
Nids 5:
I kill a primaris Psyker with many Stealers (in the right corner of the board with the Stealers from the left side). The plasma cutioner dies to rends. The lictor keeps chasing the other Wyvern, killing it with Biovore support. We call it at this point with me getting 4
VP since I can no longer score secondaries and he is going to be tabled if there is Turn 6.
End of 5
IG - 18 Nids - 30
Post-Game thoughts:
Would have been a very different game if Swarmlord had dropped the turn he came in. I don’t think I would have lost, which is good. I effectively built this list with the ability to beat competitive guard in mind, so the fact that it can is good. Remains to be seen how it interacts with chaos, Guilliman, etc.
A few unit thoughts:
The Flyrant can make a vehicle take a surprising amount of saves with its shooting. I don’t think I can do rending claws in the list that I have because I need to be able to clear out enough screening models. But it is tempting, especially in Kraken.
I’d really like to be able to have a shooting unit like Hive Guard, but I don’t know if I have enough bodies/offense without the units I’d have to drop to make room for that.
Sorry that was long but thought some people might appreciate the notes. Next time, I’ll take pictures to go with it!
10000+
10000+
8500+
3000+
8000+
3500+ IK Plus 1x Warhound, Reaver, Warlord Titans