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Hey all, sorry if this has been asked already. I did a search but couldn't really find the info I was looking for. I was wondering, now that Armor of Contempt is a thing are boneswords outperforming Scything Talons on melee focused Tyranid warriors? I can see the arguments for going with either/or and I'm about to print a bunch of warriors and don't want to waste time if one of them is the clear winner. The extra strength ap and damage from the swords seems nice but the volume of attacks from the Scything Talons is appealing as well. Help?

What are the stats of the weapons?

Because if I recall correctly, Boneswords are D2, while Talons are D1. So unless Talons DOUBLE your attacks, Swords are better.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
What are the stats of the weapons?

Because if I recall correctly, Boneswords are D2, while Talons are D1. So unless Talons DOUBLE your attacks, Swords are better. Against MEQ, at least.

Boneswords are better unless you are in a heavy daemon meta, if such thing can exist.

Or against Death Guard.

 JNAProductions wrote:
What are the stats of the weapons?

Because if I recall correctly, Boneswords are D2, while Talons are D1. So unless Talons DOUBLE your attacks, Swords are better.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
What are the stats of the weapons?

Because if I recall correctly, Boneswords are D2, while Talons are D1. So unless Talons DOUBLE your attacks, Swords are better. Against MEQ, at least.

Bone swords are higher strength higher AP and D2 but only give one attack per pair... Scything Talons give you 4 extra attacks as you can take 2 pairs and each talon gives you an extra attack. Not each pair but each individual talon. So you go from 3 attacks per model to 7.That's why I'm having a rough time deciding.

I like 5 man units with some venom cannons mixed in the deathspitters. Double Boneswords all the way. Adding the adrenal glands for the extra strength is clutch too.

Ghom wrote:

 JNAProductions wrote:
What are the stats of the weapons?

Because if I recall correctly, Boneswords are D2, while Talons are D1. So unless Talons DOUBLE your attacks, Swords are better.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
What are the stats of the weapons?

Because if I recall correctly, Boneswords are D2, while Talons are D1. So unless Talons DOUBLE your attacks, Swords are better. Against MEQ, at least.

Bone swords are higher strength higher AP and D2 but only give one attack per pair... Scything Talons give you 4 extra attacks as you can take 2 pairs and each talon gives you an extra attack. Not each pair but each individual talon. So you go from 3 attacks per model to 7.That's why I'm having a rough time deciding.

Don’t forget that paired swords give an extra attack. So the pure melee quad sword build have 5 attacks to the scythes 7. There might be a few niche targets where the extra 2 swings make up for the stat boost you get from the swords, but 95% of the time, take the swords.

 Nevelon wrote:

Ghom wrote:

 JNAProductions wrote:
What are the stats of the weapons?

Because if I recall correctly, Boneswords are D2, while Talons are D1. So unless Talons DOUBLE your attacks, Swords are better.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
What are the stats of the weapons?

Because if I recall correctly, Boneswords are D2, while Talons are D1. So unless Talons DOUBLE your attacks, Swords are better. Against MEQ, at least.

Bone swords are higher strength higher AP and D2 but only give one attack per pair... Scything Talons give you 4 extra attacks as you can take 2 pairs and each talon gives you an extra attack. Not each pair but each individual talon. So you go from 3 attacks per model to 7.That's why I'm having a rough time deciding.

Don’t forget that paired swords give an extra attack. So the pure melee quad sword build have 5 attacks to the scythes 7. There might be a few niche targets where the extra 2 swings make up for the stat boost you get from the swords, but 95% of the time, take the swords.

Yeah, I think you're right. Thank you and thanks to everyone else that contributed to this thread. Boneswords it is.

Thanks for clearing up that bit about the scything claws though. When I read the weapon description on Battlescribe I thought it was just 1 extra attack per pair of claws and so had no idea why anyone WOULDN'T pick the swords!

leerm02 wrote:
Thanks for clearing up that bit about the scything claws though. When I read the weapon description on Battlescribe I thought it was just 1 extra attack per pair of claws and so had no idea why anyone WOULDN'T pick the swords!

You can only take them in pairs, but each one is its own weapon, so gets the bonus.

If you need to churn though tons of 1W, low armor guys it might be worth it. But the lower S probably cancels out the extra swings. Might be able to leverage buffs and such, just hard to think of situations that would make the corner case better then the generally superior swords.

All of the weapons are good. It depends a bit on your targeted prey. Against margins double swords are probably best. (I have not done rending claws math.)

Angainst something that cares about leadership the lashwhip stratagem is great.

If your meta is power armor heavy, and a decent amount of it has access to damage reduction, a melee-only warrior squad would best be loaded with Boneswords and Rending Claws. Boneswords for your standard 2W 3+ profile, Claws for anything that has 1W or damage reduction. Talons don't really enter into it unfortunately, with Armor of Contempt around the loss of the AP makes the bonus attacks far less attractive compared to Rending Claws wounding T5 on 3+ and T3 on 2+ and still having a hefty -3 AP.

Dual boneswords plus adrenal glands gives you 4 attacks per model, S8, wounding T4 on 2+, T7 vehicles on 3+, which is great. Add flesh hooks for the +1 to hit in melee stratagem. For shooting a 3 model unit can be equipped with one deathspitter, one venom cannon, one barbed strangler.

How do people feel about the extras? I think the general consensus is that paired boneswords is the way to go, but what about the other options?

I’m just playing crusade games these days, but am getting ready to build some warriors, so am thinking about them. For me, there is no reason not to hand out all the whistles and bells. Although what guns vs. more stabby is still a question. But there are magnets for that.

Adrenal glands are a bit pricy, but seem like they would be worth it. Movement is nice, but pushing boneswords to S8 is a huge breakpoint. Wounding marines on a 2+ is nice, as well as shifting the rolls on T7/8. If you do run the other weapons, going to S7 for rending claws is not that important, but getting the talons to S6 will help with their roll of cashing out huge swarms of chaff. Access to the extra attack strat is there, but there is probably a better target for it in the army.

The movement bonus from flesh hooks is very table dependent. When it’s needed, it can be very nice to have. But useless at other times. 5 points for the +1 to hit strat could be worth it though. Getting 2+ to hit and wound vs. MEQ with adrenal glands and boneswords should make whole squads evaporate.

Toxin sacks seem iffy to me. 10 points/unit is not nothing. Auto wounding on 6s to hit would be better with high volumes of low S attacks (talons?) but if we are swinging at S8, is it worth the points? Would help when carving open harder targets. Gives a 1cp discount on pathogenic slime, which lets it work on shooting attacks. More mid-S high volume shots there. Maybe?

For the guns I don’t see much reason to take the spinefists. 2 pistol shots? If you are taking a slot for shooting, take something that will make an impact.

I think there is more of an argument to be had with deathspitters/devourers then swords/talons. With them both being D1 the question is if the range/S/Ap is worth the 3/5 shots. I’m leaning towards the spitters, but if you want to clear chaff, the extra shots could be nice.

For the big guns the VC seems worth the 5 points. I less convinced about the strangler. Mostly because I’m not a fan of the d6 shots. Compare to the spitter. It has a flat 3 shots, one less S (but 6 to 5 is a much less relevant breakpoint) 12” less range (but 24” is good enough most days) but gains a point of AP. If it was a free side-grade I still might pass on it. Plus the practical issue of rolling a different type of attacks every time the unit shoots slowing the game down.

I think my initial build for my warriors is going to be 3 guys, adrenal glands, paired boneswords, 2x deathspitters, 1x venom cannon. Flesh hooks if I have 5 points to spare (when not playing crusade games)