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.

Looking for advice on what direction to go with getting a few more models to supplement the new 10th ed Nids. I also have GSC, so I do have genestealers and a broodlord already...plus I have a carnifex and trygon cuz well....

The more I have been thinking about it, the combat patrol box looks like a good idea. A hive tyrant, warriors, and then lots of little guys. Open to other suggestions though.

Nobody can really say how the rules will shake out with the new edition. What'll be duds and what'll be stars.

Horms/Termagants, Warriors, a Hive Tyrant are a solid start.

Really, I'd only recommend getting a decent variety of the available roles. Different troop choices, some different elites, fast attacks, HQs, etc. That way you're not hard committed to a section of the book that might suck.

We still don't really have enough information about 10th to make very informed recommendations. I'd probably advise you to hold off a couple of months until the new edition drops so you can get an idea of what kind of jobs you'll need your army to perform.

If you're really itching to buy something in the meantime, buy a box of whatever you're most excited about, and spend some time building/painting it.

We could tell you, "warriors are a flexible kit and are usually a cheap source of synapse," only to find out that their stats in 10th make them really squishy in the meta or something, so it's hard to give specific recommendations.

I agree with the others, we don't even really know how units are going to play out.

An example 2nd edition AoS was focused on big infantry blocks - 3rd edition knocked that on its head to where you could only have 2 full infantry blocks at 2K points; everything else was minimum compositions. That drastically changed how you built units; how you deployed them and what was good and bad.



10th isn't out the door yet so until it really is its very hard to even just get the raw numbers of what's legal right; let alone what might be tactically advantageous to get or to avoid.



I would say go with more "that looks cool" choices for now until 10th and the Tyranid Codex drop and even then give it a little bit of time for the dust to settle.

Best tip though is if its a warrior or bigger and if it has multiple weapon options - strongly consider magnetizing the primary arms (or if its something like the exocrine, the whole head and gun placement).
Being able to build lots of weapon variations is a big power of Tyranids, but it can also be where GW messes with you by making some combos illegal or less powerful or more powerful. So using magnets in those larger models lets you swap things up and make changes on the fly without having to tear models apart or rebuy stuff.

Worth bearing in mind that tyranids are getting a range refresh, at a minimum what's been previewed already, so you might want to hold off on some purchases until the new versions are released.

Alternatively, you might prefer the older designs, so better get them while they are still available!

As others have said, we don’t know a great deal right now.

From what we’ve seen, I’d say Genestealers would be a nice addition to the forthcoming boxed set. That’s because we’ve seen their card (below) and they definitely have some decent utility.



Able to scuttle up the board before the game starts proper, and look to be quite capable of shredding most infantry without needing specific support.

Given lethality seems to be down across the board, their T4, W2 and 5+ Invulnerable should mean your opponent can’t simply ROFLstomp them - particularly if you can get them on an Objective, where their Vanguard Predator rule kicks in and seriously ups their offensive potential. Certainly they should be able to paste any non-assault dedicated enemy infantry, and give a not unreasonable percentage of game units a good fight before going down.

Their Objective Control (OC) is nothing special - but I’d be willing to bet it’ll be less of a concern given the shredding they can dish out on anyone looking to dislodge them.

In summary, whilst we do need to see more stuff (particularly what a Broodlord may or may not do for the unit beyond adding muscle), Genestealers should be a decent distraction unit. Something your opponent will need to deal with - and will need to go in mob handed to avoid simply feeding the Stealers tasty bite sized chunks.

I've had nids before, and basically GW added so many new units to them that I felt overwhelmed with the prospect of just the sheer cost of trying to keep up with the Joneses.

The models in the new starter look varied and it looks like a nice opportunity to add nids back to my collection, but in a much reduced manner. So I'm looking for an affordable and smart way to bring them up to typical game strength without breaking my wallet.

I'm not too concerned with meta at the moment.

Collect the models you like.

Or wait 6 weeks for the rules and decide then.

What roles are covered in the box:

Screamer killer: Melee crusher
Neurotyrant: psychic support?
neurogaunts: Light melee/support?
Winged prime: mobile synapse, melee
Von Ryan’s leapers : backfield harassment/board control
Termaguants objective holders, light ranged fire
Barbgaunts: light artillery?
Pychophage: melee spam/support?

Obviously, we don’t know all the details on these guys yet. I’m making a lot of guesses.

For melee we have a few things. The SK is big and crunchy. Good S, but not over the top with the boosted T values of 10th. Flat 3 damage is nice. Probably better vs. elite infantry than ripping tanks in half. The Pychophage is a chunky bug, but the tenticle maw strikes me more as a lot of low S attacks, so horde eater. The neurogaunts look to be less stabby then hormagaunts, more wound sponge then blenders. Could be wrong. The winged prime has some talons, but I’m not expecting it to be particularly nasty in a fight. Relatively. The leapers should be good vs troops, but I would not expect them to go toe-to toe with other melee units.

Shooting we’ve got the barbs, which I’d be shocked if they had more punch then a couple mid-S shots each. We know the termagaunts. Big Brain might have a blast, which I’d guess is going to be mean, but short range.

Overall we have a mostly CC focused collection, mostly light or mid S hitters. I think it would fair well vs fluffly, infantry focused lists. Not a lot of AV options; basically just the SK and fishing for hits by weight of numbers. Plus maybe smites/blasts.

Mobility/table control is the leapers and the winged prime. Plus just rushing forward.

I think what the box could use is some more heavy hitters to deal with tanks, trick/mobility units to disrupt and grab objectives, and units to camp/gum up the table. Maybe some more synapse support. The current combat patrol could fill these roles, but so could a lot of other units.

Exactly what unit is the most effience in a particular role is a blind guess at this point. We can look at the roles needed to put together a TAC list and guess how the box is going to do at those, and what will be needed elsewhere.

I swung by a LGS because I sort of hoped that they had a battleforce in stock...seems to be the only way to find those things anymore. But alas, it was not to be. But they did have the Combat Patrol for a better price than I have seen it online, so I picked it up. So for the time being, I'm fairly set. I've now got a hive tyrant, to be built after stats are released, a horde of T'gants, and some warriors. With the other carnifex I have and trygon, that should give me a decent base of large models.
I don't expect the T'gants to do much, but with the number I'll now have, I can toss them at multiple areas and I should have plenty of synapse to keep them in line.

Effective or not? we'll see. But should be playable at the very least. Thanks for all the advice. Once I can start playing 10th, I'm sure I'll find the holes in the army and can make precise purchases to fill the gaps if needed.

 Brother Glacius wrote:
Looking for advice on what direction to go with getting a few more models to supplement the new 10th ed Nids. I also have GSC, so I do have genestealers and a broodlord already...plus I have a carnifex and trygon cuz well....

The more I have been thinking about it, the combat patrol box looks like a good idea. A hive tyrant, warriors, and then lots of little guys. Open to other suggestions though.

The stater box nids twice or starter box nids+patrol box of nids is imo the best way to start or expend tyranids. By rule of thumb, unless a unit is a really, you probably want to run double of it. 40-60 guants is probabaly never too many, I don't think you will want more then 2 anti psyker nids, unless you play a lot vs psychic heavy armies. The new prime leader could be a on off, or a two off, but could also be a 0 off, but maybe wing regular warriors will be good and this means you get extra. the brain tyrant is suppose to be a more psychic focused hive tyrants and hive tyrants are run as pairs, so for a psychic heavy army you will probably want to run 1-2 too. Everything else is old kits or new stuff we don't know the rules of, so a wait a seen option right now.