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Hello everyone.

GW's new Foundation paints have convinced me that I can actually paint a whole army. To this end I have decided to collect one. 'Godzilla' Tyranids have caught my eye because they don't have many models to paint, and Carnifexes and Hive Tyrants are really cool. However, I haven't played 40K very much and I suck at it so I was hoping some of you guys could suggest a basic 1,000 point army for me to aim for so I don't spend a bunch of money on an army that is rubbish.

It doesn't have to be an invincible tournament-crushing uberlist. I just want something that'll be competitive while playing against my more tactically-minded friend. I'm thinking of Rippers to fill up the troops choices and huge monsters to fill up the other slots, but apart from that I'm at a loss. Any help would be appreciated,

Thanks for any suggestions,

Aescarion

It seems like you've got a good handle on what you want.

If you want rippers for troops over genestealers that will give you more room for carnies and such but they wont be nearly as good. At such a small points level I'd rather go with some genestealers which will have way more impact on the game despite their higher associated costs.

You'll want a flyrant for your HQ, dakkafexes in elite slots (carnies w/ twin linked devourers), and increased BS carnies with venom cannons and barbed stranglers for your heavy support.

Lots of people like ravenours for fast attack slots. They're pretty cheap and brutal especially at lower points so you might want to include some of those to fill extra points that dont divide evenly into another carnie. Just make sure you stay away from warriors and lictors.

Zilla nids are really brutal at lower points. It really takes other armies 1500 or 2000 points to be able to deal with that many monstrous creatures with so many high toughness wounds. Just make sure you keep your carnies cheap and dont waste points on useless upgrades when you should be buying more creatures.

I can post a list if you really want one, but I'd rather let a more experienced player who actually plays nids to give you one. I really only know how they run because of playing against them, but that's at 1500 and above. Not sure how to parse the points at lower levels.

First, before you begin making your list, make sure you have a full understanding of what the special rules and stats are in the Tyranid Codex.  I know this seems like a condescending remark but I assure you, I mean very well.  Don't let anyone tell you that a CCFex is not a viable option for at least ONE of your heavy choices.  Toughness 7 with 5 wounds is quite survivable and will thrash most anything in its path with ease (yes I know it's slow but I'm quite adept at cornering things and using flanking maneuvers).  Now i may be on the wrong forum to be posting things like this ("Dakka" and such).  I do realize that the carnifex may seem like the "ultimate shooty guy" with its high strength.  It may be a viable option but I roll horribly.  Period.  Ask anyone who has played a game with me.  If I roll average in a game, it's usually a sight for jaw-dropping gasps.  I say that to say this: if I have to spend points to make a unit BS3 then I need a better strategy.  I have found, however that a Tyrant with BS4 serves me well.  I always have guards with a non-winged Tyrant.... survivability.  I find that TL deathspitter and VC on a Tyrant is quite adept at nearly any shooting roll.  The guard also have rending claws so CC is still an option.  Rippers are nice.  I have even had substantial success with adding wings to them.  Keep in mind though, Rippers are the only unit in the army that can be Instant Death'd even in Synapse range (and it only takes S6).  Just a few thoughts to get you going.  I'm sure there will be several posts after mine that will say that I'm crazy but I have had real success with the bugs (although I don't think Nidzilla is the strongest way to use them, it is themed and can be fun... I suspect you will have about as many wins as losses depending on tactics).

Thanks for the help guys.

A sample list or two would be very useful so I can see what other people's take on a Godzilla list is. Apart from that, any more hints are much appreciated.

Well, you certainly picked a nice army. Godzilla Nids are probably one of the best armies in the game, especially at 1000 points. They should be lots of fun to play. Anyway, I know that you've already gotten some good advice so I won't go too far into it other than to post a possible 1000 point starting list for you to peruse.

First off- we'll start with the Hive Tyrant(s)
Hive Tyrant #1- wings, warp field, 2x scything talons, toxin sacs, implant attacks, flesh hooks, adrenal glands (+1I)
209

"Dakka"fex- 2x twin-linked devourers, enhanced senses (+1 BS)- 113
"Dakka"fex- 2x twin-linked devourers, enhanced senses (+1 BS)- 113
"Dakka"fex- 2x twin-linked devourers, enhanced senses (+1 BS)- 113

10 Spinegaunts- (50)
10 Spinegaunts- (50)

"Gun"fex- venom cannon, barbed strangler, enhanced senses (+1 BS), extended carapace 173
"Gun"fex- venom cannon, barbed strangler, enhanced senses (+1 BS), extended carapace 173

That should get you started. The nice thing is that as you expand your list, you don't really have to make any changes to any of the monstrous creatures. Later on you can add ravenors, zoantrhopes, genestealers, another hive tyrant, and/or more spinegaunts.

The list above is illegal because you can't take elite fexes at 1000 points. Minimum 1500 points to use them.

At 1000 points, take the two tyrants, 2 gunfexes and 1 dakka fex (all 3 heavies). Fill the rest with whatever you like (ravenors being best addition).
At 1500 points, add 2 dakka fexes and switch the heavy dakka to elite. Add zoanthorpes or another heavy carni. Fill rest with whatever.

The spinegaunts are kind of a waste of points if your only synapse is a flying tyrant. I'm sure you wont want him babysitting the 100 points of gaunts, so maybe switch those out for stealers who will actually be useful without a synapse right next to them.

Since the dakkafex is going to be heavy anyway, I would give it +Sv.

I might swap out the +Sv on the sniperfexes for +W, but that depends on how aggressively you play with them.

I would probably have the HT go with Devourers instead of the ST.

Raveners are one of my new favorite units. 12 inch charge is just huge.

Crap.. yeah. always forget that rule.

Just so you know zilla Nidz is not always a popular list in the eyes of some gamers. I don't know how many of them I saw at Adepticon this year and that turned me off from playing them. Yes they are extremely easy to win with but they will also probably get boring quite fast as well. Maybe you might want to try coming up with something more original.

- Greenie

"Popular"  That word bothers me in this context.  Is this a game of strategy or are we voting for prom king/queen?

Popularity matters when your opponents and peers determine soft scores, like composition and sportsmanship, which in turn affect your end score.

As I said, It bothers me. Sportsmanship has nothing in the world to do with your army list as long as it's legal. If it's in the rules, it's not cheesy or inappropriate. It's a game with set rules that everyone has to abide by. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, I'm just saying it shouldn't Am I wrong?

I agree, but there is a large cross-section of the playing public that disagrees with us.

True enough. Consider it this way, is it cheesy for the cleanup batter to be a home run hitter? Is it cheesy to use a left hand pitcher? A triple play is not easy to do, but possible. Is it cheesy? Enough about baseball... it just doesn't make sense to criticize something that is effective, as long as it is in the rules.

Is it cheesy to bring in a dwarf as a pinch hitter, since it will be hard to throw a strike on him?

It is legal.

Cheesy?... No.  Unrealistic? yeah.  It's going to be a hindrance in other areas of the game.  Speed, play-making, batting stats, all suffer for the possibility that a PROFESSIONAL pitcher can't throw into the smaller strike zone.  It's an attempt but you'll need a better example to show me that following the rules and using them to your advantage is wrong.  Is pitching on the inside to get a strikeout cheesy?

Read what I wrote, a *pinch* hitter. Thus he comes on, gets a walk, someone else comes on to run for him. Done.**

Likewise, I can squat so my shoulders are touching my knees, and still swing a bat (though not well), Thus 'legaly' and the the 'rules' there is no strike zone.

Likewise, I can make a strong case that it is 'legal' to put your landraider all but out of the deployment zone before the game. But it is defintely cheesy.

BTW, it has been done, and was made against the rules, pretty much because it was so cheesy.

Wow, a baseball thread. I have to admit I really wasn't expecting that.

I don't mind how the 40K community at large thinks of my army or how it'll do in tournaments because I never intend to go to a tournament - I'm not a good player and I just want a fun army to play with, and Zillanids sounds like fun. Also, I care more about painting than playing and a zilla army gives me both relatively few models to paint (to maximise the chances of my finishing it) and some extremely cool models (hive tyrants, fexes and raveners are very good models in my opinion).

But hey, keep on with the baseball stuff, it's cool.

Posted By coredump on 05/17/2007 4:19 AM
Read what I wrote, a *pinch* hitter. Thus he comes on, gets a walk, someone else comes on to run for him. Done.**

Likewise, I can squat so my shoulders are touching my knees, and still swing a bat (though not well), Thus 'legaly' and the the 'rules' there is no strike zone.

Likewise, I can make a strong case that it is 'legal' to put your landraider all but out of the deployment zone before the game. But it is defintely cheesy.

BTW, it has been done, and was made against the rules, pretty much because it was so cheesy.

Frankly I'd like to see someone try to squat in such a manner to eliminate the strike zone.  Not sure, to be honest, what you are referring to with the land raider scenario.  The deployment rules seem pretty straightforward to me but I may be missing something.  And if it is against the rules, then why bring it up?
Oh BTW, as far as your pinch hitting little guy, it's not impossible to pitch into a smaller strike zone, just more difficult.  So that really serves my point better.  If it does truly give you an advantage, then why wouldn't you?  Is this not a competition?  I expect some day to have to face a tyranid hunter army that was chosen just because they knew they were up against my list.  Is it cheesy? No.  I approach the game in a different way, however.  I make my lists to be as all-encompassing as I can.  I don't change my list whether I play Eldar, SM, Witchhunters, Chaos, etc.  Maybe I'm weird for that.

OK dudes, this is what I've come up with so far:

Hive Tyrant ('Sweet Emperor now they can fly'), wings, toxin sacs, venom cannon, scything talons: 175

Dakkafex ('Duck and cover!'), 2 x twin-linked devoured, enhanced senses: 113

Dakkafex ('Why did they give it a gun?') 2x twin-linked devourers, enhanced senses: 113

Screamer-Killer ('There's no school like old school'), adrenal glands, bio-plasma, scything talonsx2: 113

8 Genestealers ('Oh my god get it out of my mouth...') 128

8 Genestealers ('they don't just kill you...') 128

3 Raveners (Did you feel that...?') , 2x scything talons: 114

Total: 884 (I think).

What do you think? Not enough dakka? Big dead screamer-killer in the middle of the table? Needs more Flyrant? Hideous overlooked rules flaw? I'd probably spend the spare hundred points or so on biomorphing the carnifexes but I guess a few more stealers might be better VFM.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Gaedel

little person MLB player...

Hivetyrant.

Wings let the HT move around fast.
VC means he doesn't need to move around.

Generally a waste to use both.
I see your point, fly over, shoot 3 times, then assault.

Now think about what you would be shooting at. Would you be better off with 3 VC shots, or 6 Devourer shots that reroll hits, and reroll wounds?
Also, if you get stuck in CC, you are 'wasting' the points you spend on the VC. Oh, and you really want to give the HT Warp Field.

Raveners will be much more effective with RC/ST instead

If you have the points, may want to give the stealers EC. cuts your bolter-fire deaths in half. (AP5)

If you have the points, I would give the fexes +Sv
May want to put the raveners in 3 different broods. That way only one can die at a time.

You don't *need* more synapse, but it could help.

He actually has the points available to make the Raveners into 3 squads of 2, I would think, but then wouldn't have points to up the save of the 'stealers or 'fexes.