So over the weekend I took this list against 1850 Eldar and 1850 Space Marine. The Eldar game went very, very close, and really did come down to dice rolls. The list he brought was the same list that won a
FLGS tourney (he did not win 1st place because of model painting etc, but he won all of his battles hands down), so I think it's a pretty competitive list. Here's the list written out (99% sure this is it):
Farseer - jbike
Farseer - jbike
Guardian x20 - x2 BLances
5x Dire - WSerpent
5x Dire - WSerpent
5x Dire - WSerpent
10x Guard - WSerpent
WKnight - 2x DCannons
Wlord - 2x Blances
Wlord - 2x Blances
Scouring - He got first turn and I failed seize. Here's the imgur link to the map/layout:
http://imgur.com/a/tnPd7 Some of it might be a little incorrect (objective placement/counts) but everything else should be right. There are some images of the opening positions so you should be able to get a handle on how the battle went. I've included notes on exactly what happened in each turn in the Imgur gallery (SFW), so check them out if it suits your fancy.
Here are my overall impressions of how my units preformed:
HQ - Flyrant did what the flyrant is supposed to do. Although it died late when I tried to kill a
WL in melee vs the Eldar (had 1 wound left, would rather try to make a hero than watch it die in the next round), it's still a total beast. Adding in the ML2 stuff and it's terrifying. Vs the SMarine it shot up-charged and decimated a DevCent squad (smash AP2 insteadeath woot). I love this guy in the new codex - ML2, able to toss out buff/malediction +
SITW, then glide/dakka/charge, just disgusting. Always a viable option.
Prime - The Prime + Carnifex squad soaks a ton of fire, and if played correctly you can easily achieve a 3+ cover and 5+
FNP if you are fortunate enough to get catalyst from a zoey/flyrant. Otherwise, you might get Onslaught to put on them and it is still pretty nasty. I'm not quite sold on the Miasma cannon upgrade for him, but it DID force saves on the eldar's WK and
WL, so we'll see. It seems an upgrade for a squad that is designed to soak fire might be a waste, but I can see it doing damage if I manage a hit on the scatter dice. Plus, it's great for if the unit gets close and decides to 2+ flame-shoot-charge if necessary (or D3 OWatch on a 2+).
Elites - Venomthropes are awesome. I like the squad of three of them. They forced a few
WS serpent rounds into them in the Eldar battle, so expect a pretty high target priority. Their ability to give the monster ball some 5+ cover against most things, and a 3+ beyond that, is key. Even the 5+ on Gargs/Gants is better than just getting wiped out completely by bolter fire. If they die in turns 1 or 2, no biggie, that just means your stronger stuff is still rolling and healthy. Not much a change from last dex. Eventually I imagine they will attract some S8 fire, and to be honest I'd rather missiles shoot the VThrope than my
MCs anyway. I realize that Ignore Cover is plentiful, but it's rarely paired en mass with AP3, so I'm not that concerned with it as I once was.
Zoans - I ran 2x in unit, and a unit of 1. This gives you three t4w2 3++synapse models spread over two units of ML2 psykers. Keep the single zoan out of
LOS and you can achieve a dependable synapse anchor. Use the other two for your frontal assault blob. If I didn't run a unit of 1, I would run another 2 venomthropes. Would have to replace the Synapse models but that's ok.
Troops - The fact that this codex lets you make lists without Tervigons is a huge bonus. Instead of spending all the points in a tervigon, I can get 4 gant units (20 w/ 10x
dev, 10 10 10) that can take the field pretty well, all cheaper than the 30g+Terv tax. If the enemy is shooting at my gants,
lol, I'll take it over the
MCs. However, I imagine a thunderfire cannon or two would simply decimate my troop strategy. If I were to change anything, I would drop a squad of termi and reduce the garg blob to fit in 5x
GS and a Broodlord for mid-field infiltrate and Horror combo. Horror Pinning is a new tyranid strategem, and I think the new Broodlord can really open the door to USEFUL genestealers tactics. Infil into cover, G2Ground if taking heavy fire for the +2 to your cover, and retain your ability to Horror. If the enemy has sunk enough fire into your 2+ruins or 2+area cover, you might die, but you might have some
GS left to pop out in turn 3 when you suddenly have a flyrant/fexi/tyranno in their lines. They go from a high target priority to a low target priority, yet their damage potential is very high. I've pulled it off in the old dex, but now that we have Horror it's going to be even more effective. Pinning and assaulting a DevCent squad is especially brutal since they delete
MCs from the battlefield. I also might give warriors a try but only with a lot of
MCs around. Yeah, they insta die to S8, but with so much T6 I doubt they would get on the recieving end of too much missle fire.
Fast Attack - 22x Gargs and a Hive Crone, I think, is a wonderful combo. Gargs are for giving obscure save to the mass (screen formation), or clumped with the flying threat on a flank if the situation arises. Plus you get the added benefit that in the Scouring mission both count as scoring.
Hive Crone - The HCrone saved me a draw in the Eldar battle, and made the SMarine player quit in the second game. In both games he came in turn 3 and started working. I like that it wasn't available to die until some of my other units had lessened the opposition's firepower. I'm sure taking 2 is supreme, but x1 and a squad of garg (can bring 25 or so for the same cost as a crone) is pretty nasty.
HSupport - 2x Carni - Dakkadakka. Soak a ton of fire if you get your 2+ LookOutSir, 3+/5+ cover, and 5+
FNP wombocombo. This codex not only made them cheaper, but more reliable and survivable. A huge boon to Tyranid players everywhere. I think three dakkafex is overkill on S6 firepower, considering that 2 already gives threat potential and positive target priority. I'm toying with the 2x 3Carni units with fleet and thorax templates idea, but that's for different list entirely. I think if I dropped the Carni's, I would add 3 biovore or a malwoc, drop the Prime and add another Flyrant. It changes the list's play style but worth a shot.
Exocrine - Hit and miss but overall, worth. It did a total of 1 glance on a Serpent before Turn5, but in turn5 killed his Farseer that was contesting my objective. Worth I think. In the
SM Game, I Onslaughted him to the DevCents and got 5 hits (good rolls) and 5 wounds at AP2. This wiped the Librarian and 2 more DevCents. I realized Str7 is awkward - not enough to reliably put a wound on Av12, but overkill for most other units. However, it is the only ranged Ap2 that we have so I think it's almost an autoinclude. Will roast Terminators and is a good way to deal with DevCents or Riptides. The BS4 when stationary makes you play a positioning battle, so experienced players will be better equipped to deal with his shenanignas. And yes, the Zoey have ranged AP2 but why would you
WB when you have 2 potential buffs/maledictions to give out.
Tyrannofex - Awesome. Torrent Str6Ap4 template, then with SSalvo+Thorax flamers (take your pick, all will reliably wound infantry) is terrifying to the opponent. Throw it an onslaught and watch your opponent burninate. All of this on a 6t6w2+
MC, to which you can cover with your other
MCs +venom to achieve the 3+, and
FnP if you get double catalyst, so much magma monster. If this guy lives to turn 3+ and isn't tarpitted, the game must be going well. Much beast.
Overall impressions - For the record, I never thought that this codex was nearly as bad as it was made out to be. Yes, they nerfed how Nid's played in the last codex, and I will concede that some of our units got nerfed pretty hard, but if you didn't think a t6w63+ trooppsyker, troopspawning PSN4+ that move/charge, synapse
MC for troopFOC at 185~ was overpowered, I don't know what to say. I think the 12" synapse backlash is an overnerf personally, but it simply was too powerful in the last dex. What we need to do is find a way of replacing the utility that a terivgon provided, but spread it accross more units, wounds, and models. In my list, the Prime, 1x Zthrope, and mass of Termagants fill this requirement. I achieve a strong synapse ball and tons of wounds and troop choices, protected with VThrope 5+ or area terrain. In my opinion, the stregnth of this codex is not in individual powercreeps but synergy, and I think there really are some robust combos you can put together. Think like the hive mind and the hive mind will think for you.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here's the SMarine list:
He decided to go 2x DevCent squads, which I thought was particularly scary vs all my
MCs. Thank goodness for Horror.
Tig
Librarian
Sternguard x10 - Pod
10x Tacmarine - Pod 1x Flame
10x Tacmarine - Rhino
10x Tacmarine - Rhino 2x Flame
5x Tacmarine
Stormtalon
Dev Cent x3
Dev Cent x3
Tyranid move first.
Turn 1 - Tyranid ball moved forward, SMarine pod fell and lit up some gargs, nothing major.
Turn 2 - Tyranid ball moved forward, DevCent with Tig got ICover, reroll hit, and invul. They straight up DELETED the prime/fex/fex. So. Scary.
Turn 3 - Crone came in turn 3, blew up rhino w/ flamer (immobilized) and finished it off with a tentaclid. Flyrant pinned DevCentTig squad, shot/charged another, exo killed a few devcents, game over. SMPlayer calls.
Outcome - Tyranid Victory
Thanks for reading!
