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Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




It's been a while, but since there have been a few changes to AoS since I made this, I thought I should update it to take advantage of some of the changes.

Hopefully this is the right forum for this, I didn't see one for custom AoS rules.
A few weeks ago I discovered the "Cosmic Horrors" battletome on the Spikey Bitz Facebook page. I've always liked the Tyranids and the thought of having them available in some form (unofficially) seemed fun. With the recent release of the General's Handbook I was inspired to make my own version based off the original. I've included points, artefacts, command traits, battle traits, and even a couple of battalions. Its fairly complete as far as editing goes, but there's always more fine-tuning to do where balance is concerned.

This is the latest iteration, and its one I'm fairly happy with. While a few friends in my area have critiqued it I thought it would be good to expand the potential audience and have some outside opinions.

Edit: Just updated the battletome. I've changed up the monster tables, the Swarmlord is a monster, added a couple of units/battalions, battle traits, and skirmish profiles.
Edit 2: Tweaked a few rules and added a spell lore.
Edit 3: Added a reference sheet for units and created a bunch of cool warscrolls. Changed or added a few abilities and removed the swarm vermin (I never liked them anyway). Some name changes and added a new unit.
Edit 4: Added Swarm Tyrant and Swarm Vermin (Again...). Also just remembered that twin linked devourers are a thing.

Link (Onedrive):
https://1drv.ms/b/s!Am6md9gOPjjMgodIkhLrelceIkbtxA

There is a Kroot Battletome now. Have a look and let me know what you think.
Link(Onedrive): https://1drv.ms/b/s!Am6md9gOPjjMgodNmW-QpQE3xUQaPw

This message was edited 16 times. Last update was at 2017/10/24 02:01:07


 
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka




That is so great. Thank you so much for sharing. I wanted to do this but didn't know how.

Now you just need to make some cards like Privateer Press does it for Warmahordes and I will play with it. Hell I will play with it, even without the cards, but I would love you more if you made cards.

Agies Grimm:The "Learn to play, bro" mentality is mostly just a way for someone to try to shame you by implying that their metaphorical nerd-wiener is bigger than yours. Which, ironically, I think nerds do even more vehemently than jocks.

Everything is made up and the points don't matter. 40K or Who's Line is it Anyway?

Auticus wrote: Or in summation: its ok to exploit shoddy points because those are rules and gamers exist to find rules loopholes (they are still "legal"), but if the same force can be composed without structure, it emotionally feels "wrong".  
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




Ugh, cards. I hadn't even thought of that. I suppose there's a format for PowerPoint out there somewhere. I guess I know what I can work on now.
   
Made in au
Steadfast Grey Hunter




Grand Alliance: Om nom nom?
   
Made in us
Stubborn Dark Angels Veteran Sergeant





Illinois

motski wrote:
Grand Alliance: Om nom nom?


Destruction. That's easy. It's not order, chaos, or death. What it is, is a force he'll bent on ruin regardless of who they ruin

RoperPG wrote:
Blimey, it's very salty in here...
Any more vegans want to put forth their opinions on bacon?
 
   
Made in au
Steadfast Grey Hunter




I think Tyranids are more a force hell bent on breakfast but I guess Destruction would make a lot more sense than the other three. At least they have Ogors as dining guests.
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




Yeah, I went with destruction. I figured they really wouldn't much care where the breakfast came from as long they as had some.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




You seem to have great editing skills. Good first draft.

Id suggest to use the stat blocks like they use officially (the circle) and get a image of the monster table so it looks more professional.
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




Couldn't really find one that worked for PowerPoint. I still plan to do more work on this as I find more resources.
   
Made in us
Fiery Bright Wizard






Idaho

neat idea!

C&C:
It looks good, but I agree with above: try and get something easier on the eyes than the straight list of stats (maybe make your own like the 'official' circle for stats?)

Maybe switch over both the swarmlord and the hive tyrant to the monster table as opposed to "regular" units?

The Swarmlord seems silly. 3+ save with basically FNP isn't all to bad, HOWEVER having a hero instantly die on 2 6's is amazingly strong (woops, sorry Nagash, rolled 3 6's, you're dead, lol), add in the fact that you're stupidly durable since he can heal up to 3 wounds a turn. Maybe make rolls of '6' to wound mortal wounds, and on a 4+ he can roll to heal d3 wounds instead of a for-sure heal. Aditionally, make his 5+ bonus save against mortal wounds only, maybe? His weapons seem pretty solid, at most I'd probably drop him to 3+/3+ and a 1" range.


Beyond that, some of the units seem fairly decent, but other seem pretty damn strong for how much they ended up costing, but who knows, maybe it works better in play-testing?



I'll never be able to repay CA for making GW realize that The Old World was a cash cow, left to die in a field.  
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




The swarmlord underwent several revisions before the current version. Though the 3+/3+ for hit and wound was my preferred stat line. The idea was to have him be on the same "tier" as the other uber-characters, but I can see it could be a bit much on a single model.

Initial runs of the army showed that I was way too conservative with their stats. The Void Hulk was one of my star under-performers. But since you mention it, what other models seemed too powerful?
   
Made in us
Fiery Bright Wizard






Idaho

well:
UNITS:
1) The swarmlord, as previously mentioned
2) Some of the void tyrants options make me a bit confused on effect/stat line (how does the whip stop an entire unit from piling in? The devourer seems like a strong source of shooting on an already durable melee-monster)
3) The Void matriarch (can pump out a LOT of bodies. and with general's handbook limiting summoning to stuff you've gotta pay for, the ability to summon 5+ 10-man squads is kind of absolutely amazing. Add onto that the ability to pump in up to 6 additional models into one of those units per turn, and it starts to add up quick. Basically: getting to make a ~15-man swarm spawn/leeches per turn is up there on the power scale imo.)
4) I'd switch the Void Flayer's Flayers to "rend -1 on a 6" as opposed to mortal wound, but that's preference rather than power. (does the 1-in-3 thing work with Sigmar's style? or would it be more in-line with the rest of the units to have 1 in the unit and/or everyone can take one?)
5)The void guard give your tyrant essentially 12 extra regenerating wounds since the pass-off is automatic. I'd make it something like a 4+ maybe?
6) Make Void Herald's wizards, and have their shot be a spell? With 1 extra attack from the spell per model in the unit?
7)The 'heal when you kill something' is stupidly strong on the Mourngul, and it's stupidly strong on the Void Hulk. ESPECIALLY when you have innate regeneration on-top of that, and arguably hit harder than the Mourngul in close combat.

BATTALIONS:
1) Lurking predators: being 9" away seems to be the standard for 'summoned/created' units in the game. How well does this one play on the table?


At least, that's what I've gathered from a few brief read throughs. Side note: I'd also probably add in termagants in some form unless you're specifically trying to leave them as a super melee centric swarm army (which is cool to )

I'll never be able to repay CA for making GW realize that The Old World was a cash cow, left to die in a field.  
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




Due to work and the relatively few AoS players in my area, I haven't been able to test the army as much as I would have liked. So I haven't done a whole lot of practical testing.
1) In the latest update (linked in the first post) I've toned down the Swarmlord.
2) I was trying to emulate the initiative modifier the whip had in 40k. Since there's no initiative per say, I though preventing piling in might be a good substitute. As for the devourer, its range will likely be dropped to 12" to bring it in line with the rest of the faction.
2) As far as I know from the handbook, the matriarch's command ability would require points set aside for bringing in those units. I could have misinterpreted it though (Not the first time that's happened). If I'm wrong the easiest change would be to switch the spell and cmd ability.
4) Funny enough, the rend is the exact change I had made to the weapon before you posted. Also, the stormcast I know for sure have "if X models one may take X weapon" so its not uncommon.
5) I like that Idea. I'll make a note of it and see how it works in my next game.
6) I'm honestly torn on the Heralds. I feel there are enough wizards in the faction and wanted an artillery unit to help with the short-range common to the army. I wanted the Exocrine, but the current unit was more popular.
7) I'll probably just drop the normal regeneration off the Hulk or give him 12 wounds instead of 14 to keep him form being overly durable.

As for the Lurking Predators, 9" is pretty common, but the Stormcast can drop a whole bunch of pain into a players face turn one. So I'm not entirely convinced that 6" is too much. Its the one formation I haven't tested yet.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/07/26 17:58:39


 
   
Made in us
Fiery Bright Wizard






Idaho

awesome! Looks leagues better now, visually

1) I like the changes, though I still think that making the swarmlord and Void Tyrant monsters (and giving them the chart, as much work as that would be :( ) would be a pretty fun/fluffy way to go about it.
2) for the Initiative modifier, do what high elves do: Allow units with the whip to choose to go whenever they want in either combat phase (same idea as the "Martial prowess" bonus some elves get.
3) Ah, that's right. the way I read it was that the rule got around that limit some how, my bad. With that in mind, it tones her down.
4) I didn't know that, Don't really play stormcasts
5) Yay!
6) Maybe Biovores/Pyrovores for the artillery, and then make heralds wizards?
7) Seems to work.

If it helps out, I'll try and get a local 'Nid player to play a few games using these rules.

I'll never be able to repay CA for making GW realize that The Old World was a cash cow, left to die in a field.  
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




That would be great. The main reason I posted the battletome was so people could use it and post feedback. I can only do so much, the more people see it the better.
I really don't want to make the tyrants into monsters. I see them as an in between hero like the Celestant Prime or a daemon prince.
If I do make a new artillery unit, I'll just replace the heralds. I don't think the army needs more wizards and they need some kind of big gun. Although, now I think about it, I could just make a magical cannon out of them. I'll have to think on it.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/07/27 04:03:53


 
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka




Great job there. Loving the new look.

Now needs colour. That was a joke.

Only criticism I can give is the numbers are a tad bit small. Not sure if that is fixable or not. Also thank you very much, I will see if someone will let me try this out.

Agies Grimm:The "Learn to play, bro" mentality is mostly just a way for someone to try to shame you by implying that their metaphorical nerd-wiener is bigger than yours. Which, ironically, I think nerds do even more vehemently than jocks.

Everything is made up and the points don't matter. 40K or Who's Line is it Anyway?

Auticus wrote: Or in summation: its ok to exploit shoddy points because those are rules and gamers exist to find rules loopholes (they are still "legal"), but if the same force can be composed without structure, it emotionally feels "wrong".  
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




I'd have to make the circle a bit to big too increase the font size, maybe bolding the text would help. As for color, the black and white is kind of a cheat. It was hard to make it look nice in color.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/07/27 04:04:06


 
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka




Great job. I wish I could do something like this. I tried, but just like my painting I am bad at it, but way worse.

Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Don't forget fortifications. Now Chaos has them, use the Nid's drop pods as terrain or the spore chimneys.

Agies Grimm:The "Learn to play, bro" mentality is mostly just a way for someone to try to shame you by implying that their metaphorical nerd-wiener is bigger than yours. Which, ironically, I think nerds do even more vehemently than jocks.

Everything is made up and the points don't matter. 40K or Who's Line is it Anyway?

Auticus wrote: Or in summation: its ok to exploit shoddy points because those are rules and gamers exist to find rules loopholes (they are still "legal"), but if the same force can be composed without structure, it emotionally feels "wrong".  
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




Oooh, I could save the terrain for an "expansion" once this main battletome gets relatively straightened out. There are a few units that I would like to eventually add. The main one being the Toxicrene but the flyers seem cool too.

Also in response to an earlier question. I am trying to design this army to focus on melee rather than ranged combat. I thought Termagaunts were kind of redundant anyway, I have a fast melee chaff and a fast shooting chaff. Didn't want to muddy the army with a meh middle ground.
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka




Lukeovich, do you visit The Tyranid Hive? I had to share your work with them. Hope you don't mind. Someone made some good AoS cards as well. Not sure if you saw them or not. I can get you a link if you like.

It might give you some great ideas as well. Both you and his work is awesome and a great inspiration.

Agies Grimm:The "Learn to play, bro" mentality is mostly just a way for someone to try to shame you by implying that their metaphorical nerd-wiener is bigger than yours. Which, ironically, I think nerds do even more vehemently than jocks.

Everything is made up and the points don't matter. 40K or Who's Line is it Anyway?

Auticus wrote: Or in summation: its ok to exploit shoddy points because those are rules and gamers exist to find rules loopholes (they are still "legal"), but if the same force can be composed without structure, it emotionally feels "wrong".  
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




As long as I'm mentioned somewhere, feel free to share this with anyone. I'll have to check out those cards, I know some exist for the mini-AoS starter so it'd be cool to see what they look like. I'd love to put the tome in a more official format.

Edit: Just saw those cards. They look amazing!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/07/27 22:51:52


 
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




Created a supplement with a few new units (broodlord, termagants, toxicrene, malaceptor, mawloc/trygon, and Tyrant Guard). Also added a swarm-type formation.
   
Made in us
Loyal Necron Lychguard




Man I usually hate homebrew stuff for 40k/AoS, but this is pretty damn good. Seems relatively balanced, points costs seem about right, and the fluff is simple and fun (like much of AoS). This is one of the few fandexes I would actually play against if someone brought it to the table, at least to try it out.
   
Made in se
Slippery Scout Biker




This is awesome! I just finished building my new Tyranids army when AoS hit us and became the main game. Good that I can use those models for something

6000p
1500p
750p
500p 
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




I just managed to get some Tyranid models so that I can test it properly (I was using chaos warriors everywhere). I've been erring on the side of caution when stat-ing the models. It helps that I can use the General's handbook as a reference to compare similar models to get an idea of what costs should be.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/08/05 16:03:22


 
   
Made in us
Loyal Necron Lychguard




Lukeovich wrote:
I just managed to get some Tyranid models so that I can test it properly (I was using chaos warriors everywhere). I've been erring on the side of caution when stat-ing the models. It helps that I can use the General's handbook as a reference to compare similar models to get an idea of what costs should be.


That's honestly one of the big strengths of the Handbook and points system - unlike in 40k where two equivalent units can be wildly different in points across two codices, they seem to have done a very good job of keeping points relatively standardized for units of similar role and statlines. Makes this sort of thing easier too
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka




Great job again. Keep it coming.

Agies Grimm:The "Learn to play, bro" mentality is mostly just a way for someone to try to shame you by implying that their metaphorical nerd-wiener is bigger than yours. Which, ironically, I think nerds do even more vehemently than jocks.

Everything is made up and the points don't matter. 40K or Who's Line is it Anyway?

Auticus wrote: Or in summation: its ok to exploit shoddy points because those are rules and gamers exist to find rules loopholes (they are still "legal"), but if the same force can be composed without structure, it emotionally feels "wrong".  
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




As far as model/units go, I think I've reached as many as I want to put in. Planning to get some testing in next week so I can see where any faults could be.
   
Made in us
Roarin' Runtherd





Could someone give me a hand please? My daughter loves the look of the tyranids and wants to play AoS. This is perfect for our basement games and our Thursday night league.

I don't know the mini's that well though and don't have a 40K Tyranid dex.

Would someone mind listing which mini is used for each unit in the Void Swarm list?

THANK YOU!
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




Sure, I can give you a list. As an aside the background artwork for each unit entry is the actual Tyranid model.

Main Battletome:
Swarmlord=Swarmlord (lulz)
Void Tyrant=Hive Tyrant
Void Matriarch=Tervigon
Void Stalker=Lictor
Swarm Spawn=Hormagaunts
Swarm Leeches=Gargoyles
Void Horrors=Genestealers
Void Flayers=Tyranid Warriors
Void Guard=Hive Guard
Void Heralds=Zoanthropes
Void Hulk=Carnifex

Expansion:
Void Seer=Maleceptor
Swarm Tyrant=Broodlord
Swarm Vermin=Termagaunts
Void Brutes=Tyrant Guard
Void Daemon=Mawloc/Trygon
Void Butcher=Toxicrene
   
 
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