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I just posted a battle report where the Tyranid army I used did not do too well. You can see the battle report here:

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/797066.page

For those who don't want to read the battle report the Tyranid army used was:

1 Battalion Detachment – Hive Fleet Leviathan – 12 CP in total

1 Hive Tyrant with Wings and 2x Two Devourers with Brainleech Worms. Warlord
1 Broodlord

16 Genestealers
24 Hormagaunts
5 Termagants witht Devourers, 20 with Fleshborers
2 x 3 Tyranid Warriors with 1 Venom Cannon

3 Hiveguard with Impalers
3 Zoanthropes

16 Gargoyles

2 x 1 Screamer Killers
1 Trygon Prime

1 Hive Crone


Just wondering what I can do to keep the spirit of this army but perhaps make it a bit more competitive. The idea is that while it's lacking in the shooting department it tries to close with the enemy fast and overwhelm them with options.

My first thought is that perhaps the Hive Crone doesn't really do a lot for this army. Not sure what to replace it with, perhaps more small gribblies or a Malanthrope.

I do have some spare models. I'm also not averse to buying more Tyranids, though I would probably proxy them first before taking that plunge.

I have a Tervigon, which I think are pretty terrible at the moment, though I could proxy it as a Tyrannofex.
I also have quite a lot more Termagants. I'm not sure more Termagants would be a good idea but I could proxy them as Hormagaunts to see if that helps.
I also have quite a few more Genestealers.
I have more Tyranid Warriors, also a couple of Malanthropes.


Any comments welcome. Looking back at the battle report I think more terrain would definitely have helped the Tyranids. Looking at the photos I posted the terrain definitely seemed a bit sparse for 9th edition.

Hey there,

I am not much for competitive but hive guard or a pretty nasty unit. If you can, i'd add more of them and drop some tyranid warriors. There are certainly lots of things to shoot at. Genestealers and the broodlord will be prime targets as they can shred almost anything given sufficient numbers. I'm not sure if you play objective games but I would consider how you are going to take and hold objectives. small groups of termagants are a bother because your opponent will have to deal with them rather than let them keep racking up the points for you. That's fire power that isn't going toward your hth units. Bare bones carnifex are always a great choice. They literally cannot be ignored.

 ender502 wrote:
Hey there,

I am not much for competitive but hive guard or a pretty nasty unit. If you can, i'd add more of them and drop some tyranid warriors. There are certainly lots of things to shoot at. Genestealers and the broodlord will be prime targets as they can shred almost anything given sufficient numbers. I'm not sure if you play objective games but I would consider how you are going to take and hold objectives. small groups of termagants are a bother because your opponent will have to deal with them rather than let them keep racking up the points for you. That's fire power that isn't going toward your hth units. Bare bones carnifex are always a great choice. They literally cannot be ignored.

Thanks for your comments.

Regarding objective holders, that's what I use the 2 units of Tyranid Warriors for. At least for objectives in or near their own deployment zone.

The Broodlord and Genestealers are certainly nasty. A lot of points though, not sure if I should swap them out for something else.

I agree that the Hive Guard are pretty impressive. 3 don't do a lot, though if I were to get more I'd have to sacrifice something else. Not sure what though. I am hesitant to drop the Tyranid Warriors, as I said they're objective holders, also pretty solid for synapse. If anything I was thinking of getting another squad of them.

One of the main reasons you want a unit of 6 hive guard is the shoot twice strategem. If you want cheap objective holds just go with rippers over warriors. They can deepstrike in and are far easier to hide.