Introduction
Here is my first guest post in a long time. It comes by way of my good friend—Christopher Lackey, whom I met over on the 40k Wrecking Crew forums. Chris has been playing 5th edition Tyranids a lot longer than me and has some great advice—hence the reason why I'm posting this article of his to share with everyone else.
If you follow this blog then you know my current army is a fully reserved Tyranid list. You'll probably also know that I'm opinionated and can be quite stubborn at times. That said I am willing to take good advice from others (as hard as that might be to believe). Lots of people such as Alex Liao have suggested the inclusion of a Tervigon in my existing list so I think it's time to delve more deeply into this particular subject.
Current 2000 point Tyranid Army List
Here is my current abbreviated list as a reference for this discussion:
Tyranid Prime + 10x Hormogant
Flyrant: Hive Commander, pair of twin linked devourers w. brain leech ammo, lash whip & bone sword; paroxysm & leech essence
Doom - mycetic spore
2x Zoie - mycetic spore
10x Yrmgal genestealer
15x devilgant - mycetic spore
3x Warrior: bone swords & lash whips, toxin sacs, 2x deathspitter & barbed strangler - mycetic spore
15x genestealer incl. Broodlord: toxin sacs & scything talons
Trygon Prime
1st Comment - Old Adversary Suggested for your Flyrant
"I just don't have the points for Old Adversary. Most of my sheet is WS5
or better so it's okay. I noticed the guns are usually lots better than
casting Paroxsym. Thoughts?"
Here is Chris' first gem of wisdom:
—Remember as a monsterous Creature you can shoot two twice a turn. So if you have lash whip and bone sword plus twin linked devourers with brain leech ammo you can shoot your 6 shots AND you can cast paroxysm on the targeted enemy unit.
Paroxsym causes your opponent to hit even your termagants on 5+ in melee... Your weakest units hit on 3+. If you have Old Adversary then you hit on 3+ and get to reroll all failed hits. It can make a world of difference when mean old Abbadon suddenly has to hit on 5+ versus his normal 3+.
The main thing to take away from this is that you can shoot your gun and still cast paroxysm.
2nd Comment - Take a Tervigon as a Troop Choice
"I am not a fan of the Tervi. Doesn't fit with a reserved army."
—Since you already take a unit of termagants you can take a Tervigon as a troop choice and since you take HIve Commander for your Flyrant you can give a troop choice Outflank -> So you can have a Tervigon outflank. On top of that you can have an exhaustive supply of troops (barring rolling any doubles on 3d6 dice to spawn more gants)... It's really hard to beat Nidz in objective based games while your Tervigon is spewing out more gants each turn!
Also if you purchase toxin sacs and adrenal glands for the Tervigon... Any unit of termagants within 6" the Tervigon can do all of the following:
- Use its leadership for any tests
- Gain Counter Attack *
- Have toxin sacs and adrenal glands *
* If spawned by the Tervigon
So if you assault with your gants and utilize your movement phase correctly you should still have at least one gant within 6" of the Tervigon.
If you have the Flyrant nearby then you can hit on 3+ and reroll failed hits while wounding on 4+ due to toxin sacs and reroll wounds versus T4 units due to adrenal glands. On top of all that you can cast Feel No Pain (FNP) on one of your units. The combination of these units and the synergies they bring are insane !!
Suggestion—Drop the Warrior brood to make room for a Tervigon.
Here are some more advantages the Tervigon has over the Warriors:
- Synapse with 18" range versus 12" (i.e., Dominion)
- Cast Feel No Pain on units like your genestealers, Flyrant and Trygon Prime *
- Much better equipped to crack open vehicles being a monstrous creature (S6 plus 2d6 armor penetration)
* Note that FnP cast on a monstrous creature is a solid counter to missile spam plus if you properly layer your army then you've also got the 4+ cover save as well... It's very difficult to sneak a wound past two 4+ saves!
Conclusion
So there you have it. There are plenty of people who have a lot more experience than myself when it comes to playing Tyranids. I'm always learning and want to improve my list. I just shipped by army today to be pro painted so I'll be taking a break from Tyranids for a couple weeks—but who knows, maybe I'll build a Tervigon next year and give it a fair test
Remember though that while my Warrior brood is small it's a strategic node in my synaptic network - its primary function is to provide synapse in the midfield and take objectives late in the game. I love my Warriors so it'd be hard for me to drop them but I'll probably give the Tervigon a fair chance soon enough.
Thanks to Christopher for his excellent advice—it was pretty much a primer for me and it's greatly appreciated. A lot that's been said is common knowledge for those playing Tyranids but I think this is excellent advice for those just starting to take a look at the codex.
Thanks again !!
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