40K TACTICS: Drop Podding with Tyranids

The unit that most intrigues me in the upcoming Codex: Tyranids is the “Landing Spore”. Veteran players remember these as Mycetic Spores. They are deep-striking transports, roughly equivalent to a living Drop Pod. These specially evolved spores are used during the initial stages of a Tyranid planetary assimilation, so I figured that it was a great embarkation point.

The new codex brings back these living transports, making them available to a decent number. Let’s take a close look at this beastie:

The Fearless spore can hold 20 Tyranids or 1 monstrous creature. It Deep Strikes and lands much like a Drop Pod. Once it lands, it is immobile for the rest of the game. This tentacle-covered Monstrous Creature is armed with Lash Whips (models attacking the Landing Spore attack at I1) and Climbing Tentacles (a ranged weapon: 6″ S6 AP- Assault 6) and can purchase additional bio-weaponry. The Landing Spore has limited intelligence and never tests for Instinctive Behavior, but it always attacks the closest enemy (unless it’s engaged in close combat).

Note: Just like models disembarking from a Drop Pod, the passengers on the Landing Spore can only shoot or run on the turn they arrive.

In my example list, I included Barbed Stranglers on the Landing Spores. This gives the monster a much larger range and helps mitigate Climbing Tentacles’ low Ballistic Skill (the Barbed Stranger has a 24″ range and uses a large template). Since the Landing Spore is a monstrous creature, it will attempt to shoot both weapons at the nearest enemy. And if my opponent assaults it, he has to deal with 3 S6 attacks that ignore armor saves (and can’t attack until I1 because of the Lash Whips). All in all, much better than the Space Marine Drop Pod.

The Landing Spore leads to a very different style of play for Tyranids — something very refreshing to players who have only had the option of walking across the table. I’m really looking forward to trying out new stuff with the codex!

Here’s a example of a 2000pt “Podzilla” Tyranid List:

HQ
Alpha Warrior (2 Bone Swords, Pair of Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs)

Alpha Warrior (2 Bone Swords, Pair of Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs)

Note: I built the Alpha Warriors to be punishing close combat monsters. They re-roll 1s in close combat (thanks to the pair of Scything Talons) and they re-roll wounds against models with T5 or less (thanks to their poisoned weapon). The Bone Swords are power weapons that force anyone wounded by them to pass a Leadership test (on 3D6) or be removed as a casualty. If I get the charge, that’s WS6, S6, I6 and 6 attacks (all re-rolling 1s and re-rolling wounds)! Ouch!

Note: The Alpha Warriors also have Synapse (making nearby Tyranids Fearless) and they have Shadow in the Warp (making it more difficult and dangerous to use Psychic powers near them). Since they are Independent Characters, I’m going to attach them to one of the 19-man Termagant squads before deployment.

ELITES
2 Zoanthropes
— Transport: Landing Spore (Barbed Strangler)

2 Zoanthropes
— Transport: Landing Spore (Barbed Strangler)

Note: The Zoanthropes are amazing tank-busters, with their Warplance psychic power (18″ range S10 AP1 Assault 1, Lance) they can pop Landraiders with ease. With two of them per Landing Spore, I can count on their BS4 to bring down at least one problem vehicle when they arrive. They’ve also got a nice S5 AP3 blast (Warpblast) that I can fall back on if there aren’t any tanks to deal with.

Note: Zoanthropes are also Synapse (and Shadows in the Warp) creatures, so they will help me keep me from making Instinctive Behavior tests. They are also sporting their new 3+ Invulnerable save, thanks to Warpfield.

TROOPS
20 Termagants (Fleshborer, Adrenal Glands)
— Transport: Landing Spore (Barbed Strangler)

19 Termagants (Fleshborer, Adrenal Glands)
— Transport: Landing Spore (Barbed Strangler)

19 Termagants (Fleshborer, Adrenal Glands)
— Transport: Landing Spore (Barbed Strangler)

19 Termagants (Fleshborer, Adrenal Glands)
— Transport: Landing Spore (Barbed Strangler)

Note: Termagants are a fantastic deal in the new codex with a starting price on par with Imperial Guardsmen (especially considering that they are armed with a 12″ range Assault 1 BS3 Bolter). Add a super cheap Adrenal Gland (for Furious Charge) and you’ve got a great model spilling out of a goo-filled alien egg. I included 77 of them in this army for roughly 500pts (including their expensive transports).

HEAVY SUPPORT
Carnifex (pair of Scything Talons, Heavy Venom Cannon, Bioplasma)
— Transport: Landing Spore (Barbed Strangler)

Carnifex (pair of Scything Talons, Heavy Venom Cannon, Bioplasma)
— Transport: Landing Spore (Barbed Strangler)

Note: These monsters are armed with Scything Talons (re-roll 1s to hit in close combat), Heavy Venom Cannon (giving me a S9 AP4 blast — which is great even with the additional -1 to the vehicle damage chart) and Bioplasma (a 12″ range, Assault 1 Plasma Cannon). With the S9 and S7 blasts, you can’ afford to ignore these bio-tanks.

Carnifex (two Twin-Linked Devourers)
— Transport: Landing Spore (Barbed Strangler)

Note: Although I wanted a decent amount of S8+ shots (for pesky Plague Marines and transports), I just couldn’t pass up a Carnifex with two twin-linked Devourers arriving in your backfield via Landing Spore. The 18″ range is plenty when arriving from Deep Strike and the TWO twin-linked S6 AP- Assault 6 guns will cause some serious damage. Even with the BS3, I’m looking forward to pumping out 12 shots from a Carnifex!

TACTICS: The army is pretty simple. I put in a decent amount of redundancy (even though I really dislike spamming identical units) to counter-balance the random nature of Deep Strike. So basically drop the tank-busters near tanks (e.g., Zoanthopes, Carnifexes) and the people-eaters near the people. Then feed.

It’s a little high on Kill Points (~20), but that’s the nature of fully-mechanized armies. The nice thing is that it’s got a ghastly amount of shooting — 77 BS3 Fleshborers, 9 BS2 Barbed Stranglers, 2 Heavy Venom Cannon, 2 Bioplasma, 4 Warplances/Warpblasts and 2 TL Devourers. That’s 95 shots and 11 blasts per Shooting phase (not including the FIFTY-FOUR 6″ shots from the Landing Spores), not too shabby for an army that wants to get into close combat with you!

I’m very happy to see that some completely new and fun builds Tyranid builds are now possible. While I’m certain that Podzilla isn’t the toughest build, I am certain that it’s something new and fun for Tyranid players to enjoy (and it should prove an interesting challenge to their opponents).

~~ The Tyranid Assimilation is just beginning here on BoLS and I’ll be writing more articles about them as I experiment more over the next several weeks. You can check out my latest articles on www.ChainFist.com — and if you have any questions or comments, email me at [email protected]. Comments are welcome and I’d love to get your impressions of the Landing Spore and the Podzilla Tyranid army!

Author: Guest Columnist

This article was written by a Guest Columnist who requested anonymity.