40K Editorial: Tournament List Paradigms
Fritz here, so I’m paid and ready for NOVA, making the plans for WargamesCon soon with Jawaballs, and the next major Battle For Salvation Tournament is right around the corner. The results? “Competitive” Tyranids are in full swing.
No that isn’t a typo: competitive = Tyranids. I’ve got my reasons of why I’m going with the bugs over Grey Knights, especially now that everybody and their dog has the “codex” from it being leaked and the preview copies in every FLGS on the planet. I’ve got a base list and will be refining it over the next month or so and I thought I would share some of the thinking process from my POV that goes into building a competitive list. As always if you don’t play Tyranids, filter my ideas down into your own list and ask yourself some hard questions about the units you are fielding.
Guaranteed vs Perceived Return
The first place to start is guaranteed return vs. perceived return with a Trygon as an example. Running three of them in a list, their job is to leverage their T6 and 6 wounds as they run forward and assault stuff with their scything talons. You can never have too much of a good think so naturally I start to look at regeneration. With a one in six chance (not bad odds) of healing am I being a bit harsh in saying regen has no place in a competitive list? Regen is a perceived return that relies on random rolling and the assumption that said Trygon will actually be up next turn. Against certain lists I’m planning on losing one a turn even with venomthrope generated cover so I probably won’t ever get to regen. That 75 points is better spent on something else in my list that has a guaranteed return. However, adrenal glands are a different story since they always work on the charge and the +1 strength and +1 initiative is a marked advantage in fighting both infantry and trying to punch vehicles. So what about the upgrade to a prime? Worth it? More shots are a guaranteed return, but in my list, again barring a few armies the Tyrgons will be starting on the board running forward, and doing a lot of run/fleet assaults so no chance to fire said weapon for the most part – barring Tervigons who are better at handing out FNP. In filtering your list for a tournament you always want to go with a guaranteed return over a perceived return.
Keep It Simple Stupid
The next filter I put my list through was stripping away various layers for an ability/model to work. Enter Zoanthropes. While it is true that they excel at busting Land Raiders and other heavy armor (soon to be Storm Ravens flooding all the tables) where they fail is an extra layer before they can “shoot”. For the warp lance you have to pass a psychic test, which even if there is no psychic hood or runes on the table, can still be failed- remember the first Fritz rule of 40K- anytime you roll dice bad stuff can happen. Furthermore if there is a hood or anti-psyker device on the table I’m completely shut down. In that respect Hive Guard are better since they can just shoot without having to pass a psychic test – of course they still have to hit and can’t reliably hurt a Land Raider. That’s not to say Zopes don’t have a place if I needed more synapse or a second layer of them, and I’d actually like to have both Zopes and ‘guard in my list, but concessions have to be made somewhere.
Now vs Later
The final layer I look at my list though is the now vs. later filter when it comes to vanilla Stealers, Y-stealers, and Lictors who enter via reserves, either through being dormant, outflank, or just popping in. Unless you are building an all reserves/null deployment list you generally don’t want to have any units not on the table at the start of the game. Without hive commander/Swarmlord and later possible Lictor boosts you don’t have control over when they enter the game, turn 3, 4, 5? One or two less units on the table means more firepower directly going at your core. Personally I see the potential for Y-stealers in my list- their ability to go dormant in terrain as my big bugs and core moves forward and then pop out disrupting my opponent. However, for that to work they 100% need to come in on turn two- future turns will have my opponent moving and adjusting their units on the table based on my core and big bugs lessening the effects of the Y-stealers.
Do I want to gamble with that? Not if I am sticking with my guaranteed return vs. perceived return formula. Plus, if I get stuck on a table with no terrain- could be as bad as only two pieces of hills, then the Y-stealers are walking. Finally I lose out on some much needed created pressure which is key in assault based lists. With the Y-stealers I can also get a group of regular Stealers, remove them, and it is two groups of Stealers plus some points left over for more gaunt fodder. Those Stealers are key in that they need to infiltrate ahead and around my opponent to keep them busy as the horde moves in. Stealers are a guaranteed asset since I know I can put them down and operate them from turn one. For fun I’d want to take the Y-stealers, but from a tournament perspective they are better left for Space Hulk…
So what other units fall into the guaranteed return vs. perceived return formula? Space Marine players- does this method of thinking deep six plasma guns since you have a 1 in 6 chance of overheating?
