40K: Prepare to Serve your Tyranid Masters!
Hi all, Jwolf here. ‘Ardboys is coming up and you know how I love a challenge. I think I’ve uncovered a Tyranid list that can go the distance.
So the other day we were sitting around at Darkwynn’s place after a bootcamp 40K day. I announced that I wanted to play something besides my Guard for a while, and since Goatboy had already ruined Grey Knights, it had to be something old school. After much deliberation and pontification, it was decided that I should play Tyranids.
Thus began my attempt to make a winnable Tyranid list for Ard Boyz (nevermind that I’m not playing in Ard Boyz due to a family commitment; that is beside the point). Here’s what I came up with that works for me. Note that I’m not saying the list is awesome, or that you’ll even win any games with it – all I’m saying is that I like playing with it and it has some excellent tricks that work and are fun for me.
The List, 2500 pts:
Hive Tyrant, Old Adversary, Hive Commander, Paroxysm, Leech Essence, Acid Blood, Adrenal Glands, Lash Whip & Bone Sword
2 Tyrant Guard, Lash Whips
2 Hive Guard (x3)
Tervigon, Acid Blood, Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs (x2)
10 Termagants, Mycetic Spore (x2)
14 Genestealers, Adrenal Glands, with Broodlord
14 Hormagaunts, Adrenal Glands
3 Spore Mine Cluster (x3)
Trygon Prime (x3)
A few of the tricks:
Acid Blood is for killing Grey Knights. “Oh, you have 34 attacks at Init 6 that wound T6 on 3 somehow? Please die.” Does it work? Maybe once, but how many times do you need it to work in Ard Boyz?
Trygon Primes – These beasts appear someplace unpleasant and have to be killed right away. If you want to keep them around, put them near the Tervigons and laugh at Long Fangs all day long (especially if there is cover).
Spore Mine Clusters – These little jewels stand out in the Codex for a couple reasons. First, they have their own special deployment rules that ignore the standard deployment rules. These rules mean that you can almost 100% certainly start your bugs on the center line in Dawn of War, which is always the worst scenario for Tyranids. If you’re not clear why this is, review the deployment rules for Dawn of War, and note the distance units must be placed from enemy models. This should clarify things.
Second, if you go first the spores spread all over the enemy deployment and cause minor irritation to most enemies. But for 90 points, any disruption or wasted firepower they generate is totally worth it. These babies exist simply to disrupt the enemy deployment, and they do that perfectly well.
Third, Spore Mines don’t count for mission objectives, like kill points. So who cares if they die?
And finally – using spore mine clusters is almost as good as using Swooping Hawks ( I was pulling for an Eldar choice for me, but somehow ended up with Tyranids). No one sees them, uses them, or expects them. That makes for good times at Ard Boyz, just watching people try to figure out what the clever plan for them is. (Hint: No clever plan!)
Well, that’s my fun Ard Boyz army. I hope you all have a great time this weekend, and I hope not a single Long Fang hits his target, and all the Psychotroke Grenade rolls are ones.
Jwolf out.
