Goatboy’s Monday Feast – New Tyranids and You.
Goatboy here again and today it’s all about the new Tyranid book. I know lots of people have start to “review” it and give their 2 cents. I don’t know if mine is worth 2 cents but hey here are my thoughts while looking through it as well as some list ideas.
The book looks great with lots of cool art and some neat fluff stuff. I know some people could give two piles of poop on the fluff but I love that stuff. It is the story that keeps me going in this game with 2 superior books kicking the crap out of a bunch of second string JV teams. I like the new models and think the plastic sculpting team has done an amazing job on them. They look creepy, feel like they might actually work, and look fun to paint. So good job on the design aspects etc.
I don’t think the book is as bad as people seem to think. It is different but it still does things fairly well which is – to provide you lots and lots of very hard to remove troops. Yup I think this book will win the mission most of the time instead of crushing your army into rubble. This is the important thing to pull from this as you start to see some players try it out on the table top. You might be playing to table but the Nid player is playing to win the game.
That is where the strength of the book is. How many times have you seen a Daemon player win with the portal or a lucky roll of a 12 on the Warpstorm? The ability to make troops is pretty good and even though the Tervigon took a big punch to it’s bathing suit area it is still something that is needed in a list. I also think people are missing the fact that the army is designed to have all it’s MC’s take a little bit longer to remove and thus allow the rest of the army to keep in the game. There is another aspect of the game people seem to miss and that is the resource element – i.e. how many wounds/attention you can force on an opponent versus the turn. Just knowing that it takes more attention to remove some of these guys will be a big help to this Nid players that keep playing.
Looking the ArmyList Over
Let’s look at each Force Org choice to see what is good.
HQ:
Thoughts – Overall I don’t like how some of the special characters got thrown into here. I wish they had written the ability to have 3 Tyranid Primes per HQ choice as they feel Herald like and think that would have done wonders to help out the book. But hey obviously I only play the game and don’t write the rules eh? The Hive Tyrant is still one of the best options in the book. He got cheaper, better, and is worth his point cost. I have a feeling games with two of them flying around and either giving each other Catalyst or Onslaught will be pretty spicy. I think the loss of Biomancy is pretty crappy and the lowering of their Psychic potential is hurtful. The Prime should have been a Level 1 caster just to allow for some more interesting combos. Still if you had two Flyrants from before you will still have them now.
Good Choices – Flying Tyrant, Prime For Warrior Army, Death Leaper
Mid Choices – Old One Eye for Leadership Bump, Swarmlord
Bad Choices – Tervigon when he is better as a troop
Elite:
Thoughts – I think the changes to the Venomthrope might make it see more play. The ability to make a layered cake of death with the new Nids will be important. Have this guy hide behind some of the big monsters and watch as your opponent is frustrated when you big bugs get a 3+ to 2+ cover save as they rush up the field. The Hive Guard are good too as they can hide behind your bigger models and take out those pesky Wave Serpents. I think a squad of Zoats too pushing the monsters forward might not be terrible too. The Haruspex seems cheeky but I just don’t see it doing enough. It is still a decent option if you want to run an old Nidzilla list as a protector for those Carnifexes.
Good Choices – Zoats, Venomthrope, Hive Guard
Mid Choices – Lictors, Haruspex
Bad Choices – Why Pyrovore why…
Troops:
Thoughts – Changes abound in here as you see some loss of attacks, abilities, and options. I think the Rippers got pretty interesting as you can get them cheap with poison and fearless. Get them locked in and hold a Wraithknight down for a while as the rest of your army moves around. Genestealers feel the same as last time but I will say the Broodlord Horror combo might be pretty scary versus Tau. Lots of leadership rolls will pin a unit and maybe win you the game in the end as you move in. The 30 man blobs of Termagaunts are also interesting as it activates that one Tervigon most lists will have. A scoring MC will be important as the rest of your army takes their attention away. I also think the move to Strength 7 shooting means those Warrior Squads with Deathspitters plus Prime will be extremely scary. That many strength 5 shots is deadly as we all know from playing Tau. Plus the ability to be Synapse might be the key to making this layered cake work. Those poor Hormaguants just feel like they need more to make them good. Still they are fast and can tie things up.
Good Choices – Termaguants X 30 + Tervigon, Tyranid warriors
Mid choices – Genestealer Horror Bombs, Ripper Swarms with Poison
Bad Choices – Hormaguants until I get my ass kicked by some
Fast Attack:
Thoughts – I think the Harpy is good. With the army full of mean things these options might be really good to keep your army full of Strength 9 venom cannons. The Spore mine option is really scary too when you mix them with Biovores for some crazy combo explosions. The Shrike squad should have stayed with 4+ armor to make them decent. The Ravener brood can also shoot a ton of shots when equipped with Death Spitters or Devourers. I am wondering if a Nid army mixed with the idea of a turn 2-3 explosion might be good. The Hive Crone just doesn’t do enough to make it worth it over the Harpy. That Heavy Venom Cannon option is just a lot better instead of a non torrent flamer. Also the Gargoyle unit is still good – you just need to buy toxin sacks making the unit more expensive. Still it isn’t bad and that much poison attacks is always good.
Good Choices – Harpy, Spore Mine Cluster
Mid Choices – Ravener Brood, Gargoyles
Bad Choices – Kind of everything else – will see if things change.
Heavy:
Thoughts – This is where the decisions for the Nid player lie. They really over powered this choice when compared to the others. I’m hoping the Nid mini book might give you an ally option to add on that will give you more heavy choices. The Carnifex had a huge boost and I am thinking Dakka Fexes or Heavy Venom Cannons might be worth it. Just the idea of getting 3 in a brood to help out is something interesting to look at. If you give them Adrenal Glands and with Onslaught you got a scary amount of fire power coming at you first turn. The Biovore is super good now too. They will help you snipe out all those pesky troop choices in the back. The Trygons aren’t bad either as they still shoot a lot as they come back up. We all know this edition is about causing opponents to fail their armor save instead of not getting one. The Mawloc is so much better too. Just think of him as that surgeons knife meant to remove those pesky threats/troops. The Tyrannofex isn’t bad either but so many other choices are better that it make sit hard to justify taking one. The poor Exocrine should have been Elite. I could see an army with those plus fexes to give you a crazy threat set.
Good Choices – Fexes, Biovores, Mawloc
Mid Choices – Trygons, Tyrannofex, Exocrine
Bad Choices – nothing is really bad – all have their uses.
Book Likes/Dislikes
The big kick I think to this book is the loss of the book powers. I don’t think the Nid powers are bad I just wish you still had those options. Heck I think Telepathy would be perfect for the Nids as it is all about assaulting the senses when you think of bugs crawling all over you. The Synapse changes are interesting too as they rally automatically if they start in range of Synapse. This means they can’t move afterwards which is kind of a shame. Still you can force a unit out of range, they go to ground, and when a Synapse creature moves in range they pop back up and can start to move again. I would do this with Dogs and Mental Fortitude with Daemons and think this might be a good option in the new book.
For those wondering – here is the FAQ.
A: Yes.
So with this in mind I think you can create some interesting lists. I think it feels very much like the old Nidzilla book without the option to get 2+ save Carnifexes. It has the grind mentality where the horror of the hive mind is all about just smothering you in gribblies until you give up and say your safe word (Mittens). I am sure I will go over more of this as I have more time to think of the book. I don’t think the world is over or they purposely effed this book in one of their alien anuses it is just a book to stay in line with the power level of most of the books. If only they followed that with some of these other jerk face books.
Still remember that lots of people gave a fit on how bad the Eldar were now or how the Daemon book was a steaming pile of crap. We just need to play some more and figure out the right toys to use. It is hard when a lot of the work we all did on some of the conversions were thrown to the wayside (Doom, Myceptic, etc) but we should have seen this coming with the lawsuit resolution.
Initial Nidzilla Style list Idea – 1850pts
HQ: Hive Tyrant, TWL Devour X 2, Toxin Sacs
HQ: Hive Tyrant, TWL Devour X 2, Toxin Sacs
Elites: Venomthropes X 2
Elites: Zoanthrope X 2
Troops: Termagaunts X 30
Troops: Termagaunts X 30
Troops: Termagaunts X 30
FA: Harpy, TWL Hvy Venom Cannon
FA: Harpy, TWL Hvy Venom Cannon
Heavy: Carnifex X 2, TWL Devourers X 2
Heavy: Mawloc
Heavy: Biovores X 3
Fortification: Aegis Defense Line
The idea is to just push forward. I am not sure if just 2 Zoanthropes is worth it. Or if the Venoms might just be better. Still it is an initial idea trying to use the Harpies. I am wondering if just a set of 3 more Fexes with Heavy Venom Cannons might just work better. Either way this is just initial thoughts to create an 1850 list. I wanted to try to fit a Tervigon to sit in the back, pooping things out but the points just wouldn’t work. You will be starting the two Harpies and Mawloc off the table most likely.
I am wondering if 6 Fexs, Tyrant X 2, small Genestealers with Broodlords might work too? What do you guys think?
