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[WH40k]Army list thoughts/criticism welcome

Blogs > iNcontroL
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iNcontroL *
Profile Blog Joined July 2004
USA29055 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-10-12 03:42:57
October 12 2013 03:28 GMT
#1
Hey guys! I commissioned www.frontlinegaming.org to paint my Tyranids army and it is nearly complete. From that point forward I will be practicing and playing a LOT of wh40k with the hopes of being a pretty awesome competitive player both locally and wherever else I can take my game. I played for years and years but this was middle school through college and as such I haven't played anything serious for nearly 5 years. So I am a newb again! Looking to learn 6th edition and do what I can


Specific questions:

1. Not sure on how psychic powers work for the Flyrants. All the bat reps I watch have no mention of "leech essence" or anything really.. it's always "iron arm" and stuff like that. So advice / education here would be nice <3

2. Ymgarl or normal stealers with broodlord? I really like the dormant ability and beefier stealers but challenges with the BL seem super powerful as well. My idea with genestealers here is a behind enemy lines hit squad capable of striking important targets or tying up a unit or two while my units get into position. Also some support for the Doom seems ok.

3. My army potentially doesn't field very many units but then it could potentially field A LOT depending on the Tervigons. Is this a point of concern? Do I ditch one of the Tervigons and go with a huge swarm of 'gants or gargoyles?

4. I love the Swarmlord. Probably my favorite unit but without ironarm his toughness/lack of invul save means he can be squishy unless I get him a lot of cover.. work around for this or roll the dice?


The army list

1750 points (most common points for tourneys in this area)

HQ: Flyrants x2 : twin linked devourers w/ brainleech / leech essence and psychic scream - 245 points x2 for 490 pts

Infantry: Tervigon w/ Catylst x3 w/ 10 termagants 525 pts + 150 for 675 pts

Elite: Doom w/ spore - 140 pts
Hive Guard x2 - 100 pts
Ymgarl x9 - 207 pts
Heavy Support: 3x biovore - 135 pts

I appreciate all the help and ideas! <3

PS: I know this isn't everyone's bag so if this doesn't interest you no worries, move along! I also know there is a LOT of WH40k enthusiasts out there so I am looking to learn lots <3

****
ninazerg
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
United States7291 Posts
October 12 2013 05:14 GMT
#2
Flyrant... I get it... it's like a flying tyrant with the words merged.
"If two pregnant women get into a fist fight, it's like a mecha-battle between two unborn babies." - Fyodor Dostoevsky
GTPGlitch
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
5061 Posts
October 12 2013 05:57 GMT
#3
ewwww nids

Y u no manly man marines ;o
Jo Byung Se #1 fan | CJ_Rush(reborn) fan | Liquid'Jinro(ret) fan | Liquid'Taeja fan | oGsTheSuperNada fan | Iris[gm](ret) fan |
Targe
Profile Blog Joined February 2012
United Kingdom14103 Posts
October 12 2013 08:26 GMT
#4
Ahhh reminding me of my WH40K days as Tyranid.
11/5/14 CATACLYSM | The South West's worst Falco main
dat_fungal
Profile Joined October 2013
United States2 Posts
October 12 2013 09:00 GMT
#5
good luck in 40k!

i happened to have played some different styled tyranid armylists for a little while (way back when...), before gravitating towards chaos (and then towards more specialist games like necromunda, BF gothic, etc) so not sure my 4th/5th edition knowledge will be much help to you with the specifics, but i would have some general tyranid advice if you'd like it!

- most of the heavy hitters; Tyrants, any Elites or Carnifex (if they still have those lol) will be dead by Turn 3.. i'm sorry to have to tell you this... but any Imperium-style army with lascannons (and don't even get me started on Tau) is going to make it's sole purpose in life to get your biggest, ugliest mofos off the table as quick as possible; so it's best not to sink a lot of points into them

- this being said, I've found some of the craftiest Nid opponents are the ones who can hide the points in their more numerous or hidden units (with squad upgrades and such), you end up spending all your time trying to take down their big guys when a couple hormagaunt squads hit your lines and end up chewing through half your army -__-

but I do love the fact that you seem to be basing your list around a sort of firepower/barrage style of play; just make sure to test your armylist's strengths against similar playstyles from other races to see how they stack up (could your biovores take on similarly priced ordnance? etcetc )

so good luck! hope to see you at a gamesday sometime soon!
.........
(PS: find an Ork player asap; nid/ork battles are hilariously retarded)
MoonfireSpam
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United Kingdom1153 Posts
October 12 2013 10:14 GMT
#6
Planning to upload some battle reports or stuff? Maybe somehow stream a few games?

I can't help with the army stuff, havent played for about 10 years.
atrox_
Profile Joined November 2010
United Kingdom1711 Posts
October 12 2013 10:33 GMT
#7
Why pay a company to paint them for you? Isn't that like 90% of the fun?
iNcontroL *
Profile Blog Joined July 2004
USA29055 Posts
October 12 2013 10:38 GMT
#8
On October 12 2013 19:14 MoonfireSpam wrote:
Planning to upload some battle reports or stuff? Maybe somehow stream a few games?

I can't help with the army stuff, havent played for about 10 years.


Yes actually. Not sure when or in what fashion but I will be working out some videos along these lines and depending how easy/motivated we are we will make a LOT or little
iNcontroL *
Profile Blog Joined July 2004
USA29055 Posts
October 12 2013 10:39 GMT
#9
On October 12 2013 19:33 atrox_ wrote:
Why pay a company to paint them for you? Isn't that like 90% of the fun?


For some yes. For me I am horrible at the painting part and for many part of the fun would be to learn or improve on this but for me I'd rather pay someone good money to do what I couldn't in years of practice to make my beloved models look awesome. For me the game itself and the lore/conversation surrounding the game is 99% of the fun. Painting isn't my thing That said I'd be sad if they came pre painted.. I'd rather give someone direction on how I want mine individualized.
Kaal
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Djibouti2570 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-10-12 11:26:52
October 12 2013 11:24 GMT
#10
Ick, Double Flyrants. I don't like the build. I like lictors and geneswarms too much. I also like Carnifex too much not to use it. It's a fairly decent list, most IG lists will probably eat you alive though. Tyranid armies with less than 50 models offend me.

Take IRON ARM!!! waddafack, it ups your HT's survival by a crapton, with the life Leech even more so. Psychic scream pretty meh.
Teoita
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Italy12247 Posts
October 12 2013 12:39 GMT
#11
Fuck yeah warhammer! I used to play in middle school too, i remember all the awesome summer campaigns at the Games Workshop here in Milan. If i had the time and money to start up again i definitely would, Tau empire for life!

Btw, are all models plastic now? I took a quick look on the GW website, and it looks like they don't make nearly as many metal models anymore (which is nice, i like plastic far better tbh).
ModeratorProtoss all-ins are like a wok. You can throw whatever you want in there and it will turn out alright.
moktira *
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Ireland1548 Posts
October 12 2013 14:23 GMT
#12
On October 12 2013 21:39 Teoita wrote:
Fuck yeah warhammer! I used to play in middle school too, i remember all the awesome summer campaigns at the Games Workshop here in Milan. If i had the time and money to start up again i definitely would, Tau empire for life!

Btw, are all models plastic now? I took a quick look on the GW website, and it looks like they don't make nearly as many metal models anymore (which is nice, i like plastic far better tbh).

They changed to finecast resin about two years ago now for all the metal models. This saves them a lot of money and they took the opportunity to further increase their prices as a result. I think you can get some older models in metal still but it's virtually all resin now.

Resin models are possibly slightly more detailed (depends who you ask) but it feels like plastic when painting it. Some people say paint sticks to it better than metal too but I personally rather paint metal models, partly out of habit and partly because I'm used to the weight.
If in doubt, differentiate and set equal to zero
MtlGuitarist97
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
United States1539 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-10-12 14:26:48
October 12 2013 14:24 GMT
#13
On October 12 2013 21:39 Teoita wrote:
Fuck yeah warhammer! I used to play in middle school too, i remember all the awesome summer campaigns at the Games Workshop here in Milan. If i had the time and money to start up again i definitely would, Tau empire for life!

Btw, are all models plastic now? I took a quick look on the GW website, and it looks like they don't make nearly as many metal models anymore (which is nice, i like plastic far better tbh).

As far as I know, most of the stuff is either plastic or resin now.

I wish I still played. I used to teach kids how to play WH40K over the summer at a camp and kind of miss playing it. If it wasn't so expensive I'd consider picking it up again.

Anyway, please do upload some battle reports and some pics of your army. I'm sure a lot of us would be interested in seeing that

Edit: Ninja'd by 1 minute T_T
Teoita
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Italy12247 Posts
October 12 2013 14:25 GMT
#14
All my metal models from 10ish years ago have lost some paint, the plastic ones are still perfect though. Never tried a resin one though.
ModeratorProtoss all-ins are like a wok. You can throw whatever you want in there and it will turn out alright.
moktira *
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Ireland1548 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-10-12 14:38:33
October 12 2013 14:36 GMT
#15
I think for gaming resin are possibly better in that regard, if you just like painting models and not so much using them (like me) then they're less likely to lose paint as you're not moving them much really. I'm not really into the hobby anymore but I still paint occasionally, I don't like painting resin as much but I think that's quite subjective. It's not too different to painting plastic really. I don't think GW do as many nice models as they used about 10 years ago though. Anyway, I've gone way off topic here, perhaps there should be a GW general discussion thread for this.

On October 12 2013 12:28 iNcontroL wrote:
3. My army potentially doesn't field very many units but then it could potentially field A LOT depending on the Tervigons. Is this a point of concern? Do I ditch one of the Tervigons and go with a huge swarm of 'gants or gargoyles?

If Tyranids are anything like they were 10 years ago then I would recommend more units. This does depend who you are playing but if it's a shooty army I would recommend more units anyway. I'm afraid I can't really address any of your other questions but I was drawn in when I saw a 40k thread, good luck!
If in doubt, differentiate and set equal to zero
Teoita
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Italy12247 Posts
October 12 2013 14:42 GMT
#16
How balanced is Warhammer (and 40k for that matter) btw? Is it even realistic to play against every race with just one army list?
ModeratorProtoss all-ins are like a wok. You can throw whatever you want in there and it will turn out alright.
Godwrath
Profile Joined August 2012
Spain10152 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-10-12 19:33:33
October 12 2013 15:39 GMT
#17
On October 12 2013 23:42 Teoita wrote:
How balanced is Warhammer (and 40k for that matter) btw? Is it even realistic to play against every race with just one army list?

Very poorly. 6th edition has gone full retard, and fantasy still has the army books from past editions going crazy with the 8th changes to hordes for example (but way less now with Lizardmen and Dark Elves already released... but skaven are still around there) and chaos warrior full chariot/DP/chimaera spam which is extremely easy to play, extremely hard to play against with many armies (auto lose for some) and very very cost efficient so you get your VPs on tournaments. Top armies can make take all comers, shitty armies are stuck with one gameplay that sometimes is just very known or quite RPS like.

Best of luck to you incontrol, for playing Tyranids on 6th lol. Maybe when their codex is released they will go to the top of the food chain they had been missing since 4th edition ;P.

Answers from a "veteran" 40k player who has retired thanks to shitty 6th:

1 - Because of the chance on getting a unkillable beast with biomance. Mounstrous creatures (and more stuff) have wounds, but people just focus them down, instead of tickling them. So they just shoot you, make it to go down, and continue blasting the sucker into pulp. It also allows your flyrant to kill enemy flyers or do some crazy shit with vertical strikes. Anyways, there is a lot of luck involved in the proccess of "choosing" your psi spells.

2 - They are different and occupy a different FOC slot. Genestealer got nerfed hard with 6th edition changes, you can't congo line anymore to get cover while advancing with them, feel no pain and cover got nerfed to 5++, you can't flank and assault the turn you arrive, neither you can run and assault, etc, etc ,etc... they are not very cost effective, but there isn't much to work with tyranids. Anyways, use ymgarls IF you already have your antitank covered in other FOC slots (because nid FOC suck so much that most antitank is on elite slot). They are pretty good, since they are able to assault the turn they arrive, and you can use the +T to stay in combat (if you are also good and getting as little of them in combat when you assault), instead of just overrunning your opponent, so you don't get shoot back the next turn.

3 - Tervigons are a suitable option to have cheap troops to score, never get them on Headquarters slot if you can help it, so you can have a MC hidden in your deployment to score some objective, while pooping gants. And about the design... well, we will see with the next codex, there isn't much focus on how tyranids should be (the swarmy lists are just bland, and the Nidzilla lists rely a lot on luck with the psychich powers and your opponent not having a shooty list, gameplay that is very rewarded which the new codexes). So most nid players end up playing point denial lists, which score rather low but win... sometimes, specially against newbyes.

4 - If you want to play it, get some hive guards, and use look out sir! rule to distribute wounds. You need cover because the invuln is only on close combat as far i remember (i may be wrong, because it costs a ton and nobody plays it at tournaments, too many eggs on one basket you know). Also, if your opponent doesn't have high AP templates, put the hive guards base to base with him, so you can distribute with look out sir! even better.

Cheers!

PS - I am enjoying infinity right now, if you have some time (and loved games like XCOM), you should try it out, because it is just amazing in gameplay and models (or atleast for me, i like my sci fi with fewer swords, and more guns). I had been thinking to write a blogpost about it, but i doubt my english would let me do something useful.

PS 2 - Never paid for painting, but if i had spare cash for it, i totally would, i hate painting, i just don't enjoy painting droves of models, and neither have the ability so when i am over i say, awesome!... more like oh bollocks!

PS 3 - I want to shit on GW.

PS 4 - If you really want to play nids at tournaments, you should had waited for their new codex, because i am 100% sure that you will have to get new stuff.
xHaroldx
Profile Joined December 2010
Netherlands62 Posts
October 12 2013 15:41 GMT
#18
I play Tau myself so i don't have much advice for Nids. Playing with a "take all comers' army list is actually required if you want to play competitivly, there is simply no fair way to play if you could change your list all the time. Try to imagine SC2 where both players had to say there buildorder before the match, but then would be allowed to change, player 1 would change his buildorder to counter player 2, then player 2 would change to counter player 1, and on and on. In tournament play the people winning it are those that are willing to bring the most rediculously overpowered army that you can possibly make.

About psychic powers, you are allowed to swap out your Nid specific psychic powers for powers in the back of the rule book.
Im not sure on the exact rules, but if believe you just roll on a table in the back, the ammount depends on the ammount of powers your model has. Then you are allowed to swap on of the results on the table to the signature power.
[Agony]x90
Profile Blog Joined September 2009
United States853 Posts
October 12 2013 15:58 GMT
#19
I also play Tau, but I never got good enough to give anyone advice.

In any case, I hope you do consider doing bat reps! There is usually an absurd amount of time between turns due to time it takes to move infantry. Good time to snap photos :D.
JF dodger since 2009
DarkPlasmaBall
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States46165 Posts
October 12 2013 16:29 GMT
#20
On October 12 2013 14:14 ninazerg wrote:
Flyrant... I get it... it's like a flying tyrant with the words merged.


If Jaedong had wings...

Anyways, good luck with your Warhammer hobby, Geoff! Pics of your army please, when they're ready
"There is nothing more satisfying than looking at a crowd of people and helping them get what I love." ~Day[9] Daily #100
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