Tyranid Tactica: Tervigon

Old School here to talk about Tervigons. Ever since the codex first dropped, people have been going crazy about this unit. We have seen the wax and wan of the 5 tervigon lists, the arguements against tervigons as a whole and now it seems that most folks have settled into the two troop tervi build. With that being said, let's take a look at Big Momma.

.

The Ultimate Utility Unit: The Tervigon is horrid as far as close combat is concerned so let's get that on the table and out of the way. What it does offer is massive utility in several forms:

.

First great thing about the tervigon is the ability to be taken as a troop choice - just add the cost of a squad of termagants to the overall pointscost of the tervi. Having a 6 wound monsterous creature as a troop choice is an obvious benefit to an army. Having it not be a beast in close combat and the fact that it isn't the biggest baddest MC in your army also gives it a layer of survivability most people take for granted - it isn't priority target #1 and by the time most people get to it, it will be harder to deal with as they will have grinded their army against the worst your list has to offer.

.

Spawning gants: This ability is obviously good for objective missions and having termagants close by gives the tervi a layer of protection in the form of a counter attacking mob that is generally benefitting from at least one of the biomorphs on the tervigon. For Killpoint missions, the gants can seem like a hinderance, but used correctly, you can spawn screens, forcing your opponent to either change direction or hit the screen and take a counter-charge from your nastier units. In this method, you may give away kill points, but you can make that up by playing smartly. In KP missions this means holding off spawning until it is necessary, like the event of a countercharge screen or to avoid allowing the tervigon to get swamped, buying time for your cc units to get into range. Also don't forget that tervigons can spawn when locked in combat, an ability that will suprise many opponents and give you a built in countercharge.

.

Catalyst - Catalyst is a power that has utility in terms of buffing your gant screens, buffing your MCs against missile launchers or cc attacks and for protecting the tervigon itself (don't forget that you can cast it on yourself). This should be considered your tervi's primary psychic power.

.

Onslaught - Onslaught is an ability that allows your shooting units a little more range. Good for getting the Hive guard in better position to pop tanks ect. Is it worth the points, I don't think so most of the time, but I wouldn't totally discount it.

.

Dominion - Never forget that you have this power. Many people forget to use this, but every once in a while, there comes a time when that extra synapse can be effective and it is usually in the late game that you need that unit of Hormagants to charge a particular unit instead of that throw away unit you opponent has put near them to throw them off ect. Always remember that this is an option and sometimes a critical one.

.

Biomorphs:

.

Cluster spines - with BS 3, these have a better chance of hitting your target than your stingers and may even net you some target saturation against a squad that is coming to take you out. Always take these; they're free!

.

Poison sacs - I always take poison sacs. Poisoned gants are an annoying proposition for enemy MCs and high toughness units to deal with, but the tervigon has to be close to get it off, so don't forget to stick close or the gants are little more than grots for most enemy infantry.

.

Adrenal Glands - AG are useful when combined with poison sacs as they will give the nearby gants the chance to hit the all-to-common t4 units BEFORE they swing and will allow you the re-roll to wound. Just keep in mind that many units will not let you get this charge off. I would take it if I had an extra 10 points in my list - one of the few times I would purchase an upgrade for the tervi instead of just buying a couple more gants. I would not take this without poison sacs.

.

The rest of the upgrades - as a pre-cursor to the rest of the upgrades, I would say that this MC is NOT a combat monster and any upgrades not yet mentioned will only make the tervigon a slightly better than half-ass MC in combat.

.

Crushing claws - Spend the points on something better. For what these cost, you could upgrade a trygon, go the extra distance and afford a tyranofex, buy more gants ect.

.

Scything talons - again, why? She only gets a few attacks, so the possibility of these coming into play as opposed to a unit with more attacks like a ravener of trygon are slight and while the talons are cheap, why not just buy another gant?

.

Acid Blood: Not worth the points. If you are taking wounds in CC, it is likely against something with an invul (IC) or against a mob (Won't impact them as much).

.

Toxic Miasma: You are going to own the units this hurts anyway or your gants will drag them down for you. Again not worth the points.

.

Implant attack: Not worth it as it MIGHT happen once in a hundred games, save these for batter CC units!

.

Regeneration: Nifty, but not thrifty. Don't pay 30 points for this upgrade. You are already T6 and have a 3+. Sure it will make you more survivable, but just like crushing claws, you can make a lot more milage using these points to upgrade something else.

.

So how do you put these in your army?

.

Single tervigon: not too bad for a unit that can make it's own scoring units. It cuts back on the chances of you over producing kill points, but it also cuts back on your chances for giving off FNP to critical units, cuts back on your breeding in objective missions and cuts back on the amount of scoring T6 MCs. I have run it quite sucessfully, but generally I find myself wishing for a little more in the scoring department in objective missions.

.

Many Tervigons: We have all seen the 5 tervigon lists. I think they will give you a lot of scoring units, a lot of synapse, but will also give you an army that hits the enemy like a wet sack of dogshit. At 1850-2000 ppints, most mech armies will be able to deal with your other MCs and then hop in their transports to tankshock you and pick off the tervigons. KP missions will also be a rough proposition in most cases. You can try it if you have the money and time to buy and paint all those gribblies, but I would rather have something with a little more bite and variety.

.

Two Tervigons: This build gives you a good base for your army. Two big scoring beasts, the chance to put out a lot of objective holders, plenty of FNP where it is needed and a good amount of synapse coverage on the table. This build can work out well with screening and support for walking deathstar armies whether they be warrior or tyrant based and can also work well for more deepstrike and speed orientated lists, giving you an anchor to revolve around that gives good support. The Hive commander build also allows you to outflank a tervi for better option in getting them in scoring position or in postion to really mess with static fire-line lists.

.

Overall, I obviously like the two troop tervi build. I have used it in both Hive Commander and Walking Tyrant lists and it does really well. Single tervigon works, but you will feel a little gimped, so if you take them, try running two as a base for your army. Give them Castalyst and Toxin sacs for a start and other than that keep them cheap and they will serve you well. It may seem expensive points-wise, but what other army gives you this much utility and survivability for 500 points in the troops section?

.

Those are my two cents, now I turn it over to you to add on your thoughts and strategy.