Old School here to talk about some recent changes I have made to my Tyranid list and why I decided to make those changes. First off, I would like to give credit to Scab over on the Tyranid Pro-Boards for the great Tyrant image I used for this post!
Alright, so I have been using a simple model for my Tyranid lists lately that looked pretty much like this:
Prime w/ Swords/sacs
Prime w/ Swords/sacs
2 Hive Guard
2 Hive Guard
2 Hive Guard
20 Genestealers
20 Genestealers
Tervigon w/ buffs
Tervigon w/ buffs
10 Termagants
10 Termagants
Carnifex w/ 2x TL Devs
Carnifex w/ 2x TL Devs
I don't want to hear the spam cries, so get over it and let's talk about what it does. The list has worked very well for me competitively but it has gaps in it that are easily exposed. I use a lot of walking cover and attach the primes to the fexes to allow the fexes to get cover. the army rolls down the field and really starts hurting the enemy around turn 2. Problem are: the moment something can see through it, my stuff starts getting capped, which can be costly, though it rarely happens to anybody but the tervigons. Also, I rely on short range shooting, which brings me to my next point - combat. I don't care what you say, this list doesn't offer too much in combat. CC specialists will hopefully drown in gants, but if there aren't enough to choke them out or they have a way to jump by little speedbumps, there is nothing to stop a TRUE CC Specialist unit from spanking my fex stars hard - yeah they put the hurt on T-wolves with the bone swords, but for other units, it can get harry.
So this led me to the tyrants as I wanted to see what psychic support could bring to the table for me while still preserving the cover manipulation the fex stars took advantage of and utilizing the devestating close range support offered by the TL devs. I shaved off a couple stealers, the primes and the fexes and added 2 tyrants with TL devourers and Armored Shell (to save me from missiles). I gave each one a guard and called it a day.
I took the group out the other night after my brakes were fixed and played them at 1850 vs the much maligned Grey knights. There was no Libby on the field, so my paroxysm played very well, allowing gants to get stuck in at I5 (thanks to their momma) and hand GK models their armored asses. I kept the tyrant stars back at first to avoid being force weaponed to death, but once the stealers took care of the termie squad, I felt like the SitW would protect me from the remaining GK. I tag teamed a purifier squad with two tyrants and luckily stopped the one six from the halbreds before it nuked one of my models. I then commenced of tearing the purifiers apart, stopping the remaining hammer and then watching him die from fearless saves.
All in all, the game gave me some confidence with the list, though I know that I need to run it against some more optimal lists and other armies before I smack the table and say it is good.
Anybody out there have some thoughts on tyrants or even on the rant stars vs fex stars? I would love to get some constructive feedback or even some game offers from either the Lansing or VA crowd to test it out a little more.
That list is very similar to what I usually use.
ReplyDeleteI usually use a flying tyrant though because I have the FW model and love it. To be honest it is a handicap, because that thing never gets cover and can't be attached if it wants to fly.
Your list is a lot better with the two tyrants. Not having to go up against psyker defense makes it really nice.
All in all I'm shelving my Tyranids for a few months, I think. I'm kinda tired of struggling to get cover to survive the alpha strike armies, but it is nice seeing you post about Tyranids again.
I go back and forth on Tyrants. I do like them, but they just seem to get squished in melee. I have been trying one Tyrant and one Swarmlord for a mix-n-match approach.
ReplyDeleteAfter my experience with the fexstar at NOVA I've thought about how to change the list around but only gave limited thought to dual rants. Notably, using rants instead of fexes gives you back your heavy support slot so you could field a tfex. Hyv3mynd's ATC list went down this road and I really liked the idea but it is hard at even 2k let alone lower.
ReplyDeleteI've been vastly disappointed in my Tyrants when I was using them. but the I just used a list with a Devilfex, and I forgot how good it was. Then he sucked in close combat. If I replace my Alpha warrior and Fex with Tyrant and guard, I get 1 less wound, 1 more attack, far better Ws and I, and I have about 25 points left over.
ReplyDeleteI'm deffinitly going to try him out again next. Plus I love my model.
I've been switching from devilfexstar to tyrant lately. Points for a fexstar is similar to that of a tyrant+AS+guard. For me one of the biggest turning points is when I rolled DoW deployment, you have to walk a fexstar on the board, but can start a tyrant on and much further up.
ReplyDeleteSome good points brought up by all and kudos to Anon for hitting the DOW factor which I hadn't even thought of. Though you lose a wound, don't forget I am talking about armored shell too, so dizzies, missiles and any other high strength, ap3 weapons are going to bounce off the tyrant most of the time.
ReplyDeleteThe synergy of gants and paroxysm should push me through any issues I think I would have losing instant death weapons against nova. If anything, my concern is for the tervigons as 2+ save tyrants funnel Target priority straight to them. I'm going to need more table time with the list before I decide whether or not I have synergy issues there or not though.
Thatnks for the great feedback all, keep it coming.
I'll add another thing, AS Tyrant is roughly as survivable as a fnp fexstar, so that leaves you with another fnp to deal out as the tyrant doesn't really need it. Or, if you find your opponent is making an emotion decision to shoot at the tyrant because its big and scary, you can give it fnp and make it darn near un-killable without ap1 or ap2 guns.
ReplyDeleteThe problem in DoW with starting the Tyrant on the board is he can not start with his Guard as they are a seperate unit. Yes he is closer to the enemy, but so are the melta guns and no cover save...
ReplyDeleteoohh, I thought they counted as one unit, but after looking at it, you seem to be right. that's no good.
ReplyDelete