Best option for the Point Cost.

[TheContortionist]

I am trying to build the Tightest 2000 point army i can.(tight meaning every point invested in the best possible option.) I have done a lot of the math myself but now I'd like to hear other opinions on unit choices and upgrades.

[starwoof]

I almost voted for tervigons but I had to say prime. I used to think these guys were a complete waste of space, but I threw one into a 1k list because I needed an HQ. I was impressed by his performance every game. Not only is he a good combat hero, he also provides synapse support and can operate as a Tyrant Guard Lite; throw him in a weaker unit, such as zoanthropes, and he can suck wounds like a champ. He is especially good at taking krak rockets to the face.

I run my prime with adrenals and a lash whip. He clocks in at about 100 points and I'll send him to fight anyone else's basic HQs and expect to come out on top. Primes can also omnom squads of marines like nothing.

I like the idea of using him as my HQ so that all of my tervigons can be troops.

Cheers.

[greatescape13]

Termagaunts get my vote. Good, undercosted troops choices. Enable the Tervigons to be good.

A close second in my opinion are Genestealers. They seem expensive when they get caught in the open or get a bad movement distance and get flamed, but game-per-game and point-for-point they're super-lethal and can take out everything but a Land Raider.

Cheers.

[TheContortionist]

you can kill a land raider with genestealers i'm pretty sure.

[greatescape13]

May 22, 2012 1:08:05 GMT TheContortionist said:

you can kill a land raider with genestealers i'm pretty sure.

Ah, I forgot. Genestealers with Adrenals are Str 5 on the charge, so AV 11 on a "6" roll, so with the +d3 for the rend they can indeed get to a Raider despite it having rear armor 14.

I just don't ever run mine with adrenals, so it's only rear armor 14 stuff that I know MY 'stealers cannot deal with.

Thanks for pointing that out.

[zephoid]

I cant stand the tervigons. They are worse than the BA-Necron bromance or drago IMO. Everything about them is flat out wrong. I cant call them the most cost efficent because how many games i have (as eldar) used them to wipe an enemies force off the map by simply killing one model. They cause you to overextend, become overconfident, and depend too much on them.

For the point cost trygons are about the best nids can get. It is the only MCs we get that is costed moderately correct compared to the MCs that other codexes get (avatar, dredknight, DP). They are great at tank breaking and handle themselves without the need for support. In number they are incredibly difficult to deal with and can take fire off things like podded zoans and, with the doom, they often have a pretty decent lifespan as the enemy needs to use S8 to hit the doom.

Stealers are slightly overcosted for what you get. yes, they are great assault troops, but with a 5+ save, only one good upgrade, lack of grenades and only mediocre attack count, they often have difficulty with smart opponents.

[Jabberwocky]

While Tervs are a liability against some opponents, they are incredible force multipliers and very resilient against most armies, especially in smaller point games.

It's not just spawning free units in objective games, it's all the free upgrades for existing large broods of gants, along with FnP for anyone who needs it.

Ordinarily you'd be happy to charge most I4 assault units into gants. Not so much when you have 40+ poisoned attacks coming back at you.

[Princelarming]

I don't think it's wise to try and think of the Tyranid Codex in this way - the individual units have their strengths and merits, along with weaknesesses and flaws, but only in relation to other units, builds and army-wide synergies, do any of the units truly shine!

The Tervigon is a beast, but lacks the ability to (reliably) open armour.
Genestealers are true CC-monsters, but they also need ranged AT to function at their peak.
Termagant are more or less gateways to Troop Tervigons, but can be very valuable "glass cannons" (Devilgaunts), which in turn requires some specific setups to function effectively.
Hormagaunts are not my cup of tea, and would never get my vote...
Warriors are (in basic setup) good generalists, but generalists do a lot of things well, and nothing spectacularly... CC-Warriors are a menace, but i find that they rarely compare points-wise to the Genestealers, and they pay for Synapse, that you need to use...
Trygons have been getting a lot of praise, especially compared to 'Fexes, but they suffer the same limitations - they are good, but rarely able to "solo" anything specc'ed for CC...
Hive Tyrants are made for the centre spot (Quarterbacks!) which the wholoe army can and often will revolve around - but they need an army to be effective, and not just any army...
Tyranid Primes are my HQ of choice at the moment - their flexibility and soaking ability, along with synapse and above-average CC abilities, and you've got a bargain at 100-120+ points... but they need units to soak for, and be flexible with...

As i said in the beginning - the units cannot stand alone, and it is in the synergies between units/builds, that the 'Nid army really has its strengths...

[Bot]

May 22, 2012 8:25:21 GMT Princelarming said:

As i said in the beginning - the units cannot stand alone, and it is in the synergies between units/builds, that the 'Nid army really has its strengths...

+1

A unit could easily be better than another point for point, depending on what units you have thrown in your list.
You want to make the "best" 2000 pts list? Then you will have to think like this.

[Lanesend]

Yeah, +2

Though if I would want to vote, I'd say the Warrior Prime. Maybe because he doesn't bring so many army-wide buffs, he's cheaper then our other HQ's. And as a stand alone unit still well worth his points.

[nurglitch]

Warriors are definitely the best Warriors for the points.

[Rakuall]

May 22, 2012 2:24:40 GMT zephoid said:

I cant stand the tervigons.

For the point cost trygons are about the best nids can get. In number they are incredibly difficult to deal with ... they often have a pretty decent lifespan

Nope. 30-ish of my vanilla gants took down a pair of Trygon Primes (Trymes? so Warrior Primes can be Wrimes?)in my last game, but wouldn't have been able to do it if not for the AG/TS Tervie backing them up. How did 350-ish points beat the 500-ish most cost effective points? Easy, Trygons aren't the most cost effective, at least, not against Tervie/Swarm lists.
Morale of the story- there is no be-all-and-end-all 'best buy for the points.' Some things are an easier choice, but everything has an Achilles heel.

[coredump]

And thus comes the real answer to the OP....

There is no 'most efficient', nor 'best', nor etc.

It all depends on your list, your playstyle, your opponents, your local 'house rules', your local meta, etc......

[nurglitch]

Which is a considerable achievement in codex design There's something amazing about an army which isn't just one or two "good" units that you should always take, and then a pile of "bad" units you only take when you want to ruin a fun game. There's tremendous replay value in the Tyranid army because of that, not just in writing army lists, but in applying particular armies on the table-top.

[greatescape13]

May 22, 2012 15:57:35 GMT nurglitch said:

Which is a considerable achievement in codex design There's something amazing about an army which isn't just one or two "good" units that you should always take, and then a pile of "bad" units you only take when you want to ruin a fun game. There's tremendous replay value in the Tyranid army because of that, not just in writing army lists, but in applying particular armies on the table-top.

That is really well-put Nurglitch. This is exactly why the Tyranids have such a slick codex. It has multiple modes of synergy, not just one or two default synergies that are exploitable (e.x. "AHMAGHAD NOBZ BIKERS!").

We can pick what we want to accomplish, and then layer in units that support that goal. It does mean that certain choices influence other choices--but that's the fun of the synergy.

Cheers.