2250pts, Old Man of Calth

[glassiya]

For last few months I've been gathering my swarm and adapting it, checking different units and different synergies, looking for what will suit me. Last sunday I managed to get my first 2k victory. Although this was mainly because of my opponent, who made more mistakes than me, but still this game left me a feeling that I finally created a roster that can actually survive till 6th turn.
So I thought I can post it here, and while I'll be adapting it in the future, someone may share his thoughts and suggestions, and maybe get some inspirations for his swarm - who knows?

That's what I used that game.

== HQ ==
Hive Tyrant Brood (355 pts.)
Hive Tyrant (1) - Twin-Linked Devourer - Brainleech Worms, Twin-Linked Devourer - Brainleech Worms, Armoured Shell, Paroxysm, Leech Essence, Hive Commander, Old Adversary = 290 pts.
Tyrant Guard (1) - Lash Whip = 65 pts.
Tyranid Prime (1) - Deathspitter, Pair Of Boneswords, Toxin Sacs, Regeneration = 115 pts.

== Elites ==
Ymgarl Genestealer Brood (8) = 184 pts.
Pyrovore Brood (190 pts.)
Pyrovore (3) = 135 pts.
Mycetic Spore (1) - Barbed Strangler = 55 pts.
Hive Guard Brood (3) = 150 pts.

== Troops ==
Termagant Brood (16) - Spike Rifle = 96 pts.
Hormagaunt Brood (16) - AG, Toxin Sacs = 160 pts.
Broodlord Brood (199 pts.)
Broodlord (1) - Scything Talons, Toxin Sacs, Implant Attack = 80 pts.
Genestealer (7) - Toxin Sacs = 119 pts.
Tyranid Warrior Brood (220 pts.)
Tyranid Warrior (5) - Deathspitter, Scything Talons = 175 pts.
Tyranid Warrior (1) - Venom Cannon, Scything Talons = 45 pts.

== Fast Attack ==
Gargoyle Brood (10) - Toxin Sacs = 70 pts.

== Heavy Support ==
Old One Eye (1) = 260 pts.

== Total ==
1999 pts.

Most likely you've noticed a unit of Pyrovores in Elite and OOE in Heavy, and therefore you want to tell me "drop them now, I mean NOW, they totally suck!" Before that happened, I'll answer - I know they suck. It's just that I don't want to drop them because of that, I want to find a way to use them. So basically, all my roster was created around old beaten-up carni. Therefore, most of my tactics based on "how to make him work".

OOE is like a wolverine - "best at what he does". The problem is, he can do only one thing - to crush spacemarines (in my case, it was Plague marines, and s10 ap2 just laughed at their toughness, armor and FNP). Still, that's what he does very good. His main problem is I1, so you basically should fight something that won't kill you before you strike. Any s3-s4 units without Power of Force weapon work. And by charging in flank of already assaulted unit of Hammerdines, for example, you can smash even them. So basically, you just need to be careful about what's you running at.
His second problem is not so obvious. "Berserk Rampage" special rule is based on successful To Hit rolls. Therefore, if your food has WS7+ (or it's found a way to reduce your WS to 1, in my case it was Telepatic Invisibility), then you're in trouble. That's the main reason I took HT in the army - because of Paroxysm for these kind of guys. Also, he is fully Devour'd, and works as my shooter/anti-air turret.
If we speak about Psychic Powers, OOE really likes them. It's very nice way to boost him up in very different ways. One time an angry Bloodthirster charged into him (high WS problem again), and old guy survived only because of Endurance - he rolled FNP like a champ, and actually was my last model standing on the table. Telekinetic dome protects him from shooting and unneeded attention, Terrify will break morale of Fearless Daemons, and Swarmlord (if I had one) could hide him under Invisibility, what would be totally great in every way.

That's actually a good reason to add more psykers in the roster. But an Elite slot is pretty full, and replacing Prime for Swarmy would be worst kind of perversion (although it may be fun). For know, I'm thinking about creating two minimal squads of Genes with Broodlords in each.
Of course, I could take a Tervigon, but... I don't want to.

Pretty much all for now. If there will be some battles tommorow, I'll continue my research on our big blind lobster.

[glassiya]

Going for a small tournament in a neighbour city - 1250 pts, no IA (which I don't use anyway), soft WYSYWYG and such. Still, I used only models I actually have (for the sake of reason I borrowed some Zoans for the event, everything esle is what I have in my table).

Which is:

== HQ ==
Tyranid Prime (1) - Deathspitter, Pair Of Boneswords, Toxin Sacs, Regeneration = 115 pts.
The Parasite of Mortrex (1) = 160 pts.

== Elites ==
Zoanthrope Brood (3) = 180 pts.

== Troops ==
Broodlord Brood (199 pts.)
Broodlord (1) - Scything Talons, Toxin Sacs, Implant Attack = 80 pts.
Genestealer (7) - Toxin Sacs = 119 pts.
Hormagaunt Brood (16) - AG, Toxin Sacs = 160 pts.
Termagant Brood (16) - Spike Rifle = 96 pts.

== Fast Attack ==
Gargoyle Brood (10) - Toxin Sacs = 70 pts.

== Heavy Support ==
Old One Eye (1) = 260 pts.

== Total ==
1240 pts.

For now I had only one game with Daemons, which ended badly. Not terrible, but badly.

These were BigGunz in H&A deployment, I put my objectives in a single corner and barricaded there, in a ruin - a wall of Termies, Hormies and Genes and OOE behind, and Zoas with Gargs in the rear. Basically, I just waited for DP and Fateweaver to fly closer, and Slaanesh Fiends to run closer, and then met them alright. Fateweaver charged OOE in difficult terrain, and that was one nasty way to kill himself for him. The rest wasn't fun. Whole lot of useful abilities, like ignore armor (Rendings on Genes and Mortrex, Boneswords on prime and OOE's smash) was pretty much useless against daemons, and although I countered him strategically, still he overwhelmed me with his Fiends. Also, game instantly finished on 5th turn, and silly me just forget to set my last unengaged Troops to guard an objective. Therefore - fail, something like 5-2.

I still have a couple of weeks to run this list and adapt to it. f someone have ideas and advices, I'll gladly accept and talk about them.

[commandersasha]

I love my genestealers, but after repeated attempts, have to confess they are hopeless in this edition; Ymgarls, on the other hand, are golden: I suggest giving them a go; they give you easy access to your enemy's backfield.

Although all this starts to sound like a stuck record, Hiveguard and Tervigons are so much better than everything else that a box of Terms and a Terv will open up a lot more possibilities, although the impression I get from your text is that you play for fluff and fun, not to WAAC (good for you, me too! I only have one Terv, which I already had before 6th).

Are you footslogging OOE, if so has he got any support? A screen of Gaunts to cover him as he moves up, and to take the Overwatch to the face to save him will help a lot.

[lordofthebrood]

Don't put spike rifles on gaunts, please... It makes me cry to see this. You reduce the S and add a whole 6" for one point. They should be giving us points to do that.

I agree with the genestealer point raised by commandersasha. They just die.

A bit dubious about warriors without a prime to absorb all the nasty ID...

[glassiya]

Thanks for replying so fast, HiveBros. )

Genes definitely stay. Even if they lost charge from outflank... well, I started to play just before 6th came up, so maybe I just didn't got used to it. ^^ It's still a unit, that can appear near objective on any side of the board, but I rarely use this - infiltrate for me is more than enough. Point is, genes really aren't so good - but Broodlord is. I'm still thinking about minimizng the stack in question for 5 models for ths reason.

Ymgarls I use when I can, I even converted them from standard genes. Point is, it's a tournament in another city, it's my first tournament at all, and I haven't a slightest idea about how much terrain will be on tables. So I decided not to take this risk. More, my list clearly lacked range and psykers, and I try to compensate ths by choosing Zoans. They're pretty customfble, by the way, with new changeable psychic powers.

HGs, Tervis and Flyrants are out of question indeed, thanks for noticing. ^^ I'd really added a couple of Pyros in spore, if I actually had those.

OOE... the core of my lists, of course. In fact, I find him more survivable, than it seems. Usually (when playing 2k-2250) I run an Armored Tyrant and Mawloc (maybe TFex later), to attract fire. So big guns usually won't aim in poor old guy, as they have more scary targets. Also - everyone know that Carnifexes suck, and melee carnifexes suck even more, and OOE is beyond any limits in sucking - and they come out very surprised, when this "fluffy sucker thing" unleashes a dozen of s10 attacks in their faces.
No Tyrants here though, because of point limit - still, this should limit hostile Big Guns as well, and therefore give a big guy time to play around.
BTW, Overwatch is the last thing to bother him. Only flamers (and flamers of Tzeench in particular) are any threat in this case. Everything else usually has to hit on 6s, wound on 6s too, and then pierce 3+ save.

Usually I do take warriors, they make nice all-around shooters/cutters, and won't die so fast (and as lord noticed, they attract powerful shooting, thus allowing Monsters to live and tell the tale). And yes, I do run a prime with them. Usually.

Thanks for replying again. Still thinking about optmal strategy, still taking some advices.

[Squire]

I love seeing a list with 3 pyrovores, in a spore no less! Fair play to you, sir. How do they do? I imagine they can make their mark every game against units without power armour, and I suppose even against 3+ and 2+ saves you'll force enough saves to take a few down with you.

I like to see somebody give such units a chance. If the rumours are true about pyrovores being given some kind of anti air capabilities your investment might just pay off

[glassiya]

I dropped them down to 2 models, actually. With their big base and the fact that spore usually scatters in close proximity to the enemy, it's almost impossible to unload them in a way to shoot all three flamethrowers. Usually, 2 are quite enough when used right - like countering high Coversave, or eviscerating squad that just DS'd too, and now stands in close circle waiting for it. Against 3+/2+, though, I find it better to drop them somewhere safe (but close enough) and then CHARGE into these guys. Usually, small squads of ME either will be eaten, or melted down by the Acid Blood.

[lordofthebrood]

Have you managed to get the 'stealers to work then? Do they still make up for their points cost after being shot up? Thought we lost that after the latest codex and after 5th edition rules :/

[glassiya]

stealers aren't. Only if you use them extremely carefully and precisely, that is almost impossible. Also, Rending is too random, and with my bad luck, I always get little to no 6s.

The Broodlord, though - is really good. He rules by himself - if you've managed to get him into assault, he'll make it rain. Even more, if got some nasty Biomancy. Heck, even if he's just standing in the shadows and casting Endurance on your troops - that's already something.

[glassiya]

The tournament I mentioned before was really strange. Funny - I was using an army with fluffy overcosted useless OOE - and that's actually the only model that was doing something through all games. He was walkng through whole table from H&A deployment under heavy fire of 3 leman russes and 2 gryphons, he was annihilating a squad of wolf termies with Logan (yeah, know what "annihilation" means, and that's what really happened), and crushing to pulp hordes of necron Scarabs. Everything else in my ranks pretty much sucked. Needless to say, the result made me think about things.

So, I had roughly a week to create a new list, learning on mistakes and results of that fateful day.

Basic rules that were use to create this:
1). More armoured MCs - they tend to survive at least, therefore less point lost at the end.
2). No Tervigons, Malantai, Flyrants, and all other "must have" choices.

So, that' what I had in the end.

== HQ ==

Tyranid Prime (1) - Deathspitter, Pair Of Boneswords, Toxin Sacs, Regeneration = 115 pts.
Well, most likely he'll be the Warlord, he can stay with the warriors, increasing their life duration.

Hive Tyrant (1) - Twin-Linked Devourer - Brainleech Worms, Twin-Linked Devourer - Brainleech Worms, Armoured Shell, Regeneration, Paroxysm, Leech Essence, Hive Commander, Old Adversary = 310 pts.
Armoured pure-shooting Tyrant, stable and sturdy fire platform, that won't be falling down from every scratch.

== Elites ==

Pyrovore Brood (130 pts.)
Pyrovore (2) = 90 pts.
Mycetic Spore (1) = 40 pts.
Just love these boys, can't do anything about it. New Spore rules should give them some chance.

Zoanthrope Brood (220 pts.)
Zoanthrope (3) = 180 pts.
Mycetic Spore (1) = 40 pts.
Our anti-tank, anti-marine, or supportive buffers if needed.

== Troops ==

== Troops ==
Broodlord Brood (148 pts.)
Broodlord (1) - Scything Talons, Toxin Sacs, Implant Attack = 80 pts.
Genestealer (4) - Toxin Sacs = 68 pts.
Brood is loving awesome. He kick butts, he casts spells, he hides and goes to ground if needed, he comes from the Outflank or infiltrates on that far objective. Very convenient guy. Genes aren't much though, and that's why I minimized the squad.

Tyranid Warrior Brood (285 pts.)
Tyranid Warrior (4) - Deathspitter, Lash Whip And Bonesword, Toxin Sacs = 220 pts.
Tyranid Warrior (1) - Venom Cannon, Lash Whip And Bonesword, Toxin Sacs = 65 pts.Oh, our poor little warriors. The only reason no one takes them, it's because they're afraid of s8-s10 shooting. Well, in this list there's lot of targets for Meltas and Demolishers, and if they shoot at one target, that means they won't shoot at another.

Hormagaunt Brood (16) - AG, Toxin Sacs = 160 pts.
Maxed up hormies. They don't really belong to this list, but they're cute, they fluffy, and they're so damn sexy. Their little eyes literally begged me to let them stay, and I just couldn't refuse.

== Fast Attack ==

Gargoyle Brood (17) - Toxin Sacs = 119 pts.
After some thinking, I decided to swap Termies for these guys. Still cheap, they can shoot, can fly and charge in CC, can give 5+ cover to our Monsters, that's most important. I swapped scoring unit for them, though, and still don't know how it'll turn.

== Heavy Support ==

Old One Eye (1) = 260 pts.
Nuff said. The heart and soul of this list. Amongst Tyrants, Mawlocs and T-fexes he'll be pretty small and not-dangerous-looking. Mind trickes, yep.

Tyrannofex (1) - Rupture Cannon, Stinger Salvo, Thorax Swarm - Desicctor Larvae, Regeneration = 295 pts.
Big guy with big gun. Everyone else suggest to take Acid spray, but I'd like to test his RC. After all, most things we meet on tables are MEQs, and ap4 flamer won't do much to them. After all, I already have a couple of these. And Rupture has the one thing we Nidz lack - it's range. It's damn 48"! I'm tired of running through the whole table to make a single shot. Maybe you understand me. Maybe not - well, that's okay too.

Mawloc (1) - Toxin Sacs, Regeneration = 205 pts.
Love this guy. It's s6 ap 2 blast (hello Logan termies!), it's enemy manipulation (get out from this Aegis, I'm the King of this hill now!) it's constantly playing with your enemy (soak some fire, burrow, regenerate, elect on a different side of a table, repeat), it's still mother-loving MCs (you wreck tanks like crazy in CC) and he's model is overwhelmingly awesome. Even with my worst luck with Scatter rolls, I want to give him a chance.

== Total ==

2250 pts.


The main idea - a lot of MCs with Regeneration, some even with 2+ save. Try to kill them all before they come for your biomass, I dare you. If you're not Dark Eldar or Grey Knights... well, you've got the idea. At least, I hope it should go like that. And that's what Field Testing is for.

Still, I have only 3 troop units, and 1 of them is really small. Well, this may be a problem for Conquest - for EW and Relic you don't need much, for Scouring and BGNT I have spare units, and for the PtA that' not matters.

Well, that's pretty much all for now.
I'll gladly recieve any questions, reviews, or suggestions.
And good day to you all.