Post by Illithid on Jan 12, 2014 5:55:10 GMT
I have decided after reading through the 6th Ed. Codex tactics to start collecting ideas and add to them in a single thread / post. Thank you everyone who is contributing ideas!!!
As your ideas flow in, I will copy / paste them into this thread so that we do not have to scroll through pages to find interesting tidbits. By the end, I am hoping on doing something like a grading system that ranks the powers / upgrades of each creature, but it is early days at the moment and to early to do so.
HQ
Flyrants: Get 2 rolls each on the chart, and you only need 1 Catalyst to cover both. Warp Blast would be good too. Further, it has 12 T/L shots in the air and all the advantagea that come with being a FMC. Against light vehicles, a Flyrant can now get 7/8 attacks on the charge thanks to the tail. Give it AG for fleet and get the S bonus for free.
Flyrants are the biggest threat to the enemy. Have two and one will even be your Warlord. Throw in 2x Crones or other flying MC's and the enemy immediately has a priority issue. Shoot the most deadly, or the most squishy? Either way, it helps because it lets the other models live. The benefit of the Crones, is air superiority. With the Crones (theoretically), you will have enough firepower to take out the flyers and some of the skyfire early.
Think of the Crones as the fighters escorting the HT Bomber. Designed to keep the enemy off the HT's back so it can do some heavy damage. And with the Drool and VS, can even chip in once the skies are clear.
However, even with FNP they tend to die sooner than expected.
Another option is a Tyrant with the obiterax and Adrenal attached to 3 Tyrant Guard with Adrenal. Thats 10 Toughness 6 wounds. Outside of Heavy/Elite it isn't possible to put this amount of T6 wounds forward. Also, a Tyrant+Obliterax+ potentially OA means hitting on 3's, rerolling 1's with 5 attacks on the charge. Shred means rerolling to wound and on 6's are "remove as casuality wounds".
A few more options are:
1. Tried and tested: Basic dakka flyrant with 2 TL devourers (230 points)
2. Gaining some traction: LWBS flyrant with electroshock grubs. Can vector strike vehicles then finish them off with a haywire template. (230 points)
3. Best of both worlds: Flyrant with LWBS, electroshock grubs, TL devourers. Can shoot at fliers and is not too killy so as to leave you out in the open after winning an assault during your turn. (245 points)
Tyranid Prime: Pimped Tyranid Prime (LW, BS, AG, TS, RC, what you think is useful) in a brood of 30 Gants (Termagants + 15-20 Devilgants) for outflank.
The Prime should be nearly unkillable with 2+ "look out sir" in 30 Wounds. Also, amongst the HQ's he is THE best way for tucking away a warlord VP from your opponent. Fielding him in a unit of gaunts and hormies gives very durable synapse due to LoS's.
The Ymgarl Prime - Hit and Run only requires a single model in the unit to have it. You could then attach a Prime to the unit is the opportunity presents, charge in, then later hit and run to gain a massive move across their front and then strike something more worthy of a Prime.
The damage and survivability this could add to the unit is a lot. Boneswords attacking, Challenging Sgts or taking the brunt of the hits first on a 3+ save, rather than the Lictors. A tooled up Prime could potentially be a massive beast in this unit, and can even outflank or Infiltrate!
Tyranid Prime: 240
- Ymgarl Factor
- LW/BS
- Maw Claws
- AG
- Regen
This gives you a beast in CC which when supported with Lictors is going to be dangerous. Outflanking, Hit and Run, the ability to soak up a few missiles, even go up against power weapons in CC.
Expensive, yes... but it could be good, and if anything else, its an easy way to get some forward synapse too.
You could use the Reaper of Obliterax in place of the LW/BS if you really want S7 attacks, could work but gets expensive.
ELITE
Venomthropes: They are cheap. Imagine them as 'cheap help' instead of a lynchpin of the army and used for backfield help with things that are just sitting in terrain and shooting, such as Exocrines, biovores, etc. Further, they can sit in a bastion for an even bigger spore cloud range and be quite durable, using it to block Los turn 1 then embark turn 2
Lictor: Set-up
1. Set all the spore bombs or in reserve.
2. Infiltrate Deathleaper / Lictors into cover.
3. Assuming you go first, move up your Deathleaper / Lictor deeper into enemy lines but still in cover.
3. Assuming your opponent goes first have Deathleaper / Lictors go to ground upon shooting. Either way, on your opponent's turn, go-to-ground.
4. Hope that it survives until the deep strike reserves can come in. When they do, place the spore bombs on the table.
5. Place whatever arrives within the range of Leaper's pheromone trail. You only need to place the unit within 6" of pheromone trail in this edition.
6. If any of the clusters survive till their next assault phase, charge... then make them go boom!!!!
Not a great strategy, but sort of interesting.
Haurspex: Fairly average, but great at tarpitting units. Tyranids do have many things that can do this however. With Regeneration, it may not die, but it is expensive and other things in the Heavy Slot will likely do a more efficient job.
TROOPS
Hormagaunts: Are cheap and can do some damage, are fast, so can tie up the enemy. I would go with at least 20-25 per brood.. thats still <100pts. (Keep them vanilla, upgrades are no longer worth it. You also could take them as screening units for cover save, vanilla 10-15 models, and screening to soak up overwatch on the way to attacking.
Termagant: Termagant gun upgrades are model by model, so having a unit of 30, where 10 of them have devourers and 20 of them have fleshborers is a good way to keep the devourers alive long enough to cross the board and be used. Here are some uses:
1) 40pt scoring units. 1-2 will always be helpful in any list, think about leaving in reserves to keep them safe for a few turns.
2) 40pt scoring units. Grab 6 of these for only 240pts, leaving plenty of pts for more aggressive units. Think about leaving some/all in reserves to keep them safe. Think about Outflanking 1-2 (Hive Commander) of these for objectives on the other side of the board.
3) Attacking. I like 18-12 Dev-FBorer ratio. Gives plenty of shooting punch, and some ablative wounds. Play around with ratio to determine your best option.
4) tarpit. 20-30 vanilla. Not a fan of purely defensive units.
fleshborers vs spinefists for gants. if anyone cares, i did the maths up vs. T4 and vs. T3:
gant is BS3. both guns are AP5, 12". fleshborer is S4, assault:1, spinefist is S3, TL, and assault:X where X=the model's attack characteristic. as it's the humble termagant, it gets 1 shot.
fleshborer vs T4: 1/2*1/2=1/4. 50% chance to hit (bs3) and wounds T4 50% of the time gives a 25% chance to wound per shot.
spinefist vs T4: 3/4+1/3=1/4. 75% chance to hit and wounds T4 1/3 of the time, gives you a 25% chance to wound per shot.
vs. T4, they're identical.
fleshborer vs. T3: 1/2*2/3=1/3. 33% chance per shot to wound.
spinefist vs. T3: 3/4*1/2=3/8. 37.5% chance per shot to wound.
Another option is:
15 termagants (60) + 15 devourer gants (120) = 180
Worth 1 kill point and gives you access to tervigon for this edition. It's offensive capability will only start to be affected after maybe 2-3 rounds of shooting from one tactical squad. On top of that, you get to shoot at turn 1.
Okay so we lose the ability to pop tanks with spore but on one end we get less of a glass cannon that gives away less kill points. This is something most people already know about right now though.
Tervigons: Now spawn Gants at the end of the movement phase. Which of course means when outflanking a Tervigon you can now in the same turn spawn a Gant unit 12" from the table edge, and they get a run move. That is most likely enough to claim/contest enemy objectives in one move. A little nugget of bronze. Further, we are kind of weak on synapse, with Dominion it can even help gaunts in a safe zone. Can also be used as rear synapse while holding an objective and spawning gaunts to send to the front. Also can be used to walk up the field with non-gaunt units needing synapse (devilfexes, etc). I wouldn't recommend more than 1 at 1850pts. But that said now that Spawning happens in the movement phase they become a bit better in Outflank, running out and dropping a litter in front & giving them Synapse. Added advantage being the flanking Tervi is far enough from the main body of other Termagants that it will only effect its own spawned broods should it get killed. Look for some terrain to use and synergized with reserves it can make a dandy target saturation in your opponents flank they weren't expecting. (Sidenote: Tervigons are already quite expensive, but there are some cheaper options that shouldnt be overlooked...
----Cluster Spines: At 5pts you get a big fat 18" S5 Large Blast. If flanking in you can probably find somewhere painful to put that.
----Thorax Biomorphs: For 10pts you get a Template, the Dessicator (Fleshbane) and Electroshock (S5 Haywire) gives you some addded punch vs infantry.
----Acid Blood: If you face a lot of MEQ, they will have to choose carefully about assaulting a Tervi with this. Not a bad investment for 15pts.
Uses: Backfield synapse for Biovores/exocrines/walk-onreserves.
Warriors: Can sit on rear objectives, babysit biovores/exorcrines, and take pot shots. This is very similar to one of the Terv roles. Here are some builds:
Barebones (devourer/scything talons):30 pts Strictly for backfield objectives/giving synapse to other troops. Devourers give them a decent amount of fire power, and 4 S4 attacks on the charge means they're not completely useless in CC either.
CC barebones: (rending claws, scything talons):35 pts No shooting at all, but just become scary good in CC. 5 rending attacks on the charge at WS 5 (6 if you can put a Prime with them) is pretty scary. Problem is assaulting through cover, which lead us too:
CC focused: (rending claws, scything talons, flesh hooks, toxin sacs):39 pts CC monsters. 5 poisoned rending attacks on the charge with no loss of initiative, with even some shooting attacks to boot. Poison means you can usually reroll attacks to get that precious 6. Problem is cost, 42 points per model. Needless to say, you'd better have have venomthropes and hope for the best.
CC ultra: (rending claws, bonesword/lashwhip, flesh hooks):59 pts 5 I4 rending or AP3 attacks at I7 on the charge with assault grendades. If you can get them into combat they'll be unstoppable. Key word here being IF. At 59 points each, you can't afford to lose a single one before assaulting.
CC Ultra Alternative: (rending claws, scything talons, adrenal glands, flesh hooks and toxic sacs) That is 47 points - as above, slightly cheaper but with toxic sacs.
Shooting focused: (Deathspitters, Venom cannon or Barbed Strangler on one, Scything talons): 35 pts, 45-50pts on one model. Puts out a decent amount of firepower. Barbed strangler can be downright lethal if you shoot at the right unit. Pretty cheap too.
TAC barebones: (rending claws, devourer):35 pts Does shooting and CC good but not great. A good value at 35 points.
TAC focused: (Deathspitter, rending claws):40 pts Much improved shooting for only 5 points more. My personal favorite since it does everything great.
TAC Ultra: (Deathspitter, rending claws, flesh hooks):44 pts Now you can assault into cover, whether that is worth 44 points per model is up to you.
Another tactic to try could be a large brood of warriors (8-9) with death spitters that outflank (tactical insight). They will
* draw a LOT fire because they are in the enemies zone
* give you the point for "first blood" when the rest of your army is chosen accordingly (no small weak units but 30 Gants, Tervigons in cover ...)
* point for the break through(?) mission
Genestealers: Genestealer Deployment: Infiltrate vs Outflank: This is a crucial deployment decision, if you're 2nd you have the luxury of seeing the prey army. If 1st you need to analyze their army a little. Whats important to look for:
INFILTRATE
-Cover Denial Weapons: Decision to infiltrate will revolve around this stuff; Markerlights, Heldrakes, templates, Psykers with Diviniation Perfect Timing any kind of junk that can likely deny you Genes cover, dont do it, go for flank. Watch for what the reserves are packing too; drop pods or Termies with flamers, etc. Keep in mind can they actually deliver said weaponry. Spreading out over several floors can minimize template damage.
-Good Cover: Any schmuck knows Genes infiltrate and will cover the nooks and crannies in their zone. Applying the above principal, look for some juicy cover in no mans land. Close to the prey is good but keep in mind with MoveThru and Fleet, Genes can reliably cover 9-11" a turn without assault. LOS blocking area terrain like ruins is great. The key point here is watch your opponents reaction Turn 1
--- Flee: if he moves away from the Genes, advance but don't leave cover unless you can reach similar cover. You can't assault anyways, try for a lucky Horror shot if you took BL
--- Fire: They begin trying to flush them out with shooting Go To Ground without hesitation & get that +3 cover save. Be mindful to keep your Synapse (ie Flyrants) away from them at this time. If they make this choice, great they'll be spending lots of ammo that will not be going at your advancing main body.
--- Fight: Again, great Genes even gone to ground still go first against a vast majority of units. If they do this theyre playing your game and you've just dragged them closer to the main body.
OUTFLANK
If your opponent has a plethora of cover denial weapons like Tau, Outflank is the prudent option. If you've placed a opponent zone flank side objective, even if they castle up in the opposite corner and your Genes get a (please do not swear) roll to see which edge they come from they can still get you a couple Victory Points (Linebreaker + Objective)
FAST
Hive Crone: Vector strike it then position the crone so you can use the drool cannon. All these hits will ignore cover! Even if you don't pen you have very good chance of knocking off 2-3 hull points. It's one of the best ways to wreak wave serpents. Throw in 2x Crones or other flying MC's and the enemy immediately has a priority issue. Shoot the most deadly, or the most squishy? Either way, it helps because it lets the other models live. The benefit of the Crones, is air superiority. With the Crones (theoretically), you will have enough firepower to take out the flyers and some of the skyfire early.
Think of the Crones as the fighters escorting the HT Bomber. Designed to keep the enemy off the HT's back so it can do some heavy damage. And with the Drool and VS, can even chip in once the skies are clear
Gargoyles: Still good/great. There seems to be the need for a FAQ on the one blinding test, but don't think that matters. They are probably best run with no upgrades.
However, there are a few options and advantages to them:
- Fast being jump infantry with added fleet bonus. Actually able of doing 14-24" charges in one turn.
- Adrenal glands makes them able to glance open vehicles.
- Blinding venom makes it so it will never have "weapons ineffective". Perfect for locking in combat things like wraithlords and riptides, they will only kill 4-5 per turn at most and we still have a chance to inflict 1-2 wounds before our little bats perish.
- As mentioned before, having the opponent take 5-6 initiative tests will make them fail and make you much more durable in combat vs them (court is still out on this ruling - really good argument in General about this)
- Big models for a gant, it will screen perfectly every other unit we have and provide precious cover save.
Shrikes: I7 potential, rending, aglands and 4 attacks each for CC with HOW. I think I will be replacing a brood of 3 with Shrikes. Actually they are the only fast platform that hits at I7 in cover
If running Shrikes, I would always have at least 1 with LW/BS, and likely more. They are also a fast way of getting SitW into range of their psykers
As for tactical ideas....
When you cause wounds in CC, your opponent *must* allocate them to the model(s) in base contact with the model(s) that are attacking at *that* Init step.
So... if you have stealers and gaunts in combat, when the stealers attack and do 6 wounds, your opponent has to allocate them first to the models in base with the stealers.
Your Shrike with the LW/BS can now 'snipe' models. Lets say you charge a Tac squad, and the sgt has a powerfist. All 4 of your shrikes get into base contact, the Shrike with LW/BS is in base with the Sgt.
At Init7 that shrike goes, and does 3 wounds. Those *have* to be allocated to the Sgt first.
HEAVY
Mawlocs: Mawloc gets to spawn on an enemy unit. You roll your str 6 ap2 no cover save blast. If there is enemies left, you repeat the process. If there are still enemies left. Congratulations, now you have 50% chance to enter the table the next turn and inflict a further couple of large blasts with str 6, ap2, no cover.
Carnifex: 2 sets of devourers is now 150 points, seems reasonably cost-effective now. Another strategy may be to, broods of 3 where one model has regeneration and the others don't. Put him slightly in front turn 1, then after he's taken wounds move him to the back to regenerate. Gargoyles might be perfect for screening these. You can go with a bare bones 10 gargoyle squad, it's only 60 points. They can start the game behind the Carnifex, because you'll want to put your 'fex right up against your deployment line so they're as close to the enemy as possible. In turn 1 the gargoyles use their 12" movement to get infront of the Carnifex, and now they're serving two roles, they're providing the carnifex a cover save, and they're blocking assaults, that way the carnifex can't get charged.
Biovores: gained a wound and dropped 5 points, and each blast template that doesn't have any models underneath when placed now drops a unit of d3 spores.
A tactic could be, taking three units of 1 biovore to maximize the efficiency of spawning d3 clusters. They deliberately fire from behind line of sight blocking terrain, so that they are protected but more importantly to maximise scatter. The tactic is not to hit the enemy but to flood spores into the gaps between enemy units and making it difficult to manoeuvre. Enemy can only move or run to within 1", potentially blocking a critical advance or retreat. If they waste a turn shooting the spores they will likely be denied an assault move, or worse be forced to assault the remaining mines. Mines in cover could be surprising resilient since they don't explode when shot. Vehicles must tank shock to get past, again reducing direction of manoeuvre. Any spores that block line of sight, explode, or provide psychological menace and disruption is a bonus.
In a six turn game, 18 annoyance units can be generate composed of an average of 36 mines. Especially good vs units that traditionally need to be tar-pitted, like bikes.
Advantage: The don't give away kill points.
Disadvantage: Heavy Support slot is highly contested.
Exocrine you get 6 shots at 24" or a large blast both of which have enough armor pen to gib whatever you are shooting at for 170. that is 5 more points than a brood of 3xHiveG, same amount of shots, same range, although you lose 1 wound, you gain a better armor save. It is also a bit more versatile in regards to switching between anti-tank/anti-infantry on the fly. Further, the Exocrine should be fine out of synapse. Further, casting onslaught on them allows them to run and still shoot at BS4. Fleet to get a good move when running.
Tyrannofex: is easily overlooked, but it's only 2+ save MC with a torrent str 6 ap4 flamer. You could upgrade to Adrenal and Regen on them and you would have a pretty fast moving regenerating MC all for 220 points. It would still be 30 points cheaper than 5e base cost!
yrranofex + thorax (shred+rending) is awesome. Super heavy duty, lots of casualties (thorax will kill a couple of meqs and they will also lose 1-2 saves from the acid spray- vs 4+ save it is terrifying). Also double wall of death overwatch is awesome also. Adrenal glands is good if you roll onslaught, but if you don't will you be really running your tyrranofex forward?
Trygon Prime: Trygon Prime can take bio-artefacts such as the miasma cannon, which also a template aspect. For 255 pts (not overly cheap) one can have a trygon prime with a miasma cannon.
This means deep striking near an opponent. Then you have 12 x str 5 ap5 shots and (MC rulez) a template with poisoned(2+),ap4 and no cover save.
Carnifex: The best setups currently are;
1. Cheapfex: Adrenal glands (135 points per fex, to run forward and smash the opponent)
2. Dakkafex: 2x TL Devourers (plenty of dakka for 150 points a piece)
3. Slasherfex: 2 sets of Scything talons, Toxin sacs, Adrenal glands, Spine banks- 150 pts.
Regeneration is definitely too expensive, and I'm also not so sure about bioplasma at 20 points. Maybe for fun, just to play the classic screamer killer i would pay the 140 points total. (i wouldn't give it adrenal glands at that point, it just turns more expensive at little actual gain, since you're going to want to shoot with the thing and you can't rely on having a psyker with onslaught nearby (and if you do, its probably got better units to cast that on))
Fortifications:
As it stands right now it looks like we can use Aegis Defence Lines. A great unit to hold one would be three Warriors with one either Barbed Strangler or Venom Cannon. They're troops so they can hold a backfield objective, they're synapse so they can be left behind by your advancing army, and the heavy weapon has a 36" range so the unit wont be wasted staying behind to man the gun. Another interesting option is a Exocrine or Rupture Cannon Tyrannofex, as they both would only shoot one gun at range, plus the quad gun.
Join a Prime to a venomthrope and stuff them into a firestorm redoubt. This covers us for flyers, gives a large synapse and shrouded bubble.
As your ideas flow in, I will copy / paste them into this thread so that we do not have to scroll through pages to find interesting tidbits. By the end, I am hoping on doing something like a grading system that ranks the powers / upgrades of each creature, but it is early days at the moment and to early to do so.
HQ
Flyrants: Get 2 rolls each on the chart, and you only need 1 Catalyst to cover both. Warp Blast would be good too. Further, it has 12 T/L shots in the air and all the advantagea that come with being a FMC. Against light vehicles, a Flyrant can now get 7/8 attacks on the charge thanks to the tail. Give it AG for fleet and get the S bonus for free.
Flyrants are the biggest threat to the enemy. Have two and one will even be your Warlord. Throw in 2x Crones or other flying MC's and the enemy immediately has a priority issue. Shoot the most deadly, or the most squishy? Either way, it helps because it lets the other models live. The benefit of the Crones, is air superiority. With the Crones (theoretically), you will have enough firepower to take out the flyers and some of the skyfire early.
Think of the Crones as the fighters escorting the HT Bomber. Designed to keep the enemy off the HT's back so it can do some heavy damage. And with the Drool and VS, can even chip in once the skies are clear.
However, even with FNP they tend to die sooner than expected.
Another option is a Tyrant with the obiterax and Adrenal attached to 3 Tyrant Guard with Adrenal. Thats 10 Toughness 6 wounds. Outside of Heavy/Elite it isn't possible to put this amount of T6 wounds forward. Also, a Tyrant+Obliterax+ potentially OA means hitting on 3's, rerolling 1's with 5 attacks on the charge. Shred means rerolling to wound and on 6's are "remove as casuality wounds".
A few more options are:
1. Tried and tested: Basic dakka flyrant with 2 TL devourers (230 points)
2. Gaining some traction: LWBS flyrant with electroshock grubs. Can vector strike vehicles then finish them off with a haywire template. (230 points)
3. Best of both worlds: Flyrant with LWBS, electroshock grubs, TL devourers. Can shoot at fliers and is not too killy so as to leave you out in the open after winning an assault during your turn. (245 points)
Tyranid Prime: Pimped Tyranid Prime (LW, BS, AG, TS, RC, what you think is useful) in a brood of 30 Gants (Termagants + 15-20 Devilgants) for outflank.
The Prime should be nearly unkillable with 2+ "look out sir" in 30 Wounds. Also, amongst the HQ's he is THE best way for tucking away a warlord VP from your opponent. Fielding him in a unit of gaunts and hormies gives very durable synapse due to LoS's.
The Ymgarl Prime - Hit and Run only requires a single model in the unit to have it. You could then attach a Prime to the unit is the opportunity presents, charge in, then later hit and run to gain a massive move across their front and then strike something more worthy of a Prime.
The damage and survivability this could add to the unit is a lot. Boneswords attacking, Challenging Sgts or taking the brunt of the hits first on a 3+ save, rather than the Lictors. A tooled up Prime could potentially be a massive beast in this unit, and can even outflank or Infiltrate!
Tyranid Prime: 240
- Ymgarl Factor
- LW/BS
- Maw Claws
- AG
- Regen
This gives you a beast in CC which when supported with Lictors is going to be dangerous. Outflanking, Hit and Run, the ability to soak up a few missiles, even go up against power weapons in CC.
Expensive, yes... but it could be good, and if anything else, its an easy way to get some forward synapse too.
You could use the Reaper of Obliterax in place of the LW/BS if you really want S7 attacks, could work but gets expensive.
ELITE
Venomthropes: They are cheap. Imagine them as 'cheap help' instead of a lynchpin of the army and used for backfield help with things that are just sitting in terrain and shooting, such as Exocrines, biovores, etc. Further, they can sit in a bastion for an even bigger spore cloud range and be quite durable, using it to block Los turn 1 then embark turn 2
Lictor: Set-up
1. Set all the spore bombs or in reserve.
2. Infiltrate Deathleaper / Lictors into cover.
3. Assuming you go first, move up your Deathleaper / Lictor deeper into enemy lines but still in cover.
3. Assuming your opponent goes first have Deathleaper / Lictors go to ground upon shooting. Either way, on your opponent's turn, go-to-ground.
4. Hope that it survives until the deep strike reserves can come in. When they do, place the spore bombs on the table.
5. Place whatever arrives within the range of Leaper's pheromone trail. You only need to place the unit within 6" of pheromone trail in this edition.
6. If any of the clusters survive till their next assault phase, charge... then make them go boom!!!!
Not a great strategy, but sort of interesting.
Haurspex: Fairly average, but great at tarpitting units. Tyranids do have many things that can do this however. With Regeneration, it may not die, but it is expensive and other things in the Heavy Slot will likely do a more efficient job.
TROOPS
Hormagaunts: Are cheap and can do some damage, are fast, so can tie up the enemy. I would go with at least 20-25 per brood.. thats still <100pts. (Keep them vanilla, upgrades are no longer worth it. You also could take them as screening units for cover save, vanilla 10-15 models, and screening to soak up overwatch on the way to attacking.
Termagant: Termagant gun upgrades are model by model, so having a unit of 30, where 10 of them have devourers and 20 of them have fleshborers is a good way to keep the devourers alive long enough to cross the board and be used. Here are some uses:
1) 40pt scoring units. 1-2 will always be helpful in any list, think about leaving in reserves to keep them safe for a few turns.
2) 40pt scoring units. Grab 6 of these for only 240pts, leaving plenty of pts for more aggressive units. Think about leaving some/all in reserves to keep them safe. Think about Outflanking 1-2 (Hive Commander) of these for objectives on the other side of the board.
3) Attacking. I like 18-12 Dev-FBorer ratio. Gives plenty of shooting punch, and some ablative wounds. Play around with ratio to determine your best option.
4) tarpit. 20-30 vanilla. Not a fan of purely defensive units.
fleshborers vs spinefists for gants. if anyone cares, i did the maths up vs. T4 and vs. T3:
gant is BS3. both guns are AP5, 12". fleshborer is S4, assault:1, spinefist is S3, TL, and assault:X where X=the model's attack characteristic. as it's the humble termagant, it gets 1 shot.
fleshborer vs T4: 1/2*1/2=1/4. 50% chance to hit (bs3) and wounds T4 50% of the time gives a 25% chance to wound per shot.
spinefist vs T4: 3/4+1/3=1/4. 75% chance to hit and wounds T4 1/3 of the time, gives you a 25% chance to wound per shot.
vs. T4, they're identical.
fleshborer vs. T3: 1/2*2/3=1/3. 33% chance per shot to wound.
spinefist vs. T3: 3/4*1/2=3/8. 37.5% chance per shot to wound.
Another option is:
15 termagants (60) + 15 devourer gants (120) = 180
Worth 1 kill point and gives you access to tervigon for this edition. It's offensive capability will only start to be affected after maybe 2-3 rounds of shooting from one tactical squad. On top of that, you get to shoot at turn 1.
Okay so we lose the ability to pop tanks with spore but on one end we get less of a glass cannon that gives away less kill points. This is something most people already know about right now though.
Tervigons: Now spawn Gants at the end of the movement phase. Which of course means when outflanking a Tervigon you can now in the same turn spawn a Gant unit 12" from the table edge, and they get a run move. That is most likely enough to claim/contest enemy objectives in one move. A little nugget of bronze. Further, we are kind of weak on synapse, with Dominion it can even help gaunts in a safe zone. Can also be used as rear synapse while holding an objective and spawning gaunts to send to the front. Also can be used to walk up the field with non-gaunt units needing synapse (devilfexes, etc). I wouldn't recommend more than 1 at 1850pts. But that said now that Spawning happens in the movement phase they become a bit better in Outflank, running out and dropping a litter in front & giving them Synapse. Added advantage being the flanking Tervi is far enough from the main body of other Termagants that it will only effect its own spawned broods should it get killed. Look for some terrain to use and synergized with reserves it can make a dandy target saturation in your opponents flank they weren't expecting. (Sidenote: Tervigons are already quite expensive, but there are some cheaper options that shouldnt be overlooked...
----Cluster Spines: At 5pts you get a big fat 18" S5 Large Blast. If flanking in you can probably find somewhere painful to put that.
----Thorax Biomorphs: For 10pts you get a Template, the Dessicator (Fleshbane) and Electroshock (S5 Haywire) gives you some addded punch vs infantry.
----Acid Blood: If you face a lot of MEQ, they will have to choose carefully about assaulting a Tervi with this. Not a bad investment for 15pts.
Uses: Backfield synapse for Biovores/exocrines/walk-onreserves.
Warriors: Can sit on rear objectives, babysit biovores/exorcrines, and take pot shots. This is very similar to one of the Terv roles. Here are some builds:
Barebones (devourer/scything talons):30 pts Strictly for backfield objectives/giving synapse to other troops. Devourers give them a decent amount of fire power, and 4 S4 attacks on the charge means they're not completely useless in CC either.
CC barebones: (rending claws, scything talons):35 pts No shooting at all, but just become scary good in CC. 5 rending attacks on the charge at WS 5 (6 if you can put a Prime with them) is pretty scary. Problem is assaulting through cover, which lead us too:
CC focused: (rending claws, scything talons, flesh hooks, toxin sacs):39 pts CC monsters. 5 poisoned rending attacks on the charge with no loss of initiative, with even some shooting attacks to boot. Poison means you can usually reroll attacks to get that precious 6. Problem is cost, 42 points per model. Needless to say, you'd better have have venomthropes and hope for the best.
CC ultra: (rending claws, bonesword/lashwhip, flesh hooks):59 pts 5 I4 rending or AP3 attacks at I7 on the charge with assault grendades. If you can get them into combat they'll be unstoppable. Key word here being IF. At 59 points each, you can't afford to lose a single one before assaulting.
CC Ultra Alternative: (rending claws, scything talons, adrenal glands, flesh hooks and toxic sacs) That is 47 points - as above, slightly cheaper but with toxic sacs.
Shooting focused: (Deathspitters, Venom cannon or Barbed Strangler on one, Scything talons): 35 pts, 45-50pts on one model. Puts out a decent amount of firepower. Barbed strangler can be downright lethal if you shoot at the right unit. Pretty cheap too.
TAC barebones: (rending claws, devourer):35 pts Does shooting and CC good but not great. A good value at 35 points.
TAC focused: (Deathspitter, rending claws):40 pts Much improved shooting for only 5 points more. My personal favorite since it does everything great.
TAC Ultra: (Deathspitter, rending claws, flesh hooks):44 pts Now you can assault into cover, whether that is worth 44 points per model is up to you.
Another tactic to try could be a large brood of warriors (8-9) with death spitters that outflank (tactical insight). They will
* draw a LOT fire because they are in the enemies zone
* give you the point for "first blood" when the rest of your army is chosen accordingly (no small weak units but 30 Gants, Tervigons in cover ...)
* point for the break through(?) mission
Genestealers: Genestealer Deployment: Infiltrate vs Outflank: This is a crucial deployment decision, if you're 2nd you have the luxury of seeing the prey army. If 1st you need to analyze their army a little. Whats important to look for:
INFILTRATE
-Cover Denial Weapons: Decision to infiltrate will revolve around this stuff; Markerlights, Heldrakes, templates, Psykers with Diviniation Perfect Timing any kind of junk that can likely deny you Genes cover, dont do it, go for flank. Watch for what the reserves are packing too; drop pods or Termies with flamers, etc. Keep in mind can they actually deliver said weaponry. Spreading out over several floors can minimize template damage.
-Good Cover: Any schmuck knows Genes infiltrate and will cover the nooks and crannies in their zone. Applying the above principal, look for some juicy cover in no mans land. Close to the prey is good but keep in mind with MoveThru and Fleet, Genes can reliably cover 9-11" a turn without assault. LOS blocking area terrain like ruins is great. The key point here is watch your opponents reaction Turn 1
--- Flee: if he moves away from the Genes, advance but don't leave cover unless you can reach similar cover. You can't assault anyways, try for a lucky Horror shot if you took BL
--- Fire: They begin trying to flush them out with shooting Go To Ground without hesitation & get that +3 cover save. Be mindful to keep your Synapse (ie Flyrants) away from them at this time. If they make this choice, great they'll be spending lots of ammo that will not be going at your advancing main body.
--- Fight: Again, great Genes even gone to ground still go first against a vast majority of units. If they do this theyre playing your game and you've just dragged them closer to the main body.
OUTFLANK
If your opponent has a plethora of cover denial weapons like Tau, Outflank is the prudent option. If you've placed a opponent zone flank side objective, even if they castle up in the opposite corner and your Genes get a (please do not swear) roll to see which edge they come from they can still get you a couple Victory Points (Linebreaker + Objective)
FAST
Hive Crone: Vector strike it then position the crone so you can use the drool cannon. All these hits will ignore cover! Even if you don't pen you have very good chance of knocking off 2-3 hull points. It's one of the best ways to wreak wave serpents. Throw in 2x Crones or other flying MC's and the enemy immediately has a priority issue. Shoot the most deadly, or the most squishy? Either way, it helps because it lets the other models live. The benefit of the Crones, is air superiority. With the Crones (theoretically), you will have enough firepower to take out the flyers and some of the skyfire early.
Think of the Crones as the fighters escorting the HT Bomber. Designed to keep the enemy off the HT's back so it can do some heavy damage. And with the Drool and VS, can even chip in once the skies are clear
Gargoyles: Still good/great. There seems to be the need for a FAQ on the one blinding test, but don't think that matters. They are probably best run with no upgrades.
However, there are a few options and advantages to them:
- Fast being jump infantry with added fleet bonus. Actually able of doing 14-24" charges in one turn.
- Adrenal glands makes them able to glance open vehicles.
- Blinding venom makes it so it will never have "weapons ineffective". Perfect for locking in combat things like wraithlords and riptides, they will only kill 4-5 per turn at most and we still have a chance to inflict 1-2 wounds before our little bats perish.
- As mentioned before, having the opponent take 5-6 initiative tests will make them fail and make you much more durable in combat vs them (court is still out on this ruling - really good argument in General about this)
- Big models for a gant, it will screen perfectly every other unit we have and provide precious cover save.
Shrikes: I7 potential, rending, aglands and 4 attacks each for CC with HOW. I think I will be replacing a brood of 3 with Shrikes. Actually they are the only fast platform that hits at I7 in cover
If running Shrikes, I would always have at least 1 with LW/BS, and likely more. They are also a fast way of getting SitW into range of their psykers
As for tactical ideas....
When you cause wounds in CC, your opponent *must* allocate them to the model(s) in base contact with the model(s) that are attacking at *that* Init step.
So... if you have stealers and gaunts in combat, when the stealers attack and do 6 wounds, your opponent has to allocate them first to the models in base with the stealers.
Your Shrike with the LW/BS can now 'snipe' models. Lets say you charge a Tac squad, and the sgt has a powerfist. All 4 of your shrikes get into base contact, the Shrike with LW/BS is in base with the Sgt.
At Init7 that shrike goes, and does 3 wounds. Those *have* to be allocated to the Sgt first.
HEAVY
Mawlocs: Mawloc gets to spawn on an enemy unit. You roll your str 6 ap2 no cover save blast. If there is enemies left, you repeat the process. If there are still enemies left. Congratulations, now you have 50% chance to enter the table the next turn and inflict a further couple of large blasts with str 6, ap2, no cover.
Carnifex: 2 sets of devourers is now 150 points, seems reasonably cost-effective now. Another strategy may be to, broods of 3 where one model has regeneration and the others don't. Put him slightly in front turn 1, then after he's taken wounds move him to the back to regenerate. Gargoyles might be perfect for screening these. You can go with a bare bones 10 gargoyle squad, it's only 60 points. They can start the game behind the Carnifex, because you'll want to put your 'fex right up against your deployment line so they're as close to the enemy as possible. In turn 1 the gargoyles use their 12" movement to get infront of the Carnifex, and now they're serving two roles, they're providing the carnifex a cover save, and they're blocking assaults, that way the carnifex can't get charged.
Biovores: gained a wound and dropped 5 points, and each blast template that doesn't have any models underneath when placed now drops a unit of d3 spores.
A tactic could be, taking three units of 1 biovore to maximize the efficiency of spawning d3 clusters. They deliberately fire from behind line of sight blocking terrain, so that they are protected but more importantly to maximise scatter. The tactic is not to hit the enemy but to flood spores into the gaps between enemy units and making it difficult to manoeuvre. Enemy can only move or run to within 1", potentially blocking a critical advance or retreat. If they waste a turn shooting the spores they will likely be denied an assault move, or worse be forced to assault the remaining mines. Mines in cover could be surprising resilient since they don't explode when shot. Vehicles must tank shock to get past, again reducing direction of manoeuvre. Any spores that block line of sight, explode, or provide psychological menace and disruption is a bonus.
In a six turn game, 18 annoyance units can be generate composed of an average of 36 mines. Especially good vs units that traditionally need to be tar-pitted, like bikes.
Advantage: The don't give away kill points.
Disadvantage: Heavy Support slot is highly contested.
Exocrine you get 6 shots at 24" or a large blast both of which have enough armor pen to gib whatever you are shooting at for 170. that is 5 more points than a brood of 3xHiveG, same amount of shots, same range, although you lose 1 wound, you gain a better armor save. It is also a bit more versatile in regards to switching between anti-tank/anti-infantry on the fly. Further, the Exocrine should be fine out of synapse. Further, casting onslaught on them allows them to run and still shoot at BS4. Fleet to get a good move when running.
Tyrannofex: is easily overlooked, but it's only 2+ save MC with a torrent str 6 ap4 flamer. You could upgrade to Adrenal and Regen on them and you would have a pretty fast moving regenerating MC all for 220 points. It would still be 30 points cheaper than 5e base cost!
yrranofex + thorax (shred+rending) is awesome. Super heavy duty, lots of casualties (thorax will kill a couple of meqs and they will also lose 1-2 saves from the acid spray- vs 4+ save it is terrifying). Also double wall of death overwatch is awesome also. Adrenal glands is good if you roll onslaught, but if you don't will you be really running your tyrranofex forward?
Trygon Prime: Trygon Prime can take bio-artefacts such as the miasma cannon, which also a template aspect. For 255 pts (not overly cheap) one can have a trygon prime with a miasma cannon.
This means deep striking near an opponent. Then you have 12 x str 5 ap5 shots and (MC rulez) a template with poisoned(2+),ap4 and no cover save.
Carnifex: The best setups currently are;
1. Cheapfex: Adrenal glands (135 points per fex, to run forward and smash the opponent)
2. Dakkafex: 2x TL Devourers (plenty of dakka for 150 points a piece)
3. Slasherfex: 2 sets of Scything talons, Toxin sacs, Adrenal glands, Spine banks- 150 pts.
Regeneration is definitely too expensive, and I'm also not so sure about bioplasma at 20 points. Maybe for fun, just to play the classic screamer killer i would pay the 140 points total. (i wouldn't give it adrenal glands at that point, it just turns more expensive at little actual gain, since you're going to want to shoot with the thing and you can't rely on having a psyker with onslaught nearby (and if you do, its probably got better units to cast that on))
Fortifications:
As it stands right now it looks like we can use Aegis Defence Lines. A great unit to hold one would be three Warriors with one either Barbed Strangler or Venom Cannon. They're troops so they can hold a backfield objective, they're synapse so they can be left behind by your advancing army, and the heavy weapon has a 36" range so the unit wont be wasted staying behind to man the gun. Another interesting option is a Exocrine or Rupture Cannon Tyrannofex, as they both would only shoot one gun at range, plus the quad gun.
Join a Prime to a venomthrope and stuff them into a firestorm redoubt. This covers us for flyers, gives a large synapse and shrouded bubble.
