Making the most of Leviathan

[zecleon]

Hello Hive Mind!


So I've recently got back into the game after moving house into a new area which has a thriving 40k scene. Luckily it looks like my 10+ year old 'nid models will get some use as the new codex rocks. Kraken Genestealers, Kronos gunlines and the 'Jormungandr taxi' seem to be the new 'meta', and i'd rather do something off-piste but still somewhat competitive.

In a bit of irony, Leviathan seems to be one of the lesser used hive fleets despite its position as the largest ever fleet so far in the fluff. The reasons for this are pretty clear: Kraken and Behemoth are both well suited to assault armies thanks to the speed boosts they give, while Kronos and Jormungandr are both well suited to shooty armies as they incentivise castling-up in gunlines.

So where can Leviathan shine? In comparison to the other fleets its strength seems to be in balance and versatility.

In some ways Leviathan's ability is similar to Jorm's, in that it makes your units tougher, but Levi's 6+++ FNP can apply to advancing and flying units as well, meaning that Leviathan is capable of having the toughest flyers in the 'dex - as long as the flyers are smart enough to stay close to synapse. Coupled with this, Leviathan's unique stratagem encourages you to attack a target with both a flyer and a non-flyer for the nice bonus of rerolling 1s to hit and to wound.

All this makes me think a healthy dose of flying hive tyrants is in order, and a good balance of flying and non-flying units in general. It also seems right to maximise the number of '2+' rolls you can make in order to maximise the benefit you get from rerolling your 1s.

Here is the 2k list I'm working towards:



++ Battalion Detachment +3CP (Tyranids) [57 PL, 1231pts] ++

Discipline: Hive Mind

Hive Fleet: Leviathan


+ HQ +

Hive Tyrant [11 PL, 204pts]: Adrenal Glands, Heavy Venom Cannon, Monstrous Rending Claws, The Miasma Cannon, Toxin Sacs, Warlord, Warlord Trait: Perfectly Adapted, Wings

Hive Tyrant [11 PL, 193pts]: Adrenal Glands, Monstrous Rending Claws, Toxin Sacs, Two Devourers with Brainleech Worms, Wings


+ Troops +

Termagants [9 PL, 240pts]

. 30x Termagant (Devourer): 30x Devourer


Tyranid Warriors [13 PL, 297pts]

. Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Venom Cannon

. Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Venom Cannon

. Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Venom Cannon


Tyranid Warriors [13 PL, 297pts]

. Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Venom Cannon

. Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Venom Cannon

. Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Venom Cannon



++ Spearhead Detachment +1CP (Tyranids) [28 PL, 480pts] ++

Hive Fleet: Leviathan

+ Heavy Support +

Carnifexes [6 PL, 87pts]

. Carnifex: 2x Monstrous Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands

Carnifexes [6 PL, 87pts]

. Carnifex: 2x Monstrous Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands


Trygon Prime [10 PL, 198pts]: 3x Massive Scything Talons, Prehensile Pincer Tail


+ HQ +

Tyranid Prime [6 PL, 108pts]: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Deathspitter

++ Outrider Detachment +1CP (Tyranids) [15 PL, 288pts] ++

Hive Fleet: Leviathan

+ HQ +

Tyranid Prime [6 PL, 108pts]: Adrenal Glands, Boneswords, Deathspitter

+ Fast Attack +

Gargoyles [3 PL, 60pts]: 10x Gargoyle

Gargoyles [3 PL, 60pts]: 10x Gargoyle

Gargoyles [3 PL, 60pts]: 10x Gargoyle


++ Total: [100 PL, 1999pts] ++


Created with BattleScribe


As you can see there are many units in the list kitted out for versatility, being able to both shoot and assault and generally be useful every turn of the game. As the saying goes, 'no plan ever survives contact with the enemy', so while there is a default plan for these units they can be used in many different ways.

The warlord tyrant with the Miasma cannon makes good use of Perfectly Adapted, as you can reroll a single hit/wound roll with the cannon or a hit roll with the rending claws each round to maximise your damage potential. Overwatching with the Miasma cannon under 8" against a DEQ is also pretty funny.

The warriors and gargoyles are designed to work in tandem. The gargoyles will sometimes be a throwaway unit to screen the warriors from charges or tie up tanks, but will otherwise support the warriors in assault and allow use of the War on All Fronts trait. In combination with the prime this means the warriors will be attacking with 2+ to hit rerollable boneswords, and the gargoyles are marginally more likely to get their blinding venom off to boot.

This also seems like a good place to put the Devilgaunt Surprise - the Trygon prime gives the Devilgaunts synapse/FNP and also acts as the taxi to put them 12" away from a juicy target which you can then use Single Minded Annihilation on for that sweet 180 shot goodness.

Would be great to hear your thoughts! What armies will this list struggle with? Are there any interesting synergies I've missed?

[zaibach]

Very cool list!
Anyway i think you probably miss some antivehicle shooting.. 6 VC and 1 HVC are not enough... mb some hive guards or an exo/rupture, or at leasy HVCs on fexes or some biovores

Why 2 Primus? Afraid of snipers? Also I dont know if I like both fexes full melee and with no spores... and why not building a brigade for the juicy CPs? i would also make my primus warlord cause your tyrant is going to die
everything IMHO.

[nidzy]

I think Zaibach gave great feedback here. I love spores on my carnifex, they are a great value.

The Miasma Flyrant just as you are running him is my favorite unit in the book right now. He is just flat out fun to play and surprises people with his AT output especially when you give him both smite and scream. Plus if you go off on 4++ he can soak a lot of firepower.

It seems like this list is begging to be a brigade but it might require breaking up the big squads of warriors and gaunts for smaller ones. A couple of squads of rippers would help you do that cheaply and they still benefit from leviathan and they give you some mobile scoring.

Since your devilgants have no delivery system I suggest leaving yourself a death buffer of 10 fleshborers which will free up the points to add 10 fleshborer gaunts to boost out a brigade as well.

I am thinking you would want to go as cheap as you can with lictors or pyrovores to fill out brigade elites, but as Zaibach said, hive guard would give your AT a huge boost.

Let us know how it goes! I like leviathan, but I haven't written many lists using them as I am building toward that meta list of kraken/kronos or jorg but since neither of my paint schemes match any of the fleets I tend to run what I want. Maybe you can give me some inspiration to try it out

[zecleon]

Nice comments both, thanks!

I went for the two primes for fear of one of them dying and losing the buff, but honestly my opponent should have higher priority targets like the flyrants and devilgaunts so the Prime is probably relatively safe. As you say, I'll drop to a single Prime and use the points to buff up the fexes and maybe add some Rippers. I'm considering giving them a HVC each for a bit more anti-tank fire.

I agree on the Brigade front but unfortunately have no elites! This might be somewhere I could squeeze in some Hive Guard or Zoeys. Will have a think about that.

I do have a devilgaunt delivery system by the way, that's what the Trygon Prime is for