My first month of 40k

[sirmagpie]

Hello to you all!

A few weeks ago I pitched a few ideas for what army list I should invest in. I'm a new player and it had to be 500pts. I went with a list of:

Tyranid prime -lash whip and bonesword, scathing talons, regeneration.
Hive guard x2
Gargoyles x10
Tervigon -catalyst, poison sacs, cluster spines.
Teragaunts x10


I have now played a total of three games, all against the same imperial guard player. The battles as of now are two draws and one win for me. Something I take a bit of pride in as he is a seasoned player of a few years. Admittedly he went easy on me and didn't use any tanks or similar beasts (he fields mostly infantry heavy armies).

In these few games I have realized four things:
1, The gargoyles always seem to die way too quickly. This is understandable as I use them as a way to draw away the fire from the main force of my army, but I keep wondering if this tactic would work better with another unit, like the raveners or shrikes.
2, The two hive guards have performed great and my only complaint with them is that they haven't been optimal against such an infantry heavy army as my opponent since they fire way to few shots. I learned in my third game that they are better used (in this case) to try and snipe out his company commander and his unit.
3, My prime has thus far been used with a very varying success. In the first game he didn't even get to touch the opponent. In the second he was being guarded by my 10 Teragants and they delivered him into the assault (where he practically went to town and wrecked the little veteran squads of imperial meat). In the third game I let the roles be reversed between him and my gants, using him as a meat shield for my punier gants. While it worked, it feels like 105  points is a lot to put into a shield for a group of 50pts worth of gants.
4, the Tervigon. In my first two games I spawned gants on every turn I could. This worked really bad since the imperials shot them down before they even got close. In my first game I also rolled double ones in the first round, and that was the end of that. In the third game however I realized that rather than using it as a spawner, shooting out gants left and right, it was much more effective to use her as a living transport. Waiting with gant spawns until I was within shooting and assaulting distance for my gants.

I've had a lot of fun thus far with my list. And although small, it has proven most efficient. Over September I will start building up towards 750 and also 1000 pts as there is a 1000pts tournament at my local GW store by the end of the month.

Realizing that my only problem with the hive guard was that I had too few, I'm thinking that for 750 points I will invest in at least one more to fill out the brood.
As for the 200 points after that I am looking at two things. Either another brood of 3 guards and a small brood of termagants, or a Trygon.

I realize that the Trygon is a lot of points (almost a third of my army total) but I feel like it would solve the problem I had with my gargoyles, giving me yet another shield for the rest of my army while I walk up towards the enemy.
The guard and terma list is a more trustworthy list and one that I feel would perform 'safer' but I'm afraid that it would turn my army into too much of a shooty list and less of the well rounded hybrid that I want.

So yeah, there you have it. My first month of warhammer 40k summarized.

Pictures of my small hive fleet will be up soon as well with more detailed battle reports of my escapades. Hopefully someone will find my fledgeling experiences entertaining or even educational to read about.

Any thoughts on the army, any tips or tricks, will be greatly appreciated.

With salutations, 
Sir Magpie.

Ps. I'm Up against my first ork list tomorrow and my imperial friend is building in a leman russ into his list.

[fragile]

By item number

1. Everything we have dies really fast. That is the gargoyles purpose. They are a screening force. It provides a very in your face threat that the enemy focuses on. That in turn means less shots on your more effective troops. No, Raveners/Shrikes would not be a more effective screen. Its roughly 5 to 1 cost wise, which means you are eating for more wounds on a Garg screen for cheaper cost. They are not tough enough to really matter on the receiving end of alot of firepower. Raveners/Shrikes have a very effective purpose, but screen isnt one of them.

2. They will get more important in the bigger games, when you have vehicles arriving. Also S8 shots are very nice to have floating around for MCs, Vehicles, FNP mobs, etc.

3. In that style list, a Prime wont "shine" per say. I am not a big fan of the prime except as a wound allocator with things like Carnifex broods, where he really shines or mobs with a higher toughness. Putting him with gaunts does not help them survive shots at all, they might help him survive to get to CC, since you kitted him that way.

4. Tervigon is very versatile. Spawning is a great ability and I would use it every turn when able. (I carry alot of gaunts with me ) The sheer numbers you can put out will often throw an opponent off. However, Strategic play, like holding your spawn until the Terv is across the board and then sending them to contest/take objectives is also very strong. With a 12" move range on that maneuver, it can often make the difference in the game.

Congrats on your start and I hope things keep getting better. That IG player will probably turn up the heat a bit with the next series of battles.

[Deleted]

Glad it's goin well for ya!

[swarm492]

Your doing much better than my first year of 40k, all my games were loses except 3.

[Anax]

First off I'd like to say that you really made a tight and well functioning list, I don't know if its my place to say, but I'm genuinely impressed.

If you expect to face off against more infantry (orks as random example) I'd go for a couple of biovores. Preferably 2 units of 1 model in each. Not good with kill-point missions, but provide much more effective shooting because of the silly multiple barrage rules. Also you can effectively snipe with indirect fire (place the center of the marker on a model you absolutely want dead and hope for a "hit")

The first thing I bought when our new dex came out was a trygon, and I have never regretted it. That monster is as good as it looks
A hint on assembly: attach torso and limbs with magnets for two reasons: 1. it will save you a tremendous amount of hassle when carrying the model in a bag (less chance of breaking during transport), 2. since it has 6 wounds and 6 limbs to go with that you can indicate how damaged it is by removing the limbs mid battle. So far my opponents were very much satisfied to see such "real" effect of the damage they had done, its equally satisfying to put them back when it regenerates