First 40k army list, advice

[IainL]

Hey, thanks to everyone who helped me get an idea of how the different units work and what is worth it. This is the first attempt at a viable list for 'Nids. Mind that I've never played 40k before so I hope this isn't a useless list.

I guess the idea is the Hive Tyrant will fly around and shoot vehicles n' stuff. Skyfire sounds cool, now that I know what it is.

Ymgarls will hopefully not kill everything 1st assault. I saw how that works last game, I don't want to own them in one turn and then be caught by shooting.

I took 15 Termagants so that I could take a Tervigon. I don't know if 15 is enough, but I guess the Tervigon can poop out some new ones. And they get the benefits from his adrenal glands/toxin sacs right? And then he can FNP the gants too?

Trygon cause they look awesome. Lol.

Advice? Is this at least kind of on the right track?

Tyranids 1000p. (Tyranids)
HQ - 320
Hive Tyrant (320)
Leech Essence; Paroxysm; twin-linked devourers with brainleech worms; twin-linked devourers with brainleech worms; Hive Commander; implant attack; regeneration; bonded exoskeleton; wings.

Elites - 184
8 Ymgarl Genestealers (184)

Troops - 275
15 Termagants (75)

Tervigon (200)
Catalyst; scything talons; cluster spines; adrenal glands; toxin sacs.

Heavy Support - 220
Trygon (220)
adrenal glands; toxin sacs.

999 points

Thanks!

[ravengoescaw]

With an Army this small I would think about dropping the Ymgarls for another troops choice and leaving your tervigon as an HQ have your tervi be your warlord. Because a Flyrant is just to easy with crashing and him being so much faster then the rest of your army to ill giving them the Slay the Warlord VP. I would go with a unit of 4 warriors with death spitters rending claws and toxin sacs. If you drop the implant attack off of your Flyrant you can but crushing claws on your tervigon. for a perfect 1000pts. I would also think about dropping the Adrenal off of your Trygon, and regeneration off of your Flyrant and put regen on your Tervi, or 6 more gaunts. If you go for more gaunts once you hit 20 gaunts think about cutting the number in half and giving them devourers. Just food for thought, one thing I have noticed I do on accident which it appears to me that you are doing as well. Is making everything as good as you can which turns them in to point sinks, Exp: Adrenal on try, +1 str on the charge he is already str 6 +1 doesn't do much more. Implant attack on your flyrant. Which turns his melee attacks in to Insant Death. You have him kitted out to be shooty. If you put him in melee his str 6 will be enough to ID most infantry models.

[engangsgrill]

It's not entirely unreasonable.

Trying to work with what you've got, I'd do this:
- Cut down on the points on the individual units/broods so you can afford a screen of 15 gargoyles for your flyrant.
- Give flyrant Old Adversary to beef up the gargoyles.

Ideally, I'd also swap the Trygon for 2x 2 Hive Guard (instead adding the Trygon when going up to 1250/1500 points).



+++ No Name (1000pts) +++
+++ 1000pt Tyranids 5th Ed (2010) Roster (Standard) +++

Selections:

+ HQ + (310pts)

   * Hive Tyrant (310pts)
       (Psyker, Shadow in the Warp, Synapse Creature)
       Bonded Exoskeleton, Hive Commander (25pts), Leech Essence, Old Adversary (25pts), Paroxysm, 2x Twin-linked Devourers with Brainleech Worms (30pts), Wings (60pts)


+ Elites + (115pts)

   * Ymgarl Genestealer Brood (115pts)
       * 5x Ymgarl Genestealer (115pts)
           (Alter Form, Brood Telepathy, Dormant, Fleet, Move Through Cover)
           5x Hardened Carapace, 5x Rending Claws


+ Troops + (270pts)

   * Termagant Brood (75pts)
       * 15x Termagant (75pts)
           (The Scuttling Swarm)
           15x Chitin, 15x Claws and Teeth, 15x Fleshborer


   * Tervigon (195pts)
       (Brood Progenitor, Psyker, Shadow in the Warp, Spawn Termagants, Synapse Creature)
       Adrenal Glands (10pts), Bonded exoskeleton, Catalyst (15pts), Claws and teeth, Cluster Spines, Dominion, Toxin Sacs (10pts)


+ Fast Attack + (105pts)

   * Gargoyle Brood (105pts)
       * 15x Gargoyle (105pts)
           (Instinctive Behaviour - Lurk)
           15x Blinding Venom, 15x Chitin, 15x Claws and Teeth, 15x Fleshborer, 15x Toxin Sacs (15pts), 15x Wings


+ Heavy Support + (200pts)

   * Trygon (200pts)
       (Deep Strike, Fearless, Fleet, Subterranean Assault)
       Bio-electric Pulse, Bonded Exoskeleton, Scything Talons (two sets)



Created with BattleScribe

[infornography]

This looks like a decent list, the tervigon will pop out at least one more scoring unit, usually 3 more.

Just a few nits to pick.
The Flyrant does not need implant attack. He can smash and that will ID almost anything worth worrying about.
The Tervigon would be much better served by having crushing claws because those 1d3 extra attacks are added after the number of attacks is halved for smashing. 3+1d3 strength 10 attacks on the assault is amazing! I would consider putting stinger salvo on instead of cluster spines because you can't overwatch with cluster spines and stinger salvo is better against vehicles which is what you will be hunting with him most of the time.
The Trygon absolutely does not need adrenal glands. They don't really do him much good. He can smash which maxes out his strength anyway if he needs it, and if he doesn't then he is probably fighting things with toughness 4 which are already at 2+ to wound at his base strength of 6.

If you drop the implant attack, adrenal glands on the trygon, and the scything talons on the tervigon you should be able to pick up the crushing claws and an extra termagant.

[IainL]

Well that's some food for thought. I think that crushing claws are really awesome, so that sounds pretty damn cool. Are there crushing claws in the tervigon kit?
Thanks guys!

[blind[tyrant]guardian]

yea, all the tervigon's upgrades are in the kit. Devourer termagants (devilgaunts) will be the subject of quite a lot of hate cause a small unit of 15 can generate 45 shots for just 150 pts. best part is when you put those gaunts in a spore and let rip in your opponent's backfield.

[IainL]

What is a dev in comparison to the normal gants weapons, just more shots? And what does a spore pod do? Excuse me for being a noob, lol

[engangsgrill]

Edited for correct BS.

Fleshborer: 12" range, S4, AP5, Assault 1
Brood of 12: 6 hits on average - 8.33 points per hit

Devourer: 18" range, S4, AP-, Assault 3*
Brood of 12: 18 hits on average - 5.56 points per hit.

So, devourer is slightly weaker but with greater range and much greater volume of fire. Your wounds are twice as expensive though, so it becomes imperative to shoot first so you don't lose your glass cannons.

Mycetic Spores are essentially Tyranid Drop Pods. They let you deep strike units from reserve onto the board, saving them from being shot at before they can fire themselves. Also lets you get at vulnerable units they may have deployed in their rear. Typically used with Zoanthropes, Doom of Malan'tai and Devourer equipped Termagants.

[IainL]

Oh okay so is the pure volume of shots better than the flesh borer still?

[engangsgrill]

It depends on what you want and how you deploy that brood. If you intend to use your termagants to shield other units then you want more bodies, if you need more pew-pew then devourers will give that to you, provided they have cover or come in a spore. Larger broods are also more susceptible to template weapons like artillery, which favours devilgaunts.

With equal amounts of points spent you get 20 regular Termagants for 10 Devilgaunts. You essentially trade +50% shots and +50% range for -50% units.

Edit: <snip> I aparently smoke crack when I write posts.

If you are shooting against 5+ armor saves, then the advantage of number of shots the Devourers have is nullified and Fleshborers wins out because you have more bodies.

In the end it's a toss-up. If nothing else devilgaunts are certainly a cheap way of bringing your army up points wise if you are on a budget, with drawbacks you can play around. Otherwise I'm leaning towards 10 regular gaunts and a Hive Guard, rather than 10 devils.

[IainL]

Maybe I'll leave out the devs for now and experiment later.

[IainL]

This is what I came up with for now.

Tyranids 1000p. (Tyranids)
HQ - 270
Hive Tyrant (270)
Leech Essence; Paroxysm; twin-linked devourers with brainleech worms; twin-linked devourers with brainleech worms; toxin sacs; bonded exoskeleton; wings.

Elites - 200
2 Hive Guard (100)

2 Hive Guard (100)

Troops - 320
20 Termagants (100)

The Scuttling Swarm Tervigon (220)
Catalyst; crushing claws; adrenal glands; toxin sacs.

Heavy Support - 210
Trygon (210)
toxin sacs.

1,000 points

[ravengoescaw]

Looks sound to me. The only thing you need to think about is your giant target of a warlord. With it being the only flying unit it s going to be by it's self alot. which is not a good thing. Granted it is AA. If you are taking it for the AA reason I would think about running your tervigon as your Warlord which means you would have to break your Gaunts in half. If your not worried about AA, then give it the Shell, Then I personally would drop one gaunt and give him OA, and walk him with your Hive guard units.