Tyranid Units and Tactics of 40K

[Gallivantist]

I quite enjoy categorizing things, but being as inexperienced as I am, I don't quite know what all is involved, tactically, in a game of 40K. So, my question is this: what functions, both defensive and offensive, do units in Warhammer 40K encompass, and what Tyranid units perform well for given functions? I don't mean fast attack, heavy support, elites. I have in mind more the subcategories that units can be further divided into, for example gargoyles used as screens. Am I making sense? Haha.

Alternatively, if you take a liking to the whole "give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he'll eat for life" idea, what is good reading for tactical theory?

Thanks for looking!

[rpricew]

check out Loate's unit tactica thread...

[Bot]

Sept 20, 2012 15:11:42 GMT rpricew said:

check out Loate's unit tactica thread...

It is no more. Last time I checked, it was deleted due to forum maintenance.

We're probably going to get some new articles up... but since this is still kind of early age of 6th edition, you'll probably have to wait a little bit longer.

[coredump]

Wasn't talonis the one with the long 'fear the lictors' thread?

[Bot]

Yes. But as far as I know. That one also do not exist any longer.

[hadriel]

Sept 21, 2012 6:55:41 GMT Bot said:

Yes. But as far as I know. That one also do not exist any longer.

boo

[thisguy1109]

Tervigons! They are the best things about Tyranid armies rolled into one unit. It is a MC that creates swarms of gaunts. AND it can be taken as a troop choice which is super handy in 6th since most missions involve holding an objective. I like to give my Tervigons scything talons, toxin sacs, and catalyst. (190pts) The talons let you re-roll to hit, and the toxin sacs let you re-roll to wound. Also, all gaunt UNITS within 6" get poison (4+) Use your catalyst ability to give your Tervigon (or gaunts if needed) FNP.

Depending on the mission or army build he can be used a lot of ways. He can just sit on objectives, send swarms of poison gaunts into infantry or use his Smash attacks to easily pop vehicles.

His only real downside is lack of ability to deal with flyers (vehicles specifically). As for FMCs, your gaunts can hit with volume of fire.

Anyways, I hope that helps. I am happy to discuss other units as well.

PS-I always run 2 of everything which makes it more reliable... just sayin'

[The DeathJester]

Flyrants, Devil Gaunts, Tervigons, Hiveguard and Tyrannofexes are the way forward.

[thisguy1109]

I agree with DeathJester. Especially flyrants... dakkaflyrants.

[engangsgrill]

PS-I always run 2 of everything which makes it more reliable.

This so very much. Whenever you add random elements into your army, normalize the results by getting as many rolls as possible.

For Tervigons, the chance of getting at least one extra spawn the next turn (at least one terv not rolling double) goes from 70% to above 90% IIRC. That's failure chance reduced by a factor of three, which is pretty huge.

Same, of course, goes for psychic rolls, make sure you have lots of chances of getting critical powers.

The less impact chance has on your army the more tactics will prevail.

[leeroy1986]

Flyrants

They're alright a bit hit and miss though, tehy'll either get grounded easy and be shot to ribbons or pass every grounding test and be a pain in the bum.

Devil Gaunts

10 Points for a T3/6+ save is not wise.

Tervigons

Currently running these myself, they're good but expensive, i'm yet to draw a conclusion on them.

Hiveguard

They are a must in any Tyranid army in 6th Edition, tanks just drop like flies to them and you don't get a jink save vs them.

Tyrannofexes

Awful units, only reason to take them is they look nice, you have better anti-infantry units and better anti-tank units and those alternatives are cheaper too.

Leeroy

[sunshine]

leeroy, you are missing the point with devilgants. You aren't paying 10 points for toughness 3, save 6+, you are paying 10 points for toughness 3, save 6+ AND 3 shots at strength 4. You take 15 of them and that's 45 shots. I don't care what save you have, even a few devilgants are going to do some damage.

[Bot]

Sept 25, 2012 22:49:39 GMT sunshine said:

leeroy, you are missing the point with devilgants. You aren't paying 10 points for toughness 3, save 6+, you are paying 10 points for toughness 3, save 6+ AND 3 shots at strength 4. You take 15 of them and that's 45 shots. I don't care what save you have, even a few devilgants are going to do some damage.

+1

Sept 25, 2012 19:16:26 GMT leeroy1986 said:

Tyrannofexes

Awful units, only reason to take them is they look nice, you have better anti-infantry units and better anti-tank units and those alternatives are cheaper too.

Leeroy

Sure there's better ranged anti-vehicle units than the Tyrannofex, but if you want to field something else in your list than Hive guards or Zoanthropes, the Tyrannofex is not a bad choice. Know how to get the full potential out of the Tyranno and you'll see that the unit might not be that bad at all.

I'm just saying.

[DarkGuard]

Sept 25, 2012 15:03:08 GMT thisguy1109 said:

PS-I always run 2 of everything which makes it more reliable... just sayin'

You want to be careful with this. It does add consistency and reliability, but also predictability and lack of diversity.

If you can replicate a unit's role to the army through using a different unit, then you add diversity while keeping up your reliability.

For instance, I run in my army 20 toxin sac Hormagaunts and 15 adrenal gland Gargoyles. They both do similar things, fast moving, good in combat etc. But they do different things as well. The Hormagaunts are better against infantry and the Gargoyles better against tanks. I have two units that do the same role while also being able to do something different.

Of course, there are some very, very good things, like Hive Guard, which I do run two of. So I'm not saying don't spam or double up on units, but I am saying it's not Golden Rule number 1 to making a good list. I find those lists that can create consistency across the list by not replicating tend to be better as they're more diverse.