1,000pt list for a total newbie

[albinostorm]

Hey all,
I'm utterly green to warhammer 40k (yet to even play my first game ). I've done a bit of nosing around the interwebs, mostly these forums to see what everyone else is doing and, hopefully, why they do it. And so i came up with a coupel of lists to aim for. one 1,000 and one 1,500 as they seem to be the general newbie-ranges. If you guys could take a gander at my list and tell me what should/shouldn't be there and why, I would be a happy bunny (or a happy six-legged, chitin-plated monster, whatever floats your boat )



Hive Tyrant - Scything Talons, TLD, Armoured Shell, TS, Paroxysm, Leech Essence, Old Adversary = 260pts

2x Hive Guards = 100pts

14x Termagants = 70pts
14x Termagants = 70pts
Tervigon - Regeneration, Cat, = 205pts
16x Termagants = 80pts

Carnifex - 2x TLD, Regeneration = 215pts
== Total ==
1000pts

The idea is just to have something to aim for starting out that would also be able to hold its own. I'm a bit overwhelmed with all the options for the gaunts, but the idea is I'll be playing against other relatively new players, and if i'm lucky when i field a giant moving carped of stabby bitey shooty things they'll panic just a bit and ignore the bigger ones. This is why i went with cheap numbers.

Your thoughts and patience are appreciated

*Edit* no-one saw that

[scrotatohead]

Welcome to the game albinostorm. Hope you keep one hand on your wallet as its an expensive hobby and once you're hooked you'll be reaching into your pocket more often than you can imagine.

Regarding your list, a couple observations:

Tyrant: Best builds usually go one way or the other when it comes to shooting or close combat. If you're running both close combat weapons and a gun, yes you'll have options to do one or the other depending on the circumstance, but you'll also be tempted to shoot when you should charge, or charge when you should unload from a distance. Most common build is twin linked devourers or Bonesword and Lashwhip with talons. Also, if you're going to run a walking Tyrant you'll want at least one Tyrant Guard for LoS! wound allocation. At 1000 points you honestly might want to consider dropping the Tyrant all together, going with a tricked out Tyranid Prime, and using the point savings to fill out your elite choices. Elites are where our bread and butter units reside.

Hive Guard: Probably our best elite and best gun. Get more. At least four more. Remember what I said about your wallet?

Tervigon: A core unit for almost every list. You need toxin sacs and adrenal glands though to provide the all important buffs to Termagant units within 6 inches. You might also want to consider maxing out psychic attacks so that you've got three rolls on the rule book power option tables. if and when you want to swap them out.

Termagants: You've probably got too many out of the gate. I'd drop the brood of 16 and use those points towards a third Hive Guard. You'll spawn at least one more brood of free Termagants to make up for the loss.

Carnifex: Rarely field these beasts. Yes they look great but for their points they just don't have the same durability or damage capabilities of other models. For 200 points you could field a Trygon and get two more wounds, Fleet, a solid shooting attack, and rerollable close combat killiness. That said, 6ed may ultimately be nicer to the guys, which would be great because we've all got at least one gathering dust on the shelf. Two x TWD is the right build.

[Illithid]

To add, I would lose regeneration on my units. rarely does it work and it is super expensive. If the enemy want your unit dead, it generally dies!

I agree that you should lose the Tyrant at 1000pts and go for a Prime that leads a Termagant unit in CC. Give him regeneration (as he will be in a large brood of termagants or with the Carnifex) or put him in that Carnifex Brood and march it up the board as a mini-death star. Keep regen on this unit if you do this, but also keep the carnifex the same distance from the Prime for LoS rolls and share the wounds between the three if possible!

At 1000pts, one to twosmall units of Hive Guard should suffice.

[albinostorm]

Alright, thanks for the feedback. I've revisited the list and come up with this:

Tyranid Prime - LW + BS, Talons, AG, TS, Regen = 125 pts.

2x Hive Guards = 100pts
2x Hive Guards = 100pts

14x Termagants = 70pts
14x Termagants = 70pts
Tervigon - AG, TS, Cat, Onslaught = 210pts
3x Warrior - Talons, Deathspitter = 105pts

Trygon (1) - TS, AG, = 220pts

== Total ==
1000pts

I'm not too sure about the warriors, but i thought while all my synapse seemed to be melee, I'd have some synapse to cover the guards that could sit back. I did consider zoanthropes but warriors were easier on the points tally.