New to Nids, feedback wanted

[oneeleven]

Hello fellow nid lovers! First off, I am new to nids but not 40k as this is my second army. I got into the hobby about a year ago with a friend. I was drawn to both Tau and nids but was torn on my decision. My friend that got me playing initially started nids so I went with the blueskins and now that he's sold off his army, I decided it was time to pick up the bugs. So, here is my first shot at an army list (1750 points)!

HQ:
Swarmlord 280
-tyrant guard x1 with lash whip 65

Elite:
Hive guard x2 100
Y-stealers x8 184
Zoanthrope x3 180
-spore 40

Troops:
Termagants x10 50
Termagants x10 50
Tervigon
-AG, TS, cluster spines, 2 powers 195
Tervigon
-AG, TS, cluster spines, 2 powers 195
Hormagaunts x20
-AG, TS 200

Heavy Support:
Trygon
-TS 210

If I added everything up right this should come out to 1749. Basic strategy is to march the swarmlord & tyrant guard forward, using it as a psychic buffer & CC bully. He can also use his +1 to reserve rolls to help the y-stealers show up earlier & aid the zoeys & trygon if I choose to deepstrike them in.

2 basic termagant squads to unlock the big mommas as troops. Keep one back as a home objective camper & spawn little harassment units. Use the other tervigon as a midfield monster and spawn more harassing units. Both can drop pie plates if needed as well.

Hive guard & zoeys for a little ranged support while the trygon & hormagaunts can run off and rage into the opponent, hopefully tying stuff up as my slower units move into position. Only concern I have with that is the hormagaunts are faster than pretty much everything I have ao they may get too far ahead & die horribly.

I have only acquired the swarmlord kit so far & would really like to keep him in the list. Let me know if I'm way off on my train of thought or if you think any units in my list are off/shouldn't be there. I'm open to any & all criticism as I'm new to the hive mind & want to have some decent success with them. Thanks in advance!

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[Deadlink]

Hey, Welcome to the Hive.

Your list is actually really good, I guess you have done your fair share of research.

Now I'm kinda new to 6th edition but from what I have seen first up your Swarmlord needs at least 2 guards. He is a bit target, and as the "Warlord" I guess that target get even bigger. BUt personally I think 2 Guard is a minimum for him, and you can't go worong with lashwhips on the Guard so kudos.

Y-Stealers, I dont know. I'm not a big fan but I dont think they really fit. Honestly I would recommend a Doom&Pod instead of the Y-Stealers.

Your troops look good, can't go wrong with cannon fodder gaunts. The Tervi's are looking good, but I think haveing Ag and TS is a bit of a waste, maybe have just TS on them or maybe one can have Ag and the other TS. But thats not a big deal really.

Hormagaunts, well 200 points for a brood of 20, mate thats pricey considering as you said they might get ahead and well die "horribly".

If you run them you want TS ( Its a must have), Ag wont do much, but in this case I think the AG is not really worth it. I dont think they fit in this list, personally I would keep them out but, I can't really say that untill I find something better to use those points.

The Trygon is a stable, powerful and great choice for all your CC Eat big stuff up needs. But Ts us kinda a buzz kill. Trygons really can go out with Ts. Your options are practically, Ag, Regen or Prime. You dont really need the Prime so I'd say keep it at 210 with Ag instead of TS.


This is what I would change your army list too:



== HQ ==
Swarmlord Brood (410 pts.)
Swarmlord (1) = 280 pts.
Tyrant Guard (2) - Lash Whip = 130 pts.

== Elites ==
The Doom Of Malan'tai Brood (130 pts.)
The Doom Of Malan'tai (1) = 90 pts.
Mycetic Spore (1) = 40 pts.
Zoanthrope Brood (220 pts.)
Zoanthrope (3) = 180 pts.
Mycetic Spore (1) = 40 pts.
Hive Guard Brood (2) = 100 pts.

== Troops ==
Termagant Brood (10) - Fleshborer = 50 pts.
Termagant Brood (10) - Fleshborer = 50 pts.
Tervigon (1) - Cluster Spines, Toxin Sacs, Cat, Onslaught = 200 pts.
Tervigon (1) - Cluster Spines, AG, Cat, Onslaught = 200 pts.

== Heavy Support ==
Trygon (1) - AG, Instinctive Behaviour - Feed = 210 pts.
Mawloc (1) - AG = 180 pts.

== Total ==
1750 pts.


Same Plan as you suggested with teh exception, the doom drops in and goes all crazy on the enemy distracting them from your Swarmlord and you Tervis, letting you flood them while they deal with the added Mawlock and Trygon.

Thats my 2 cents.

I am also new to the 6th edition rules so Other Memeber of the Hive might have different oppinions, I'd take their rulings over mine. By yeah.

Welcome to the Hive I know you'll have a good time no matter how long your stay, and good luck with this list and all your future Tyranid Invasions.

Deadlink97~

[oneeleven]

Deadlink, thank you for your suggestions. I tossed TS on my trygon because I had 10 points left when I wrote the list and, as I understand it, he gets to re-roll wounds on anything that has a toughness equal to or less than his strenght. Am I right in this understanding? I know he wounds most things on a 2+, but I want his attacks to count. I can see the merit of podding in a doom over a brood of y-stealers, I'll have to think about that one. The reason for only 1 tyrant guard is because of majority toughness of a unit. With 2 guards, the majority toughness will always be T6. Whereas a unit of swarnlord & 1 guard will be higher if I happen to get iron arm when I exchange psychic powers. What good will rolling T9 do me if it's negated by majority T6?

I can see the point about the hormagaunts being a potential waste of points. Would the points be better invested in a unit of plain gargoyles? Would offer the same kind of speed, if not more, and would be able to serve the same purpose.

I don't really like the mawloc, but I can see what it brings to the list. So, if I swap a doom in a pod for the y-stealers & drop the hormagaunt unit I would have 254 points to play around with. I could add a unit of 15 gargoyles for 90 and upgrade one unit of 10 termagants to a unit of 15 devilgants in a spore. Again, if my math is correct, I can give each tervigon a 3rd psychic power. This gives me 2 more podding units & a bit more tactical flexibility while still keeping the core pieces of my original list.

Thoughts?

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