Hive Tyrant and Flyrant Advice

[sparkiran]

Hey there Hive. I'm a pretty new player and I have some questions concerning hive tyrants. They're my favourite model and I have two of them. One is so far equipped with twin linked devourers and scything talons with armoured shell. The other, I want to be close combat with probably lashwhip and bonesword and have wings.

So my thoughts are, should I drop the talons on the tyrant and throw on a second gun? Is a CC flyrant durable enough to be viable? I also possess a tyrant guard, who should he escort, and would he be able to even keep up with a flyrant? What sorts of biomorphs should each tyrant have to maximize their effectiveness? Which psychic powers?

Apologies for the wall of text, I just love these guys and want them to be a force to be reckoned with when they hit the battlefield. Thanks!

[Deleted]

My comments all come from my experiences with the tyrants....

BIOMORPHS/Weapons

-Flyrants are awesome! I use 2 of them in my games and the results are great. Dont bother taking tyrant guard for defense they will not be able to keep up. Using Gargoyles as a screen is a better option.

-A walking Hive Tyrant should deff have tyrant guard. I would take 1 or 2 guard before considering the purchase of Armored Shell.

-In my opinion Close Combat Tyrants fair best when using Lashwhip and Bonesword combined with a weapon of choice. The lashwhips are most important in that anything in basecontact is Initiative 1 and the Bonesword is just for looks ;] JK it can potentially insta-kill multi wound models on a Leadership test. Every little bit helps i guess. For the next set of weapons, I prefer taking 1 set of brainleech devourers rather than 1 pair of Scything Talons. Now while walking up the board, the tyrant can shoot at while moving up the board and has overwatch option.

-With some of the new rules in 6th I have had no need to purchase extra biomorphs. If you need more strength use smash. Also take note, dont be fooled by how good Regeneration might look. Thats only a 1/6 chance to retrieve 1 wound. That is a 25 points better spent elseware. You will have more luck with the Leech Essence psychic shooting attack which will be explained next...

PSYCHIC POWERS

-For the tyrants default psychic powers, Psychic Scream is the worst of the 3 in my opinion. Paroxysm and Leech Essence have more support purposes. Just note that they will use up one of your 2 shooting attacks per turn.

-Trading both your psychic powers for the ones in the rule book is also an excellent option. You'll find most tyranid players rolling on the Biomancy table, but some here also make use of Telepathy and Telekenisis. (I use Biomancy trying to score a Iron Arm, Endurance, or Enfeemble)

-Some folks here really enjoy purchasing the optional powers for the hive tyrants as well. Hive Commander (+1 to reserve rolls) and Old Adversary (6" Preffered Enemy). At 25 points each its up to the player if they need/want one or both.

[fleetofclaw]

Depends on your list. For a shooty army I did a walking hive tyrant armored shell, 2x twin linked devourers, and old adversary surrounded by my main shooting units to spread that preferred enemy around and it was pretty awesome. Then roll biomancy (with all your psykers) and you're looking for enfeeble. Backed up with a Dakkafex or two, you are insta-killing and denying feel no pain to t4 models (thanks to enfeeble) such as paladins, Nobs, lots of characters that done have EW. I walked right through a paladin army with this setup.

For flyrants it's dependant on what you want him to do. I go between 2x devourer and 1x devourer + lashwhip bonesword combo. The two devourers are nice but keep in mind vector strike is better vs MEQ thanks to ap3 and often times you'll get a handy power like leech essence that takes up a shooting slot. Plus tyrants are pretty boss in close combat so the lashwhip is great for that. But 2x tl devourers is plain nasty especially on turn 1 where you generally aren't in range to vector strike something.

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using proboards

[sparkiran]

Alright so Biomancy seems the way to go. Is it worth it to take a pair of Devourers if I can shoot with a psychic power and then have rerolls on 1s in close combat with scything talons? Also correct me if I'm wrong but you can't fire off an Iron Arm while in combat because it counts as a shooting phase thing and he'll be "locked in" to close combat?

How would I go about mounting the two weapon biomorphs on the flyrant without it looking silly/tacked on? I know his wings take up a slot, and I really would rather not get rid of his legs (though they're sharp enough to look like scything talons). Should the opponent just accept that he's got devourer pods in his cheeks or something? Will they accept that?

I'm still open to more suggestions if anyone has them.

[gigasnail]

iron arm is a blessing. happens at beginning of turn, nothing to do w/ locked in combat or not.

nearly always better to carry double devourers on tyrants. there isn't a lot you can do with a shooting psychic attack (and you want to be casting iron arm or endurance most likely anyway) that is going to be better than another 6 TL S6 shots from a 2nd pair of guns. if you're going to take a melee weapon, best bet is sword/whip. the sword does little (maybe kill the occasional nob or whatever) but the reducing opponents in B2B to I1 is very handy for charging opponents in cover as you have no grenades. ST used to be the way to go if you were melee kitting them, for hunting tanks, but the rules for hitting vehicles in melee have changed substantially in 6th so they're not as needed.

there are several threads on TL devourers for flyrants in the converting sub-forum, from the quick and easy to the crazy and elaborate. take a gander.

[Ragged Warrior]

Hey sparkiran,

Here's what I did for the 2TL Devs on my flyrant:




it's pretty simple, and I didn't have to use Green Stuff. Just get two devourers off of a gaunt sprue, slice 'em, and glue them to the underside of your MC Devourers.

There is also a thread about MC Devourers that 60mm started, if you want to see some other ideas. Look for it on the Conversion page.

[fleetofclaw]

I agree with gigasnail regarding 2x TL devourers vs a psychic shooting attack; that wouldn't be the main draw to dropping a tl dev. I think the real consideration is do you want your flyrant in close combat at all and the fact that vector strike is statistically better when hitting armor 3 targets, beyond that 2x devs is strictly better at the price of 15 more points.

By the way I like that TL dev conversion, Ragged Warrior. I was lazy and just used fleshborer hive arms fromthe Tyrannofex kit.

[Ragged Warrior]

Thanks Fleet! Sorry about the (please do not swear) paint job.

Sparkiran, I am a big fan of 2 TL Devs. on a Flyrant. Having that many S6 shots on a unit that is so mobile is terrifying, and our best shot against flyers.

Regards,