Tyranid Prime Effectiveness

[tylertt]

Hey Hive, I was just wondering everyones thoughts on the Tyranid Prime?

My gaming group and I won't be together for a week or two more, and I have been wondering about the effectiveness of the Tyranid Prime?

I mainly been running a Flyrant so far in my lists, and a few times a Shell'd Tyrant too.

[rpricew]

Add him to a Swarmlord & one Tyrant Guard and you make a handsome little deathstar... It's also nice to hitch him up to a brood of 2 Devilfex and send them hunting.

[commandersasha]

My new toy is 3 Hiveguard and 3 Biovores moving up the midfield together with a Prime attached to one of them, swapping if necessary. Synapse with Ablative wounds, and a nice shooting double whammy: HG pop the transports, BVs splat the disembarkers, the Prime keeps their minds on the job!

[tylertt]

Totally missed him being a IC. Hmm I see his potential usefulness may just be what I am looking for!

I mean some lists I run with Doom Spore'd, so I may as well take that off, spend less points and have a nice durable leader to keep with my biovores or hive guard!

Thanks guys!

[Deadlink]

Hmmmmm Sasha is actually onto a really cool idea there. I might try that when I get the models.

On topic though, prime with 2 dev fexs is golden. Although sometimes I wonder, Primes where made as a Commander type unit for the warriors. Yet I rarely hear of people actually using Primes with broods of warriors.

My 2 cents, well more like 1/2 a cent and a question.

Deadlink97~

[WestRider]

Dec 4, 2012 1:16:21 GMT Deadlink said:

Although sometimes I wonder, Primes where made as a Commander type unit for the warriors. Yet I rarely hear of people actually using Primes with broods of warriors.

Unfortunately, given the amount of S8+ Firepower flying around on most 6th Ed Battlefields, Warriors just die way too fast, even with a Prime helping them.

I love Tyranid Warriors, they're a huge part of why I started the Army, but 6th Ed is just too harsh for them to work in any significant capacity.

That said, the Prime is a great buff Unit for a lot of other Units. My favorite is just putting him in with a big blob of Gaunts for a ridiculously durable Synapse source, plus a Gaunt Brood that's even more dangerous than usual in Assault.

[coredump]

And it makes him a difficult Kill Warlord VP for opponent.

[tylertt]

Agreed on that. I been experimenting a little with my flyrant, and last few games I was a little aggressive with him, and gave an easy warlord VP. Using a prime, I could be a little less worried about rushing the Tyrant in if there was an opportune chance at hand.

Now when you guys say he adds buffs, are you referring to just how he adds constant synapse? Or was there a rule I missed that he can add to a unit?

[Deadlink]

well buffs as in IC tricks if your good at them, and well he give other warriors +1 bs and ws.

Deadlink97~

[retnab]

Any time I prime it's to babysit my Zoeys as they move up, since their Deathspitters has the same range as Warp Lance. It works pretty well. I'd love to try him with some warriors, but like the previous posters say they just die way too fast. Charging into close combat is practically suicide if you don't pod them in or something similar, and ranged just feels like a huge waste of points for what you're getting (30pts for tankier Devilgaunts or 35 for Deathspitters, giving 1 more strength and AP5).

Edit: put into context, if you have 6 Deathspitter Warriors, pointwise you could have 21 Devilgaunts. So you'd be gaining 1 strength (and AP5) on your shots along with synapse for 45 less shots at the enemy. Add a Prime to those 6 and you've almost got enough for a full 30 Devilgaunts, so now have S5 AP5 BS4 and synapse in exchange for 69 less shots.

[WestRider]

Dec 4, 2012 2:17:41 GMT tylertt said:

Now when you guys say he adds buffs, are you referring to just how he adds constant synapse? Or was there a rule I missed that he can add to a unit?

It's not so much straight Rules added to the Unit as it is what he can do to improve them. He can catch S8-9 shots for T4 Units, for instance, and that much Combat Power added to a Hive Guard or Gaunt Brood makes them really tough to deal with. Things like that.

[nidzy]

I often use the prime as the warlord. He brings lot of utility in that he lets me be a bit more aggressive with the flyrant. I have ouflanked him via hive commander with 4 or 5 deathspitter warriors and had good success using them to wreck light vehicles and harrass devastators and the like. Once your opponents turns their anti tank firepower on this squad, it will get crippled fairly quickly. However, I have had good luck timing their arrival in my opponents backfield while the rest of my force pushes forward. I have also outflanked the prime with devilgants in a similar role.

I almost always run mine pure assault with lw/bs, scything talons, toxins sacs and regen. This makes him a nice little challenge fighter and a reasonable threat to most standard marine units.

[tylertt]

Hopefully my buddies and I can get together soon, all strategies of the Prime make me want to test him out even more.

I think I will definitely try him with my Devil Gaunts, being that my friends already know and hate the treat the little guys can easily dish out once that spore drops!

[daffan666]

Tyranid prime dosnt have deep strike rule, so he shouldnt be able to DS together with units? But yea maybe outflank.

[tylertt]

ahh, good catch. Better I realize that now then before I plan out my attack then realize it can not be done lol.