Lone Tyrant guard

[Psychichobo]

Yeah, Blindmage is right.

Basically, as long as you have a Tyrant (or Swarmy), you may purchase a single Brood of Tyrant Guard. The Guard's rules state that the Unit may be joined by the Tyrant/Swarmy in the same fashion as an IC. The Guard unit is strictly a HQ unit, but does not take up a slot.

Check the FAQ too though - at one point they made it so you could only join during deployment. Don't know if that's still the case.

[WestRider]

Yeah, they did change that back, you can Join at any time. You still can't leave the Guard once Joined, tho.

As a slow, non-scoring, Assault Unit, I don't think they'll end up really justifying themselves if they're not keeping a Tyrant alive. It is a legit option, tho.

[Macradon]

Just looked at the FaQ to check if guarddog was right about the statement of the Guards being unable to be away from the Tyrant/SL.
The FaQ states:

Q: Can a Hive Tyrant or the Swarmlord choose to leave a unit of
Tyrant Guard once it has joined them? (p35)
A: No.

So it basically means, Tyrants/SL can't leave a Guard squad, once it has joined the squad ... So you could actually just have a Guard squad not attached to any Tyrant/SL

[GuardDog78]

Okay...re-reading the post from the start. I was under the initial (and apparently incorrect) impression it was being advocated to run tyrant guard with no tyrant at all. My apologies if I'm coming off as a stubborn ass. I should have re-read everything earlier and saved a lot of time and grief. I don't wish to come off as a total assclown, but probably did. I value the information and help of those on here when it comes to rule interpretation and tactics. On that note...I have to put my kids to bed...

[killercroc]

Feb 12, 2013 23:46:59 GMT WestRider said:

Yeah, they did change that back, you can Join at any time. You still can't leave the Guard once Joined, tho.

As a slow, non-scoring, Assault Unit, I don't think they'll end up really justifying themselves if they're not keeping a Tyrant alive. It is a legit option, tho.

See, I don't get why they are considered slow, they move the exact same speed as 99% of other models. They move the same speed as Termagaunts, Hormagaunts, Tyrants, Tervigons, Carnifex, Genestealers... they aren't 'slow'

Now if you mean slow as in not having fleet that's not really an issue now. They can move 6" and assault 2D6 inches so it's not slow. Fleet doesn't do as much as it did last edition so they aren't slow for being fleetless. I mean, they can still run so you're looking at a turn 2-3 assault which is average for almost every unit in the game... I do not see them as slow...

Beside that I was thinking of having 3 Lash guard with a BS & LW prime as a hard hitting assault unit. Or even letting them run off on their own, if anything it'll give your opponent another unit to shoot instead of your big bugs, or even just confuse them as "what are those silly guard doing sitting in the middle of the field with no Tyrant?"

I mean, on assault they get 4 S5 attacks at I4 each, Scytals and Rending, plus T6 with 2 wounds and 3+ armour is a pain to kill, shooting or assault.

Really just a random idea I had and wanted to share

[WestRider]

At this point, if we're talking Assault Units, "not slow", to me means something that can move 12" in the Movement Phase. Raveners, Gargoyles, Flyrants, things like that, as far as Nids are concerned. For other Armies, I'd include things in Assault Transports.

Fleet does still make a pretty big difference, tho. It averages to about an extra 1 1/2" per Turn spent Running, and it ends up being worth about an extra 2-3" on the Charge. Easily enough to make the difference between a Turn 3 Charge and a Turn 4 Charge in many cases.

[emoge]

Just tossing my 2 teef in about fleet...

today playing against GK if I hadn't had fleet I would have failed all 3 of my charges with ymgarls

[Raven]

Not taking up a slot is nothing new, dedicated transports don't take up FOC slots, and IG can field like 12 units with one troops slot.

[Superstringy]

So are we saying that you can field one brood of 1-3 Tyrant Guard for each Hive Tyrant (or the Swarmlord) in your list, they do not have to start attached to it, do not have to join it in game, but if they were to join it they stay with it for the duration, or until it gets killed?

Is it legit then to field a Flyrant in one place and join a Prime to a unit of Guard elsewhere? Because that sounds pretty cool to me.

[Raven]

Superstringy: That's pretty much the general consensus, it's certainly a fun idea that would throw off your opponent.

[Superstringy]

Sweet. Back to the gnawing board for me....

[infornography]

Overall, I think they are overpriced for this purpose. They would be fairly effective, particularly with boneswords, but very expensive. I think for the price of three of them I'd rather have another tervigon or most of a Trygon.

[Nightmare20]

I like the idea of running a flyrant and prime as my warlord with 2 or 3 of the guys guarding my prime in a low point game. Maybe a tervigon and pod full of devilgants.

Flyrant w/ dual tl devourers.
260
Prime dual bs st regen
100
Tyrant guard w/ lash whips x2
140?
Tervigon w/ Cata and Onslaught, Toxin
200
10x Termagants
50

750 points bang on I think. In an 850 you run the terms with devourers and pod I guess.

[Jabberwocky]

The easiest use will just be running 2 broods of 1 guard when you have flyrant+swarmy.

You then use them up 1 at a time for Swarmy to abuse majority T, then grab another after it dies. Anyone that shoots the lone guard wounds it exactly like it was in a big unit anyway.

You also then have the option to put the Flyrant with 1 if it comes under heavy fire or if you think it might be downed turn 1 because Swarmy is outflanking or whatever.

[scrotatohead]

A brood of tyrant guard as an assault unit certainly is tempting. If we compare a guard to a genestealer, while the 'stealer has higher WS and initiative, the guard beats it in strength, toughness, wounds, and perhaps most importantly armor save. 3+ vs. 5+ is a huge difference. With rage a brood of three would have 15 attacks, equivelant to five stealers but in a unit more likely to survive either wiping out a unit in their own assault phase or enduring several rounds of brutal combat. Give that brood of guard lashwhips, hit them with Catalyst or Preferred Enemy, and with toughness 6 they're going to wreck face.

I'd say one guard over the course of a game is easily worth three buffed stealers, possibly four. Not quite it's point value if you're talking a single guard model. But a brood of three? And not taking up a FO slot? It's certainly tempting. 195 points for three lashwhip Tyrant Guard is the same cost as 10 AG TS 'stealers or 8 ymgarls. They all attack first. All attacks Rending. I'm no mathhammer wizard so I don't know how many wounds each brood will cause but I'm willing to bet by sheer volume of attacks and re-rolls the 'stealers deal out the most damage, ymgarls second, and hive guard last. The 'stealers will chew through most any unit they go up against, but so should the other two barring an ork or IG blob. I believe all three units would deal out more wounds than they would receive and so win most close combats. All three units should also be able to run down most any unit they beat. So the question to me becomes, which of the three units is most likely to survive getting shot at either in the open field or when closing for assault. I've got to give that nod to the tyrant guard. Plus you can also join any surviving models to your tyrants, flyrants, or Swarm Lord late in the game to give them that much more survivability.