500 Point Purge Escalation

[Nightmare20]

Well, I wanted to try building an unconventional list for Purge the Alien, the first tier to the League starting up at our store come June.

500 Points:

HQ:
Hive Tyrant w/ Stranglethorn Cannon, Lashwhip/Bonesword, and Regeneration
250 Pts

Troops:
5x Ripper Swarm w/ Spinefists
75 Pts

5x Ripper Swarm w/ Spinefists
75 Pts

Elites:
2x Hive Guard
100 Pts

13 Models, 38 Wounds.

Likely to be going up against Tau and Ork Gunlines, Blood Angels and Chaos mech lists, and mystery Eldar and Space Wolves (no idea what hey would bring).

Glance any vehicles to death with Ripper, Hive Guard, and then smashing with the Tyrant. Kind of need the lashwhip against all the halberd spam Grey Knight list but I'm not sure about the Strangle Cannon. It seems like a good idea against the Tau and Orkz with the blast and pinning. A tad worried about scattering onto my Rippers but I plan on keeping them at arms length and out of harms way.

The rippers may seems silly but with 3 wounds each, they seem like a good way to deny kill points. With the spinefists, they can put out a surprising amount of dakka.

What do you guys think?

[blindmage]

If you're gonna go with Rippers as troops, take the Parasite his Ripper Synapse is insanely huge (24" radius, a 48" bubble!!) make sure you and the right number of units to give them Tunnel Swarm and you can DS them right into the enemy and shoot them into Oblivion. If they assault, you get TL overwatch, then the Parasite can come into CC safe since you'll have them locked. Don't assault with the Rippers unless you absolutely have to. the TL'd over watch is better than the extra attack.

How about this:

Parasite - 160

7x Rippers with Spinefists and Tunnel Swarm - 119
7x Rippers with Spinefists and Tunnel Swarm - 119

2x Hive Guard - 100

Total Points: 498
Wound Distribution: T3 = 42, T4 = 4, T6 = 4
Total Units: 4
Max allowed in Reserve: 2 (Both Ripper broods)

what do you think?

[Nightmare20]

Seems good for all but one thing; Purge the Alien. Since the first tier is PtA any free spawns I make could easily flip around and lose me the game. Otherwise I'd probably be running a tervigon but same problem. For the higher tiers I plan on running a PoM in a blob of gargs and Flyrant with 2x Tervigon for a real nasty swarm army but at 500 points and kill points I think the PoM is just too much of a liability.

[blindmage]

How about Malanthropes?

[Nightmare20]

I would love to buy a malanthrope as I love everything about the model but the league is strictly no forgeworld rules.

[blindmage]

You could do a Tyrant kitted similar to a Malanthrope:

Hive Tyrant
-Dual Scything Talons
-Toxin Sacs
-Toxic Miasma
-Regeneration
-Leech Essence and The Horror

Should be 215