Tyranid Harpy - Our Secret Weapon Against Grey Knights? (wall of text warning)

[Kawauso]

This is going to be long-winded, but I promise I've got some points that are well-considered, and I'm genuinely looking for some good feedback, so bear with me, please.
Also, while the examples I raise are coming from my own experience with a 'nid build that is not what anyone would consider 'tournament-worthy', I believe the issues I'm raising are something that affect our beloved Tyranids as a whole with the advent of Grey Knights, so I like to think there's something here for everyone.

Well, everyone who loves hordes of gribbly bugs.

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So I've been playing a handful of games with my 'nids lately, particularly against Grey Knights.

I've managed one skin-of-my-teeth victory and on two occasions been on the receiving end of some very, very sound ***-kickings.

Grey Knights are mean. Yes, they're a small, elite army, and yes they die like most other Marines, and yes each casualty they take really hurts them. However, they have a lot of very strong things working in their favour which, at first glance, deny Tyranids a lot of the advantages their army has in most other match-ups.

Now, I'm not a 'competitive' player in that I never go into tournaments or organized events. I also like running 'fluffy' lists. This doesn't mean that I take the game any less seriously, however. Playing is fun, but losing a close-fought game or winning is much more enjoyable than having your *** handed to you on a silver (get it? :P) platter.

My Tyranid army is entirely close-combat-centric. I loathe Tyranid guns. They're fleshy and phallic and I just don't like them, and they don't fit with my vision of hordes of chittering, bladed insects swarming over the front lines, devouring all in their path.

To this end, my Tyranid force has very little ranged capability - namely, Zoanthropes and Trygons. This hasn't really hurt me in the past, though. Yes, my little gribblies take a load of casualties at range while they're moving into position. But then guess what? They're -in- position, and they hit the enemy's gunlines like a sack of hammers. I typically have so many gaunts that my opponents can't kill enough of them at range before they overwhelm their troops. And they're supported by infiltrating or outflanking Genestealers, and burrowing Trygons, and a lurking Deathleaper or a lumbering Hive Tyrant or the Zoanthropes directing the mindless masses from the rear. Simply put: yes, I place myself at a disadvantage in not using 'nid 'guns', but the army has plenty to offer in terms of helping me shore up in other areas so that I can utterly break opponents with my assaults.

However, the new Grey Knights seem to be utterly immune to everything my precious 'nids have to offer. They are -deadly- within 24 inches. They are a small and elite army, but they can field a lot more bodies than they used to. And the sheer number of stormbolter and psycannon shots that you'll take inside of 24" is STAGGERING. And then there's close combat. They'll punk monsters with instant death, and purge hordes with cleansing flame. And even though 'gaunts and 'stealers shouldn't be counting on armour saves, when massed power weapons ensure you're making none of them in close combat as opposed to 1/6 or 5/6, it actually stacks up over a turn or two of slugging it out in a melee.

And let's not forget one very important thing: in combat, 'nids rely pretty heavily on the fact that many of their units are faster than other armies (with the exception of small, elite units). Halberds ensure that the Grey Knights are often hitting FASTER than 'nids, or at the very least at the same speed as units like Genestealers or adrenaline-overdosed 'gaunts.

Combine these things with the fact that Grey Knights can take servo skulls and cast warp quake to absolutely hamstring your forces' infiltrators and deep-striking units, and you can see why my army is hurting so bad. It takes forever to get close - even with my gaunts' bounding leap - and by the time I do, my army is reduced to nice, bite-sized chunks that the GK don't even sweat.

Yes, Shadow in the Warp helps. Immensely. It greatly reduces the risk of the GK psychic powers. But at the end of the day, they don't need their psychic powers to trounce 'nids - and you need to be within 12" of them to cast the Shadow over their units, anyhow. Well within their 'kill zone'.



Of course, tactics are one answer to the problem that is Grey Knights. Historically, my army's strategy has been to rush down my opponent's throat - shove enough 'gaunts down there that they choke on them. There's only so far they can pull back, and there are only so many shots they can dish out. Eventually - inevitably - the Tyranids will be upon them and erupting from behind or within their ranks, and there's nowhere to run.

This tactic doesn't work against Grey Knights. They can hold back and put out SO MUCH HURT within 24" that my army is shattered even before it reaches their lines. And, once again, they are deadlier in close combat than my beasties. Their most basic infantry can trump any one of my monsters and halberds allow them to attack -at least- at the same speed as my fastest units. Finally, their massed power weapon attacks against my hordes means they put out more hurt than I can dish out; each of their wounds is going through for sure, whereas I need to swamp them with far, far more wounds to get through their power/terminator armour - these wounds are numbers I simply can't meet due to the thinning my hordes take at range before making it into melee.

So I need to revise my strategy. I haven't had time to put theory to practice yet, but it seems like hanging back and drawing the Grey Knights out - to me - is going to be worthwhile. My massed gribblies need to hunker down and burrow in behind some cover, and the big beasties need to do the same or else wait out in reserve for a couple of turns. I need to draw the Grey Knights closer - within that 24" kill zone of theirs, to my own kill zone of around 18".

Still, I don't know that this will be enough. I can't thin their numbers before they reach my lines, and once they do, as I've stated before they're better in close combat than I am.

---

All of this has led to me pouring over the Tyranid codex lately, in search of some secret weapon I might be able to harness against the knights of Titan.
Hell, I'm hurting so bad that I'm even giving serious thought to this ugly 'nid dick-guns - they have to be worth it, though.

A lot of people are talking about Hive Guard. Mind you, everyone's been talking about Hive Guard since long before the Grey Knights got their much-needed update. I've never been a fan of these buggers.
Yes, their gun is good - good enough to make me weigh it up against how much I hate Tyranid firearms - but at the end of the day, they're not for me. Their primary weakness, in my eyes, is that they compete for space with my Zoanthropes.

Now, a lot of people will say that Hive Guard are better shooters than Zoanthropes, and this is more or less true. They pump out more shots more reliably. They can fire while hidden from LoS. However, here's what I view as being an argument against the Guard:
1- Their range is no greater than the Zoanthropes. Yes, they can bust tanks better between 18-24", but within 18" the Zoanthropes bust lighter armour almost as well and heavier armour far better than the Guard.
2- They are not synapse creatures. THIS IS THE BIG ONE. They need to be baby-sat to ensure they do exactly as you like. Yes, their leadership is decent, and yes, their instinctive behaviour will ensure they -most likely- do what you want them to do, but at the end of the day it's still not always ideal to have them outside of synapse range. Furthermore, by taking Hive Guard in place of Zoanthropes, I'd be losing out on more units with Shadow in the Warp - which is going to be ESSENTIAL in combating Grey Knights.

I legitimately think the Harpy might be the secret weapon I'm looking for - and it could help you, too (if GK are causing any of you other 'nid players out there a problem - which I have a hunch is something they might be doing).

Now, the Harpy receives more than its fair share of mockery, but hear me out.

One of the first - and most important - things that the Harpy has going for it is its ranged capability. This thing is a winged Trygon that excels at ranged anti-infantry combat - it's basically our version of a bomber.
Let's break the ranged capabilities of this beasty down:
1- As a winged monster, it's important to remember it moves like Jump Infantry. So that's 12" of movement each turn, which is not bad. It can hang out behind a large building or a Trygon if it needs to, and zip out in order to obtain LoS with a vulnerable unit when the opportunity presents itself.
2- As standard, the Harpy comes with a twin-linked Stranglethorn Cannon. Importantly, this weapon fires outside the GK comfort zone of 24" at a range of 36". It fires a large blast template, so the poor BS of the Harpy is of little consequence. While the AP value (5) is nothing to write home about, it's got an impressive strength of 6. This means it will be wounding MEQs easily and can glance/pen rhinos and razorbacks fairly well - especially since it's twin-linked! To top it all off, it's pinning! GK aren't fearless any more, so this actually means something!
3- Alternatively, the Stranglethorn Cannon can be replaced with a twin-linked Heavy Venom Cannon. However, I don't think this option is worth it - even if it didn't cost 10 points! While the range stays the same (36"), and the strength and AP improve (to 9 and 4, respectively!), the weapon only fires a small blast template. This means that the BS of 3 on the Harpy is going to hurt you a lot more. Additionally, while it seems like the HVC is a better option for popping transports than the SC, it takes -1 on the damage table, meaning your glancing hits are -3, and even if you penetrate you need a 6 to get a wrecked result.
4- In addition to the twin-linked cannon(s), the Harpy comes standard with a Stinger Salvo. This weapon is shorter-ranged (18"), so it will likely only come into play when you're moving your army into an assault. It has a respectable provile (an Assault 4 heavy bolter), but again falls victim to the poor BS of the Harpy. Hitting with only 2/4 of your shots means this weapon is probably not worth it, and should be upgraded to...
5- For free(!) the Harpy can replace its Stinger Salvo with Cluster Spines. These keep the same range and strength as the Salvo, but lose the AP value altogether (but against MEQs, who cares?). What it really benefits from is swapping Assault 4 in favour of Assault 1, Large Blast. This is great, because it again means that the Harpy's piss-poor shooting skills are of less concern, it can get more hits, and if taken with the TL-Stranglethorn Cannon, means within 18" the Harpy is pumping out TWO large blasts!
6- Finally, the Harpy has another trick up its sleeve. At even closer range, it can perform a 'bombing run' in the movement phase. Once per game, you can nominate any enemy unit the Harpy moved over in the movement phase as being on the receiving end of its Spore Mine Cysts. The Harpy drops D3 strength 4 AP 4 large blasts on that unit! Best of all, if the first template scatters horrible (so that the central hole is 6"+ off-target), you get D3 Spore Mines instead of your blast attacks, which seems like a pretty good consolation. This isn't a shooting attack, either, so the Harpy can drop its bombs and then unload its actual guns on a completely different target!

So what all of those points above mean is that, for its base 160 points, the Harpy can pump out as many as 5 large blast templates within 12" (it's an MC, remember, so it can move and fire all of its weapons), on up to two different targets. Maybe this monster deserves to be nicknamed the 'blast-master', or something along those lines. :P

Its ranged capabilities are all well and good, but ultimately not enough to tip this unit into 'secret weapon against the Grey Knights' territory. What is, then?

Well, it turns out the Harpy has a pretty damn good trick up its sleeve in the assault phase. Now, it's pretty awful at assaults itself - it has WS3, only 2 attacks base, and its strength is only 5, which is pretty weak for a monstrous creature. What the Harpy does have, though, is this:
"Sonic Screech: On any turn in which a Harpy charges into close combat, it counts as if it is equipped with assault grenades (oh hey, look, one of the rare units in our codex with those! still, the Harpy is so awful in CC it's almost not worth mentioning). In addition, any non-vehicle unit that is charged by a Harpy must half its initiative value (rounding up) for the remainder of that assault phase."
Think for a second about what this means. 'Gaunts, 'stealers...hell, even a TRYGON -without- adrenal glands can go BEFORE a unit with halberds if the Harpy joins in on the assault! Ensure this goes off within the Shadow in the Warp (say, by using a Trygon Prime) to shut down any psychic shenanigans and you're gold. The Trygon, for example, will get in 5-7 power-weapon wounds, and the Harpy itself might even get in 1 or 2, -before- the I6 (now I3) halberds in a unit get to strike.

Sonic Screech, I think, is an ability just begging to be used against the new Grey Knights.

Yes, Lash Whips are great, but at the end of the day, they're stuck on slow, non-fleet footslogging units, and they only affect models that are in base contact with the wielder(s). Sonic Screech affects a whole enemy unit, and tips pretty much any assault in the 'nids' favour. I think it works especially well with monsters, like the Trygon, who typically tie initiative with a unit at best. It also gives your opponent something else to hit in the combat - if they want to try taking out the weaker harpy, that's fewer attacks being dished out against the actual threat - Sonic Screech has already done its thing by the time the Harpy's arrived.

I'm not saying that the Harpy alone is going to be a complete game-changer, or a super 'death star' unit. But this is Tyranids we're talking about. This army is about synergy. The Harpy should never be working alone. It should be supporting your units - first by taking pot-shots at threats that are at range, and then later by diving into a key assault to turn the tide, or else withering infantry units with tons of blast templates before your assault-oriented units move in for the kill. I think the Harpy has, previously, been seriously under-evaluated in this regard.

Now, I know the Harpy isn't perfect (far from it!). It has to be very careful of things like Rifleman Dreads, which lots of GK players are going to be using. But you know what? Everything in our army has to be careful of those *******s. It's more vulnerable at range than its cousin the Trygon in that it's weaker in terms of toughness and its save, but it should be able to keep away from ranged firepower with LoS-blocking terrain and/or cover saves, and if it's close enough that small-arms fire is a threat to it, -your- army ought to be close enough to capitalize on this. Also, it's never going to win a combat - but don't go charging this thing into combat on its own. That's not what it's for. It's a support monster that adds a lot of mid-ranged punch to your army, coupled with good movement flexibility. On top of that, it confers an insane benefit to your close-combat units when it charges into combat with or to support them. And really, is your opponent going to see it coming?

Let's finish things off with a quick breakdown of everything that it seems the Harpy has going for it - which, I think, is considerably more than the internet-at-large has thought at first glance.
1- Speed: It's an MC with wings, so it can keep up with the rest of your army or hang back for an effective counter-attack. It can also chase down enemy skimmers if it has to (without relying on a good fleet run like a Trygon, which keeps skimmers pretty safe around 18").
2- Firepower: With its base weapons and a free upgrade, the Harpy can pump out one large blast at 36", two within 18" and (once per game; but will you need it more than that at this range?) up to 5 within 12" at up to two separate targets.
3- Support in Assault: Sonic Screech means a lot for an army that has as many valuable assault units as the Tyranids.
4- Surprise Factor: This is something you won't be able to use to your advantage for long, but it -will- be valuable while you can capitalize on it. How many of your opponents have ever faced a Harpy? If the answer is "never", then it's going to take them a while to properly assess its threat value. They're going to under- or over-estimate it. Use this to your advantage. A wrong-footed opponent is a lot easier to defeat.
5- FoC Slot: The Harpy is a single Fast Attack choice. It leaves your Heavy slots free for Trygons or a cooky Carnifex spearhead and your Elite slots free for Zoanthropes or Hive Guard or whatever else you need (like the Deathleaper, who is GREAT against GK in particular).

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I know this has been a very wordy dissection of just one unit in the 'nid codex. But it's one that's often mocked and, I think, overlooked. Hopefully my analysis is enough to make you re-evaluate this guy, or at least kick-start an intellectual debate on the subject. I'd love to hear what anyone has to think if they've been able to stomach this verbose post.

One thing's for sure: when I have money, and if a suitable kit is released in the near-future, I'm going to be picking up some Harpies (or at least kit-bashing the hell out of some Trygons and...something...with wings).

[MaltonNecromancer]

I like the theory; not sure if it'll work in practice, just due to the weight of fire the Harpy might well recieve on coming in. Like you say I'd definitely position it behind a Trygon for the unit synergy.

Also, this is the best Tyranid article I've seen in a while. Good work!

[Border]

Don't forget that a Harpy can contest an objective(if it survives), a popular tactic I have been seeing is those pesky Interceptor squads/Dreadknights getting away to capture/contest an objective later in the game. Having a jump infantry able to swoop after a unit like that would be pretty nice.

[mathhammer]

-before- the I6 (now I3) halberds in a unit get to strike.

The harpy affects base initiative not final initiative so your sentence should read:

-before- the I6 (now I4) halberds in a unit get to strike.

[Xas]

the harpy is shurely a good tool as you described but to work in your favour and not be death weight you have to play several classes above your oponent.

guess what happens when any grey knight unit can draw unhindered LOS to it an happens to be within range (your guns shooting 36", their shooting 24" and moving 6" beforehand or even 12"/30" in case of teleporters) ?

it simply dies.
t5 w4 4+ isnt going to last against the firepower you have learned to respect if you make any mistake (or if your oponent is on the same skill level and knows what it can do!).


as the good gun is the one selling point I see it utilize while beeing save I'd have to ask you why you dont think about a carnifex (or three :P) with stranglethorns?

[TSINI]

[QUOTE=Kawauso;131828]My Tyranid army is entirely close-combat-centric. I loathe Tyranid guns. They're fleshy and phallic and I just don't like them, and they don't fit with my vision of hordes of chittering, bladed insects swarming over the front lines, devouring all in their path.
QUOTE]

My Tyranid army is EXACTLY the same ethos. i detest nid guns, so if its not an electro static shock attack, or a flurry of swarming beasties, or a bile spewing orofice, its not in my army.

Scything talons all the way baby!

so this article is of much interest to me. cheers mate, hope you find some helpfull hints/tips

[DarkLink]

Psyrifle Dread bait.

[Mr.Pickelz]

Psyrifle Dread bait.

Agreed

[Lemt]

A unit of GKs (2 Psycannons, storm bolters) walk in and fire. On average they deal 4 wounds to the Harpy, AKA half the time the Harpy will just roll over and die.

[Kawauso]

the harpy is shurely a good tool as you described but to work in your favour and not be death weight you have to play several classes above your oponent.

guess what happens when any grey knight unit can draw unhindered LOS to it an happens to be within range (your guns shooting 36", their shooting 24" and moving 6" beforehand or even 12"/30" in case of teleporters) ?

it simply dies.
t5 w4 4+ isnt going to last against the firepower you have learned to respect if you make any mistake (or if your oponent is on the same skill level and knows what it can do!).


as the good gun is the one selling point I see it utilize while beeing save I'd have to ask you why you dont think about a carnifex (or three :P) with stranglethorns?

Of course you would have to be careful with positioning. Your table would require some piece of LOS-blocking terrain which you can use to your advantage.

And while "I can see you, so you can see me" is certainly true, being seen isn't the same as having no cover save. The firepower GK have outside of 24" (including after they move, so 30") is pretty limited. It would have to be coming from a Rifledread or Stormraven, most likely. Maybe a Land Raider The volume of shots they put out at range isn't so high that a cover save won't be beneficial.

Now, Interceptors do indeed provide another problem entirely. But if they use their 30" shunt to get into a good firing position, they run the risk of splitting from the main GK army and being picked apart by the bulk of your 'nids.

Remember, also, that if you're hanging back and trying to draw the GK out (which is something that I personally at least see 'nids having to do more often with GK), you can always keep big, nasty, fast units (like the aforementioned Harpy/Trygon combo) in reserve, to arrive when the GK are close enough that you can perhaps reach them.

As for the Carnifexes...well, I did mention how much I hate 'nid guns, didn't I? :P I really, really hate them. Using a Harpy is more guns than I'd like in my 'nid force, but at least it's not a pack of 'fexes running around with their muscle-tubes squirting stuff each turn.
Also, 3 'fexes in a brood with -just- Stranglethorn Cannons an no other upgrades cost 540 points. Harpies are 160 points per model.

Lastly, Carnifexes are, unfortunately, useless in combat against GKs.