Tyranids for Throne of Skulls- first tournament

[Tynskel]

Bah-- my tyrant is this:

Defiler Tyrant
–Old Adversary, Hive Commander, Shredder Beetles, Psychic Scream, Leech Essence, Devourers, Lash/Bone Sword.
3 Guard with Lash

The unit is expensive, however, the Tyrant fires 3 guns a turn and is a Beast in combat. As well as aiding the rest of the army.


However, if you are gunna go with the configuration that you are looking at you should do this:
Tyrant
–Old Adversary, Leech Essence, Devourers, Lash/Bone Sword, Paroxysm.

Still two guns a turn, and much much better close combat for the tyrant and for the army.

[Turkadactyl]

Save the Ripper swarms for friendly games. The FW model is a great looking model, however, you have taken a troops choice that cannot claim. Try fit 8 Ymgarls in the list. That unit can easily be a game changer and the more models to absorb wounds the better. It is not too difficult to fit 8 Ymgarls in terrain as well.

[Skarekrow07]

apart from a lot of the other comments and concerns, I would suggest finding point to increase the ymgarls to 7...I personally found that to be a good number. but thats just my opinion

[alshrive]

i am really appreciating the feedback that i am getting, so to keep you all updated, i have decided on dropping the Rippers and replacing them with additional Ymgarl meaning the unit is now 8 strong- which seems to be about the recommended practical size. the other unit the worries me is the shrikes, are they worth? does anyone have any experience with them?

ALShrive

[Tynskel]

If you have not played with them you are in trouble. Shrikes are amazing with bones words. However, they are relatively fragile. You need to learn how to use them first.

[alshrive]

any hints on using them? i know the unit i have in the list is mega fragile at just 3 models strong, i was thinking of using the gargoyles as a screening unit for them? but any further advice would be much appreciated!

[jifel]

any hints on using them? i know the unit i have in the list is mega fragile at just 3 models strong, i was thinking of using the gargoyles as a screening unit for them? but any further advice would be much appreciated!

I personally like Shrikes but you MUST use BSs on them. Either dual or1/LW. My preferred loadout is LW/BS and toxin. These are absolutely insane marine killers, but the problem is, marines are incredible Shrike killers... if these guys take a full squad in rapid fire range to the face, they ll just evaporate. You're going to either want 5 or 6 in the brood or attach the Parasite, but the Parasite isnt a very good choice... and rippers are bad... Gargoyles however are a great choice in general, as good cover screens for really cheap costs. Maybe drop the 3 man Warrior Squad and use those points for 2 more shrikes.

[alshrive]

having listened to a lot of the feedback here i have taken certain steps to improving the list and make it more competitive so a big thanks to any and everybody. Below is a revised list based off of the first one that i am quite liking the look of, the biggest change dropping the Hive Tyrant and Hive Guard and replacing it with the Swarmlord and 2 Tyrant Guard buddies! does anybody think this is viable or would i be better going back to tyrant and hive guard?

just to re-cap then, the current list, factoring in feedback so far is.....

HQ
Swarmlord

2 Tyrant Guard
-Lash Whips

Elite
Doom Of Malan’tai
-Mycetic Spore – Barbed Strangler

8 Ymgarls Genestealers

Troop
Tervigon
-Scything Talons
-Cluster Spines
-Adrenal Glands
-Toxin Sacs

20 Termagants
-Fleshborer

Fast Attack
3 Tyranid Shrikes
-Scything Talons
-Pair of Boneswords

12 Gargoyles
-Fleshborer

Heavy Support
Tyrannofex
-Rupture Cannon

a grandtotal of 1496 points, meaning i am 4 points under (why does nothing cost 4 points!).
any further hints and suggestions would be much appreciated.

ALShrive

[Igmar]

I'd be warry of outflanking the Tervigon. You really want him spawning from turn 1 to get the most out of him and maximize your scoring. I've had better luck outflanking with larger units of warriors with deathspitters.

I couldn't disagree with this statement more.

Nothing is worse then rolling doubles turn one and having no options the rest of the game. The main use I've found for the gants is turning them into surprise killing machines, with furious charge and toxin sacs from the Tervigon and preffered enemy from the Tyrant, the little guys will bring down anything. I usually wait until turn 3, sometimes 4, until I spawn my first squad. Any sooner and they loose their "SURPRISE" role, and if you roll doubles too early the small squad has to march across the table and usually gets picked off. Being spawned when you need them is more valuable and useful then just going for broke turn one.

But I must say, I like your latest list, very similar to what I use to run, and not far off from what I run now. I've learned over the years that there are 3 staples to the current Tyranid codex, Tervigons, Gargoyles, and the king Hive Guard (these things are just ridiculous, especially considering the latest FAQ). My current 1500 that I've been extremely succesful against all types of armies and players is:

Tyrant, old adversary, bone swords + lash whip, talons
2 Guard

2 Tervigon, adrenal glands, toxin sacs, cluster spines, catalyst
2 squads of 10 Termagants

2 squads of 2 hive guard
2 venomthropes

20 gargoyles

Tyrannofex, rupture cannon

1500

This list (or some version of it) has won me several tournaments and I've faced everything from mech guard to foot grey knights, paladins and purifiers. Tyranids are all about the movement phase, friendly support, and timing. You want to keep all your units close to eachother so they can help eachother out. Yeah I know that's a general tactic for everyone, but it's far more important for Bugs, they loose without it. I've found that spreading out just a little too much can mean the difference between winning and loosing. The Tyrant is cheap, but effective. With a run turn 1 and 2, he's usually where he needs to be by turn 3. Use the Gargoyles as moving cover for your entire army, almsot NEVER assault with them, make your opponent waste bullets on them, the Venomethropes will save just enough to make them really annoying. The work horses of the list are the Hive Guard and Termagants (Tervigon is key here though). Use the Tyrannofex as long range anti-tank as he's moving up, before he switches to crowd control or tank assaulting, which ever is needed, hopefully he draws most the agro, then use your Hive Guard to open up the transports, spawn some guants, give them feel no pain, make sure the Tyrant is close, and assault what's left. Wash-Rinse-Repeat. It sounds simple enough, but it has taken me quite some time to master the deployment and timing of the army, but it is most effective. I often get crap that the Tyranids are a weak army, and they suck, but after I wipe the floor with them, I leave a lot of people scratching their heads. It's all about teamwork, most armies don't depend on it, but the Tyranids codex is built around it, you just got to find the combinations that work. That's why they are still my favorite army, they require more thought and planning then most armies do, and most people don't know how to deal with them when they are played right.

[alshrive]

let me start by saying thankyou, that reply contained a lot of information that i have found very very helpful. i am glad that my gut feeling about the army was heading towards an acceptable list, this fills me with a bit of confidence and definitely inspires me to get the painting moving to get the army done. i had mulled over another Tervigon but liking to add a bit of character i couldnt resist sinking the points into the Swarmlord, i may look at dropping the Shrikes now and replacing them with something closer to the list you have had such success with, i must admit i did want to include Hive Guard but dropped them in favour of Tyrant Guard for the Swarmlord, maybe this is an opportunity to work them back in to the list...

ALShrive