Codex Tyranids: Summary in first post

[Zeneth]

I was just thinking in regard to Tyrants and fexes with 5th ed.......3 fexes in a single unit with a fnp from a tervigon would be incredibly difficult to take down. Also, I haven't heard of any restrictions on 2 flyrants anymore, and while they may be a large point sink, I think my current flyrant would really enjoy a fellow battle brother.

[Caldera02]

I was just thinking in regard to Tyrants and fexes with 5th ed.......3 fexes in a single unit with a fnp from a tervigon would be incredibly difficult to take down. Also, I haven't heard of any restrictions on 2 flyrants anymore, and while they may be a large point sink, I think my current flyrant would really enjoy a fellow battle brother.

Yea feel no pain is nice but really it only helps against small arms fire and missles. Does nothing for you against ap 1 and 2 sadly. what FNP is really good against is flamers on gaunts!!

Thats a TON of points for two flyrants but yea looks to be doable.

The mawloc hit is resolved on the rear armor.

[Zeneth]

While guards do look overpriced now, I've also thought about putting a flyrant with a guard or 2 the first few turns before leaping into combat.
Hehe, just trying to come up with some good uses for the models most of us already have, lol.
This certainly does not take away the monstrous point tag that remains on the wings though

[Caldera02]

While guards do look overpriced now, I've also thought about putting a flyrant with a guard or 2 the first few turns before leaping into combat.
Hehe, just trying to come up with some good uses for the models most of us already have, lol.
This certainly does not take away the monstrous point tag that remains on the wings though

Oh hey, I hadn't thought of that. The wording now definitely permits that looks like. But yea the price tag on that is retardedly high for not much gain. I don't think the flyrant is as killy as it used to be. Not for the points anyways.

[Doomgrin]

I was just thinking in regard to Tyrants and fexes with 5th ed.......3 fexes in a single unit with a fnp from a tervigon would be incredibly difficult to take down. Also, I haven't heard of any restrictions on 2 flyrants anymore, and while they may be a large point sink, I think my current flyrant would really enjoy a fellow battle brother.

FNP will work well against missile fire, but most likely you will be getting hit by Laz, metla or plas which is AP 1 or 2 and FNP will not function.

[gcsmith]

umm it only doesnt work against double toughness

[MVBrandt]

And AP1 and AP2.
And rending.
And power weapons of all kinds.

[DarkLink]

And AP1 and AP2.
And rending.
And power weapons of all kinds.

And anything else that would ignore a 2+ armor save.

[gcsmith]

ooh didnt see ap 1 and ap2 rule b4

[The.Justinian]

HQ:
Tyrant: Dropped in an apoc game, shot to pieces by bikes. No real data on his effectiveness. Other tyrant was swept up by green tide...Also unknown in effectiveness.

Alpha: Impressive durability added to warrior squads through his presence. Game didn't hinge on his actions, so I can't rate his level of awesome. Warrior squads (even with him) still troubled by transports if caught unsupported. Performance with gaunts unknown.

Terv: A pair pooped an insane amount of gaunts in a 2k C&C game, essentially locking out enemy foot from our objective. We were then able to neutralize the only threat, the enemy falcons, and sit on a tie/win. Paratroopers failed to contest, ended in tie. Tervs experimented with giving each other FNP, but no small arms fire was then used on them. It could be said that guardian JBs stayed away for this reason. Overall, very good defensively, the six wounds made it able to suck up tank fire that might have done more good elsewhere. Offensive capability untested.

Elites:
Zoanthrope: Loss of Loner meant that their whole podding unit was swept up into assault. However, Librarian's attempts to null zone were foiled by Shadow in the Warp. Immobilized one LRC, otherwise ineffective. Crowding in the elite FOC means their shooting is less amazing than most people are presently reckoning--unless you sacrifice lictors, HG, or doom, you'll only destroy one vehicle a turn--yes, you will do so with ease and it shall be epic, but that's...all.
Doom: Much was made of his points value (low), but even after podding in he only managed to hurt a few bikers. I think his balance is right, very good like the Lash but not amazing as all that's required is being in a transport, or any respectable amount of S8 fire. He's a good fire sink, more than one unlucky player will have their whole army eaten by him, but for the most part, he'll be a fire sink. Five stars, but not broken.
Lictors: with three wounds they were much tougher, and contested a woods objective in enemy territory the whole game. Loss of loner meant they only did that in one place, however.

Troops:
Hormagaunts lost their reach, but seemed points-efficient. Weak vs. SM, but they always were. Untested vs. other foes.
Termagants: Devgaunts were hellaciously effective all weekend. Even at the price of a Fire Warrior their arrival on flanks or from pods was feared. I saw this model as the nid's first assault-bait: a unit that the enemy will strive to lock in CC because its shooting is so feared. The forced morale check provided real ability to 'get the job done' at the schwerpunkt.
Warriors: What can I say? In pods, they're very good at tying up enemy attention. the pod also allows small squads to hide/bottleneck the enemy they don't want to fight in the meantime. Their shooting is solid and versatile, but dakka is inadequate to actually wipe enemy. In assault they aquitted themselves well, except where SW powerweapons were in abundance.

The Pod: Special attention should be placed on these. They're cheap enough to be beneath notice, and even though easily killed, on many occasions they were ignored because any unit's shooting would be overkill, and those same potential shooters wanted to assault something else. A build with barbed stranglers was tested, seemed worthwhile in apoc. Their shooting is a good supplement to the men they carry, and the area denial means you can selectively disembark to good effect, denying some enemy the ability to reaction-charge. I anticipate that they will be consistenly modeled on 100mm bases, at least as high as the men they carry. If anything was a great buy in the new codex, it was, ironically, these. Even considering KP, their ability to lay beneath notice meant that that liability was less than anticipated.

Fast:
Wasn't there for any games where fast choices were used.

Heavy:
Our puzzlement is as great as yours over whether the Carni remains a viable option. Podded in, he causes panic in the enemy line, which might give you the opening to do something good from the opening. Assault terminators and librarians slew them handily, and we didn't see anything great out of them as shock troops, but they weren't tried in a non-apoc environment. Theories that rumor control might have leaked them 20pts higher than their real cost were given some credence, however the ability to brood and buff all three was only discovered during clean-up, and remains untested.

Biovores: Remarkably good anti-infantry coverage. In games less than 1500 I think they may show up, as the FOC isn't so crowded. Because the barrage templates are placed adjacent, you can readily hit the whole of a footslogger line. If you play with a decent amount of LoS obstructing terrain in your play group, you will inevitably see these on the field--They're a good deal easier to hide than three griffons.

----
That's all we played with. Globally, my thoughts are with many others that the army has become more dependent on synergies and good planning, but that was obvious to anyone that saw that advent of so many options to deep strike and reserve. For me, a theoryhammer/clauschewitzhammer/Rommelhammer guy, Nids finally became intriguing, after having been overly linear and boring.