My Standard Tyranid Army List, what I take, what I don’t, and why. With sincere admiration for Kenton Kilgore.

Why you should care. If you are a Tyranid player or you plan on playing against Tyranids, this may give you a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the Tyranid race. The insights you gain here can translate directly into useful changes to your army list or tactics on the field of battle. Even if you don’t play Tyranids and don’t have any opponents that do, this discussion can still help you. My list includes some information on the criteria I use to choose units and armylists, which may help you make decisions on your own army, whatever that might be.

What an army list should have. There are some things that every army list should have. I’m usually against generalizations, but if an army doesn’t have each of these things, it loses flexibility and is not useful against certain opponents. Every army list should have something that can deal with vehicles. It’s up to you what you want to bring, whether it’s an assault squad with melta bombs and some plasma weapons, or it’s a Carnifex to cleave tanks in two in close combat, or it’s a couple of squads with Lascannons. The idea is that without these options, you’ll be in a heap of trouble if your opponent brings even one or two vehicles, much less a gob of them. Every army list should also have some anti-light troops capability as well. It should either be ranged weapons with blast templates or multi-shot capability, or hand to hand troops with lots of attacks to slash through them. Without this capacity, even medium size armies will swarm over and overwhelm you. In addition to having something against light troops, each army list should have something to deal with heavy troops as well. Most of my opponents play some version of Space Marines, so this is mandatory. Heavy troops are those that have a high armor save and they can be countered by anything that penetrates their armor. This means low AP guns at range and power weapons in close combat. The final thing that every army absolutely needs is mobility. This doesn’t mean your whole army has to be fast or mounted in vehicles. You should have something that can move around and take objectives, in case you need to claim quarters or play a rescue mission or something. In addition, you can usually use these units as a rapid response to add to your firepower or shore up an assault that might not be going so well.

HQ

Hive Tyrant. The Hive Tyrant is a big, tough monster. I take mine as a close combat fiend. He gets 2 sets of Scything Talons for extra attacks and also has Implant Attacks, allowing him to cause 2 wounds for every one inflicted on a multiple wound model. WS 6 S6 T6 W4 I5 A3+2 and being a Monstrous Creature means he is a threat to anything in armor and vehicles. I have also specifically tooled him up to take on enemy characters and monsters, since they are often thrown my way. I also gave him Wings to get him safely into combat quickly, since he is vulnerable to Missiles and Lascannons. He also has Warp Blast, which makes him even more of a threat to enemy vehicles and characters (instant death rules!) Tyranid guns don’t penetrate marine armor, and my Hive Tyrant will spend most of the game locked in close combat, so I don’t spend the points on a gun, I’d rather give him the extra attack. I also don’t spend the points on extended carapace. Although he has sometimes succumbed to Heavy Bolters and Missiles, I’m more concerned about the Lascannons and Powerfists that get aimed at him. Besides, at 182pts, he’s expensive enough already. Update: I have changed my mind and now use extended carapace on my Tyrant since he dies too frequently to missiles.

Tyrant Guard. I don’t take any of them. They are too slow to keep up with my Tyrant and they aren’t particularly good at killing marines, my primary prey species. Although they have great Toughness and armor, they are slow and don’t do much damage. Not a worthwhile combination for me.

Elites

Warriors. I have 3 of them. They sit in my box unused 90% of the time. Warriors, at T4 and a 4+ or 5+ save, are very fragile and die quickly, no matter what you do for them. Rending claws sound good in theory, but they succeed just as often as a Terminator fails a save, so their performance is not all that impressive on a creature that costs over 30 points. As I mentioned before, I’m not impressed with Tyranid guns against marines, and I’ve got other ways of dealing with vehicles, so these are generally left to be cheerleaders. I am considering using a larger unit of leaping close combat specialist Warriors to replace some of my slower units, but they haven’t been tested. I’ll keep you posted and update this heading when I figure it out.

Lictors. I have 2 of them. They seem like a great unit, but they don’t kill much at all and they are quite fragile. If I hide them just outside the enemy deployment zone, they can wait and ambush the enemy as they move forward. The only trouble is, most enemies don’t advance against Tyranids, they stand back and let us do the walking, meaning no ambushes. Even if a Lictor is close enough to pull off an assault on it’s first turn, it will on average, kill the marine in base to base with it. One dead marine, did I mention I was impressed? The marines then consolidate and it might (might!) kill another one the next turn, while they start wailing on it. Even with 3 wounds, a T4 and 5+ save in close combat doesn’t get you very far. They are a nice idea, but the cost is just too much for me to include in my army list.

Troops

Ah, now here are the meaty bits. I usually spend most of my points in the Troops section. I generally field 33 Slashers in two units, each with a hive node, and two units of six Genestealers. Together these account for 608pts in my standard 1000pt army list. The reason I spend all those points here, is that this is one of the best spots in the army. For those points I get 45 wounds in 4 squads, 2 of which move like lightning. They can be used to claim objectives, or more often, quickly tie up enemy units. The Genestealers aren’t as fast, but they can kill more marines, and their small unit size makes it easier to hide them in terrain or sneak off and take an objective.

Slashers. I have some upgraded gaunts that I call Slashers. They are leaping (12” assault move, count all attacks within 2” as base to base) gaunts with toxin sacs (S4) and adrenal glands (+1 I) and scything talons (+1 attack.) I field them in two medium-size swarms, each with a hive node. They cost 12pts each, but 3 S4 attacks on the charge, with everyone within 2” participating, all at I5, really puts the hurt on an opponent. In addition, with a 12” assault move and 1d6” from fleet of claw, they can move very fast. The primary goal with these is usually to quickly tie up enemy troops, using the combats to block line of sight to my slower units. In addition, these can put the hurt even on marines, and absolutely tear up lightly armored foes. I can generally get 4 in base to base, and another 6 within the 2” zone, giving me 30 attacks. Of course, that’s only 2-3 dead marines, but it leaves only 1 or 2 able to strike back before consolidating, and another 2-3 should die before striking on the next turn. Now, at T3 and a 6+ armor save, these gaunts are extremely fragile, which is why that 12” assault move is essential. If they spend a couple of turns out in the open, they will get mowed down and cause no damage. I don’t buy them extended carapace, since most things penetrate a 5+ save anyway, so it would be wasted points. I also don’t give them a higher WS (like Hormogaunts) since it doesn’t help them hit their standard enemy, marines, it just makes them slightly harder to be hit, but I’ve already got a higher initiative, letting me remove most of the marines that will be hitting them anyway. I also don’t give them guns. They will spend most of the game in close combat, so guns would be wasted, and did I mention they don’t do much against marines?

Genestealers. The change from 22pt Genestealers with power weapons to 16pt Genestealers with Rending Claws comes out to no difference in killing power against marines, but they are still very fragile, and no faster than any other infantry unit, meaning you have to find ways to advance them without receiving a lot of fire. The Rending Claws make them a threat to vehicles and very powerful creatures, such as Wraithlords as well. I’ve considered getting them Scything talons, to add an extra Rending Claw attack, but this would lower my numbers, meaning those that get killed on the way hurt more.

Rippers. Ah, the remaining Troops Choice. I’ve got a bunch of these sitting around unassembled. They are no faster than other basic infantry (unless you want to make them Fast Attack) and, with poor initiative, fare no better in combat. In addition, S6 weapons will autokill them, template weapons do extra damage and they can’t claim objectives. If it weren’t for all the handicaps, they wouldn’t be too bad a buy. As it is, however, they seem to be no good. I’ve considered making some Rending Claw mutant weapon beasts, as they can do real damage, but they’re pretty expensive and still suffer from low initiative and all the above mentioned handicaps.

Fast Attack

Raveners. They are fast and mean-looking and, with all those attacks, can really put the hurt on an enemy. I don’t take them. In their most useful configuration (Scything Talons and Rending Claws, what, did you think I’d put guns on them?) they cost 45 points, which is an awful lot for something that has T4 and armor that is penetrated by bolters. I’ve considered taking a minimal squad of 1 to slither off behind cover and seize objectives, but so far my money and points seem to be better spent elsewhere.

Gargoyles. These are a fantastic buy. They are fast and they have a good strength weapon and a S4 attack at I8 each close combat round in addition to their normal attack. A gaunt built to this standard would cost 15 points, not 10 and would only have a standard leadership of 5, not 10. I still don’t take them. The models are somewhat expensive, though I could convert some gaunts by adding wings, and the point trade seems like a good deal. I may eventually make some, but at the moment I feel my points are better spent on Slashers that fill the same role, but do it better. Besides, Troops choices generally give better set up options and are more composition-friendly to boot.

Heavy Support

Carnifex.  This model is a walking tank. Sort of. With Toughness and Armor save equal to my Hive Tyrant, the carnifex is hard to kill. With 2 sets of scything talons, he’s got 5 attacks on the charge, all at S10 and using Monstrous Creature rules. In addition, he only costs 92 points! On the downside, he has low initiative and low weapon skill and is no faster than basic infantry, which cuts down his time in combat. I could improve his weapon skill, but it wouldn’t make it any easier for him to hit anything, just harder for him to be hit, which isn’t that big a deal considering his Toughness and armor save and Wounds.. I could also improve his initiative, but not to a level that would let him do anything useful. I have considered giving him a gun, to make up for the fact that he usually has to spend a couple of turns walking up the field before he can get into close combat. Unfortunately, no Tyranid gun has an AP3, so the guns are mostly wasted, especially with the carnifex BS of 2 to 3. Guns could still be useful against vehicles, but the Carnifex and Hive Tyrant can take out vehicles in close combat and I’ve got Zoanthropes for ranged vehicle killing.

Zoanthrope. These are fairly good units. I use the Warp Blast power for mine, giving them medium range antitank capability and long range antipersonnel capability. They are most useful against vehicles and heavy infantry, as their powerful blasts bite through armor, which gives them a better chance to make back their points, though tightly packed infantry (such as marines that just fell out of an exploding Rhino) is a good choice as well. I am a little disappointed that, as Living Artillery, they cannot claim objectives and they are still subject to Instinctive Behavior, meaning they might suddenly charge the enemy or run away if no synapse is nearby.

Biovores. They seem like such a good idea. They can fire a variety of different spores, two of which use the 5” template and the other that can penetrate marine armor. In addition, despite having no need for line of sight, they don’t need to guess distances, they can just place anywhere out to their maximum range. Against lightly armored troops and lots of open topped vehicles, this would probably be a good unit. Against marines, no. “But they’ve got a spore mine that penetrates marine armor,” I hear you say. Sure they do. It’s a flamer template that is directed by the vagaries of the scatter die, meaning it can just as easily point directly away from the marines you are trying to kill. In addition, the S3 of the template means it only kills 1/3 of the marines you do manage to get under the template. I proxied these in a game and had fair scattering results. 3 Biovores managed to kill a marine or two each turn, which didn’t really impress me. In addition, they suffer from being Living artillery like Zoanthropes, which means they might suddenly charge forward or try to run off the board unless you have synapse in range. No Biovores in my army list.

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