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The 'Best Of' the Tyranid Codex
Headquarters Hive Tyrant: potential for utility in terms of Hive Commander or Old Adversary (3pts.) 4 T6 Wounds is fairly survivable (2pts) and high initiative/high WS/lash whip/4A means it's quite good in combat (1pt). 3+2+1=6pts. This is sort of the default choice for army commander, so I'll compare the others to it in each category. Swarmlord: Similar army utility to the Hive Tyrant (3pts.) an extra Wound and an invulnerable save in CC make it more survivable (3pts.) High Initiative/High WS/4A and ID rolls mean it's better than the Hive Tyrant in CC (2pts.) On the other hand, it's more than 50% more expensive, for only 3+3+2=8pts. It's pretty close to breaking even, but that's a big expense. Tervigon: Although it affects the army differently, I'd say it's abilities are on a similar scale to the Tyrant (3pts.) With 2 more Wounds than the Tyrant, it's definitely more survivable (4pts.) On the other talon, it is much, much worse than the Tyrant in close combat (0pts.) 3+4+0=7pts. At about the same price as the Tyrant, it might be a better choice, depending on your preferences. Tyranid Prime: Definitely not much army utility here (1pt.) The Prime is much less survivable than the Tyrant, though it can make better use of cover (1pt.) With the possibility of Lash whip/Bonesword coupled with good I/WS/A4, it has nearly the combat capability of the Tyrant (1pt) 1+1+1=3. About 1/2 of the effectiveness of a Tyrant, but also 1/3 of the price. If you need a cheap HQ or your army doesn't need the utility boosts, the Prime might be useful for you. The Parasite of Mortrex: Not much army utility here (1pt.) Although it's faster and smaller than the Tyrant, it is not nearly as survivable (1pt.) Despite having high I/good WS/A4, it only has Rending and can't ignore armor saves. Much worse than the Tyrant in close combat (0pts.) 1+1+0=2pts. Twice the price of the Prime, but less effectiveness. Not a very good choice. Best choice: In general, Tervigon. Good army utility and great defense. That said, the Tyrant is nearly as good a choice and offers more choice and more combat effectiveness.
Elites Hive Guard Brood: 50pts for a BS4 S8 gun with 2 shots at 24" range? Sign me up! These are easily our best option for taking out vehicles under AV13. Lictor Brood: Although they aren't great at taking down vehicles, Lictors are very sneaky and have the potential to be nasty and show up exactly where you want. In a themed list, using them for rear shots on vehicles could be effective. Deathleaper: Not only is Deathleaper a special character Lictor, he adds some nasty special rules, including one that works really well as Psyker defense. Venomthrope Brood: An interesting unit that provides portable cover saves. Zoanthrope Brood: Most armies would kill for a S10 AP1 Lance weapon. We can get them in broods of 3. They are our best option for taking out vehicles with AV13 and 14. (Monstrous Creatures can also do this, but if the vehicle moves fast, we have a hard time killing them in close combat.) Doom of Malan'tai: A special character Zoanthrope? How awesome is that? Very awesome. This guy makes a fantastic distraction to dump in the middle of the enemy army. Pyrovore Brood: Seriously? Compared to how good everything else in the Elites section is, why would you even bother with it? Ymgarl Genestealers: Super Genestealers that can show up where you want and assault right away? Sneaky, nasty. If I felt comfortable with my vehicle shooting, I'd be hard pressed to decide between these guys and Deathleaper. As I said above, this section is our primary source of reasonably-priced antivehicle shooting. Unless you have other options to deal with vehicles, you'll want to take either Hive Guard or Zoanthropes, and probably both. Zoanthropes are better at dealing with Heavy Tanks, while Hive Guard are more effective at AV12 and under. You really won't go far wrong with taking 2 Hive Guard broods and 1 Zoanthrope brood from this section, though if you have another plan for dealing with vehicles, you might start branching out into the other choices.
Troops Warrior Brood
Fast Attack Shrike Brood: Shrikes can be nearly as killy as Warrior broods, but they are more fragile and more expensive. They are also very fast, though since they are not fleet, their single-turn range is limited to 18 inches. Given their expense and fragility, they are poor at providing cover saves, except in emergencies. Ravener Brood: No longer as killy as Warriors, and no longer fleet, Raveners have lost out on the little niche they had previously. As fragile as Shrikes and nearly as expensive, not much to be said for them. If they had the option of frag spines, they might have a niche for clearing enemies out of cover, but they don't. Skyslasher Swarm: Flying Rippers with some surprisingly good options, but they are still flying Rippers. The only reasons I can see to take these would be to fulfill a themed army (all flying or focusing on Rippers) or to surprise someone. (If they don't expect much out of Rippers, but yours fly and have Toxin Sacs and Adrenal Glands, they'll certainly be in for a shock. The first time, anyway.) Gargoyle Brood: These guys are what Hormagaunts should be. Without any upgrades, they are the same price and do the same amount of damage and are faster. On the other talon, they don't score, so that point goes to the Horms. They can do a surprising amount of damage and even have the possibility of stunning vehicles from the side or rear. Harpy: A flying Monstrous Creature with a moderate antitank gun. They are (compared to other Monstrous Creatures) somewhat fragile, but they have some great capabilities. In a list that needed speed and Monstrous Creatures, Harpies would be gold. Spore Mine Cluster: A pre-deployment bombardment that can mess with enemy deployment. Spore Mine Clusters are interesting, but they seem less useful than almost anything else in the codex, with the exception of Pyrovores. The Fast Attack section is less useful than the other sections of the codex. The best of the bunch are probably the Harpies, overall, though Gargoyles and Shrikes are pretty neat as well. Ultimately, though, aside from some specialized builds, we mostly don't need the stuff found here.
Heavy Support Carnifex Brood: If you want a bunch of big, stompy monsters and you only have 1 slot to get them, this is the slot you want. Individually, Carnifi aren't as powerful or fast as Trygons or as resilient as Mawlocs, but you can get up to three of them in a single choice. On the other talon, they are significantly stronger than the others, so they are better at taking out AV14, especially Monoliths. Old One Eye: I like the idea of a special character carnifex, and Old One Eye is very strong and has cool regeneration, but he's so expensive as to not be worth it. Biovore: Not big, not stompy, not a monster. Good at killing troops, but our army generally doesn't need help with that. Trygon: This is the new gold standard for our big, stompy monsters. The potential to arrive by tunneling and the fact that it has fleet(!) makes it very fast. A large number of attacks make it dangerous and 6W makes it hard to take down. It also has the option of being a Synapse creature. Mawloc: Sort of the Trygon's little brother. Although it doesn't do as much damage as a Trygon, it can disrupt the enemy with it's sudden appearance. Tyrannofex: 6W and a 2+ save make it tougher than a Trygon, but it only does the damage of a Mawloc. On the other talon, aside from Zoanthropes, the Rupture Cannon is the only place we can get a S10 ranged weapon. It's very expensive, but it can be worthwhile. The standout is really the Trygon. Huge and Tough and nasty in combat and appears out of nowhere. The List The second Tervigon is a Troops choice made possible by having Termagants as Troops. It gives us a scoring MC, which is very nice. Both Tervigons have Catalyst to give Feel No Pain to units that might need it. (Termagants acting as cover, Hive Guard or Zoanthropes that have to be outside of cover to get effective shots, or Trygons that need a little help.) With 4 Hive Guards and 3 Zoanthropes, the list should be able to handle quite a few vehicles, especially with the Trygons (who will likely be tunneling into enemy lines.) If I were to expand the list to 2000, I'd add a Mycetic Spore Pod for the Zoanthropes, a Trygon Prime (additional forward Synapse and more distraction from the Zoanthropes,) another Troop Tervigon and 2 more Termagants in each brood. Is it the best list ever? Probably not, but it looks like it would actually be able to handle most threats and be rather fun to play. With 4 scoring units to start, and more being made every turn, it's got a pretty good chance at objective missions. 10 Killpoints is kind of a lot at 1500pts, but it's got enough shooting to knock most troops out of their vehicles, and it's got enough voracious predators to kill pretty much anything that walks. Remember, if you wipe out their army, you win, regardless of the mission. If you enjoyed this, email me and let me know |
