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With all the buzz about the new codex, I've been planning ahead to see what the future holds for my Tyranids. There seem to be a lot of great things in the new codex and I'm really excited about it. Based on what I've seen so far, combination armies will be the best way to use the Tyranids. That is, certain species combine particularly well with others, so they are far more effective together than on their own. For example, a certain biomorph that allows friendly models within range to always hit on a 3+, regardless of weapon skill. If you combine a creature with that biomorph with low-WS Gaunts or even a Carnifex, you've suddenly got something far more effective than either brood on it's own. There seem to be several of these "booster" biomorphs that don't necessarily do a lot for the model carrying them, but make other models more effective. I like this synergy, it will put a lot more thinking into creating an army and it should allow for more viable combinations. On the other hand, it looks like people can still put together very straightforward, even limited, armies and still do well, so there will be even more diversity. There are several models that I currently do not use, or use only rarely, such as the Zoanthrope, Ravener, Warrior and shooty gaunts. All of these look to be improved in the coming codex and I plan on picking some up. There is also a new leader, the Broodlord, more or less a supersized Genestealer, which I am salivating over. Without the new codex in hand, however, it's difficult to really plan what I could do with them and my current models, except in the most general of terms. On the other hand, it's a bit easier to look ahead to how my current army list might evolve, since there are fewer variables. For those two of you who are unfamiliar with my current army list, it involves loads of Genestealers, a Flying Tyrant and some Lictors, and a shooty Carnifex or two. That's it, really. First, I'd like to go over what I use right now and how it will likely change in the new codex. Genestealers. These are the bulk of my army list. I generally fill all 6 Troop slots full of these things. Although they Infiltrate, they are slow to get to combat and very vulnerable to shooting on the way there. In the new codex, they lose their Infiltration, but they gain the Fleet special rule, making them much faster! They also start with a 5+ save instead of their current 6+, and they can upgrade it to 4+, which is huge as well. The tentative point costs that I've seen for their Scything Talons makes them potentially worthwhile in the new codex. (In the current codex, the difference between the standard performance and the Scything Talon performance is exactly the same as the price, which doesn't take into account the fact that you'll likely lose some to shooting, so it's currently a bad deal.) They seem to have some other options, including Feeder Tentacles (those squid-head/Cthulhu looking ones) which should be interesting, but I don't know enough about them yet to say for sure. That's a lot of changes for the better, but just which ones should I use? Well, quantity has a quality all it's own, and I'm a big fan of having a lot of whatever it is that I'm using. Although there are wonderful choices, I expect I'll stick to just one for my Genestealer Broods, which lets me have more bodies on the field. Based on what I've seen and heard so far, I think the best bet by far is Extended Carapace (the 4+ save biomorph.) In one fell swoop, I've halved my casualties against basic weapons fire, which is usually the bane of my Genestealers. They come automatically with Fleet, so they'll be faster than they are now and they'll get to shrug off a lot more shooting as well! I would like to field 6 full choices of these guys for Troops, but that brings their cost up to about 1440pts, which doesn't leave much room in an 1850 list. (As a side note, I could potentially fit even more than the standard 72 Genestealers in an army list, since the Broodlord must take a retinue of Genestealers as well. If it is possible to take 2 Broodlords, that would be a potential 94 Genestealers in a single Force Organization Chart!) I already get a Deer-in-the-headlights look from people when I plunk down 72 Genestealers, just imagine what more might do! Flying Hive Tyrant. I don't forsee big changes for this one. Most of what I've seen about the new codex has only minor changes for the Tyrant. The Bonesword and Lash Whip are cool, but I'll probably leave him more or less as is. I might have to remove Warp Blast OR get rid of his 2+ Save, but those aren't really major changes. A much bigger change is the possibility of fielding a Broodlord instead. The Broodlord is said to be significantly less expensive than a Tyrant. This lesser price presumably also means a bit less ability, but he does come with Genestealers, so it may make up both the price and the performance. We'll see. The main reason that I might field a Broodlord, however, is due to fluff. What better leader for an army made up of Genestealers, than a giant Genestealer? Lictors. I expect this will be the biggest change for this army, even more than the Genestealers. I use my Lictors in an unusual way, popping them up as direct threats at the beginning of the game and relying on their improved Cover Saves to weather a lot of fire that would otherwise have targeted my Tyrant or Genestealers. It sounds like their new rules will make this a much less effective option in the new codex. The Pheromone Trail biomorph allegedly allows a reroll on Reserves, which would make it almost invaluable for those Escalation missions and the like. Between that and some possible biomorphs that should make the Lictor help the units around it, I will almost certainly take one. Beyond that, however, I really don't know. While I didn't start using Lictors because they were the most efficient killers, I do want units that are somewhat effective, and I'm not really sure where these guys will end up. Carnifex. While I don't expect huge change here, there will definitely be some adjustments. Currently both of my Carnifexes are armed with two Venom Cannons. It looks like the new codex will only count those as a single, Twin-linked weapon, not two separate shots. While this is still a significant amount of firepower, it's not the bargain that it used to be. This opens the question of how they should be armed. (Literally! Ha ha, get it, ARMED! ha ha...ow! okay, I'll stop!) Adding a weapon that is not the same as a previous one allows the Carnifex to fire both weapons. While the Devourer and Deathspitter will be good against light vehicles, the Barbed Strangler will help more against heavier vehicles. (It might also convince the enemy to spread out a bit, helping out my assault forces.) In addition, there are a whole slew of close-combat biomorphs and bioweapons that the Carnifex can make use of. Before 4th edition came around, I typically used two Carnifexes, each with a single Venomcannon and Scything Talons. Given the low priority most enemy generals give my Carnifexes, I can see dropping the Extended Carapace as well. I may also give CC carnifexes another shot, too. Currently, they get a maximum of 5 attacks, if they get the charge. With their slow speed, having a small number of attacks really prevents them from being effective. In the new codex, it is reportedly possible to equip a Carnifex with 13 attacks on the charge. I don't know how effective that would be or how many points it would cost, but it's certainly worth looking into. I will also, however, be evaluating different Heavy Support options to see if I can get improvement on my current antivehicular role, so get out your slide rules and follow along while we go Heavy Support hunting! I decided to evaluate each of the Heavy Support options in terms of being able to kill or suppress AV12 and 13 vehicles. While there are plenty of AV11 vehicles, most of them are transports, so they aren't necessarily high on my shooting list. Too, there are AV14 vehicles, but these are rare enough that I don't feel I need to really consider them separately. For these purposes, I assigned a value of 1 Penetrating hit or 2 Glancing hits to achieve a partial or total kill on a vehicle. (In other words, I put down a 1/2pt for each Glancing hit and left Penetrating hits at full points. I calculated the chance to hit and Glance or Penetrate for each option, then compared the result to the point cost to get the efficiency rating.
Here's how it works: Finally, I compared the "kills" (the vehicles dead or incapacitated, however briefly) to the points cost of the unit. The example would be a Twinlinked Venomfex: 0.63 Kills divided by 164pts.
Here are the results of Kills per Point for my Heavy Support Choices:
Twinlinked Venomfex: Read these numbers in terms of kills per point, meaning 1pt worth of a Twinlinked Vfex will get you 0.0038 kills against AV12. I got some interesting results here, such as the Zoanthropes outperforming everything else and the Single Vfex beating out the Twinlinked one. Okay, that wraps up the math lesson, uh, I mean comparison points. Even if you don't play Tyranids, being able to evaluate your options rationally is a very important thing. If you enjoyed this, email me and let me know |