Fall Back Medic! If I die, I die. If you die, the team dies!

Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative.

In the first part of this article, I talked about the hazards of finding the most efficient unit without giving consideration to how it fits into your army. There are several ways to do this, but the most flexible one is the "Top-down" approach. You start by deciding how you want your army to fight on the battlefield. Then you determine the way you want to accomplish that style of fighting and start listing the different tasks your army will need to cover to do that effectively. Finally you determine the best units for each job. This is the part where unit efficiency comes in, as you analyze each unit for a particular task, then take as many of the most efficient units as you can.

With that perspective, let's see how it works! First off, I need to decide how I want this army to fight on the battlefield. Although Tyranids can now shoot effectively, I'll go with Assault. The way I want to accomplish my Assault is by using something to tie up or distract the enemy so that my assault units can make it into the fray more or less intact. To achieve this goal, I will need something to tie up or distract the enemy, something to actually kill the enemy soldiers, and I'll need something to take down vehicles. (please note that a single unit MAY perform more than one function in a list. For an example, consider Termagants. For only 6 points, they are cheap and with their Fleet movement they can tie up the enemy by about turn 3. However, they also have a S4 gun that can be used to take down light skimmers and even hurt the back armor of most vehicles. While I wouldn't consider them a truly Antivehicle unit, I might decide that I didn't need any more light firepower for use against vehicles. Their inclusion might save me some points by allowing me to leave out something else. Now, Let's look at each necessary task and the candidates for them. (Side note: the really nicely painted models below are by Moloch. The less nicely painted ones are mine. You can check out more of Hive Fleet Moloch at hivefleetmoloch.com)

Tie Up and/or Distraction:
This task is two-fold. We want something to keep the opponent from shooting our assaulters, and we want something that will keep the enemy units from reinforcing each other in close combat. While this is the job typically performed by Gaunts and Hormagaunts in the standard Tyranid swarm, I worded it this way to allow a few units to be included that normally are not considered for the job. In addition, I split up the two parts of the job description on the chance that we might find a unit that does one very well but not the other. As long as we can cover that deficiency elsewhere in the list, that would be acceptable.

Raveners are extremely fast and will definitely attract a lot of firepower. Their speed gives them a 2nd turn charge, and their prowess in combat is only slightly below that of an equivalent value in Genestealers. On the negative side, they are fairly expensive and easy for the enemy to kill. They also won't tie up a unit for very long, either breaking it or being broken quickly themselves. They work well for the first job, but are awfully pricy to use in this manner.

Lictors are great surprises since they can appear almost anywhere and they can assault on the turn they deepstrike. They also get highly improved cover saves, which makes them good for the first job, since they'll either lock a unit in combat with a charge, or they can absorb a lot of firepower if they simply stay in cover. No one lets a Lictor just sit next to their lines undisturbed. On the other talon, they are very expensive and don't have much staying power in combat. This leaves them out of the Tie Up portion and awfully expensive for the Distraction part.

Elite Carnifi are inexpensive Monstrous Creatures. Coming in under 115pts for 4 T6 Wounds and a 3+ Save, they can absorb a lot of firepower. Since they block line of sight, they can form a shieldwall to hide assaulting creatures behind as they escort them to the enemy lines. When they get into hand to hand, unless the enemy has a very high strength weapon like a powerfist, it can take a very long time to dislodge them. On the other talon, they are very slow, giving a turn 4 or 5 charge. In addition, they can also only absorb shield other Tyranids in terms of line of sight. That means that things like Landspeeders can flank them and shoot at the broods they are protecting. Call them moderate for both jobs.

Leaping Rippers are inexpensive and can tie enemy units up quickly. Except against S6+ weaponry, these are better tarpits than Gaunts. Leaping makes them fast enough to be worthwhile, giving a turn 3 charge. Leaping Rippers, due to their small size and improved cover save and generally unimpressive status are not very good at the Distraction part of the mission, though they can excel in the tie-up portion.

Hormagaunts are fast. Very fast. Even though they don't do much damage to the enemy, that speed makes them a threat. An opponent that doesn't shoot the Hormagaunts on turn 1 will be tied up on turn 2. Hormagaunts are a very good distraction, but they are only moderate at the Tie-up part of the job due to their expense. They generally don't have enough bodies to tie up units for more than a turn or two.

Gaunts are moderately fast with their Fleet rule, giving a turn 3 charge. They are generally not a great distraction, because they aren't very impressive in close combat. Much like the Hormagaunts though, they are a bit of a threat because they will get into the enemy lines and tie up units. Gaunts are sort of the mirror image of Hormagaunts when it comes to these possible jobs. Their low cost allows large numbers which makes them great at the Tie-Up part, but only moderate at the Distraction part.

The Winners
There are several good possibilities here, but the ones that really stand out are the Hormagaunts for Distraction and the Gaunts for Tie-up duty. The Hormagaunts can be more effective in combat if you give them Toxin Sacs and WS5 and Initiative 5, but that makes them much more expensive and thus less useful for their main role. Similarly, the Gaunts can also get different weapons and various biomorphs to make them more effective, but I don't want them for their shooting or their combat prowess, I just want bodies. The only biomorph that I would consider giving them is Scuttlers which effectively gives them the speed of Hormagaunts. (Turn 2 charge either way, the Horms get their 6" in the charge, the Scuttling Gaunts get their 6" before the game starts.) Since the long charge range of Hormagaunts allows them to avoid Rapid-Fire range however, I will stick with Hormagaunts and regular Gaunts.

Assault Damage:
Now that we've distracted the enemy and tied them up, we need something to do the actual eating. Again, Tyranids have a plethora of options here, so let's take a look and see what each one can do for us. We need to be able to handle both light and heavy infantry in this category, though we don't need to have the same unit do both. As an additional note, this wouldn't necessarily have to be assault damage, but I did say in my initial mission statement that I wanted this to be an assault army, so I'll be focussing on that.

Assault Carnifi can be effective. Huge living battering rams slamming into the enemy lines are a wonderful thing. Each attack being S9 or 10 and coming from a Monstrous Creature can damage even targets that would be too tough for a Hive Tyrant (Wraithlord, C'taan) and will generally instant-kill characters less than T6. On the other talon, they don't get as many attacks and they are no faster than a Walking Tyrant and Guards, which limits their effectiveness.

Walking Tyrant and Guards can be outfitted for CC and can dish out a lot of damage and attacks. In fact, given the Guards' assistance, they can do more damage than a Flyrant, while dishing out that damage to the same variety of targets. Assuming that some of the Guards make it to combat, the improved number of attacks even makes them effective against Light Infantry. On the negative side however, they are slow, giving a turn 4 or 5 charge. That slow pace limits their effectiveness and makes them a target for longer.

Leaping Warriors are pretty fast, allowing a turn 3 charge. With Rending Claws and Scything Talons, plus Bioplasma, they can do a lot of damage. With 2 Wounds and a 4+ save and invulnerability to Instant Kill, they can survive a fair amount of damage as well. They are pretty expensive however, which limits how efficient they are in assault. The same points in Genestealers gives you a lot more killing power.

Flying Tyrants are nasty, nasty pieces of work. Their high speed lets them get into the enemy lines on turn 2. Their maneuverability allows them to hide behind cover and get where they can do the most damage. Their high number of attacks and Monstrous Creature status allows them to damage almost anything and their good armor and Toughness and 4 Wounds lets them keep playing for longer. Flyrants excel at taking down Heavy Infantry and characters, especially if you enhance them with Implant Attack, Initiative 6 and Acid Maw for those times you roll 1s. Given that they max out at 6 attacks on the charge, Flyrants are somewhat wasted on Light Infantry, but very few things hold a candle to them against Heavy Infantry.

Genestealers are nastynasty! With their Fleet movement they can charge on turn 3, and Scuttlers can get them in on turn 2, though it's expensive. In addition, with Rending Claws, these guys make short work of any Heavy Infantry, and with 3 attacks each on the charge, they aren't too bad against Light Infantry either. The best biomorph for them them is Extended Carapace. If you are sure that they won't take any shooting, leaving Carapace off is worthwhile, but if there's any chance somebody will shoot them, you'd better give it to them. Since we'll have Hormagaunts and Gaunts performing Distraction and Tie-Up duties, they probably won't take a lot of shooting, but they'll definitely still be taking some. Genestealers are pretty much tops when it comes to assault damage.

Raveners do almost as much damage point-for-point as Genestealers, but they are faster! Being as fast as Hormagaunts means that they can make better use of cover and still cross the board VERY quickly! Their light armor necessitates this. Large groups would both be overkill (if you kill off the enemy too quickly, the rest of the army can shoot at you!) and tempting targets. Most opponents know how dangerous Raveners are, so if they see a large brood, it will become the priority target. Those that don't know how dangerous they are will immediately learn their lesson and you won't be able to surprise them a second time! Similarly to the Genestealers, high numbers of Rending Attacks means that Raveners are good against both Light and Heavy Infantry.

The Winners
Raveners have a slight edge on Genestealers due to their speed. Genestealers in turn have an edge on Flyrants due to their cost-effectiveness. The Flyrant has a big advantage over Leaping Warriors in terms of both cost effectiveness and survivability. The walking Monstrous Creatures, while potentially useful, aren't in the same league.

Vehicle Cracking:
To keep the army going, we need something to keep enemy vehicles from being a problem. Some enemy vehicles are good at doing lots of damage, which might prevent our army from damaging or tying up enemy units. These would generally be things like Predators, Leman Russ Tanks and Hammerheads. Other vehicles may hold counterassault troops that will be dangerous to our army and so must be prevented from unloading their passengers where they want. These would include Rhinos, Wave Serpents and Devilfish, among others. Finally, some vehicles can do damage and are skimmers, which are very, very difficult to take down in assault. Landspeeders, Raiders and Falcons are in this category. In any case, we need to be able to bring them down or at least prevent them from accomplishing their mission which is to hinder ours. Again, I'll look at each of our options so that we can pick the best that will fit with the rest of the army.

Biovores fire indirectly, which is a bonus in terms of keeping them protected. While Poison Spores guarantee glancing hits on open-topped vehicles, most of the vehicles we want to shoot will be closed-topped meaning the Bio-acid Spores will be much better. With an average strength hit of 10, they can damage very light vehicles, but they have the possibility of going as high as S15! Sadly, this randomness and the variability of the scatter die keeps them from being a great choice.

Shooty Warriors have the option of taking a Venom Cannon, which is good against light to medium vehicle targets. Deathspitters and Devourers can also be highly effective against Open-topped or Light vehicles, respectively. Their limitations (no heavy vehicle targets) and expensive nature preclude them from being an ideal choice, however. One interesting variation proposed by RedArmySOK was to include a single Venom Cannon in a brood of leaping assault Warriors. If you were already taking the Warriors, adding a little bit of antivehicle for them to use before they hit the target could be highly useful.

Flying Tyrants are very good at killing vehicles. With their Monstrous Creature status giving them 2d6 on their penetration rolls they can pierce even the heaviest armor (averaging a 13!) and with 6 attacks on the charge and good speed, they even have a decent chance of bringing down skimmers. Using them in this way tends to leave them more vulnerable though, since they cannot hide in close combat afterward and are likely to be shot by whatever is left of the enemy army. Flying Tyrants are more useful in this role during the end-game, where there is less of an enemy army around to shoot at them.

Zoanthropes have a very powerful attack that can bring down even the toughest tanks. They also have a fairly short range and only hit half of the time. Still, they are very effective once they get in range, and they are fairly cheap so they aren't a bad choice.

Walking Tyrants can take S8 Venom Cannons, which will damage the toughest vehicles in the game, and with 3 shots and BS4, they've got a pretty good chance of doing something. As a secondary weapon, the Twinlinked Devourer is hard to beat. Even with only S5, it's massive number of shots makes it highly effective at taking down lighter vehicles. The walking Tyrant is nearly the most effective antivehicle weapon the Tyranids have.

Gunfexes are the most effective antivehicle weapon the Tyranids have. With a S10 Venom Cannon, they can damage anything. Even if it only glances, that's still a good chance to keep the vehicle from shooting next turn, which gives you another chance to kill it. Devourers at S6 are great at chewing through light to medium vehicles and Barbed Stranglers give some extra utility against medium to heavy vehicles. Given the number of Space Marine Land Speeders that I'm seeing now, I think I'd go for the VC/TLDevourer combination, but VC/Barbed Strangler comes close.

The Winners
Gunfexes and Walking Tyrants take the lead due to the range of their weapons. Zoanthropes are very effective, but they can't really count on damaging the enemy until turn 3, and we need that damage on the first two turns.

Okay, so what would the list look like?

184 Flyrant:Tyrant, WS6 S6 I6 2xScything Talons. Wings, Implant Attack, Acid Maw

200 20x Hormagaunt
220 22x Hormagaunt
150 30x Spinegaunt
150 30x Spinegaunt
160 8x EC Genestealers
160 8x EC Genestealers

80 2xRavener RC/ST
80 2xRavener RC/ST
160 4xRavener RC/ST

148 Gunfex: Carnifex BS3 VC/BS
148 Gunfex: Carnifex BS3 VC/BS

1840pts

Wrap Up
Now this list is designed for the units to work together. The Hormagaunts sweep in quickly and distract enemy fire and tie up enemy units while the Carnifi suppress enemy vehicles. Then the Spinegaunts hit and tie up the rest of the enemy, keeping them from reinforcing each other. Meanwhile, the Flyrant and the Genestealers and the Raveners start munching on individual units while they are stuck in Gaunts. It's a semi-traditional Tyranid Mixed Swarm!

If you enjoyed this, email me and let me know

Return to Warpstorm!