Faster and Furiouser?
Well, I've been overhauling my Tyranid list for the Seattle GT. It's still a weird beast to me, but it makes more sense to me now and I've sharpened it's claws a bit, so I expect it will be much more effective. Interestingly, this army concept goes back to some of the early days of the current Tyranid Codex.
At the time, I was using a flying Hive Tyrant or two and a bunch of Deathgaunts, backed up by some Genestealers and a couple of HTH Carnifexes (no guns, just Scything Talons, old-school Carnifexes) After a number of games where my Deathgaunts and Tyrant/Tyrants outran the slower constructs and then ate away at the front lines, making the slower ones have to walk farther to find enemies to eat, I started thinking that the slow ones were too slow. I toyed around with the concept of replacing the Genestealers with modified Gaunts. I didn't feel that the Deathgaunts would be able to do enough damage on their own, but I needed something that was fast. I tried Warriors, but they just weren't fast enough and died too quickly. I think that was when I hit on Bioplasma. For an additional 4pts, each of my gaunts would get an extra S5 attack, hitting on a 4+.
Although it made them cost as much as the Genestealers they were replacing, it did seriously up their power in assault. That extra punch brought up their (already pretty good) charge damage of 0.25 Dead Marines (the best kind!) per Gaunt within 2" to a whopping 0.36 DM. Genestealers still did much better with 0.75 DM each, but they only got that for the ones that actually made it into base contact, and they were MUCH slower, so they had more rounds of being shot and less rounds of eating. Testing of this species proved that they could be effective, but I had mixed enough results that I eventually decided to alter the splinter fleet in other ways.
After much deliberation over the past week, I have decided on a new version of the army list for the Seattle GT. I've kept the numbers and I've kept the No Guns theme, but I've ditched some biomorphs (Flesh Hooks, for example) and cut down the species number like I mentioned last week. In addition, I've come up with a more effective strategy, I feel, one that takes better advantage of their speed and numbers. First, the list:
Hivefleet Geek, Two-Tone Splinter:
132 3x Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands (In); Adrenal Glands (WS); Leaping; Assault 12"; Advance and fall back 3D6"; Count all attacks if within 2" of an enemy model; Toxin Sacs; Rending Claws (x3); Scything Talons (x3); Bio-Plasma Attack
WS BS S T W I A LD SV
5 2 5 4 2 5 2+1+1 10 5+
132 3x Tyranid Warrior: Adrenal Glands (In); Adrenal Glands (WS); Leaping; Assault 12"; Advance and fall back 3D6"; Count all attacks if within 2" of an enemy model; Toxin Sacs; Rending Claws (x3); Scything Talons (x3); Bio-Plasma Attack
WS BS S T W I A LD SV
5 2 5 4 2 5 2+1+1 10 5+
410 24x Plasmagaunts: Leaping; Assault 12"; Advance and fall back 3D6"; Count all attacks if within 2" of an enemy model; Toxin Sacs; Scything Talons; Bio-Plasma Attack; Hive Node (x1); Rending Claws (x5)15each
WS BS S T W I A LD SV
3 3 4 3 1 4 1+1+1 5(10) 6+
338 24x Deathgaunts: Adrenal Glands (In); Leaping; Assault 12"; Advance and fall back 3D6"; Count all attacks if within 2" of an enemy model; Toxin Sacs; Scything Talons; Hive Node (x1); Rending Claws (x5)
WS BS S T W I A LD SV
3 3 4 3 1 5 1+1 5(10) 6+
394 28x Deathgaunts: Adrenal Glands (In); Leaping; Assault 12"; Advance and fall back 3D6"; Count all attacks if within 2" of an enemy model; Toxin Sacs; Scything Talons; Hive Node (x1); Rending Claws (x6)
WS BS S T W I A LD SV
3 3 4 3 1 5 1+1 5(10) 6+
442 32x Deathgaunts: Adrenal Glands (In); Leaping; Assault 12"; Advance and fall back 3D6"; Count all attacks if within 2" of an enemy model; Toxin Sacs; Scything Talons; Hive Node (x1); Rending Claws (x6)
WS BS S T W I A LD SV
3 3 4 3 1 5 1+1 5(10) 6+
1848pts
114 Models
7% HQ
7% Elites
86% Troops
Okay, so I've got a massive horde of Tyranids, primarily small, fast ones, now what? Well, they are fast, so I can expect almost all of the gaunts to make it into combat by turn 2. Since I've added more Rending Claw mutants to my broods, I expect them to do more damage than they did in the disastrous combat against my Doom Eagles Strike Force 1 army. This army will definitely hit in 2 waves, the Gaunts hitting on turn 2 and the Warriors hitting about turn 3 or 4. The speed of the Gaunts might just be enough to keep the Warriors alive. Without screening units, or an armor save that can stand up to a Bolter, the Warriors are shredded by enemy fire. On the other hand, every shot that goes to a Warrior is one less shot against my Gaunts, which are more fragile and will hopefully cause more damage.
My plan is to set up the Plasmagaunts and one Warrior Brood to one side of my deployment, and the largest Brood of Deathgaunts and the other Warrior Brood to the other side. These will form sort of a modified pincer. Actually, going with the Tyranid idea of consuming the enemy, let's call it the Maw. The above-mentioned Broods will be the ripping teeth, that tear into the flesh, while the other broods, spread across the middle, will be the holding teeth, latching onto the prey to keep it in place. The Ripping Teeth Broods should do more damage than the others, causing the enemy line to collapse from both ends toward the center, trapping enemy units inside the closing mouth.
Well, I'll try to get some games in, even if it's just another one or two against my Doom Eagles Strike Force, so I can see how they do. In the meantime, I hunger...
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