Putting Killhammer to Work
After hashing out some different ideas on how to make the most of my current Tyranid models (or slight conversions), I thought I might take a different tack. I have previously discussed the concepts of Killhammer, and I thought that I might take what options I have and run them through the Killhammer filter to see what came out.

First, a quick review of what I've got, and what I could make out of some of it...

2x Hive Tyrant with double Devs
2x Carnifex with Venom Cannon and Barbed Strangler
3x Carnifex with double Devs (babyfexes made from Tyrant Guard models)
3x Zoanthropes 3x Warrior (I have also used them variously as Lictors or Raveners)
80+ Genestealers
80+ Hormagaunts
150+ Spine- and Termagants (mostly spines)

I could make Hive Guard out of the 3 Babyfexen rather easily. I could also make Tervigons out of the 2 bigger Carnifi. The Warriors could potentially be Primes or Lictors or Raveners (as well as Warriors or even Shrikes, of course.)

Okay, with that in mind, let's take a very, very brief look at the needs for a Killhammer list. (More detailed discussion at the link, above.)

Killers
These do a lot of damage and should have some capacity for survival. They should form the bulk of a Killhammer list and create the vital kill-gap for you to exploit.

Double Scything Talon Flyrant
Outflanking Genestealers
Warriors
Maybe Hormagaunts

Defenders
Hard to kill, hard to shift off of an objective. (Don't have to be scoring units, they may contest objectives for you or provide cover for your scoring units.) Basically, these hold or contest objectives and soak enemy firepower.

Large units of Termagants in cover
Tervigons
Carnifi

Hunters
Big Distractions. They threaten important items in the enemy army and thus, draw a lot of fire away from your killers. They can also function to disrupt enemy plans.

Ymgarl Genestealers
DeathLeaper
Maybe Lictors
Zoanthropes in a Mycetic Spore
Carnifi in Mycetic Spores

Cleaners
These are supposed to help finish off weakened units and elimate small units, but since the focus of my list will be assault, there shouldn't be many weakened units to finish off (since they'll be dead from assault or I'll likely catch them as they fall back.)

Maybe Lictors, if I include any cleaners at all in the list.

Firebase
The firebase helps to create the kill gap early and help to weaken units that are about to be assaulted. In my army, they'll also be necessary for anti-vehicle shooting, which the rest of the list mostly lacks.

Maybe Carnifi with 2xTL Devourers
Hive Guard

Summary
From that list, I tried to pick the best of each possible category (ignoring Cleaners.)

Killers: Flyrant, Outflanking Genestealers.

Defenders: 2 Large Broods of Termagants, possibly Carnifi as well.

Hunters: Ymgarl Genestealers, Zoanthropes with Mycetic Spore.

Firebase: 3xHive Guard, 1-2 Carnifi w/ 2xTl-Devourers.

Once I'd culled down the list, I started plugging in the pieces. I started with the Killers and decided that I'd spend half of my points there, since they should form the bulk of the army.

Genestealer Feeding Frenzy!

The List
240 Flyrant: Wings, Adrenal Glands, 2xScything Talons
240 Flyrant: Wings, Adrenal Glands, 2xScything Talons
With S7 on the charge and rerolling misses, these are highly effective against infantry and vehicles alike. Their flight gives them a little better chance of finding cover and gives them a larger threat radius. 4 T6 wounds also gives them a decent shot at sticking around for a few turns, even if they tend to top the enemy's target priority list.

161 7x Ymgarl Genestealer
Their ability to appear right next to the enemy and assault on the turn they appear is really, really nasty. One fairly wise way of using them is to show up and assault an enemy unit and choose +1Toughness to survive a little better. Then, during the enemy assault phase, choose +1Attack to kill more and hopefully break the unit and run it down. That leaves you free to assault again in your turn without having been shot! This doesn't always work, but they should always provide a distraction for the enemy, which is what Hunters do.

220 3x Zoanthrope, Mycetic Spore
Another hunter. These provide a great distraction by showing up close to an enemy vehicle and (probably) blowing it up. If the enemy is at all mechanized or has vulnerable characters or small units, the Zoanthropes should occupy quite a lot of attention for a few turns.

150 3x Hive Guard
Firebase vehicle-killer. Note that this is my best vehicle-killer, so I'll need to keep it in cover except in dire emergencies.

145 29x Termagant
140 28x Termagant
This is a huge number of Termagants, and I plan to keep them slighly back (though within Synapse where possible) and put them in cover. Not only should they be pretty survivable, but their numbers should discourage the enemy from shooting at them as well. (Except in the rare case that it panics somebody into focus-firing on them, which will simply take the heat off of my killers.) Sit in cover and hang out on objectives.

170 10x Genestealer: Toxin Sacs
170 10x Genestealer: Toxin Sacs
170 10x Genestealer: Toxin Sacs
My other killer units. In addition to being very nasty in close combat, the fact that the Outflank should make the enemy cluster together in the middle of the board, making it easier for my Flyrants and Hive Guard and Carnifex to find targets. If they don't cluster in the middle, these will have an easier time feeding.

190 Carnifex w/2xTL-Devourer
My other Firebase unit. The Devourers give it a good chance of stunning a vehicle every turn, while it stomps up to eat something in close combat. Simply keeping a tank from shooting every turn is a great way to keep the kill-gap going, if it actually gets to stomp on a couple of units or vehicles, it'll be icing on the cake!

1996pts

The final result of a very effective kill-gap. From the point of view of the prey.

Okay, you may have some questions about why I chose what I did. The first concern would be why did I not take Hive Commander on one of my Flyrants? I gave it a lot of thought, but then I looked at what I have in reserve. 3 units of Toxic Genestealers, Ymgarl Genestealers and Zoanthropes in a Mycetic Spore. 5 units. With average rolls, that'll be 2 coming in on turn 2, and 2 on turn 3, then the last on turn 4. With hive commander, I'd likely get 3 on turn 2 and the other 2 on turn 3. That's not really a massive difference for a little more than the price of a Ymgarl Genestealer. In addition, I also don't think that this list relies as much on early pressure, so having a unit wait a turn before coming in isn't such a big deal. I took 2 Flyrants because they are fast and strong and moderately resilient (and I couldn't take 3!) I took units of 10 Toxic Genestealers to give them a few bodies to absorb casualties and still have enough to do some damage when they hit. I only took 1 Carnifex because that was all I could take with the points leftover. (The Carnifex isn't the most effective thing in the list, but it can do several things that I could really use. On the other talon, it's not so vital that I need more than 1 of them.)

With 3 units of Outflanking Genestealers, I expect most enemy armies will cluster in the center half of their deployment zone. As such, I'll be deploying my on-board forces roughly centrally, though with an eye toward cover. Cover priority goes first to the Hive Guard and the Flyrants. The Outflanking Genestealers will hem them in, while the Ymgarl's eat them from the inside and the Zoanthropes drop their biggest vehicles. The Hive Guard and Flyrants will concentrate on pulling the meat out of the cans, so the Genestealers can devour it. The Carnifex is tasked with shutting down shooty vehicles until it can close and eat any vehicles in reach. For the first few turns, the Termagants will provide some cover if necessary, before falling back (but still inside synapse range) to cover on or near objectives.

Is this the most competitive list around for Tyranids? Nope. I think it's fairly competitive, though, at least as much as my previous list. I think either of them will do well in local games, though I don't know how well they'd do against top tier lists. While most of the parts of the list were apparent to me as powerful before this, I don't think I would have come up with this particular combination without using the guidelines suggested by Killhammer. It was a very interesting exercise and I'm looking forward to playing this list sometime.

If you enjoyed this, email me and let me know

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