Those are pretty neat and all, but what about all my other stuff?
Okay, so I've been reading through the Tyranid codex and marveling at the new creatures and the new ways that the old things worked. While I'd like to pick up some Trygons and Tyrranofexes and Harpies, I really don't have the money for them. I have quite a few Tyranids already, so I set out to see what I could do with what I have. To that end, I created this list. One of my primary concerns for this list was vehicles. 5th edition is really a vehicle edition and mounted armies are much more effective. This means you see more and more mechanized armies. A list that can't deal effectively with vehicles is really going to struggle. This is what I hashed out initially...

HQ

HQ 1: Hive Tyrant
Wings, 2xTLDev:Brainleech Worms Total: 260

Will likely Deepstrike, using Devourers and flight to get side/rear shots on vehicles to immobilize them, then crush them in CC. HQ 2: Hive Tyrant
Wings, 2xTLDev:Brainleech Worms, Hive Commander Total: 285

same as above, but also gives the bonus to reserves.

ELITES

Elite 1: Zoanthropes
Mycetic Spore Total: 220

Heavy Vehicles go boom.

TROOPS

Troops 1: Warriorsx3
LW/BS, ST, AG, TS and a Mycetic Spore Total: 205

Small in number, but good infantry shredders and a Scoring unit

Troops 2: Genestealersx10
Scything Talons, Toxin Sacs Total: 190

Outflanking Infantry shredder and Scoring Unit

Troops 3: Genestealersx10
Scything Talons, Toxin Sacs Total: 190

Outflanking Infantry shredder and Scoring Unit

Troops 4: Genestealersx10
Scything Talons, Toxin Sacs Total: 190

Outflanking Infantry Shredder and Scoring Unit

HEAVY SUPPORT

Heavy Support 1: Carnifex
2xTLDev:Brainleech Worms and Mycetic Spore Total: 230

Uses shooting to stop vehicles and then eat them.

Heavy Support 2: Carnifex
2xTLDev:Brainleech Worms and Mycetic Spore Total: 230

Uses shooting to stop vehicles and then eat them

Army Total: 2000pts

This army is designed to start off the board and then drop on them rather suddenly. I should get 6 broods on turn 2 and the rest will likely follow on turn 3. This army uses models I currently have or can easily adjust a little bit. What I have is approximately:
2x Hive Tyrant with double Devs
3x Carnifex with double Devs (babyfexes made from Tyrant Guard models)
3xWarrior (I have also used them variously as Lictors or Raveners)
80+Genestealers
80+ Hormagaunts
150+ Spine- and Termagants (mostly spines)

The spores will be a modeling project that I think I can do rather quickly.

It's not a bad army, but I felt it could be better. One of the first things I wanted to do was use 2 Hive Commanders. An extra 25pts to get a 2+ on my reserves would be great, unfortunately the Tyranid FAQ cancelled that option. The next adjustment was realizing how much work it would be to put that many scything talons on the Genestealers. While ST/TS Genestealers are very good at killing things, they are also rather expensive and fragile. Simply removing the talons leaves them still fairly effective and less expensive. Similarly, I had put adrenal Glands on the Warriors (primarily as an emergency anti-vehicle measure) but I realized they primarily added cost without adding much value. (Even against vehicles, Warriors really can't catch them.) Someone on Warpshadow suggested I use Dual scything talons on the Flyrants instead of the TL-Devourers. I waffled back and forth for quite a while on this one. I did the math and realized that a Dual Talon Flyrant has about a 55% chance of killing a vehicle, while the Dual Devourer Flyrant only has about a 38% chance (including shooting) of killing a vehicle. On the other talon, the Dual Devourers have about an 83% chance of stopping a vehicle from shooting. Ultimately, I decided that I'd rather have a better chance at killing vehicles, even if it means I won't be shutting down their shooting on my first turn. The Carnifi are too slow to catch vehicles, however, so they can keep the Devourers. Finally, I considered adding weapon biomorphs to the spore pods to add a bit of antivehicle shooting, but after doing the math, I realized their effectiveness was almost nothing.

HQ

HQ 1: Hive Tyrant
Wings, 2xScything Talons, Adrenal Glands Total: 240

Will likely Deepstrike, flight to catch and bring down enemy vehicles. HQ 2: Hive Tyrant
Wings, 2xScything Talons, Adrenal Glands, Hive Commander Total: 265

same as above, but also gives the bonus to reserves.

ELITES

Elite 1: Zoanthropes
Mycetic Spore Total: 220

Heavy Vehicles go boom.

TROOPS

Troops 1: Warriorsx3
LW/BS, ST, TS and a Mycetic Spore Total: 190

Small in number, but good infantry shredders and a Scoring unit

Troops 2: Genestealersx12
Toxin Sacs Total: 204

Outflanking Infantry shredder and Scoring Unit

Troops 3: Genestealersx12
Toxin Sacs Total: 204

Outflanking Infantry shredder and Scoring Unit

Troops 4: Genestealersx12
Toxin Sacs Total: 204

Outflanking Infantry Shredder and Scoring Unit

HEAVY SUPPORT

Heavy Support 1: Carnifex
2xTLDev:Brainleech Worms and Mycetic Spore Total: 230

Uses shooting to stop vehicles and then eat them.

Heavy Support 2: Carnifex
2xTLDev:Brainleech Worms and Mycetic Spore Total: 230

Uses shooting to stop vehicles and then eat them

Army Total: 1987pts

Is this the most competitive army ever? No. I've seen some of the lists that are high up the competitive charts. Razor spam and other things will trash this list quickly. On the other hand, I think it can hang pretty well with lists that aren't quite as completely optimized, and this will let me play for the moment without having to put out a lot of money.

I've also been considering conversions I might do to improve the competitiveness or at least the variety of my army without spending money. The first thought was the possibility of converting my various Carnifi into Tyrranofexes and Tervigons. Looking at them, however, I changed my mind. I might be able to make the old Gunfexes into either one, but my old elite carnifexes were babyfexes made from Tyrant Guard models. While I still think they look pretty good, they don't look nearly big enough to me to have 6 wounds. On the other talon, Hive Guard look a great deal like Tyrant guard, and I think they'd convert very well into their shootier cousins. They might also make a good base for a Harpy model. Hmm.

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