Swarming Up

With the advent of 5th edition and No Retreat, many Tyranid players have been saying that Gaunts are now completely useless and whining about how badly we need a new codex. I put this together to point out that not only are Gaunts not useless, but they can actually be quite effective, even with the existence of No Retreat. I'll let the numbers speak for themselves first, then I'll put my conclusions below.

This started with my contention that Gaunts won't _lose_ combat as long as they outnumber Space Marines 4:1. I would like to expand on this later, but we've got to start somewhere. Let's start with that.

Gaunts get the charge, due to Fleet. (And that SM would more likely Rapid-Fire rather than charge against a large brood of Gaunts.) Both opponents have I4, so casualties are simultaneous.

4:1 Outnumbering
Round 1
24 Gaunts vs. 6 SM

G:48 attacks, 24 hits, 8 Wounds 2.66 dead.
SM: 7 attacks, 4.66 hits 3.11Wounds 2.59 dead.
Result: Draw

Round 2: 22 Gaunts vs 4SM
G: 22 attacks, 11 hits, 3.66W, 1.22 dead
SM: 5 attacks, 3 hits, 2W, 1.66 dead (2 actual casualties)
Gaunts Lose combat by 1
1 No Retreat Wound=0.83 dead

Round 3: 19 Gaunts vs 3SM
G: 19 attacks, 10 hits, 3.33W, 1.11 dead (2 actual casualties)
SM: 4 attacks, 2 hits, 1.33W, 1.11 dead

Round 4: 18 Gaunts vs 1 SM
G: 18 attacks, 9 hits, 3W 1.0 Dead SM
SM 2 attacks 1 hit, 0.66W 0.55 dead.
18 Gaunts remaining, 0 Space Marines.

3:1 Outnumbering
To cut back on some of the numbers here, I'll summarize a little. Each gaunt attack = 0.55DSM (1/2 to hit x 1/3 W x 1/3 fail saves)
each SM attack = 0.37DTG (2/3 x 2/3 x 5/6)
when there is a number in parentheses, it means it's the actual number of casualties inflicted.
NRW= No Retreat Wounds

18 Gaunts vs 6 SM

Round 1:
G: 2.0DSM SM: 2.59DTG Draw

Round 2:
G: 0.88DSM SM: 1.85 (2) Gaunts lose by 2. 1.66 NR Wounds (2)

Round 3:
G: 0.66DSM(1) SM: 1.85DTG(1) Draw

Round 4:
G: 0.61DSM(1) SM: 1.48DTG(2) Gaunts lose by 1. 0.83 NRW (1)

Round 5:
G: 0.44DSM SM: 1.11DTG(1) Gaunts lose by 1. 0.83 NRW (1)

Round 6:
G: 0.33DSM SM: 1.11DTG(1) Gaunts lose by 1. 0.83 NRW(1)

Round 7:
G: 0.22DSM(1) SM: 1.11 DTG(1) Draw

Round 8:
G: 0.17DSM SM: 0.74DTG Draw

Round 9:
G: 0.17DSM SM: 0.74DTG(1) Gaunts lose by 1. 0.83 NRW(1)

Round 10:
G: 0.05DSM SM: 0.74DTG(1) All Gaunts dead. SM Win.

1SM survives (and no Gaunts) after 10 CC phases of bloody combat.

2:1 Outnumbering
12G vs 6 SM

Round 1:
G: 1.32DSM SM: 2.59DTG(2) Gaunts lose by 1. 0.83 NRW(1)

Round 2:
G: 0.495DSM SM: 2.22(2) Gaunts lose by 2. 1.66 NRW(2)

Round 3:
G: 0.275DSM(1) SM: 2.22DTG(2) Gaunts lose by 1. 0.83 NRW (1)

Round 4:
G: 0.11DSM SM: 1.48DTG(1) Gaunts lose by 1. 0.83 NRW(1)

All Gaunts dead, 3 SM left after 4 CC rounds.

No Outnumbering, 1:1 Charge
6 Gaunts vs 6SM

Round 1:
G: 0.66DSM SM: 2.59DTG Gaunts lose by 2. 1.66 NRW(2)
G: 0.11DSM SM: 2.59DTG All Gaunts dead.

All Gaunts dead, no SM injured in this combat, but it's 2 CC phases, which can be very useful.

Okay, so what does this all mean?
As I was putting this together, some tactics came to mind...

-If you've got 24 Gaunts and he's got 2 squads of 6 SM. You charge 1 squad with those Gaunts and kill them (4 CC phases.) Then you charge the remaining 18 into the other squad. You tie them up for 10 CC phases and he's left with 1 SM.

24 Gaunts for 11 SM isn't too bad, and you've kept them from shooting or doing anything for probably the whole game.

-If there's less than 5 full turns left (let's say it's turn 3) you can charge a squad on an objective @ 3:1, knowing you'll still have some left to contest at the end of the game.

-If you really need to tie a squad up for a full turn, you can charge at 1:1. It will cost you that brood and probably do no damage, but the squad won't be free again until your next turn. (When you can hopefully hit them with something more potent.)

Conclusions:
I hadn't realized how little No Retreat actually effects Gaunts, unless they are badly losing combat. Except against very specific enemies (those with buckets of attacks and good saves) Gaunts really aren't impacted much. I also found it interesting that (at those ratios) all the combats ended on an even-numbered combat phase. That means that the combat will finish when it's about to be your turn, which is exactly when you want it to finish

Leaping Lizards! (or something)
Since I was in the neighborhood and had a calculator warmed up and ready to go, I also took a look at Hormagaunts, since many Tyranid players think they are useless now. They think that because they think that No Retreat does major damage to them, and because they have been overshadowed by Genestealers for a while now. I did some more hammering, and this is what I came up with... (Now that you can see how I worked out the numbers, I've left out all the extra stuff and just cut to the chase.) I started with basic 10pt Hormagaunts

3:1 Outnumbering
18 Horms vs 6 SM
result: Victory in 3 cc phases 12 Horms left.

2:1 Outnumbering
12 Horms vs 6 SM
result: Loss in 5 cc phases 2 SM left.

Conclusions:
Using the same point value (roughly 180pts) as the 3:1 basic horms, I hammered each of the individual upgrades...

16x I5 Horms: Victory in 4 CC phases with 14 left
16x WS5 Horms: Victory in 3 CC phases with 13 left
16x SV5+ Horms: Victory in 4 CC phases with 13 left
15x S4 Horms: Victory in 2 CC phases with 13 left

Basically, each upgrade is viable and improves the results over basic Horms.

I then took a look at approximate point value.
7 Super Horms (WS5 S4 I5) vs 6 SM (98pts vs 90-100pts)
Result: Victory in 5 cc phases, 4 Horms left.

Genestealers still do better, but it's not as lopsided as people think...
6 FT Genestealers vs 6 SM (102pts vs 90-100)
Result: Victory in 3 CC phases with 5 left.

Corraling the rest of the numbers
Then I did a few quick calcs for similar point values on everybody. Point for point, they all stacked up pretty well. This, of course, doesn't count shooting and such, just charging into combat. Here's the short list from worst to best...

100pts 20x Spine Gaunt Victory in 6 cc phases, 10 left (50% remaining)
98pts 7 Super Horms WS5 S4 I5 Victory in 5 cc phases 4 left (57%)
90pts 9x Ripper Victory in 5 cc phases, 17W left (63%)
91pts 7x S4 Ripper Victory in 4 cc phases 15W left (71%)
102pts 6x FT Genestealer Victory in 3 cc phases, 5 left (83%)

I have to say, the Rippers really surprised me. One thing to note though, is the difference between winning in an odd number of phases as opposed to an even one. If you win on an odd-numbered phase, you are stuck out the in open in your opponent's turn. If you win on an even one, it's your turn and you are much safer.

Interestingly, I hadn't realized just how effective some of them were, point-wise. I had thought No Retreat would be much worse for them. It also made me realize that Rippers are _way_ more effective in CC (against non-S6+ units) than I expected. Basically, it's about possibilities and not jumping on the whining bandwagon. Take a look at the facts, factor in your preferences and forge ahead.

After that, for the more practical side: it should give you a rule of thumb for how long your Gaunts will last, if you need them to.

If you enjoyed this, email me and let me know

Return to Warpstorm!