Some Tyranid tactics

The purpose of this article is to touch upon some of the units that people might not use, but they're actually really good in their own right.  I advise everyone to think outside the box every now and then.

Have any of you guys try the Swarmlord yet?  I have and I think he's amazing.  For 280 points, I think that's perfectly acceptable for a T6 5W 3+ and 4++ in close combat.  When the close combat invul combine with the WS9, the Swarmlord becomes an absolute menace in close combat.  Throw on the fact that he's I6 with 4 Bonesabres that cause Instant Death, I think we got ourselves a real winner.

My favorite thing about the Swarmlord is his 18" synapse and the ability to give a unit Furious Charge or Preferred Enemy.  This happens every turn and there's nothing your opponent can do about it.  Throw in the fact that he can make units WS/BS1 for 1 entire turn with Paroxysm, I see no reason not to take him when the Hive Tyrant I want is about the same amount of points.

If I was to take a Hive Tyrant, he would have..
Hive Tyrant, Stranglethorn Cannon, Hive Commander, Old Adversary = 240

So for 40 points more, I get a 2 psychic powers a turn, WS9, 4++ in CC, awesome special rules and a cooler looking model.  I think there's just no comparison imo.

Let's say I didn't want to take a Hive Tyrant at all, to save points I'd probably just take a Tyranid Prime w/ Toxin Sacs and Lash Whip/Bonesword.  He's 120 points and is perfect for taking Warriors w/ the same load out.  He's perfect for allocating S8 missile shots (especially with cover) and he's just a very solid buffer.  I don't know about you guys, but 5x Warriors with BS/LW makes every assault unit in the game think twice about assaulting your lines.  No one, not even assault-heavy armies wants a piece of WS5/6 Warriors that strike first with power weapons that always wounds on 4s and re-rolls vs. T4 and under.

Next, I want to talk about the Deathleaper.  For 140 points, he's pretty expensive for a simple Lictor model.  The key notes is that he reduces a IC's leadership by D3 at the start of the game.  This is mainly cast on enemy psykers because it makes his spells harder to cast and his hood less effective.  For armies like BA, GK, SM and other armies that rely on psychic hoods to dispel your dreaded Paraoxysm, a nerfed leadership is a huge blow to assault-based armies.

Deathleaper is a very fragile unit, but can reap great rewards when used well.  A 12" bubble of 1d6 less when moving through difficult terrain is extremely frustrating once enemy vehicles have been destroyed.  Just make sure you deploy him out of LoS or far away enough to take advantage of his super Night Fighting rules.  To make matters a little worse for your opponents, he can disappear T4 and re-appear T5 to contest any objective, anywhere.  This can be great for opponents rushing for objectives at the end of the game because their positions are getting overrun by your mans.

Now, I want to talk about Venomthropes.  No other unit frustrates assault-based armies as much as these dudes.  Dangerous Terrain tests + defensive grenades on every unit within 6" of the Venomthrope makes your army unassailable by assault.  It's just SO frustrating running hnto Nids and having the strength of your charge robbed from you.  Take in the fact that 2 Venoms can cover the entirety of most Tyranid armies and still keep their 4+ cover makes them attractive yet frustrating units to shoot at.  Do you want to shoot missiles at these things or do you want to shoot them at the BS/LW Warriors, Carnifexes or Hive Tyrants?  I think that's the key for a successful Tyranid lists:  Load the board with so many dangerous targets that your opponents sweat thinking about what he's shooting at.

Oh yes, the Carnifex.  More so, the Dakkafex.  A lot of you guys have turned your Fexes into Trevigons and I feel your pain.  GW made them almost twice as expensive in an attempt to sell a bigger and more expensive model (the Tyrgon).  Fear not, for I am here to tell you that the Dakkafex is still one of the most dangerous units in the game.  First, they can be covered by 4+ cover from your Warriors of Hive Guard.  Second, 3 Dakkafexes in a unit is 12 T6 3+ wounds with FNP thanks to your Trevigon.  Third, they can shoot 36 Twin-linked BS3 S6 shots at 24" of threat range (6+18").  Forth, you can't get in combat with one without getting in combat with all of them.  Do you like taking 12 S9 attacks?  I don't.  Fifth, they are much dangerous than Trygons because of their range and they're much harder to kill because they can be covered.  Three of these guys in a unit is 570 points, about the same as a unit of whatever in a Land Raider, which is perfectly acceptable.  Pop a Rhino with your Hive Guard and shoot at its contents.  I promise you, full squad or not, those Marines are going to get murdered.

Many of you have seen lists out there with a lot of Genestealers.  I don't know about you guys, Genestealers are really good.  They've always been good, and even without Flesh Hoods, they're still stupid amazing.  WS6 I6, Rending Claws and the ability to take Toxin Sacs makes them extreme killers.  They can also Infiltrate, which means they can Outflank and thus can apply pressure from the very start of the game or later in the game.  With the Swarmlord, I have greater control over where and how I want to apply pressure so GS are always a must for me.  To keep things even more effective, a small unit of GS hanging out by your backlines makes you near invulnerable to assault.  Unless the GS are getting shot to death by Marines coming out of a Drop Pod (and which case you should Outflank them), no one is going to be able to get near you without risking getting fisted by Genes.  Tie units up with your cheap ass Gaunts and then run Genes in to clean house.  My preferred loadout is 20 strong for 280 points in an Infiltrated position.  Move your Trevigon first, get up there and give them FNP for some Move Through Cover, Fleeting, highly resilient shock troops.  Believe me when I tell you:  Anyone who underestimates Genestealers is a noob.  Genes have been ripping Marines a new asshole since as long as I can remember.

That's all I got right now, more to follow later.

When does it become spam?

This happens a lot more in 40K than it does in Fantasy, but when does army composition become spam?  If you have 3 10-man Grey Hunter units in a Rhino, is that considered spam?  What about 3x Baal Preds in your army?  What about taking 3x 10-man units of Assault Space Marines geared out in the same way?

What exactly qualifies as spam?

At what number does it qualify as spammy?

Do they have to be the same loadout?

Is 40K a repetitive game with redundant units?  Without redundancy, it appears that lists are less effective because there's a higher chance they won't impact the game if they're destroyed.  The argument for most people when they ask the old-aged question of:  How many Land Raiders should you take?  Most people reply with 2.  Why 2?  Because if one goes down, you have another.  At the same time, these players are also the same players that bitch about 3-4 Razorbacks with TLLC sitting across the field from them.

Personally, I don't think spam is necessarily a bad thing in a game like 40K.  In fact, I don't think the game is designed to promote different units on the battlefield.  Is this a problem with internal book balance (useless units vs. non), or is this just player mentality?  Something to think about.

Tyranids, the new pro?

The more I look at the Tyranid book, the more I think it's one of the most difficult armies to play.  It's been a long time since Tyranids joined the 5th Edition party and I think it's time to revisit them as an army.  Let's talk about some of the flaws of the Tyranid book really quickly:

• A lot of stuff doesn't make sense:  Why aren't there frag nade equivs on a lot of the assault units?  Why can't the Carnifex take 2+ armor?  Why the hell is it priced so high?  Why can't Lictors pop out and charge?  There is a LOT of these questions vs. the last army book.
• The FOC is all messed up:  The elite slot has like 3 pages worth of units.  Really?  All this for 3 unit slots?  Why couldn't some of these been placed in the heavy slot.  In fact, why's there so many units all over the place?
• Why is everything so expensive?  Compared to the 3rd Ed. army book, almost everything went up in cost.. by a lot.  This leaves lists with very "limited" options for the most part.  I put limited in quotes because what I'm going to say next is going to make you think Trygons over Carnifex isn't as clear cut any more.

Now that that stuff is out of the way (and if you disagree, please let me know), let's talk about the good stuff:

• Everyone knows that compared to Cruddace's other book, the IG codex, the Tyranids book looks like a rush job, sloppy piece of shit that's horribly imbalanced both internally and externally.  Then we look at how the book plays and it is nothing like last edition.  Then we slam our faces against a wall for over a year, bitch and moan all over whinseer and fakka and then play with every single unit in the book trying to "crack" the winning build.  Just when all hope is lost, I'm here to tell you that Tyranids is actually a "master-class" army.
• What?!  You can't be serious?!  Well, I kind of am.  I think Tyranids are one of those armies who's synergy and list composition has to be so tight that there's virtually no room for error.  Everything in the army has to make sense and every unit you take has to do its job according to your army's design.
• But, what do you mean?  I mean the general has to be superb, the list has to be a well-oiled machine and that he must play his heart out against the horrors of the current meta.  Like Dark Eldar, the only other army I would put into the mythical "master-class" category, there needs to be a battleplan in your head before your deployment against every army.  This isn't a I'm-going-to-shoot-this army like Vendetta/Chimeras, Razorspam or Psyfleman where the only true skill of the army lies in target priority, but an army that can be destined to fail from deployment to movement, to shooting to assault.
• Lastly, I want to say that no matter what, by book flaws alone, that they'll struggle to place at the top tables.  It doesn't help that Venom spam ruins the shit out of the army and that seems like the new WAAC DE thing.

I will elaborate more as the week goes on.  I want to hear what you guys think first.

Space Marine Psykers

This is a follow-up to my Librarians, why not? article.  Each Librarian will list the powers I find most attractive and why.  Most libbies can only choose 2 powers, but the GK one can buy as many as he wants.

Space Marine Librarian
Null Zone, Avenger, Gate of Infinity

My builds:

Libby, TDA w/ SS (Null Zone, Gate of Infinity) leading 5x TH/SS Termies in a LRC

Libby, (Avenger, Gate of Infinity), Drop Pod, 10x Sternguard w/ Combi-weapons

The weakest Librarian out of the bunch, the standard SM Librarian gets access to quite a few unique powers.  Null Zone really screws anything with invul saves; ranging from TH/SS Terminators, Wyches in CC or 2++ Shadow Fields.  Avenger is one of the best templates in the game as S5 AP3 cuts through MEQ like butter.  GoI is a little tricky but can play a big part in your army as you can take your TH/SS Termies from one location to another or carry a large bunch of Sternguard into your enemies' face.

Blood Angels Librarian
Unleash Rage, Sanguine Sword, Shield of Sanguinius, Blood Lance

My builds:

Libby, TDA w/ SS (Unleash Rage, Sanguine Sword) leading 5x Assault Termies in a LRC

Libby, JP (Unleash Rage, Shield of Sanguinius) leading 10x ASM w/ PF, 2x Meltaguns

The Blood Angels Librarian holds many destructive abilities that compliment the offensive nature of the BA army.  Unleash Rage is one of the reasons the Reclusiarch is a subpar choice.  Preferred Enemy for multiple rounds of combat is much stronger than one round of re-roll hits.  Sanguine Sword allows the Librarian to take on anything in the game because S10 can touch anything on 2s while punching through the strongest armor.  Shield allows BA to spam mech like no other while advancing towards the enemy.  Then, there's the Blood Lance.  It's not as strong as JotWW in terms of what it can target, but it can threaten any vehicle with its S8 AP1 Lance.  Versus enemy tank lines, if you can line up a good shot, you might be able to take out quite a few targets per turn.  The best thing about these abilities is that both the offensive assault ones I noted (UR and SS) can be used in either player's turn.  Shield is a defensive ability that fires during your enemy's shooting phase and Blood Lance is in your shooting phase.  This healthy mix of choices allows the BA Librarian to get off psychic powers in either player's turn.

Grey Knights Librarian
Shrouding, Sanctuary, Might of Titans, Warp Rift

My builds:

Libby, (Shrouding, Sanctuary, Might), 3x Servo-skulls, MC Halberd leading..

6x Paladins (Apoth, MC DH, 2x MC Psycannons, BBanner, MC, all Halberds)

10x GKT (MC DH, DH, rest Halberds, 2x Psycannons, BBanner, Psybolts)

Some say the GK Libby isn't needed, but I think he's one of the best buys in the book.  For 150 points, you get a Epistolary that's in Terminator Armor, can have a 4++ in close combat because of his Force Sword, has access to I6 Halberds or MC weapons, and is equipped with Frag and Krak grenades.  On top of this, he has 4 amazing psychic powers that compliments the GK army perfectly.  Shrouding keeps your units safe in cover with a whopping 3++ save, Sanctuary provides assault protection that covers a large area, and Might of Titans allows your units to punch through tanks with +1S and 2d6 armor pen.  This can be used in conjunction with Hammerhand for S6 vs. T4 MEQ or Hive Tyrant strength vs. armor.  Lastly, we have Warp Rift.  I like this ability because it's essentially a template-sized JotWW.  Sure, it doesn't target models, but against slow, expensive units who are bunched up (think Nids and Orks), this ability is invaluable.  Just like the BA Librarian, the GK Libby can get off multiple abilities per turn since Shrouding is cast in the enemies' shooting phase, Sanctuary in his assault, Might in your assault, Hammerhand whenever and Warp in your shooting.  An unupgraded GK Libby can cast 2 abilities per player turn, and up to 4 per game turn.  With Ld.10, he is my go-to guy to get off Hammerhand when my Paladins use their psychic ability to activate their Force Weapons via Brotherhood Banner.  Instant win.  Oh, and he has access to Servo-skulls, which is pretty much a must-have if you intend on taking Deep Strikers.

Space Wolves Rune Priest
Murderous Hurricane, Living Lightning, Jaws of the World Wolf

My builds:
Rune Priest (Chooser, Murderous Hurricane, LL) leading..
8x Grey Hunters w/ WG (Rhino, PF/cbM, Meltagun, WS, MotW)

Last, but certainly not least, is the SW Rune Priest.  The best thing about the Rune Priest is that his runic weapon nullifies enemy psychic abilities on a 4+.  No need to roll off like the other libbies, a 4+ within 24" is all you need to shut down enemy powers.  In addition, he can take quite a few pieces of wargear to make him stand out more so than the other librarians.  First, he can take Wolftooth Necklace that makes him hit anything with a WS at 3+, no matter what.  It doesn't matter if he's fighting a Gaunt or a Bloodthirster, if you roll a 3+, you hit.  See a trend here?  Second, is his ability to take Runic Armor, which is the SM-equiv to Artificer Armor w/ a built-in psychic protection.  Third, is his ability to take Sagas that improves his killing potential ontop of his natural Counter-attack.  He has so many different wargear options that he makes other librarians look broke ass poor, save maybe the GK one.  I guess since the Chooser of the Slain is pretty much an auto-include for me, he should get a mention.  18" perched on top of a high point gives the RP +1BS with Living Lightning and pushes back all infiltrated units.  Viewed as the best HQ choice in the game by many players, I take him in every game with Space Wolves.

As for powers, I find Murderous Hurricane, Living Lightning and Jaws to be the best choices.  Murderous Hurricane allows you to slow down and destroy enemy infantry, Living Lightning allows you to punch through armor from infinite range, and Jaws is just... jaws.  No other psychic ability in the game caused as much ruckus as Jaws did when it first came out and it's still being talked about today.  It has a 24" line that can snipe any model it touches and if they fail a I test, they're removed from play.  Laff.

Bringing back vehicle death

Goatboy recently wrote a article on BoLS that touched upon a very sensitive issue.  By sensitive, I mean mech players are going to cry buckets of tears all over the place.  Seriously though?  I don't give a shit.  I'm sick of seeing Razorspam and Chimerawalls to a point every list on every site looks the same.  Let's be honest, 5th Edition was good, but not nearly good enough.

This is fine if you think about it.  5th Ed. was GW's first attempt at getting True Line of Sight right.  They did good for the most part; it sped up the game and made things visually impressive.  However, they failed on two major accounts:  The general cover system and the Vehicle Damage Chart.  Everything right now, is too forgivable.  A 4+ cover on everything means half of your shots are negated and the glancing modifier means you can never destroy a vehicle with a glance under normal circumstances.  This is ass.

Here is what I want in 6th Ed., more so than any other change GW can think of:

• Increase vehicle lethality by bringing back ways to kill vehicles with glancing shots.  A simple -1 modifier for glancing instead of -2 will do the trick.  This will result in a lot of vehicle death everywhere once you throw enough heavy weapons into the fray.
• Decrease the general cover bonus for all units by 1.  This means everything will get 5+ cover for the most part, which is perfectly fine for me.  Skimmers, Jetbikes and anything capable of turbo-boosting should get a 4+ cover at best.

Who is willing to test some of these rules out and see how it will effect the current armies out there?  I have a bunch of 40K armies that would like to experiment.

Librarians, why not?

Librarians are the best HQ choice for Blood Angels, period.  The same could be said about Space Wolves and their Rune Priests and maybe even generic SM.  If I had a choice between the Grand Master and the Librarian, I would take the Librarian as well.  And then, there's Mephiston, the Librarian with the same stats as a Greater Daemon on a infantry-sized base.  One thing's for damn sure: Librarians add so much to their respective armies these days that they're pretty much an auto-include.

Let's see why Librarians are an auto-include:

• They offer psychic abilities that can greatly enhance your army's potential.  This includes defensive abilities like Shrouding or Shield of Sanguinius or offensive abilities like Murderous Hurricane or Blood Lance.
• They offer psychic protection.  If the other guy has a psyker and you don't, you're pretty much at the mercy of his psychic onslaught.  There's times where you can't afford to let your opponent Unleash Rage on a unit of LC Terminators.  No matter how you look at it, Librarians are the condoms of the 41st millenium.
• They come with Force Weapons.  Sure, their combat stats aren't as great as a Captains', but they have the ability to detonate someone's brain and end their lives immediately.  Grey Knights can alter their strength and strike at I6 while Blood Angel Librarians can Unleash Rage and reach S10.
• They are flexible.  Most can done Terminator Armor and some can be given Storm Shields.  Rune Priests can be given Runic Armor (Artificer) and other nifty upgrades whereas others can take Bikes or Jump Packs.  Librarians can be with any unit in the game and keep pace, and that's very important in an Space Marine army.
• They are cheap.  Librarians are the most cost effective HQ choices in most books because they offer all the above at 100 or so points.  Rune Priests are considered the best HQ choice in the game and rightfully so.  Just look at what they can do for the amount of points.

Stay tuned for my next article where I talk about specific Librarian powers and configurations for all my different armies.  I'm excited.

DEcisions, decisions

First, my army list at 2K.

1998
20 kp

HQ:
Asdrubael Vect = 240

TROOP:
5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130
5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130
9x Wyches (Raider NS/FF, Hekatrix/Agnoizer/BP) = 215
10x Wyches (Raider NS/AS, Hekatrix/Agnoizer/BP) = 220
10x Wyches (Raider NS/AS, Hekatrix/Agnoizer/BP) = 220

ELITE:
3x Trueborn (Venom NS/SC, 3x Blaster) = 156
3x Trueborn (Venom NS/SC, 3x Blaster) = 156
3x Trueborn (Venom NS/SC, 3x Blaster) = 156

HEAVY:
Ravager (NS/FF) = 125
Ravager (NS/FF) = 125
Ravager (NS/FF) = 125

This list is really effective in all-comers list vs. all scenario based missions except for kill points.

However, I want that to change.  Even though the Warrior Raiders put down a lance shot from the back while providing a solid scoring option, I feel like there might be better options.  Here are some of them.

9x Reaver Jetbikes (Champion, 3x Heat Lances) = 244
10x Scourges (Solarite, 4x Splinter Cannons) = 260
2x 5x Warriors (Venom NS/CC, Blaster) = 135x2 = 270

The Reaver Jetbikes offer solid damage vs. any infantry unit they pass over as well as armor-threatening Heat Lances once they get to the back field.  Scourges, as fragile as they are being Jump Infantry who's often times exposed, provide a ridiculous amount of firepower from far away.  At full strength, they can jump 12" and shoot 18" with their Carbines/Splinter Cannons.  This adds up to 30 Splinter shots with a 30" threat on the move.  They can also stay in the back and offer a solid shooting solution with 24 shots from 36".  Next, we have the 2x Warriors in Venoms that sit in the back, score and shoot.  They're relatively safe because of the low profile of the Venom, the Night Shield and Flicker Fields.  The difference between these three units is that one shoots really well, one contests really well and one scores really well.

Which unit do you think fits better in the list?  I'm all ears.

Dark Eldar 3rd Wave

These are some of the most ridiculously beautiful models I've ever seen.

That's all I have to say..

Wowowow, the Talos is pretty cool, but the Cronos Parasite Engine is just beyond amazing.  Look how ALIEN that thing is..

The Venom is awesome as expected and the Scourges are just beautiful.  The wings are perfect, and I can see perfect conversion opportunities come up them.

Oh, and a sneak peak at the Razorwing: