Awakening The Swarm: 1500 Point Tyranids

With all the rumours floating about, I want to set up a solid comparison. I'm excited to see the new codex, and build a hundred lists with brand new stats, units, and costs. That said, I feel it is very important to remember your roots, and think I can only appreciate the new if I remember the old. With that in mind, here's my baseline reading on a "competitive" 1500 take all comers list.

HQ
230 - Hive Tyrant - Wings, 2 x Scything Talons

Elites

150 - Hive Guard x 3

120 - Zoanthrope x 2

Troops

180 - Tervigon - Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands, Cluster Spines

180 - Tervigon - Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands, Cluster Spines

140 - Termagants x 10, Devourers, Mycetic Spore

100 - Termagants x 20

Fast Attack

160 - Gargoyle x 20, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands

Heavy Support

240 - Trygon Prime

Total - 1500

Here's the plan:
I have a large mass of heavy duty models that can take a pounding while they storm across the table. With 3 dangerous monstrous creatures on foot (the tervigons make up for a lack of combat prowess with the added threat of spawning - I'd rate them very similarly to Trygons for target priority at the start of the game) to soak fire, my relatively few infantry models will be spared most of the heavy weapons fire. Turn 1 I'd likely deploy my Gargoyles and Flyrant behind the three big walking monsters, with a 2-man line of Gaunts in front to provide cover. Turn 2, My whole line will have run forward the previous turn, so this movement phase involves clearing my screen from in front of the Tervigons, so they can spawn 6", move those gaunst up 6", and go for the assault. Average threat range is 19", which combined with the average 9.5" move + Run from the previous turn should get some gaunts into combat. Combined with this are the Flyrant and Gargoyles, who are what I like to call my Hammer units. They are highly mobile units that get into combat, and whatever they assault first dies, either by mass attacks or by few, powerful attacks. These two Hammer units will have used the previous turn to use their extensive movement to position themselves to back the less manoeuvrable gaunts by picking out the enemy's counter assault units or heavy firepower and either killing them or weakening them so severely that even my weaker units (tervigons, gaunts) will have nothing to fear.

Of course I also have two scary and resilient elite choices that provide some ranged support and help to diffuse oncoming fire while restricting highly mobile enemies (skimmers, jetbikes, etc) from outflanking and moving into my army's blind spots.


Now, from you guys, I want some feedback. I'd like to see how you'd play against it, what you think would be hard counters, and what you'd change.

And as always, please Subscribe! Having some followers is the biggest reward for my efforts, and keeps me motivated. Thanks!

Tyranids: Moved To December, and why I am excited!

So, with news that a hive fleet is so much closer then we thought, my mind flies back to the bugs which got me back into 40k. First of all, I want to point out I am one of those players who thinks Cruddace did NOT give us a book that sucks. He didn't do the bugs justice, but in the game at the time if they'd been any better they would have been wildly over powered. In today's meta, powering up our favourite hive mind, and likely lowering the costs of upgrades rather then units (even Hormogaunts going from 10 points tooled up to 8 - making the upgrades 1 point instead of 2 each - would be a huge difference, essentially giving our 20 bug squads mycetic spores with the savings!) will bring our wonderful swarms in line with the powerhouses of Space Marines (3+ spam is pretty darn good now that they are so cheap!) and Tau and Eldar.

What I'm most Excited for:
1) Assault Bugs. I LOVE Hormogaunts. They're among my favourite units in the game, along side the humble Slugga-boyz. They are just the embodiment of the swarm, a ravenous tide of unrelenting fury that is damn near the perfect predator. Right now, they don't see as much use as they could, failing behind the Termagants due to, in my opinion, the "free" upgrades you get and free models when you bring a Tervigon. Seeing the book shift away from Termagant spam would really perk me up.

2) Tyranid Psychic Powers. I hated that ours were so good until we lost run + assault, and then generally better to swap for biomancy. Seeing an Eldar-style boon/curse would be neat, and giving us some cool mind-melting offence would just be gravy. Shadow In The Warp needs to be made better as well.

3) FULL PLASTIC KIT LINE UP! This is actually #1. Having every model available, viable or not, floats my boat. Having them all plastic just makes me rip my shirt off and howl at the heavens with joy. I really just cannot wait, even if the models don't change, I'll be putting some 300$+ into new kits on release day.

4) More viable units. Right now, I'm a little fed up with monobuild critters. I'm not saying there aren't list options, I just want to see new combos. Mycetic spore-pyrovore spam? Cool. Biovore barrage backed by elite Stranglethorn Cannon-MCs with spike rifle termagants "manning the line" would be so cool! A fast attack "swooping" army filled with Harpies and Gargoyles and such just because we can! Not only that, but we can have new biomorphs and new cool combos of them, rather then the same 2 cut and pasted under every entry, with Regeneration thrown in if you're really ambitious.

5) Finally, I want to see a big army wide change in rules in the form of a single, neat, unique concept. I want a "battle-focus" or "supporting fire" or "chapter tactics" that people talk about. I want a ravenous advance, where we may run and still charge with any creature that has the feed behaviour. Something that fundamentally changes OUR games, the way those rules do theirs.

Those are my thoughts, what are yours? Comment below, and as always please subscribe to keepthese coming!

Inquisition Codex: Warlord Table!

Without further Ado:

My Predictions:
Ok, my predictions:

1. Warlord and unit scoring. Maybe Warlord and RETINUE to reflect how cool as shit this codex is going to be.

2. Redeploy D3 units, I'd imagine

3. Warlord and Unit gain Furious Charge or Crusader or Zealot.

4. Preferred Enemy: Anything Not Human

5. No idea. Super psyched to see it.

6. Hatred. Maybe Zealot, if it turns out to be super mc-awesome.

By far the most exciting part of this is the fact this is ORDO XENOS! Which means 3 warlord tables?

What do you think?