Inspired by a post (part of a series I guess..evolution of a list) by Kennedy at 40k for the NewProfessional…
As I sat and read up on some blog posts from my ‘followed’ blogs over breakfast…I really enjoyed reading up on Kennedy’s ‘Nids.
He has a batrep versus some pretty well built Orks (not ideal, but it is orks) up and it was a good read. Batreps are odd things as they can more often than not, not help, but I really felt as though I picked up some ideas from this.
On a side note, Kirby’s Centurion Nid posts are also as educational. Some great deployment ideas through the pics he posts…..like this one:
I thought about how I played more 1750 games now than 1500. The tournaments seem to rock it that way and I really enjoy it.
At this level I think Nids can work as I’ve said before in the past, as Stelek over at YTTH says too…
I posted up a mini Fexstar list here (which coincidently is the most viewed post on the blog???wtf? It’s barely above average list, on a very average blog post…but hey ho)…but that is not quite how I’d run things now…plus, I don’t have the models and am tight (biovores? Who fucking owns them! But they worked;) )
I think I’ll try and bastardise the work of Kirby and Kennedy and see what I can do stripping out 250 points to take it to 1750.
Primes as HQ’s to start with. These boys are wicked. Cheap synapse, CC proficiency ad a little bit of shooting. Plus with adrenal glands they can really hurt vehicles for the first round, although with rending claws we can control how much we kill and always hurt vehicles, not just on charge round….not sure yet.
Lets have 2 Primes with Lash Whip and Bonesword, rending claws, regeneration…
Hive Guard next. We need shooting and whilst a couple of months ago there was a real buzz/effort in the blogosphere to run effective Nid lists without HG…I just didn’t really like what I saw, so…
3 units of 2 Hive Guard… 4 S8 per unit is pretty good, I feel 3 x 3 is overkill, but I could be proved wrong.
Troops?
Tervigons & Termagants. Easy choices…
2 x 10 Termagants, which unlocks
2 x Tervigons with Catalyst, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands – which is the most effective load out as far as I can tell…perhaps with scything talons, but for now, we’ll leave it there.
For those unfamiliar (? Where have you been) with the Tervigon…they will spawn 3D6 Termagants every turn until they roll a double on the dice. These gants appear anywhere within 6” of the mummybug and can they act completely normal- moving, assaulting etc.
With 2, a good number of gants will pop out sharpish, creating a lovely screen for cover and bubblewrapping… they also benefit from mummybug’s toys, meaning they have Furious Charge and Poison, plus within 6” – LD10 and Counter-attack.
So yeah, easy choices.
Then we need some nasty shit.
2 x Tyrannofexes with Rupture Cannons, Electroshock Grubs (whatever they’re called it’s a S5 Flamer.)
These guys just fire 2 S10 per turn, hitting 50% and penetrating the fuck out of transports while the HG suppress tanks..or if transport heavy, we just go BOOM on all transports…
The Fexes are T6, W6 and have a 2+ save…fuck you Loganwing.
We can also give them Feel No Pain from the 2 sets of Catalyst in the Tervigons…
Mind you, this is often nasty on a large group of spawned gants with an attached Prime… or a Trygon…
Oh yeah, last expenditure… a Trygon. I love the kit, I love the rules. It’s a fucking big bug that eats you…I’m all over it.
We give this bad mamma jamma Adrenal Glands so it is I5, S7 on the charge, with 7, re-rolling everything attacks…
It is fleet but not a beast, but has a 6 shot S5 gun too…not that I’m often going to use it but hey ho.
This lot comes in at just under 1750…hence me popping cheap regen on the Primes and maybe Onslught onto a tervigon in case one of the Hive Guard units is out of position but a good run would help… or maybe popping those ScyTals I mentioned earlier onto the Terv’s.
How would I deploy these guys? Tune in tomorrow!
Looks like a pretty darn good 1750 list. Catalyst will usually want to go on the Tervigons themselves or on Hive Guard, as those tend to be the most vulnerable units. (Putting it on Termagants when they are about to charge into combat or get charged by something they can potentially beat is definitely worth considering, though.) With Catalyst on a Tervigon and a Tyrannofex standing in front of him, you practically have a 2+ save against Missiles, which is very nice.
ReplyDeleteThe Trygon is a bit of an odd man out in the list- he's the sole "aggressive" element in an otherwise shooty list, so it seems like he'll draw a lot of fire and very rarely get to actually get in combat. If you want to use him, consider swapping one of the Tyrannofexes for another Trygon and adding 1-2 more Hive Guard to make up for losing out on the shooting. If you're fine with ignoring him, adding some other shooting or scoring units to the list could work out well- I have actually found Biovores to be a big threat to some of the more annoying units (Long Fangs, Lootas, Devastators, Heavy Weapons Squads, etc) as well as giving you an excellent trump card against infantry armies.
There are plenty of other things you could try as well; Kirby has had some luck with running Raveners, I'm a big fan of having a Tyrant at the center to give everyone Preferred Enemy, some folks swear by Deathleaper, etc.
@Pup... thanks for the thoughts. I'm pretty happy with the 2 TFexes - I so agree that the sole Trygon is the odd bug out...I used to run biovores awhile back and they were great for once APC-borne troops were forcibly disembarked lol.. and yes, for infantry armies too..perhaps I'll playtest a couple..
ReplyDeleteAny ideas on last 100 points leftover? Up a Prime to a tyrant? Biovores are what? 45 a pop?
Biovores are 45, yeah. If you're not set on the Primes particularly, I would highly recommend running a Tyrant with Heavy Venom Cannon and Old Adversary, accompanied by two Tyrant Guard- he adds some extra suppression shooting to the list, he's incredibly tough to kill (eight T6/3+ wounds with 4+ cover from Termagants) and he makes all your other units a lot more dangerous just by being nearby. And, of course, he's a beast in combat and can make a lot of things unhappy by opening up with Paroxysm.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to keep the Primes, I think the other good option would be to drop Regen on the Tervigons and add a Harpy with Heavy Venom Cannon. It gives you some extra long-range shooting to deal with stuff like Eldar and is another MC that can charge into a fight and ruin someone's day. Consolidating the Hive Guard into 2x3 and adding Deathleaper or Venomthropes could also be workable.
Thoughts from this morning...
ReplyDeletePrime - RC, Deathspitter
3 squads of 2xHive Guard
2 x 10 Termagants
2 x Tervigons; AG,TS
2 x Harpy - HVC, Cluster Spines
2 x Tyrannofex; Rupture Cannon
Bang on 1750... more of a 'pure' shooting army...with even the Prime downgraded from lethal killing machine to light vehicle stalker, although Rending Claws give him a shot at any tank...
i have very little experience playing against and have never played as tyranids. to be honest, this terrifies me.
ReplyDeletewhen i have played them i have isolated and destroyed each element one at a time and have always won with ease, but that looks rather hard, not to say impossible to do here.
It is not easy at all to isolate units and crush them here.. but not impossible at all. Its more a case of smashing an element fast and hard, then being able to dart away and not get drawn into prolonged engagements where support bugs can get into you...the whole thing hunts as a pack and can support one another...moves like a wave, but we know we can diffuse the power of a wave - same principal in tackling this...
ReplyDelete