Email in: Yawg requesting a Tyranid list

Hey Kirby,

I've gone over some of your reviews on the bits you did for Tyranids and I'm slowly trying a few things out. However, based on your principles and what testing I have done, I'm suffering from, "Trying to find the right piece" syndrome. I'm wanting to start from scratch and 'evolve' from there. So, where do I go from here? I'm trying to make a competitive 2k list with my favorite bugs, so here I am asking for the help. Thanks again for your time.

DiscipleofYawgmoth
 
So an e-mail which I can get to! Don't worry Lunch, I will have your SW list done. Just trying to find something where the Wolf Lord isn't simply a tak-on.
 
So a good start for a 2k list would be my Swarmlord list but let's try something else. Stelek has does something similar to what I'm about to do so let's try and change it up a bit. You can't go too far wrong with those two lists Yawg, so if this isn't your cup of tea try one of those.
 

This won't be based on an HQ so let's get a cheap HQ out there quickly. Prime w/lash whip & bonesword is a good start and let's add in our support MCs. Tervigons! Since we will be taking some termaguants, adrenal glands and toxin sacs are a must and I like to take catalyst and onslaught for the flexibility. So each of these will cost us 210pts. To make these guys Troops we need Termaguants. 2x 10x Termaguants is a cheap 100pts and now we've got two poopers which score and support + the HQ and haven only used 615 pts.
 
Time for our fire suppression. Let's stick with cheapish Hive Guard for the moment with 2x2. 300 pts. These are prime targets for the Tervigons support powers but otherwise put out some pretty accurate S8 firepower. Each squad is very likely to cause some sort of damage each turn though we can increase that with another member each. Let's also take 2x Tyrannofexes w/rupture cannons @ 265pts each. These guys give you 2 S10, a S5 template and S5 blast. Pretty good fire suppresion with T6/W6/2+ but misunderstood. I'll explain in a bit. To round out our fire suppression we'll take some Harpies (more misunderstood units!). These guys are good with a TL'd HVC so 170pts each. That's 1170 for our fire support, expensive but worth it. This will reliably shut down 5-7 tanks a turn.
 
We've got 215 pts left but let's first look at what that fire suppression does. The Harpies are nearly unqiue in the Tyranid codex in being fast so can get into side armor and have a decently reliable chance to hit. Remember what Tyranid shooting is about. Suppression not destruction. Although the Harpies don't have great defenses W4/T5/4+ you can give them FNP or hide them behind T-Fexes but lose mobility. The Hive Guard are pretty self-explanatory. Shoot them at AV11/12 and multi wound T4 targets. T-Fexes...well advance them. Shoot them at LOW armor which can shoot back. These are the ultimate in anti-tank suppression. You are quite likely to cause a hit a turn, don't waste the S10 on higher AV if you don't have to. As you advance their anti-infantry firepower can come into play as well as their MC status. Whilst this MC allows you to crack AV14 at range, it's best used against lower AV to much more reliably stop them.
 
So we've our firebase and our support elements. The majority of damage will be done once we get to CC. Whilst none of the MCs are super evil in combat (or the termaguants) we've got numbers from the Guants and Tervigons + MC status x6 so not too shabby once we get up and close. Now we've got quite a few options from here. We could take 3x more Hive Guard, another Harpy, more termaguants, another Tyranid Prime, etc. For this list I'm going to take some Warriors to give us more punch in combat and confuddle the opponent's target priority against the Tervigons and Harpies. This will also be our likely spot for our Prime who has a BS and LW so we should his LW to our advantage and not buy LW for our Warriors. BS pairs give them some hit in combat and threaten critters like Nobs, etc. so them + Toxin and Adrenal Glands sounds good but at 50 pts a pop. We shall leave them with Devourers so they can use the BS4 from Prime but this means we can only take 4. Not really threatening but we do have the points for a VC. We can drop the Adrenal Glands but it will only give us 20 pts to play with so we'll leave this as our base.
 
Let's review:
 
HQ -
Tyranid Prime w/Bonesword and Lash Whip
 
Elites -
Hive Guard x2
 
Hive Guard x2
 
Hive Guard x2
 
Troops -
Tyranid Warriors x4 w/adrenal glands, toxin sacs, Boneswords x2, Venom Cannon
 
10x Termaguants
 
10x Termaguants
 
Tervigon w/adrenal glands, toxin sacs, Catalyst, Onslaught, cluster spines

Tervigon w/adrenal glands, toxin sacs, Catalyst, Onslaught, cluster spines

Fast Attack -
Harpy w/TL'd Heavy Venom Cannon, cluster spines

Harpy w/TL'd Heavy Venom Cannon, cluster spines

Heavy Support -
Tyrannofex w/Rupture Cannon, thorax swarm, cluster spines

Tyrannofex w/Rupture Cannon, thorax swarm, cluster spines
 
Totals: 2000 pts
Infantry: 31
MC: 6
 
You've got a lot of downfield firepower to take people out of tanks and once they are out of tanks you have enough blasts to rival IG. Although not quick and in your face, it has the durability and suppresion fire to deal with mech until it can wade into close combat. Again, there are a lot of options here to play around with. Up to your liking Yawg?