The Myth of the Tyranid Mono-Build

There is a rumor floating around the internets, or perhaps a meme, a thought pattern, an assumption, and it goes something like this: "Tyranids only have one viable build; they're the weakest 5th Edition codex." It grows out of the "standard" Tyranid list: Hive Guard, Tervigons, Trygons/Tyrannofexes, and also from the debacle of the FAQ and perceived sleights that GW has laid at the feet of xenos players. And, of course, it comes from the fact that the internet is constantly obsessed with the Latest and Greatest- when SW came out they totally obviated SM, BA did the same to SW, etc.

My friends, this mindset, this way of thinking, this "truth" is nothing but a myth. It's a lie handed down and reinforced and repeated until it becomes true by default. Tyranids are not the weakest 5E codex. You can build armies that don't fit the generic pattern, and you can do well with them.

Tyranids aren't the only army that suffers from this syndrome, but they feel it the worst. If you're playing Imperial Guard, the assumption is that you need to mech up or be bad; if Marines don't run TH/SS, they aren't hitting their full potential; etc, etc, etc. The truth is, every army has its "auto-include" units, from Long Fangs to Librarians, but NONE of them are genuinely required to build an army. They are useful tools, often ones that do something that fills a major gap in the army's strategy or does something so useful there is virtually never a time that you don't need it.

But let's not beat around the bush- with Tyranids, we're really talking about two units, Hive Guard and Tervigons. Hive Guard are awesome because they fill an important role (anti-tank) very, very well for their price and are extremely survivable to boot. Tervigons offer Synapse in a non-HQ slot, support the army with psychic powers, and can sometimes churn out troops in ridiculous quantities. (Sometimes. Other times they poop themselves out on the first go.) But neither of these are necessary to building a successful army. Tyranid Warriors fill many of the same functions as Tervigons (resilient scoring unit, synapse) and, for the Tervigon's price, you can get a LOT of them. Tervigons have a 3+ save, you say? Well, my friend, thanks to a little rule called Going to Ground Warriors can as well. You become a little more vulnerable to small-arms fire but in return you become hilariously resilient to Las/Missile/Melta shooting and much stronger in CC to boot. If you really want to see something hilarious, try swapping your Tervigons for units of Termagants sometime- I think you'll find that you can bring a LOT more of them than you will produce on all but the luckiest of spawning rolls over the course of a game.

As for anti-tank, there are a number of options that come up, depending on the list you run. In smaller games Fexstars (Carnifex + Tyranid Prime, both with Regen) can keep transports suppressed or immobilized, as can Dakka Tyrants, and Tyrannofexes, Harpies, Zoanthropes, and Lictors all have their respective places in armies. Yes, even Lictors. Warriors can also offer some limited suppression fire when armed with Deathspitters+Venom Cannon and Mycetic Spores can likewise bring a certain degree if it comes down to it. So why would you take them over Hive Guard? Let's see...

DakkaFex/Tyrant: Much stronger in combat, pushes the army towards more of an assault focus without being reliant on assaults to kill vehicles (which is bad.)

Tyrannofex: Far, far more survivable against most guns. Much stronger in CC. Provides cover for other MCs. Much better against hordes, with a T6/2+ and shooting up to three guns before charging. Range advantage is good against standoff armies and when coming in from reserve.

Harpies: Extremely fast, only somewhat less survivable, can crack even AV13/14 with its melee, strong anti-infantry blast weapons. Can deep strike and has excellent reach with its guns.

Zoanthropes: Ideal for a deep strike army. Provides Synapse, which DS armies can be short on. AP1 means high chance of kills when it gets a hit in. Alternate fire mode is great against MEQs once transports are eliminated, 3++ can frustrate players by making them waste shots better sent elsewhere. Solves high-AV problems consistently without the need to melee them.

Lictors: Stop laughing. STOP IT, I SAID. They can arrive anywhere on the field and get 2-6 S6 shots when they show up. High S, WS, I, and A mean that not a lot of units actually want to charge them and they can make short work of most any vehicle in CC. They are very resilient (crunch the numbers on how many Bolters it takes to kill a W3/3+ guy) and can guide in the rest of your army if you end up with poor reserve rolls in the early turns. Their large bases and ability to arrive anywhere also make it easy to "box in" your Mycetic Spores, forcing them to arrive where you want.

All of these are not merely acceptable options but even strong ones in the right army; why the prevalence of Hive Guard in my own lists, then? Because they're the easiest solution, to be honest. They are very good at what they do, and what they do is something that most lists are lacking in. They're very simple to use and don't require a complex type of list to be effective- simply slapping 4-9 Hive Guard into virtually any list will largely mitigate its anti-tank weaknesses, which is something that isn't possible with most of the other units I mentioned. Just as nearly every BA list (bar Razorspam) will end up wanting to have some Sanguinary Priests (or at least Honor Guard), Hive Guard are the crux of the Tyranid codex.

The Tyranid codex, even despite the sucker punch it took from the FAQ, is very strong. It has very few weak options and can be used to create a variety of unique builds. Are all of these builds as easy to use as the bog-standard one? No. Are they more reliant on careful play and synergy of the build, and hence less able to be adjusted to add in "favorite" units that don't mesh with the rest of the army? Certainly. Are they weaker? Not at all.

1750
1 Hive Tyrant (Wings, 2 Devourer, Hive Commander)
3 Zoanthrope (Spore, Venom Cannon)
2 Lictors
2 Lictors
20 Termagants (Devourers, Spore, Venom Cannon)
20 Termagants (Devourers, Spore, Venom Cannon)
3 Tyranid Warriors (Venom Cannon, Spore)
3 Tyranid Warriors (Venom Cannon, Spore)
1 Harpy (Heavy Venom Cannon)

Who says reserves are dead? While it's unfortunate that Hive Commander doesn't stack, we can get by with other options. Masses of suppression fire from all sources mean that we can keep most vehicles shut down pretty effectively and the Lictors, Tyrant, and Harpy will make short work of anything that gets immobilized. Devilgaunts should come in together and wipe out whatever units start on foot or get dismounted. Warriors are your objective-claimers and fill Synapse holes where needed. An alternate version could bring a Tervigon in place of the Harpy or possibly a Termagant squad, using Hive Commander to outflank it into an annoying position for the enemy. (Remember, it's a troop thanks to your Devilgaunts.)

1 Hive Tyrant (2 Devourers, Old Adversary, Regen)
1 Hive Tyrant (2 Devourers, Old Adversary, Regen)
1 Tyrant Guard (Lash Whips)
1 Tyrant Guard (Lash Whips)
2 Venomthropes
2 Venomthropes
17 Termagants
1 Tervigon (Catalyst, Regen, Toxin, Adrenal)
1 Harpy (Heavy Venom Cannon, Regen)
1 Harpy (Heavy Venom Cannon, Regen)
1 Trygon (Regen)

Kinda light on anti-tank here, but you have lots of big, regenerating monsters and when they get there, they are going to cause some ridiculous damage. The various MCs can "leapfrog" each other to ensure that the weakest unit is always getting 4+ cover; otherwise, get in as quick as you can and bust some faces. Go to ground with your Termagants and Venomthropes basically whenever; you have very few of the former and the latter are only necessary for turns 1-2 or so. You really don't have much of a backup plan besides "kill them all," so if you can slip one small squad of troops onto an objective and wipe all their scoring units out, that's not the worst thing in the world. Don't forget that your Venomthropes also give you defensive grenades and can force Dangerous Terrain (=strike at I1 unless they have grenades of their own) tests on enemies who charge your cluster.

These are just some example builds- there are plenty of other ways to make Tyranids work. You don't have to do like I did for the above and go out of your way to avoid using any but the most minimal amounts of Tervi/HG in your list, but neither should you feel stupid for not putting them in there- remember, every unit, no matter how good it is, has weaknesses, and there will be armies that are justified in not including them.