Dear Kirby & co..
I've recently dug out my old tyranids from my mums which I'm keen to strip and repaint as I always thought nids were sooo cute nd these ones have sentemental value.
I found your advice with marines invaluable and am seeking some help in terms of direction with my nids :
Currently I have :
24 Genestealers (old style)
12 Spore Mines (4 of each type)
10 Rippers Bases
25 Termagants w/spine fists - but have devourer & fleshborer bitz since the spine fists are useless
10 old metal crippled gargoyles (might be able to salvage 5?) - probably would just need to buy more!
6 Warriors - - 2xST+Devourer 1ST+venomcannon, 3xrendingclaws+devourer {could convert these to hive guard}
2 Lictors (one was going for broodlord-hood, both have scything talons and rending claws {I can be deathleaper}
2 zoanthrpe + 1 new and 1 old style
24 Hormagaunts
2 biovores
1 tyrant - older type with big head, currently has 2xscything talons
- may need wings/weapon change (have wings). Also works as a 'prime' - gun and bonesword/lashwhip?
1 old fex - scything talons and TL devourer.Essentially I have 3rd/4th edition army There's about 1500point
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Essentially it's an old army. I have no clue how to approach getting the army running for 5th/6th. We tend to play 1250 points with mostly meched up stuff. There are lots of options since I have a little bit of everything whereas modern armies tend to be specialised (I agree with the article of balanced force = oppoents balanced shooting is more effective!) I like most things in the nid army - I don't like venomthropes and not mad on fex spam. I do like tervigons and was wondering about a horde/tervigon army. The other option is some sort of warrior/genestealer list. Finally I could attempt some sort of spore pod army with podding zoans and gants, commander yrant with wings, outflanking horms (from commander) and outflanking stelaers...
Please help,!
Yours rendingly,
Joe
Well, your collection of models is going to be a bit problematic- if you're facing down a lot of mech, you're going to need to add some stuff to kill those tanks, which is going to mean buying or converting models for Zoanthropes or Hive Guard. (You have some of the former, but you'd want more in any case; the latter can be made from Warriors, though you would want some extra carapace bits from Carnifexes and Venom Cannons or Heavy Venom Cannons.)
The second half of that issue is looking to your critter quota. You mentioned both going big (i.e. MCs and other T6 stuff) or small (Genestealers, etc.) You'll need an HQ in either case, which you don't have yet. Converting a Warrior to a Tyranid Prime is a good and cheap option, but we'll look at other options below as well.
So your big critters list would use Hive Guard in the Elites slot (optionally supported by Zoanthropes in a Pod); Termagants and Tervigons in your troops, and either a Prime or Tervigon for the HQ. AT 1250, that will just about fill things out for you, with maybe a few more points to spare for a small melee contingent (Ymgarl or regular Genestealers) to run as a disruption element.
If you're trying for all small bugs, it's both more open and more limited; on the one hand, you have lots of small critters to pick from, but on the other hand, you're pretty much required to fill out your Hive Guard selection or else it just doesn't work. Your HQ of choice here is definitely a Prime, with Gargoyles (I can't recommend the new kits enough), Whip/Sword/Toxin Warriors, Toxic Genestealers, and Devourer Gaunts. Hormagaunts, while better this edition, are mostly useful as a screening unit that can act as a secondary threat (much like Gargs), so I tend to run mine without any upgrades in a unit of 20.
You mentioned a reserve list, and that can work at 1250, but it's very tricky and pretty dependent on not getting screwed up by your reserve and scatter rolls. The Winged Tyrant is obviously the center point of the list, with Zoanthropes in Pods backing it up for AT; Lictors can serve a tertiary role in bringing in reserves and suppressing tanks for a turn, while Ymgarl can break up infantry and punish tanks that don't move 12". Genestealers are a decent choice for troops, but also consider Tervigons (who can be Outflanked with Hive Commander for a nasty surprise) and Devourer Gaunts in Pods (or outflanking) to destroy infantry targets. Harpies and Tyrannofexes can bring additional AT, albeit at much higher costs- probably the former will work better than the latter.
Any of the lists will necessitate buy some number of units for your army, but which direction you want to take it in will depend on how much you can spend. I think the big critters are your best bet, but the others can be reasonably functional at the lower points levels.
