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| Dakka |
When the Tyranid codex first came out, the Tyrannofex had to be defended hard and long. Even today, it still does and whilst it certainly has its issues, the T-Fex provides invaluable support to the Tyranid army. Long-ranged, high strength fire support. Durable front line MC which really helps increase durability against missile spam. Extra MC in combat. Excellent anti-infantry and suppression ability. The simple fact of the matter is when you don't take T-Fexes, Land Raiders can generally do as they wish and opposing units such as ranged Dreadnoughts, Ravagers, etc. have a lot more freedom of movement. This has been discussed in more detail here.
The problem becomes the price tag. At 265 points the T-Fex really needs to provide a lot more. Unfortunately it does not and there's nothing we can do about it so do we grit our teeth and pay the points we shouldn't be paying or dump it and look for something else? With Grey Knights hitting the mainstream I'd lean towards the dumping. I'd still keep at least one and perhaps two at 2000 points but against Grey Knights the T-Fex basically becomes an unreliable anti-tank option (Fortitude). Whilst it can still provide cover, it's far less necessary than against AP3 based lists - Grey Knight weight of fire drags things down. It's anti-infantry is nice to have but close ranged and it isn't great in combat. Against masses of force weapons and daemon hammers, well it won't last long. Being able to reach out and touch Psyfledreads is really important but is it worth 530 points?
The question then becomes, what do you do with the spare points? One has generally maxed out their Hive Guard already (and if you haven't do this!) and is lacking in the ranged anti-tank department even more without the T-Fex - particularly against AV14. You could turn a Hive Guard unit into Zoanthropes to compensate for this but you're still suffering against tanks at range. There really are few options here other than taking Harpies which I'm not a fan of. Although they do provide mobile and reliable anti-tank, it's still suppression based so Grey Knights laugh at it and still an over-priced MC.
We could of course look to Trygons but we have the same issue of ranged anti-tank. Trygons are nice for mauling things in combat, whether a tank or not, but are still quite expensive at 200 points and don't exactly get cover saves easily. Nothing in our Troops section grants us ranged anti-tank of any reliability either so we can either go with limited anti-tank and look to flood the field with lots of bodies and rending and rely on combat + nine Hive Guard to do our tank damage or work with something else. I'm going to go for the 2nd option to try and keep the army 'balanced' as possible and go for Dakkafexes.
These guys are both awesome and overpriced. Consider the base platform of a Carnifex is 40 points less than a Trygon with two less wounds, two less attacks, three less initiative, two less weapon skill but three greater strength. Uh ya, good job on internal balance there. However, the Carnifex does come with that coveted S9/10 option and has many more gun options than the Trygon. Specifically - twin-linked brainleech Devourers. For 15x2 points extra, the Carnifex gains six twin-linked S6 AP- shots (so 12 total). That's so-so anti-tank ability with AP- but very effective at forcing wounds on pretty much anything which is something Tyranids suffer with at range. 18" certainly doesn't help the lack of range Tyranids are suffering from but Onslaught can help. Add in a Tyranid Prime thanks to Carnifexes being a unit and you have a MC which can easily gain cover (Tyranid Prime is infantry), has essentially seven wounds (but then costs 300+ points), excellent S6 firepower and is pretty scary in combat between the two.
Does this really answer the issue of losing the T-Fex? Not really but it does help the Tyranid list in other areas. You still have the same number of anti-tank options if they are more limited in terms of strength and range to before, they are more reliable at causing damage against their intended targets. You gain more ranged anti-infantry ability and this is quite reliable ranged anti-infantry and you gain a better MC in combat which combines well with its Tyranid Prime babysitter. If you're already taking Primes you've essentially saved 75 points by downgrading the T-Fex to a Dakkafex but you can take multiple Dakkafexes per slot which can increase your firepower. This becomes quite expensive though but let's see what this list might look like at 1750 points:
Tyranid Prime w/Lash Whip, Bone Sword, Regeneration
Tyranid Prime w/Lash Whip, Bone Sword, Regeneration
3x Hive Guard
3x Hive Guard
2x Hive Guard
Tervigon w/Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs, Cluster Spines, Catalyst
Tervigon w/Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs, Cluster Spines, Catalyst
10x Termagants
10x Termagants
Tyrannofex w/Rupture Cannon, Dessicator Larave, Cluster Spines
Carnifex w/2x twin-linked Brainleech Devourers
Carnifex w/2x twin-linked Brainleech Devourers
Totals: 1745 points
No Onslaught which we might want to look at and no Genestealers or Raveners to improve our combat ability or get lots of Rends on tanks. Good consideration for all of these in the move up to 2000 points. We've net-gained one MC and two T6 wounds over just the T-Fex in trade-off for the combat and gained an extra anti-tank unit which serves well as anti-infantry and in combat. This will ultimately help against midfield lists, particularly Grey Knights though their tanks will still be a pain but will hurt against backfield/ranged lists such as Dark Eldar. The Tervigons are also going to be overwhelmed in terms of targets for Catalyst as themselves, Fex-squads and Hive Guard are all prime targets for such.
