Nids Needs...

[MarkedByChaos]

I have had a lot of mixed experiences with Nids, either I whoop’em or I get my salad tossed, very little in between. I guess I would say that I am more form oriented with them. There are three major “brands” of Nid armies, the Swarm, Balanced and BigBoys lists. I have tried all of them and have had most luck with swarms but that was back when they had the seeding swarm. Now I am not so sure I could recreate the luck/success rate.

This is a Big Boys list, 1852 points…
Please tear it apart, cause I know it’s messed up. (I have lost big time and won big time with it)

HQ: 140
Hive Tyrant: talons, talons, warp blast, + 1 WS, +1 Sv (140points)

Elite: 330
3 X Carnifex:, talons, talons, + 1 WS, Mace Tail (110 points)

Troop: 585
5 X 13 Gaunts: fleshborer, without numbers (117 points)

Fast Attack: 240
3 X 2 Reveners: talons, rending claws (80 points)

Heavy Support: 557
3 X Zoenthropes: Synapse, Warp Blast (65 points)
2 X Carnifex: Barbed Strangler, talons, +1 T, +1 Sv, + 1 W, +1 BS (181 points)

[Dan296]

6 carnies? daaam....with 2k points thats gonna b really tough to bring down. i would change at least 1 of the ranged carnies to have 2 twinlinked devourers. devourfex's pump out alot of high strength, rerolling shots that mow down infantry.

[Inquisitor Rosenadel]

Originally Posted by Dan296

6 carnies? daaam....with 2k points thats gonna b really tough to bring down. i would change at least 1 of the ranged carnies to have 2 twinlinked devourers. devourfex's pump out alot of high strength, rerolling shots that mow down infantry.

Well, although 6 Carnifexes is the limit, there are only 5 in this list. Personally, I like the subing out of a Carnifex for 3 Zoanthropes. It makes the Heavy Support section far more effective in that there is more shooting to go around, plus the Zoanthropes are all independent, and so they can shoot different targets if need be.

Well, I would have to disagree with Dan296 on the Devourers because Carnifexes do not have a lot of attacks, and therefore not as many shots as other bugs. Also, the Devourers are a bit short on range. I read a White Dwarf battle report and a Carnifex with a Barbed strangler was taking out Guard squads with one shot each... Xo ooooh, ouch. I play Marines and I'd be scared of that hitting my squads!

I also like how you filled out the numbers with gaunts, and added Ravenors. Ravenors can get shot up pretty easily, but with other, seemingly larger threats on the table, they will work well.

[MarkedByChaos]

the other reason I field the raveners the way I did is because of the new synapse rules affecting instant death, multi wound Nids are Immune while within range. I know they are vulnerable and really I don't mind it.

the nice thing about the army list is you don't have to sweet anything getting killed. if your enemy kills one unit then all your other units are not getting shot at. Raveners make people question themselves and what they should do, even with 6 monsterous creatures on the table you can not ignore the fast moving 5 rending attacks each of them recieves on a charge. they are a fun sacrifice and if your enemy doesn't take the bait he is SOL right quick.

also I run my Raveners as one unit even though they are three pairs... it is just a cheep way of making it harder to kill them since shooting at the Larger unit is illegal, the enemy must choose a pair to shoot at and there is not role over to the other 4, and alows me options if I need them. plus as long as one in a pair is alive it counts as a scoring unit.

[Inquisitor Rosenadel]

Originally Posted by MarkedByChaos

also I run my Raveners as one unit even though they are three pairs... it is just a cheep way of making it harder to kill them since shooting at the Larger unit is illegal, the enemy must choose a pair to shoot at and there is not role over to the other 4, and alows me options if I need them. plus as long as one in a pair is alive it counts as a scoring unit.

I don't understand what you're saying with the two and four Raveners.

I will agree that they are well worth the risk of 5 rending attacks... each...

[MarkedByChaos]

3 pairs taking up 3 fast attack slots means they are three units

but I run them together in formation so to speak (I make sure my opponent is clear on this before game begins and after deployment), it is relatively like running an independent character around near but not attached to another unit.

the result is that when a 4 heavy bolter unit of Devistators fire they can only kill a maximum of 2 guys. the other part is that I have three potential scoring units rather than one. (6 guys = 12 wounds, if they were all one unit 7 wounds would put them below 50% but as long as one of my 6 is at full health levels I have a scoring unit)

this stratagy gives them a little more staying power to offset their high save plus it allows me to break up the larger formation as/if needed. it is a cheep way of giving my Revs a big strategic advantage and making it more cost consuming to wipe them out. my opponent would have to dedicate at least 3 units to killing them rather than the potential 1 and with 6 monstrous creatures and 3 Zoenthropes on the table it would be a poor choice for them to dedicate so much, thus virtually garantying them the oportunity to close distance and inflict havoc

Revs are a 1-6 size unit.

[Yarium]

Well, it looks like an extremely up-close and in-your-face list.

From the looks of it, I take it that your guys end up doing this:

Wave 1 - Raveners and Gaunts; get shot up before they make it into combat.
Wave 2 - Remaining Hive Tyrant and Carnifexes make it into combat, and either win or lose.

Is that correct? Is that why it feels hit or miss?

I'd have to say that speed is a definite problem with the list. An enemy that's good at close combat might rip apart the gaunts when they come in, and then perhaps deal with the big guys one by one.

I'd suggest dropping one or two without number squads for Hormagaunts (no specials added). The Hormagaunts are really amazing, and their 12" charge makes them faster than you might think. My enemies are ALWAYS surprised by just how fast the Hormagaunts are upon them - as am I when I face against Tyranids.

If it's possible, I'd suggest either adding Wings to the Hive Tyrant, or/and giving him a Venom Cannon to replace the Warp Blast. The Warp Blast's major limitation is its short range. The Venom Cannon can blast at anything on the table - and Glancing Hits can be more effective than you know. With Tyranids, simply stopping a vehicle from moving or shooting in the following turn can be almost as effective as destroying it (as it gives you an additional turn to get up to it in close combat).

Drat, I have to go - but I'll be back to leave some more comments later (since you wanted the list torn into)



-Yarium

[MarkedByChaos]

I played this list 2 times before I had to put all things gaming aside for a few months,

first game:cleanse against Eldar I won but barely we were using alpha rules set so ...

Second game: cleanse (Beta) against speed freaks, won in the 4th round (I was shocked as well) Dice were loving me and hating her. she knew what she was doing but the dice didn't care

Both times my Reveners made their points, Hormagaunts get shot up and rarely make their full points back but always soak up enough shots to make the difference

Carnies seem to make the difference so long as I am not engaging in HTH against eldar skimmers (cann't seem to role enough 6s to make it worth my while)

the eldar cleaned up all my little guys easy enough (like they couldn't) but without number got the best of him.

against SFs they were at a major disadvantage, the green tide couldn't bring the numbers they needed and I tied up everything shooty quickly. again the dice played a major role but even if they hadn't it would still have been mine on the 6th easy enough.

I am looking forward to taking this list to anther few games soon

[Vorafex]

For ELITES at only 110 pts. each, I'd go with a devifex...I like the 4 gun devourer (2 TL) with spine banks monster...perfect for mangling light infantry/light vehicles.
That's 8 STR 6 attacks w/ re-rolls "to hit" and "to wound" and another 2 STR 6 attacks with a "to hit" re-roll from the spine banks...not too shabby for 110 pts.