So my friend plays guard

[CHIAPETOFDOOM]

Hi,

So I have the following:
1 hive tyrant -with venom cannon
1 broodlord -I ussually use this to keep up with my gaunts for synapse, but I was told recently I cant use it if I have a tyrant, perhaps I misread my codex

32 hormagaunts
32 termagaunts

6 warriors -havent put weapons on them yet

2 lictors

1 carnifex with scything talons and crushing claws

My friend plays with about 4 squads of gaurd I think, and an HQ with a plasma and a melta, he also has 2 chimeras which hes got multilasers for but I think hes getting autocannons behind my back lol.

We also are leniant on rules so he uses squats/guard mixed army and 2 of his squads I think are like some weird bolter carrying guys and he has a squad of guys in "exo-armor" I think that have a lascannon and a heavy bolter.

Any weaknesses or improvements/suggestions aything would be appreciated

Thankyou, this seems like a really nice place to post.
-Chia

[Perturabo]

Hmm..i would need to know a few more things first-youre style of play (I know with nids its normaly charge them down),do you normaly win or lose, are there anythings you struggle with in particular (I know alot of Nid players struggle against vehicles and armour) and how would you like to theme youre army (if at all)endless hordes of gribbly death of big stompy carnifex death.

I have quite a sizable Nid host at my dissposal so i feel that i can cover most eventualities but i know how hard it is to get started with a limited brood!

[Inquisitor Rosenadel]

I would also tell your friend (no offense) to give it up: squats are dead. Unless he's been playing since 2nd Ed., he probably hasn't even ever seen rules for them. But seriously, squats are dead. I don't even capitalize them.

One piece of advice: charge the plasma/melta and lascannon squads with your Homagaunts and Termagaunts, and the H. bolter squad with your Hive Tyrant. That way you will make him use his weapons ineffectively.

[CHIAPETOFDOOM]

Well my friends a big fan of Dwarfs so I dont think hell give up soon, but anyways I appreciate the feedback

I know I sound kind of like Im bumbling around but well...I am lol, I have been playing my basic nid force for about a half year now and I just am worried about the little critters. I just dont know where to go with them.

My friend Joe (sorry I havent said his name by now, shame on me lol), is realising that one lascannon, a meltagun, and one plasma, is not always enought to take on my swarm. I do normally have the advantage, or win these games.

-He is talking about how he ordered some kit for an old lemun russ model he hasnt used in awile from forgeworld I think.

-I know he will have more autocannons soon...heavy weapons teams Im guessing...

-I think he mentioned something about squat-terminators but I have no idea what those are, he has the squat codex

Hes so damn secretive...

Im just guessing thats gonna rape my poor carnifex at long range, along with my tyrant...any ideas?

(NOTE) (Im ALWAYS willing to mod my stuff so if you think I need something changed on my list of guys, please tell me, Im happy to experiment )

[Perturabo]

Hi
There is no "actual" squat codex as far as Im aware (they were dropped as codex's were developed) all I can presume is he is using the squat army list from the WH40K compendium from many years back (Red cover with a picture of ultramarines on the cover)-If you want details of it PM me and Ill send you some details (I have a copy of the WH40K Compendium)-nothing worse than an opponent who hides there armies main list/info-makes me think they are hiding somthing.

Some simple things to bear in mind,
Broods
I)Never underestimate the power of the brood,a large brood of unbiomodded gribblys is cheap and a great fire magnet (so you get other units into position),its large so it is easier to keep in synapse range and it can take a hell of a pounding.After all the enemy can only fire so many shots a turn!
II)On the flip side of the same coin lots of small broods will give the opponent too many targets to be able to fire on every time but they are very vulnerable to blast weapons wiping them out in a single go
III)for 320 points you can have 32 Hormagaunts on the table in a brood-if they can get the charge (and they usualy do with a 12" charge) thats a potential 96 attacks!I challenge any squad to survive that unscathed!
IV)Dont bunch up unless you have to,use that 2" spacing for all its worth-too many times ive seen twice as many gaunts wiped out as should have been simply cause they were packed in tight!
Fex's
I)Shooty Fex's should be looked at with great respect a Fex with toxin sacs,barbed stranglers,twin linked devourers and spinebanks can put down an amazing amount of high strength fire power (enough to take out armour!) and can wipe squads of the table in a single turn of shooting (dont forget those enhanced senses)
II)Increased toughness and saves for Fex's are not normaly worth the extra points-Las cannons and other Fex killer weapons are still wounding on twos and normaly negate any save!
III)Fex's scare the pants off most opponents-they are big and scary!Ive seen opponents pour an unacceptable amount of fire power into a Fex at the detriment of the rest of his battle plan, leaving other broods in more vital positions alone-a phenomenon called target fixation!
Warriors
I)Use plenty of these bad boys-the huntsman variety shown in the codex is a great allrounder and one i frequently use,stick a barbed strangler in the brood as well just for a big fear inducing effect!
II)Loads of warriors means loads of synapse cover
III)Use winged warriors,not only can you get another three broods on the table (they count as fast attack choices),they usualy deploy last (depends on the scenario) they have a massive movement range so they can keep those fleet/fast charging units in synapse range but they pack a hell of a punch in close combat when armed with Rending claws and scything talons!
Others
I)Raveners armed with devourers can deepstrike and put down massive amounts of fire power then if they survive Close combat (not on the same turn obviously) with rending claws in very vulnerable rear areas!
II)Zoanthropes, take a brood of these and you can have three more synapse creatures,give them warp blast and you have not only a tank hunter but a squad beater as well!Dont forget you can deploy them independantly!

These are just a few thoughts-there is so much you can write,I just hope Ive sparked some ideas
Just remember youre the great hive mind-constantly evolve,never use the same thing too many times,keep the enemy guessing!

[Inquisitor Rosenadel]

I think I would drop the Tyrant and go for a swarm backed by a Carnifex or two. Swarms are hard to beat, especially if he's going to try to suit up to take down your Tyrant with big guns.

But I am not a Tyranid player, I just fight them. So Peturabo probably has the most sound advice.

[CHIAPETOFDOOM]

Thanks alot, I appreciate all the feedback. I think I will go with the flying warriors idea, and alos make my carnifex shooty to some degree now

One question I would ask though is, simply to get all my warriors and my fex up there, should I invest in another gaunt brood, I mean it sounds like a good idea now, like maybe 3 wouldnt be such a bad idea...

You mentioned they can charge twelve inches? is that different from any other unit like a gaurdsmen? My friend and I are both new to the rules but I was only aware that a hormagaunts turn would go something like this...

1.Hormagaunt brood would use fleet of claw to get into 12 inch radius of gaurdsmen line, so next turn they could move, fire(they dont), then charge

2. My friends gaurdsmen rapid fire into them since they are whithin 12 inches, and getting ready to charge, killing many.

3. I Move 6 inches, Fire (doesnt happen) ,then Assault 6inches

So Im just wondering... does it say somewhere in the codex they can assault 12 inches? Because if it does thatd be awesome lol, could suprise my friend next time. Or if I misinturpreted, my bad

[Perturabo]

They are classed as beasts which if you look in the main rule book says they can fleet in the movement phase and charge 12"
This means you can get a whopping 19"-24" out of them in one turn!As they are also leaping they can add their full attacks up 3" away!
Even if your mate does fire at them,if you take 32 of them hes only going to take down about 10 of them-assuming he has a ten man guard squad against you(guard shooting isnt the best and you get a save against Las Guns) thats still 22 Hormagaunts charging in giving 66 attacks!
As for another brood-yes do it,remember one of the most disheartening things for people paying against Tyranids is seeing this endless sea of miniatures arrayed against them,also it can act as a fire screen for your Warriors.

[CHIAPETOFDOOM]

I took the 4 warriors I have (the 5th one doesnt have a base yet ) and gave them:

Deathspitter
Scything Talons

Enhanced Senses
Extended Carapace
Symbiote Rippers
Toxin Sacs
Leaping

I also took my Carnifex and replaced his Crushing Claws with a Barbed Strangler

So now hes got:

Barbed Strangler
Scything Talons

Enhanced Senses
Extended Carapace
Toxin Sacs
Regenerate

I played my friend Joe (Guard) yesterday and he had made his Lemun Russ into a Demolisher (I think) with plasmas and a heavy bolter, he also had a hellhound and a chimera (multilaser) and the usuall command squad of priests and commisars and guardsmen and about 4-5 squads of gaurdsmen +1 squad of squats with bolters +lascannon and rocketlauncher. He also had Stormtroopers

You guys were right about shooty nids, my new carnifex and warriors slaughtered his infantry by the squadful from afar while he spent time trying to gun down my brood of 32 gaunts and 32 hormagaunts! I was wiping out whole squads a turn lol . He hates my warrior and carnifex now more than ever! I think I need to put a venom cannon on my carnifex though or get him closer to the demolisher because he had his tanks in a city area and we were just exchanging salvos. His 14 armor needed 3 3s and then 6s with my tyrants venom cannon and thats just for glancing, same with the barbed strangler which was a 1 shot of 4 or higher (BS on my fex is 3) and then a 6 also so it was a stand still of crew shakens and my carnifex regenerating its wounds!

Anyways his storm troopers tried to deepstrike at the edge of the city and fell off into oblivion so never got to fight them...

Anyways I had his command squad cornered in an allyway with most of my gaunts from the 2 broods on each side piling in in 1 on 1 combat lol, and with the tanks and monsters duking it out at a distance the game went to a stand still around turn like 20 or something And we packed it up since it was late.

But thanks for the advice on the shooty nids! More Wariros and Fexs is definitly better, and maybe another brood... Any comments are welcome, please tell me if you have ideas on improvements. Thanks!

(Im trying to get him on these forums too)

[experiment 626]

if the guard's big nasty tanks are giving you trouble, the kit-out a carnifex with a twin-linked venom cannon (you would by 2 venom cannons from the list of weapon symbiotes) don't forget your enchanced senses either!
this gives you the most accurate long-ranged tank-hunter in the 'nid list. generally speaking, every second shot that hits a russ will glance. as your cannon is twin-linked, you can usually back on at least 1 glancing hit/turn! you don't have to destroy the tank, just stop it from shooting!

the other point about 'fexes vs a guard army; keep them cheap!!! the guard's main strength is the sheer amount of big guns they can bring with them... guard are excellent at killing your monstrous death gribblies! by keeping your up-grades/biomorphs down to a minimum, you're denying your opponent one of his biggest advantages - namely that his big guns can pay for themselves by killing a single big bug! a basic carnifex is just as hard to bring down as the fully tool-out, 'uber expensive one... (and if you can keep all your 'fexes under 140pts, you'll have that many more pts to spend on even more bugs!!!)
in fact, against guard don't even bother with an assaulty 'fex cause he'll never get to the guard lines! your opponent isn't going to come out and meet you like marines will... just tool-up your 'fexes as large, solid gun gribblies!

a flying hive tyrant w/2x twin-linked devourers, toxin sacs and enhanced senses will reap entire squads each turn! (for those keeping track, that's 12 S5 shots, re-rolling to-hit and re-rolling failed wound rolls!!!) throw on psychic scream to help negate a number of the guard's Ld-boosting abilities such as a nearby officer or close order drill formation!
in general living ammo is your friend! guard will easily out-gun you... however, taking lots of termagaunts and warriors w/devourers which both have the 'living ammo' special rule will really help to ensure that each shot you fire will hurt those squishy guardsmen!

i'd honestly avoid a broodlord vs guard. unless you invest into some flying or leaping warriors and gargoyles, your broodlord will be unsupported and will easily be swamped by the more numerous guardsmen... gargoyle squads are acctually quite good vs guard as they can have solid numbers and they're lightning quick! (as fast as hormagaunts ) bio-plasma is a plus and can be put to good use to pick off any I4 officers carrying power toys!!!
warrior squads offer more wounds so it will take alot more to remove your precious synapse!

genestealers with scuttlers is a guardsman's worst nightmare! the bonus scout move, plus fleet each turn can help these guys close with any armoured targets very quickly! don't bother with the expensive extended carapace either as the guard can again bring a horrific number of heavy bolters to bear!

keep your broods to roughly 16-18 models each. this ensure lots of bodies to soak-up incoming fire, but is a bit more manoverable meaning you can take much better advantage of any cover! more broods also means more seperate targets and scoring units!

hope this helps!
cheers!