[Tactica: Elites, Troops and Fast Attack]

[Nanolathe]

==Tactica: Elites, Troops and Fast Attack==

==Elites==
Tyranid Warrior Broods (can also be fielded as a HQ choice)
The Tyranid Warriors are amongst the most important Tyranids on the battlefield. Not only are they large and powerful fighters, but they also fulfill a pivotal role in Tyranid Swarms; Psychic Resonators.

Tyranid Warriors are a contentious subject amongst many Tyranid Vets. Some feel that they perform very well for what they are and if used correctly, others wouldn't touch them with a ten-foot barge pole. I fall into the former camp. I usually bring a few Warriors to the battlefield, kitted out in just one way; The Leaping-Rending combo. A Warrior, however much the Codex wants you to believe it, are not tough or particularly strong. What they can be is fast. From their stat-line it's clear what these boys are for. Don't give them a gun, give 'em the biggest, sharpest and most wicked claws that you can buy!
For 35pts a Warrior (Leaping, Rending Claws, Scything Talons & Adrenal Glands [Initiative]) you get a model who can just about keep up with your army, provide synapse and then when within 18", turn into a blur of teeth and claws. Four S4 Rending attacks on the charge is nothing to sniff at, if you can get them there. A 5+ Sv is the main problem with these guys, even a bolter wall make them cringe, upgrading the save with Extended Carapace does little to increase their survivability as you will still be at the mercy of H. Bolters and their ilk. Cover is their best chance... even if it's hiding behind a group of Termagants. Rule one with these guys, if you decide to take them, is: Don't let them get shot!

So, you've taken a Brood, and you want to know what to fling them at, right? Pretty much anything with a save that can be negated by Rending. Ultra Smurfs are a favorite meal, as are Kasrkin and Tau Fire Warriors. Anything that can shoot better than it can melee is a prime target. Oh... and with the current rules (but not the new 5th Ed) the Rear Armour of tanks is a juicy target too. Rend your way into that tank and slaughter the crew!

My final thoughts: Never let them cost more than 40pts a pop. Never place them out in the open. Never let them go without Leaping... Ever! And finally, Never underestimate them.

Lictor Broods
Sweet sweet Lictors, how do I love thee. Let me count the ways:

1. You Deep strike into cover (even impassible ones) without consequence and cause my enemy to flee from his precious cover, out into the open.
2. You can assault on the turn you deep strike.
3. You get a 4+ save while in even the lightest cover, 3+ in jungles and 2+ in anything with walls.
4. You help my other deep strikers by improving their reserves roll.
5. You're fearless.
6. You use the glorious 'Hit and Run' rules.
7. You have Rending Claws
8. You're S6, I6 have 2 Wounds and always hit on a 3+ in combat!

Sweet sweet Lictors, why do I hate you:

1. I can only have 1 Brood (3 models) of you in my army. [Boo... Hiss!]
2. You can't capture objectives.
3. err... you cost just a little too much?

Ok, I'll be serious for a moment . At 80pts these guys are not to be taken lightly... they will become part of your core stratagy if you even take one of the three available, so make them count. Your enemy is going to hide in cover somewhere. So hit him hard, use your hit and run to get back into cover and NEVER get left out in the open. These are scary models and your enemy knows it. MEQ (unless kitted for CC) will fall to your rending attacks. Since Lictors will only appear after turn 1 you're probably going to have support for them on the front lines of the enemy, so use them for 'punch'. Hormagaunts struggling with those Smurfs? Add a Lictor and watch those blue monstrosities fall.
The main rule for Lictors is to treat them like your newborn babe. Love them and they'll love you back, by killing those pesky shooting squads. Launch them with careless abandon and you'll lose them.

==Troops==
Genestealer Broods
Ok, I'm going to have to stop myself from rambling here. I love Genestealers, probably more than is healthy for me. Some people tell you that upgrading a 'Stealer to a 4+ save is worth it. For me the 16pt 'Stealer is perfect... if you want survivability, but fewer bodies; upgrade. if you want more bodies but less survivability; don't. 'Stealers are simply perfect; no matter the enemy, no matter their configuration, no matter their skill (or lack of) I use 'Stealers.
Let me run down the best bits of 'Stealers for you. Rending, Fleet & Scary. Remember my short talk about Terror Tactics in my first Tactica? Well these are the bugs that cause that terror in its highest amounts. Something in our brains just clicks the fear response up a notch when we see 'Stealers. Too much like the Xenomorph from the Alien movies for words, 'Stealers are the reason that you have all the other Tyranids on the board in the first place. They called you hear, drew your giant malevolence to this world for it is ready to be harvested. To do this, they needed to increase their psychic beacon by increasing their numbers. Genestealers know not of sex, nor gender. They breed in a Xenomorph-esk way. Their tongue is in fact a muscular tube (an ovipositor) that implants an egg into a host body... that's one serious French kiss. After 4 'generations' of hybrids almost pure Genestealers are birthed and are ready to fight. But enough fluff, yo want to hear whether you should take some right?
Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Yes, you warp-blasted fool.

Now, many people I've talked to think that 5th Ed will change 'Stealers, as the Rending rules are changing... They're right; and I couldn't be more excited! Stop scratching your head and I'll explain. Currently 'Rending' makes to-hit dice of 6 cause an instant wound with no saves. The new rending will make and to-wound rolls of 6 cause an instant wound with no saves. Why is this a good thing? Two words. 'Acid' & 'Maw'. Re-roll failed to-wound rolls... see all those 1s, 2s, and 3s when trying to wound MEQ? well... re-roll them... and get even more 6s . 'Stealers already hit hard now in CC at their basic cost... this will not be as true with the new Rending rules... Acid Maw fixes that problem... and in my opinion makes them better

Put some in your Tyranid army... NOW!

Gaunt Broods
These are the rank and file. Poor saves, low toughness and Cheap beyond belief; cost as much as a Guardsman... and in my opinion; they're better than Guardsmen too. Synapse makes them fearless, they screen your 'Stealers for the charge, Fleet and with the standard Fleshborer... re-roll failed wounds when shooting. Lovely. Don't get "Without Number"... it just gives your enemy more victory points.

Use Gaunts as movable "cover" for your more important units and don't underestimate those Fleshborers. Take some and use as mostly disposable cannon fodder (but don't just throw them away... make the bigger guns waste their ammo on these little guys and not your big TMCs)

Hormagaunts
The Gaunts hyper cousin... that likes to run with scissors . These are the interesting kind of Gaunt. Twice the cost of a standard gaunt... but a hundred times more useful. These are not cannon fodder... say it with me now: Not. Cannon. Fodder. There is only one thing that is scary about these servants of the "Great Devourer". They can't rend your foes, they have terrible armour, poor strength and toughness and some of the worst Ld around... so why do I have at least 2 squads in any army list? Speed; a potential 24" charge range (6" move, 6" fleet, 12" charge) makes turn 2 combat all but certain. Tie up stupid shoot-y squads forever, pinning them in place until the 'Stealers or Warriors can charge in to help you out. That is all they are... a pinning unit... but by the Norn Queens, they do it better than anything else in the game. Bare bones is how I equip mine, but if you want to spend points then just stick with the Initiative upgrade; no more.

Hit that front line as fast as you can. A Hormagaunt out of combat on turn 2 is a dead Hormagaunt.

==Fast Attack==
Ravener Broods
Otherwise known as the "Smart-Man's Leaping Warrior". If Genestealers are my favourite unit of all time, then these come a close second. for 40pts you have a deep striking Warrior (well actually minus synapse and plus WS, I and A... not to mention these guys can fleet) for LESS than that Leaping Warrior... Someone please tell me a downside to these guys!

Oh I know what it is; they can't assault on the turn they deep strike
You do not want anything other than Raveners in your fast attack slots. Got a spare (40x1-6) pts? You've found your puppy... the one with the waggly tail Again, use them just like the Lictor (and if you have some Lictors they'll improve your reserves roll by the way... Oh Lictors, how do I love thee?) Don't let them sit out in the open though, DS Behind cover and use your Move through cover roll to bust a move into the front line on turn 2. 24" charge range max and 19" min makes setting them up a little further away perfectly acceptable.

I don't put guns in their hands because I just don't thing that one round of shots will make the difference. Raveners live for Close Combat so a set of Scything Talons and Rending Claws is on the list; and not much else. I cannot think of why someone wouldn't take a Ravener Brood or three () other than the fearsome cost of the miniatures. My advice? make your own from Hormagaunt, Genestealer and/or Warrior sprues.

Gargoyle Broods

You do not want anything other than Raveners in your fast attack slots.

What? that's not enough?... Well I'm not going into detail here because I really don't have much of an opinion on these guys. A flying gaunt with Bio-Plasma. Cheap pts-wise for what it is... but definitely no star pupil. the $$$ cost of the minis is disgusting. I avoided these like the plague. Get more Raveners Damn you!

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Next time hold your breath for a discussion of the Tyranid Heavy Support and general army tactics.

[Nanolathe]

3 Days and not a single comment?

[dagoose]

very well put though it is fun to randomly put guns on your raveners. them being thorax mounted means your opponent never knows what hes gonna get

[Chaosrocks]

Nice guide. Your opinion is quite contrary to what I've commonly heard about lictors, and I havent heard much mention of raveners. Can't wait for heavy support and general army tactics.

[Nanolathe]

What?! has someone been insulting my sweet Lictors behind my back?

Show yourself you fiend!

[Chaosrocks]

Well, not quite so much insulting as giving his experience on them. Yea, so it's in my first army list. The first topic(right now anyway) on the second page of the tyranids. I'm pretty sure it was MoW. Dont hurt him too badly he's a good guy(from my experience). He's also not the only one I've heard say stuff like that about em. The guys at warseer say similar things from time to time.

[masterofweirdness]

In my defense of lictors... I don't like units that are small and have low saves...

However... it seems that I have misread the rules regarding lictors... the fact that you can assault the same turn you Deep strike... that means they might yet be worth it.

All in all, good guide... I'd say I'd agree with basically everything you've said...

[Nanolathe]

Oh yes. I can agree that a 5+ non upgradable save on only a 2 wound model for 80pts EACH is not comfort. The power (not necessarily just the stat-line, but the psychological power) is nothing less than unbeatable.

[Word Bearer 81007]

I like lictors, I don't worship them. I would prefer hormagaunts with more upgrades. all in all I would have to agree with you on 95% of the tatica. and what I don't agree on you still give a pretty valid reason for your opinion. Keep the good work up.

[Eugee]

Holy cow. This is one of the best tacticas I've read in the past couple days. (Just starting up a Tyranid army and this is the style of play I'm looking at.) I don't think it's possible to impress on you how much I'm looking forward to reading your Heavy Support tactica.

I'm planning to use a flyrant, with lictors and larriors (leaping warriors?), stealers, hormies and termies (attacking in reverse order), raveners (I think I love these as much as you) and then I get to Heavies and stall out.

I'm interested in 3 zoanthropes (thinking synapse + warp blast) and a carnifex (I think it's called a sniper-fex--barbed strangler, venom cannon, enhanced senses). I felt I could use some overlapping cover-fire from my heavy support to protect my flanks and pin down mobile targets--as well as provide extensive backup synapse.

[Lord Commander Erus]

Very excellent work Nano. Almost tempts me to the Xenos side of things.

[Nanolathe]

My Heavy Support and Army Tactics is coming, but I have a test tomorrow so that comes first. I may have some spare time afterwards though... take me about two days to write and then another day to put in all the jokes