need help against 'nids

[Master Clovis]

I played nids for the first time last night and found myself in a whole heap of trouble right from the start. I did make one early mistake that cost me my Pred. w/ autocannon/HB, but aside from that I don't know what went wrong. He was playing a shooty-nid list: Flyrant w/ devourers (I think?), 4 warrior squads w/ deathspitters/venom cannons, 3 carnifexes, and some stealers and gaunts.

 

I had a daemon prince w/ wind of chaos and wings, a 3-man term squad, the Pred. already mentioned, 3 oblits (two got insta-killed after rolling 1's for armor saves againsta fex's venom cannon), and 8-man havoc squad w/ 2 missiles laus and 2 hvy.bolts, 2 10-man squads w/ IoCG, melta, flamer, and asp. chmp. w/ powerfists, a 5-man raptor squad w/ 3 plasma pistols total, and 8 daemons. We were playing a 1750 game, but I was about 50 pts under b/c I left something at home.

 

Are there any general tactics to use against 'nids? Should this finally be the motivation I need to get a defiler?

[chillin]

Your army list sounds solid (except for the raptor squad w/ 3 plasma pistols, don't see the point in that)

and should be able to take on most any army and do well.

Against a nid army keep game objectives in mind and don't get bogged down trying to kill 3 carni's.

The warriors are tough but can be killed as can the guants and stealers.

I think it's pretty common to lose to a type of army you've never played b4 as you don't know how to deal with them.

I don't know that a defiller would have changed anything, the carni's str 10 venom cannon would have blown it to pieces first turn.

You will get better vs them as you play them more.

[Ju'kosian]

Warriors : shoot them with AP4 weaponry. (you're predator will be golden for this)

You could drop the 3 men termie squad and add in another DP.

 

2Daemon princes with mark of slaanesh and warptime (or lash) will do some damage.

If using warptime, you could use the duo for assaulting the carni's.. with lash you can move around parts of your opponent's army to get a more decent shot at them..

 

A defiler could be worth the effort but will most likely be blown to bits with the carni's Venom cannons.. altough they cannot score penatrating hits with a venom cannon, enough glancings will ultimately lead to it's destruction..

 

I don't see the point of takin in a flamer in your squads given the fact that the gaunts and stealers will more likely to be in combat before you can actually shoot with that thing..

[Joah from Alberta]

Or you could just wait until justice comes 5th.

 

Seriously tho, the bait tactic is the best to use against bugs.

[Inquisitor Kravin]

Interesting. I have two Nid players amongst my regular opponents and I've never lost to them with my CSM (I did have two games that ended with absolutely no nids models left and fewer than 10 marines - thank goodness sustained attack gaunts meant I'd killed a lot more than I'd lost). My regular opponents play close combat nids not shooty nids and it sounds like shooty is actually more of a challenge.

 

I've found that the best thing in the CSM list when it comes to Nid fighting is a 10 man CSM squad with AC with PFist. The bolter marines can cut down gaunts and nid warriors through sheer volume of fire/close combat attacks - I've had a single ten man squad wipe out 3 squads of 18 gaunts though it cost the lives of all 9 bolter guys. The hidden powerfists can smash the monstrous creatures (to quote my Nidzilla opponent, "It appears that the powerfist sergeant is the Carnifex's natural predator").

 

When faced with the nids I try to "out-horde" them with basic power armoured bodies.

 

I agree with the posters who said that flamers and plasma pistols are a waste. Nids won't let you have that much time at close range outside close combat.

 

Your army list looks good except for the raptors. I personally dislike daemons too. I've never faced so many warriors but heavy bolters are the answer to them.

 

How are your terminators equipped and what role do they have?

 

I never use terminators against nids because I expect that so many monstrous creatures will make a mockery of their 2+ save and the squad lacks cheap ablative wounds. Do you deep strike them as a suicide unit or use them as a countercharge unit held in your main battleline?

[Sons of Horus]

as usual kill the synapse first. try using deepstrike so you can CC them. or better yet fall back and shoot. use good AP weapons. drop the raptors.

[Ju'kosian]

@ inquisitor Kravin : shooty nids are most of the time more challenging because there are more MC's in the lists.

The hive tyrant with Devourers, makes 12 shots, S4/5 (depending if upgraded or not) and may make re-rolls for hitting AND wounding..

needless to say it can kill some..

 

OT : you can go after synapse first, being the Warriors and the hive tyrant, tap the hive tyrant with las or plas, and shoot the warriors with HB..

[DuskRaider]

I would say flamers are actually great against them. Use cover at all costs, get that first strike! ESPECIALLY against Genestealers. I personally think they pose the greatest threat, even Carnifexes can only do so much and in CCB they suck. Zoanthropes are also another threat. I do agree with eliminating synapse first. Use cover to your advantage, eliminate synapse, and try not to load up on extras too much. You'll be outnumbered either way, but try to make it less of a difference.

[Hellios]

Monsterous creatures arn't such a problem a squad of zerkers with 3 plasma pistols and a power fist makes a mess of MC and will rip the crap out of warriors and gaunts as long as you don't let yourself get mugged by 5 million at once (not always easy I realise.).

 

I would say Genestealers are the most dangerous unit in the Tyranid army >.< as those bloody rending attacks seem to make a mess of everything but bolters/flamers should hurt them, if they have extended carapace heavy bolters :>

 

As a note if a MC moves within 12 of a zerker unit but can't charge rapid fire 3 plasma pistols (6 shots.) into its face and watch it burrrrrn.

 

Nids arn't normally an issue for me as a thousand sons player I just let them bounce off me and i take a unit of zerkers if im feeling cheaky just to stop me being swarmed.

[Deneris]

I'd recommend a "drive by shooting"- A rhino stuffed with Havocs zips to a problem Nid infestation, then pops out and unleashes Plasma ( 9 Shots if you give the Champ a pistol) in the case of Fexes, or Flamers (You can give the Champ a combi-flamer) in the cases of Stealers/Gaunts. Of course, place your boys in such a way that the Nids can go for revenge OR continue with their objective. Add a powerfist if you're worried about the bigger bugs/Lictors. If your lads survive, repeat as necessary.

[Nurgle71]

Load all your squads with a missile launcher. No squad can take 5 blast template without losing something. or hvy Bolters more fire power you put out the better. Auto cannon are good due to excellent rate of fire and good strength. Plasma cannon are a good option to but im not sure if theyre man portable now. Still roasted 'Nids.....( drooling) :)

[Sons of Horus]

drown his MCs in plasma! use HBs/HFs for gaunts.

[lord arkon]

Heavy bolters, lots of heavy bolters to thin down the gaunts but fire lascannons and plasma weaponry at the synapse creatures. Ignore 'fexs and tyrants until they get too close then bring up the melta's or a good CC squad. Works for me. Just pray to the gods your man doesn't have more than about 12 stealers in their army 'cos their generally not v.nice to come across. Other than that go with the defiler! They look cooooooool.

 

;)

[jamjar]

try splitting ya squads down into two fives. That means ya can withdraw effectively with half ya army to form a second front against the nids. A tactic i often use against them, still reasonably effective against shooty nids. Also it means its harder to loose 10 guys, ether bogged down with gaunts or wiped out by genestealers.

 

Try raptors with flamers, cheap and deadly against nids. Also the heavy bolter is your friend. Missile launchers are just a bit too AP3 against nids, Most of the big uns will have extended carapace, warriors cant be insta killed so ya only gonna strip a wound off em, and frag is a wee bit cak. If ya after blast weapons try some havoc launchers on your rhino's.

 

I played a shooty nid list a coupla weeks ago, and flying tyrants with devourers are nasty. 12 shots with re-roll hits and wounds on something as hard as a tyrant and awfully mobile is deadly, much more of a threat than any carnifex.

[chaosmarine234]

i find that killing the small ones works wonders as the big ones lag behind (apart form the ones that are winged i hate those ones those *!@!# i hate them!) sorry, were was i..... oh yeah kill the small ones and the big one should be no worry s!

[Smurfalypse]

I know im gonna catch some grief for this but, possessed actually shine vs nids. I run 10 of them in every game i play and most especially vs nids they seem to just hold their own. The str 5 is good, an invuln to slow down the MC in melee, and then a random ability. This is just my experience but they do well.