Purging tyranids

[1Drop]

Ok so I know that it's best to shoot bugs to bits but what is the best way to drop these big bugs, what guns work best against them, what can I hope to achieve by assaulting them, is it a lost cause or do we have units in our dex that will chop them up? And.... Just any tactics or tyranid experiences using our dex.

 

I have a nid codex that I bought for my brother so I'm gonna study that but you can't beat first hand advice from bug-slaying BA generals.

[AGPO]

Assuming you aren't just going to use those new Dev squads of yours to sit back and blast them, then TH+SS termies are a great option. The 3++ save gets you past the annoying 'ignores saves' part, whilst thunder hammers can dish the pain to just about anything. I'd recommend sticking a Sanguinary priest somewhere near as well, apart from anything else to gain the furious charge bonus, as feel no pain won't do a lot of good against the big bugs (although it's great against swarms.) Sternguard are also awesome as their special ammo and the ability to take plenty of flamer goodness (2xHF + a few combi-flamers) deal with swarms too.

 

Plasma, krak missiles and lascannons will take those big guys down in short order. The most important thing is target selection - don't get stuck against hordes of bugs but equally don't get obsessed with the MCs and forget his scoring units.

[1Drop]

Yeah I get ya, target selection is a biggie with nids as you could be trying to take out the big ones then get swarmed by gaunts.. Thing is my bro is basing his army around the big ones and his troop choices are nid warriors and genestealers although he will probably add some hordes at some point. I have a cc terminator kit that I haven't assembled yet but I was gonna make them 3 x TH/SS and 2 x LC as I was advised by black orange to do so but I've been thinking lately maybe a full squad with TH/SS might be better, what do you think? I do really love the dual LC termies though, they just look awesome! I'm guessing DC would be pretty good at assaulting them too? And stengaurds, I really wanna add some to my army as it is, is 10 stengaurd the way to go?

 

EDIT: is melta any good against them? I have melta HG but not plasma HG but I could make a plasma squad too.

[calgaryBA]

Yeah I get ya, target selection is a biggie with nids as you could be trying to take out the big ones then get swarmed by gaunts.. Thing is my bro is basing his army around the big ones and his troop choices are nid warriors and genestealers although he will probably add some hordes at some point. I have a cc terminator kit that I haven't assembled yet but I was gonna make them 3 x TH/SS and 2 x LC as I was advised by black orange to do so but I've been thinking lately maybe a full squad with TH/SS might be better, what do you think? I do really love the dual LC termies though, they just look awesome! I'm guessing DC would be pretty good at assaulting them too? And stengaurds, I really wanna add some to my army as it is, is 10 stengaurd the way to go?

 

EDIT: is melta any good against them? I have melta HG but not plasma HG but I could make a plasma squad too.

 

Tyranid Shooting really lacks AP weaponry, and just uses a lot of high str and template weapons to get the job done. Priests go a LONG way in keeping your army trucking on, and are a pretty good ace on our side.

 

Their ample amount of firepower that's high str, that's also coming from high T and multi-wound monsters means you need to shut them down fast, and it won't be easy. You either need your own base of firepower with high str and low AP to take them out, and given how many wounds they have, you need to have a lot of it. Alternatively, get into combat with them ASAP using full assault Squads, shooting with melta before the charge with the all important PF. But they'll likely have swarms of gaunts as a shield, so you'll need a couple squads moving forward to shut them down.

 

The Sanguinor is fantastic against nids IMO. He's beasty enough to take down any big bad HQ/Elite, and buffs all your squads around him, plus gives one of your Sergeants a blessing for +1WS, +1A, +1 wound... Meaning a simple sergeant with a PF will have 5 attacks at WS 5 on the charge if he's within the aura range. The +1 attack aura helps mow down the gaunts much faster so you can get at his meat.

 

The Lack of AP weaponry on their side also allows Everybody's bad-boy, Mephiston, to get into combat without any trouble, and as usual, just select his targets with care.

 

Plasma weapons vs nids are great, but you can't charge after firing them, so the only decent plasma weapons in our army would come from an HG kitted with them, or in devs/vehicles.

 

Vs Nids i'd take 3 TH/SS and 2 LC termies in your squad. They have enough str8/10 MC's that you want several storm shield saves, while still some I5 S5 attacks on the charge. This termie squad with a basic chaplain and a naked priest in a SR works wonders as a hammer. without being ridiculously expensive.

 

 

I can't comment on the Sterngaurd though, I've never used them, so hopefully people with more experience can throw in some input here.

[AGPO]

The 3x TH+SS, 2xLC build is a good standard one to have. Against Nids I'd go for 5 hammers, and use them as monster hunters. Unless you're magnetising the first option is best.

 

Melta is okay but its short range means you're likely to get hit straight after using it. Plasma honour guard and devs are the way to go.

[1Drop]

Thanks bro, alot of great points there... That's how I was planning on kitting out my termies too!

 

Like I said before my HG are gonna be melta so is melta as good as plasma against them or is melta any good at all? I think I'll make a second HG with plasma for the job but still I'd like to know how melta fairs against them!??

 

The 3x TH+SS, 2xLC build is a good standard one to have. Against Nids I'd go for 5 hammers, and use them as monster hunters. Unless you're magnetising the first option is best.

 

Melta is okay but its short range means you're likely to get hit straight after using it. Plasma honour guard and devs are the way to go.

 

Ok thanks, I'll simply buy a second box of DA vets and convert them into plasma HG, they will be so cool next to my melta HG, I'm actually really excited to build them :jaw:

[Glendor]

If your playing a normal mech army you probably have about 3 razors which you should arm with a las/plas turret that will kill a monster a turn nearly. post what your thinking of playing

[1Drop]

Yeah I have 3 las/plas RB's

 

Da list (lol)

 

Librarian (goes in the middle RB and casts shield)

Librarian w/ TDA, shield plus a shooti g power (goes with terminators)

 

HG w/ plasma guns & jp's

 

5 RAS w/ melta gun (I could change this to plasma)

5 RAS w/ melta gun

5 RAS w/ melta gun, powerfist

All in RB's w/ las/plas

 

5 cc terminators w/ 3 x TH/SS 2 x LC

All in SR with extra armour, twin lascannons/melta

 

Baal predator (I was gonna go with HB sponsons & AC but would the flamestorm on one of these be a good idea?)

Baal predator w/ AC/HB

 

Attack bike w/ MM (would I need these as much against nids?

 

Attack bike w/ MM

 

10 devs w/ 4 x ML sarg has PF (PF or not?)

 

10 devs w/ 4 x PC again with the fist?

 

Vindicator w/ dozer blade

 

 

Ok so thats my list bro.... Fire away

[sp4rky]

Hi 1Drop,

 

I have played against MCs a couple of times and I find Scouts with Sniper Rifles are priceless as they wound automatically on a 4+ regardless of the target's toughness and my squad of 5 comes in at just 100 points with Camo Cloaks (+1 to cover saves) and a Missile Launcher.

 

They also have the option of taking a locator beacon if your ever think about Deep Striking your SR. And with Infiltrate you can place them pretty much where you like to give optimum firing positions.

 

 

In your list above though, would it be better taking the Fists off the Dev squad and giving them to the Assault Sergeants instead? That way you'll get the extra killing power going forward instead of having it "just in case" you get charged at the rear.

[Zetzue]

hay. i run 5 lc termids with lib and priest and it woks great agens horde armys whipte out 20 guants in one assult tho might change to 3 lc and 2 ss/th

[1Drop]

My brother is building a more monster based nid splinter fleet though, I need stuff that can knack the bigger bugs! I forgot to add some priests to my list as I don't really use them in mech lists as I usually only run HG and DC who will be actually assaulting (I try to keep my RAS in the RB's) and neither of them would benefit from a priest but for this list I'm using terminators and they actually would, I could put a TDA priest in the SR instead of the 2nd libby as I kinda wanna add a cc monster HQ such as meph or sang.

I already have meph, how is he at shutting down hive tyrants and such?

[1Drop]

Hi 1Drop,

 

I have played against MCs a couple of times and I find Scouts with Sniper Rifles are priceless as they wound automatically on a 4+ regardless of the target's toughness and my squad of 5 comes in at just 100 points with Camo Cloaks (+1 to cover saves) and a Missile Launcher.

 

They also have the option of taking a locator beacon if your ever think about Deep Striking your SR. And with Infiltrate you can place them pretty much where you like to give optimum firing positions.

 

 

In your list above though, would it be better taking the Fists off the Dev squad and giving them to the Assault Sergeants instead? That way you'll get the extra killing power going forward instead of having it "just in case" you get charged at the rear.

 

Thanks rob, you know I really wanna add some scouts to my army but actually have a use for them so I'm glad you told me that, would it be a good idea investing in two boxes do you think? Also as for the fists on the devs it was just a maybe and for fists on the RAS I will probably do that but I try to keep them guys in the RB's for as long as possible as well

[sp4rky]

I run a 5 man unit of Scouts at the moment but I would have 10 if I had the spare points. They more than make their points back every game as far as I'm concerned.

 

 

I make sure every sergeant in my army has a fist (apart from the Scout :lol:) but I don't run Devs any more. The fist is only useful once your "as long as possible" has expired anyway and they can make all the difference provided the sarge is still alive when initiative 1 gets to strike. The fist weilder is frequently the last man standing in any of my squads and usually the one that does the most damage.

[1Drop]

Fists are amazing both in game and looks-wise on the models, I love the fist in the devs box that is pointing.

I'm gonna get some scouts but I may just start with five to keep them cheap and get the most out of them, for 100 points I could run them instead of my attack bikes in a list that requires less melta and more picking off from a distance! How would scouts fair against GK when using sniper riffles as shooting them from a distance is a good tactic too!?

[Glendor]

Your list isn't bad but I don't like the amount of devastators you have just for wounds. I would take 4 off of each squad so you have one to soak up a wound. That would save 128 points also get rid of the power fists on both squads. Now there is another 178 points to play with. You don't necessarily need attack bikes vs. nids but I would leave them in there for an all comers list. With the extra points you could get that scout squad with a missile launcher and camo cloaks. 78 points left. Get rid of the power fist on the assault squad it is too small to make a difference with the points left over you can get a Predator with a heavy bolter sponsons. I am not sure how this will do against the monstrous creatures but it puts out a lot of fire power and will force wounds on them and can carve through gaunts. That leaves 8 points.

[1Drop]

Your list isn't bad but I don't like the amount of devastators you have just for wounds. I would take 4 off of each squad so you have one to soak up a wound. That would save 128 points also get rid of the power fists on both squads. Now there is another 178 points to play with. You don't necessarily need attack bikes vs. nids but I would leave them in there for an all comers list. With the extra points you could get that scout squad with a missile launcher and camo cloaks. 78 points left. Get rid of the power fist on the assault squad it is too small to make a difference with the points left over you can get a Predator with a heavy bolter sponsons. I am not sure how this will do against the monstrous creatures but it puts out a lot of fire power and will force wounds on them and can carve through gaunts. That leaves 8 points.

 

Thanks bro.. I haven't actually worked out the exact points of this list, it is probably rather high but I do really want to add the scouts by trimming the devs. This list is a variation of another list that was 2000 points so I think this one would be closer to 2500.

 

Also I won't have room for a predator as I have two devs squads and a vindicator already!

[Glendor]

Your list is around 2393

[1Drop]

Your list is around 2318

 

That's cool cos it's for against my brothers monster nids and he'll be packing points into big monsters. It would be cool to try and get the list down to 2000 though, I'll have to play around with my dex and a calculator later.

[knife&fork]

I make sure every sergeant in my army has a fist (apart from the Scout :)) but I don't run Devs any more. The fist is only useful once your "as long as possible" has expired anyway and they can make all the difference provided the sarge is still alive when initiative 1 gets to strike. The fist weilder is frequently the last man standing in any of my squads and usually the one that does the most damage.

 

Using entire squads as ablative wounds for a single fist is a huge waste of points. If your tactical or assault squads tend to get gobbled up like that you probably need to look at something more survivable or something with more bite.

[sp4rky]

K&F, I meant over the course of a game I tend to end up with just the fisty boy left.

 

With regards to fighting GK, Snipers only have 36" range so they could find themselves in a firefit sooner than they would like against them.

[1Drop]

K&F, I meant over the course of a game I tend to end up with just the fisty boy left.

 

With regards to fighting GK, Snipers only have 36" range so they could find themselves in a firefit sooner than they would like against them.

 

So what else other than MC's are snipers good for?

[sp4rky]

If a unit suffers an unsaved wound from a sniper rifle then the unit must make a pinning test. Very helpful for squads you want to slow down :-).

 

They can infiltrate so at the start of the game they can be anywhere on the table (12" away from the bad guys if hidden or 18" in plain view).

 

They just give your opponent something else to think about while the rest of your army moves about the place.

 

Also Snipers are strength 3 against vehicles but they get an additional either d3 or d6 (not got 'dex with me right now) so they can take down Tanks from the side or back (and tanks don't tend to face Snipers when there are bigger weapons staring at them).

 

With a 3++ save in cover with Camo Cloaks they ain't too easy to bump off either ;-).

 

I use mine by hiding them to one side of the table which means the enemy either has to come out to the side to kill them (leaving less units in the main battle) or move out of the way (feeding his units to my other flank or baal's, razorbacks and land raider).

[1Drop]

Some good tactics there bro, I'm sold on scouts, think I'll just get a box of five to start with though to keep the points down!

[knife&fork]

K&F, I meant over the course of a game I tend to end up with just the fisty boy left.

 

The question is how much value you get from other members of the squad? Do they actually contribute or are they just padding and dead weight? There's a difference and it's quite important.

 

For instance when I use tactical terminators they rarely make more than their points back if you just look at what they kill. On the other hand they soak up enormous amounts of firepower and takes the heat off the rest of my forces. They serve as a distraction, because they pose a very real threat and left unchecked they will do some serious damage.