Hive Guard

[Rogue]

Hello

 

Does anyone have any tips on dealing with hive guard?

 

I played against tyranids recently, and in the first five turns, a brood of three managed to:

1. de-weapon and immobilise a razor

2. detonate a vindicator

3. wreck the other razor

4. wreck the other vindicator

5. detonate the first razor (for the KP)

They did this from behind a wood, and then from inside the wood, so always had cover saves.

 

(In my defence, I feel I should point out that I won 12-9, and killed everything else in his army by the end of turn 6).

 

You can't instant death them, they have a lot of wounds (plus cover saves), and stuff firing at them might be better used taking out the rest of the tyranids as they advance.

 

I have a strong suspicion that I'll be facing more of them next time, so any ideas?

 

Cheers,

 

Rogue

[DarkGuard]

Autocannons, missile launchers, lascannons, combat. All deal with them all right. They only have a 4+ save, so most weapons cut through them.

 

And then, of course, range. They only have a 24" range. Sure they can move and shoot, but if you stay out of that range they're either doing nothing or moving to get in it, which can make them vulnerable. Also remember that they have Lurk, which means that if they fail an IB test they have to move into cover, running if need be, and that they can only shoot at the nearest target they can see. So if they have no LoS in cover but fail an IB test then they can't shoot, so knock out the synapse.

[Corby]

Autocannons, missile launchers, lascannons, combat. All deal with them all right. They only have a 4+ save, so most weapons cut through them.

 

And then, of course, range. They only have a 24" range. Sure they can move and shoot, but if you stay out of that range they're either doing nothing or moving to get in it, which can make them vulnerable. Also remember that they have Lurk, which means that if they fail an IB test they have to move into cover, running if need be, and that they can only shoot at the nearest target they can see. So if they have no LoS in cover but fail an IB test then they can't shoot, so knock out the synapse.

 

 

They also usuallyhave feel no pain thanks to a nearby tervigon making them even more resisted. They're a good unit overall which usually end up being plonked behind some line of sight blocking terrain near the mid-field so they can threaten many different targets. The problem players have sometimes when facing Tyranids is the opponents end up distracted by all the bigger enemies charging forwards towards them in the first few turns , they end trying to focus fire the Cc creatures down while trying to out manouver the shooting elements of the tyranid army ( which is hampered furthered by hiveguard not requiring Line of sight to a target) , when in fact , they should be focusing the shooty elements down and trying to outmanouver the close combat elements.

 

Medium strength shooting with high volumes of fire and an ap of 4 ( such as assault cannons and heavy bolters) can hurt them or decent close combat unit with a reasonable strength and power weapons of some description makes light work of them , however if the Tyranid play is aware you'll try such a thing they'll screen the hiveguard with cheap termaguants while hiding them behind some terrain to prevent oppurtune assaults.

[Koremu]

They are short ranged and not especially fast. That makes them a target for removal by fast units - Bikers, Land Speeders, Assault Squads...

[DarkGuard]

They also usuallyhave feel no pain thanks to a nearby tervigon making them even more resisted. They're a good unit overall which usually end up being plonked behind some line of sight blocking terrain near the mid-field so they can threaten many different targets. The problem players have sometimes when facing Tyranids is the opponents end up distracted by all the bigger enemies charging forwards towards them in the first few turns , they end trying to focus fire the Cc creatures down while trying to out manouver the shooting elements of the tyranid army ( which is hampered furthered by hiveguard not requiring Line of sight to a target) , when in fact , they should be focusing the shooty elements down and trying to outmanouver the close combat elements.

 

Medium strength shooting with high volumes of fire and an ap of 4 ( such as assault cannons and heavy bolters) can hurt them or decent close combat unit with a reasonable strength and power weapons of some description makes light work of them , however if the Tyranid play is aware you'll try such a thing they'll screen the hiveguard with cheap termaguants while hiding them behind some terrain to prevent oppurtune assaults.

 

I'd be surprised if they usually have FnP, especially if they're being sat behind terrain. I play Hive Guard in my Nid army and hardly ever cast FnP on them, I'd much rather stick that on my screens, Warriors or Tervigon to make it harder to take out my screens or synapse. I find that FnP on Hive Guard for the most part is wasted, especially as most Nid armies will only be able to cast it about once or twice unless the player is completely devoid of any creativity in the list.

 

But you can bet that they'll be in terrain or screened by Termagants to make it hard for players to get to them. Used correctly they're hard to stop, as LoS will be restricted, or they'll be difficult to get into assault with, and in assault they're not too bad. And in the end, there are bigger targets to shoot at. So play the range game, and if you get the opportunity to wipe them all out at once take it, otherwise concentrate on wiping something else out.

[Corby]

They also usuallyhave feel no pain thanks to a nearby tervigon making them even more resisted. They're a good unit overall which usually end up being plonked behind some line of sight blocking terrain near the mid-field so they can threaten many different targets. The problem players have sometimes when facing Tyranids is the opponents end up distracted by all the bigger enemies charging forwards towards them in the first few turns , they end trying to focus fire the Cc creatures down while trying to out manouver the shooting elements of the tyranid army ( which is hampered furthered by hiveguard not requiring Line of sight to a target) , when in fact , they should be focusing the shooty elements down and trying to outmanouver the close combat elements.

 

Medium strength shooting with high volumes of fire and an ap of 4 ( such as assault cannons and heavy bolters) can hurt them or decent close combat unit with a reasonable strength and power weapons of some description makes light work of them , however if the Tyranid play is aware you'll try such a thing they'll screen the hiveguard with cheap termaguants while hiding them behind some terrain to prevent oppurtune assaults.

 

I'd be surprised if they usually have FnP, especially if they're being sat behind terrain. I play Hive Guard in my Nid army and hardly ever cast FnP on them, I'd much rather stick that on my screens, Warriors or Tervigon to make it harder to take out my screens or synapse. I find that FnP on Hive Guard for the most part is wasted, especially as most Nid armies will only be able to cast it about once or twice unless the player is completely devoid of any creativity in the list.

 

But you can bet that they'll be in terrain or screened by Termagants to make it hard for players to get to them. Used correctly they're hard to stop, as LoS will be restricted, or they'll be difficult to get into assault with, and in assault they're not too bad. And in the end, there are bigger targets to shoot at. So play the range game, and if you get the opportunity to wipe them all out at once take it, otherwise concentrate on wiping something else out.

 

 

I'd cast feel no pain on them to increase the durability. They're such a threatening unit and by casting feel no pain on them while they're sitting in cover , I'm forcing my opponent to spend a lot of serious fire power if he wants to dig them out.

[Brother Nihm]

Another tip (situational), if possible : Kill their nearby Synapse creature, as they are not allowed to fire out of LOS when affected by instinctive behaviour.

 

They also usuallyhave feel no pain thanks to a nearby tervigon making them even more resisted. They're a good unit overall which usually end up being plonked behind some line of sight blocking terrain near the mid-field so they can threaten many different targets. The problem players have sometimes when facing Tyranids is the opponents end up distracted by all the bigger enemies charging forwards towards them in the first few turns , they end trying to focus fire the Cc creatures down while trying to out manouver the shooting elements of the tyranid army ( which is hampered furthered by hiveguard not requiring Line of sight to a target) , when in fact , they should be focusing the shooty elements down and trying to outmanouver the close combat elements.

 

Medium strength shooting with high volumes of fire and an ap of 4 ( such as assault cannons and heavy bolters) can hurt them or decent close combat unit with a reasonable strength and power weapons of some description makes light work of them , however if the Tyranid play is aware you'll try such a thing they'll screen the hiveguard with cheap termaguants while hiding them behind some terrain to prevent oppurtune assaults.

 

I'd be surprised if they usually have FnP, especially if they're being sat behind terrain. I play Hive Guard in my Nid army and hardly ever cast FnP on them, I'd much rather stick that on my screens, Warriors or Tervigon to make it harder to take out my screens or synapse. I find that FnP on Hive Guard for the most part is wasted, especially as most Nid armies will only be able to cast it about once or twice unless the player is completely devoid of any creativity in the list.

 

But you can bet that they'll be in terrain or screened by Termagants to make it hard for players to get to them. Used correctly they're hard to stop, as LoS will be restricted, or they'll be difficult to get into assault with, and in assault they're not too bad. And in the end, there are bigger targets to shoot at. So play the range game, and if you get the opportunity to wipe them all out at once take it, otherwise concentrate on wiping something else out.

 

 

I'd cast feel no pain on them to increase the durability. They're such a threatening unit and by casting feel no pain on them while they're sitting in cover , I'm forcing my opponent to spend a lot of serious fire power if he wants to dig them out.

While he removes my screens and stealers wholesale? no thank you. :cuss

[DarkGuard]

While he removes my screens and stealers wholesale? no thank you. :wallbash:

 

^_^

[Corby]

While he removes my screens and stealers wholesale? no thank you. :)

 

:wallbash:

 

 

^_^

 

Personal preferances in playstyle I guess. Each to his own :verymad:

[Brother Nihm]

Amen brother. ^_^

[Mysticaria]

Personal preferances in playstyle I guess. Each to his own :)

yep... Otherwise, sure would be a boring game. :)

 

-Myst

[Rogue]

Target of opportunity, then?

 

Given the chance, hammer them with every AP4+ heavy weapon available (or do the same to nearby synapse). Until then, try to stay out of 24".

 

I'm planning to add a couple of typhoons over the summer, so they may end up sneaking around the table edges and sending over krak missiles at distance...

[Aidoneus]

Purgation squads with Psycannons, obviously! ;)

 

Assaulting them isn't an option, as the rest of the 'Nid lines will quickly mulch your CC unit. I'd try for S8+ weapons and deal with them getter a cover save. They can't have LoS blocked from all of your units. Well, not often. If they do, just move away and try to minimize their impact.