Jbaeza's Hive Fleet Hydra *Commission Complete!*

[jbaeza94]

Hey guys, so i dove feet first into 8th ed tyranids. I was always fond of them, I like the idea of a swarm and bugs. I thought a dark purple/blue would be cool and boom! What do you know?! Hive Fleet Hydra not only had the playstyle I wanted, but also a color scheme close to what I invisioned! I'm glad for this Tyranid Growth Challenge going on. It'll give me drive to keep painting. I'm gonna be asking for a lot of help from you guys, I haven't played a single 8th ed game, and I've only ever played DA (please don't tell the Chaplains, I don't want to return to Cell 42). I've also never played with or against a Tyranid army before, so I'm pretty lost as to what's good and what's not.

My Pile O' Shame:

Trygon/Mawlock

Swarmlord/Tyrant

Tervigon

Broodlord

24x Hormagaunts

24x Termigants

10x Gargoyles

8x Genestealers

3x Warriors

3x Venomthroaps/Zoanthroaps

I'll keep this list updated as a reminder of what I still owe you guys.

1st on the chopping block, 24x Termigants. I will be having 20x fleshboarers and 4x devourers. Reason is, I can bring back the fleshboarer termigants. I beleive I'll have a sound base to expand on in the future when I get my 3rd box (eventually) of termigants, which will be kitted with as many devourers as possible. Thoughts?

Don't forget to leave painting advice, tips, tricks, and critiques (when I get to that point).

[Dosjetka]

Perhaps we could have a main Pile of Shame thread to keep track of people's progress?

 

Anyway, good luck with painting all of that and I look forward to seeing pictures! :tu:

[jbaeza94]

Haha that sounds like a good idea :) I'd gladly, no, shamefully, display my pile there.

 

Thank you for showing interest chaps, I hope to not disappoint

[jbaeza94]

Hey guys,

 

I been thinking on how im going to be painting the blue. i kinda want a blue gray feel. i use vallejo, but i also added the gw equivalent.  i was thinking something like:

 

Base: Ultramarine Blue (Altdorf Guard Blue)

Wash: Nuln Oil or Drakenof Nightshade (im not sure what would look better.)

Highlight: Ultramarine Blue (Altdorf Guard Blue)??

Highlight 2: Wolf Gray (Fenrisian Grey)??

 

what do you guys think? would this work?

[Hellrender]

The citadel paint app just had hydra added this week. Recommend taking a look (its free)

[jbaeza94]

oh ok! thanks! ill check it out today. i should be able to start painting sunday

[jbaeza94]

so i didnt start painting sunday...

however i did start painting today haha. i decided to use a different blue than previous thought, and different from what gw said on their app. idk, i just dont like their blue. its too... it too blue... what really got me for hydra was the gray blue on the art, and i think ive got a good match. Somber Blue (the fang) with blue wash. check it out :)

i still have to do highlights and stuff, but i'll do that tomorrow. thoughts?

[Corwyn]

I’m doing hydra and have come up with a vert fast scheme. Spray with the f Fang. Carapace and claws with black. Flesh with daemonette hide. Works pretty well for fast painting.

[jbaeza94]

indeed the fang is a superior color to what GW originally had.
For the flesh i went with xersus purple and genestealer purple equivalents. i think it looked great.  i used a medium gray, im not sure what gw calls theirs, for the striping on the carapace. ill tell you what, that is really hard to paint and to make it look nice. one of them came out really awesome! the rest are meh haha

the minis are done, minus the base, i just havent had time to take pics and post, but expect some within the next day or 2 

[jbaeza94]

Hey guys, so looking to building a tervigon for the ETL, but im at a loss. Is the tervigon viable or would the tyranofex be superior? the plan was to surround the tervigon with termis and have them constantly be replenished. reroll 1's for their shooting doesnt sound bad, and it could hold an objective or maybe push into a heavy vehicle. however, ive still never seen how tyrainds play at all. what are your guys thoughts? is the tervigon worth it?

[Filkarion]

My personal take is: rules change, Magnets/bluetac are forever

 

With Tervigon/Tirannofez (I like fez! Fez is cool) it means:

Easy magnetization of the 2 heads

Not so hard arms and Weapons magnetization (Bonus! interchangeable TyFez cannons!) 

A bit triky spawning sack magnetization (a bit of green stff to support magnets in the internal lower part of the birthing sack will do the trick, the upper part fits preatty well to the body)

I will submit mine in this ETL if I survive my first vow

 

For actual battle data, I'm sorry I have none... still both seems to me pratty good on paper

 

Short version: Just vow the most expensive for the ETL _NOW_ and assemble with sense for a later switch

 

Please^^;;; (Just joking...maybe^^;;;; )

[jbaeza94]

i dont think i would change heads if i magnetized. heads to me seem like look thing rather than actual wysiwyg, im sure i could think of a way to stick the belly on with magnets though. i might have to do that to maximize my money and list options. id love to submit the most expensive model possible, but id rather have a thematic submission, tervigon and 12 little friends. im not sure what the total point cost is for it, it may or may not be the priciest option. maybe though, if i have time, ill contribute a swarmlord, thats pretty pricy ;)

[Filkarion]

Obviously thematic always wins over almost everything!

 

And Swarmy is always welcome 

[Xenith]

In practice, the tervigon is quite overcosted - you have to pay points for all the other terms it spawns, and has no offensive output on its own.

 

The TFex is in a good place right now, so I would go for that, or magnetise.

 

If you play narrative, or love the tervigon, go with that.

[jbaeza94]

I thought you could respawn previously killed termigants for free, it was only the fresh squads that you had to pay for?

 

I'll keep the tfex in mind. Gotta look at the weapon data sheets again

[Xenith]

I thought you could respawn previously killed termigants for free, it was only the fresh squads that you had to pay for?

 

I'll keep the tfex in mind. Gotta look at the weapon data sheets again

This is correct on the respawn units - the issue is that the tervigon will replace 60 Gants over a 6 turn game max, which is 240pts worth of gaunts...which is about the cost of the tervigon.

 

You might be better off just adding 60 Gants to the army so you can use them from turn 1.

[jbaeza94]

hey guys,

 

i guess ive been absent a while huh 

 

im at a bit of a loss. i still dont have any experience playing with/against tyranids yet , lol, and frankly at this time i just dont have time to paint all the minis. i will be commissioning this army to be painted for me by den of imagination. pricey, but i do want to get the army going before 2021 lol.

 

in all seriousness though, i get a better deal if i send more figures, so i figure id send a whole army, one thats ready to play.

so i need help in building a list. big question, do i need chapter approved 18? im not looking for a super meta power list. i want a fun kinda fluffy list that wont get stomped in casual games. hive fleet hydra, because they have cool colors, cool fluff (hive fleet eaters !) and swarms are cool too haha. looking for about 1750 to 2k

 

alright, so here is what i got so far

Swarmlord/tyrant

24 termis

24 hormis

8 genestealers

10 harpies

3 warriors

3 venom/zoanthropes

tfex/tervigon (i will be discussing magnetization for this, but i really want a tervigon for fluff reasons)

trygon/mawlock

brood lord

 

how should i build these these guys? what else could i add to round out the list? everything is still nib except for 12 termis (10 flesh boarers, 2 devourers i think, this was so they could respawn from a tervigon)  more gaunts? i was reading in the tyranids ca 2018 thread that a guy was pushing like 90+ gaunts in about 2k. maybe i need some bigger hitters for killing vics? like i said, not a tournament winning list, a casual fun list that fits the hydra theme. thanks brothers

[jbaeza94]

alright guys, what do you think of this?

 

++ Battalion Detachment +5CP (Tyranids) [71 PL, 1125pts] ++

 

+ HQ +

 

Broodlord [8 PL, 115pts]: Power: The Horror

 

The Swarmlord [15 PL, 250pts]: Power: Onslaught, Power: Psychic Scream

 

+ Troops +

 

Genestealers [16 PL, 240pts]

. 20x Genestealer: 20x Rending Claws

 

Genestealers [16 PL, 240pts]

. 20x Genestealer: 20x Rending Claws

 

Tyranid Warriors [5 PL, 86pts]

. Tyranid Warrior: Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior: Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior (Bio-cannon): Scything Talons, Venom Cannon

 

+ Elites +

 

Venomthropes [5 PL, 90pts]: 3x Venomthrope

 

+ Heavy Support +

 

Mawloc [6 PL, 104pts]: Prehensile Pincer Tail

 

++ Battalion Detachment +5CP (Tyranids) [52 PL, 829pts] ++

 

+ HQ +

 

Hive Tyrant [11 PL, 213pts]: Adrenal Glands, Monstrous Rending Claws, Power: Psychic Scream, Power: The Horror, Slimer Maggot Infestation, Toxin Sacs, Two Deathspitters with Slimer Maggots, Warlord, Wings

 

Tervigon [13 PL, 198pts]: Massive Scything Talons, Power: Catalyst, Stinger Salvo

 

+ Troops +

 

Termagants [9 PL, 120pts]: 30x Termagant (Fleshborer)

 

Termagants [9 PL, 120pts]: 30x Termagant (Fleshborer)

 

Tyranid Warriors [5 PL, 88pts]

. Tyranid Warrior: Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior: Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior (Bio-cannon): Boneswords, Venom Cannon

 

+ Elites +

 

Venomthropes [5 PL, 90pts]: 3x Venomthrope

 

++ Total: [123 PL, 1954pts] ++

 

Created with BattleScribe

[Arson Fire]

Ok, so Hydra is all about swarms of little bugs.  It does pretty much nothing to benefit monstrous creatures, and only occasionally will help smaller units of medium bugs.

Your big units of genestealers and termagants will work well with it.  They'll be re-rolling hits in combat a good amount of the time.

Perhaps put some thought into whether even more units of genestealers or gaunts (of either flavour) would be a good idea, to get more out of the hive fleet you've chosen.

 

 

The Hydra stratagem is a buffed version of Endless Swarm, which works on any Infantry unit, instead of just termagants, hormagaunts, and gargoyles.  It's of questionable merit, as you have to set aside points when building your list for any replacement units you add with this stratagem.  Common thinking is that you may as well have those points on the table and working for you from the start, rather than only being used after you've lost a unit.

However a point in favour of it is that the replacement unit can appear on any board edge, which can be a way of getting into your opponents backfield (although it's far from the only or best method tyranids have to get units there).  It's also one of the only ways to usefully apply a Lictors Pheromone Trail stratagem, in case appearing from any board edge doesn't get your replacement unit where it needs to go.

 

So put some thought into whether you feel this stratagem is worth sacrificing some points in your list.  Respawning a unit of genestealers behind the enemy army could be fun, if maybe not efficient.

[jbaeza94]

one recommendation i received was to include OOE and have him push up with with some gaunts for cover. then murder something. whats your opinion on this?

i could also replace one set of warriors with 30 more termis/hormis. is the short range shooting termis better than extra power in cc that hormis have? they both gain the advantage of reroll failed to hit, but hormis get reroll to wound in 20+ units. they may need babysitting via venomthrope or a swarmlord buff to get in asap or else i feel like they will lose their benefit over termis.

i could easily drop the mawloc, its really only there because i have the model already. it could also be a trygon.

 

i could definitely try the strategem.  i could see some uses with this, especially for objective scoring.

[Arson Fire]

OOE is decent.  It works best with Kraken (as do other melee carnifexes), due to both dealing mortal wounds and gaining a to-hit bonus on a turn where it charges.  With Kraken allowing it to fall back and charge again each turn (and also advance faster up the field).

Hydra on the other hand doesn't really help it at all.  But it's still a good unit on its own merits.

 

Hormagaunts aren't really taken for their CC power. Leave that to the genestealers.  You take hormagaunts to exploit their 6" pile-in + consolidation moves to take hostages and tie up shooting units.  You already have two big units of termagants, so I'd certainly consider hormagaunts over more of them.  With this kind of army, your ability to kill tough targets may be a bit weak.  Tarpitting a line of tanks for a whole game can be just as good as killing them however, and that's what hormagaunts are good at.

[jbaeza94]

oh ok right on. 

 

like i said above, i have no experience with tyranids (just the codex and a few batreps that i see on youtube, but no one plays hydra ha)

 

would you reccomend they be escorted? or how would you move them around the board?

when i get home on about 2 hours ill post a new revised list with some hormis.

[Arson Fire]

There isn't much you can take in a Hydra list that gets hormagaunts across the table any faster, that isn't better used on other units.

The Swarmlord is better off double-moving genestealers.

If you're using a Trygon to deepstrike infantry, it's better off containing either genestealers or a devilgaunt bomb (30 termagants with devourers, using the Single Minded Annihilation stratagem to fire 180 S4 shots).

So the hormies are left to hoof it across the field with the rest of the army.

 

However it's easy for them to trail a couple of models back to a unit of venomthropes, to give them a -1 to hit against shooting.

They're also moderately quick, with their 8" move.  Not as fast as genestealers perhaps, as they aren't natively able to charge after advancing.  But they're often a good target for the Onslaught power to let them do so.

 

Once they get in charge range of enemy units, they have some shenanigans they can exploit to get into stuff.

You may already be familiar with the idea of tri-pointing models in an enemy unit to take them hostage, and prevent them from falling back:

 

 

Hormagaunts can take this a bit further than most units, and slingshot themselves across the table to grab hostages like so:

[jbaeza94]

those hormigaunt tactics seem very advanced. i never would have thought to use them like that. very cool!

 

that trygon devilgant bomb sounds exciting! especially since im trying to find a use for that model haha speaking of termis. do you think mixed squads are worth it (10xdevourer / 20x flesh borer)?

[Arson Fire]

Termagant weapon composition depends a bit on what you want the unit to do.

Since you have a tervigon, including at least 10 fleshborers in a footslogging unit is recommended, so it can regenerate them.

 

If the purpose of the unit is merely to be a meat-shield to cheaply hold ground and screen other units, you may not want any devourers at all.

 

A mixed unit drives up the price but allows it to put some hurt on other infantry that get close.  Different people have different opinions on the best ratio in a mixed unit.  Some go 10xfleshborer 20xdevourer, some 15/15, etc.

Personally I haven't used a mixed unit much, so can't offer much perspective on it. 10xfleshborer 20xdevourer makes the most sense to me, but that's not speaking from experience.

 

Devilgaunt bombs always want the full 30 devourers, to get the most firepower out of the single minded annihilation stratagem.  It's typically a suicide unit, as few opponents will allow it to survive the turn after it drops in.