Hive Tyrant Advice

[Lemondish]

Hullo everyone!

 

I recently stumbled upon pretty steep discounts on some great kits at a comic store near me. Not one to pass up a good deal, I picked up a cheap Hive Tyrant (among other things). I'll eventually build up the force with a start collecting because I'm fascinated by Tyranids, but for now I'm just looking to build and paint him. I'm not too interested in going hogwild with magnetizing, so I'm okay with giving him a specific role and build provided I'm not picking things for rule of cool and finding out it's ultimately dumb. Right now, however, all the information I can find involves going with wings and twin linked devourers. Love the wings, but the devourers don't seem to be included in the box...I'm not too interested in making what started as a cheap pickup turn into one that costs another $20 for a couple bits unless it is absolutely, positively hands down the only way to go. 

 

So, I come to you friendly B&C folks seeking advice. With what is provided solely in the Hive Tyrant kit, what is the smartest, most capable build? Swarmlord or Flyrant? I'm liking the Kraken paint scheme if that means anything. 

[dakkamasta]

Flyrant all the way. Swarmlord is too expensive for a one trick pony and even less so now that you can't use it on something that came from reinforcements in the same turn.

 

As for loadouts, unfortunately for you the double devourers is one of the optimal loadouts. However you said you like Kraken which works well with the Monstrous Rending Claws/Heavy Venom Cannon combo. With Kraken it can fall back from combat and both shoot and charge normally. The problem is that the wings take up 2 of the arm slots so you'll have to do some crafty converting to have the cannon and claws on together. You could also take one set of devourers instead of the HVC, but I prefer the cannon if you're only taking one gun.

[Lemondish]

Flyrant all the way. Swarmlord is too expensive for a one trick pony and even less so now that you can't use it on something that came from reinforcements in the same turn.

 

As for loadouts, unfortunately for you the double devourers is one of the optimal loadouts. However you said you like Kraken which works well with the Monstrous Rending Claws/Heavy Venom Cannon combo. With Kraken it can fall back from combat and both shoot and charge normally. The problem is that the wings take up 2 of the arm slots so you'll have to do some crafty converting to have the cannon and claws on together. You could also take one set of devourers instead of the HVC, but I prefer the cannon if you're only taking one gun.

Ah, I thought the claws on the wings counted as the rending ones. Man, they don't make it easy do they lol. Facing this same situation in my other army (DW and storm bolters).

[Lord_Caerolion]

I've always really wanted to convert a Hive Tyrant to have the wrecking-ball from the Stone-Crusher Carnifex, modeled with the leaping tail, to have him about to utterly pulverize some poor Guardsman.

 

In regards to the actual kit, though, personally I'd say the wings can count as Rending Claws, or you could say the feet count as Scything Talons. Not being particularly familiar with the kit, could you put arms in some of the leg sockets? So maybe wings in the top sockets, cannon in the middle, and some sort of melee weapon in the legs (although the sword/whip would probably look a little weird there).

[Lemondish]

So I might have actually gotten a bit confused on the bits. The two twin-linked devourer arms from FW aren't the devourer bits I'd need if I wanted a build with monstrous rending claws and two devourers, right? I assumed they were, but looking at the carnifex it looks like it comes with the same weapon that I need, or at least it's the same name on the datasheet.  

 

If one considers the big claws on the wings as the rending claws and equips a couple carnifex devourer arms in the other two arm sockets, would that be an acceptable model for the MRC/double devourer build? Or count the crazy giant claw feet as rending ones?

[wako1302]

I also use the claws on the wings a MRC

[Angarox]

The forgeworld arms are heavily influenced by community conversion fixes to this problem where a dev arm had another dev "barrel" glued on top... So each individual arm counts as a twin linked devourer, making the common dakka flyrant build legal without needing to swap out legs for devs. I think if you want a double devourer and rending claws flyrant you can use one of these arms as a set of two devourers, with a single rending claw arm as the rending claws option. But prob cheaper to just say the feet count as rending claws (I can imagine they'd rip up anything they grabbed!)

[Filkarion]

Some thoughts:

 

1) Feetclaw are a not so difficoult conversion and make a lot of sense from biological point of view (as long as non-insects hexopodes do^^ ): at the end of the day evolution rewards arming your feet/low body if you fly, as you expose less of your body while you attack a lower target with your natural weapons, and there is less chance of being grounded ( so talons! And stings for insects). Tail is also an interesting option to work on. Plus I think it is VERY RARE that someone complains about what precisely are your melee weapons if the model is good. Same to a certain degree for range weapons (see second point)

 

2) For some reason one of the absolute best weapons combination is not included in the kit ("historically" a common situation of old, probably not corrected by removing the devourer option for fan favorite/already converted/FW bits reasons). Solutions that come  to my mind are:

-Get the Fleshborer Tyrannofex arms, a not so popular option for TyFlexy and looks very good as count as on Hive Tyrants of all kinds. Featured in a White Dwarf as a "double twin linked devoures flyrant" conversion, so some strong ground for WYSIWYG.

-Convert the Big Gun you like less (probably the strangletorn cannon) into a "mega devourer", with green stuff or devourer bits. If you use a strong plastic glue you can glue only the arms together and not glue the arms to the sokets for a quick and easy swappable ranged weapons option

-Go wild: Luckly the devourer is essentialy a hive of small creature that are propelled from the holes of the gun, so you can add some green stuff, make some hole, add green stuff and/or devourer bits to the front body or the carapace of your little monster to make a Hilve Tyrant with a Hive ("Yo Dwag, I heard you like Hives...). This also "frees" 2 arms slots

 

3) I use a Swarmlord and Flyrant combo in my 2000 points kraken list and both are massive. With stratagems, "natural" speed and the Swarmlord command ability you can easy reach a 48"-some first turn charge range with Genestealers; this, psi support, reliable center field Synaptics, fire magnet and "meance factor" repais him of all his points

 

Just my 2 cents

[Lemondish]

Some thoughts:

 

1) Feetclaw are a not so difficoult conversion and make a lot of sense from biological point of view (as long as non-insects hexopodes do^^ ): at the end of the day evolution rewards arming your feet/low body if you fly, as you expose less of your body while you attack a lower target with your natural weapons, and there is less chance of being grounded ( so talons! And stings for insects). Tail is also an interesting option to work on. Plus I think it is VERY RARE that someone complains about what precisely are your melee weapons if the model is good. Same to a certain degree for range weapons (see second point)

 

2) For some reason one of the absolute best weapons combination is not included in the kit ("historically" a common situation of old, probably not corrected by removing the devourer option for fan favorite/already converted/FW bits reasons). Solutions that come to my mind are:

-Get the Fleshborer Tyrannofex arms, a not so popular option for TyFlexy and looks very good as count as on Hive Tyrants of all kinds. Featured in a White Dwarf as a "double twin linked devoures flyrant" conversion, so some strong ground for WYSIWYG.

-Convert the Big Gun you like less (probably the strangletorn cannon) into a "mega devourer", with green stuff or devourer bits. If you use a strong plastic glue you can glue only the arms together and not glue the arms to the sokets for a quick and easy swappable ranged weapons option

-Go wild: Luckly the devourer is essentialy a hive of small creature that are propelled from the holes of the gun, so you can add some green stuff, make some hole, add green stuff and/or devourer bits to the front body or the carapace of your little monster to make a Hilve Tyrant with a Hive ("Yo Dwag, I heard you like Hives...). This also "frees" 2 arms slots

 

3) I use a Swarmlord and Flyrant combo in my 2000 points kraken list and both are massive. With stratagems, "natural" speed and the Swarmlord command ability you can easy reach a 48"-some first turn charge range with Genestealers; this, psi support, reliable center field Synaptics, fire magnet and "meance factor" repais him of all his points

 

Just my 2 cents

Firstly, thanks a ton for the reply!

 

1) I'm still really new to the hobby, and doubly so for Tyranids. I wanted to keep conversions down a bit because I lack bits and this was just a spur of the moment purchase since the deal was so good. This may be the model to experiment with, though...

 

2) This is the same issue I ran into with my main force of Deathwatch - the best veteran weapon doesn't come in the kit.

 

From what you're saying, though, it sounds like I can't simply use the devourer arms from the Carnifex kit, call the claws on the wings rending claws, and be done with the model.

 

3) The swarmlord sounds valuable in that case, and since it's a much simpler build that doesn't really require any additional bits, I may just build the kit that way.

[Filkarion]

 

Firstly, thanks a ton for the reply!

 

1) I'm still really new to the hobby, and doubly so for Tyranids. I wanted to keep conversions down a bit because I lack bits and this was just a spur of the moment purchase since the deal was so good. This may be the model to experiment with, though...

 

2) This is the same issue I ran into with my main force of Deathwatch - the best veteran weapon doesn't come in the kit.

 

From what you're saying, though, it sounds like I can't simply use the devourer arms from the Carnifex kit, call the claws on the wings rending claws, and be done with the model.

 

3) The swarmlord sounds valuable in that case, and since it's a much simpler build that doesn't really require any additional bits, I may just build the kit that way.

 

 

 

WAAAAAIT; for some strange twists of fate I happen to NOT have a Carnifex kit (well, I have some very old ones (pun intended), metal, 3rd edition not so old to be retro, not so old to be cool carnys...long story)

I managed to look at the devourer carnifex bits and they seem to go fine with the Hive Tyran!

[Xenith]

Big monster arm sockets are roughly the same. Carni kit comes with twin devourers and spitters - these can go on the tyrant.

 

Common loadout is 4x devourers, which is where the forge work kit or conversion comes in.

 

I'd run him with heavy venom cannon and rending claws, then upgrade cannon to the relic miasma cannon. Good all rounder got kraken.

[Lemondish]

Big monster arm sockets are roughly the same. Carni kit comes with twin devourers and spitters - these can go on the tyrant.

 

Common loadout is 4x devourers, which is where the forge work kit or conversion comes in.

 

I'd run him with heavy venom cannon and rending claws, then upgrade cannon to the relic miasma cannon. Good all rounder got kraken.

Would that go best with or without wings?

 

Edit: Went with this build with wings - he's looking menacing! Thanks everybody for the help!

[Xenith]

Oh yes, wings. The tyrant is unfortunately much better with wings. He can do everything. Fast, psychic, shooty, choppy. Between fly and kraken, it can fallback, shoot and assault each turn.

[Lucifer216]

Isn't its combat-potential severely neutered if you opt for 4 x devourers? You're hitting with no saving throw modifiers and each attack can only cause one wound...