Unit of the Week: Swarm Lord

[Xenith]

++Swarm Lord++

 

 

We have a new unit of the week! This week it's onto the indomitable big beastie of the codex, the Swarm Lord. Released in ~2010 with the 5th ed codex, the Swarmlord adds an extra deimension to Hive Tyrants. What are you thoughts here folks? How best would you use the Alpha Tyrant?

• To compliment a list, or to build a list around? Will the beta rules affect your list(s)?
• What size unit? Will you be running multiple units?
• What Hive Fleet Traits, Adaptations and Stratagems do you prefer and how much does it depend on the above choices?
• Are you buffing this unit? If so, how?

Over to you.

Edited April 12, 2021 by Xenith

[Xenith]

This guy adds a lot of speed to the force and some melee/duelling capacity as well as psychic powers at the expense of his own speed (lacking wings) and shooting. Hive Commander can rocket some genestealers up the field, or shoot some hormagaunts forwards to tie up your opponent.

 

The 3++ in combat is great, combined with mortal wounds from the sabres and smite, he can take on other tough characters solo, though expect for some damage to go through. 

 

My thoughts would be to hide him as much as possible in the early game, then pounce on weakened units from T3 onwards, or whenever allows , in larger games at least. In ~1000pts he needs to get stuck in ASAP. 

[WarriorFish]

The Swarmlord feels like the big character of the army. At least in rules terms with the fancy stats and rules a Chapter Master would get... Slingshotting units up and around the table is a very powerful ability you'll want to get the most from, being handy in combat helps of course. He'll be a big target so keeping him away from threats makes sense, but you need him where he can apply his strengths best before long as he's too expensive not to be getting what you paid for.

 

I'm not sure if I'd consider him for 1000pts games, 1500pts feels better so you can get more support and have less eggs in your basket? If you can afford him I think he's a good pick, if you're happy with the speed and lack of shooting :)

[The Pounder]

Yeah the Swarmlord is probably the first name on my roster (after the obligatory Hive Guard brood)

 

I find his slingshot ability plus his melee prowess very useful not to mention he’s great in the psychic phase!

 

With the changes to cover in 9th I think it’s fairly simple to keep him hidden until the later stages of the game.

 

I think he’s best used in games of 1500+ he’s a lot of pts so you need him to do a job every time he’s used.

 

Such a great unit!

[Archadeus]

Swarmlord is the best model in the game hands down. The ability to double advance and charge is absolutely insane. He took over 8th for a time and now he's taking over 9th with the dimacherons. You give him a tool and he abuses it to the maximum. Not to mention he's a smashGod with a 3++ in combat and most likely a 5+++

[Evil Eye]

I was contemplating turning an old pewter Tyrant into the Swarmlord, but I think if I do run him I'll convert him up from the plastic kit instead, as that will be much easier to make him look properly monstrous and not just a quad-bonesword toting Tyrant with a new head. He'll also need some suitably beefy Tyrant Guard to protect him, because he's gonna be a massive priority target and anything to boost his chance of getting stuck in will help.