Endless Stinger Swarm (2500pt List)

Nick speaking,

I am sure you may remember me posting about The 3k Game I had with my buddy Aceface. It was an epic game with my Necrons taking on his Hive Fleet. We rolled the Relic, which I grabbed with my Wraiths turn one and held on for dear life until the game ended. I got a win, but was probably quite lucky with the mission, if you consider all the nastiness that he had on the table!

Since then, Aceface has been working on a new Tau army, and not only does it look fantastic, he is having a lot of success with his list on the table. Check out the link here if you want to find out more on that. Of course, I am writing this post to let you know that we have another game scheduled, and although I don't know for sure, I am suspecting the Tau to make an appearance. The only things I do know, is that we will play 2500 points and will have a go at the Maelstrom missions.

Ace has seen both my Eldar and Necrons in action, so I suppose it's about time I got out my Nids for him to see. Going up against a very experienced Nid player with my Nids, as he commands a very Strong Tau army doesn't sound too promising to me, so I need to come up with something different to counter both of these disadvantages!

I already know the way Ace likes to play, lots of big nasty units and guns, and that is how he plays his Nids. I have played a few Nidzilla games recently myself, but this time I am going all out swarm. I figure I am not going to win a shooting match against his three Riptides and other nasty guns, so why bother to compete there? Oh no, I am thinking flood the board with as many little bugs as I can and see how he copes!

As we are playing a Maelstrom mission, that will help me too, lots and lots of units to grab points at the start of the game, and from then on to just stay alive until the game ends. Minimum unit sizes will make him waste a lot of his over powered guns on killing just five bugs, so hopefully I will have a chance to survive. I can't go without my three Mawlocs, my favourite Nid unit in both looks and fun, plus they will help add a little distraction as the Swarm advances!

Using the Endless Swarm formation to boost my numbers as I die, this is the final list for the game. It's going to be very interesting and a lot of fun, even if Ace doesn't bring his Tau...


Endless Swarm 2500k

Primary Detachment (1330pts)

HQ
1 x Death Leaper (130)

TROOPS
3 x Warriors/Barbed Strangler (100)
3 x Warriors/Barbed Strangler (100)
5 x Genestealers (70)
5 x Genestealers (70)
5 x Genestealers (70)
5 x Genestealers (70)

ELITES
1x Venomthropes (45)
1x Venomthropes (45)

FAST
3 x Shrike Brood (90)
10x Gargoyles (60)
10x Gargoyles (60)

HEAVY
1x Mawloc (140)
1x Mawloc (140)
1x Mawloc (140)

Secondary Detachment (710pts)

HQ
1 x Tyranid Prime/Whip/Boneswords (140)

TROOPS
5 x Genestealers (70)
5 x Genestealers (70)
5 x Genestealers (70)
5 x Genestealers (70)
5 x Genestealers (70)
5 x Genestealers (70)

ELITES
1x Zoanthropes (50)
1x Zoanthropes (50)
1x Zoanthropes (50)

Endless Swarm Formation (460pts)

3 x Warriors/Barbed Strangler (100)
10 x Hormagaunts/Toxin sacs (80)
10 x Hormagaunts/Toxin sacs (80)
10 x Hormagaunts/Toxin sacs (80)
10 x Termagants (40)
10 x Termagants (40)
10 x Termagants (40)

2500 points


Battle report to follow soon...

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1750 Point Nidzilla List

Nick speaking,

I am always thinking about new fun lists to play and surprise my opponents with, so here we go with a Nidzilla themed list. It all came about when I got thinking about my three Mawloc models, they are all magnetised, but so far I have only ever used them as Mawlocs! So, with those thoughts in my head, I went ahead and made a list for three Trygons and lots of other MCs. I was limited to the models I actually own, but with using two detachments and Rippers for troops, I was able to get eight big gribblies into the list...

Nidzilla (v1) 1750pts

Primary Detachment

HQ
1 x Flyrant/Devourers (230)
1 x Flyrant/Devourers (230)

TROOPS
3 x Rippers (36)
3 x Rippers (36)

HEAVY
1 x Trygon Prime (230)
1 x Trygon Prime/Regeneration (260)
1 x Trygon (190)

Secondary Detachment

HQ
1 x Old One Eye (220)

TROOPS
3 x Rippers (36)
3 x Rippers (36)

HEAVY
1 x Carnifex (120)
1 x Carnifex (120)

1744 points

The plan will be to stick the three Trygons at the front with the Fexes behind them and push forward from the off, along with the Flyrants swooping forward on turn one. Basically charge and have fun, leaving the Rippers to reserve for objectives!

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Endless Swarm with No Monstrous Creatures!

Nick speaking,

It's always fun to have a bit of a change and maybe even a bit of a challenge, and after many games of 40k with my Hive Fleet packed out with Mawlocs, Flyrants, Fexes and Pods, I thought I would have a go at an army with no Monstrous Creatures in it!

So, with no Monstrous Creatures taking up my points, I figured I am going to have a lot of little bugs on the table, which instantly points me in the direction of the Endless Swarm Formation. I haven't really been using formations, but this one seems to be pretty good following on the heals of Skyblight.

The formation consists of three units of Gants, three units of Gaunts and a Warrior Brood, and all these units have a chance to come back onto the board once killed with a fifty percent chance, sounds pretty good to me.

Now I am in no way going for a competitive list, with the whole idea of the army being to have some fun. I know that I could shave a few points off here and there, like dropping a few Devourers out for Flesh Borers on the Devilgants, but overall I like the list I have come up with. The Stealers will infiltrate and everything else will push forward from the outset. There's not too much antitank in there, but there is plenty of Synapse. I am really looking forward to getting this Swarm on the table, as it seems like it is going to be a lot of fun to play, but please let me know your thoughts. Battle report to follow...

HQ
1 x Tyranid Prime/Whip/Boneswords (140)

TROOPS
3 x Warriors/Barbed Strangler (100)
3 x Warriors/Barbed Strangler (100)
9 x Genestealers (126)
9 x Genestealers (126)

FAST
4 x Shrike Brood (140)
4 x Shrike Brood (140)
16 x Gargoyles (96)

ELITES
3x Zoanthropes (150)

FORMATION (Endless Swarm)
3 x Warriors/Barbed Strangler (100)
20 x Hormagaunts/Adrenal glands/Toxin sacs (200)
10 x Hormagaunts (50)
10 x Hormagaunts (50)
20 x Termagants/Devourer (160)
20 x Termagants/Devourer (160)
20 x Termagants/Devourer (160)

1998 points

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Doom of Malan'tai Tactics

Nick speaking,

So what is the deal with Doom of Malan'tai in 6th Edition?

I know he can be a bit hit and miss, but I am a long time fan of Doomy, having played him a lot ever since he was introduced into our Codex. I have had some fantastic fun with him, regardless of how many dudes he actually kills. Just hearing the groans from my opponent as I declare he is in reserve is worth taking him alone!

Things have changed for Doomy a bit since 6th Edition came out, as he can now swap out his psychic power for a choice of Biomancy, Telepathy or Telekinetic powers, but is this worth it? I heard everyone talking about swapping powers on doomy when 6th hit, but I continued to soldier on with Cataclysm, as I had always done well with it.

No need to say that Doomy needs to come down in a pod, and he needs to come in as soon as he can, which should be turn two, as you will have Hive Commander on your Flyrant! Placing Doomy is key, as it's always very tempting to go for an isolated unit that the rest of the army is going to have a hard time with. What you should be doing is looking at placing him somewhere in the centre of the table or where the action is, and is going to be later in the game. Don't just think about the turn he comes in, he only moves six inches, so you need to reach as many units as you can each turn.

Once he arrives, suck those souls up and get his wounds/strength up as much as you can, I find I can usually get him up to seven to ten with good placement and a few bad Leech rolls from my enemy. Then it's time to lay down that Cataclysm large blast marker, strength seven/ten at AP1 is a very useful weapon indeed at 24" inches! There will be no doubt that your enemy will be shooting every double toughness weapon he can into him, as his biggest downfall is one failed invulnerable save to an instant death gun and he is dead.

So what about swapping out his Cataclysm? The popular Choice is the Primaris power on the Telepathy table, Psychic Shriek. This is similar to the Spirit Leech he already has, but is 12" in range and has the added benefit of not allowing cover saves. Double the trouble for your enemy troops, but lacks the potential to kill any vehicles that the Cataclysm has. This is a very fun and annoying combo indeed and has the potential to do a lot of damage to your opponent.

The second popular swap out will be on the awesome Biomancy table. A one in six chance of getting Iron Arm and solving his main big problem of being instant deathed. You will however be vulnerable for one turn, whilst you wait to get the power up in you next turn, but Doomy with Eternal Warrior and an increased strength and toughness, could be around for a long time to cause a lot of damage, if you can get him into the heart of the battle. Failing a good roll on the chart, some of the other powers are still pretty good, like Endurance, or you could just go for the Primaris power, Smite.

If you consider that Doomy in a pod only costs 130 points, how can you go wrong with any of the these options? 

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How will 6th Edition effect my Tyranids?

Nick speaking,

Time for me take a closer look at my Tyranids for 6th Edition, and as in my previous posts in this mini series, this is not going to be an in depth step by step guide of Nids. It's more about what I am thinking and have learnt so far regarding 6th Edition and what the starting point is going to be for my Stinger Hive Fleet army...

I had a lot of fun with my Nids when their new Codex hit in 5th Edition, no need to go on about all the negatives it got as a 'competitive' Codex. Personally, I found the book great fun, with some funky units to choose from. I don't think I have had one game with the bugs where I haven't enjoyed myself, unlike some of my other armies! Getting your bugs killed is actually quite rewarding, as long as you have the mind set for it, and a plan to go with it of course.

I think out of all my armies though, Tyranids are going to need the biggest changes to my lists. Most of my list concepts and ideas are just not going to work anymore, due to the rule changes. No assault from the reserve or the flank! No reserving everything and then there is Overwatch! Most of these things can be overcome, but it is unlikely that I will be able to throw any of my previous lists down on the table with any success. So where to start with a new list?

Well, for me and for most of you probably, Nids are all about lots and lots of bugs swarming towards you. In the past, this hasn't generally been the case for Nids, but I am starting to think that things are going to change now. The new Fearless rule for when you are in Synapse range is the single most best rule that Nids now have, no fearless wounds from losing an assault is going to have a huge impact on our army and how it works.

I still think there is room for some of the other bigger bugs of course, as you always need a good mix of things, but I seriously think that lots of big groups of Hormagaunts and Termagants as Troops choices in Synapse range, are going to be a force to be reckoned with and a good place to start our army builds. Twenty plus Gants in the assault will hold up a group of Marines for a good few turns, with plenty more Gants spare to back them up.

As for Genstealers, the Genestealer shock is now on themselves as they can no longer assault from the flank. Most people have written them off it seems, but I'm not going to stick them at the bottom of my case just yet. Small groups infiltrating could be a nice distraction and there is also the Broodlord and his Psychic Power abilities to take into consideration. Worse case scenario, they will just have to morph into Ymgarl Stealers.

Most of the bigger bugs on offer will be very similar to what they were before with the exception of the Winged stuff, I'm very happy to see the Winged Hive Tyrant get a buff, as I have been wanting to paint mine up for ages. I've had my Tyrant a very long time and I originally modelled it up with dual Talons. I think I will magnetise its arms before I paint it to give me some gun options. I am also very pleased to see Ravener get a bit better with the new Beast rules, ok they still suffer from instant death when hit by strength eight missiles or better, but they are definitely better than they were before.

Overall, I am now actually really looking forward to developing my army for 6th. I say now, because it's fair to say that I was a bit disappointed with how 6th had treated Nids at first. In reality though, I think 6th has just made the army more realistic. Tyranids will have to be played like I have always wanted to play them, as many bugs as possible with a few big ones thrown in for good measure. Oh lets face it....just like Starship Troopers!

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Beating Overwatch!

Nick speaking,

In the battle report I just posted up, where I was playing my Nids against Blood Angels. I ended up in a position where I had some Genestealers and a group of Hormagaunts ready to assault some Sternguard. It was at this point in the game that an article I recently read over on Embolden40k popped into my head. His article was about Beating Overwatch as a combat army, and funnily enough he was using Genestealers and Gaunts as an example in it, almost in the same position as I was in.

The point of his tactica was to be prepared for Overwatch, and it was one of those great articles that stuck in my mind and made me think about what I was doing, a big thank you to Rob for sharing his 40k skills with us and bringing his thoughts into my own. So here I am, ready to do my assault and take advantage of what I had learnt. In Rob's example, he was using the Gaunts as the fodder unit to assault first and take the Overwatch hits, with a big brood of Genestealers making their assault move after Overwatch had been resolved on the Gaunts. The Genestealers get to assault the unit without taking any shots, as a unit can only use Overwatch once per unit

My scenario was slightly different as I only had four Genestealers left in my Brood after taking casualties from shooting and my Gaunts were twenty strong with their Scything Talons. I figured the Gaunts would do more damage in their numbers than the Genestealers, so I used the Stealers as the Overwatch Fodder group. In the end I only lost two Stealers from Overwatch and it didn't really make a difference, but if the Sternguard had got lucky and rolled a bucket load of sixes, the best he could have done was kill my almost dead group of Stealers, keeping my Hormagaunt Brood at full strength.

It's fair to say that in reality, Overwatch is nowhere near as scary as it first seemed when 6th Edition hit. I actually like the rule, as it's always nice to have something to do other than remove models in your opponents turn and brings a bit of realism to the game. Of course, if we are able to reduce Overwatch going into our key units, all the better, especially for Nids!

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Horde Blood Angels?

Nick speaking,

The Tyranid Stinger Hormagaunts come on from reserve looking for the rest of the broods. As they enter play they realise something must have gone wrong! All they can see is a massive horde of Blood Angels fronted by Mephiston! Of course they have no choice but to CHARGE!!!!

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First turn advantage!

Nick speaking,

Along with objective placement knowing if you want to go first or second is a key factor to winning games. Usually this is determined by your army and the army you are facing! Building a knowledge of knowing what turn your opponent wants can benefit you as well, giving you the opportunity to mess with there plans. Of course, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

In a recent game of Combat Patrol with my Tyranids Vs Daemons. I used my knowledge of knowing that my opponent wants to take second turn. Plus the fact that he knows that I want to take second turn, to my advantage. Usually I take second turn, reserving everything ready to pounce on him after his deep strike.

After loosing the roll off and being passed first turn, it was time to spring a new plan on him using the infiltrate ability of my Genestealers. I put out my two broods of Stealers in terrain in opposite central positions, walking on my Hormagaunts into terrain on my turn one.

Here in the picture below you can see my Daemon opponent having to think long and hard about how to deploy? I pretty much had it covered so that no matter where he came down I was ready to munch him...

Although we should all be planning our tactical game around what turn we want to get. Don't forget you always need a back up plan for when it doesn't go your way

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Zoanthropes Stinger

Nick speaking

Strength 10 AP1 Lance! Two Zoanthropes in a Mycetic Spore for 160pts!

Somehow I just cant help but think that I should always have at least one, if not two of these in my list at all times? It's as if the only draw back is conceding 2 or 4 kill points in an Annihilation mission! and even then the kill points lost would or could hand you back an advantage anyway with less tanks shooting at the gaunts and mere distraction!

So am I right or wrong? Are they as worth while in reality as they seem to be on paper?

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