Tyranids: Preliminary list building with codex in hand

 Greetings everyone,

Over the christmas days I had the chance to take a thorough look through the new tyranid codex. And as I had enough time to do so, I can remember most of the points cost pretty well. Usually I don’t put much effort into list building without haven’t seen the codex and estimated costs solely based on guess-work. But now, with a much more solid background, I played around a lot with some ideas I have for my own swarm. On the first look the codex leaves behind a rather good “feeling”, so to say. At a first glimpse, I haven’t seen a unit which seems too overpower/underpowered by itself. But surely it’s too early to say something definite and time will tell what combinations of which units will raise the cries for cheese. Only things I am somewhat disappointed are the new pyrovores, genestealers and carnifices. Those are not bad at all, but in comparison to other units they are a bit weak. But enough of that, here are some ideas for my list I am intending to build and play. Mind that I have seen the German version of the codex, so some names might seem odd.

HQ:
-    Hive Tyrant with lash whip, bonesword and heavy venom cannon, “tactical instinct”, 3 tyrant guards
I think a swarm should be led by a hive tyrant and as he will be footslogging he needs the guards. Expensive, but a hard nut to crack, a beast in close combat and I think some pretty needed anti tank capability.

Elites:
-    3 Zoanthropes
I always liked the models and the idea of bloated brains flying around and causing some serious headaches somehow appeals to me. And strength 10 ap1 lances are even more appealing. Sadly they are a single unit now, you cannot field them independently.

Troops:
-    3 warriors with 2 sets of scything talons each
-    3 warriors with death spitters or scything talons, too. Not sure right now.
It seems necessary to take more warriors now simply to keep the swarm under synapse control. And I like the models. Strength 8 will be the bane for this unit though. Against the Imperial Guard they will die quickly I guess. Maybe these 2 small units are not enough. But we'll see

-    2x20 hormagaunts with toxin sacs
Fast, cheap (with this loadout one gaunt costs the same like one kroot) and they pack some serious punch with wounding everything on 4+. And I think they can be left outside the synapse as you want them charging one way or the other. On the negative side: no chance against vehicles or walkers.

-    2x20 termagaunts with fleshborers
Very cheap , adds to the horde feeling the 'nids should have in my eyes.

-    10 genestealers with 1 additional broodlord
Actually I am not sure about this unit. I always feared the stealers and had prayed Clausewitz never fielded a broodlord in the past. To be honest they got hit with the nerf-stick more than necessary in my eyes. The downgrading of rending did that sufficiently to the stealers and the loss of inhuman strength does not make the broodlord more attractive either. But outflanking stealers are no bad idea at all and the Space Hulk broodlord is too nice to be left in the box. I definitely will give them a try.

Heavy support:
-    Trygon Alpha with regeneration
The stats of this pal are just great and with 6 wounds I think the regeneration could actually do something good. And another monstrous synapse creature with shadow in the warp isn't bad either. Expensive creature nonetheless (costs like a land raider with multi-melta).

-    Trygon with regeneration
Same like above, even without the synapse thing. And with the +1 on reserves (granted by tactical instinct of the tyrant) those buddies are likely to appear early in the game. Have fun with those two in your line.

And that's it yet at a 2000 point level. The big bugs cost their fair share now. But with more than 100 bugs on the field it's pretty cool I think. One weakness I see is the limited anti tank power I have in this list as nearly the whole troops section can't do anything against vehicles. At the moment it is up to the hive tyrant and the brain bugs. Maybe it is necessary to field hive guards. Fluff-wise they are meant to guard brood nests and spore chimneys and all those strange "buildings" but it seems it could be worthwhile to take them. They are relatively cheap and 2 strength 8 shots whithout the need for line of sight and on a tough ballistic skill 4 creature is nothing to make fun of.

So these are just my initial thoughts and it is far from finished. I would like to add some gargoyles with the special character (parasite of Mortrex?) and some raveners. And a brood of three carnifices as screamer-killers is something I'd like to try out. I could go on and on this way as the codex has soo many nice units which not only look great but seem to have some nice rules.

In summary I think this codex will bring a lot of fun as I dare to say there will be more than just one or two "viable" lists. The new creatures, and by that I don't mean only the so beloved tervigon, seem to be very interesting. Another interesting thing will be to keep everything in synapse range, especially as the warriors are a bit more fragile now.

Currently on the painting table are a hive tyrant, 2 guards and 1 zoanthrope (Santa Clause was nice this year...). The old gaunt box is still unopened. I'll keep you updated on this.