Building a Tyranid List: Fast Attack

OK so we are about to tackle the fast attack option for the Tyranids. Lets start with the shrikes. I love the idea for these guys, but I do not know if I would vouch for these seeing as how they have very little defense. Basically you get a Tryanid warrior with wings and a worse save (5+). Their redeeming feature is they are jump infantry synapse. So if you ran them behind gargoyles they can provide synapse as well as get a coversave. I do not like them because bolters take them down rather easily. They are too fragile for their cost and use. However, I love the forgeworld models and have contemplated a flying list using them. You can deepstrike them, fly them around, and do some fun stuff with these guy, but I just think their function is better preformed by others. These guys cost the exact same as the normal warriors and have many of the same upgrades so feel free to try them out if you want fast synapse and cool minis.
Next we have raveners. These resemble warriors with snake tails, but are a little different. They are lower leadership, not synapse, feed, and the best part is beasts. These guys are some of my favorite models but I have never been able to justify bringing them for what I do. I do know a guy who uses several of these, however, and he finds them quite effective. They can be absolute terrors in H2H so try to get these guys there (shocking :P trying to get a nid into H2H). I think they have their uses depending on your strategy. they are great to deepstrike into or behind cover due to being beasts. this guarantees a coversave and a likely charge next turn. Now these guys get a very cool character who was absent in the last codex: The Red Terror. On his own he is almost as much as three raveners, so he is not price efficient. I however would love to use him because of his swallow whole rule. If he hits with enough attacks, he can swallow a single model. This is NOT instant death so eternal warrior is no defense. Now he cant do it to very bulky or extremely bulky, but still. I love the image of his swallowing that annoying character with 3+ wounds and ridiculous saves. Not a competitive choice, but the Terror is a lot of fun. Overall, raveners have their place in specific army tactics and strategies... just not mine
Skyslashers...... flying rippers.... why... just.... why.... I mean cool idea, but these are just as bad as their normal counterparts. Still, apply them like I suggested in the troop evaluation and they can be useful...ish.
Gargoyles! one of my favorite units in the codex due to how they look flying toward your opponent en mass. I was initially upset at the change of blinding venom which is what made them so good last codex. Now they have changed. Instead of bogging down an opponent with tons of attacks to kill them, you want to blind them. This changes them from a killy unit to a support unit. They are useful still as mobile cover and now flying them in from to take the initial over watch fire then apply blind softens the opposing unit up for other stuff. Now these guys are only initiative 4 so they will be attacking at the same time as many models meaning they do not get to apply their debuff first round before the enemy attacks. These aren't quite as good as last edition, but still useful with goo synergies.
Harpy. The model I wish was a better sculpt. I personally hate the model as it looks like a bloated flying fleshbag. Oh well. I like the anti infantry uses of the harpy. It bring a lot as a flying anti infantry MC. Bring it just for that. It is not a necessary bring but a cool idea. Bring it and use it to bomb light infantry and MAYBE assault if the target is a weaker target (tau, guard, etc). It will basically rape anything not meant to kill elite classed units. 
Next is the Hive Crone. This flying bug has one big shiny strategic value... our ONLY dedicated anti-flyer ability. Its vector strike is strong against flyers and its arsenal isn't half bad. More useful than the harpy due to our abundance of anti-infantry already. I have yet to try either of these flyers so I cannot vouch for either by experience.
Spore mines. Got extra points you just aren't sure where to put and you cant just add more gaunts? Use these! they arent amazing as a bought unit but still kinda cool. The Biovore unit drops these anyway so I never bring these guys but if you want a cheap deepstrike kamikaze unit that can potentially hit at strength 10, go ahead and bring em. They are great distraction because you have to shoot at them to kill em without blowing up. Now this make the free biovore ones better, but don't be shy about these ones if you really wanna try them out. just don't rely on them due to having "instantly killed" in their hidden profile. Fun, but not competitive.
That concludes our fast attack! Now obviously unless you build a list geared to use them, this is our most available slot group on the FoC. The choices give very interesting options for different strategies. Do not be afraid of trying different units against different opponents. Some are better than others. I hope you enjoyed this section and feel free to add anything in the comments!

Building a Tyranid List: Elites

So now that we have covered the basic troops and HQs, we want to take a look at our elite section. This used to be the most hotly contested section for our codex in 5th. Due to several characters moving to different slots of being removed all together, this is not so difficultly filled any more.
Lets start with the pyrovore. I mentioned in the last section that rippers weren't the worst thing we have. THESE GUYS ARE! These guys are just bad. If you want flamers, pay for thorax swarm templates. Cheaper than the pyrovore and it leave the slot open for other elites. Pyrovores are really only good against orks or other nids anyway. His acid maw attack is good except you trade all attacks for it. Just not so great.
Next is the lictor. Now I love what these guys are, their fluff, and pretty much everything except for their rules. Don't misunderstand me though. They have their uses. They don't scatter when they deepstrike and if you infiltrate them they are beacons for anything else coming in. They are also great for shooting tanks in their back armor. A local guy just enlightened me to an interesting strategy. Lictor infiltrates or deepstrikes in area terrain. He gets shot so go to ground. You will have a 2+ cover save. Next turn move a flying tyrant into synapse with the Lictor, Lictor automatically stands up and acts as normal. A bit shinaniginny but kinda cool. I haven't used it yet but I plan to try it.
Overall they aren't terrible but are outshined by the other options.
Next we have the hiveguard. These are still our go-to light vehicle hunters. They now have an option for haywire but lose their ignores cover weapon. Use them to snipe vehicles especially those with jink saves. I usually bring one unit to deal with vehicles but they aren't auto bring.
Venomthropes have a new value. They lost the defensive grenade and passive miasma damage and now are lurk. What they did gain is they grant shrouded. This is huge giving them a 3+ in most cover and even MCs will gain that now. Great defensive unit. I bring a unit in medium to large games. I have strung out a unit into a ruin while guarding my tervigon from a charge. Because wounds are taken on the closest model, the ones in the ruins got the 2+ cover.
Next is the zoanthropes. These have always been useful if not necessary. They still kill both tanks and heavy infantry, but now can be a support as well with the extra power they get. Being synapse is invaluable and Brotherhood of psykers is a double edged sword but these guys still pull their weight. I always bring them before any other elite option. Most certainly our best ranged anti-vehicle.
Haruspex, the new bug. It's ok as a MC mele destroyer,but that function can be fulfilled by any other MC. The advantage this bug has is its elite, opening up the now more coveted heavy slots. His ranged shot is cool but not the most useful thing and he is gonna be a beast in H2H, only killable by Ranged shots or heavy terminator equivalents. Overall he is meh and I would rather the points and slot be given to a different unit.

These are our elite options and they aren't bad. There are no autopicks (except maybe the zoanthropes) so you can cater to your own strategies. I like the flexibility and I have seen all the options used successfully except for the pyrovore. The biggest downside to these are low model count with the non-MCs. And these units cannot be split like marines so you have to think about where you want them focused. Look for the next section and feel free to add any extra points in the comments!

Tyranid Renovations: Broodlord

Here is the finished broodlord. I wanted to have a scheme different from my main behemoth (as genestealers are many times from separate fleets). I used a black primer and the basecoated the flesh with exile blue (P3) and the carapace/thorax with beaten purple (P3). I used an extensive combination of highlights and washes using temple guard blue (GW) for the flesh highlights and different mixes of beaten purple and genestealer purple (GW) for the carapace/thorax highlights. The washes were using nuln oil (GW) and guilliman blue (GW). The talons were based with the old GW paint, scorched brown. I then used menoth base (P3) followed buy drybrushing the brown again followed by a drybrushed menoth white highlight. Then I washed the talons with nuln oil. Teeth are menoth white base followed by the highlight and the tongue is the old GW snot green. The eyes were painted with snot green, then guilliman blue wash, the old GW golden yellow. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Tyranid Renovations: Termagaunts

This is my 30 man termagaunt squad. I am using the same paint scheme as my tervigon but the guns are base painted Cryx Bane Bases and then painted Cryx Bane Highlight. I am going experiment with other colors on the weapon symbiotes. And for the record, these guys look AWESOME on the table. Enjoy and look out for more!

Building a Tyranid List: HQs and Troops

Ok so I have decided due to the prevalence of reviews (albeit negative ones) I am going to start the strategic review now and finish the codex review later.

Ok so to start, lets begin with list building. We need on HQ and two troops. HQ options have increased due to additions of the special characters as HQs. However, out of the list we have only a few competitive choices. The Old One Eye and the Prime have very little efficient use. Due to the Prime`s price increase, he takes up points better spent elsewhere. He is only worth it in a warrior/shrike list. Use him to buff them. One Eye is cool and a brutal carnifex, but he is not synapse which cripples you from the start even with his special rules. Only take for fluff in my opinion, even despite his durability. Not a ton of strategy to him as he is mostly just a fex.
Next we have the Swarmlord and Deathleaper. I still hold these viable in limited scenarios, but you need to know who you are facing. Deathleaper I love, but competitively he is lackluster. Against psykers he is amazing but way too easily killed by tau who are big in current meta. Do bother him as warlord if you can help it. His trait is exceedingly dangerous to take advantage of against all but maybe tau and some guard. Swarmlord is the only walking tyrant going to be brought in competitive play. His 18 synapse is fantastic and he is still a H2H beast, but he is more expensive and NEEDS tyrant guard to protect him as he trudges across the board. Not as versatile but still a solid fighter. He can actually survive against hammers because of parry so don't be afraid to dual non-eternal warrior characters.
The tervigon will almost never be brought as an HQ due to her usefulness as a troop. Moving on.
The tyrant is our star in this area. Put wings on him and he will hunt down the enemy with ease. Two psykic powers and good upgrades make him a fantastic choice for HQ. Many people will bring 2 of these bad boys. Competitively, he is the most flexible and viable option. Be careful with powerfists  and terminator units with hammers. You can be chewed up easily by them. Use him to hunt psykers and low to medium level characters.

Next is troops and woah boy we got troops. The least valuable (and I will never bring them willingly) is rippers. Expensive for what they do, we have better uses for the points. If you really want them, they do have some usefulness. The can be good tarpit units against things that can't instant kill them. Give them poison and they could kill something. I am still not a fan, but they aren't the worst thing we have.
Next is warriors. These are budget synapse creatures and that is their main value. I have seen them in action and the H2H variants are more effective by far. Unless you build a large warrior list, bring these guys only for the synapse IF you really need it. (FYI other people prefer these as staple synapse due to their price and versatility. If you like them don't be afraid of bringing them. They are actually a good solid unit if used as a core. I just prefer other options.) Warriors can be rather nasty up close and decent ranged so they have a lot of versatility and that's their value.
Next is genestealers. These guys get mixed reviews but have been mvps for me. As long as you bring a broodlord these guys are definitely worth it. Without him they are just ok. Now with the way reserves work, outflanking is very risky because you can't determine where they come in reliably and no guarantee you will have cover which is important because no charge out of the outflank. They will definitely bring the scare factor, but one round of shooting will annihilate them against most armies. These are worth bringing if you bring a medium to large sized unit (10-20 + broodlord). Outflank to create pressure on the sides of the field, but be aware of the terrain. My personal tactic is infiltrate to create and imminent threat for them to focus on. If they survive turn one, they are 9/10 going to be in H2H turn two. I wouldn't bring more than one unit due to cost and efficiency.
Next is our gaunts. First lets talk hormagaunts. These guys at first glance are worse from their last edition, but they aren't bad. Their are cheap at 5/model with ubergaunts still costing 10/gaunt. They are actually faster than before with their leap rule. They will run 4 inches GUARANTEED. And they have fleet so they can get up to 9 inches. And that means a reroll on the charge too. They are cheap, fast, and under the synapse of a flying tyrant, they are fearless. These guys are great at tying down that unit that loves to shoot. Get them close and even an overwatch can't stop them. The are great for things like wraithknights and any other low attack, high damage combatants. They can bog them down and with poison they can kill them with sheer number of attacks. Great unit even after the loss of scything talon rerolls.  I bring at least one large unit to run forward alongside or behind the genestealers. Two units in larger games.
Now termagaunts. These guys just became fantastic at 4pts all the same stats. A full unit of them is necessary for the tervigon to be a troop But that's ok! We love these guys. Arguably the most efficient unit in the army. Upgrades not necessary unless you want the poison.
Overall our gaunts are great. Cast catalyst on them and tada! Super difficult to kill especially with cover. Both have their purpose but both are part of the swarm strategy. Kill them with numbers.
Last troop is the tervigon. This broodmother is a beast as a troop. T6 scoring MC? Yes please. You have to take a full 30 man unit of termigaunts making her more expensive, but she is worth bringing at least one which most competitive nids will still do. Do to the price increase we won't see them spammed, but still prevalent. She is tough, a psyker, a MC... all the good stuff. Watch for hunters (TH terminators, etc.). They can carve her up with ease. Throw her behind her babies and she will be golden.

This is the first bit of my strategic review. Feel free to comment and give suggestions.

Behemoth vs Astartes Ultra and Dark Angels

Today I played a large (3000pt) game with two friends, Mike with his ultra marine and Sam with his Dark Angels. I of course used my Behemoth Tyranids. Each of them brought 1500 points in models while I fielded a full force with 1 extra heavy slot. Here is my list:
Flyrant w/psychic scream and onslaught synaptic, lynchpin
Swarmlord w/paroxism, onslaught and warp blast; synaptic lynchpin
3 Hiveguard w/haywire
3 Venomthropes
3 Zoanthropes w/onslaught
Tervigon troop w/ catalyst
30 termigaunts
30 ubergaunts (full upgrade hormagaunts)
30 ubergaunts
20 genstealers w/ broodlord and scything talons
3 warriors
2 mawlocks
1 cannon fex (carifex w/biocannon and brainleach worms)
3 biovores

 I dont know their lists except the Ultramarines were led by Calgar. They allowed me two warlords since they each fielded one. Here are the deployments:

 We rolled up the Big Guns Never Tire scenario which made me very happy sitting my biovores on the objective. Dawn of War deployment, in which they won the roll of to go first but gave it to me in order to have my stuff get a bit closer on my own so they could shoot at it. Nightfighting is in effect turn 1. I infiltrated 18 inches away and just advanced all of my stuff, using onslaught on my zoanthropes (the only major psychic test this turn). My units moved up in the shooting phase, with the zoanthropes successfully blowing up the DA landraider. This was pivotal due to the banner giving all bolters (including the Crusader's bolters) salvo. Tervigon pooped out a little unit. we found the objective the biovores were on to be sabotaged! The first forest in the middle was iron bark and the one my genestealers were in was carnivorous which ate 1-2 genestealers. Marines' turn. They killed a decent amount of my 20 genestealers then proceeded to assault them with the terminators. This cost all of the terminators their lives and no genestealers died. Put a wound on my flyrant and killed a few gaunts then put a wound on the zoanthropes. That was about it.

I am sry I failed to get pictures this turn. Turn two I failed to get my genestealers into any combat. My tyrant killed the devestators on the right flank (which I regret are in none of the photos) My zoanthopes succeeded in immobilizing the land raider redeemer. My mawlock pulled a derp and nearly scattered off the table while the second didnt come in.pooped out more gaunts and moved up more. The marines went to town and shot the rest of the stealers to death. The dreadnought attempted to get into combat with my tervigon but despite trying to unload on the intervening unit and the assault doctrine, he failed to close the charge. the terminators did not fail to charge my hormagaunts however. This initially was bad due to them losing 3 of the 6 on the charge due to my initiative. The veterans shot and killed most of the zoanthropes (2 models). And calgar dropped my mawlock down to 2 wounds and I failed my hit and run.
Next turn I wreck the predator, and destroy a flamer on the landraider. I shot most of the ground units to near death, wand assaulted the remaining 2 models in the DA command unit with my tyrant. My Swarmlord failed his charge. The terv finally dried up on a decent roll. The mawlock ate a few of the stern guard but mishapped due to the landraider becoming delayed. My hormagaunts assaulted teh veterans, dealing substantial damage. Cagar killed the mawlock. The marines proceeded to kill ALOT in this shooting phase including the last of my zoanthropes. A full unit of spawned gaunts died and some spore mines but no other full unit. Calgar attempted a Golorious Intervention to spare Sam's hq from the nomnom of the tyrant, but failed and was forced to see him be devoured by the tyrant. His dreadnought assaulted the termigaunt unit.

 During our fourth and last turn, my carnifex charged and killed the walker. All but the chaplain were dead in that combat. Calgar and the tyrant were in a challenge with Calgar taking 2 wounds. My mawlock ate all but 1 of the tac squad in the open. Sam had to leave so we called it at that point. As it stood, they had an objective held by scouts on the far opposite side of the battlefield: 3pts. They killed my mawlock: 1pt. Total of 4 points. I scored first blood on the landraider: 1pt. I killed one warlord: 1pt. I killed the landraider, a devestator unit, and the predator: 3pts. I had my mawlock in the deployment zone for linebreaker: 1pt. And I held an objective: 3 pts. Total is 9 points.

I was sad we had to end the game, but it was a good one. Alot of things died on both sides. The only reason much of mine was still alive was due to the iron bark conferring a 3+ save then the zoanthropes granting shroud giving a 2+. They had deployed scouts to cap an objective on the other side of the field which kept them out of the game due to where I had deployed. I had planned to keep the focus centralized on the far right of the board in order to nullify ant long range they would have brought on that side. The banner in the DA was stupidly annoying giving so many salvo shots. I should have killed that unit on the rocks sooner but I was focused on other things. The fact I destroyed the landraider on turn one changed the game for me. I was very lucky there. My genestealers did what they were supposed to do by soaking fire and actually killed an entire unit of terminators. A few failed charges ensured more nids died on their turns and it cost me. My warriors were quite useless, maybe inflicting one wound the entire game. Their synapse was not even useful due to other synapse already overlapping theirs. My strategy to focus the game was effective and it helped to limit the damage I took while allowing me to focus my own damage. I had a few lucky rolls and some horrendous scatter results, but in the end I had locked enough in combat and destroyed enough to carry the day. The objectives were not that influential but the mysterious forests were. I had good luck on my side and it was a good game against the marines who made my nids bleed for their victory. I had fun and look forward to more games!

VIP: DA Tac Squad on the rocks. The salvo from their weapons killed soo many gaunts, but such would not have happened without the banner so the command unit gets an honorable mention! What destuction!

Ultramarines: the Veterans and their Landraider for cooperating to annihilate my zoanthropes. Fear these guys! (no seriously, they had Fear)

Behemoth Tyrnaids: Zoanthropes for melting on landraider and immobilizing another. Good on ya bugs!

Survivors Account

The sounds of servo-arms and machines filled the room. You could hear flesh being repaired with metal. The smell of burnt flesh and oil was like a pungent warning of the gruesome scene. Brother Elphial, badly wounded, lay one the operating table at the machines and medics did their grisly work. His face had a deep gash down and across his left eye, he was missing most of his right arm, and the power armor they were removing from his body was rent my massive talon marks. 
The Salamander Captain walked into the room with the inquisitor, who looked grim, even for the Inquisition. "Marine," started the inquisitor, "My name is Inquisitor Dymiro. I am here to eradicate this zenos infestation but we need to know the events that transpired today. You are the only survivor of you detatchment, am I correct?" 
The marine opened his one good eye, and with a change of expression replied in a flat tone, "My name is Elphial of the Salamander Guardians. I am the last of my unit."
"Is that so?" the inquisitor began. "Then tell me of the events that transpired. Was it that you were outnumbered? Why did you not call on any aid?"
Brother Elphial sat up slowly and looked the inquisitor directly in the eyes. "Yes, we were over run buy the Tyrnaids. We had intel that a small detachment of the horde was heading in our direction and we moved ourselves to intercept. At first it seemed like just a small group moving forward on their own, but we thought it strange that these small xenos were alone. Initially they were no threat and we were killing them with ease. Until the beasts came out from hiding. How we couldn't see them, I don't know, but they were massive. The one was spewing forth the smaller ones from its birthing sac while the tyrant advanced upon our lines. The creatures threw themselves at us in droves, even through the vegetation that was eating them along the way, they just did not care. Our other unit started to behave erratically, several of them hitting the ground as if they were evading an attack. Even I could feel the dread emanating from the monsters. were unleashed hell upon them, but the attacks seemed to have little effect on that monsters hide. As he got closer, our bodies were wracked with a fiery pain. I could hardly move other than convulse. Then as the great beast got near, he let out a scream, but one not from his maw. It was as if it was coming from inside our own heads. It was head-splitting and several of my battle brothers fell dead from hemorrhaging. Captain Ithicris, the mightiest among us, stepped forward and dueled the tyrant, but the tyrant was to strong. In one bite, he came down upon the Captain's head. The beast seemed to revel in this act, as if this was the goal. He continued to wade through our force with the smaller creatures underneath him. I was tossed aside like a doll. The last thing I remember is the thunderhawk's engines, then I awoke here. It was too swift for us to call for aid.  We fought but failed."
"Yes, that much is clear." stated the inquisitor. "We must be on the look out for more aggressive attacks such as this. Captain Leonemedes, Do what you will with your soldier. I am going to prepare for this xenos threat."
"Very good, Inquisitor." the marine replied as the inquisitor exited the room. The captain turned to the injured marine. "That man is an arrogant pain. You will be reassigned to a new unit. I am sorry for the loss of our comrades, but you fought well. We found many dead xenos on the battlefield. Report for your reassignment as soon as you are repaired."
"Yes, sir." 

Bat Rep for List Test

So me and my opponent, Ken, played a test of our next Slow Grow lists. He brought marines and I brought my nids. He used Salamanders chapter tactics. He had one captain (forgive if I get it wrong) as his HQ and two marine units with flamers and one had a plasma cannon and the other had a rocket launcher with two dedicated transports as razorbacks with lascannons. My list was a tyrant, tervigon, 30 man termigaunts, and warriors. He and I got both of our armies warlord trait that wanted to kill the opposing warlord for extra points.

We rolled up the scenario where we had to get to the opposing objective and then the corner deployment. I had an advantage immediately because we placed the objective markers on the far side which I got for my corner side. So he had to walk through all of my nids while I walked up just a little to mine. He had the first turn in which night fighting did not take place.  He moved up and shot at my stuff killing a few gaunts but little else. I had apparently placed my tyrant perfectly where they couldn't shoot at him. On my turn I proceeded to move my own nids up, pooping out a few from my tervigon. My termigaunts discovered a carnivorous forest that proceeds to munch on them all game. The pooped gaunts found the objective sabotaged and it proceeded to explode but failing to wound anyone. 

On the second turn, He continued his slow advance shooting all the way up. He took some pot shots at my tyrant with what he could, but it was ineffective. I advanced my nids, firing at his units with my guys, using my warriors to try and take out his vehicles. The tervingon sent forth her power, the horror, pinning his unit on the left. My tyrant hit the same unit with paroxism, reducing the skills by one. 

The next turn he moved forward with his razorback and his unit on the right positioned themselves. He proceeded to knock a wound off the tyrant as he was no longer in any cover and shot more at the gaunts. I advanced still, pinning the same unit again, and reducing the second unit's skills down by 3. I used the psychic scream on the tyrant to no effect. The warriors succeeded in wrecking the razorback in from of them gaining first blood. Assaulting in, my tyrant issued a challenge to the opposing HQ and killed him, getting warlord kill for 1 point and the warlord trait 2 points. The unit of gaunts also joined the fray and proceeded to attack the regular marines.

 The next turn, He wasn't able to do much and continued to lose his forces although he took 4 wounds off the tervigon.. On my turn, my tervigon pooped out her last unit on the objective and the tyrant psychic screamed and killed several marines in each unit. then continued to pummel all but the last marine.

End of the game ended with all but one marine dead and we called it at that point. It was a good game but due to well positions models, he couldn't shoot at my big bugs till too late. The game was a lot of fun and I am preparing a narrative for it. Stay tuned for the first hand report from the surviving marine!

New Nids: Nasty or Nerfed? Part 4

Ok So I am gonna marathon this one. I wanna get through to the wargear section :) Starting with the tyrant guard and hive guard. The tyrant guard gained an attack and access to more biomorphs and weapons. Not much changed except their look out sir always succeeds. These guys are only going to be seen with the swarm lord I think. Because of the increased value of the flyrant, these guys just dont have a place, although i firmly believe they fulfill their function quite well. They are durable wound soaks for a tyrant that got 10 points cheaper. I give a 3.5 due to lack of relevance but still effective. The hive guard are one unit I brought frequently in 5th. I still plan to bring these guys, but they lost a point in bs. They did get ignores cover on their iconic weapon and gained a new weapon option for anti vehicle (haywire). I think i wont ever take the different weapon due to how these guys kinda are made to be anti light vehicle anyway. They are more expensive by 5 points and actually gained biomorph options. I give a 4 out of five for their usefulness but not necessity. 
Next is a personal favorite, venomthropes. I always loved these guys although their usefulness was highly questionable. They have improved now by gaining a point in bs (although I don't know why, they cant shoot anything) and they are 10 points cheaper. The biggest improvement is now instead of giving a flat 5+ cover save to things around them, they give shrouded so the save stacks. This potentially gives your front hordes 5+ cover and your backline and MCs 3+, possibly 2+. They are much better just because of this and now are very useful. People are sad they cant split like combat squads, but I personally am not upset by this. It was wishful thinking that didn't happen. I give a 4 stars to them for improved usefulness.
Next is a staple for pretty much any 5th ed competitive nid list: the tervigon. This bad mother trucker has always been a frustrating beast to face especially when you face them as troops. In this codex they go some major changes. They are 35 whopping points more expensive, lose the ability to give her little babys her poison and adrenal glands, increased the range on her counter attack buff by six and the same for her synaptic feedback, lost the ability to purchase more powers, and gained an initiative point and a pair of talons. Her cluster spines is 5 points now instead of free. Now the spawned units can no longer move after being placed nor can they assault. She spawns them at the end of the movement, however, so they get they same average amount of movement. Overall they seem to have hit her with some targeted changes to reduce the ever so common sight of competitive tervigon. Basically EVERYONE had at least one if not 2-3. The point increase along with the fact you must take  full 30 man gaunt unit to make her a troop with stop the terv spam. I do not, however, think she is worthless by any means. I plan to still use one of her as she can still be a toughness 6 scoring unit. That is nothing to laugh at, especially with termigaunts becoming so useful now. I still give this beasty a 5 star review because she is just as usefull, just not as spammable.  
Next is raveners. I never was a big fan of seemingly mele units that deepstrike and cant assault, but that doesnt mean they arent useful. The ONLY 2 things that changed is that they have 2 point cheaper spinefist and can take the character, The Red Terror. Now the unit may not have changed much, but the can still deepstike in with devourers and shook then assault later, but the Terrot is the really cool part. +1 WS, S, T, A, Ld, and a 4+ save, he is base better than a normal ravenor. He also has a prehensile tail for an extra attack, two sets of talons, and a really cool swallow whole rule. with his talons, he has 5 attacks and if he hits with at least 4, he can trade them for a single targeted instant kill. an invuln is the only thing that can save the selected model. He is cool but, I dont think he warrants taking 9 points then taking him. Overall I give the unit a 3 because they arent completely useless, but their cost and deficits outweigh their benefits. 
Next is the artillery, biovores, spore mines, and exocrine. First the bivore just got quite usefull. His profile is 5 points cheaper and gained a wound, initiative, and attack. Thats all cool, but I wanted the changed to his shots and the mines. His shots are the longest in the codex (48") adn are str 4 ap 4 barrage. This is great because those ignores cover barrages will just destroy eldar, orc, tau, and guard infantry lines. And if he misses, we get d3 spore mines now! not just one! and the spores while not able to move very fare are good because they dont blow up by being shot at, nor does a single model assaulting them blow them up. Rather you control them this time around (nor more scatter movement) and they explode at the intiative 10 step and their strength goes up for every spore exploding at the same time. Great improvements to the bivore. The mines can be bought on their own for 5 points cheaper with up to six model total and they deepstrike. While not quite as good on their own the are still not terrible. Bivores get 4 stars and spores get 3.5. Exocrines are one of the new bugs and therefore I cannot vouch for personal experience. Statwise, they are tough. 5 wounds at T6 and 3+ armor is durable. but they only carry around basic biocannons. I give them 3.5 due to being more survivable, but less impressive in reality.
Next is the feeder organisms, haruspexes and pyrovores. First, the haruspex is new and actually has an interesting weapon that while only one shot can on a six be a precision shot at str6 ap2 not bad. but what makes him scary is his survivability in cc. he is t6 with 5 wounds armor is 3+, but he heals after inflicting wounds and gets extra attacks  for each unsaved wound on the charge turn. It also has acid blood. This guy is gonna hurt in cc. It costs decent for a big bug his size (1600 but can take biomorphs so you can also pay for regen for a crazy surviving monster. I give him at least a 4 for possibly nasty usefulness. I might have to try him out. Next is the infamous no show, pyrovore. Oh why GW could you not make him more useful. Oh well. This guy gained some stat boosts, is cheaper, but in order to get his acid maw attack, you sacrifice all others for a single attack. not usually enough to do enough. His explosion rule was worded wonky as well sounding as if he hits everyone on the table when he dies to instant death. Now common sense can tell what they meant, but it was bad writing. I give the pyrovore a 2 at most. He just isnt useful. the hits from a flamer are better compensated for with lots more gaunts.
Next is the iconic bug, THE CARNIFEX! RAWR! this guy is super cool and super good. Massive point drop and now d3 hammer of wrath hits make him at base value just soooo good. Daka fex is much cheaper, but now if taking larger broods, you need to watch their instinctive behavior, lest they munch on each other. These guys get a 5. Alsways have been great, always will be to me.
Ripper swarms.... yeah... about them... they are bad. Skyslashers not much better. More expensive base cost, biomorphs more expensive.... just not good. you could run them if you want the swarm bases to attack with lots of attacks, but you are better going with more gaunts again. They get a 2, almost a 1. The last two I will cover for now (and I wont get to the wargear this time, darn) are the worms, trygon and mawloc. Mawloc I have always loved, and now these guys just rock face. Their s6 ap2 ignores cover burrow attack can hit up to 2 times! However, he no longer moves things out of the way so he can mishap if things aren't all dead aferwards. He got alot cheaper so I give this guy 4 possibly 5 stars :) a little biased, I want the 5. Trygons pretty much havent changed except they are cheaper. 4.5 stars.
Well that was a portion of whats left :p I still have the fliers and the characters to hit so look out for those next!

New Nids: Nasty or Nerfed? Part 3

Ok so for our next section of the new Tyranid review we will start with one of the most feared cc units in the game... GENESTEALERS!! NOMNOM!! Now these guys have very few differences from the last edition. First, the broodlord is just bought outright as an addition to the unit, the unit costs the same as before, but now their upgrades cost different. The talons cost 2 more but the adrenal glands cost one less. Nothing major for these guys. The broodlord automatically comes with The Horror power which I will mention later. One big thing missing... NO YMGARLS! Thats right the elite genestealer is gone. People seem to be really upset about this saying they are now worthless, but I disagree. I have always found standard genestealers to be terrifying if only for the broodlord. He is an amazing combatant that can kill most things he faces with relative ease. Overall I still hold these guys as very viable as both outflankers and infiltrators and I will be using at least one unit in my own personal lists. I actually laugh because my friends who face me frequently shared their hopes for a broodlord nerf. The only real nerf to him is that he no longer has the option for implant attack so no more instant death on those characters. These guys are still 5 stars for me. 
Next two are the lictors and zoanthropes. Starting with lictors, these guys seem to have been buffed a little and nerfed at the same time. We didnt get the much wanted independent models from a unit, but they now have the fear rule which is cool but not gamebreaking initially. The nerf was a little stronger. No longer gives +1 to reserves, meaning no more auto turn two everything. Not as big of a deal without pods but still, I miss it. Lictors seem to be in the same predicament as before. They are hit-or-miss and most likely wont see a ton of play outside of the character lictor. They are cheaper by 15, but I still give a 2.5 stars due to being cool, but a little lackluster. Still usable, but not amazing.
Now for the last of this post, zoanthropes. these guys were mvps in 5th and still are in my opinion. They changed in some very interesting ways. First they are psyker lvl 2 and auto start with warp blast. What is cool is they can take one other from the nid powers in addition. Second change is they are brotherhood of psykers now. I have seen so many people complain about it but I am in favor of this change. It is true that only one deny the witch will stop all of their firing, but they get the benefit of less perils, higher defence against psychout grenades, and their warp blast is fired equal to the number in the squad. Assault 3 blast and lance are nothing to laugh at. After getting a 10pt reduction, these will become auto in most lists. I give a 5 star review on these guys. 
Stay tuned for the next batch of reviews. I am going in order of the codex so I will eventually get to the characters and powers. I will also be writing some strategy discussions after the review is finished to give my own glance into new and adapted strategies. 

New Nids: Nasty or Nerfed? Part 2

So for part 2! We are looking at the warriors profile since it is next in the new codex. The warriors are pretty much unchanged as well but gain access to the equivalent of assault grenades. They haven't done anything drastic and they are still one of the most reliable sources of synapse in the army. The Prime is more expensive in his base cost now, but he is still a solid HQ and great for a warrior based army. Overall, good troop choices with the shrikes being about the same as well sitting in their FA slot. Now next is the gaunts. big section. Starting with termagants, they have become (if not already) a core staple of the tyranid force. they are cheap and efficient for what they do. They must be brought in a full 30 man unit for the Tervigon to be a troop, which at first i thought was a downside. After playing a few games however, they are incredibly effective. They preform much the same function as the last codex but they are cheaper and better because of it. Hormagaunts kinda got the nerf stick... The reason? scything talons. I will mention it later, but the rule no longer allows re-rolls of one for CC attacks. This was a big part of them as they could overwhelm so many enemies with mere mass of attacks that, due to the talons, many would hit. Add poison and adrenal glands and your ubergaunts became amazing MC hunters or even elite killers. Their point reduction has been ok, but add the biomorphs and they cost the same as the old edition leaving me to question their overall efficiency. I still see them being a faster horde to tie people up with but I must do testing before my faith in them is restored. Their bounding leap is considered controversial now as well. Instead of possibly getting a full six from rolling 3 die and taking highest, we are given at minimum 4 inches on the run with a possible 9. people still whine about it, but it is better than it sounds. They still have fleet so this is doubly effective. Gargoyles are probably one of my top 3 issues with this codex. BLINDING VENOM! WHY YOU NO GOOD!? blinding venom now is a single attack at 6+ poison... very lack luster even with blind. They might still be viable as mobile cover for the rest of your bugs, but I see their value as much less now that their biomorph upgrades are more expensive without their base cost going down. They are one of the new hunt behaviors though so that could be interesting to see. Over all, I see myself removing these from any of my lists. Stay tuned for the next section including one of my old favorite units, genestealers!

New Nids: Nasty or Nerfed? Part 1

So this last weekend the Tyranids received their new update! We have officially entered 6th edition of the Tyranid swarm! However how are the new bugs? Broken? Or just bad? Well I am going to talk step by step through the new codex and compare the units to the old one. I am not going to discuss anything else but the army on the tabletop. So let's get started!
Let's begin with the army-wide rules. First of all, synapse. This is nothing new to the Tyranids and functions the same we we had it in 5th. It gives fearless to those within its range and they are not subjected to instinctive behavior. Now THIS is something different for us. Of course we have feed and lurk, but now we also have hunt. And now these aren't as simple. Each has a table to roll on should a unit fail its leadership and fall to its behavior. And they punish the player more than they used to with the results being mostly detrimental. However they add a little flavor and interesting strategies to the army. Next is the shadow in the warp. It use to cause psychic test on 3d6 for enemy psychers but now reduced their leadership by 3. This is huge for the Greyknights and elder armies. It doesn't seem that amazing, but the new psychic powers have a combo with it I will mention later. Those are the army-wide rules.
Now before we move on to the army the warlord traits deserve a mention. Personally I love them as they add some fun flavor to the army as well as some very interesting strategic points.
Now for the units. We start with the hive tyrant. His stats received a bs buff, but otherwise are unchanged. He is now psycher lvl 2 and starts with two sets of scything talons instead of the lash whip/bonesword combo. His tyrant upgrades changed on their ruling but are cheaper to bring. The biggest change... the price! Much reduced points make the tyrants an absolute bargain now in game. Even the biomorphs are drastically reduced in price. This guy is gonna be seen everywhere, especially with wings. Many in competitive play might actually bring two flyrants. Over all he is great in this edition. I am splitting this into different sections on each unit to make reading easier. Look for part two!

Slowgrow Week 2

We had our second event in our slowgrow league. This time it was 450 pts in troops and dedicated transports with no more than 15 points of wargear on any model. One major event happened that affected me... BRAND NEW TYRANID CODEX!!!!!! I had the great pleasure of skimming though, building a list, and just drooling all over that codex. I will save my analysis for a different post. Anyways... I still used almost the exact same list I built in 5th ed. rules. I fielded a tervigon with cluster spines and onslaught/dominion respectively, 30 termigaunts, and three warriors with deathspitters and a venom canon. I realized after the event I was running 20 points short.... oops... our scenarios this week was 4 objectives each player placed (total of 8) but you had to hold the ones your opponent placed. The first game was against Bruce's Black Templars army which consisted of one larger unit and two smaller, one in the rhino and one with a rocket launcher. He decisively won first turn and deployed on the line. 

Since we placed all of our objectives in the middle, we were gonna have a bloodbath. He failed to do anything to my tervigon in his shooting phase and I think he killed a couple gaunts. I moved my things up then pooped out 7 guys while drying up on double 3s. I actually killed enough of his marines in the rocket unit to force him to take the check which he failed and took a hull point off the rhino. The other gaunts moved up and maybe killed on marine with shooting.

 His next turn he proceeded to move up more and shoot, running his regrouping unit back up the hill. He's shot his large unit pistols at my gaunts in the attempt to assault but killed too many and couldn't make it. Next turn is when things started to go down hill quickly for the marines. By the end of turn 5, I managed to kill all Templars and the rhino.

 Bruce had some abysmal rolls of improbability. Bruce was a good sport though and his marines want down fighting. The next game was against the Chris' iron hands. He brought two conscript units and 2 9-man marine units. Our objectives were much more spread out, his being mainly right next to his units while I made him need to get past my nid line.

 Not much happened because he chose the tactical option and sat in one spot shooting my bugs as they advanced. It ended with me killing all of his units in turn 5. 

I made a lot of mistakes such as switching for my primaris power instead of keeping The Horror to pin his conscripts. I forgot to spawn gaunts at one point due to being a little eager to kill in close combat. He also had it rough because of his conscripts' lack of cover. I cause both to flee at different points, and a unit of marines even fled of the table. Moral and a very close table edge were his biggest enemies. It was a fun game and I hope to play against him again in the future, especially since I love playing against Forgeworld rules. Over all my list is solid due to having the tervigon to be a large and durable woundsoak, she creates more units, 3 warriors with 3 wounds a piece, and a large unit of gaunts that has yet to be fully eradicated. However, I forsee more challenges as the points increase, HQs are added, and my bugs will die quicker. I have had fun though and am looking forward to future games!  Keep posted for my comprehensive review of the new Tyranid codex and narrative bat reps!

Tyrnaid Renovations: Tervigon

Here is my painted and based tervigon. I haven't put the front legs on because I want to see the new book first. I primed her wi th a black spray and baseboard the flesh with korne red (GW) and the carapace with coal black (P3). I then washed the entire model with nuln oil (GW). After going back and highlighting the raised areas with the perspective paint, I highlighted and feathered ridges on the carapace with exile blue (P3) the drybrushed the old enchanted blue (GW). The carapace is finished after applying the old hawk turquoise (GW) as a highlight. For the flesh, I mixed a 1/1 korne red and old dwarf flesh (GW) and applied it as a flesh highlight. I did another mix of the same colors 1/2 respectively to add a contrast to the birthing sac. The hooves/ talons were all coated with cryx bane base (P3) and highlighted with crux bane highlight (P3). The teeth and mandibles were fascinated the old scorched brown (GW), painted with menoth white highlight (P3), washed with the old ogryn flesh (GW), then drybrushed with the old bleached bone (GW). The eyes were dotted with the old golden yellow (GW). Tongue was done with the old snot green (GW), washed with nuln oil, then highlighted with snot green. The cluster spines were painted with cryx bane highlight, then washed with the old asurmen blue (GW), then highlighted with the cryx bane highlight. The birthing termi is painted similarly except around the edges of the opening and on various parts of the gaunt including the mucous was painted with dwarf flesh, then menoth white, the washed with the old asurmen blue. I then applied a gloss to the tongues and the birthing gaunts mucous. Over all the model took me just over ten hours of painting time which was all fun. She is based with Hobby Round Green Static Grass and some pebbles. Let me know what you think!

Tyranid Renovations: 1st Look

Ok so here are the first 7 termigaunts repainted. I am trying to get a brood and the tervigon finished for this weekend slowgrow. I used a mix of P3 paints and GW paints, including two washes. I was originally going to use a medium on the carapice but through experimentation I found this and liked it. I am looking forward to an army of these!

Army Backgrounds

So I have also decided to post the stories that are behind my armies. I create them with a background in mind and they have had a growing history as I have played them. Soon I will also have these up and able for everyone to read. I am not a professional writer so forgive the amateur quality of the published works :P

Slow Grow - Week 1 - Game 1

Ok so for the event here are the rules:
1/4/14: 350 points in troops (5 points in upgrades max per model) 
1/11/14: 450 points in troops and dedicated transports (no fliers - 15 points in upgrades/wargear per model).
1/18/14: 600 points in 1HQ and troops and dedicated transports. Your Hq cannot be unique and is limited to 40 points of wargear/upgrades)
1/25/14: 800 points in 1HQ, troops and dedicated transports, with optional 1 elite, fast, heavy and Fortification (Bastion or Aegis line only) No upgrade restrictions.
2/8/14: 1000 point 4 round Tournament. No build restrictions.

I will do a small summary of my two games and then an overall analysis. First, I faced my opponent, Dan,who fielded a large unit of Blood Angels Death Co. That was all he had. his strategy was to kill everything because they couldn't hold objectives. The scenario for both games was the same. Single objective in the middle. That's it. He won the roll and took first, lining up in a simple "we are coming at you" formation. We basically rushed into each other's face and started trying to kill the other through brute force. The problem he had was that for every gaunt he killed, my terv pooped out the same amount of gaunts each time. In the end due to merely being overwhelmed (and I have to say some pretty poor luck with the dice), I wiped his unit out and won the game. 
Second game was much more finicky for me. I faced the terrifying army of Andy and his famous Tau. It was a push and pull all game which came to a Pyrrhic victory on his part due to first blood points. 
Overall, my army did well. The terv is a cheesy pick due to her toughness in these small point lists and her ability to poop out more stuff was what made it so nasty. I failed to close on the tau at certain pivotal points due to overwatch and poor dice rolls. I had fun and I look forward to the next event! Keep posted for journal entries from the eyes of the tervigon herself!

Slow Grow Weekends

Ok, so I have finally found my gusto again for painting and playing 40k! I have been so busy with school that I just lost interest in favor of other things like food and sleep. I am participating in a slow-grow even this month which involves small points slowly escalating. I will be updating the entire blog in the meantime and post pictures of my current army project. I am completely repainting my ENTIRE Nid force. I cringe every time I look at the mass of gaunts. I am determined to finish them, however! I will post some battle reports of my games and the story driven batreps. I don't have pictures from the first day (since it already took place), but I will recount the events with a basic overview and give you the story from the bugs' perspective. So I hope to have much more to post very soon! Keep posted!

A special shout out to Khol (a.k.a. Sam) for motivating me to paint and get revitalized in this game! Check out his blog here (he is gonna be updating it soon):  http://khol40k.blogspot.com/