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 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.
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.
Very nice! I always enjoy tactics articles and you have a good writing style for it. Looking forward to the series :)
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