Tyranid: Air Assault


Concept
With the arrival of Mycetic spore pods in the Tyranid Codex it is now possible to field an all reserve army. Every unit has Deep Strike, outflanking or other non-standard methods so that nothing has to join the battlefield from your own table edge.

Tactics
Everything starts the game in reserves. The majority then arrived turn two with the aim of assaulting turn three. Therefore only giving the opponent a single turn of shooting before they are overwhelmed by all the threats.

Core Units
You need a Hive Tyrant with Wings, so he can Deep Strike, and Hive Commander for the bonus to reserves. Originally you wanted a pair however the official FAQ stopped Hive Commander stacking with itself so there is no point to a second Tyrant now. Our main anti-tank comes from Zoanthropes and the Spores they are travelling in. We also need some Gargoyles to act as a screening unit for the Tyrant. Two small units gives us some redundancy should one not arrive on time or die on impact.

For our troops we have Devilgaunts for their massed shooting (they kill an average five marines a turn); A Broodlord Commando team for surgical strikes; The ever popular Mummy to spew forth her babies.

Weakness
Unlike my usual robust Nidzilla army this army is very dice dependent. You now only get 66% not 90% of your army on the second turn and have no control over which elements arrive. While they can not kill themselves on landing Pods and Trygons can still veer off course making them ineffective. That said I think it is going to be fun to play.

Army List: Air Assault @ 1500 Points
310 Hive Tyrant (Old Adversary, Hive Commander, Wings, TL Devs x2)
170 Zoanthropes x2 in Spore Pod w/ TL Deathspitter
170 Zoanthropes x2 in Spore Pod w/ TL Deathspitter
140 Deathleaper (Ymgarl Stealers or Parasite)
240 Termagants w/ Devourers x19 in Spore Pod w/ TL Deathspitter
200 Tervigon (Toxic,Adreanl,Catalysis,Talons) [Outflanking]
150 Broodlord (Toxic,Talons) & 5 Genestealers w/ Toxic
120 Gargoyles 2 Broods x10
12 Kills Points + Spawn. 45 Bugs, 6 Large Bugs, 2 Monsters & 3 Pods

Army List: Air Assault @ 2000 Points
310 Hive Tyrant (Old Adversary, Hive Commander, Wings, TL Devourers x2)
170 Zoanthropes x2 in Spore Pod w/ TL Deathspitter
170 Zoanthropes x2 in Spore Pod w/ TL Deathspitter
161 Ymgarl Genestealers x7
250 Termagants w/ Devourers x20 in Spore Pod w/ TL Deathspitter
225 Tervigon (Toxic,Adreanl,Catalysis,Regeneration) [Outflanking]
150 Broodlord (Toxic,Talons) & 5 Genestealers w/ Toxic
144 Gargoyle Brood w/ AG, TS x18
210 Tyrgon w/ Adrenal
210 Tyrgon w/ Adrenal
14 Kills Points + Spawn. 56 Bugs, 5 Large Bugs, 4 Monsters & 3 Pods



Options: Guns for Mycetic Spore Pods?
Usually I put Cluster Spines as the extra gun on Pods. However since this army is lacking in anti-tank I think the Deathspitter is better. It has the added advantage that, since Pods must fire every turn, it can not scatter back and hit your own troops.

Options: Deathleaper, Ymgarls or Parasite?
This is the spot in the army that I am not really sure about until I have played some games. At low-points Deathleaper helps by dropping Psi Hoods down from 42% to 17% chance of stopping the Zoanthropes shooting. His pheromone trail can also help any unit that did not arrive turn two (assuming he did). His ability to go back into reserves means he can try and contest an objective late game. Ymgarls get to assault the turn they arrive but are limited to area terrain. Which can be a problem depending on the battlefield. The Parasite boosts up a unit of Gargoyles, his claws can kill tanks and creating free units never hurts. Alternatively I could also drop Regeneration and this unit entirely and take a third Trygon...

Options: Trygon, Raveners or Skrikes?
The advantage of Trygons is their ability to tear apart tanks. The weakness is vulnerability to meltas, missiles and power fists. Also since I do not own any Trygons I would have to proxy them with Carnifex or use alternatives. A Trygon for 210 Points cost the same as a unit of six Raveners or five Shrikes. So either could be a good replacement? Both bring more wounds to the table, although at Toughness 4 they are easier to kill and neither has safe Deep Striking.

Hive Tyrant Pictures from www.dakkadakka.com T-Shirt logo from www.hahnssurplus.com.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular articles

Blood Bowl Inducement Review

Image
Blood Bowl Inducement Review As most of the inducement options from Death Zone are allowed in LBBL games I thought it was worthwhile providing a summary of what is available.  I have also added a quick colour code to say if I think the options are Good , Bad or Situationally useful.  Remember as per the League handbook you must bring along an official copy of the relevant rulebook for any Inducement you are using.  This guide is intended to be used to help you decided if you want to buy a copy of Death Zone not as a replacement for it.  Remember folks we get an extra 5% off at Geek Retreat on League night! Death Zone offers (In)Famous Coaching Staff, new Wizards, Named Referees and a small number of other cheap options for using up petty cash.   0-2 (In)famous Coaching Staff Galandril Silverwater 40,000 gp Elven Kingdoms Extra Cheerleaders and a minimal chance of extra Team Re-rolls if that kick off event happens.  I will pass thank you.
Read more

Death Zone 2020 - A Review

Image
    Once again we have a beautifully produced full colour book that is slightly marred by the lack of proof reading.  Almost everything in the book is a reprint of the 2016 content updated to use the new team special rules.  There are little things such as Ranulf the Ref still having to "roll higher than the AV of the player" even though the main rule book changes AV 7 to be AV 8+ being everyone else is having to roll equal to AV.  Then we have the new Mercenary rules where the Elf starts with AG 2+ but can increase this by 2 to AG 0+ when AG 1+ is the max allowed!!? New Inducements This section takes all the inducements printed in the old Death Zone and Spike journals and updates them to use the new team special rules.  Instead of being taken by an Orc or Dwarf team they are now Badlands Brawl or Worlds Edge.  This expands which teams can take them.  Some of the inducements have had minor alterations and there are a couple I have not seen before. (In)Famous Coaching Staff Ka
Read more

Arcane Trickster

Image
The Arcane Trickster is my favourite sub-class in Fifth Edition D&D.  It is not the most powerful but is a lot of fun.   Trickster does not need to multi-class but a single level of Wizard gives a big boost with access to all first level spells, ritual casting and we can trade out our known spells for more Second Level options.  Best spot for multi-class is level six but if we have a game where we expect to spend a long time in Tier 1 we can also dip at level 2. Rogues get lots of choice for using a Bonus action and Reaction as we go up levels. Actions: Attack; (3) cast a spell Bonus: Off-hand Attack; (2) Dash; Disengage; Hide; Mage Hand; (13) Versatile Trickster Reaction: (4) Shield ; (5) Uncanny Dodge; (6) Feather Fall ; (17) Spell Thief A trickster wants good Dex and Int as well as Dark Vision, after all it is hard to sneak around carrying a torch.  If we are using point buy that gives us three choices in the PHB - High Elf, Half-Elf and Forest Gnome. Feats/ASI: We are g
Read more