Interesting Fact - Needs Correcting for OGC

[Simon]

Did anyone else realise that I have had an undefeated run with my Tyranids for the last 12 months (after I got my first few games in with them and excluding the tournament)?


I thought I'd put this thread up for people to discuss what they've learnt about the Tyranids, suggestions on what works well to fight them and any other info that people want to share on here!

[James 40K Champ ***]

ah ha!

A draw! have at you!

Quality game, was fun and could have gone either way. I learnt lots bout nids, and im sure you picked up on the sisters too. Defo make a good rematch that.

Nids, urm - DEAR GOD NO THEY ARE COMMING.. thats about it, couple of nice sneaky units.

Oh and, fuck me I hate bio spore thingys !!!!

[James 40K Champ ***]

I was actually supprised how balanced a game they produced, even with hordes of 18" moving shits, it felt tense and close fought all the way through.

So credit to the army creators I guess.. and the gaming system in general.

[tturen]

The second place army in our one and only tourney was Nids. They require a strong understanding of the codex to play well but they are a fine army and one of the most interesting to play against.

Sisters should work well though against them with the melta/flame ethos Nids are gonna get close anyway. I must also add that I as well hate biovores. A sick nasty weapon those. I always tried to shoot the mines when possible but atleast they are limited to what one per thousand points?

[James 40K Champ ***]

Simon has 3 in his 2k army. All 3 fired on my 2 Immolators and Penitent engine, taking ALL of them out of the game in TURN 1!!

It was very lucky rolling hits with all 3 straight away, but ho-hum i still managed a draw (just)

And my deployment could have been better. They definatly provide and interesting and fun game

[LukeG]

I'll defeat the Nids! It's only Simon

[James 40K Champ ***]

Everything is going nicely, you feel safe, then suddenly your swamped!! argh

[Adoni-Zedek]

I'm not certain how valuable my comments will be, as I play mostly straight 2nd Edition, but this is what I've learned:

When fighting tyranids, (I play marines), you need to be very mobile. One of the tyranids' strengths is their mobility. They tend to decide who gets attacked and where. If you are also very mobile, you can eliminate part of their advantage, and better prevent yourself from getting overrun.

I always take 1-2 landspeeders, with heavy bolters and assault cannons, for taking out the synapse creatures. The great thing about the speeders is that they can't be engaged in close combat. You still need to watch out for massed fire, and gargoyles, but you can completely ignore those pesky hormagaunts. They also have the speed to reach those pesky biovores, which are usually quite well hidden.

For the eldar, nearly all their vehicles fly, making them very hard to hurt in close combat.

I also always take a lot of basic marines when I fight tyranids. I want as many bolters as possible to thin out those screening broods before the genestealers arrive. Massed bolter fire is really quite effective against the nids.

Another great option is a tarantula or two with twin-linked heavy bolters. These are cheap, only running about 50 pts each, including a servitor crewman. A single marine with a single heavy bolter costs 45 points, so it's quite a deal. A single battery of these, at 150 points, can secure just about half a board for you. Only Carnifexes can really pretend to ignore these, and mighty tyranid warriors will drop like flies. Even Hive Tyrants need to be careful around them.

I also take 1-2 hard characters, for dealing with the bugs that will inevitably reach my lines.

With the landspeeders picking off the synapse creatures, the swarms will start to break from your massed bolter/lasgun fire and you should be able to reposition your forces to take advantage of the gaps that open up..

A very nasty trick to use against the nids: Smoke grenades. Most troops can see right through them, but the bugs (and orks, incidentally) can't. Therefore, you can shoot freely at them through the smoke, but they can't shoot back.

Again, these comments are from a 2nd Edition viewpoint, and I'm not entirely certain how well they translate into OGC rules

Oh, and incidentally, it's one biovore per 750 points or portion there-of. So between 1501 and 2250 pts, you can take up to 3 biovores

[James 40K Champ ***]

Oh nice ideas

Our rules are basically normal 2nd editions rules, only with the odd restrictions and a fair few extra rules to just add to the realism and a couple of simplifying rules.

All in all though, you can assume we use nearly the same rules as you.

Some great insights into how nids work there.

[tturen]

Thats a fine tactical discourse Adoni! All well thought out and clearly presented. Thanks as well for the update on the Biovores its been a while since our Nid players fielded the bugs.

I agree with your assessment as well and the note on smoke isn't something that even occurred to me. Nasty trick that one. Jump packed assault troops with blind grenades aren't bad. Sustained fire Tarantulas are indeed perfect for the job. Heavy bolter equipped Predators with twin lazcannons are something I like to use (But they tend to be present in all my marine armies anyway.).

[James 40K Champ ***]

Bahll predator for the win!! lol

biovores are a bit too random, half the time they will do nothing, but if u hit, then they detonate EVERYTHING

[tturen]

Nasty little buggers those things. Every bit as bas as Ork squig cats lobbing their little munchers about the board.

[James 40K Champ ***]

To make it worse, 2 seraphim in combat with the last remaining of the 3, couldnt kill it in 2 turns of fighting, dening me that 1 extra VP which would have made a win.

[Adoni-Zedek]

Yeah, my first game was against tyranids, and they cleaned my clock. So I studied, and looked at other options, so the next time I faced them, I could wipe the board with them (Sound familiar? Inigo Montoya?)

Biovores are very nasty. For 120 points, you can have 2 spore mines a turn for four turns. If your games last longer, each biovore can hold a total of 6 mines, so fill them up. Not every spore mine will inlfict damage, but if even one does, you usually make up the cost right there.

They're also a great way to divert fire from your broods, as your opponent fires on them to prevent them drifting too close. Much better than hitting your genestealers.

I'd recommend three biovores if possible, each with a full allotment of spore mines. Place them far away from eachother if possible, to prevent a single unit from wiping them all out at once. You've spent 180 points, and 3 mines a turn will cover a lot of ground, making your opponent very nervous. With that many mines floating around, you're very likely to kill something big.

Just don't count on them to win the game for you.

[James 40K Champ ***]

Yeah, simon used 3.. EVIL

In his 1st turn, all 3 hit my 3 tanks and blew them all up!!

I was devo'd!

[Simon]

They are 1 per 750 points, so a 1,000 point army would be able to have 2, as there is more than 750 points in it.

There is a similar correlation to units in warhammer that made me think that this was the case, plus I think Mike told me that there were 3 in that other nids army.

[James 40K Champ ***]

They would probably becomes less affective in smaller games as the troops are more spread out. 3 in 2k point games is nasty though.

[tturen]

3 in a 2k game? Sounds familiar. Nasty even on our larger boards!