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Author Topic: Starting a Tyranid Army  (Read 1173 times)

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Offline Chuckles, The Space Marine Clown

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Starting a Tyranid Army
« on: October 3, 2005, 06:03:24 PM »
Introduction:

Tyranids are a good army to play right now. They've had a Codex re-written very recently, and have now got all their model range available for purchase (and there's a Collectors Guide on the way too). And of course there's the stuff they always have going for them: they're so damn cool, there's a lot of them, and they can really dish out the hurt. But they can also be a little daunting. It's possible to get a lot of Nids into a list, and they are very different from other armies, making them a little challenging to get your head around at first. This guide is aimed towards making picking your army a little easier for the beginner- you'll have to expand alone. Bear in mind this is nothing more than a guide, it's all up to you.

With that out the way, let's get started!

The Tyranids are a very flexible army, in many ways, but in terms of HQ they have less choice than some other armies. In terms of HQ, you have 3 basic options (those of you who have perused the Codex will know that in fact there's a wealth of customisation available, but it's not necessary to get really in depth with it): A Hive Tyrant, a Broodlord, or a brood of Warriors. In terms of actual material cost, by far the cheapest is the Hive Tyrant. You might have had a look at the price tags and wondered what I'm on about. "But Luke" you might say, "surely the Broodlord is the cheapest?" Yes, yes he is, on his own at least, but the Broodlord HAS to be accompanied by a brood of genestealers, and these guys are pretty expensive. The cheapest option is actually Warriors. These guys are plastic, and the box contains all you need to get a valid HQ choice done. Then comes the Hive Tyrant. Again, the box has all you need to get a valid unit ready, but it's metal, and so is a little more expensive. Then comes the Broodlord, since he requires a box of genestealers as well.So if you're on a budget, the warriors are your men, and they'll certainly do fine as HQ choices.

If your price range is a little looser, you should probably look at the other option available to you. The Hive Tyrant and Broodlord are both more resilient than the warriors, by the expedient of being both tougher and coming with ablative armour (read: meat-shield) as an option. We've got the mone aspect of the HQ options out of the way, now to look at it in game terms. In games of any decent size, you'll definitely want to to either go for something meatier or more than one box of warriors. My personal preference would be for something meatier, specifically the Hive Tyrant. There's a reason this guy was the first HQ choice ever available for Nids. He's a true beast. However, that's not to say the others aren't worthwhile too.

Hive Tyrant
Pros: the original and still the best
The toughest HQ choice there (one of the toughest in the army in fact)
Generally more resilient in terms of armour save and number of wounds
Vastly more alterable
Cons: slower to hit stuff
fewer attacks
can't infiltrate
more expensive in terms of cash

Broodlord
Pros: the "I'm sorry, what did you say his Initiative was?" effect
More attacks than anything else around
higher WS
can Infiltrate
Cons: more expensive when you factor in the required genestealer bodyguard
gets shot at. A lot. No really, gets shot LOADS.
can't speed up much

Warriors
Pros: cheap
cheerful/ functional
can be modified to fit any job
You can have a lot of them in one HQ slot
Cons: naff statline, even when upgraded
doesn't inspire fear in the same way as the other two

So then, what we have here is a simple choice for now: one of three choices. If you're reading this guide then you're either trying to see if I'm any good at writing, or you're new at this. In this case, your grasp of tactics using these units and their general abilities will perhaps be a little basic. In that case, and even if that were not the case, I would usually advise the Hive Tyrant. He doesn't require much in the way of tactics, and is very likely to make up his points value before something turns him into part of the landscape, and frankly he looks damn cool.


More to come.
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