Wow... okay, I have to disagree with 90% of what Malak said.
Warriors are actually better than Tyrants, for a few reasons. Firstly, they have more wounds. Secondly, they advance with the army, not go out on a limb Daemon-Prince style which is what the giant dragonfly dinosaur always does. Thirdly, they are cheaper for comparable ability in combat and shooting ability.
Bullamphetamine parrot they're better than a Tyrant. Tyrants are more survivable for the price (either 6 T4 4+ save wounds or 4 T6 3+ save wounds), are LOADS more powerful in combat, better for the price in shooting (121 points for a dakkatyrant that puts out 12 S5 shots with reroll to hit and wound, or a bit more for 3 warriors that put out equal number of shots without the reroll to hit and lower S), and when you give a tyrant wings it becomes reliable fast synapse, to keep in hormagaunts.
Never a good idea. Ravenors are heaps better and faster. Also, Genestealers without Scuttlers often fail to reach enemy lines with enough models to make a difference. Too many games ungodly amounts of firepower hit them and the 1-2 that survive get outmanouvered/speedbumped by a throwaway Conscript unit or similiar (Kroot for example). Genestealers are rapage against static armies, but mobile forces will out-manouver them easily. So, I don't use Stealers. Other people find them useful, but for the same cost as a Marine, they die pretty easily and have zero shooting contribution (unlike many other Nids).
I agree that Raven
ers and better than flying warriors, and truthfully I'm not a big fan of winged warriors, they're too expensive for no survivability. But saying you don't use genestealers... That's damn near blasphemy. They are (besides ork boyz) the best melee unit in the game point-for-point. Use cover and you'll hit turn 3 with ease and with decent numbers (assuming you bring a good number of them), and then devour literally anything you hit (again disregarding boyz). If your stealers don't preform, you're using them wrong. With fleet they're fast, and while you won't probably catch Dark Eldar with this, anything else will be eating a scary-as-hell charge.
The Sniperfex fires a grand total of 2 weapons per turn, and even the dakkafex (excellent unit) doesn't put out the same firepower as a 3-4 strong unit of Warriors. Deathspitter are pretty much the same, chuck out blasts (which often end up hitting more than the dakkfex, even with twin-linked) and they have more wounds against return fire. T6 and the sheer butload of S6 pain from a 113point model that the dakkafex provides make it a useful unit, but I personally find Warriors a better buy.
Okay, this is a personal choice, so I can't say you're wrong here. Sniperfexes are not as good anti-infantry as warriors, and while a dakkafex is more survivable, it doesn't have synapse and the fire is comparable to warriors.
Agreed. I think the Broodlord works in all-Genestealer swarms, but in normal Nid armies he should be shelved in favour of the giant dragonly-dinosaur (Tyrant) or a squad of Warriors.
Again, a personal thing, but I disagree. The broodlord does poorly if you expect it to kill anything, but if you use it knowing it will just take a ton of fire, and as a synapse platform for hormagaunts, it does admirably. Your opponent can either take two turns to dislodge a bunch of genestealers and the broodlord from cover, allowing other troops to come forward with much less damage, or ignore it and let one of the best combat units in the game hit their lines (Arhcon+Incubi are probably better, but that's about it).
Moving, shooting, then assaulting? I mean, how many other units in 40k follow that pattern? Its like with the dice, I wish that they would show something other than a 1-6, like 'happy face' or 'pudding'. So boring and predictable
Perhaps I was unclear. I meant warriors are boring because they have nothing special about them. They're medium survivability, medium shooting, and medium assault. They move normal speed towards the enemy, fire some pretty boring guns, and then eventually charge the enemy on turn 3 or 4. They're not really great or weak at anything, they're just a rounded unit without any flare. And I like flare. Flare is what makes Tyranids win. Because a slow moving unit that does a bit of damage in shooting isn't going to draw fire. And the more of your army that isn't a big threat to the enemy at the time, the lower your chances of winning. Like I said, I do use warriors, and they're decent, but I'd much rather have some genestealers or termagants or a dakkafex if I didn't need the synapse. Which is the main reason I bring them; that and the cool models. Warriors are just not a big enough threat right out the gate to fit Tyranids.
6 is a bit much, I never usually take more than 4. You end up making a big 'shoot me first' unit, instead of two smaller less threatening (but with the same actual firepower and assault ability). Nids are great at spamming scoring units, abuse it to the max (same reason I take all 6 troops with 8-strong Termagaunt squads. Same bodies as a few huge broods, but double the scoring units).
I've never had a problem with it, truthfully, either with 6 in big games or 3 in smaller games (which I've begun phasing out in lieu of a dakkatyrant). The 3 isn't a big enough threat to waste fire on, and 6 take too much effort to kill in comparison to what they can do. So they're generally ignored by the guys in my gaming group (except the newbies, who insist on killing anything they can every turn, which generally means they put a ton of fire into the warriors).
Ravenors are 40pts of deepstriking, 6"+D6"+12" assault distance, multiple rending attack Warrior with better WS. Don't bother with cc Warriors, the Hive Mind already created Ravenors for that exact role.
Don't deepstrike Raven
ers. You'll hit turn 2 if you walk, and turn 3 at BEST if you deepstrike. But while Raveners are a bit less survivable than warriors, I agree in principle that they're better units than CC warriors. Except for the synapse, which is the main reason to take warriors, because they're expensive otherwise. You pay quite a bit for the synapse.
i dunno. While the extra shots are nice, and twin-linking helps, deathspitters have better Strength and range, plus they can catch more models with each round of shooting. You should have S4 shooting elsewhere for softening up infantry (Termagaunts), and they can take heaps of Devourers.
I agree with this. Deathspitters are the way to go.
Overall, I would say Nid Warriors are a mainstay, and should be considered in the fire support role. They are only as expensive as your tastes dictate; however, for standard gear, I would go for enhanced senses, rending claws (against Marines you'll notice the difference), toxin sacs and carapace. Upgrading them for combat eats up too many points IMO, the rending claws are kinda like the token powerfist in Marine Tac squads; its there for backup, not for your primary role. Anyway, Warriors are pretty good in combat without upgrades, and the nearby Lictor can give them 3+ to hit without making the actual squad more expensive.
I agree with that setup for warriors. The extra 2 points to go from ST to RC will almost always make back its points when you hit combat. But even with that fairly cheap setup, they still come in at around 35 points each with the weapons. Which, for T4 4+ save 2 wounds, is very harsh price to pay. Which comes, mostly, from both their dual-role and the synapse. A mainstay... maybe, maybe not. I'd say you can take them or leave them, and be okay. The extra synapse is nice, and they do put out a decent amount of fire, but they're just not really unique or awesome.
