Possible to build a small model count elite army ?

[Repentless]

Hello

I was wondering if a small model count elite army was possible without it beeing auto loose ?

The models are really nice, but I will never be able to get a large army painted.

Thanks for the help and advice.

Kind regards

Kim

[Arson Fire]

Yes it's very possible.

Flying Hive Tyrants are the place to start.  Their points cost went up, but they are still very strong.

 

Then depending on how far you are willing to go with infantry, for troops you are mainly looking at genestealers and ripper swarms.  Genestealers are very strong, but if you're using them you will want one or two units of 20.  Which may be too many for you.

 

Ripper swarms are cheap deepstriking objective holders, with 3 models per unit.  The models usually come as part of other tyranid kits (mainly with termagants these days).  So either pick them up second hand, or you can get neat looking ones from forgeworld.

 

Tyranid Warriors are an alternative option for your troops.  They are less popular, but still have a following.  They're multi-wound generalist models that can be given a reasonably good gun (deathspitters are a 24" range heavy bolter), and are also fairly good at shredding infantry in melee. Other tyranid troops can either do melee a bit better (genestealers) or shoot a bit better (termagants with devourers), but warriors can do both.

 

 

Your best bet to fill out the list is a carnifex herd.

You can build carnifexes in a variety of ways, but they're generally about 105 to 115 points each (but can be as little as 82 with basic gear).

They're very similar to space marine dreadnoughts, but generally they have less access to anti-vehicle weapons and better access to anti-infantry weapons.

 

You can pretty much ignore the rule of 3 with carnifexes.  Due to getting 3 per slot, and there being four datasheet variants + a special character.  Rule of 3 lets you take a max of 37 carnifexes in a 2K list, which is far more than you have the points to actually buy.  So spam away to your hearts content.

Realistically you're looking at somewhere around 10 to 14 carnifexes in a good sized herd.

 

The special character, Old One Eye, is probably the single strongest melee unit in the codex, and also buffs the melee hit rolls of nearby carnifexes.  He is worth a look.

 

 

 

You can mix it up by throwing in some of the other monsters from the codex.

I'd recommend staying away from Haruspexes, Hive Crones, Maleceptors, Mawlocs, Tervigons, and Toxicrenes.  For various reasons, these aren't too good at the moment.

You will want a couple of Hive Tyrants of course.

The Swarmlord is always useful.  His ability to move a nearby unit a second time in the shooting phase is game changing.

Exocrines can deliver some pretty good long ranged firepower, and saw a good price drop in chapter approved.

Tyrannofexes also have strong shooting with either their acid spray or rupture cannon (I'd recommend avoiding the fleshborer hive though).

Harpy's don't get a lot of love, as their rules are very unfocused.  They have some tricks though, and I kinda like them. I wouldn't bring more than 1 though, as they are more of a utility unit than a core unit.

Trygon/Trygon Prime have some fairly strong melee, and built in deepstrike.  But their main ability is to bring in a troop unit alongside them.  They are good, but maybe less so in your case, depending on what you do with troops.

 

You can also look at forgeworld units.  The Scythed Hierodule is decent.  Kinda like a slightly worse knight.  The Barbed Hierodule is ok, but a bit less good.

The Dimachaeron has an amazing model, but unfortunately it's not good.

The harridan is pretty bad.

The hierophant is too many points for normal sized games.

 

 

 

Bear in mind that while a monstrous creature heavy army isn't auto-lose, it isn't the strongest way to build a tyranid list either.

[Xenith]

Hey Kim, you sure can.  As Arson above says, you can fill out a standard force org easily.

 

Or you can use one of the other detachments and field say, Old One Eye and 15 Carnifexes.

 

You can really do what you like: buy the models you want, then make them into an army!

[Repentless]

Thanks a lot for the replies:)

[Xenith]

Thanks a lot for the replies:)

 

 

No worries, for more information check out the 'making an army' section of the main rulebook. It's actually super flexible in how you do it. You could field an army of Hive Tyrants only if you wanted. The more unusual army builds are tactically less flexible as they give you fewer command points in return for taking unbalanced armies.