Monster Mash/Nidzilla, AKA low-model-count Tyranid armies...

[Evil Eye]

I believe a thread I posted before somewhat turned towards this topic but I felt a more focused discussion on the matter was worth starting a thread over, so here we go!

 

Anyway, I recently got the CA2021 book and have been attempting to put together a 2000 point army list. As I did so, I found myself gravitating towards fewer, bigger models over a swarm of little guys, for a few reasons. Firstly, it's damn cool, and secondly it avoids having to paint hundreds of Gaunts. So it got me thinking, does anyone else tend towards this sort of composition? And if so, what big bugs do you gravitate to?

 

The list I came up with is as follows:

 

Tyranid 2000 point list

Tyranids Battalion Detachment
SUB-FACTION: Goliath (Bio-Metallic Cysts, Metamorphic Regrowth)

 

HQ:

 

WARLORD: Hive Tyrant with Heavy Venom Cannon, Monstrous Rending Claws, Adrenal Glands and Wings: 210 points.
TRAITS: Adaptive Physiology
PSYCHIC POWERS: Catalyst, Dominion
RELICS: Pathogenesis
Tyranid Prime with Deathspitter, Lash Whip and Bonesword: 84 points.

 

Troops:

5 Tyranid Warriors with Rending Claws, 4 Devourers and 1 Venom Cannon: 126 points.
5 Tyranid Warriors with Rending Claws, 4 Devourers and 1 Venom Cannon: 126 points.
5 Tyranid Warriors with Rending Claws, 4 Devourers and 1 Venom Cannon: 126 points.
3 Ripper Swarms: 36 points.
3 Ripper Swarms: 36 points.

 

Elites:

 

Haruspex: 170 points.
3 Venomthropes: 99 points.

Fast Attack:
5 Raveners with Scything Talons and Spinefists: 110 points.
5 Raveners with Scything Talons and Spinefists: 110 points.

 

Heavy Support:

 

Carnifex with Bio-Plasma, Bone Mace, Monstrous Crushing Claws, Stranglethorn Cannon, Chitin Thorns and Spore Cysts: 140 points.
3 Screamer-Killers with Spore Cysts: 390 points.
Scythed Hierodule with Dermic Symbiosis Adaptation: 235 points.

As you probably know by now I'm generally more interested in making a cool collection of models than having a super-competitive tourney-winning force, nevertheless I'd be interested to see what people thought of it. I'll also freely admit that a lot of the unit choices were more or less entirely informed by what models I've already been building/painting at the time (notably, the Haruspex is in there almost exclusively because I'm rather chuffed with this one that I converted up).

I am somewhat considering dropping a Carnifex (either one of the Screamer-Killers or the standalone one) and the Haruspex for something else though. Possibly more Warriors or other mid-sized creatures, possibly something else entirely.

 

Anyway, over to you guys!

[The Pounder]

Hey Evil Eye, yeah I run a list with as few models as possible. I find the Gaunt heavy lists boring and not fun to play with or against (no offence to anyone who uses such lists)

 

I still haven’t painted it all yet but have had some success with my list.

 

Here’s what I run:

 

 

++ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Tyranids) [110 PL, 2,000pts, 11CP] ++

 

+ Configuration +

 

Battle Size [12CP]: 3. Strike Force (101-200 Total PL / 1001-2000 Points)

 

Detachment Command Cost

 

Gametype: Matched

 

Hive Fleet: Kronos

 

+ Stratagems +

 

Progeny of the Hive [-1CP]

 

+ HQ +

 

Broodlord [7 PL, 125pts]: Power: Catalyst, Power: Smite, Resonance Barb

 

Neurothrope [5 PL, 95pts]: Power: Smite, Power: Symbiostorm

 

The Swarmlord [14 PL, 270pts]: Power: Catalyst, Power: Symbiostorm, Warlord

 

+ Troops +

 

Genestealers [12 PL, 180pts]: 3x Acid Maw, 12x Scything Talons

. 12x Genestealer: 12x Rending Claws

 

Hormagaunts [6 PL, 78pts]

. 13x Hormagaunt: 13x Scything Talons

 

Hormagaunts [6 PL, 72pts]

. 12x Hormagaunt: 12x Scything Talons

 

Termagants [6 PL, 84pts]

. 12x Termagant (Devourer): 12x Devourer

 

Tyranid Warriors [8 PL, 174pts]

. Adaptive Physiology: Enhanced Resistance

. Tyranid Warrior: Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior: Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior: Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior: Boneswords, Deathspitter

. Tyranid Warrior (Bio-cannon): Boneswords, Venom Cannon

. Tyranid Warrior (Bio-cannon): Boneswords, Venom Cannon

 

+ Elites +

 

Hive Guard [12 PL, 270pts]

. 6x Hive Guard (Impaler): 6x Impaler Cannon

 

Lictor [2 PL, 37pts]

 

Zoanthropes [14 PL, 250pts]: Power: Smite, Power: Symbiostorm

. 5x Zoanthrope: 5x Claws and Teeth

 

+ Heavy Support +

 

Exocrine [9 PL, 170pts]

. Adaptive Physiology: Dermic Symbiosis

 

Tyrannofex [9 PL, 195pts]: Rupture Cannon, Toxin Sacs

 

++ Total: [110 PL, 2,000pts, 11CP] ++

 

Created with BattleScribe

 

I know these are the old pts (I’m too cheap to buy the new book so will wait for BattleScribe to update!) but you get the idea.

 

I like your list, give it a try!

[WarriorFish]

I want to try something similar, using lots of Warriors to fill the Troop ranks but obviously I'm a way off such things :P I may be biased but I think the fexes might have a role for such lists, although they're not the heavy weights they were back in the original Nidzilla days I feel that might fill a useful middle role to the bigger beasties? As much as a lower model count is the goal, being too low invites death by dice :P

[Closet Skeleton]

Screamer killers never seemed worth it, points wise. I used mine as regular carnifex with adrenal glands and sporecysts, no guns.

 

Haruspex is the worst designed datasheet in a book of dubious datasheets.

 

Warriors get more venom cannons in units of 6.

[Malakithe]

Why not toss in a couple Hierodules?