Thursday 14 March 2013

Throne of Skulls 2 - help with my 1500pt list please...



Throne of Skulls again next week and another 1500pt conundrum. After the last time where I somehow managed to win 4 out of 5 matches I'd pretty much settled on a potential list after the event, trimming some of the units I didn't think had worked and adding in others that could deliver, this was it [with 19pts left to play with:
HQ
  Tyranid Prime with Lashwhip and Bonesword, Deathspitter, Synapse Creature,
  Tervigon with Catalyst, Dominion, Synapse Creature, Stinger Salvo, Crushing Claws
Elites
  3x Hive Guard(s)
  The Doom of Malan’tai with Mycetic Spore with Hardened Carapace, Lash Whip, Ripper Tentacles 
Troops
  Tervigon with Catalyst, Dominion, Synapse Creature, Stinger Salvo, Crushing Claws
  10x Termagaunts with Devourer
  3x Tyranid Warriors with Barbed Strangler, Deathspitter, Scything Talons,
  Broodlord with Adrenal Glands, Scything Talons ,
  4x Genestealers with Adrenal Glands
  Broodlord with Toxin Sacs, Scything Talons ,
  4x Genestealers with Toxin Sacs
Heavy Support
  Trygon
Fortifications
  Aegis Defence Line

Anyway, I've got me a Winged Hive tyrant recently, just finished painting it and can't decide whether to run a list with it in. It's a 6th of my points and although difficult to hit, if it is hit it could get spanked. So the list would be more like this:
HQ
  Hive Tyrant, Wings, 2X Twin Linked Devourers
  Tervigon with Catalyst, Dominion, Synapse Creature, Stinger Salvo, Crushing Claws
Elites
  3x Hive Guard(s)
  The Doom of Malan’tai with Mycetic Spore with Hardened Carapace, Lash Whip, Ripper tentacles
Troops
  Tervigon with Catalyst, Dominion, Synapse Creature, Stinger Salvo, Crushing Claws
  10x Termagaunts with Devourer
  3x Tyranid Warriors with Barbed Strangler, Deathspitter, Scything Talons,
  Broodlord with Adrenal Glands, Scything Talons ,
  4x Genestealers with Adrenal Glands
Heavy Support
  Trygon
Fortifications
  Aegis Defence Line
Now this leaves me with around 97pts and a number of options.


  1. Drop the scything talons on the Troop Tervigon and I could add another unit of 10 Devgaunts and make the HQ Tervigon a troop, which would be useful, but also mean my Warlord is the slightly fragile Tyrant.
  2. Drop the scything talons on the Troop Tervigon and I could go for 10 plain Termagants, make the HQ Tervigon a troop and add another Hive Guard [2 broods of 2]
  3. Add another Hive Guard and 1 Biovore [Big Guns makes it a scoring unit and they're really annoying, however it does make an easy kill point [although there was only 1 KP mission last time]
  4. Find some way to shave off 8pts and add 3 Warriors with Deathspitters - extra synapse and more durable than the Devgaunts but can still be instakilled and are less effective without the Prime.
So which would you do? Stick with the first list or option 1,2,3 or 4 from the second list. Incidentally I tried option 2 the other night [no battle report] and it wasn't bad. The Hive Guard were effective in pairs and the 10 Termagants, although not game changing were useful to have around. The Hive Tyrant survived the game but did regenerate two wounds through Endurance...

8 comments:

  1. I lean towards Option 2 personally. It gives you more scoring units (a Tervigon and another mob of Gaunts!) and adds in another Hive Guard (which are just pure filth imo!). If i was facing the list i would be a lot more concerned about the Tervigons and Trygon than i would about the Hive Tyrant meaning it would probably survive longer than should really be allowed!

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    1. I think that's the advantage of option 2, whereas the Biovore can be scoring once out of 5 games, the Tervigon and the Termagants are scoring all the time.

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  2. What about other flyers? I kinda feel like most 1500 pts lists have some flyers, so I think you need one to compete... do you find that is not the case where you play? (and you obviously did fine without one last tournament).

    Also, I don't think the Hive Tyrant is really "that fragile"... remember, you can use cover to your advantage (nothing about swooping removes your ability to screen yourself), you can always "dive/jink/whatever" if you do take 3 lascannon hits from a unit, and depending on your psychic powers there is always the regeneration of wounds or bonus toughness, etc...

    Also, I feel like you have a TON of synapse for not having a lot of units that need synapse... you aren't running gaunts, gargoyles, rippers, or even biovores (necessarily) and your tervigons should be close to your termagants anyways (although not taking any adrenals or toxins on the tervigons to auto-buff the 'gants seems like a missed opportunity there)... you do have to watch where the hive guard go in regards to synapse, but with warriors (and prime) and tyrant and tervigons I think you are going to be okay unless you really spread out across a long table edge...

    So, I'd say the Flyrant (although you probably do want a few practice games with him if you haven't used much in the way of flying MC before), drop the Aegis and pick up the Prime you like, Warriors, Tervigons, Doom in Pod, Hive Guard, Broodlords x2, Termagants, and then use the extra points for either more Termagants or to add some Adrenals or Toxins to the Tervigons or to split up the Hive guard into 2 batches... they all seem like good options and again, the only thing I'd worry about is not knowing how to use the Flyrant to effect if you are comfortable with the rest of the army.

    Also, as an aside, it is great to see a good list that uses 'stealers & warriors as a major part of the army... although I appreciate the Tervigons/'gants synergy, I just like the way warriors and 'stealers look and feel any 'Nid army doesn't look right without them... yeah, they aren't as tough as a lot of other lists (well, broodlord aside), but I'm glad this isn't just a "net-approved tervigons/hive guard/zoanthrope/biovore/flyrant only list". - good luck and nice paint job on the Tyrant!!!

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    1. Thanks for the comprehensive response. Indeed the issue of opponents having flyers is one of the main reasons for taking the Winged Tyrant in the second list. Given the lack of skyfire in a nid force thanks to my oft-bemoaned lack of a quad-gun it's the only way to engage with them. Last time I had to contend with a Storm Raven, Vendettas and a couple of Night Scythes and my tactic was to just ignore them, where possible. This time I wanted something that could engage if possible, I can still Vector Strike them can't I?

      I've had about 3 games with the Winged Tyrant now so I think you're right that an Iron Arm or Endurance could get me through the game, otherwise I'll be diving where appropriate. Dropping the Aegis is something I'm loathe to do. It looks cool and last time had such a psychological effect on the game I think it paid for itself many times over, even if it didn't make it's value back in lives saved. Of course there's been another six months for people to come to terms with them so it may be a mistake to take it.

      Adding biomorphs to the Tervigons is good value, I'm just not sure how often I get the benefit, particularly if I revert to backfield objective sitting. I've just thought about dropping the adrenals on the Stealers though, which would give me 15pts which could get me a twin-linked Deathspitter on the Mycetic Spore [which recently has been fun, although the Spore doesn't usually last more than a turn] and Scything Talons on the Tervigon...

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  3. If you dropped the Aegis Line you could do a combination of both options 2 & 3. Getting you more scoring units, more hive guard AND the biovore?! maybe this could be a nice middle ground?

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    1. Another option, cheers. However the Defence Line is a discussion and centre piece, it helps start conversations which will allow me to point people to the blog and it's construction. I'm going to be much more on the ball for that this time. It also worked well last time so I'm hoping it'll deliver again this time - it's earned it's place ;)

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  4. Sorry for the delayed response. I like option #3 the best as it gives you some more shooty and another big template. Option #2 isn't bad either, as it gives you some more durable troops (And a beefy option at that), but with the ability to spawn more troops at will, I don't usually run into problems with not having enough scoring units...

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    1. I like the Biovore too and he's actually proved himself a little more in recent games but I'm wary of having a brood of 1. I know he's likely to be hiding out of sight but it still concerns me. Option 2 I think it is...

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