Competitive collection for a Tyranids army?

[Markus Lindlahr]

Hey everyone,

Just curious what a good competitive Tyranid collection should entail. I've been out of 40K for 2 editions now and was considering coming back but have lost touch with what a solid competitive collection would entail. Basically what models and how many should I have in my repertoire to choose from?

For example:
15 swarm bases
10 genestealers
3 Brood Lords
40 termegaunts
15 Warriors
3 Tyrant Guards
2 Carnifex's
1 Tyrant

or something like that.

Thanks in advance!

[Tyrendian]

uh well lets see... Italics indicates maybe

HQ:
Flyrant
Swarmlord
regular Tyrant plus Guards
Prime

Elites:
3-6 Hive Guard
10 Ymgarls
Doom + Pod
3 Zoans

Troops:
60-80 Terma maybe more depending on you usual luck with their moms
30 Horma
2-3 Tervigons

Fast Attack:
30 Gargoyles
6 Raveners

Heavy Support
2 Trygons
3-6 Biovores plus assorted Spore Mines

that's pretty much the competitive units in my oppinion - half the codex at most sadly... but that will all change in January when the new 'dex hits I'd assume

[Anggul]

As said above, I would wait for the new codex to drop in January (supposedly) before making your decisions.

I could give you all sorts of advice based on the current codex, but that might all chance when the new one comes out.

[DWest]

Currently reconditioning my sorely-used bugs, so a couple thoughts on the subject:
-Definitely get a Hive Tyrant, a Tervigon, and a bucketful of Termagants. These three will be useful until approximately 17 years after GW goes out of business, as they're the backbone of the army. If you're skillful with magnets, you should be able to make the Tyrant pull double-duty as a Swarmlord, possibly even a Flyrant. If not, I'd suggest configuring him for Flyrant duty.

-Zoanthropes, Hive Guard, and Venomthropes are all quite useful for the army, but I would definitely wait until after the new codex drops; the Hive Guard and the Zoans are most likely getting new kits, possibly the Venoms as well, so you might want the new sculpts, or if you're a budget builder, there will most likely be old stock and/or retirees from collections available on EBay for cheap.

-From there, you'll probably need to wait and see how the new book shakes out before knowing what else is going to be top-tier. My guess, however, is that one side or the other of the Trygon/Mawloc kit will remain quality, and Genestealers will get buffed back to a useful level.

[Anggul]

It should be mentioned that Venomthropes aren't nearly as useful as they were in 5th ed, as even Monstrous Creatures can stick their toe in area terrain and get the same 5+ cover save a Venomthrope provides, but for free. Hopefully they'll make them do more in the new codex to make up for that.

[DarkLink]

I'll add to the list another 30 Gargoyles, a unit of 5-6 Warriors in a pod, and maybe a Dakkafex in a pod for kicks. Gargoyles are awesome, and at least in doubles games my partners Warriors have been absolute workhorses. Drop them behind enemy lines after tying up their frontline with gaunts and gargoyles, and they do a lot of damage and your opponent will have trouble reallocating firepower to deal with them, but they have to deal with them because they get so much str 5 firepower and can beat up on most any backfield unit in assault, plus they're scoring.

[Markus Lindlahr]

As said above, I would wait for the new codex to drop in January (supposedly) before making your decisions.

I could give you all sorts of advice based on the current codex, but that might all chance when the new one comes out.

Ah ok, thank make sense. January we'll revisit the question. Thanks everyone for your input!