need help with tyranid tactics

[Ravingbantha]

I've read the codex and a few tactics post, but I'm not a tyranid player, my 13 year old nephew is however. He enjoys the game and keeps coming back no matter how often he looses. I play eldar, space wolves, and Orks and I'm his primary opponent.

Below is a list of what he has, any advice would be appreciated.

1 hive tyrant (currently has 2 cannons)
1 flyerant w/ lash whip and bone sword
1 swarmlord

40 genestealers
6 warriors
20 gargoyles
30 termagaunts
1 broodlord
2 carnifexes
2 zoanthropes
2 tyrant guard
1 hive guard
1 lictor
1 tyranofex
1 red terror
7 ripper swarms

[michael79]

Hi. So there are tons of websites/threads dedicated to what are the best Tyranid lists/units/combos... But instead of trying to build a better Tyranid list, why don't you make a less powerful Eldar/Space Wolves/Orks list. You can even play with unbalanced points (1500 Tyranids to 1000 Eldar, for example) and make a challenging game for yourself and your cousin. One VERY fun game to play with a Tyranid opponent is the following: You take 1500 points of your favorite army, let your cousin play with ALL his Tyranids (or most of them, 2000+ points at least). Whenever any Tyranid unit is killed, it goes into ongoing reserves. The goal of the game is to last as many turns as possible against the overwhelming Tyranid onslaught. Eventually, you will lose all your units... Your cousin will be happy because he wiped out all of your units, you will be happy because you lasted X turns against overwhelming odds. Who wins? You both do!

[Ravingbantha]

I've done that, playing less powerful lists, having about 8k points in each army gives me options. I've even played unbalanced games giving him double my points. But he doesn't like those kind of games. He thinks its kind of like cheating, and wants the fights to be fair. He even gets upset when I play a weak list.

[daboarder]

The thing with nids is, that they aren't very good.

Honestly the best thing you can do is to step away from the highly competitive builds when facing him, without going for very specific lists nids just cant match that kind of army.

For the most part our biggest strengths are the formations, and you just dont really have enough to build any of those. With that being the case you should be fielding all those gaunts and gargs, you'll need the numbers and they'd make a fairly solid base (particularly with SL and guard giving them point focused force multiplication). Look to grabbing/proxing some malanthropes while your at it too.


Something like

SL, 2x TG

Zoanthrope

Zoanthrope

15 terms

15 terms

6 warriors (probably suggest running these as two groups of 3 with a barbed strangler each and Deathspitters, fairly good support that way)

20 gargs (MUST give these adglands for fleet, they are scary fast like that, with 12 move and re-roll charge)

T-Fex (acid spray)

Carni

Carni
(loadout your choice, but keep them cheep, either dual devourers, OR Adgland+CCs)

EDIT: OR

With 40 genestealers you could run the stealer formations, either grab a few more stealers and go for paired manufactorum and infiltrate within 6 of the opponent, or go for manufactorum combo'd with the broodlord hunting pack.

[Ravingbantha]

Thanks for the info, as for my play style, I don't do competitive builds. I only look at them as ways not to build my army. I like odd and unusual combos. But I will look into the formations.

[daboarder]

thats cool then, good to hear, nids are still a bit harder for beginers due to the way their list works with requiring synapse. but if your not going ultra comp then he should be fine once he sorts out teh fundamentals

[John Blankenship]

I like using the Trygon Prime to open a whole in the Deployment zone then pop out 30 Termagaunts with Devourers next to someone's HQ. Like to see Calgar try and sluff off 90 shots!

[Brenlak]

I like using the Trygon Prime to open a whole in the Deployment zone then pop out 30 Termagaunts with Devourers next to someone's HQ. Like to see Calgar try and sluff off 90 shots!

This tactic is a little tooooo random for me, you don't get the Trygon out first and you have wasted 30 Termies and the extra points on devourers...