Tyranids : Starting out fresh

[randyh]

New to the game (about a year), I play chaos daemons right now and I'm looking into branching into the nid codex. I've already made some purchases for normal troops choices, and picked up a tyrant.

My main question is about elite units. Those of you who play nids regularly, what do you like to field? I really like the Lictor/Death Leaper fluff and want to play with some of those, but I'm told they aren't very effective.

I also keep getting told that I should gaunt spam the board. While that might be fun for a bit, there's no real strategy to it.

Looking for thoughts/suggestions on elite, fast, and heavy units.

[Master Bryss]

On Elites: Hive Guard are a solid choice here judging from what other people say, and from my own use of them. Great against transports and the like.

The problem with Lictors is that they turn up, shoot hooks and then die to shooting. I've only played one game against Lictors and thats how it turned out. Deathleaper's a great anti-psyker but dies even easier than regular Lictors because he's on his own.

Fast Attack: Gargoyles, no question. Possibly the best unit in the whole book for what they do. A full unit can tear apart MCs and the like.

Gaunt spam, as good as it is, I'd prefer to field a Tervigon as well. Great unit, good toughness and it can be scoring. Remember you need one Gaunt mob to take one Tervigon as Troops

Heavy Support: I haven't really played with Heavy yet, but I'm trying out the Trygon Prime this weekend. Looks quite good on paper actually.

Take my opinions with a pinch of salt though, as I play for fun, with any units I like.

[randyh]

Thanks for the response. I like to play the fluff to to speak and have a good time, but I also like to win. I guess I'll save my Lictors for a 2k point game or something.

Thanks for the suggestions on the gargoyles. I've actually been eyeballing them for awhile, but I haven't had much luck with fast attacks since mine usually consist of khorne doggies.

[Dark_Templar]

I am considering starting some Nids, just an HQ and troops choice to start with to get my paint scheme sussed (between them and my proposed Eldar, I should have a bit more variety than my marines).

Anywho, I would jump at Lictors / Deathleaper if they had new models. I know many people like the way they look, but the current pose / face on them just looks a bit off. I feel that the face on the standard Lictor is more menacing than Deathleaper simply because DL looks like Zoidberg on steroids.

Anyways, it is a good codex with lots of nice things, and I am just praying for some re-releases in some of the current models. (also looking forward to a Tervigon / Tyrannofex model).

DT.

[Chaosgerbil]

You'll need a unit of zoanthropes for anti-tank, and they should really be dropped in a mycetic spore. They are also synapse creatures which are important.

Tervigon + a termagaunt unit is indeed very important.

Hormagaunts are good too but need synapse support.

Genestealers are often rather cheap on ebay and can be effective, I plan to use one unit to outflank.

If you get three warrior kits you could convert 3 of them to be the excellent hive guard using the venom cannon.

Consider drop sporing a carnifex near the enemy, but all the MCs look pretty good actually.

[Scoota]

In terms of elites choices, Zoanthropes are fantastic for taking down any type of vehicle, although they only have a 24" range. Hive Guard are awesome for popping transports, have a longer range and do not need line of sight. I would highly recommend one or both of these.

Lictors main strength is if you have reserves and you want them to come down early (+1 to Reserve rolls) and anything landing within 6" won't scatter. The Death Leaper has a number of fancy extra rules (great if you're playing against psykers or armies that rely on HQ's Leadership), and his Rending on a 5+ is great too (I killed a Land Raider with the Death Leaper's Flesh Hooks in one game).
The Doom of Malan'Tai in a spore pod is also a fun thing to take - it draws enemy fire and can cause lots of damage to your opponent's army in the shooting phases of both yourself AND your opponent.

Other elites choices are good, but those 4 choices are arguably the best.

The 2000 point list I've been running with (if you'd like a suggestion) is:
Swarm Lord
2* Tyrant Guard with Lashwhips
Doom of Malan'Tai in swarm pod
2* Zoanthropes
2* Tervigons with Poison, Furious Charge and Catalyst
2* 15 Termagant units
Broodlord & 7 Genestealers
2* Carnifex with Bioplasma
Trygon Alpha

I've found this to be a quite effective list, although it may struggle against shooting armies.