Lux
04-02-2010, 01:55 PM
The new Tyranid codex has really emphasized the need for synergy when creating a list (not a bad thing!). When you look around the internet, one unit that has gotten a lot of mixed reviews is the humble hormagaunt. Now these guys are the reason I started Tyranids years and years ago. The visual of the vast onrushing swarm of alien monstrosities out to rip you limb from limb is just great. Add to the fact that as the Tyranid player you get to roll buckets of dice and giggle with glee, and you have a lot of what playing 40k should be about. Now, the intelligent people on much of the interwebz states that termgants or genestealers are a much better deal than hormagaunts in the new codex. Call me crazy, but I'm determined to find a means of making the pointy little guys work. Here's one "trick" I used last night that worked very well:
It involved
2 units of 25 hormagaunts with toxin sacs and adrenal glands
zoanthropes, hive guard, a heavy venom cannon on a tyrant, and assorted anti-tank shooting
a tervigon giving the hormagaunts feel no pain via the catalyst psychic power
average rolls on the dice
If you play in a setting that has each side alternate placing terrain pre-game, then make sure to place a large piece of area terrain right around the middle of the board. Even if the terrain is preset, try to place objectives in objective missions (2/3's of the missions) within 12"-14" of area terrain on your side of the table.
Hormagaunts themselves are not designed to take out vehicles. That's the job of your other creatures. The idea here assumes standard transport tactics by the opponent where he will keep his units in transports until they have to get out. The goal of your hive guard and Str8/9 shooting is to knock out at least 1 transport per turn so the hormagaunts can get to the "squishy" parts inside.
I took hormagaunts with both toxin sacs AND adrenal glands. Yes, it's expensive at 10pts per model, but it also gives them the ability to assault at I6, Str4, re-roll 1's to hit, and re-roll ALL to wound rolls against MEQ's or lesser opponents. 25 of these guys costs 250pts, which seems like a lot, but is actually about equal to a tactical squad in a rhino with normal upgrades. That means that if the hormagaunts kill 1-2 tactical squads, they'll have made up their points.
Lets look at the way to use them. Move the gaunts into the front of the area terrain and keep putting Catalyst onto them. In your next movement phase move the gaunts out. With Move Through Cover, you've got a good chance of moving at least 5". Use your shooting to take out a nearby transport, saving the run move until last. If you nail the transport, run the gaunts up and assault the squad that was inside. With the 3d6-take-the-highest run move you again have a very good chance of running at least 5". If you can't drop the transport, use the run move to move the majority of the gaunts back into area terrain for the cover saves. A 4+ cover with FnP makes for a very durable unit.
If you do get to assault, and get even 20 hormagaunts in on the assault you'll have 60 attacks, hitting 35 times, and causing 22-23 wounds. That averages out to 7 or 8 dead marines. FnP keeps your hormagaunts safe from most non-power weapon attacks back, and even losing 1-2 from the return attacks means you should win combat and either wipe the enemy unit via catching them or fearless wounds OR, get stuck in with the one last model and wipe them on your following turn. If you do end up stuck in the open in the enemy turn FnP means the opponent will need to use flamers and special weapons to have a good chance of killing the hormagaunts in their shooting phase, while I5, toxin sacs, and 2 attacks each means your gaunts are still a threat even if they're the ones who get charged.
So why hormagaunts for this instead of termagants? A few reasons.
1) The mobility issue. Move through cover, fleet, and the 3d6 fleet move makes hormagaunts better able to jump from cover to cover on the way in and move back into cover if you aren't able to destroy enemy vehicles. This may mean you need to move them down a flank instead of up the middle in order to keep them away from the open areas of the table.
2) The extra attacks and extra initiative. Yes, they do make a difference. The reality is, that although you can field many more termagants backed up by a tervigon to give them toxin sacs and adrenal glands without paying the extra 4pts per model, that also means you need to be much more aggressive with the tervigons, and lets face it, getting more than about 20-25 models all into CC range in assault is very difficult.
3) I find hormagaunts more fun, and it's also requires me to paint and own fewer models.
Some caveats apply here.
Reliance on this type of unit tactic means that an IG command squad with 4 flamers is quite potentially a higher prority target than an IG melta veteran squad simply because the flamers can potentially wipe out an entire brood of hormagaunts in 1 turn of shooting.
This type of tactic also means you need to have some way to force your opponent up an not just sit back and shoot you. Many opponents will have some form of outflanking or deepstriking unit you can pick on, but if they don't you need to aggressively use your shooting to knock out their transports and force them into the realization that they need to move their units up on foot if they have any hope of capturing or contesting objectives. Placing multiple objectives on your side of the board or around the middle in the seize ground mission can help psychologically hammer this point home. Having your own outflankers and deepstrikers can also help. Just try to ensure your flankers show up the same time you move the rest of your army out of cover and towards their lines. The key is to try and force your opponent into deciding whether to go after that trygon/genestealers/flying hive tyrant/etc that just popped up next to his guys, or the massive wall of hormagaunts and other units racing towards his lines on foot.
Now is does this mean hormagaunts are suddenly the *it* choice in the Nid codex? No. This tactic is heavily dependent upon terrain and objective placement (both of which may be controllable), and I suspect that 32 termagants with FnP shooting out of a terrain piece in the middle with a tervigon backing them up with toxin sacs and adrenal glands will be more points efficient, still, this is one way I've used hormagaunts that has worked well.
Have you been using hormagaunts a lot since the new codex was released? How have you gotten the best tactical use out of them?
Lux
It involved
2 units of 25 hormagaunts with toxin sacs and adrenal glands
zoanthropes, hive guard, a heavy venom cannon on a tyrant, and assorted anti-tank shooting
a tervigon giving the hormagaunts feel no pain via the catalyst psychic power
average rolls on the dice
If you play in a setting that has each side alternate placing terrain pre-game, then make sure to place a large piece of area terrain right around the middle of the board. Even if the terrain is preset, try to place objectives in objective missions (2/3's of the missions) within 12"-14" of area terrain on your side of the table.
Hormagaunts themselves are not designed to take out vehicles. That's the job of your other creatures. The idea here assumes standard transport tactics by the opponent where he will keep his units in transports until they have to get out. The goal of your hive guard and Str8/9 shooting is to knock out at least 1 transport per turn so the hormagaunts can get to the "squishy" parts inside.
I took hormagaunts with both toxin sacs AND adrenal glands. Yes, it's expensive at 10pts per model, but it also gives them the ability to assault at I6, Str4, re-roll 1's to hit, and re-roll ALL to wound rolls against MEQ's or lesser opponents. 25 of these guys costs 250pts, which seems like a lot, but is actually about equal to a tactical squad in a rhino with normal upgrades. That means that if the hormagaunts kill 1-2 tactical squads, they'll have made up their points.
Lets look at the way to use them. Move the gaunts into the front of the area terrain and keep putting Catalyst onto them. In your next movement phase move the gaunts out. With Move Through Cover, you've got a good chance of moving at least 5". Use your shooting to take out a nearby transport, saving the run move until last. If you nail the transport, run the gaunts up and assault the squad that was inside. With the 3d6-take-the-highest run move you again have a very good chance of running at least 5". If you can't drop the transport, use the run move to move the majority of the gaunts back into area terrain for the cover saves. A 4+ cover with FnP makes for a very durable unit.
If you do get to assault, and get even 20 hormagaunts in on the assault you'll have 60 attacks, hitting 35 times, and causing 22-23 wounds. That averages out to 7 or 8 dead marines. FnP keeps your hormagaunts safe from most non-power weapon attacks back, and even losing 1-2 from the return attacks means you should win combat and either wipe the enemy unit via catching them or fearless wounds OR, get stuck in with the one last model and wipe them on your following turn. If you do end up stuck in the open in the enemy turn FnP means the opponent will need to use flamers and special weapons to have a good chance of killing the hormagaunts in their shooting phase, while I5, toxin sacs, and 2 attacks each means your gaunts are still a threat even if they're the ones who get charged.
So why hormagaunts for this instead of termagants? A few reasons.
1) The mobility issue. Move through cover, fleet, and the 3d6 fleet move makes hormagaunts better able to jump from cover to cover on the way in and move back into cover if you aren't able to destroy enemy vehicles. This may mean you need to move them down a flank instead of up the middle in order to keep them away from the open areas of the table.
2) The extra attacks and extra initiative. Yes, they do make a difference. The reality is, that although you can field many more termagants backed up by a tervigon to give them toxin sacs and adrenal glands without paying the extra 4pts per model, that also means you need to be much more aggressive with the tervigons, and lets face it, getting more than about 20-25 models all into CC range in assault is very difficult.
3) I find hormagaunts more fun, and it's also requires me to paint and own fewer models.
Some caveats apply here.
Reliance on this type of unit tactic means that an IG command squad with 4 flamers is quite potentially a higher prority target than an IG melta veteran squad simply because the flamers can potentially wipe out an entire brood of hormagaunts in 1 turn of shooting.
This type of tactic also means you need to have some way to force your opponent up an not just sit back and shoot you. Many opponents will have some form of outflanking or deepstriking unit you can pick on, but if they don't you need to aggressively use your shooting to knock out their transports and force them into the realization that they need to move their units up on foot if they have any hope of capturing or contesting objectives. Placing multiple objectives on your side of the board or around the middle in the seize ground mission can help psychologically hammer this point home. Having your own outflankers and deepstrikers can also help. Just try to ensure your flankers show up the same time you move the rest of your army out of cover and towards their lines. The key is to try and force your opponent into deciding whether to go after that trygon/genestealers/flying hive tyrant/etc that just popped up next to his guys, or the massive wall of hormagaunts and other units racing towards his lines on foot.
Now is does this mean hormagaunts are suddenly the *it* choice in the Nid codex? No. This tactic is heavily dependent upon terrain and objective placement (both of which may be controllable), and I suspect that 32 termagants with FnP shooting out of a terrain piece in the middle with a tervigon backing them up with toxin sacs and adrenal glands will be more points efficient, still, this is one way I've used hormagaunts that has worked well.
Have you been using hormagaunts a lot since the new codex was released? How have you gotten the best tactical use out of them?
Lux