Codex Tyranids: Summary in first post

[HsojVvad]

Thanks Justinian, not a bad review so far on how the units fare. But you forgot one thing to mention.

Were they fun to use? Even though some units seemed to die too fast, was using the overall army fun?

[The.Justinian]

Thanks Justinian, not a bad review so far on how the units fare. But you forgot one thing to mention.

Were they fun to use? Even though some units seemed to die too fast, was using the overall army fun?

RE: Fun:
The advent of so much choice in the army made it fun at all turns.
1) During army building, each and every FOC slot is packed with options, making you feel that you're turning a real corner strategically as you select how you plan to win. In many 4th ed codicies where there aren't so many choices, Even at different points values you still ended up with obligatory units. The feeling that there are many paths to victory (or lulz, if one was to try a pyrovore-heavy list) fills you with anticipation.

2) Playing against the army (we all did at one time or another), the Nids were a much more fun adversary. Real choices had to be made about where to lay down the heavy fire; sometimes assaulting INTO the swarm made sense, etc. Because the game wasn't simply (I play guard usually) an adventure of 'shoot the big bugs till they all die,' there was a greater feeling of strategic and tactical choice. More than once, as they deep struck alll around, I did say "Game over, man!" In the voice we all know too well. The nids feel less like a force of nature and more like a cunning wolfpack...even without synapse every unit can be dangerous.

3) The variety of Scoring units meant that getting an objective point had much more drama. With WoN gone, there was a feeling that we needed to cultivate what the Tervigons made to construct a good defense when the enemy attack landed. Likewise, the new toughness of warriors meant that we had some shock troops that could also count the point for our team in SG. This all added up to more uncertainty, more choice, and thus a lot more fun.

4) The shooting phase of the Tyranid turn suddenly became a time of some drama. With some real weapons that can crack open vehicles, and more abundant template fire, and especially the fact that most all units had at least something to shoot (we used bioplasma on the fexes) (the BS on the pod turned out to be an interesting option); one of the obligatory phases of the game that we all play through got more interesting.

4) The challenge in using the less-than-great options turned into a fun exercise by itself. In Pitched battle deployments, we had to think hard about how to make the Fexes and Tyrants survivable. We kept brainstorming how (if he stays at current cost) to make the 'fex good..and came to the conclusion it lay in brooding them up in a nidzilla scenario. If there is dissapointment, it will come later. For now, fun.


Overall, with so many points where player choice could turn the game one way or another, and with so many more options (making the ones you'd picked feel more special), the army felt really entertaining.
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RE: things dying too fast.
Really, the odd thing was not that the Fex costed too many points, but instead that it only had 4 wounds. With the Terv and Trygon/Mawloc sporting six, our great dissapointment lay there. On the other side of the coin, regenerating Tervs had an endurance not yet seen in an MC--One lasted out two turns of fire from two Pulse/Star falcons. The fact that those falcons hadn't turbo boosted to a shocking position on those same turns cost the enemy the game.

Warriors were fine. With cross-allocation and the alpha, allocation tricks saved them from any great embarassement. Hiding behind their pods meant that even had their been BC's or other big cannons on the board, they would've been alright. Yes, they're still brittle, as before, but they improved so much that they now can be called an 'arm of decision.'

[HsojVvad]

Thanks again Justinian, it is refreshing to read something that is not doom and gloom. I am starting to look forward to the Tyranids again.