I've been thinking about what I'd like to do to get away from the usual list I run that centers around Hive Guard and Tervigons and Tyrannofexen. It's usually led by a Tyranid Prime. So, I figured I'd turn around and go for the big nasty in our HQ choices: the Swarmlord.On the Swarmlord
First off: the Swarmlord can grab preferred enemy, and inflicts instant death and forces re-rolls on invulnerable saves. He's also the only unit outside of Zoanthropes to have an invulnerable save in the book. Neat, huh?
Beyond that, he's prime psychic support. All the powers you'd want (...not that a lot of them are that awe-inspiring outside of Paroyxsm) and the ability to fire off two in a turn. On the downside, the bulk of your psychic powers are shooting attacks, but you've got no fleet and the urge to crush face in assault. But, we have a way around this conundrum: Onslaught! And Tervigons are cool as is, so it's not like you're necessarily sacrificing anything to get 'em.
The other big perk is 'Swarm Leader.' During your shooting phase, you can give a unit within 18" Preferred Enemy, Furious Charge, or Acute Senses. All nice, yes? If the Swarmlord is going in himself, he's probably going to grant himself Preferred Enemy. Most units you have that you want in assault have or can readily get Furious Charge, and Acute Senses is so-so. The prime scenario I envision (other than a preferred-enemy Swarmlord) is something like a heap of preferred-enemy fully-glanded unit of Termagants going into a unit of whatever you like being subjected to Paroxysm.
So, the Swarmlord is a brute. What do do put with him? Here's a brainstorm I had with the idea of using a Swarmlord and some of the other stuff I've been painting recently.
Swarmlord and Friends
Swarmlord [280]
-3x Hive Guard w/ Lash Whips [195]
Elites
3 Hive Guard [150]
3 Hive Guard [150]
Deathleaper [140]
Troops
Terivgon [210]
-Cluster Spines
-Toxin Sacks, Adrenal Glands
-Catalyst
-Onslaught
Terivgon [210]
-Cluster Spines
-Toxin Sacks, Adrenal Glands
-Catalyst
-Onslaught
10 Termagants [50]
11 Termagants [55]
Fast Attack
4 Raveners w/ Rending Claws [140]
Fast Attack
Trygon w/ Adrenal Glands [210]
Trygon w/ Adrenal Glands [210]
Total: 2000/2000
Thoughts
Swarmlord gets a full tyrant guard because, oh, I'm pretty sure people would rather shoot him to death before he does something drastic (like get into assault). Tyrant Guard get whips as a measure of cutting costs and to back up the swarmlord; no one really needs to go before him as far as I'm concerned.
Elites? Not a big surprise. Requisite six hive guard, and Deathleaper is in there to try to cripple any psychic hoods or enemy psykers.
Troops are kind of the same as usual; it's the Tervigon core. The only difference is that they pack Catalyst and Onslaught alike. Why Onslaught? Well, Hive Guard are nasty but only have a 24" range, and the Swarmlord wants to push ahead and still benefit from his psychic powers.
The Raveners and Trygons are a bit of 'I want to try something new' and they're assault-oriented. I'd love five raveners, but I'm just short of it (I had 25 left; that went to Adrenal Glands on the Trygons and the requisite spare Termagant. Plus, I've got some reserves manipulation. I should be able to get 2-3 of them in on turn two, and since the whole army is running at you and baying for your blood,* well, yeah...
So, thoughts/feedback? Swears?
*...I'm pretty sure tyranids actually advance silently, according the fluff. It just makes it creepier.
5 comments:
Fuck, shit, piss. How's that for swears?
I like this set up. I think you may be cutting it short on the anti-tank, but dropping a bunch of MCs in somebody's face is going to cause problems.
Have you considering sticking Swarmy in to a normal Tervigon/HG/T-fex build with him and Genestealers operating as a trump assault unit. Swarmy is the only one I'd trust to outflanking my 'stealers with and you still maintain the normal awesome firepower bugs can bring to bear.
I think that'd cover the curses, Chumby.
I'd written Genestealers more or less off, but with a re-roll on the outflank, along with fleet, there actually IS a pretty solid chance (I believe it's an 84%) you'll get them on the table edge you want.
Might be worth looking into, it is.
As for anti-tank, it might have to get a hand-off to the Trygons, but the Furious Charge puts them up to S7, which will more often than not do some damage, and AV10 rear will probably die to a charge unless it moved a full 12 inches.
It does feel lighter on shooting, but I think anything that doesn't include Tyrannofexes feels lighter on shooting.
About the only shooting-related tweak I might make would be dropping Deathleaper for two hive guard and an additional ravener, but I'd like to test him out first and see what I see.
Thought for the day: Why not drop the Rending Claws on the Raveners? Chances are against the spammier armies (Razorwolves/many Guard ones) that the 2x Hive Guard will only be able to handle so much. Raveners normally can't get Glands anyway, and chances are high the Swarmlord won't be seeing a turn or two of combat wheras said Raveners can get in on turn 1. Give them the Furious Charge and dual Talons so they can stunlock 4 or so enemy vehicles in a single go. Majority of armies are Rear armor 10 anyway, so Scytals+Furious Charge>Rending+1 Talon in most cases.
MagicJuggler,
That's an idea...I've honestly gone back and forth over the idea of scything talons on the Raveners. You lose the mad re-rolls to hit, but get a better charge.
I think it helps them against hordes and vehicles, but not necessarily the better-armored targets. Then again, if you have stuff that CAN handle it...
I dunno. How have they worked for you?
Still am experimenting more or less. I've ben testing out Dakkafexes, Mawloc-Lictor combos, and pretty much other goofball setups on VASSAL and by proxy.
As for better-armored targets...we do have Swarmlord, most likely a few Stealer units, no? The idea of using Ravs as a fire-and-forget missile is mostly because cramming a Tyrannofex or other long-range AT won't really be possible in a Swarmlord build and you do want to take pressure off the Hive Guard...
Post a Comment