Eldar vs. Tyranids

Well, I was so close to running Tyranids that I started work on a Tervigon. It looks like there are going to be a lot of other Tyranids there, and I hate to be a front runner and join the crowd, so I will play my Eldar.


 
It looks like it will be tough going. The reason why is that the new Tyranid lists are brutal. Lots of cheap little bugs and a boatload of T6 creatures with 4 or 6 wounds.

I am going to show you what I do before big events like the Broadside Bash. I take a moment and I take a quick look around the boards and look at the armies that others are planning on bringing, and I wonder what I would do against them. It keeps me in practice since I do not play that much (my last game was at the Wild West Shootout several months ago) and even though I may not face the armies that are posted on the boards, I will face armies that are very similar.

Last year it actually helped me because Hulksmash posted his list online and so when I played against him I knew exactly what to do. He ran a list of little bugs with a little synapse and I had a shooty SoB army, so I knew going into that game that all I needed to do was to destroy his synapse and I should be able to win it, and that is exactly what I did.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/231405.page


 
On Dakka here are a couple of the lists that are going to be there:

Army #1 http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/276490.page

swarmlord
2x tyrant guard lash whips
3x hive guard
3x hive guard
2x venomthropes
21x termagants
21x termagants
tervigon with catalyst toxin sacs adrenal glands and crushing claws
tervigon with catalyst toxin sacs adrenal glands and crushing claws
tyrannofex with rupture cannon
tyrannofex with rupture cannon


 
Against army #1

He has a lot of shooting but they are not a threat with the Hive Guard and the Tyrannofex. The Hive Guard has an effective range of 24" and the only thing that I have the really needs to worry about them is the War Walkers since their shooting is only AP4. So I need to place My War Walkers at the back of the board and it will give me a turn or 2 of shooting at them, but I expect my Walker Walkers to be the first to die. Tyannofex is a different story with their 48" range. They are a crap load of points, but they do shoot a mean strength 10 shot, but they hit once per turn on average, and with their AP4, they can't hurt anything else in my army. Killing the Tyrannofexs is not an option with a T6, W6 and 2+ save means that I can't afford to waste the firepower that it would take to kill them because there is so much in the army that is a bigger threat. The only choice I have to kill them is to hit them with the Harlies, Wraithlords, and the Avatar at the end of the game when they are moved forward to contest the objectives.

The first to die!

Without a doubt it is the Terigons.

There are 2 reasons for this, the first is that every turn they are going to crapping out a ton of termagants, and the second is that if you kill them, they will blow up all of the gants around them. Good times! I think I can kill one a turn with the Wraithlords, and War Walkers shooting. As he advances, I will have my Warp Spiders move up and try to stay at their maximum range for shooting (12") and then warping back so I do not stay within charge range, and the same goes with my Jetbikes. I will hit and run a lot. 2-3 turns of this should whittle him down to more manageable numbers. Especially in the Broadside Bash missions that are so objective heavy I think I can wipe out all of his troops pretty fast, and then at the end of the game I can move up the Avatar, the Wraithlords, and Harliquins to finish off his MCs.


 

 

 
Army #2 http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/276247.page

HQ
Parasite-160

Elite
3 Hive Guard-150
3 Hive Guard-150

Troop
Tervigon-195
Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sac, Catalyst

Tervigon-195
Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sac, Catalyst

20 Spine Gaunts-120
20 Hormagaunts-160
14 Devourer Gaunts-140

Fast Attack

10 Gargoyles-70
Toxin Sacs

Heavy Support

Mawloc-170
Mawloc-170

2 Carnifex-320
2 Twin Scything Talons


 
Against army #2

The strategies against them will be similar to the first list. I am going to hammer the Tervigons hard so they will blow up and take a bunch of termagants out with them. Their shooting is also rather short range, but they have added Devourer Gants that have to be respected. I imagine on the first turn one warp spider unit will go after the D. Gants, and the other Warp Spider unit will go after the Gargoyles because I do not like a very fast unit bothering me and my plans. The one thing that really concerns me is the Mawlocs. Not so much for their close combat ability, but for the Strength 6, AP 2 pie plate they lay down when they come on the board. Just like against a deep strike army I will have to keep my army spread out to minimize the damage of that pie plate, yet close enough so that I can hit them with my whole army including the guardians shuriken catapults, the harlies, and the Avatar, since I will only have one turn to take them down before they burrow and do it again. I hate that because it will keep me busy while a bunch of other stuff is running at me.


 
Note:

I know that the 'Nid players will try to counter my moves, but I have back up plans, and other tricks up my sleeve.


 

Rise of the Tyranids

I am thinking about selling my Tyranid army on e-bay for several months now, but I just have never gotten around to it. I have not played the army in about 3 years. The reason why I quit was that I was winning a lot of games with the Godzilla list including the KublaCon 5-game RTT up in San Francisco. I ended up winning so much that I was getting hammered on my soft scores like comp and sports, so I was winning all of my games, but I was not winning the tournaments. Also it was just a little too easy to win, and by that time the whole Godzilla craze was sweeping the nation and so I just hung it up.


 
With the new codex hitting the ground, I am thinking of blowing the dust off of them to play one last time before they get sold.


 
Here is my models that I have for my 4^th edition Tyranids:

2 Hive Tyrants with magnetized upgrades

3 Tyrant Guards

3 Zoanthropes

1 Lictor

32 Hormagants

16 Hormagants w/Toxin Sacks and Adrenal Gland

32 Termagants w/Spinefists

16 Termagants w/Devourerer

28 Genestealers

Ripper Swarms

16 Gargoyles

5 Tyranid Shrikes

3 Biovores

6 Carnifexes


 
So I have to make an army out of that. I was tempted to buy a Mawloc or some other pieces, but since they are going on e-bay, I see no point in buying anything more.

I made a few armies out of it, and I was not happy with them, so I still might bring my Eldar.

Broadside Bash II

I am thinking about playing my Tyranids for the Broadside Bash. I am thinking about a little bug horde, but I can't make a list I am happy with yet. 


The problem is that I am not happy with the amount of anti-tank the army has in case I am up against a Mech Army.

Broadside Bash!

Well, it is time to get ready for the Broadside Bash. It will be my first chance to try to qualify for Vegas. I do not like my chances though with soft scores for Comp and Sportsmanship. I will bring a comp-friendly list and you will see how I will get killed on comp.

I thought about not posting my list, but what the heck, I will put it out there.

Here it is, 2000 points of Eldar:

HQ

Avatar

Farseer, Singing Spear, Spirit Stones, Stone of Warding, Doom, Guide, Fortune

Elite

6 Harliquins w/2 Fusion Pistols, 6 kisses

Shadowseer W/Kiss

Troupe Leader w/Power Weapon

Troops

10 Guardians w/Bright Lance

10 Guardians w/Bright Lance

10 Guardians w/Bright Lance

Warlock w/Conceal, Singing Spear

3 Jetbikes w/Shuriken Cannon

Warlock w/Singing Spear, Destructor

Fast Attack

7 Warp Spiders

Warp Spider Exarch w/2 Death Spinners, Power Blades, Withdrawl

7 Warp Spiders

Warp Spider Exarch w/2 Death Spinners, Power Blades, Withdrawl

Heavy Support

Wraithlord w/Brightlance, Missile Launcher, 2 Flamers

Wraithlord w/Brightlance, Missile Launcher, 2 Flamers

3 War Walkers w/Scatter Lasers

Since it is a comp tournament I am dropping Eldrad to try to be a bit more comp friendly.

I got the idea for this army after I played in the Wild West Shootout. I was messaging Darth Diggler who is a very good player from the Chicago area who I played a couple of years ago at the 'Ard Boyz finals in Baltimore. He was telling me that he was running a list like mine, so I added some of the elements that he was using, and then putting my own twist on it.

If you remember my WWSO list, I added a Falcon and some Fire Dragons for added anti-tank to go with the Guardian's Brightlances. In this list I added the Wraithlords in the anti-tank role. Since they take up the heavy support slots that I was using for the massed War Walkers I added the Warp Spiders to make up for some of the lost firepower.

I first used the Warp Spiders in last year's 'Ard Boyz http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/250049.page. I really like the way they worked. They have a lot of mobility and are able to get into combat when you need it and they can put down a ton of strength 6 shooting at BS 4. There are some downsides to them though, and that has to do with their 12" range for shooting.

My first warhammer fantasy game!

Don't worry, I have not sold out from 40k.

I played my first game of fantasy today in about 5 years. With today's game I think I have played about 10 games total (I tied thanks for asking).

Since 40k is my bag, what it illustrated to me is the difference between a newbie and a veteran player. As a newbie in fantasy I have no idea what anything does. I was playing against skaven and I have a general understanding of the blocks of infantry and the rules and stats and stuff, but there are so many pieces of wargear and special weapons unique to them, and I was lost.


 
Not only that, but there are a lot of nuances that you do not even realize when playing these games. For example, I have no idea what, can kill what. When I charge a block of infantry with my knights I really have no idea who will win. I hope to win, but I really have no clue.


 
Compare this to my 40k knowledge: I know all of the other 40k armies. I have owned most of them, and once in a while I will know my opponents army better than they will. Not only that, but before I attack something I know exactly if I can win or not. I know if I have to shoot it up some before I can win in assault, or if I do not have a prayer of winning. Have you ever had an opponent charge you and you are thinking, why are they charging me? They have no hope of winning. Not only do you slaughter then in assault, but it saves you the time and hassle of chasing after them and wasting time killing them. They do that because they have no idea if they can win or not.


 
One day I will write up all of the differences between the new, the journeyman, and the veteran player.

Back from the dead!

Howdy folks, long time no see!

I have been gone for the holidays and now I am back.

To show you how far I have gone into deep cover I have not read anything about the new Tyranid codex, or have purchased it. Since I am looking to sell my Tyranids because I want to get down to only 5 40k armies, this might be the time to do it, although maybe I will have second thoughts after reading the codex. It is a fully painted army after all.

I have also done something I thought I would never do, and that is sign up for a fantasy league. Even though I own 3 fantasy armies, I have played a total of maybe 10 games about 5 years ago. Don't worry, that is all I will have to say about that.

Next 40k event I have my sights on is the Broadside Bash in LA. I need to work on my list, and I still have a lot of Eldar I need to finish. I thought I would bring the Eldar for a few reasons. The first is that I know them well, they are my best chance at qualifying for Vegas, and it seems like we are getting back to 3^rd edition where it is the rise of the MEQs, and it makes since to bring a non-MEQ because you do not want to follow the crowd, but also when the meta-game shifts to killing MEQs, you don't want to be playing one.