Tyranids- Saturation

Hi all,

After last weeks Strategy article on Tyranids, Ghostin asked for a further explanation of the "Pinning/Reserve" topic. As a quick recap:

"...By using Swarm and Waves, you start to force the enemy into a situation where there are too many decisions for them to make. The Gaunts are key to the plan, but not many armies can deal with them quickly enough to counter the threat (Shuriken Catapults and Flamers are the main problems.) This means that they are pinned for the second wave of the really hurty bugs to get into place. So which do they shoot? By Hitting the bigger Nids, they aren't dealing with the Gaunts. By shooting the Gaunts, they aren't dealing with the units which actually kill them It's Win-Win..."

So how to put this into effect? Well, thanks to a bout of Insomnia, I've wrestled with Vassal until a few decent maps came up! Here's a quick walk-through from a recent game. 

Mow, these are approximations, and I'll also add that they aren't the complete units which I used- in fact, what's displayed in these pictures is around 1350 points, where this is a strategy I've mainly been using at 1750pts- 2000pts. So please don't theory-hammer it- I haven't put out any specific lists deliberately so far, since I'd like everyone to try out different units and builds, even if we end up using similar stratagems. 

So; the Deployment:

I've been getting the initial Swarms as far forward as possible- so Gaunts at the front, Synapse (in the form of Tervigons) behind. Their job is to run as quickly as possible at the enemy, and get into combat whilst in Synapse range. There's no scenery on that map- any deployment will be dependant on the terrain involved, of course. I've also been putting an Armoured Shell Tyrant in the front- he's a pain to take down, enough of a threat to pull fire away from the Gaunts and he gives +1 to reserves as long as he can survive 1 round of shooting. The Stealers are representing whatever bait unit you like- it doesn't need to be much, and often won't work. But now and again, an opponent will attack the bait unit as a major threat, allowing you to dictate their plan.

On to Turn 1:

Essentially, everything runs forward as fast as possible, and charges anything that it can (unlikely this early on, but some players get cocky...) Get into cover if you can- whatever is on the table has to weather 1 turn of shooting, so make sure you don't reserve too much. Keep everything alive as much as possible with psychics but remember- Synapse means that you can't Go To Ground, so never count in bonuses to cover although Night Fight might be active as well....

Then in Turn 2:

The red blobs are Bugs presumed dead. However, with just a 6 inch move, the Bugs are in the enemy deployment zone (I've assumed 5 inch Fleet of Foot moves in Turn 1) and can pin unit in combat. This means that any units which arrive from Reserve- on a 2+ thanks to the Tyrant- don't have to suffer as much fire coming in, meaning that they are far more likely to get into combat. Even better- they will be getting into combat with units which are already engaged, so they will get full Initiative, even if charging through terrain.

This is the crux of the strategy- from Turn 3 onwards, the Nids can simply choose which enemy unit they want to destroy, and devour the opponent piecemeal. Enemy units in combat with Gaunts are no longer a threat, and can simply wait or you to get around to them- so you can shut down 1/3 of the enemy with them. Each unit you kill is yet another one not shooting Nids- the aim is to get to the tipping point around Turn 4, when you need to be winning the battle of attrition. 

So what are the problems? Well, an enemy that deploys on the back of the board edge gets an extra turn of shooting, and makes you muck about with Reserves a bit more (you don't want to put your reserves in harms way). However, I'm assuming that when the Nids get into combat with them on Turn 3, rather than 2, they will be winning combat- which means that the enemy run straight off the board edge. If this is your opponents plan, then clever use of terrain is the name of the game. 

Problem number 2- you can't suppress the enemy units. This might be a need to take more Gaunts (minimum of 20 in a unit, remember) or a need to mix up the Synapse. Variety is key- having 3 Tervigons makes your opponents target priority fairly simple- shoot the closest one. Taking 2 Tervigons and a Hive Tyrant is trickier- which is the biggest threat in the long run? From a Synapse, perspective, they do the same job.

I'm going to harp on a bout Variety in the list a little more. this really is the key to success, from my games of 6th. Having 3 Trygons means that the enemy can focus on "Trygon" as a threat. Having a Prime, a Trygon and a Mawlock, which is the greatest threat? Killing which one will get hurt the Nids most? From a Bug's perspective, it doesn't matter a damn- all 3 are there to kill things that are already in combat. Copy and Paste army lists are a benefit to your opponent if you take them- so don't take them! Instead, keep a few simple rules for army slection:

1) The Tarpits. What units are going to pin the enemy in combat? It doesn't matter what they are, as long as they can hold up an enemy for multiple rounds of combat. I favour gaunts, but Hormogaunts and Gargoyles are equally valid, and work out slightly cheaper because you aren't relying on Tervigons.

2) The Synapse Web. This needs to stay in place for the Tarpit to work- so make sure you have enough Synapse to pull it off. It doesn't really matter what it is, as long as it is there. Warriors, Tyrants, Tervigons and Zoanthropes are all valid.

3) The Kill Switch. This is mainly the Reserves. The job of these units is to be able to wipe out an enemy in 1 round. It helps if they can survive 1 round of shooting, but Tarpits and Variety also help, so try different units.  

4) Support. There are loads of support units in the Codex- use them to keep units alive longer, or increase their effectiveness. This is normally where I finish spending my points. 

That's it- hopefully it's a little bit clearer now. All that's left to say is- try it, see if it works for you. 

Comments (and questions), as always, are welcome

Strategy: Tyranids

Hi all,

Well, first things first, the next phase of Hop Idol 2 is in the offing, and I'm still there- go and take a look to see what's going on. However, please be warned that it is a PG13 site- violence, swearing and tentacles are all fairly common.

Now that's out of the way- on to the Tyranids. I've played around 25 games with my favourite Xenos now, and I've found out a few go-to tactics for 6th Ed 40K. In no particular order:

Strategy: Target Saturation.

Hi all,

time for a strategy article. Since I've been playing Tyranids in 40K alot recently, I've been mulling over target saturation techniques in wargames. Target Saturation is giving the opponent more than they can handle, providing them with so many valid targets that they cannot take them all out. There are a few rules to use this for victory.

1) Threat.

For this to work, each of your units must be a valid threat to the opponent, even better if the threat-levels are equal. This basically comes down to list building- make sure that each of your units will be high on your opponents target priority check-list. For example, a unit of 10 infantry may not be a threat where a unit of 30 would be. Take the 30-man unit. having one specialist unit in an army places it higher up the threat scale- make sure that you take many units to deal with each threat, rather than just 1.

2) Location

Your units need to be in the right place, relevant to each other, to be a target. having an anti-cavalry unit on the opposite side of the board to your opponents Knights means that they aren't dangerous, so it places all of your other units higher on their target priority. this is key for success- make sure that your units are positioned so that they are all equally dangerous. This doesn't mean they need to be in a line mirroring the opponent- having a Cavalry unit on the flank potentially means that the opponent can be flank charged, or holding back faster moving elements means that the opponent has to deal with them before they can close, if possible.

Keeping these two rules in mind will mean that you can position your forces in such a way that the opponent cannot deal with them all, and because each unit is a threat it doesn't matter which they destroy, you still have a tool for the job. In an ideal world, you are looking to launch 1 attack on turn 2 or 3, with all elements striking at the same time, to thoroughly overwhelm an opponent. Of course, ideal situations don't often happen, but the closer you can get, the easier victory will become.

Now, I'm purposefuly not dealing with specific examples because this a strategy available to every army, in every game. Romans will never outnumber an opponent, but by making sure that each unit is equally dangerous, it stops on opponent dealing with units piecemeal, or else taking out the dangerous unit to secure victory. Equally, horde forces that don't rely on a Deathstar ensure that they can overwhelm the opponent without being tarpitted (remember location).

Try it. Make sure, when building a list, that each of your units can, in some way, deal with the major threats you are likely to face. In historical games, that may be Cavalry, Chariots and Elite infantry. In Fantasy games, it is likely to be all of these plus Monsters and Magic. In Sci-fi games, you are more likely to worry about tanks, flyers and armoured infantry. The addition of a character can make all the difference, or else clever use of wargear and unit interactions. If you are using reserves, this helps keep them alive- don't place them in a location that makes them an obvious target, but do place them so that they bolster the assault next turn. And bear in mind that it doesn't matter what firepower the opponent brings- they have to deal with your units faster than you can get into lethal threat range, which shouldn't really be possible if you play it right.

This is the plan for my Tyranids at present- to make each unit as utility as possible, and to keep each unit alive by making the opponent unsure of where the danger is. I'll see how it goes over the next few games, and get back to you.

Comments, as always, are welcome.

Weekly Hobby Update: Nids vs Eldar, Painting and HoP

Hi all,

well, it's been a busy week for hobby. In reverse order- this is the 100th post for me, which is a bit of a milestone! I'm pleased that I've finally managed to settle in to a routine for blogging, and it's certainly driven me to get more diversity in my hobby, as well as paint up some of the massive backlog of models I've accumulated over the the last 4 years. Thanks to followers and readers, here's to post number 200...

On Friday, I got together with a few guys for a bit of a painting session. it's a long time since I indulged in a social painting session, and I really enjoyed it. Just chatting, eating unhealthy take-away food and painting toy soldiers was great- it also got us chatting about campaigns, new game systems and building scenery and tables, so hopefully it will drive us to new things. We even managed to organise another session for Tuesday.

Which reminds me- one of my house rules which I've never mentioned came up. in fact, it's less a house rule, and more a personal guideline- the rule is:

• If any models are unpainted, or unbased, or some models are partially finished, then I can only achieve a draw in that game.

Simple. It basically means that if I want to try out a new army theme, or a new unit, then I have to paint it up before I can try it out. If I'm doing tournament practise, then I'll still use random models as required- but for any other style of game, I always play with painted models now. 

And on that note- I played 1500pts of 40K against Dan's Eldar on Thursday. I used the list from last Monday's post, and Dan had a fairly unconventional Eldar army. As far as I can recall, it consisted of the following:

Eldrad "Oldman" Ulthran

10 Warlock Seer Council

10 Guardians with Star Cannon

10 Guardians with Star Cannon in Wave Serpent

5 Dire Avengers (Exarch with Bladestorm)

Vyper with Bright Lance

Vyper with Bright Lance

Wraithlord with Sword and Bright Lance

5 Dark Reapers (Exarch with Missile Launcher and Fast Shot)

We rolled up mission and Deployment, and ended up with Hammer and Anvil (Length ways- dammit!) and Big Guns Never Tire. So my Trygon could claim objectives. Woop? There was plenty of terrain on the battlefield, and we both got cracking- Dan won the first turn, and since I got to place 2 of the 3 Objectives, I made sure they were fairly close together. Here's some pics of the Deployment:

The Eldar army, deployed in depth

The Nid Wall of Death

A general overview from the start of the game.

Eldrad hiding behind his Wraithlord buddy

The central street, from the perspective of the Eldar-  Bid Momma's gonna eat ya!

From the Nid perspective, the Eldar hunker around the bunker

The first turn didn't see any Night Fight, but thankfully Eldar are so short ranged it didn't really matter. I ran as fast as my 6 limbs could carry me, and the Tyrant flew 24" to see how goof the Flyer defences were for Monstrous Creatures. I have to say, from Dan's perspective, the wall of chitin did look pretty terrifying. I didn't get shots off, but psychics meant that my Tyrant became T8, so was in no danger of the pesky little Dire Avengers getting a lucky wound. Oh, the Dire Avengers also became S and T 2, just in case- and also to see the look on Dan's face!

Surprise!

Dan bemoans the fact that Shurikens have the same range as my charge distance

Gaunts cover a sneaky Trygon

My Tervigon also managed to prolapse itself  on the first turn with 11 Gaunts. not the best result, but more bodies into the Meat Grinder is always welcome.

Big Momma splits herself in 2 with Gaunts....

Ah yes- the Hive Tyrant. It has to be said, Dan was shocked and stunned at the fact he needed to hit a Hive Tyrant on 6's, just because it had wings (We've now nick-named him Batfink.) However, he then shot 2 Guardians- yes only 2 were in range- managed to get a 6, at which point Batfink was so shocked by the temerity of the fiendish space-Hippies that he fell of the sky and twisted his ankle. this wouldn't have been so bad, if not for the fact that his surprise lasted through to the combat phase, where he managed a paltry 2 wounds on the Wraithlord that charged him, in return for 4 wounds from the Wraithlord- yes, my warlord was down, and as the first unit it he garnered 2 VP's for Dan and a Wraithlord unthreatened in my left flank. Cheers, Bats!

The Tyrant's death is aptly represented by more biomass, this time in the form of cake.

Vyper's cover the Wraithlord's advance

 For the next turn, I basically kept running as fast as my legs could run- straight towards the Eldar. Yes, I'd lost the Tyrant, but I still had plenty of bodies, and a few surprises.

The Wraithlord readies it's Flamers

On the right flank, the Hormogaunts get ready to pull a Wave Serpent out of the air...

... while the seer Council try to figure out what to be worries about.

 Turn 3 saw our lines close. The Wraithlord and Dire Avengers made a mess of the Raveners and Gaunts with shooting on the left flank, but that was fine- my centre and the right were still strong, and at this point I also had control of 2 Objectives (the third was the Bunker). However, then Dan charged his Seer Council into the right-hand set of Gaunts, and his Avengers into what remained on the left, after shooting the Hormogaunts to death.

Now, at this point, I realised that Dan hadn't played Nids from this Codex. This isn't really surprising, since they have been under-rated for a little while now. So it came as a bit of a surprise when my Gaunts had the following:

• Counter Attack
• Ld 10
• Fearless
• Poison (4+)
• A re-roll to wound, thanks to poison
• Dangerous Terrain

Yes, 20 Gaunts with a Venomthrope and a Tervigon nearby are pretty neat in combat :) In total, 8 Gaunts won against the Avengers, and dragged 2 of them down, whilst 20 Gaunts killed off 4 warlocks out of a Fortuned seer Council- yeah, I lost the combat, but it was a 100 point unit vs 400pts of Psykers. 

Note to self- Venomthropes don't work against Flamers.

Gaunts beat the cream of the Eldar

The Seer Council get a nasty surprise

there seem to be... less bodies!

The Gaunts rock on against the Avengers

... and against the Council

 Unfortunately, I couldn't push on any further. The Wraithlord continued it's rampage across my left flank, while the Seer Council formed a barricade that stopped my own lines moving forward. In fact, the Tervigon joined in, and challenged Eldrad...

... who was Enfeebled....

... and promptly devoured by Instant Death! Tervi-NOM! Seriously, what is it about Eldrad being killed off by Monstrous Creatures?

The Wraithlord kills off everything in it's path

Now you see Eldrad (to the right of the tongue...)

Now you don't :)

I finished up making a mad dash with the Warriors for the Bunker, leaving the birthed unit of Gaunts to hold an Objective. the warriors beat up the Guardians holding the Bunker, then got shot to pieces by the rest of the Eldar. In the end, it was 1 Objective a piece, but Dan won the game on Slay the Warlord and First Blood- thanks, Batfink!

The lone Warrior tries to redeem the Tyranid name.... and fails

 So- a win for the Eldar. I took quite a lot from this game. Firstly, length ways deployment is a real problem- you still start 24" apart, but the narrow front means that the Nids are far more clumped together, and the opponent can box the army in. Deep Striking and Outflanking, I'm thinking, will be effective ways to counter this.

Flying Monstrous Creatures aren't invulnerable, and need to be supported. In all seriousness, I was foolish with Batfink, mainly because I wanted to see how far I could push his luck (not very far!) However, the Raveners did manage to keep pace with him, now all I need is a delivery system.

The combinations available to Tyranids now are a huge boon. Playing the unit buffers alongside the new Psychics has huge potential, and I'm going to keep tinkering with this aspect of the list.

I didn't have enough threats, in enough places, to challenge the Eldar target priority. In the end, they attacked in 2 places and shut me down. It was good to finally play a game of 6th where we were both seriously thinking- in the end, my basic army was defeated by Dan's superior Strategy. Time to up the ante, I feel....

So I've got a few ideas on what to change in the list, and what needs painting- I'll put a post up mid-week with my latest thoughts and ideas. In the meantime, here's some pretty pics of the Nids coming along- they're up to about 5500 points, I think, and I've still got a few trays worth of Stealers to paint up, among other things....

Gaunts, Tyrants, Trygons, Tervigons

Stealers, Warriors, Raveners, Zoanthropes

Ymgarls, Biovores, Warriors, Carnifii, Mycetic Spores

Gaunts at eye level- I love the look of a good Horde

Infantry, Warriors, MC's, Spores

Comments, as always, are welcome

Operational Status: Tyranids

Hi all,

from now on, Wednesdays are going to be the day for army discussions, tactics and reviews- all part of the new schedule here at G.A.A. or the inaugural post, I thought I'd let you know about some of my experiences with Tyanids in 6th Edition 40K.

The first thing to say is that Tyranids are a very different animal now- Tarpits are back, Vehicles are less imposing and psychic trickery is a potential boon. That said, I've tried to approach the Tyranids with a fresh perspective, rather than carrying over old pre-conceptions from previous editions- I've really gone "back to basics" with the list, to try and figure out what works now and what to leave at home.

So I'm leaving a lot of the potential dirty tricks out. Mycetic Spores are an unknown quantity for me right now, as are flying Warriors, Pyrovores etc. My over-riding feeling with the army at the moment is that you need to pin the enemy in place, and then devour them at your leisure. Now to explain that a little further...

The Tyranid Codex gives players access to lots of cheap, fearless bugs. 20 Termagants are 100 points- that's a bargain. I did a little math-hammer on these: 20 Termagants charging 10 Tactical Marines (I'm assuming Flamer, Missile Launcher, Power Sword as upgrades.) The Overwatch accounts for 2 Gaunts (optimistically!) In combat, the marines account for 3-4 Termagants a round. So the Gaunt unit can tie up a Tactical Squad for 4-5 rounds of combat, as long as they are fearless- that ignores any damage the Gaunts may do in the meantime, which would further reduce the numbers of attacks coming at them, and so increase the number of turns they can stay locked.

This means, for me, that 2 or 3 squads of Gaunts are a must- they allow you to tie up enemy units for long enough that your big bugs can come in and deliver the killing blow. Hormogaunts are also valid, especially with Adrenal Glands for S4 on the charge. I've been using a squad of 20 to down enemy transports through hull-points (20 of them is enough to do 3 Hull Points worth of damage to AV10, now that they hit on a 3+ and re-roll 1's to hit.) They are also another tarpit unit, but are even better at attrition rates during combats due to their higher number of attacks.

Now, in order to keep the tarpits Fearless, you need Synapse within 12"- that's Hive Tyrants, Tervigons, Zoanthropes or Warriors. Currently, I'm using a mix of all of them. Tervigons are a bit of a no-brainer if you are running Gaunts, thanks to the ability to pass on Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs and Counter-Attack, as well as being Synapse. The big problem is keeping them alive (that hasn't changed), and currently I'm using Warriors to do that- they are large enough to grant 5+ cover to the beast, and mobile enough to keep that cover save constant. Yes, warriors are vulnerable to Instant Death- your Gaunts are there to tie up enemy threats, so realistically, they should only be vulnerable for 3 turns, and that is if the enemy has the discipline to keep firing at them- in my experience, once the Gaunts get too close, the Frag templates start to make an appearance :) It's worth noting that I run Warriors in groups of 6, so that I can spread the unit around the Tervigon's flanks and further increase her survivability.

It's worth mentioning at his point that everything I've discussed so far is a Troops choice. These are the units which the rest of the army plays off, at least that's how it seems to me right now. You're not worried, at this point, about the penalties for assaulting through cover, these units are purely ad simply there to get into combat and remain there for as long as possible- so you need Fearless spread over them (Warriors and Tervigon) and lots of numbers- minimum unit sizes for me right now are 20 for Gaunts, 15 for Hormogaunts.

The question now, is how do you kill units, and how do claim objectives? Well, the first one is simple- Monstrous Creatures. Pin the enemy in combat, and you're MC's can run around unmolested. Trygons are great for this- reasonably quick and reliable (thanks to Fleet), the ability to Deep-Strike to line up assaults and lots of AP2 attacks, re-rolling hits and wounds (Toxin Sacs are compulsory now!). I'm also tinkering with Carnifex broods, so far with quite a high degree of success. By leapfrogging the 'Fexes, I've been spreading out wounds among the unit and ensuring that both get in to combat- at which point, they murder whatever unit they are facing (10 attacks +2 Hammer hits, re-rolling, on the charge- I run them basic, with no upgrades apart from Toxin Sacs.) However, they are a heavy points investment, and are vulnerable to concentrated fire, which they tend to receive an unfair amount of!) Hive Tyrants are also fantastic now as well- if they are walking, I give them Armoured Shell, and if they are flying then I keep them a little on the cheap side, to reduce the impact when they die (plus every 10 point upgrade is 2 less Gaunts.) Either method has proved pretty survivable for a while, and they are a real pain for enemy units to deal with once the Gaunts start doing their job.

As far as claiming objectives is concerned, that is late game- turn 4 onwards. Once a Gaunt unit has been released from combat, they can Fleet towards the nearest objective as quickly as possible. In order to release them, get an MC into the fight as quickly as possible- this will maximise the number of Gaunts alive to Go To Ground on the objective, and hold it for as long as possible. Thanks to the new reserve rolls, going for this from Turn 4 means that you will see the enemy reserves, and be able to tie hem up if you have to- this means that you are giving up objectives when you need to, but it also means that you're MC's survive longer. Also remember that other units can contest Objectives, you don't necessarily need to hold them to win (you only need 1 more than the opponent.)

So in essence, what that leaves you with is a pretty simple plan- get big units of Gaunts into combat, clean up with the big guys, win late game. The threats to this plan? There are 2 problems- vehicles (as always!) and back lining by the opponent. Vehicles can be dealt with- Heavy Venom Cannons are a little more useful, since the template only needs to graze the vehicle to inflict a hit. They won't often kill tanks, but an Immobilised result or a Hull Point down are valuable. Against AV10, you can kill it in combat as long as you can catch it (Hormogaunts have S4 from Adrenal Glands, Gaunts get it from Tervigons.) If you can't catch it, then it's Fast- in which case it is lightly armoured. Deathspitters on Warriors are great at whittling AV11 tanks (6 Warriors = 18 Shots= 2 Hull Points) Devourers on big guys are pretty handy as well- although I'm running them as Combat beasts, mainly. AV 12 can be problematic to shoot away- which is Eldar. In which case, they have so few of them, you can spread the lines a little and get rear-armour shots, or force specific moves (you essentially have to heard them.)

To get around Back lining? Don't- just camp on the objectives and let the opponent realise that he can't shoot ALL of our units over the game- you'll win because they will be too afraid to move! (Back lining is when the opponent camps on their board edge, and forces you to come to them.- don't fall for it.)

Of course the big bug-bear are Flyers. What can you do about them? If they are AV10, try and shoot them. If they are AV11, try and Deathspitter them. If they are AV12 or more- ignore them. There isn't much you can do short of Psychic powers, you'll just have to accept the fact that there is a unit type that Tyranids can't deal with until the next Codex. Luckily, the high-end armoured Flyers are Transports, which means sooner or later they will Hover and you can tear them out of the sky- unless they are Necrons. Not much you can do then.

So those are the Startegy lessons I've learned so far. I'm not running Hive Guard, because they are no longer a compulsory choice for armour- there are other tools in the box for Nids now. In fact, my Elite choices are all there to complement the rest of my army- Zoanthropes, Venomthropes, Deathleaper. I m finding that they essentially make my army too safe, so I am looking at switching them and seeing what happens- I'm thinking of including Ymgarl Stealers right now, as a frustration unit for the opponent to have to deal with. We'll see.

There are some knock-on benefits from all of this- Shadow in the warp is likely to come into effect, and shut down the enemies psychic offence, which is a help. You will also have a load of Psychic powers to try out. I've settled on Biomancy as my go-to Discipline, for the simple reason that it has no Warp Charge 2 powers, so I don't need to swap out for the Primaris power (which is Smite in this case.) I can see some use for the others, but I haven't tried them yet. It's also worth mentioning that I always swap out powers for Biomancy. Zoanthropes I've found to be a fantastic support unit now, and I no longer feel like I've wasted points due to the darned Lance never hitting! Hive Tyrant powers are all a little Meh!, and getting 4 Biomancy powers to pick from each turn is just plain better. the only time I hesitate is the Tervigon- Catalyst is a great power. Then again, I've yet to feel disappointed by the new powers and the ability for the Tervigon to make everything around it a little bit harder (which is, after all, its job.)

Iron Arm is great if you can get it on a Flyrant, since it increases the strength of their Vector Strike, and gives you 1 more chance to reliably damage Flyers (D3 +1 S7, 8 or 9 auto-hits on side armour.) Enfeeble is fantastic for getting your tarpits to stick around a little longer. Endurance is a decent replacement for Catalyst. Life Leech is a little weak, but if a Psyker is down to 1 W could keep it around a little longer.  Warp Speed can be good, can be a waste- Fleet is handy on some of the big beasties, but wasted on Flyrants, bonus Initiative and Attacks are always welcome though. Finally, Haemorrhage can be devastating, but probably won't be- at best, you are gambling a series of 50/50 chances to get a high kill ratio. Then again, it is Focussed, so you can potentially snipe all of the specialist out of an enemy unit. In fact, the only power you don't want is Smite- the Primaris power!

So what does all of this look like in a list- well, I've got a 1500 point game against Craftworld Eldar tomorrow, and here's what I'll be taking:

HQ
Flyrant- Heavy Venom Cannon, Lash Whip and Bonesword, Toxin Sacs

ELITE
Zonathrope
Zoanthrope
2 Venomthrope

TROOPS
18 Gaunts
20 Gaunts
15 Hormogaunts- Adrenal Glands
6 Warriors- Scything Talons, Devourers
Tervigon- Scything Talons, Catalyst, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands

FAST ATTACK
3 Raveners- Rending Claws

HEAVY SUPPORT
Trygon- Toxin Sacs

The Raveners are an experiment- they've been 50/50 for me so far, free movement through cover and re-rolling charge die is fantastic, I1 when they charge isn't so great. I'm trying to find a way of keeping them alive long enough to do real damage. However, I am also contemplating whether units just over 100 points may be worth the investment as a mid-range kill unit- to go in and clean up combats where I don't want to commit an MC. However, they are directly competing with Gargoyles, which are a little over-kill on Tarpits but may free up Genestealers, and Harpies- I haven't made my mind up yet if committing fully to Flying MC's is a good move.

So that's where I am right now. Of course, there is a lot I haven't mentioned, but it gives you an idea of how I'm playing the army. My success rate so far? 6 games, 2 draws, 3 wins, 1 loss. Thankfully, the loss was entirely my fault (i didn't prioritise my targets very well.) 1 of the wins was against Grey Knights- the Flyrant killed the StormRaven as soon as it went into Hover mode (after following it around the table for a few turns like it was on a string!) and 20 Gaunts kept Draigo and his paladins tied up for 4 turns, and basically kept them out of the game- I love 100 point tarpits.

The next gaming update will be on Monday, so I'll let you know how it goes...

Questions and Comments are welcome.

Saturday Strategy- Reverse Slope Defence

Hi all,

I spoke a few weeks ago about Two-point defence. That Strategy looks mainly at list-building with a battle plan. This time, something slightly different- Reverse Slope Defence can only be used once you've seen the battlefield.

Quick note- RVD will be shorthand throughout for Reverse Slope Defence- this is simply because it's a lot to type out!

So, what does RVD require? Simple- you, and opponent, and a big hill in the middle of the table! Fairly limited I know, but with the new terrain rules from Adepticon which are being implemented, it's coming up more and more often. The real beauty of RVD is that it is simple and effective!

Strategy- Two Point Defence

Hi all,

this post will hopefully explain one of my basic play styles. First of all, some quick definitions:

Strategy-

"...the terms and conditions that it is fought on and whether it should be fought at all is a matter of strategy, which is part of the four levels of warfare: political goals or grand strategy, strategy,operations, and tactics..." (Wikipedia)

Tactics-

 "...the art of organizing an army, are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle..."

Tactics are used when you build an army list, and when you launch attacks/defences. Strategy is, essentially, your overall gameplan. This post is focused on how you are going to use everything to achieve your aims.