With a lot of controversy over the 1/2 Gaunt rule, apparently Gaunts are just to awesome in combat to need it, it's bugged me enough to see if this is true.

Hopefully, this Thursday I'll be playing a 4000pts game against Squats, with this list:

Dominatrix- 2xBarbed Heirodules. 1xGargoyle.

Synapse Node- 4xDactylis. 2xRaveners. 1xTermagants. 1xGargoyles.

Hive Tyrant- 3xCarnifex. 1xGargoyle.

Winged Hive Tyrant- 9xTermagant. 2xGargoyles. 2xRaveners.
Winged Hive Tyrant- 9xTermagant. 2xGargoyles. 2xRaveners.
Winged Hive Tyrant- 9xTermagant. 2xGargoyles. 2xRaveners.

Lictors- x3
Genestealers- x6

Heirophant
Heirophant

Harridan- 3xGargoyles.

4000pts


Rudimentary plans:

Synapse and Dactylis in Garrison Overwatch, likely on Blitz, possibility further forward.

Hive Tyrant and Carnifex in Garrison Overwatch far forward in cover. These have proved to be not very offensive (due to speed and formation size), but very tough to eliminate (especially if I keep hiding in the middle of forests).

Genestealers similarly forward garrison, expect high priority in firepower here, so dig in good cover and look more menacing than they actually are.

Domi and Flying Tyrants- march forward to try to reach enemy, be crossfired or engaged and neutralised.

Harridan- Try to hide, expect it to die as quickly and painfully as it has in previous experience.

Oh, and use the 1/2 Gaunt rule to auto-win game somehow.

These swarms are going to get *obliterated* with only three AT targets in each.

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Agreed. You have no Haruspex or Malefactor to take the hits from either shooting or assault attacks. Nor do you have Hormagaunts to assasinate characters/jump on decent FF troops.

If I took an all Infantry company guard list would I have a case to implement the 1/2 rule for guard when I am beaten? Nope - it will be pointed out how weak my list was.
I feel you are overstating the 'gaunts are good enough' camp - on their own they *will* be destroyed, its under combined arms that the 1/2 rule is not needed, imo.

A typical assault swarm fielded by our Tyranid player would be something like:
3 Tyranid Warriors
Hive Tyrant
Termagaunts
Hormagaunts
2 Malefactors
Haruspex
(the other Malefactors and Haruspex will be in another swarm)

Have at least 3 such swarms in your army.

Thanks for the vote of confidence,  

The Gaunt formations do look fragile, admittedly.

But if I was to follow the advice, I would have to drop other interesting stuff like Dactylis and Barbed Heirodules, as I would simply not have enough Uncommon Brood slots to take them- it's a complex balancing act to write a Nid list and keep within all the various limits, I'm not sure if it's very good or very bad that this is so.
It's also a tough choice to have more Synapse + protection in a bigger formation, but have less Activations. My list is already quite poor for activation count.

I don't hold much confidence in the Gaunt formations, my experience has shown them to be poor and fragile, admittedly my experience has been vs. Eldar, but against most other opponents, the sheer casualties they take and the usual fact I'm being engaged by the opponent rather then the reverse (due to their speed and SR) usually puts it firmly in the opponents favour.

I aim to use these Gaunt formations to 'quietly' take objectives, and sometimes provide supporting fire. Hopefully if the opponent is aiming AT fire at them, it's not going towards Dominatrix, Heirophants or the Harridan- the real players.

My experience vs Eldar has permanently put me off Close Combat only units, it was just simply embarassing not being able to hurt my opponent with nearly half of my army. An entire Genestealer formation just with their thumbs up their butts cowering from skimmers. Same with Lictors.

Well, I got the game in, I will post a more in-depth report with pics (though my camera died turn 2 as usual).

I won't give away the result.

Let's just say the first Squat activation of the game was to fire Goliath Mega Cannons on my Dominatrix, they could snipe it since a Dom hit is 4dice, it's 2 Barbed Heirodule could only achieve 3 between them.

2 hits.

I roll 5+ RA (Squat Penetrating Shot rule).

1 wound.

He rolls a 5, causing a Critical (Squat Penetrating Shot rule).

I look nervous, tell him to roll again.

A 6, the Norn Queen or whatever explodes- I lose my Supreme Commander and Synapse, and another wound.

That was a brutal first, blood of the game.


Lictors and Genestealers dissapointed as usual.

The 1/2 Gaunt rule gave me at best a +2 in the enagagements (e.g. he killed 4, meaning 2, meaning +2 as he doesn't get the 2 Gaunt kills), not in itself game-winning.

The Spawning rules are much harsher on my Barbed Heirodules (needing a 9 on 2D3 is not funny) but I grudgingly accept not being able to respawn those War Engines is fair, and avoids opponent moaning.

Harridan, when used cautiously, does indeed survive and have it's uses.

The +2 to Engage/Rally is a bit overkill IMO. Even if my opponent puts BM on a formation, it doesn't care, it seems the Nids 'skip' a huge part of the Epic Armageddon game by not being affected by Suppression/ Blast Markers.

Can't comment on the Warrior/Light Vehicle debacle, I did without and didn't miss them at all.

Did you try a triple move and retain for a 2nd triple?

How about the synapse node swarm? Did you not worry on these rolls?

At a 1+, a few other armies could say the same thing.

IMO, Tyranids need this rule to assist them.

Overkill or signature?  Depends how you look at it.

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Did you try a triple move and retain for a 2nd triple?

But that's only if you're engaging...

If you want to march, or double, or marshal, or advance, or sustain fire you still need to roll 2+... if you've got a Blast marker it's 3+... if you're retaining with a Blast marker it's 4+... you only get the +2 for a single type of action... the type of action that Tyranids should, arguably, be the best at.

As to the +2 to Rally, it merely represents the fact that Tyranids reorganize *very* quickly compared to "individualistic" races.  A broken swarm, essentially, ignores the penalty for being broken, but still only rallies on a 2+, and a 3+ if there's enemy nearby... that's not a "sure thing."  A broken 12-unit swarm, say, led by a Hive Tyrant, that rallies, will still have *five* Blast markers on it

And Tyranids *are* affected by Suppression/Blast Markers; in older versions of the list they didn't even *get* BMs, but that did turn out to be over the top.  The suffer the assault modifiers for Blast markers, their shooting is reduced, and they don't activate as well when they have them... those all sound like the normal effects of Blast markers to me.

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Why are you "ignoring" the Blast markers on your units and how are you clearing them all off?  

Blast markers still suppress shooting and you still only remove half when you rally...

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Tyranids have to take this risk the same as every other army, except when they Engage... that's one of the things that makes them "different".

They still get a Blast marker for getting shot at, they still take Blast markers if friendly formations lose an assault nearby, and they still take Blast markers for every non-expendable unit that dies.

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I was pretty much going to repeat what Chroma has posted: Nids do not ignore blast markers.

Also the synapse node does not get +2 unless you want to effect the shooting ability of the 4xDactylis that were in the unit.

I have never used the Heirodules before. I may have to look at them...

As for the Lictors - what did they not do that made them a disappointment? I always find that the lictors are quite a feared unit for my opponent due to their teleport, sniper and first strike ability. what went wrong?

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I think it's usually that Lictors don't actually *do* anything... the enemy takes them out before they get to act!  *laugh*

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There are ways around that:

1. Take 2 squads of them
2. Bring them into the battle at a time when your broods are threatening their other units
3. When your Nidzillas are threatening their units

I find that if you can force your opponent to have to split his decisions, the Lictors are well worth their points. Two squads of 3 (300 points) can cause the opponent to move twice that number either out of planned moves or into overwatch and thereby do nothing else due to the threat of these. All they really have to do is land on a table in turn 2 or 3 in cover and charge range, then watch your opponent squirm. I would hate to have that done against me....

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Lictors seem like a classic "force in being."

What's not to like about a unit that can show up anywhere on the table, and can't be destroyed until that point.

The trick is committing them when the battle is at ebb tide or flowing in your favor.

First off, the battle report.
http://www.flameon.co.uk/index.p....#p10528

If you want to march, or double, or marshal, or advance, or sustain fire you still need to roll 2+... if you've got a Blast marker it's 3+... if you're retaining with a Blast marker it's 4+... you only get the +2 for a single type of action... the type of action that Tyranids should, arguably, be the best at.