(Dave @ Mar. 26 2008,13:42)
QUOTE
So choose a list and play a game. ?Tell us what you like, what you don't, what seems unfair and why. ?Then if you don't like the list, choose another.
Thank you, Dave!
People seem to be conflating two quite distinct things: "playing for fun" and "playtesting".
If your want to take the Tyranids into a Tournament setting, which is, in my mind, "playing for fun" (and possibly prizes! *laugh*), use the 8.4 list that is in the Experimental Rules Vault on the Specialist Game site; it has the most exposure of any of the current variants and people who don't frequent TacCom will have been exposed to it if they're interested in Tyranids. It's a fairly solid, if somewhat confusing, ruleset for the Tyranids; it works and wins and loses about equally, but it does need some work, which leads into the next point:
"Playtesting" is a different vat of broodlings. While, certainly, it should be fun, it is *not* something you do at tournaments; it's experimentation, it's ugly, and it's messy. Which is precisely what's going on with the [Deathmatch] series, even if it has been slow lately. The various list are "alphas" of the next Tyranid list and will probably be picked and chosen through for all the "good bits" and merged into one whole... but it requires playing and reporting and being frustrated with things... and explaining to me *why* they are frustrating.
These are raw rules, unfinished and still being stirred in the pot. Read over the variants, pick one that you think is interesting, discuss then with an opponent and play a playtest. Note, I didn't say a "game", since this is experimentation, it's okay to go back and retest/retry things; heck even try the same situations out using different variants in the same playtest!
Go out an play!
