Hey there...

I am currently struggeling to make a competetive Tyranid force. I came up with the following:

TYRANID SWARM (M) [475] +2 Zoanthrope (745.M41), +1 Haruspex, Hive Tyrant
TYRANID SWARM (S) [275] +1 Exocrine, Hive Tyrant, +1 Zoanthrope (745.M41)
TYRANID SWARM (S) [275] +1 Exocrine, Hive Tyrant, +1 Zoanthrope (745.M41)
TYRANID SWARM (S) [250] Hive Tyrant, +2 Zoanthrope (745.M41)
EXOCRINE SWARM (S) [225] +1 Exocrine
HARRIDAN SWARM (S) [190] +2 Gargoyles (745.M41)
HARRIDAN SWARM (S) [150]
NEXUS SWARM [410] +1 Termagants, +1 Hormagants, +1 Gargoyles (745.M41)
TYRANID SWARM (L) [550] BTS
LICTOR SWARM [200] +1 Lictor

3000

Problems I see with this list:
- Lictors are crap as singles, I don't own Biovores. Would be a much better formation
- Too much flesh, too little punch
- Activation count is really low
- 3 big (400ish) formations, should scrap one, but which? And replace by what?
I am stuck. I have this stuff to build an army:

- 1 Dominatrix
- 1 Hierophant
- 1 Biovore
- 1 Ravener
- 3 Haruspicis
- 3 Harridans
- 4 Hive Tyrants
- 4 Carnificis
- 5 Gargoyles
- 6 Zoantrophes
- 6 Lictors
- 6 Exocrines
- 10 Warriors
- 12 Genestealers, 1 Genestealer with Broodlord
- 30 Termagants
- 30 Hormagants

Any help would be appreciated

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don't know squat about Tyranids, but why would 10 activations be too low?

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Was looking at around 12. A high activation count is crucial, for me 11 is minimum with most armies (except Guard which is a pain in the moon with 3 expensive basic formations).

I could scrap the medium swarm and go with a small one instead. The left over points could be spent for another Harridan and some Stealers or Lictors...

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Not too familiar with nids, but could you afford to drop the upgrades to get more formations? It seems logical to want lots of activations, since you will probably lose at least 2 before getting to activate in turns 2 and 3 In that vein I would probably only *need* to include one large formation (as BTS), and let the rest be cheap. Do the swarms have commanders?

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It's been a little while since I was building tyranid lists but one tactic that can work quite well is to break your larger swarms, the medium and large one, into more small ones with a view to combining them in the game with combined assaults with the Hive Tyrants.

I also started adding in extra Tyranid Warriors wherever I used a hive Tyrant to keep the swarming count up even when reduced to half - this worked very nicely for me.

Personally, I've started making Biovores an integral part of my list, sometimes taking as many as 3 formations of seven. The last list I played was trying out an amount of Harridan spam:

Hive Fleet Harridan, 2990 POINTS
Hive Fleet Onachus Tyranids (NetEA v10.2 *UNDER DEVELOPMENT*)
==================================================

NEXUS SWARM [390]
1 Dominatrix, Termagants, Hormagants

TYRANID SWARM (S) [250]
6 Termagants, Tyranid Warriors, Hive Tyrant

TYRANID SWARM (S) [250]
6 Termagants, Hive Tyrant, Tyranid Warriors

TYRANID SWARM (S) [250]
6 Termagants, Hive Tyrant, Tyranid Warriors

TYRANID SWARM (S) [250]
Two Tyranid Warriors, 6 Termagants, Tyranid Warriors

TYRANID SWARM (S) [200]
Two Tyranid Warriors, 6 Termagants

TYRANID SWARM (S) [200]
Two Tyranid Warriors, 6 Termagants

HARRIDAN SWARM (S) [150]
1 Harridan

HARRIDAN SWARM (S) [150]
1 Harridan

HARRIDAN SWARM (S) [150]
1 Harridan

HARRIDAN SWARM (S) [150]
1 Harridan

BIOVORE SWARM (S) [200]
7 Biovore

BIOVORE SWARM (S) [200]
7 Biovore

BIOVORE SWARM (S) [200]
7 Biovore

This performed very well although it was facing a Steel Legion Armoured list. You could try swapping out the Biovores for Lictors, stealers and another small swarm and see how you do? 14 activaitions is pretty fun to play!! Previously I was trying out something closer to what you're looking at right now:

NEXUS SWARM [390]
Dominatrix, 1 Termagant, 1 Hormagaunt

TYRANID SWARM (S) [450]
Hive Tyrant, 1 Tyranid Warrior, 5 Termagants, 1 Hormagaunt, 2 Carnifex, 1 Haruspex, 2 Biovore

TYRANID SWARM (S) [400]
Hive Tyrant, 1 Tyranid Warrior, 5 Termagants, 1 Hormagaunt, 2 Haruspex, 2 Biovore

TYRANID SWARM (S) [350]
Hive Tyrant, 1 Tyranid Warrior, 1 Termagants, 5 Hormagaunts, 2 Carnifex

TYRANID SWARM (S) [350]
Hive Tyrant, 1 Tyranid Warrior, 1 Termagant, 5 Hormagaunts, 2 Carnifex

GENESTEALER SWARM [300]
10 Genestealers, Broodlord

BOIVORE SWARM [175]
6 Biovores

BOIVORE SWARM [175]
6 Biovores

EXOCRINE SWARM [175]

TRYGON SWARM [225]

2990 - 10 activations

And it performed pretty well too. Having those fearless Carnifex mixed into formations that can reliably swarm two units a turn works quite nicely...

Hope this is of some use! Ultimately the only only way to know is to get a couple of games in!

I think the Haruspex is better than the Carnifex. The main difference they have is "shooting ability" vs "Fearless Special Rule". The abbility to place a blast marker (even if its only in 15cm) is very important. This is especially crucial if you use a small swarm and replace the Tyranid Warriors with a Tyrant. If you do this, only one blast marker stops that formation to place markers at others. If you have an Haruspex or Malefactor you can at least surpress on of those instead.

It is probably wise to split the medium swarm into two small swarms and drop one or two upgrades. Or one small swarm with some upgrades and another group of Lictors

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Well anything with small arms can also be used for suppression, if it is within 15cm and behind your shooting unit. So haruspex isn't especially useful in that regard. Having an actual shot is still a bonus though.

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Really? I missed that spot. Could you perhaps provide me with a reference to the rules? That would be very kind of you

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From the FAQ:
http://taccmd.tacticalwargames.net/view ... 69&t=18419



The rules only require line of fire and range. Personally I think it doesn't exactly sound like the designer's original intention at the time, but that's pure conjecture on my part.

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Yeah, I see what you're saying but I tend to use certain formations to lay down fire and others to assault. Laying down suppressing fire is more of a role for my biovores than one of my swarms, their job is to overwhelm the enemy, often by way of a combined assault. I hadn't even thought of placing any value in the shooting attack from a Hive Tyrant, the commander ability is why I take them...

It is nice to have the ability to place Blastmarkers on other formations, in my opinion every formation should be able to do this. Other than that, I agree that specialized formations are easier to handle than mixed ones and also perform better if they have a special task.

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Having the ability to lay a BM is a key tactic in E:A and can put you 2+ in the resolution even before the claws do their stuff. If the formation can also support an assault so much the better. So Largo is correct in suggesting that it is almost mandatory to have at least one unit that can shoot in each formation if possible.