Splinter Fleet Churoninx

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"EPIC: Total War" Lead Developer

Now living in Boston... any EPIC players want to meet up?

i like the rules set (maybe engage i left the +2 ) is pretty balanced but i don't like the price of the formation (you have lowered near all the stat of the unit and increase the price of units why?) for example 3 tw +8 gaunts 300 ?? so 160 for 8 gaunt and 140 for 3 tw?  is too expensive , in my opinion gaunt must be 15 each (you lovered the gaunt ff and horma cc value) and tw 100 max  (you lowered the armor and now we can only respwan gaunt ).
i like the carni/haruspex solution  but i leave dactilis and biovore separated stats; maybe the dactilis as are in your pdf and biovore: ap4+ at5+ 45 range distrupt (they can garrison so indirect isn't really needed or can be added if raise the price of biovore.
Maybe next time i can play i do a playtest , but really the price of the normal swarm is a little too high.

maybe all the price of the units is too high 150 for 2 datyls? they are lv 5+ armor and can't respwan ,maybe 50 each is more fair , the harridan is 200 now but lost 1 dc (maybe leave it 175 with only 3 dc?)

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dactlis is lv and 5+ armor is really  weak ok is an artillery but if it cost too much no one would field it with venom carnifex  5+ reinf  armor at 50(4 venom cannon have shorter range but they can do more than 1 bp distrupt , 2 bp is 150 so 12 venom shot 3 bp ,who is the medium barrage used is 16 venom shot and 25 free points). Maybe 60 (i still think 50 is a good price ) is near the real utility of the unit. When i can i try this list so i can do more feedback.

ah just forgot guard have the rough rider who is ecxatly the same of genestealer(same stat and price lol )

Having played against this list at the weekend i can honestly say that i'm a fan.

I liked how it played too (but then I would say that). My opponent (Eldar) had the initiative, the speed and the agility- but the Tyranids were just too many and too resilient- they plodded forward in a massive wave.

The Eldar won, but it was a close run thing.

With so many models I started to intermingle formations- I knew it was a risk, but I calculated that an Eldar assault would be sat in front of a lot of Supporting Fire and other formations attacking.

Through careful planning & patience- Stompzilla saved his initial turn 1 assault until after I had activated. He caught an Assault Swarm (Gaunts and Warriors) and a distant intermingled Dominatrix.
Winning the assault without the Dom getting involved, it broke my Dominatrix which scuttled back to the rear and failed to rally turn 2 having done nothing.

With my heavy hitter Dominatrix absent from the forward battleline (now consisting of 2 Assault Swarms and 2 Brute Swarms) for the first 2 turns (and at such a low cost for the Eldar) he was able to push forward and slowly annihilate one by one my formations.

I think the Dominatrix intermingling really cost me in the long run. Without it, the Dom would have been a threat for anything that dared to move close to my army as I sat on my own 3 objectives. It would even have discouraged the Eldar titan from getting involved, IMO.

To reiterate I think the army worked well and was simple to use (well, simpler). I need to be more cautious with Intermingling.

There are a few pts cost adjustments I'd like to make, but I will see how things pan out in more playtesting first.

Not necessarily. As the designer, you would have an objective mind after having tried other things. Then you can bounce the ideas off people from there.

Keep at it. You will no doubt have future changes that make old games look archaic.

I have not read the list as there is nothing to download, so always happy to have a read if you can post it back up

Cheers....  

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Frogbear is responsible for...
Previous World Eaters
Previous Emperor's Children
Previous Death Guard
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Previous Chaos Squats

Having re-read this list after recent discussions, Jeridian, it appears your Brood creatures can function completely normally without Synapse present as well.  Once the Synapse in one of your swarms is killed, the Broods can carry on taking normal actions on a normal initiative with no Synapse-control at all and they even get benefits from nearby non-formation Synapse creatures.

Seeing as how this is *remarkably* similar to the experimental rule I posted from the Phase III list, I really don't see where your complaint about "long range" Synapse control is coming from.

Could you explain your position?

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"EPIC: Total War" Lead Developer

Now living in Boston... any EPIC players want to meet up?

Gladly.

My first point is rule simplicity- if I could produce the desired 'style' or theme using existing core rules and Special Units/Abilities this was desirable to producing new special rules for the same effect.

To this end I could have added more special rules about Synapse-less formations disappearing at particular points in the turn, etc.

Alternatively I could make the existing rules (and the other Tyranid Special Rules I added) do the work for me- by making a Synapse-less formation one of the most useless things on the board.

-They can't claim or contest objectives.
-They are no longer Expendable.
-They gain no bonus +1 for Engage or Rally.
-They can no longer respawn stuff.

They become dead weight, as close to roaming feral Tyranids as I could get without adding new special rules.
In the rare circumstance my Synapse was killed off with Brood creatures still around they spent the rest of the game Broken, failing to Rally.

Yes, you can move Synapse units from another formation into range to regain some of the benefits- Synapse controls every Brood creature that comes into it's range. The downside is you'll have intermingled formations, and if you want those Synapse-less formations to stay in Synapse range they'll have to leapfrog amonst Synapse formation or Retain alongside them. It's almost not worth the bother and slowing of your still Synapse led formations.



I don't recall the Phase III list, but I have stolen most of my unit stats, and rules, from the V9 lists. I'll take the hit on that one- as I've said before a lot of the work in there is great, it doesn't get lauded much because the internet is for criticism not praise. There's not much mileage in "Oh, that rule is super awesome", "Yeah it is", but a lot to be gained from "I think this is wrong, here's why", "Oh, really I disagree, here's why".

If you want to take credit for other stuff in Splinter Fleet Churoninx or state those ideas have been tried years before, go ahead- according to TacComms every idea was done years ago.

I just wanted to use an Epic Tyranid army I enjoyed against my friends.

Has a pure infantry army such as the following been trialed in you local area?  How'd it do?


Swarms of Teeth and Claws - 2995 points

Large Assault Swarm 1 - (BTS target)
6 Tyranid Warriors
16 Gaunts
2 Gargoyles

Assault Swarm 2
3 Tyranid Warriors
8 Gaunts
2 Gargoyles

Assault Swarm 3
3 Tyranid Warriors
8 Gaunts
2 Gargoyles

Assault Swarm 4
3 Tyranid Warriors
8 Gaunts
2 Gargoyles

Assault Swarm 5
3 Tyranid Warriors
8 Gaunts
2 Gargoyles

Assault Swarm 6
3 Tyranid Warriors
8 Gaunts
2 Gargoyles

Assault Swarm 7
3 Tyranid Warriors
8 Gaunts
2 Gargoyles

Assault Swarm 8
3 Tyranid Warriors
8 Gaunts
2 Gargoyles

_________________
"EPIC: Total War" Lead Developer

Now living in Boston... any EPIC players want to meet up?

I can't say it has.

Pure theoryhammer here:

-It's 8 activations at 3000pts. Not bad, but not particularly popcorn either.
-Each Swarm alone is pretty easy to crack in Engagements.
-I can see it being pretty hard to shift from home objectives if they cluster in cover and keep Marshalling dead Gaunts back- but I can't see them on the offensive.
-There are just some things they will have a very hard time taking on- particularly War Engines, and stuff that is fast and longer ranged than them (Eldar Falcons, etc). I can see it being danced around whilst shot at, and/or just bouncing off tough units.

The Assault Swarm is the meat of the army, denying ground, advancing into cover, perhaps supporting Engagements, constantly refreshing with Gaunts.
But a Tyranid army needs the heavy hitters to back these Assault Swarms up- to batter enemy formations whilst the Assault Swarms get objectives and swamp cover.

I'd drop 2-4 of those Assault Swarms in favour of a Brute Swarm or 2 to put a bit of punch into the army. Maybe a novelty or 2 such as Genestealers or Harridan/Trygon formation to break the monotony and provide you with some more options to harass the enemy with.


I should hopefully be testing this list, however:

Dominatrix (BTS)
Heirophant
Heirophant
Harridan
Trygon- 2xRaveners
Genestealers x6
Assault Swarm- 3xWarriors. 8xTermies. 1xGargoyle. 1xZoanthrope.
Assault Swarm- 3xWarriors. 8xTermies. 1xGargoyle. 1xZoanthrope.
Greater Brute Swarm- 2xHive Tyrant. 4xCarnifex. 3xVenomfex.
Brute Swarm- 1xHive Tyrant. 2xZoanthrope. 2xVenomfex. 1xCarnifex.
Nest Swarm- Synapse Node. 4xTermagants. 2xDactylis.

3500pts

Query: Do you ever play without a Dominatrix in the 3000 point range?

EDIT - And will you be doing a battle report?

_________________
"EPIC: Total War" Lead Developer

Now living in Boston... any EPIC players want to meet up?

I have in the past, but I've found it invaluable for multiple reasons- most shared with V9.

-It's the BTS, a very tough BTS. Similar in V9 for most of my list it equalled or was more than half the Synapse- so in essence the BTS.

-It's the Commander Re-roll. Never leave home without one. Same in V9.

-It's a general all round decent unit, awesome in close combat, great in firefight, packing AA, highly resilient, and much like the Heirophants a rare spot of half-decent firepower. Just like V9.

If I didn't take a Dominatrix, I would take an Assault Swarm with 6 Warriors (making it my BTS) and pack in a lot of infantry (i.e. Gaunts, Gargoyles, Hormagaunts) with perhaps some Zoanthropes. I'd play cautious with this formation- holding a home objective and only advancing if/when I can stay in cover.

I'll hopefully do a battle report, but there's an outside chance I may be forced to use Marines instead (store policies, etc).