carlos wrote:
Played (and won 2-0) tonight using v0.31 against Black Legion. Bear in mind we're not tourney players although we were playing the GT scenario. Some comments about the game and list:
- As noted in every other list they appear, units that cost 35 pts are a pain. Either grab a multiple of 5 to get the 175 pts cost or you will end up with leftover points in the army total. In my list I used 4 tyrant guards and 1 zoanthrope but if I wanted to take more I'd probably have to include 10 of the things. Of course taking 4 (or 9) is only a gap of 10 points to a normal total (multiple of 25) but wargamers are funny w/ stuff like that and a 2990 list is not as powerful as a 3000 list! Not sure these synapse swarm upgrades can be changed to a more easy to use value. Perhaps improving both and costing them as 50 points? Or a downgrade...
- Used 2 * 3 harpies and they performed very well as they offer things which are lacking in a normal nid list: mobility, cheap activations and good firepower albeit short ranged. They moved in and supported the proper swarms very well. They managed to get off their 15cm attack in every single turn which was quite impressive as if the targeted fm survives then the harpies will take a pasting in an engagement. Points cost seems fine but the disrupt on the BP attack seems a bit too much perhaps?
- In 2 games so far my Harridan has failed 4 out of 5 activations. This includes a re-roll so that's five 1s out of six rolls. This might skew my impression of this unit of course. It seems a bit under-gunned for its cost. For 175 pts it is strong enough and hard to kill but ultimately it's got the same firepower as a Land Raider (more or less) and in an engagement can only kill a handful of enemy fms. It is bloody fast though and once again a unique nid activation so useful but I prefer 3 harpies for less cost.
- Had a hunter swarm w/ 3 scythed and it did really well. For 350 points it's 9 DC w/ a 4+ re-rollable and very hard to put down. Was targeted by a Banelord early on, survived that and kept the huge machine entertained for the next turn. On the 3rd turn the 2 remaining hierodules engaged a black legion fm and wiped it easily. Ended up securing one of the objectives.
- Fielded a Tervigon but it didn't do much. Popped a few gaunts out, then some terminators teleported nearby and wrecked it. DC 2 is fine and all but am not sure what its purpose is besides having all the new codex beasts in. Compared to a hive tyrant it's got less firepower and it's harder to protect being a WE and also more expensive. I like the proxy model I got for it so I might end up using it just because of that. If it could create 'free' units like in 40k then it'd be more useful but I guess that's a no.
- Didn't find the motivation for using a malanthrope as they seem weaker than a tyrant and then can't have bodyguards (except buying more malanthropes for the same formation of course). If they had a 20cm move like in the Leviathan list I can see myself using them w/ raveners or hormagaunts perhaps.
- Raveners remained in the box again as they take an uncommon slot and are they really twice as good as hormies? Especially as they aren't 'without number'. Haven't tried them as part of a subterranean swarm though mostly because the 1/4 limit on indies makes it a hard choice.
- Main mechanics of the list seem fine and balanced. Something to be looked at is the price of the Gargoyles. They're now 100 for 5 as a common brood but cost 25 pts each when bought elsewhere which is overpriced. Also, they don't add much to the fms they can be added to. They present an AP target in a harpy or harridan fm and bring an easy way to add BMs to these somewhat soild fms. They add little power to a harpy fm (do you really want to assault w/ harpies?) and if more than 4 they slow down a harridan (and don't add firepower).
- Still need to try mawloc, tyrannofex, warriors (have none at the moment), hive guard, lictors, the bio-titans except the 'trix, the ships, the pyrovores and the venomthropes.
35pt upgrades are gone but it does mean they are all now 50pts (with a power boost). The horrendously difficult to kill Tyrant and 3 guards has also gone (Guards are still LV but represent a unit of 3)
Harpies I think are ok, disrupt is a common theme for tyranids and Harpies are really fragile so the disrupt helps with that.
Harridans are generally hard to kill but limited in attack. I've gone back to 9.2.1 and added the 2nd MW CC attack back.
Hunter swarms are pretty good but you have to remember they don't have fearless or inspiring like the Bio-Titans so can be hurt quite badly if they break. I have removed the 'multiple purchase' discount so they now cost 375pts for three.
Tervigons are more survivable point for point than any of the other synapse units however they are targetable (Uncommon WE's make good bodyguards). Probably really need 2 or a couple of uncommon bodyguards. I have tweaked the spawning so you get a 'free' termagant stand instead of boosted spawning rate.
Malanthrope bumped to 20cm move to give Synapse at all move rates.
Raveners bumped to CC3+ so they now match up to the warriors and make them a more tempting choice as uncommons (Raveners can't be effectively clipped like hormagaunts)
Gargoyles are retained at 25pts across the board. They do however get 'without number' but you need to buy 6 for 150pts as a common brood. With Harridans and Harpies they are in as background but there really isn't a lot I can think of to make them work better with those formations.
