okay i don't reelly know which list is the best list to play because it seems like there are a dozen of them so which one is the best set of rules to go by???

we only have four armies i have chaos and space marines and my one buddy has a bunch of old tyranid stuff he got off bartertown so now he wants to make an army but he doesnt know which list is the best

heeeeeelllllllpppppppppppppppp

The short answer is take a look at what's on offer and pick the one that you think will be the most fun to play with or against. You should be able to use the models in all the lists with the counts as rule so no worries there.

Unfortunately the Tyranids have rather fractured these days.

The safest list that has seen by far the most testing and which I would recommend is the 9.2.1 list. Chroma championed it for many years, but he hasn't been on the board for probably a year or more due to having a baby. 9.2.1 isn't perfect - a common complaint is that the special rules are a bit more complicated/wordy than they need to be - but it works pretty well and is well balanced and adjusted. I've played it several times and found it fine.

Since Chroma left there has been loads of debates, but unfortunately people can't seem to agree on what to with the tyranids and one by one people have fractured off and created their own lists, none of which have seen that much testing and some of which could well have some serious balance issues.

Clearly, there's a fair amount of argument about the 'nids lists, some of which has evolved into personality conflict, etc.

That said, I'd be careful about discounting the work that has gone into testing and development for many of the current lists.

Yeah, umm with all due respect, you may want to take a peak at the battle reports forum. The various iterations of Onachus have more batreps than almost all lists lately, let alone other 'nid lists.

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Let us playtest like the Greeks of old... You know the ones I mean

I didn't mean to cause any offence to anyone, I meant little testing in comparison to the amount the official 9.2.1 tyranid list (and it's previous versions) have had over the years, from player groups across the world.

It's good to hear some tyranid splinter lists are being tested, I just think it's a shame the tyranids as a whole have fractured so much as playtesting efforts are more diluted and localised.

That's what happens when you have a series of absentee champions.

As for the original question, it depends on one thing really: Do you want to play tyranids using the old epic models or tyranids that more represent the current version of 40k? There are good lists for both out there.

If you have the old models, you can play 'count as rules' and use any of them, but here is a brief rundown without any intended bias:

9.2.1: probably the most tested yet also one that has required some update which has not happened. You will find all lists after 9.2.1 have attempted to fix the problems with 9.2.1

Leviathan: A more modern interpretation where your 'slug' tanks may have to count under some of the Carnifex options. This list has received some good feedback on initial presentation and the Army Champ (AC) is active and has played the list

Onochus: Dedicated to the old style miniatures and has started to gain some heavy playtests in the past year. There has been some great support for this list also. AC (or players) are active on the lists.

Hive Fleet Tarrasque: In the same vein as Onochus, a similar attempt to show a different list from 9.2.1 with less complication and faster game play. It is the 'new kid on the block', so no playtests to show at this time. AC is active on the lists.

Hope this helps to give a non-biased view to all the chaos

(If I have missed a list - I apologize - I am happy to update the post with any that I have missed)

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Frogbear is responsible for...
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I might be biased, but the best Tyranid list I've played against is Onachus

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"I don't believe in destiny or the guiding hand of fate." N. Peart

In a couple of months time the epic-uk list will be available too.

whoah that is a lot to choose from well my dude here bought a ton of stuff from ebay so i am guessing they are all old models. are there any new models cuz we looked around on the gw site and found nothing at all just a bunch of feral orks and stuff but maybe we missed something wouldn't be the first time.

so from the sounds of things if we only have older models we should be playing onachus or tarrasaque i guess idunno

and i dont know what an army champ is are they like the guys in charge of the list or what???

There are no official new models, but a lot of people make their own.

Yep.

The organization of the NetEA development is broken down into the NetERC (Epic Rules Commity), currently composed of Nealhunt, Chroma, and Mephiston, who guide the overall direction of the game, decide on FAQs and rules amendments, and approve lists.

ACs (army champions) are in charge of a single race and all the lists pertaining to it. They are in charge of guiding overall development of the race, and approving any stats or points modifications that pertain to the race as a whole. ACs are also occasionally part of the ERC, for instance Chroma is Eldar AC.

Each list is then developed by a Sub-AC (often erroneously called an AC as well) who is in charge of the development and playtesting of that list. Again, many lists' Sub-AC are also full AC or members of the ERC.

Hope that helps.

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SG

Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.

Rumors-of-Wars

I would not wait for any 'AC' official list at this time. I would pick one or all of the lists in my above post (can be found in the Tyranids section) have a good read of them and compare them to the models that your friend has. Then just throw yourself into the game and play away. I am confident that they will all give you a good game and are balanced to a point of not being a major problem.

Hope this helps

Cheers......

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