So I generally don't do this but balance in 40k is apparently one of my touch points for my hobby. I was at work yesterday and came across this in my blog reading:
http://theback40k.blogspot.com/2011/08/is-it-time-to-worry-yet.html
Long story short it's a bit of a rant about the state of 40k and how imbalanced it is. It highlights Tyranids as one of the poorest codexes of 5th edition outside of the New Sisters WD book that isn't even out yet. It also claims there is a single workable army list which is beyond false. But since the whole article is pretty much predicated upon a single guys local meta and his personal experiences it's easy enough to dismiss. That said it helped me reach a conclusion.
Most of you guys (my readers) know that I brought my Nids to Adepticon. I won 2 games and tied 2 games and was the 5th alternate for day two. Both of those ties were due to the straight KP nature of Adepticon as my opponents won this objective by a single KP each time. Not to bad of a showing all told. But after that I hung up my Nids for a while due to playing them to an extreme and I think the above article might have pushed me back into proving that Nids are a competitive book with several builds. What does that mean for Nova?
I'm no longer only going to run my Nids if Nick (Yermom) does. I'm going to run them regardless and for both events!
I've decided to shelve for now my Invitational SW's list that I am fully converting to look unique and where every model is at least moderaly converted. The list I was going to take looked like this:
Logan
Rune Priest in Terminator Armor w/Chooser, Living Lightning, Murderous Hurricane
Rune Priest in Terminator Armor w/Chooser, Living Lightning, Living Lightning
4x5 Wolf Guard Terminators w/4 WC's, 3 Combi-Plasma, Chainfist, Cyclone
2x5 Long Fangs w/4 Missile Launchers
Nasty and very, very solid. But that's now done. It's going on the back to my bugs and that Space Wolf Terminator list is going to have to wait.
Even though my bugs aren't as pretty they are what I'm bringing. I'll attempt to batrep every fight and we'll see how well I do against a solid crop of some of the better players in the US in the Invitational as well as against a field of 256 people. Just thought I'd share!
Logging you in...
newtoncain · 712 weeks ago
Hulksmash · 712 weeks ago
I re-read what I'd wrote and seen how it could be misread that way. I am in fact running my Nids for both events instead of just maybe running them for the Open :)
newtoncain · 712 weeks ago
Ghostin · 712 weeks ago
Looking forward to seeing you there..
Hulksmash · 712 weeks ago
Target (Andrew G) · 712 weeks ago
Whembly · 712 weeks ago
But... maybe I'm bias'ed since I'm a veteran Ork player who simply points his orks at the bad guys having a big waaaahg party...
Now I've switched to a DE list simliar to Dash's (w/o the beast unit)... I REALLY have to be careful about not over comitting, but I think I'm doing okay (play DE 5x already w/o losing!).
Anyhoo... back to Nids... unless you're going all-out with the shooty kinds of 'nids... just go pedal to the metal with you list. BTW... one of the nastiest nid list I faced were those with large genestealer squads.... geez... I can't kill them fast enough with my Orks o.O.
Good like a Nova and I'll be watching out for the Batrep.
Whembly · 712 weeks ago
Kirby 118p · 712 weeks ago
Hulksmash · 712 weeks ago
speedfreek · 712 weeks ago
But what if you face Dark Eldar relying heavily on Venoms.
Can you even stand a chance?
Purifiers+dakkadreads?
Hulksmash · 712 weeks ago
Essentially against a venom heavy DE list I'm going to need a combination of a few things. Speed to close and rip the vehicles out of the sky in CC. Decent ranged shooting to try and bring them down at range (this is a little more problematic as our ranges are so short to begin with). And lots of models to help swamp the board and limit my opponents movement. When these powers combine I can beat DE!!!!!! Or so I think.
I'm going to be working on combining this with JotWW restraints over the next week or so. Should be interesting.
inquisitor_dunn 51p · 712 weeks ago
You need the get the "I'm internet famous" shirt. LOL. Maybe I'll get it made for ya and spring it on ya at a rtt up there sometime.
Throw up a picture of your nids. Don't think I have seen them.
Hulksmash · 712 weeks ago
I'll throw up some photos once it gets closer. Good news is I need to paint a lot less for my Bugs since at most it's likely to be my Parasite 10 Raveners, and maybe some more genestealers and big bugs :)
degravemind 41p · 712 weeks ago
brassangel · 712 weeks ago
Second, with the emergence of Dark Eldar Venom/Raider Spam as a prominent power in the mainstream tournament scene, as well as the sheer number of Blood Angels DoA armies, there will be fewer parking lot armies that sit in the back and just shoot. Both of these builds negate the back field against Imperial Guard and Long Fangs Space Wolves, so they need to come up with slightly more dispersed and flexible builds. This also plays into our hands, as units on the move are easier for Tyranids players to get to. The 'Nids also crush MSU's handily. A few players have been stomping Grey Knights and Blood Angels with their 'Nids in my area, but maybe it's different everywhere else.
I tested a list with Space Wolves and found my Long Fangs and Razorbacks had real problems with the Parasite of Mortex attached to a brood of 28 Gargoyles. Couldn't get through all of them before the Parasite and a few Gargs made contact. The 'Site rips transports to pieces with 4, S6 attacks that all have Rending, and the whole brood will eat Long Fangs. It is a very disruptive build, and allows a Tyranid player to get everything else up the field against Space Wolves.
Grey Knights can be dangerous, but that match seems to be all about the placement of Shadow in the Warp. A Tyranid player has to be able to nullify a lot of force weapons and psychic powers. Psychotrope grenades and a pile of Storm Bolters are still awful though.
If a Tyranid player loses to DoA Blood Angels, they are doing something wrong. Seriously. They are 5 man squads that WANT to get into cc. 5-0 against these with my own Tyranids.
Dark Eldar can be a nightmare. The best bet for a bug is to control the board with large broods and proper placement, thus limiting the flying lanes of the skimmers. The good news is, they have no psychic defense.
I think a lot of people underestimate the Tyranids, simply because the internet tells them to. People don't want to find out for themselves, so they either discount them, or refuse to play them and figure it out on their own.
HorridForm · 712 weeks ago
HorridForm