Editor's Note:
What's all this madness here? My contributors (well, two of them at least) are actually writing up posts? Madness! I wasn't quite prepared for this, myself. However, Richard (er... BigSanta) knows what he's talking about, with multiple tournament wins/other awards with his Ridiculously Good-Looking 'Nids. Plus, the math-hammer is fun- numbers don't lie. Well, usually they don't :-p K, I'll let y'all go- figured I'd give a lil re-intro since it's been a while!
I know you might ask yourself, “who is this writing?” I did take a hiatus from the blogosphere for a while and 40k too. I am going to keep to at least a post a month. So to my many many of fan (see what I did there) I am back with Tyranid goodness.
Genestealer Brood- 14pts per model
Genestealers have been a tried and true aspect of Tyranids. They have fleet and move through cover so you have a good ability to avoid terrain so you can make use of the great init when assaulting. Even when you are assaulted you will most likely go first. They are fragile and have to be a little babied. People are always afraid of stealers- they can bring a lot to your army in the right situation.
Upgrades-
Scything Talons 2pts (re-roll 1’s to hit even vs. vehicles!):
Since these guys WS is high that means you will usually be hitting on 3’s so out of your misses you will be able to reroll 50% of your misses (in a perfect world). The more hits you have the better chance you get those rends during wounding. 2pts per model is alright for these upgrades. Here is a model. Remember these are estimates just based on “what should happen” as we all know in games you can use it as a base, but it never seems to work the way we want it. Also I always round down.
A 10 man stealer charge vs. a 10 man marine squad:
W/o talons 140pts. 30 attacks: 20 hits. Overall 10 wounds (3 of which are rends)
W/ talons 160pts. 30 attacks: 25 hits. Overall 12 wounds (4 of which are rends)
All this equates to, is it worth 20 points for the squad to do the extra wounds? This does not take into effect of wound allocation being able to discount some of your power. Now if we did not have the upgrade and we added another stealer it would change to:
11 man stealer unit w/o talons 154pts. 33 attacks: 22 hits. Overall 11 wounds (3 of which are rends)
So, for an additional 6 points (10 w/ Scything Talons cost 160 while 11 w/o Scything Talons cost 154), we get another rend and another wound. I like the additional wounds and rends over an additional model. You trade a little survivability for punch. Since the talon’s ability works vs. vehicles as well it gives that extra little bit to hit which is worth it.
Adrenal glands 3pts (furious charge)
Same model as before:
W/o glands 140pts. 30 attacks: 20 hits. Overall 10 wounds (3 of which are rends)
W/ glands 170pts. 30 attacks: 20 hits. Overall 14 wounds (3 of which are rends)
With this upgrade you are getting more wounds but you are giving them more of an ability to do wound shenanigans.
12 man stealer unit w/o glands 168pts. 36 attacks: 24 hits. Overall 12 wounds (4 of which are rends)
I go for more stealers than the str boost and init boost. Stealers already have great int so the points are wasted there.
An argument: allowing your Stealers to be able to glance a land raider on the charge. Really, do you need your stealers to be able to glance a land raider? I do not believe so. Get more stealers and if you are killing vehicles go for lighter ones, the majority of vehicles have a bad rear armor and your rends will be able to deal with those.
Toxin sacs 3pts (poison on a 4+)
Same model as before:
W/o sacs 140pts. 30 attacks: 20 hits. Overall 10 wounds (3 of which are rends)
W/ sacs 170pts. 30 attacks: 20 hits, 15 wounds (3 of which are rends)
Poison is great to have to wound high toughness stuff, also since the base toughness in 40k is 4 you will be able to reroll to wound and that gives you a better chance to rend. But I still go for more stealers in the end your rends will be able to wound the high-toughness stuff anyways. It also only works vs. non vehicle models.
Super Stealer vs. Normal Stealers vs. Talon Stealers
Same model as before:10 Stealers w/o upgrades 140pts. 30 attacks: 20 hits. Overall 10 wounds (3 of which are rends)
10 Stealers w/ talons and sacs 200pts. 30 attacks: 25 hits. Overall 18 wounds (4 of which are rends)
14 stealers w/o upgrades 196pts. 42 attacks: 28 hits. Overall 14 wounds (4 of which are rends)
12 stealers w/talons 192pts. 36 attacks: 30 hits. Overall 15 wounds (5 of which are rends)
As you can see, the best scenario for rends is the 12 man squad with just the talon upgrade. Again, you trade a few models for extra punch so worth it in my opinion. The best value is talons, the bonus helps against troops and vehicles.
Unit upgrade 1 model to a Broodlord +46pts
Aura of Despair: at start of friendly assault phase enemy units within 12” are at a -1 ld.
Hypnotic Gaze: at the beginning of a friendly assault phase nominate one unit in b2b with the Broodlord and roll dice and add the models Ld value. If the Broodlord’s roll is greater than the model that model may not make any of its attacks.
These powers are situational and can help. You can stop a character from attacking or help with trying to break the unit and units around. Combined with the Doom of Malan’tai you could hose people a little more if in the right position.
Upgrades for the Broodlord:
-Scything talons 2pts (re-roll 1’s to hit): As before he will mostly be hitting on 3’s so for 2 points not bad for a reroll and bonus to hit vs. vehicles
-Implant attack 15pts (any 6’s to wound cause instant death): for the points your rends will also cause instant death: good for character hunting but all in all you could just get another Stealer. I usually skip this ability.
Acid blood 15pts (for every unsaved wound suffer the unit that caused the wound must make an int test or suffer a wound that cannot be saved, vehicles suffer a glancing hit on a 4+) Yes we think that our bugs should be influenced by James Cameron and be able to melt faces. All in all this is not worth the points; it is more of a comical upgrade than anything. I would not trade an additional Stealer so my Broodlord could get this upgrade.
Now the question is the Broodlord worth his points?
Yes and no. 10 man squad of Stealers w/ talons 160pts.
10 man squad w/ lord and talons 206pts.
12 man Stealer squad w/talons 192pts.
It all depends on your meta. If you want the ability to do a few powers and want to be able to shut down some models then yes.
You are trading around 3 models: so 6 attacks 3 wounds, for the Broodlord’s bonus 2 attacks and 2 wounds and stat increase. I go for more Stealers in the end but again it is your Meta that will dictate if he is worth it. Remember that the powers can be stopped, and since the majority of players have some defense vs. physic powers more attacks may be the key.
Some strategies for Genestealers-
Outflank force: 15 Stealers w/ talons 240pts
This is to screw with the opponents backfield, kill those parked vehicles or the devastators that are targeting your bigger stuff. They have the numbers to survive and still deal out pain. Used in combination with the Swarmlord’s and/or Tyrants reserve bonuses, it makes sure you have what you want where you want when you want.
Counter assault: 10 Stealers w/talons and Broodlord.
This unit sits back behind your line waiting for the right moment, benefiting from cover saves and FnP(from Tervigon) if being targeted. When the enemy forces come in Fleet will make sure these guys can get to where they are needed giving a nice counter blow. The Broodlord is there to help with the characters and special weapons you don’t want to deal with.
The deal with it: 20 Genestealers, Broodlord, no talons, Sporepod 366pts
Questions? Comments? general, "you do not know what the heck you talking abouts?"
Editor's Note:
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