Carnifex

I personally believe that a Carnifex is so cool and representative of Tyranids, that it should almost be a required choice. :)

There are a number of things to consider in building a Carnifex:

Multiple Ranged Weapons?

Just say "no". Some folks have realized that the current rules allow one to build a Carnifex with two ranged weapons. While this is legal, it is not advisable. First, on an aesthetic note, it's just odd; biomass is precious and any Tyranid Monster worth his salt should have at least one close combat biomorph. Two, on an economy note, it's not a good use of points because you can only use one ranged weapon in a given Shooting phase. Still, some folks claim the versatility is worth it; more power to them. I say, a Carnifex is a bullet magnet, so give him what you need him to have, and get on with the game.

Which Ranged Weapon?

The Venom Cannon is a great choice. You can argue about the specific utility against a specific unit or list all day, but in the end, when all missions, armies, and situations are considered, the "VC 'fex" had the best overall potential to earn his points before dying. The range allows them to endanger enemy units right away, and the S10 is very handy.

Why not the Barbed Strangler? Any average Tyranid list is going to do just fine killing the things a BS is good at killing, but S10 ranged attacks are special and useful.

But Venom Cannons only glance...so what? You should always assume you are playing against a smart player that will take advantage of hull down, smoke launchers, and/or skimmer movement to force glancing hits anyway. This way you can be sporting and avoid some arguments about hull down (players can get pretty silly with the things they call hull down, trust me).

Should I Go With Two Close-Combat Bioweapons?

Sure, you can do that, but then I recommend taking two Scything Talons and keeping him cheap so you can buy an extra one to survive the trip to the food. You can also go mutable genus and strip him down more to save points. On the bright side, this may deflect fire from your Hive Tyrants.

Mutable Genus - Toxin Sacs

This is definitely something that can be dropped if you are really hurting for points. A VC will max out at S10 still, so you are only really losing effectiveness against AV 13+ vehicles and Toughness 8+ critters, and only a little at that. Of course, if you are going for close combat 'fexes, then maybe you should keep it.

Mutable Genus - Adrenal Glands (WS)

Keep it. Don't even think about dropping it. You need the defensive benefit.

Mutable Genus - Adrenal Glands (I)

Tough call. You are often moving slower than the food, but I2 lets you act before powerfists and the like. If you are not hurting for the points, keep it.

Mutable Genus - Enhanced Senses

If you have a Range biomorph, keep it. Otherwise lose it. Aesthetically, you are obligate, IMO, as the hive would not waste biomass on enhanced senses for a close combat machine.

Gaunts - It's All About the Biomorphs

Sprue Limits

The rules say you must have the biomorphs reflected on a unit, and aesthetically it is the cool way to go. So for a Gaunt package of 8 Termagants and 8 Hormagaunts, you get 3 sprues of biomorphs, which gives you:

• Devourer arm pairs - 3 pair per sprue, 9 pair per box
• Toxin sacs - 3 pair per sprue, 9 pair per box
• Extended carapace - 3 per sprue, 9 per box.
• Spinefist arm pairs - 3 pair per sprue, 9 pair per box
• Adrenal glands - 3 per sprue, 9 total

So, you can basically afford to have either the Termagants or the Hormagaunts have Devourers, extended carapaces, Spinefists, or adrenal glands. Based on this trend, and the surprising presence of a surplus otherwise, I suppose Toxin Sacs are expected to be affixed to both arms of a Gaunt; if so, then again only one of the groups could have them.

Good Reasons to Not Pile On Biomorphs

• Trying to achieve the swarm aesthetic that Tyranids are expected to have; expensive Troops make that harder
• Tournament requires a certain percentage of full Troop units and you need cheap Troops just to fill the requirements.
• Very cheap troops, such as a mutable gaunt with only a Spinefist, provide fodder, can tie up units in close combat, scare the enemy, and can provide very cheap Sentries (remember that if you do not have Termagants, you get 60 points of your choice of Troops from your custom Hive Fleet)
• Gaunts are only Toughness 3 and at best Sv 5+; when the cost approaches that of a Genestealer (16 pts.) it is time to consider if a cheaper gaunt or a Genestealer would be a better choice.

Wings (zero per box) - Don't Reinvent the Gargoyle

That's sort of what Gargoyles are supposed be anyway and the simple fact is that there is no flying Gaunt that will out perform a Gargoyle. In fact, a Gargoyle is supposed to be a derivative of Gaunt genetic stock. A Gargoyle has the biomorphs of a Gaunt (4 pts.) with a Fleshborer (3 pts.), Wings (4 pts.), and Bio-Plasma (4 pts.), for a total of 15 pts. And yet a Gargoyle only costs 10 pts. Also remember that a Winged Gaunt becomes Fast Attack, so they eat up the same slot as a Gargoyle would.

Leaping vs. Running (8 leapers per box of 16 Gaunts) - Leapers Are Cool

Since Leaping allows the full complement of attacks to be used in support of units in close combat instead of just one, it makes sense that Leaping is best used with units that have multiple physical attacks. So, a unit without Leaping would be better off not trying so hard to get Scything Talons, for example.

Toxin Sacs - Gives Gaunts a Chance to Hurt Lightly Armed Vehicles

This is good to have for Assault and especially vehicles, but it is expensive. Due to the biotechnological nature of the Tyranids, their weapons are based on the strength of the creatures. Gaunts can wield Fleshborers, Spinefists, and Devourers. Without Toxin Sacs, a Gaunt would fire these with Strengths of 4, 3, and 2, respectively. However, assaulting vehicles is not always a good idea, especially if you have only the 1 in 6 chance of getting a Glancing hit. I recommend trying this out before committing to modeling it. One thing I have tried is combining this with Adrenal Glands +1 Initiative; this still requires some finesse, but when it works well, they can be impressive.

Extended Carapace

This is a hard decision. On a simple wound for wound comparison, for Gaunts, the reduction in number of models due to the increased cost is always offset by increased survivability in close combat, but it is often not fantastic. The more expensive the Gaunt (the more biomorphs piled on), the more economically viable EC becomes, because the cost of the EC is smeared out by an increasingly more expensive and thus valuable mutable Gaunt. For absorbing ranged weapon attacks, the benefits are obvious, although many armies will sorely test your faith when their Troops unload with their AP 5 weapons and laugh off the armor you bought. Once you get into close combat the laughter will be replaced by screams of panic, but only if you have enough models left to make a difference.

One final thought - Adrenal Glands, +1 I or +1 WS?

Initiative is often better, although WS will never be totally trumped. The conventional wisdom is that Initiative is better hands down, and unless you are fighting Initiative 6 troops, this is true. However, if the Troops are Initiative 3 or less or Initiative 6 or more, you have completely wasted your points by taking Initiative. Again, if you assault a unit in cover, you have wasted those points on the charge at least. Catalyst on your Hive Tyrants is probably more useful and lots cheaper overall.

Do You Really Need EC for Gaunts?

Not really.

The Final Solutions For Phage

• Hormagaunt - yes, the standard Gaunt is actually quite effective and versatile
• Lysogaunt (12) - Gaunt (4) + Leaping (3) + AG (1) + TS (2) + ST (2).
• Spinegaunt - I like the way Spinefists look and I don't plan to do much shooting; honestly, if GW would give me talons for all of my gaunts, I might not have any of them with "guns".

I like the Adrenal Gland because I can choose +I, +WS, or both without worrying about WYSIWYG.

"The Lysogaunt appears to be the standard leaping gaunt genus which has developed great speed and agility. It has unusual strength which drive it's unholy talons. These creatures are usually seen rushing forward from a swarm to tear open the enemy lines, priming them for the following horde."

Note: the most popular choice appears to be the +1 S and +1 I version. These guys are terrifyingly effective against Marines and the like because their +1 I is just enough to allow them to strike first and kill their opponents before they can strike. This has the important effect of reducing the number of enemies in base-to-base contact and thus reducing the number of attacks, especially special weapons attacks. Of course, assaulting into cover trumps this as does getting shot to pieces before close combat is joined (then you are hurting for the smaller number of models you have). If you have any doubts, just take Hormagaunts, as they are quite effective, especially if backed up with Catalyst.

Some Gaunts

Here are some Gaunts I have considered. When I was active on the tyranids Yahoo! group, We talked a lot about this so I have collected some thoughts about the various models.

Genestealers - Good Off the Shelf

Some folks seem to swear by these as the ideal overall unit, but a lot of that may be pre-Codex talk. I hear that before the Tyranid Codex came out, Genestealers were essential for survival of an army. I have to admit that they are pretty effective overall. They are deadly to normal troops and their Rending Claws give them a chance against vehicles in spite of their low strength; of course, only 1 in 6 attacks will be likely to be effective. Their brood telepathy and high Ld scores make them effective outside of the range of a Synapse Creature. There are some downsides to them. They have the crappy saves that most of the Tyranids have, slow movement, and they get only one modification. So what to do?

• No biomorph at all - This is a valid option with a GS unit. From a real-world point of view, it will be expensive in time and/or money to convert the models. The arms are fixed in pairs and the model is somewhat crowded with the arms in place.
• Scything Talons (+1 A; 4 pts.) - This gives them an extra attack. It also benefits from the Rending Claws, according to the GW Roolzboyz. This is a solid improvement, but all of the attacks in the world will be of little use if the target is under cover and gets to attack first. Also, the units are reasonably easy to kill and for every three GS with this mod, you could have bought another GS. You can spend 64 points on four GS with a total of 4 wounds and 8 attacks, or have 3 GS with Scything Talons that have a total of 3 wounds and 9 attacks. The latter also means you can get more attacks delivered in a smaller area. Tough choice. I am not experienced enough to make a decision on which is better. However, it would be a real pain in the butt to convert a GS to have Scything Talons, so I would err on the side of not having them.
• Flesh Hooks (Frag grenade & climbing; 2 pts.) - These can be highly useful since they will allow the Genestealers to get their attack off even when assaulting an enemy in cover. However, the Catalyst Hive Mind Power can have a similar benefit, albeit only during the Nids turn and only on one unit.
• Implant Attack (+1 wound inflicted; 4 pts.) - Because it doubles the wound received by the model and NOT by the unit, this is only really useful against multi-wound models. A dangerous choice to make since you are basically losing 1/5th of your GS models to pay for this biomorph.
• Toxin Sacs (+1 S; 6 pts.) - Against standard troops, the chance to wound goes up from 50% 50 67%. Against vehicles, you can now get a glancing hit with a 5 on armor piercing roll on most rear armors, but in general you are still going to need to roll the 6 to get the additional die afforded by Rending Claws. If you get the extra die from Rending Claws, then the standard GS is going to have a result of 4+6+(1 to 6) or 11 to 16 vs. 12 to 17 for a GS with Toxin Sacs. Since the cost effectively means losing 1 out of every 4 GS models, it seems to expensive. Of course, the normal GS cannot effect a Toughness 8 model at all without rolling a "6" otherwise and having an easier time wounding is always nice.
• Extended Carapace (+1 Sv; 3 pts.) - The utility of this depends on the enemy fought, but in general it will always be useful because the GS is an Assault troop with a basic movement ability, so the unit will probably suffer heavy casualties before it can bring its multiple, rending attacks to bear. Against most troops, the greatest benefit will be against Blast weapons, which generally penetrate the normal 6+ Sv. Imperial Guard do not even have AP on their standard weapons, so that is a moot point. Orks have AP 6 on their standard weapons, so this biomorph can make a huge difference when getting up close. In Assault combat, it does translate into twice the chance to survive. Getting your troops into the fight to begin with is a pretty difficult thing to do, especially with the (relatively) slow-moving GS models. This means that EC is a solid benefit throughout. For it's point cost, it is a reasonably good choice, and of all the conversions, it would be the easiest to accomplish. One final consideration is that cover saves of 5+ are reasonably common; however, the GS has to break from cover and get to the food, so it is likely to get shot at eventually. Also, there are no cover saves in close combat, which is the goal of a GS.

Pros

• Really dangerous and scary
• Rending Claws - this can be a real wildcard, allowing them to take down a Wraithlord as easily as a handful of marines

Cons

• Expensive and quite fragile
• The "Shoot the Big Ones" rule is misnamed. It stops you from screening any unit from firing (except with Tyrant Guards and their monster). Folks often use this to shoot past your sea of Gaunts at your Genestealers, which can be quite frustrating.

Gargoyles

Pros

• Fast - Move 12" and Fleet of Wing
• Good at Assault - Bio-Plasma S4 attack at I8, normal S3 attack at I4
• Decent against light vehicle armor, especially skimmers - Fleshborer is S4 as is the Bio-Plasma Attack, and both hit on 4+ regardless of whether or not the vehicle is a skimmer

Cons

• Very expensive models - $9 for 2 models, which equate to 20 points, so a minimum sized brood of 8 would end up being $36 and it's not that tactically significant.
• Bulky and fragile - this makes their Deepstrike not as useful as they have a hard time fitting more than 10 or 12 on the template; however, some folks argue that you should be able to spill over the template...
• Somewhat time-consuming to clean up and assemble

Old One Eye and The Red Terror

Ripper Swarms

I like the idea of Ripper Swarms - little mindless eating machines. I also enjoyed modeling them, as the larger base allows me to spruce things up a bit. I am not a big fan of mutable genus Rippers, but some folks have enjoyed flying or leaping Rippers; in such a case, the Necromunda Ripperjacks make great models (little winged worms with toothy maws).

As for one-off mutations, the most popular Ripper Swarm by far is the Weapons Beast with Rending Claws, a.k.a. Rending Rippers. I have made a few myself and they are amusing if they actually do something in a game.

However, some folks have a real problem with Rending Rippers, but usually only when someone makes a hive fleet with 3 species and mutates every base to be a Rending Ripper (recall, Rippers have 3 wounds apiece). But is that a big deal? Pete Haines thought it was. He pushed to ban mutable genus altogether from the UK GT 2002 specifically because of Rending Rippers. The funny thing is that banning mutable genus would have no effect on that. The rules that allow one-off mutants like Rending Rippers are not part of the mutable genus rules. <grin>

I really just can't see them being all that cool, but maybe with his playing style, they own his army too frequently? Part of the problem is that if you make a 3-species list with Rippers as your Troop choice, you can mutate every base in your Rippers. Of course, ALL OF YOUR TROOPS ARE RIPPERS that cost 16 points apiece. While interesting/amusing, that can't possibly be tactically versatile enough for the various missions, can it? It's akin to a Fearless 3-wound IG trooper with crappier armor (Sv 6+), 3 attacks that autowound and act like power weapons on a "6" only (3 attacks + Rending Claws), no gun, no heavy weapons, and confined to never move faster than 6". The larger base size also makes it harder to get into base contact in large numbers, which means less attacks and less rending. They also take an extra wound from Blast Templates, and that Toughness 3 results in instakills far more often than I would have expected. Also the initiative of a Ripper is 1, which means that they often charge in and get diced before they can hurt anything. And they cannot hold quarters! Not exactly an unstoppable force of doom.

Regardless, I think the best overall solution would be to simply set the minimum number of species to 8. This would solve a lot of the problems people have and shut down thing such as entire broods of Rending Rippers as well as one-off Mutant Hive Tyrants and one-off Mutant Lictors (an abomination!).

Things to remember:

• They are slow in movement and initiative
• They are mindless (completely fearless and no Instinctive Behavior)
• They are instakilled by S 6 and above, which makes 3 wounds a moot point
• They get 1 better cover save, but with their speed, you may not be able to use cover effectively
• They cannot hold quarters

Rippers are OK in moderation.

One last note on freak army lists. Some folks like to go with the following hive fleet - Warriors (HQ & Elite), Rippers (Troop), and Carnifex. Sure, it's completely Fearless and never suffers Instinctive behavior, but it's pretty lopsided and I personally think it runs counter the intent of the Codex. Heck, you're sidestepping one of the more distinctive aspects of Tyranids, Instinctive Behavior.

Tyranid Warriors

I was loathe to field these guys, but now I am starting to like them. Of course, I had to think about it some. I have tried a trio out and liked it:

• Weapon biomorphs: 1 VC&ST, 1 RC&ST, 1 STx2. Although there is only one set of RC per Monstrous biomorphs sprue, I am willing to chop up Genestealers for their RC arms, which are a more reasonable size. That basically translates into 2.50 per RC, but that's cheaper than buying the Monstrous biomorphs sprue. In the end, I am tempted to keep this kind of mix overall so that I can have one Warrior that is less expensive for my first casualty.
• Extended Carapace: Otherwise too many common infantry weapons can ignore their armor. It also helps prolong close combat survival.
• Flesh Hooks: seem cool and they are only 1 point apiece, which is the hardest part of the decision.

I have also added another VC&ST Warrior to the above, which gave me a Heavy Support unit of Warriors which can be very handy when you roll Take & Hold (HQ in reserve, HS deployed).