Crimson Sundown

Maybe we can bring back the light

One week ago I claimed that I did not like the new changes made to the Tyranids in their new codex which has been released just about now.  I downloaded a leaked copy of the codex and proceeded to play my owning two matches in Paul’s Basement League with the new list.  How am I feeling about it right now?  Well, let’s just saying that when you are winning, everything seems perfect.

I played two games last weekend, first game against Paul’s Space Marines, and the second game against Jonathan’s Chaos Space Marines.  This was a interesting matchup, only in the fact that when I play games against the North Jersey crew, we really don’t have any Marine players, which of course is not the norm.  So for me, it was the first time I had played against the well rounded squads of the Emperor in awhile.

I won’t go into a turn by turn analysis, if you want that GO HERE, but I will offer some ideas on what changes I like and which I don’t.

First off, I like how much Dakka we can take.  Monsterous Creatures can unleash a ton of shots per turn, not to mention the three shots each for Tyranid Warriors.  Overall, we have a lot of shooting options, and they can really put a hurt on someone, especially when we can shoot well and be dangerous in close combat.  Genestealers getting infiltrate for free, is amazing.  I utilized all of their skills in both games and they were easily the most valuable squad I had on the table.  Can’t wait to add a Broodlord to the squad.

The Mosntrous Creatures not having invulernable saves is annoying but understandable.  I will have to factor that in.  Also, now that the units are just fearless, the fact that they take extra armor saves in close combat if they lose, is terrible.  This means that instead of tarpitting people in close combat like my Hormagaunts should, they are simply dying far too quickly to be effective.  Walking Tyrants with Guards are so difficult to kill, it’s almost unfair.  Give a Tyrant 2-3 guard and he’ll be around all game.

Also while on the topic of Tyrants, their psychic powers are unbelievable.  The three free ones that you have to choose from are great for either Flyrants or Walking Tyrants and they really can make a difference.  Meanwhile, the additional powers that you can spend a lot of points on, allow you to customize the entire army to a particular playstyle (heavy close combat, heavy outflank / reserves, etc) that you may want to try out.  It feels like the codex takes awhile customizions, but it really doesn’t, they are just done in a different way.

Let’s see what else?  Taking out tanks is still a bit of a problem.  We have the Carnifex which is good, and we can Rend them with the Genestealers, but as far as shooting, the only really reliable option is Zoanthropes.  They by the way, are amazing and I will be fielding a squad of them no matter what game or opponent they are just too useful.

Overall, the army feels very balanced and I feel like my current models are not ideal or perfect, they are a solid base that can absolutely beat any opponent given the right movement and target priority.

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Tags: Tyranid, Warhammer 40k

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 14th, 2010 at 9:52 pm and is filed under Warhammer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.