Moving Forward: Changes to Nick's Tyranid List Post-LVO

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There are a flurry of tournaments available here in Southern California.  Coming up I plan on attending tournaments at Game Empire: Pasadena & San Diego in March, along with the Broadside Bash in April.  I love how my Tyranids play, but I feel like I need to make some adjustments to compete in Maelstrom missions.  Below I've outlined some of the changes I'm considering... As a refresher, here was my LVO list:

4 Flyrants with Wings, Devourers and Egrubs

3x1 Mucolids

2x3 Rippers

1 Malanthrope

1 Barbed Hierodule

1 Void Shield Generator

Nick's Tyranids

  • All of these tournaments have some Maelstrom elements.  My Tyranids as built for the LVO could not handle Maelstrom missions; they needed more of a ground presence. As such, I think it's best to drop a Flyrant from the list.
  • The Ripper Swarms really didn't do much for me.  Any sort of concentrated fire and they get eliminated.  I've also had them sit on the line right outside of linebreaker and continue to fail their Instinctive Behavior roll.  I will miss their Objective Secured, but by swapping them for Mucolids I free up 60 points.
  • What should I add in?  I'm looking for a ground presence that can hop on objectives and get me linebreaker.  Lictors are the most logical choice, as they can come in anywhere on the board.  They can also threaten smaller units and are pretty safe in cover.
  • I like Tyrant Guard and Hive Guard too.  They offer great backfield support, and can park on an objective while my Hierodule and Malanthrope threaten the midfield.
  • A second Malanthrope might be a great option too.  When parked in cover on a backfield objective, this guy will be hard to move.
  • I am tempted (but not convinced) by adding in a Swarmlord or Dimachareon.  Either one of these, when paired with a Barbed Hierodule and Malanthrope, become a very nasty triple threat.  I would lose out on the MSU elements, but it will be worth testing out.
  • So in summary, I will be dropping a Flyrant, swapping Rippers for Mucolids, and adding in some combination of Lictors, Tyrant Guard, Hive Guard, another Malanthrope, and MAYBE even a Swarmlord or Dimachareon.  I'll also be adding in Fighter Ace for my Warlord Flyrant.

The Broadside Bash is a different animal entirely.  It's a 2-day GT at 2,000 points but features player-rated comp.  As such, I don't think I'll be taking more than 1 Flying Hive Tyrant.  In the past, I could probably get away with taking 2 Flyrants in a Tyranid list, but since they're so popular right now, I won't chance it.  I will also leave the Barbed Hierodule at home.  This gives me quite a few points to work with as I build an army around a Flyrant, the Swarmlord, Dimachareon, Mucolids (watch out for these guys), Lictors and GENESTEALERS!  Yes, I have 38 Genestealers ready for action.  Lictors and Genestealers provide a nice theme to work with, and I'm excited to see if I can turn it into a winning combination.

That's all for now, for my fellow Tyranid players, what changes are you making to your Tyranid lists? To everyone else, do you have any tournaments coming up that you're planning for?

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