Anticlimax

Late posting because I finally realised that I wasn't going to be finished in time for the tournament and so I stopped procrastinating on this idiotic blog, knuckled down and got on with it.  

Hive Fleet.. something or other.  Screw you, I like the colour scheme.

I didn't realise until Thursday night that I didn't actually have any Spore Mine models and therefore couldn't use the Biovores properly in a tournament setting.  I did the quickest conversion in Christendom and knocked up 4 of them in 2 and a half hours but it was another night wasted.  Anyway I'll blog about the Biovore debacle in a separate post.  The army is (kind of) finished.  If you get really up close (which you cannot do in the photograph) you can see the rushed and missing bits. However it works well at a distance of around 3 feet away which is where the vast majority of people looking at it are going to be standing.

So, for better or worse, I decided on the following list (keep your laughing to yourself please)

HQ
The Swarmlord (with Fido the plucky Tyrant Guard)
Hive Tyrant (wings, 2x TL devourers with brainleech worms)

Elite
3x Hive Guard
2x Zoanthrope

Fast Attack
2 broods of 15x Gargoyles

Heavy Support
1x Mawloc
2x Biovore

Troops
Tervigon
3 broods of 16x Termagants


I feel that my list breaks 3 fundamental (and possibly apocryphal) principles of Nid list building:

1. Always, always fill up your elite slots.  Tyranid elite units are amongst the best in the codex.  (With the exception of the Pyrovore. Which the author probably wrote the rules for whilst whizzing his tits off on a cocktail of amphetamines and horse tranquilisers one dark, moonless night.)    Hive Guard, Zoanthropes and Ymgarls are all good choices.  Spam them. Take the Doom of Malan'tai in a pod. He is one of the most undercosted units you can buy and still good even after being FAQ'd to death.  If he gets turned to giblets by interceptor fire (or dirty Coteaz), you only lost 90 points (well 130 if they smack the pod too).  So what?  If you get lucky, he can win the game for you.

2. Always take 6 troop choices, including Tervigon spam which will create even more troops for you.  Tyranids are all about attrition. If you can pump out more scoring units on objectives than your opponent can reasonably blast off the table, you win the game. (unless you're playing Purge the Alien.  In which case, hide).  Starship Troopers and Aliens, people. This is what narrative gaming is all about.

3. Don't put all your eggs in one Alien-queen nest.  Death star units might work for other armies but the lack of Eternal Warrior rule and dearth of invulnerable saves in your own could spell disaster.   The 340 points you spent on a Swarmlord and pet dog are likely to be a costly mistake when he fails to roll the biomancy power, or rolls boxcars and blows his own head off with it.

I chose to disregard these self imposed rules, mainly because I wasn't winning many games using them.  So I'm probably doing it wrong and should just relax and enjoy myself, showcasing my favourite models at a tournament.