Thinking of Nids...

[TAUuser]

I play Tau right now (as u can see in the username) and I am looking at starting a nid army. Im having trouble winning with my Tau( reason im looking at nids) and i i think that Tau just wasn't my style. SO my question is or rather questions is:

What is the best way to start a Nid army?

What should be my next buy after that?

And any tips in general.

I really appreciate any feedback u nid experts might have. Thx to all who respond in advance.

[Beeva]

I'm always thinking of Nids...

Well, Nids and Tau are chalk and cheese. Nids you'll have lots of feet on the board. Fast feet looking together up close. Shooting, not so much. I'm sure you already must know that

Good place to start really is the battleforce I think. There's some good lists in the Suggested Starter Lists thread. Bartleforce has lots of troops in it and you'll need those. Then you can start looking at a Hive Tyrant or converting a Prime.

[scythes]

Like Beeva said, Battleforce all the way to start out. If a battleforce is too much, start with a box of termagaunts or hormagaunts, basic troops, and it's always good to have lots of.

[TAUuser]

I've played nids with my Tau and the guy i played my friend actually had quite a lot of effective shooting. Thats what really drew me into Tyranids. Sworms of little WS 6 bugs that can shoot u when u need it! The perfect balance of CC and shooty. I think thats why i have so much kroot(CC of the Tau) and what would u reccomend Synapse Creatures wise and HQ's?

[scythes]

If you want a shooty army get a bunch of warriors and give them guns, convert one into a prime so they get his higher BS, and pick up some hive guard. I only have one right now so I haven't had a chance to use it, but everyone who's ever used one or fought against one says they're awesome and impossible to get rid of.

[TAUuser]

Should i get a Hive Tyrant or some MC's? I want a CC army, i just feel so restricted with the Tau like i can ONLY do any damage in the shooting phase. With the tyranids, ther just so much more free. Ther fast, good in CC, can shoot, got MC's, all they need is a good reliable anti tank(or do they already have 1) and there basically and unstoppable wave of face eating buggies! To bad my dad is against another army. but i want my tyranids!! I want my bugs! thx for all ur guys help

[Beeva]

MCs are great, but think about what you're going to do with them and what road you want to go down as you don't want too many (they're expensive and easy to target).

Hive Tyrants are great, highly versatile and deadly but they tend to need some Tyrant Guard to protect them, which makes them expensive. Carnifex's are useful, but keep them cheep and get more than one. I'll always reccomend take a full brood of three naked fex's. Tervigons have their uses although my experience is limited with them. Trygon's and Mawlocs, use them to their strengths and they're great. They're just very obvious target and hard to give cover saves to. Again, take more than one.

Hive guard are great as Scythes said, I'm a big fan of the Zoanthrope though as they provide synapse and I find I'm quite lucky with their 3++ save.

Devourers are deadly in large numbers, they double the cost of Termagents but if used right they really make a mess of any infantry. Nids have got some nice shooting but I find it works best in support of your CC units, I'd try not to focus on it too much as other armies do it much better (ironically like the Tau).

[herplover]

There was a great post several months ago in the nids section about what to take for horde armies and what to take for monster armies.I would find that and read it and make a decision.battleforces are always a good start though.generally you get one of the units free when you buy a battle force,Kind of like getting a free soda when you get a value meal at McDonalds or any fast food place

[nidcron]

I would echo what has already been said **get a battle force** maybe even get 2, you will likely end up using all the units. The tyranid troops are awesome, especially genestealers hehe >.

For anti tank, I like Zoanthropes but if you play against SM you have to watch out for psychic hoods. Hive guard are awesome vs light armor (dreadnoughts, rhinos, anything open topped etc...) but can't really stack up against the heavier stuff. I haven't ran a tyrannofex yet, but I have heard good things about the rupture cannon, 2x S10 shots is nice.

MC's are your other option for anti tank. I totally agree with Beeva on the carnifex, run them at least 2-3 in a squad - naked, or if you give them anything make it adrenal glands for the I boost or the thing that acts like assault grenades (the name escapes me atm :S). Hive tyrants with wings are great tank hunters. The tervigon is an excellent support unit, but doesn't particularly excel at anything. Trygon's are nice to soak up fire and smash into heavy armor, just keep them away from power weapons.

[Fuzzy The Flayed One]

You don't play nids to win! you play nids to see the look on peoples faces when you stick your swarm on the table!!

[Forest]

Nids are awsome. If you play them right their good in competition and can be crazy for casual. If you want fun try to feild 5 tervigons. Massive numbers every turn lol it's rediculas and worth just to see peoples reactions. If your going for a win never go without a good sized brood of genes or a hand full of carnifex. If you want to feild a tyranofex he is an awsome anti armor, but realy expensive and gas alot of hate.

[nidcron]

You don't play nids to win! you play nids to see the look on peoples faces when you stick your swarm on the table!!

This is so very true, 'nids aren't supposed to win (the codex proves that ), they are just there to kill as much as they can on their way back to the digestion pools.

The only real drawback to playing nids (other than not winning) is how long it takes to move so many models, but its fun to see a gargoyle brood closing in on enemy deployment zones by turn 2. Plus you can deepstrike close to 80% of the army.

[Forest]

Actualy I believed nids placed top3 in one of the last big tourneys. The secret to nids is psychology. In order to win they must be used in CqC. Their ranged are respectable but will probly do little good. You have to play smart and sly. Right down to how you paint and decorate your army. If they can't get in close they just die and scare.

[wookieplus]

This is so very true, 'nids aren't supposed to win (the codex proves that ), they are just there to kill as much as they can on their way back to the digestion pools.

Yah, I think they broke the codex when they relaunched. My Nid army using the older codex used to win fairly often. When the new codex came out, to field the same units would have cost 42% more. I've not seen many Nid armies fielded since, which is a shame as they are brilliant models and paint up well.

Furthermore, one of the key units - the Tervigon - still hasnt been released even after all this time. So Nids probably best if you like doing major conversions.

[Beeva]

Nids arent broken. There are a couple of things that bug me; assault grenades & and a lack of a 2nd wave of models but they can be competitive.

Theres a pretty heavy change to the army from the last edition which some people haven't got to grips with, mainly that a few staple Nid units aren't as good as they used to be; Stealers, Lictors, Tyrants and Carnies have had to be given careful consideration in lists do to their cost increase. Some very good new units; Trygons, Doom, Hive Guard, Tervigon.

on the whole, I prefer the old Dex but the latest is a far cry from broken.

[Forest]

I posted a list just under this one for a powerful army. It's called pressure play and as I said it's more psychological warfare then just aimlessly charging units. The idea is to maximize the obvious threats to manipulate the sway of opposing units. Of they focus all their fire power in a single MC they need some real luck cause hormas charge fast and DO devastate fleshy units. The large group of MCs means they will probly try to break up their fire to distribute the damage. Although regeneration is a gamble it does keep them Alive and can charge after the first round the firing and do their damage on before the second can kill too many.

[nidcron]

Yeah 'nids do have some good stuff, but its pretty obvious this current codex was just rushed out, it is full of gaps and is loaded with pointless units.

This was just a classic case of "how do we get people to buy our shiny new Trygon model?" It was pretty easy, make the hoardes of Carnifexs they sold from the last codex next to worthless but create the illusion of a "balance" by making them available in broods.

Just wish that GW could entice people to buy new models without making the older stuff next to obsolete.

[mephiston_2k]

Winged Tyrants rule They scare and decimate the enemy should they arrive in 1 piece! The pure size and threat of what it can do will make people focus on it big time. I love using mine, also I have 3 winged warriors/shrikes and 10 gargoyles just to pose alternative threats to his advance lol.

Im not a fan of the little gaunts, prefer warriors and stealers myself in which a broodlord comes in handy. The gaunts do come in handy as a delaying unit or simply to sit on an objective though. I have a Trygon but find it doesnt last long enough to be of much use... somehow my carnifexs do better?!
Also I have a Stonecrusher carnifex from forgeworld... just like the Flying Tyrant it scares people

I find them a fun army to use, possibly more entertaining than my Blood Angels.. Just expect shooting phases to not be overly brilliant and to not get an armour save 99% of the time!!

[appo333]

Honestly I feel the exact same way as you, I play tau and I'm thinking of switching to tyranids.

[durabigael]

I agree with what they are saying , get 2 battle force and make a warrior a prime.

So you will have

1 HQ
5 Troop

1 prime 5 warrior with devorer , that 18 shot str 5 ap 5 at bs 4
32 term
32 horm
16 genes
+ some useless ripper swarm

I m not a big fan of hormagant either , you can always convert them into more termagant with either devorer or spine gaunt.