Nids, I just can’t quit you!
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Soooo, don’t write articles when you’re going on no sleep and after a few beers, haha, made a few errors in this article which I will notate in red. Sorry for the confusion.
So despite GW dropping an elephantine doo-doo on their customers with this ill-conceived, terribly balanced codex….I still want to play my bugs! But, how to do it without wanting to punch myself in the nuts, repeatedly?
Well, Nids do have a few kernels of corn in the turd that is their book if you hunt for them. But then you have to sit down and dig through the shit, don’t you? Not a fun task but possibly worth the effort. I think if you focus on only those few good units, disregard most of the rest, and play those units very, very well….you might be able to win more games than you lose. Maybe.
So, which units look like they might have some life in them? In our play-testing, these are the units I am drawn towards so far. Too bad almost all of them are in Heavy Support or HQ =(
But, enough Debbie Downer talk, let’s focus on making a Nid list that wins games! It can be done…I believe!
Flyrants with dual Devourers.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all know these guys are good. They were good last edition, but now they’re cheaper, more accurate and mastery level 2. Nice! Buuuuuut, they drop like flys, often giving up both synapse and warlord. Boo. That said, they are one of the best point for point models Nids have access to, kill flyers, light tanks, infantry, provide synapse, and can fight fairly well in combat, too. So, I’ll have 2, thank you. And screw taking Dominion, these guys often fly out of range of the rest of the army, so screw it. Give them all-out attack powers and go into the game assuming they will die like dogs, but take a lot of the enemy with them before they go! Death and Glory! Wait…that’t not how it goes…
I have considered giving one of them assault weapons, but the second these guys touch the ground, they’re going to die a terrible death. They may take a unit with them on the way, but a high priority target like this guy that is on the ground, in front of the enemy army may as well start digging his own grave. It’s still worth trying, but typically you want these fellas hunting from the skies where they can rain death down on the enemy with their 12, tin-linked strength 6 shots.
Malathropes
These guys are a Forge World unit that are worth taking a loot at. The aren’t super exciting on the first read, but they’re cheap, fairly fast (Move Through Cover and Fleet), hit decently hard (3 attacks, I5, poison at str 5, ws 3 and Toxic Miasma), and are reasonably resilient (T5, 4W, 3+ and Regeneration). T5 is a bummer as Smash attacks are so prevalent these days. However, they do come in the HQ slot, and, here is the best part, in broods of 1-3 MCs (They’re not MC’s anymore….lame). Nice! At only 10pts over a Thunderfire Cannon, you can quite easily take 2 for a cheap price point and have 8, T5 wounds to chew through that also provide an all important Synapse bubble that is larger due to their being 2, 60mm bases from which to measure it.
Malanthropes also have a special rule: Prey Adaptation. This grants them, and any units in Syanpse preferred enemy against an Infantry unit the Malathropes have destroyed in assault.
(Other than cheap synapse, they aren’t so hot, anymore. Nothing to see here, move along =P).
Devourer Gants
These little buggers are really solid troops. A unit of 15-20 with 10 Devourers makes for a cheap, resilient, solid scoring unit. I like them quite a bit, actually. Hormagants are good too, but they suffer form the same fate ALL assault oriented troops do: if they are going into assault as they are designed to do, they are often dying and not winning the game by scoring you objectives. Gants though, shoot and scoot onto objectives. Cheap, good offense, and a scoring unit. Yes please, I’ll take 4.
As always, Syanpse is the killer with these plucky little chaps…but that is true of the rest of the army, too.
Crones and Harpies
Everything counts in large amounts. These guys are pretty lame on their own but when looked at in the perspective of a list built around units like this, they are pretty good because they are cheap. That then means you can take lots of them. Fill the skies with cheap FMCs and you may kill some of the enemy when their bloddy, broken bodies come crashing down upon them!
Take 3. Give them no upgrades. Plan on them dying horribly. However, 3 of these and 2 Flyrants means that usually, at least a few of them will make it to where you want them. They are still MCs after all, and can pack a wallop. The Crone is great for hunting Flyers and ground targets with his Flamer and Vector Strike (if they are close enough…stupid huge flying base!) and the Harpy is super cheap, has a decent set of weapons and buffs other units on the assault. Not bad.
Zoenthropes and Venomethropes
They’re not so hot, but they buff a lot. I made a funny!
Venomes are all but mandatory. Too bad they don’t add much in the face of the big 3 (Eldar, Tau and Daemons) all of whom largely ignore cover. Damn near every army has access to Ignore Cover in some way though, and as such Venom’s diminish in utility, but, when they’re good, they’re great. So, at their reasonable price point, you take them and deal with it. A lot of folks are taking a single Venome or 2, and hiding them. I am actually thinking about taking a full unit of 3 and having them go up the table, assaulting, with the rest of the Gribblies. Why not? Target saturation is the Russian strategy and it worked on the Germans! Sort of! But seriously, 3 Venomes is beefy enough to take a good amount of attention to kill, and fights fairly well in assault. Hey, might as well try, right? And you know, they have Toxic Miasma which might kill a dude or two.
Zoens are the same. Not great at all on their own, but hey, they provide reasonably affordable Synapse, reasonable durability, are not in a hotly contested FoC slot and have fairly decent psychic powers. OK, we can work with that. Slap him in a Bastion perhaps, take a unit of 2 to avoid giving up First Blood too easily…yeah. You kind of have to take them for Synapse and then hope for a good second power. Warp Blast or Lance can do work though honestly, in the right circumstances. There are just a lot of failure points to work through (psychic check, deny the witch, rolling to hit and wound or armor pen, etc.) so they often frustrate you. That said, they do have the potential to rock!
Heavy Support
Alright, here’s where it’s at! Yeah, some actually good, exciting units here! Ah, my kingdom for a 4th Heavy slot!
Exocrines, Tyranofexes, Biovores , and Carnifexes and the Stone Crusher Carnifex are all the hotness! Trygons are OK. Mawlocs are OK. I know a lot of folks like them, but in our test games the Mawloc has been pretty shitty and really underwhelming. I think he’s better used to just run up the field than Deep Striking as a cheap, 6 wound MC, honestly. If you go second, then reserve him, otherwise just have him shoot up the field. He will occasionally blow your mind but is inconsistent, IMO, and not a great choice outside of a list designed for units like him.
But enough of him.
Exocrines are cheap, tough, and shoot well. Nice! For the points, this guy is a solid choice. In my games with this model I have been very happy with the results. My only complaint is that he tends to die quickly as he is a dangerous target and has to get within 24″ to do work, and in 40K 24″ is a lethal range band to be in. Even 30″ would really increase his survivability.
Biovores are just fantastic. Cheap, durable, and a great weapon. Really, this is an all-star unit. As even if they miss, their weapon can still effect their target (spores can assault the turn they appear), and they went down in points and gained a wound. Right on! Take 9 of the bastards, you will not be disappointed.
Carnies got cheaper. Nuff said. They were good before but too pricey. Now they’re priced aggressively and provide a great unit either naked as a bargain assault MC. Consider Adrenal Glands to speed him up, or Crushing Claws so that he doesn’t have to smash. Don’t forget to use Living Battering Ram as at base strength 9 Hammer of Wraith attacks, that is some ass whippery right there!
Don’t bother with Spine Banks, though. Most folks are looking at the Dakkafex pattern (Dual Devouerers) because that is what we’re used to. It’s great! 12, str 6, twin linked shots nets an average of 9 hits at 18″ range (onslaught is great here) for a bargain price. However, the Carnifex has a lot of good builds. Consider dual Stranglethorne Cannons: two, large, st6, pinning blasts is some solid firepower (or it WOULD be solid firepower if you could actually do it. Only one Stangler per Fex…back to Devourers we go!). Or with Bio-Plasma, too. Onslaught, again, is great. Adrenal glands, too. The Carnifex is back and a solid choice. Hell, take 9!
The Stone Crusher Carnifex is a FW unit that is pricey but I think bears some consideration now. Here’s why. First, he has the all-important 2+ save. That counts for a lot. Krak Missiles, etc. don’t bypass his armor. Small Arms fire will land half the wounds on him they will on a 3+ save Carnifex. That means that often, it will take twice as much firepower to take him down. He also has boosted regen, allowing him to reroll failed regen rolls of a 1, giving him a 3.5 out of 6, or 58% chance to gain back a wound each turn. Not bad! That makes him surprisingly tough for a T6, 4 wound model.
He also has Crushing Claws which now mean he pretty much never has to smash (Armor Bane and +1 Strength) and he gets +1 on the damage table vs. vehicles and buildings. He will devastate any AV unit he touches! That plus D3 Hammer of Wrath attacks means he packs a punch and while slow, is pretty tough. I think this old boy bears some serious consideration now.
T-Fex. Yeeeeah, boooy! This is my guy, right here. I love the model and always wanted to use him in 5th ed, but he just cost too many points to justify it. Now, he is much cheaper, and still has that all important 2+ save. This plus 6 wounds and a reasonable price point makes him very appealing. So far in our test games, the T-Fex has reliably been the one MC to actually survive the game. When he dies it has only been to Jaws (or something similar) or in assault when he has been massively out-matched. Generally though, this tough SOB can get up the field and into enemy lines, reliably. Just be aware of his limitations. For me, Acid Spray, all day. Cheap, maybe with Adrenal Glands or Regen, and lots of them. I really think the T-Fex is a unit you can build a list around as he has just the right combination of traits to make him durable enough, and hard hitting enough to get the job done. Take a Thorax Swarm too, if you want to beef him up, I prefer Shreeder Beetles as shred and rending on str3 is a great combo!
Enough Jibber-Jabber, Let’s See a LIST already!
So, after a lot of thought and testing, here are a few lists I think can actually do work.
List 1: 1750pts
Flyrant: Dual Devourer
Flyrant: Dual Devourer
Gants x 15
Gants x 15
Gants x 15
Gants x 10
Venomes x 2
Zoeys x 2
Crone
Harpy
Harpy
Mawloc
Mawloc
Mawloc
Insert your preferred method of reserve manipulation.
So, this list is all about lots of big bugs, lots of pressure and flexibility.
If you’re going first, you go balls to the wall, and attack ultra aggressively with everything. Your little bugs take objectives, your big bugs run forward, die, but hopefully not before crippling your opponent. With the spare points you want to use them to buy something to increase your reserve rolls because is this army goes second, all the big guys reserve. You plan for a turn 2 alpha strike. Your FMCs and Mawlocs come in from reserves and overwhelm (hopefully) your opponent.
List 2: 1750pts
This is actually the list I am more drawn to.
Flyrant: Dual Devourers
Malanthropes x 2
Gants x 10
Gants x 10
Gants x 10
Gants x 10
Venomes x 3
Zoeys x 2
Harpy
Harpy
Crone
T-Fex
T-Fex
T-Fex
You have some points to spare for more Gants or Biomorphs, etc. You can also sub out T-Fexes for Carnies or Exocrines as you desire, but the T-Fexes stand out to me as they are so much more durable. You send in wave 1: Operation Fall on the Sword, which consists of the FMCs to occupy the enemy, then the T-Fexes come to further occupy the enemy, hopefully leaving your Gants to win you the game, supported by the other ground pounding units.
List 3: 1750pts
Prime: Norn Crown
Gants x 20: Devourers x 10
Gants x 20: Devourers x 10
Gants x 20: Devourers x 10
Gants x 20: Devourers x 10
Gants x 20: Devourers x 10
Venomes x 2
Zoen
Harpy
Harpy
Harpy
Dakkafex
Stranglerfex
Biovores x 3
This list shoots you to death with lots and lots of large blast weapons. The Prime is A number 1 to die as he is your primary synapse, but everything else is pure kill power. Tons of dakka, good AA, decent assault, good scoring power. Drown the enemy in dice! Muahaha!
So there you have it! Let me know what you all think. This turd needs polishing! lol