After playing Crusher Stampede for a couple of games now, here’s what I’ve found to work and my general game plan.
Having spent more time with Crusher Stampede, Tyranids are coming out of the void swinging with some extremely strong playstyles. Whether you’re running Forces of the HIve Mind or Crusher Stampede you have options to play your favorite bugs and I’m all for it. Today we’re going to be looking at the key units when it comes to playing this Army of Renown, match-ups against top armies and what secondaries the army can play around with.
So let’s get started and stampede through this!
KEY UNITS
Hive Guard
No surprise here, Hive Guard are just good. Ignoring line of sight is a huge deal as well as ignoring light cover and having the option to either Re-Roll their damage roll with someone using Swarm Leader for full re-rolls or using Tyranid Warriors to give +1 to hit to them, Hive Guard just perform well. The only problem is that Crusher Stampede uses up a lot of Command Points already so you’ll find that you’ll probably only get about 1-2 uses out of Single-Minded Annihilation per game in this army but honestly that’s really all you need to make this army tick. Frontloading a lot of your damage in the beginning by dumping Command Points to clear out your opponent’s biggest threats makes the game a lot easier to work with when you have such a low model count.
Getting a lead early on and control the board with big high toughness monsters while your Hive Guard wail away at their backline to stop them from controlling objectives or even just being used to clear out chaff so your big monsters can charge the characters they’re protecting to slap Breaking Through on them to nuke the characters off the board. Oh hey nice Succubus with a whip, would be a real shame if this Dimachaeron just stepped on her.
The only problem with Hive Guard is when you go up against -1 damage armies (even into a mirror match-up). Thicc City is pretty tough to chew through with Hive Guard, but thank goodness you have some hefty monsters with damage profiles that’s going to make Thicc City sweat.
Barbed Hierodule
A T8 monster on a reliable gun platform is hard to pass up in Crusher Stampede. Tyranid Warriors giving +1 to hit makes these bad boys hit on 2+ making their S8 AP2 2D weapons way more reliable. Going into -1 damage armies isn’t that bad either thanks to Pathogenic Slime to bump the damage up to 3 to then be brought back down to 2. That makes Unwavering Phalanx from Thousand Sons a lot easier to deal with while still dropping a Rubric Marine each time it fires.
Barbed Hierodules also do well in Melee Combat even though it’s only 4 attacks, but hey we have some ways to buff them for +d3 extra attacks so 6 attacks isn’t too bad. It can definitely swing especially going into a 4++ unit, it’s going to be somewhat dicey and don’t be surprised if the attacks are just waved off. However with an 8″ move and a gun that has a range of 48″ he can just sit at a firing lane to try and nuke down enemy units while still having the ability to be aggressive and move up the board.
Dimachaeron
This is by far the star of the show. The Dima was already good, but now it’s even better and in Crusher Stampede this man is an absolute menace. This is going to be your main monster to dish out mortal wounds with both Breaking Through and his own Thorax Spine-Maw ability. You don’t even have to give him re-rolls to hit because he does it for himself already and Voracious Appetit to re-roll wound rolls is just icing on the cake.
Don’t even get me started with +d3 attacks, the ability to exploding 6’s and more importantly Death Frenzy. Having the ability to just rocket one of these guys into a backline character and unit, pop a character with mortal wounds – attacks another unit to bring them down – deal more mortals with thorax spine maw to score a 5+ feel no pain AND still be able to fight on death at top bracket? Uhm…yes please.
Flying Hive Tyrant
Swarmlord is also a very obvious Key Unit to be able to sling your big monsters up and down the board, but the Flying Hive Tyrant needs to be mentioned because he’s going to be your access point for clearing out chaff and applying buffs onto your monsters. You can definitely use a Neurothrope instead to apply buffs, but the Flyrant can use Twin Linked Devourer’s. You’re looking at having access to chew through things like Poxwalkers more easily without having to waste your higher damage shooty units at them and feel awful about it.
With a 16″ move, they fly around the board applying synaptic link support and even wounding Sisters, Admech and Drukhari chaff units on 2’s. Just a generally awesome all rounder unit that provides so much utility for your army you shouldn’t leave home without one at this point. Turn him into a pseudo T8 monster with Biomorphic Carapace for -1 to wound and still being a good unit to utilize Breaking Through.
TECH UNITS
Trygon Prime
What a glorious day to be to bring a Trygon Prime and have people think you’re not trolling. The main thing here is that you’re getting Fall Back, Shoot and Charge out of it’s synaptic ability so you can constantly using Breaking Through with your Dimachaeron’s and give your things like Barbed Hierodules some breathing room. He can be obscurred, moves 9″ and is a great choice for an Adaptive Physiology to give it a Strength 8 weapon.
Although being T6 is a bit rough, you can kind of fix it by giving him a relic for -1 to wound to turn the Trygon Prime into a T7 model making him slightly more durable but granted not by much. The biggest thing here is really his fall back, shoot and charge ability and have an insane damage profile that’s going to make Thicc City sweat.
Tossing Toxic Sacs on him along with Murderous Size you’re getting D6+2 damage on wound rolls of 6’s with everything else being D6+1 making anything that’s rolling 5+ Feel No Pains sweat if the wound is unsaved just because of how much slap these bugs do. Give him the warlord trait Rampaging Beast to get +d3 attacks and another +d3 with a Psychic power and you’ve got 11 extremely powerful attacks that will easily pop a Dreadknight, Redemptor and with Thunderous Impact and Breaking Through you can absolutely wipe an entire squad of Talos no problem.
Haruspex
Right now I’m absolutely in love with the Haruspex in Crusher Stampede. Clearing chaff with this army isn’t very easy, your best bet is running a Flying Hive Tyrant with double Twin Linked Devourer’s for your main chaff clear but it’s really just a soft answer to large chaff units. The last thing you want in this army is for your big monsters to be bogged down by little gremlins and this is why the Haruspex just does so well here. With +d3 attacks thanks to Aggressive Surge and Murderous Size to give him Strength 8, the Haruspex melts down chaff units incredibly easily especially when you bring in Breaking Through. Along with a stratagem for himself to re-roll hit rolls or using the new psychic power Infused Energies he’s always going to be extremely efficient especially when you slap a Tyranid Warrior +1 to hit synaptic link on the guy just for that much more of an extra punch.
On average this guy wipes an entire Warrior’s blob before reanimation with +d3 attacks, +1 to hit from Tyranid Warriors and 2CP for Voracious Appettite and either Breaking Through or Relentless Flurry for exploding 6’s. He also makes for a great target when it comes to charging a unit that you know is going to overwatch you since he also heals himself every time he kills off a model using his ravenous maw. I’ve had games where he took a large amount of damage from Overwatch and at the end of the fight just healed himself back up to full health.
If you’re looking for more chaff clearing and don’t mind having a somewhat slower unit (only a 7″ move) this is your man. Plus he’s only 170pts.~
Scythed Hierodule
If you’re looking for more ways to chew through chaff, the Scythed Hierodule is also a great option. With a 3D6 S6 flamer you can definitely chew through some chaff but definitely not as much as a Haruspex but what you’re getting out of this unit is a 12″ move. Compared to a Dima, the Scythed Hierodule get’s outclassed by it from all the innate buffs that a Dima gives himself. However if you’re looking to take something like To The Last with a Barbed Hierodule, Hive Guard and Swarmlord the Scythed Hierodule opens up some options for Secondaries that a Dima wouldn’t allow you to do as reliably.
Being T8 and S8 you survive a lot longer than a Dima does and if you just stack all the buffs onto a Scythed he just becomes a nuisance for a wave attack where you send out a Dima first and then follow it up with a Scythed Hierodule right after. I’m honestly not that much of a fan of the Scythed Hierodule just because the Dima is so good, however if you want to play To The Last more easily this is your guy.
MATCH UPS
Orks
Freebooters and Speedwaagh AOR you’re laughing all the way to the bank with this one. With their weapons being S6 and reduced down to 1 damage you’re just shrugging off so much damage by having them wound on 5+ and even if the damage goes through you’re only taking 1 damage from each unsaved wound. Taking a Flyrant and charging a Wazbom as well deals on average 6 mortal wounds and with all your shooting available, you’ll easily kill these flyers and from there everything else just looks like a snack. Even Kill Rigs aren’t a problem in Crusher Stampede, making this a pretty good matchup for the army.
Thousand Sons
Again, you’re laughing all the way to bank with this. With all their +1 strength and +1 to wound shenanigans your T8 Monsters are still only being wounding on 5’s at best. Yeah they can mortal wound bomb you with a beefed up Exalted Sorcerer but you also have Shadow in the Warp and thanks to Leviathan you even have a new strat to deny a power on a 4+, so it’s really not that big of a deal. Plus if they’re not careful with spacing and bubble wrapping you can easily take down an Exalted Sorcerer with just Breaking Through.
They can’t even take Wrath of Magnus reliably because it’s going to take a lot of psychic powers to take down a single 18 wound monster so you’re safe on that front. Again, another great match-up for Tyranids.
Death Guard
-1 damage is just a joke to Crusher Stampede. The army deals so much damage in melee combat that the -1 damage really doesn’t amount to much. Funnily enough, that also means Crusher Stampede does well into a mirror Match Up. The only problem here is poxwalker spam. Like I’ve said before, clearing chaff can become a problem with Crusher Stampede and with how many mortals poxwalkers can dish out while at the same time bogging down our monsters it can be a huge hassle. This is where things like a Flying Hive Tyrant with Twin Linked Devourer’s and a Haruspex comes in clutch. Together those two alone will knock out 1 or 2 units of Poxwalkers per turn while your Dima’s deal with their key characters and Deathshroud Terminators.
Drukhari
Again another great match-up for Crusher Stampede. Thicc City just like Death Guard really doesn’t bother Tyranids very much. A Trygon Prime with buffs will clear out a Talos unit and a Dima can do work on them as well. You have a lot of D3+3 damage floating around in this army plus with your speed and flipbelt again you can knock out some very pesky characters like a Succubus, Archon or Homunculus.
Grey Knights
Again, another great matchup. Considering that a majority of builds is just Dreadknight Spam, you really don’t have much to worry about. Keep an eye out for when they attempt to cast Empyric Amplification to get +1 damage so then you can use Void in the Warp to try and deny it more and you’re completely fine. Without amp, all of their damage get’s reduced down to 1 damage and besides their Psycannon’s they’re only wounding your monsters on 5’s and 6’s dealing 1 damage. Funnily enough Storm Bolters with just plink damage can put some serious hurt on your monsters.
Because of Dreadknight Spam as well, people aren’t taking Words of Power anymore and so you don’t even after to worry about mortal wound bombs most of the time anymore because of their lack of a Chaplain. Troops are also a tax for Grey Knights, they can give obsec with a warlord trait Unyielding Anvil, but Crusher Stampede in Leviathan has access to Hive Mind Imperative for Obsec as well and you’ll count as more models anyways. Great match-up for Tyranids.
Adeptus Mechanics
This matchup is probably going to hurt. Admech have great ways to deal with strong units, in fact they were made to do exactly that and so it’s going to be difficult to hold your ground while being pelted by their Stratoraptors and massive plink shots from their Skitarri blobs. This is probably going to be your toughest match-up along with sisters, with -1 damage it doesn’t change much when it comes to D3+3. Once their chicken walkers and planes are gone though, you’ll be fine. Utilize your Hive Guard and Barbed Hierodules with Pathogenic Slime to take out their planes.
SECONDARIES
Engage on All Fronts – A great secondary since you’re already so fast especially with Swarmlord and even with a low amount of models you can cover the field very quickly. Also great with the new updates to Engage on all Fronts since you can use monsters in order to score it as well.
Stranglehold – With Hive Mind Imperative to give a unit obsec, you can sling a Dima up the board and have him take an objective away since he counts as 18 models at full health. Couple that in with how he’ll probably also kill whatever is on an objective as well you have a strong way to hold objectives especially if you bring warriors and just push them up the board to tie Obsec on an objective and gain it back with the Dimachaeron, Hierodules or Flyrants.
Retrieve Octarius Data – Use this while you can while Lictors are still viable for this. Take 2 and boom you’ve got guaranteed 12 points when it comes to this secondary.
Warp Ritual – Void Crown is an awesome relic and opens up Warpcraft Secondaries into armies you feel like you can’t reliably score something for a third secondary or if a mission secondary just isn’t very good. With Swarmlord you can easily just pop into the center of the board for a cast and then just move him back or you can have Neurothrope and Flying Hive Tyrant working on this if you need it as well. In all a pretty reliable secondary choice.
Grind Them Down – With a low model account and a lot of threats on the board, Grind Them Down really isn’t a bad take with this army. You’re killing a lot and it’s going to be pretty difficult for your opponent to take down your big monsters to begin with. If you feel like your big monsters can survive, this secondary works really well for Crusher Stampede.
No Prisoners – If you’re feeling sketchy about whether you can reliably get grind them down or if your opponent just has a bunch of blobs of chaff, No Prisoners works really well. Yes, you do have a problem with clearing chaff, but if you’re going to have to do it anyways and can grab points while you’re at it you might as well try it out.
Assassinate – Two words, Breaking Through. You kill characters without breaking a sweat and so your monsters are just dropping them left and right. If your opponent is playing hero hammer, you just play villain hammer.
To The Last – This is a tech secondary and depends on your list on whether you’re bringing a Dimachaeron or not. If you’re taking a single Dima you can still take this and be happy with a flat 10 score but at that point you can just take Warp Ritual instead. However if you built your list without a Dimacheron and instead took Hive Guard, Barbed Hierodules and Swarmlord you can definitely take TTL and be a lot more comfortable with it. Switch out the Dima for a Scythed Hierodule and you’re fine.
SUMMARY
As a summary, Crusher Stampede has some pretty good legs to stand on and can definitely swing into the top tier armies out there. With some finesse, target priority and knowing when to go hot in the army Crusher Stampede is not only a fun way to play Tyranids, but reliable as well. It’s so much fun to finally put down these big monsters and not feel like you’re just going to auto lose. I’m in love with this Army of Renown and if you’re going to LVO watch out for these guys because they’ll put some hurt on your army at the snap of a finger!
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