Posting my Tyranid army got me thinking about my games using them and the associated tactics.  I also wanted to have the chance to post individual pictures of some of my bug models.  So, here is a basic review of Tyranid units.  Note that I am only going to talk about those units that are actually in my army and thus with which I have experience.

Hive Tyrant:  A must have as far as I am concerned.  In fact, I have two of them.  One is the winged variety you see here and the other is a ground pounding cousin.  They are big, imposing, and nasty in combat – assuming, of course, you can get them there. 

A winged Tyrant is fast, but can be too fast for the rest of your army if you aren’t careful.  Likewise, as strong as it may be it’s still fragile enough to melt in a single turn if you just fly him out in front of your enemy’s army.  Keep it behind cover and try to get the charge without taking too much fire.  You also want to not get so far ahead of the rest of the swarm that the swarm can’t start to join in the next turn.  It (almost) goes without saying that you give a winged Tyrant Warp Field for protection.  Otherwise, fit it out for close combat.

A walking Tyrant is a different affair.  It’s going just six inches a turn and therefore will generally be part of your last wave of attackers.  So that it’s not wasted until then give it a weapon.  I prefer the Barbed Stranger as a Venom Cannon isn’t as nasty in the hands of a Tyrant as a Carnifex.  Besides, the new vehicle rules somewhat nerfed the VC.  By comparison, the Strangler can be an effective infantry killer.

Tyrant Guard:  I usually take three with my walking Tyrant.  They keep the Tyrant alive longer (important given that the Tyrant is a Synapse Creature) and are good close combat fighters.  If you take them don’t bother with a Warp Field for the Tyrant.

In general, I like to start my Tyrant and Guard as close to the front line as I can so that they can stay within range of the rest of the force as best as possible.  Start them in the back and they’ll be badly outpaced by all those fleet of claw gaunts and genestealers.

Brood Lord:  I don’t use this very much – I prefer the Tyrant – but he is a must have if you are going with a genestealer heavy (or only) army.  He doesn’t quite have the punch of the larger units, but is still pretty nasty in combat.  His ability to let one unit of genestealers infiltrate can be a blessing and a curse.  Sure, you can surprise the enemy, but then again it and its entourage tend to be stuck out by themselves away from support.  Likewise, since it can’t fleet of claw it slows the group down.  If you aren’t careful it can be too far away to do anything without running into the open.  In that case it is too fragile to stand up to concentrated fire and potentially too slow to get into combat quickly.  An Extended Carapace is a necessity with the Brood Lord.  Likewise, Toxin Sacks are nice as the resulting strength 6 means he wounds Space Marines (and other Toughness 4) on a 2+.

Tyranid Warriors:  I have three 5 bug squads of these painted up and for good reason – they are great.  They are powerful in close combat (especially if you give them rending claws and scything talons as I do) and best of all count as Synapse Creatures.  They are a must have just for keeping the rest of your force fearless.

Give them Extended Carapace or else see them wilt in the face of bolter fire.  Set them up so that they can stay within Synapse range and have them join the charge.  Remember that they aren’t Fleet of Claw so if you aren’t careful your main forces can outpace them and end up out of Synapse.

You can take Tyranid Warriors with ranged weapons, but I’m not impressed with their effectiveness if you do.  One, with their modest strengths they aren’t apt to do a lot of damage.  Two, you may be tempted to have them stay back and shoot, but then they lose their advantage as Synapse Creatures.  Three, if you do keep them up with the rest of the swarm then you’ll find them in charge range without the punch that melee Warriors have.

Lictors:  I am not enthusiastic when it comes to lictors, although they certainly have their uses.  They are fairly effective in combat and their ability to pop out where the enemy lest wants to see them is handy tactically.  However, they only have 2 wounds and a wimpy 5+ armor save.  That makes them awfully vulnerable for 80 points.  For goodness sake make sure to use their cover save bonus as much as possible.  However, you’ll often find you need to send them out of cover to get at the enemy so this ability isn’t as nice as you might think.

Genestealers:  The bread and butter of a horde army thanks to their magnificent stats and rending attacks.  Unfortunately, they aren’t as good as they used to be thanks to the new edition that depowered rending.  Before, it took an average of 6 attacks to rend one target.  Now it takes 9, a 50% increase.  Or, to put it another way, that’s 3 vs. 2 genestealers when they charge or 4.5 vs. 3 otherwise.  This is a significant drop in effectiveness, but they are still your best troops.

Unless you feel suicidal always take Extended Carapace.  A genestealer’s natural 5+ save is so much tissue paper against bolters and other similar – and common – infantry weapons.  Genestealers are still going to be sadly fragile in comparison to their cost even with a 4+, but at least the enemy will actually have to use heavy weapons for the job.  Another biomorph I like is Feeding Tendrils. 

Gaunts:  The most important fact to keep in mind here is that “gaunt” is Tyranid for “cannon fodder.”  Resist the urge to jack them up with biomorphs and instead go for sheer numbers.  One, with their lousy saves they will die in droves anyway.  Two, numbers give you a lot of extra shots and a lot of targets for the enemy to deal with.

As you can see from the picture I prefer Gaunts with spine fists as that’s the cheapest weapon.  Fleshborers cost an extra point and will therefore mean fewer models, but they are admittedly better weapons against higher toughness targets.  In either case you put your gaunts in front and fleet them forward until they hit charge range.  Then you let fly a volley and attack.  Expect your gaunts to drop like flies, but that’s okay – it’s their job.  That’s why you have so many.  For instance, in my standard Horde force I take sixty. Hopefully, while they soak up fire the rest of your force – you know, the nasty bits – can get in close without taking much if any damage. 

Ripper Swarm:  I don’t have any of these painted (thus the lack of a picture), but I do have a handful constructed and I have used them in battle.  They are a different sort of cannon fodder, but not being fleet of claw they are slower than your other two troop choices.  They also don’t count as scoring units.  To my mind these two limitations add up to a good reason not to take them.  However, they come on the sprues for gaunts rather or not you want them to so if you are painting up a lot of gaunts you might want to do some rippers as well.  I would take them only if you have some extra points with nothing to do or if you are playing in an Apocalypse game where points aren’t a problem.

Raveners:  Another unit I am not wild about, I tend to prefer using these points for more genestealers.  Nevertheless, Raveners can be a reasonable choice.  They are fast and with the combination of rending claws and scything talons they get 5 attacks on the charge.  You can also give them a ranged weapon.  I usually prefer spine fists.  The great vulnerability for Raveners is the same as for the Lictor – just 2 wounds and a measly 5+ save.  That makes them bolter bait.

There are two uses for a Ravener, either as close support for your advancing waves of bugs or as deep strikers that go after a vulnerable enemy unit.  In both cases they are at the mercy of your opponent’s firepower.  In the first case you need to hope he doesn’t pick out your Raveners in a crowd and in the second you need to hope you drop someplace protected from firepower (not just heavy firepower, but any firepower).  So, using Raveners is a judgment call – just how lucky do you feel today?

Spore Mines:  I do have some of these painted, but I use them so little I’m not sure where I’ve put them.  Again, they are something of a throw-away unit you buy if you have some extra points or if points don’t matter.  They can be annoying to the enemy and downright useful if your opponent over-estimates the threat they pose and stays away from wherever they end up.  If you’re lucky you can deep strike them close and do immediate damage.  If not, they will likely be shot up the next turn.  Bio-acid is my spore of choice, but the points are probably better spent on more gaunts.

Zoanthropes:  I often take these units, but they can be frustrating at times.  They best and most obvious use is as roving Warp Blast platforms.  WBs are the best weapon the Tyranids have, capable of taking out vehicles and power armored troops with equal effectiveness.  The big problem here is the Zoanthrope’s meager 3 BS.  That’s just a 50/50 chance to hit.  Expect to growl a lot in frustration when your floating bug psykers miss (a lot).

Zoanthropes can take two psychic powers.  For this I really only see two viable choices, namely Synapse or Psychic Scream.  The first is handy if you are worried about your gaunts going instinctive.  The second can add up if you take a full three bug squad – a -3 to leadership can get even marines running.  By comparison, Catalyst won’t be as useful as you think (if your squads aren’t already going first then they aren’t likely to do much even if they can hit back) and leadership checks in the face of The Horror are typically too easy to make.

Carnifexes:  Before the latest edition of 40K I would say that Gunfexes – any carnifex built to shoot – would be a sure buy.  Now, with the new rules their best weapon, the Venom Cannon, has lost a large part of its effectiveness thanks to it only being able to glance vehicles (unless they are open-topped).  As a result they aren’t the “must haves” they were before.  Still, they are the biggest booms the Tyranids have.  I have three Gunfexes with VC and twin-linked Devourers.  They are still good at killing things and even a Gunfex can be scary in close combat.  Make sure they fire on the move and join in the melee when appropriate.

Of course, you can also take carnifexes that have been tooled up for close combat.  Such monsters are truly horrifying to face – if, and this is a big if, they can actually get into combat.  Carnifexes can’t Fleet of Claw and therefore aren’t likely to get into hand-to-hand until at least turn four.  Even if they do they will typically take a round or two to kill off the one enemy unit only to find that any other targets are multiple turns away.  As a result I’m not convinced they can earn their points back.  Whether they do will depend a lot on the force you are facing – if it is one that also relies on melee for victory then you’re in good shape.  If instead it is a gun line or a mobile army able to stay at arm’s length you’re in trouble.