Posted by Ranillon on 26. April 2010 23:15
Number 10 -- Psychic Meltdown: In the past a Tyranid could use its psychic powers without fear of a Peril of the Warp. No longer -- the bugs can now turn their brains into cottage cheese with the best of them. That wouldn't be so bad (although I always thought of Tyranid mastery of psychic energy as one of their advantages), but the powers they can use are not overall any better than before. Likewise, while there are more individual powers you are more restrained as to what can take which. This roll also reduces the Zoanthrope to not much better in terms of mental zapping than before -- yes, it now has a better Ballistic Skill, but that is neatly negated by the chance it can blow itself up.
Number 9 -- What's Up with the Pyrovore? This is my vote for the most lazily designed unit of the year from GW, maybe the decade. The fluff says that it is suppose to be a deadly mixing of creatures and a terror on the battlefield. However, in reality it's just a Space Marine scout with a heavy flamer and power weapon. That's not particularly clever or effective. In fact, such a slapdash design is a sign of little effort or originality. A better design would make the creature beefier with more attacks, but make them Rending rather than Powered. As it is the Pyrovore is a cool model with embarrassing rules.
Number 8 -- The Tyrannofex: When More is Less: As impressive as it may seem of the surface the Tyrannofex is really just a bloated, unfocused unit design that costs lots of points. It's big and hard to kill -- yet slow. It has plenty of shooty -- but only one is really impressive while having good range. It has armor ignoring attacks -- yet not enough to warrant its huge cost. The Rupture Cannon is the obvious choice for the unit, but doesn't need to be mounted on a huge monster. Much better would have been a Bug Basilisk sporting the Cannon that isn't as beefy, but also 100 points less.
Number 7 -- Why Pay Normal Price When You Can Get it for Twice as Much? I am still trying to understand why precisely the Hive Tyrant and Carnifex were doubled in cost. Where they really that broken? In some ways I suppose this isn't a big deal as ultimately what matters is the overall effectiveness of the army. Still, these extreme price hikes nevertheless leave a bag taste in your mouth, especially if you are a long time player of Tyranids. It's almost as if GW wanted to punish the army's most fervent enthusiasts.
Number 6 -- The (Bumbling) Attack of the One-Hit-Wonders: Synapse bestowing immunity from Instant Death is gone and in the process the new codex creates a mix of bugs vulnerable to one-shot kills. Something with a Toughness of 5 is not too bad as Strength 10 weapons aren't common, but those with a measly 4 Toughness are so much Krak Missile bait. This includes the Parasite of Mortrex, Pyrovore, Venomthrope, Lictor, Zoanthrope, most types of Tyranid Warriors, Raveners, Shrikes, and Biovore. All have multiple wounds, but only the Parasite and Zoanthrope have good enough armor to compensate for the chance of Instant Death. The effectiveness of the others is therefore necessarily iffy and random -- come up against an army with a lot of Missile Launchers or the equivalent and suddenly you've brought the wrong units. On a more subtle level it makes all those extra wounds less meaningful than they seem. It would have been better to keep the immunity and just altered the points accordingly.
Number 5 -- Change for the Sake of Change: This is more annoying than anything, but the new codex takes an almost perverse delight in using old names to describe new powers. In turn they tend to be more complex without really adding anything overall. It stinks of a designer who just wanted to "brand" the new codex as his own by fixing what wasn't broke.
Number 4 -- Why Take Termagants without Tervigons (and Vice Versa)? To my mind a classic sign of a bad design is when you would be
insane not to use the unit in question. In this case it is Tervigons with Termagants -- why would you ever take one without the other? It wouldn't be so bad if the other staples of Troop selections -- Hormagaunts and Genestealers -- weren't such obviously inferior choices. Mind you, Termagants would be as well without the Tervigon, but that is the point. So, we are left with a situation where the good old "horde army" design for Tyranids has turned into the "Tervigon + Termagants" design. I'd better do up a few more of the former...
Number 3 -- Where are the New Army Designs? Maybe this is just personal taste, but another attribute I look for in a codex is a wide range of different basic force designs. For instance, the new Blood Angels codex offers the chance to play a competitive all flying army. By comparison, the Tyranid book doesn't even though it is primed to do so. Where is the character that would allow you to take gargoyles as Troops? Likewise, there really aren't any 'new' designs available in the new codex while old designs have been, if anything, more marginalized. An all Genestealer force is now not viable while a generic horde army becomes a not-so-generic Tervigon and Termagant army. Likewise, a 'Nidzilla force is no more elegant than it ever was.
Number 2 -- The Genestealer Has Been Nerfed (Biovores too): I hate to use the term most because it tends to be overused, but in this case I think it applies. The one-two punch of Rending being partially de-clawed and the 'Stealers losing the ability to have 4+ armor completely changes their battlefield role (and to something less meaningful). Remember that Space Marines -- you know, those guys that go around with loads of AP5 Bolters -- outsell all other armies by a wide margin. Thus, they'll be the most common army you fight and now they can make genestealers melt like sugar cubes in the rain. Playing a 'Stealer cult is therefore no longer viable. Heck, Stealers as common Troop choices are questionable. Their only real remaining role is as an ambusher that sticks to cover and tries to jump unsuspecting targets.
Oh, and with the advent of only one type of Spore Mine Biovores go from marginal to meaningless.
And, the Number One Reason Problem with the New Tyranid Codex -- We Will Likely Have to Wait the Better Part of a Decade to Get a New Codex: 'Nuff Said.
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P.S. Before people start thinking otherwise this list does not mean I believe the new book is worthless or non-competitive. There is definitely stuff to like -- Trygons most of all -- and army designs that can challenge anyone. I just expected something more inspirational and clever. What we got instead was a mediocre codex that isn't likely to increase the popularity of the force (e.g. we might gain players, but will are also going to lose just as many).
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