r/Tyranids

I do realise this was hard to get, hope I did it a bit justice. It’s taken me a while, life, uh, finds a way though!

Hi, I'm able to get my hands on the Deathleaper. But I have the option of the space wolf chapter master and necron nekrosor ammentar. So I would like your opinion on the deathleaper.

I'm a collector and painter first.

I have seen the model on the gw store, but ywould like more info and size comparison for better understanding.

Any tips or or validation of success welcome

😼✌️

Finished a set of 5 of these today.

(Aliens-inspired Parasite of Motrex unrelated)

So as the title states, been playing against an opponent who runs Admech and really struggling. Looking to improve, see if the Hive mind has any tips. Admittedly, I am not very experienced and my opponent is, and I think he probably has a fairly optimized list and plays them very well.

I usually either run Vanguard Onslaught + the 1dp sneaky lictors, which is the list I’m really trying to make work because those are the units I like best thematically and aesthetically - and I’ve seen people on here do well with this kind of list, so it must be possible ! But I have also been playing around with Synaptic Nexus + Talons of the Norn Queen and Subterranean assault (acquired a lot of brain and tunnel bugs in late 10th).

My lists almost invariably contain Swarmlord, broodlord + 10 genestealers, deathleaper, neurotyrant + 6 zoanthropes, a lictor, a biovore. For the VO list in particular, 3 squads of Von Ryan’s, a neurolictor, two mawlocs (experimented with red terror too), and either an exocrine or maleceptor.
I am In the process of acquiring another lictor and some more Von Ryan’s to get the most out of the detachment (and maybe another squad of genestealers), but I think list composition can only take me so far and its strategy I need to focus on.

Things I struggle with :

1. Pre-game infiltration. What to do with my VR and other infiltrates units. Torn between having them in the midboard to threaten turn one charges. I also feel I have to do this because sicarian rust stalkers are spooky and have wrecked havoc in my back line from turn one charges themselves on several occasions. I’ve tried the Zerg rush and while it does keep units back for a turn, I’ve found Von Ryan’s aren’t really Killy enough to do a huge amount of damage, and usually die on the clapback. What’s the best way to use them ? Have them screen just in front of my units and protect them with heroic intervention ?

2. Surviving. I feel that anything on the board just gets absolutely merked by Admech shooting. As soon as I expose a unit (e.g by putting them on an objective) they get focussed and die to admech shooting. Sometimes I know this is a tradeoff (e.g the fun turn one Mawloc battleshock and mortal wound bubble while they’re bunched up in their deployment), but sometimes it just feels impossible to deal with. My opponent usually brings 6 las chickens and for the life of me I don’t know how to deal with them. They can just wait behind a ruin and then use their massive move and advance to get wherever they want and obliterate something. even if by some miracle you do manage to close the distance, they’re annoyingly tanky (T7, 7 wounds each, a random 5+ invul??), and then next turn can just fall back and shoot innately. Big block of kataphron led by a manipulus, especially in eradication cohort, are also terrifying - last game I shot at them with the zoan brick, managed to down 2 and a half (innate once per game 4+ invul!) and they then almost wiped my unit with the stratagem that lets them shoot once they’ve lost a model. Between that and their over watch, my opponent regularly does more damage than I do in MY shooting phase.

Even in the games where I feel I’ve played fairly well, done a lot of scoring, managed to trade somewhat effectively, usually by turn 4 I have almost nothing left and the points lead I have isn’t enough to weather two turns of max scoring.

3. Pacing and counterpunching. With all that in mind, I don’t really know how to pace my games. He simply keeps his dangerous units screened behind infantry that give him all the buffs, protector imperative which makes him minus one to hit if I do close, and then once I’ve exposed anything he switches to the assault one and just mops the floor. Is it a case of keeping everything back till like turn 3 and waiting for him to push into objectives on the midboard properly ?

Currently it feels like he has tools that do practically everything my units do, but better. I’m struggling to find a strategy that plays to nids’ strengths and gets around admech’s terrifying gun line.

Any advice welcome, criticism, tell me I’m whining and it’s a skill issue, etc. Game plans or general principles as nids, units you never leave home without against Admech. Thanks if you’ve made it to the end of this long post !

So I don't like staying stuck with one option, and I noticed a great hidden spot to add magnets to my biovore, safe to say they are holding on very nicely, we'll see how it holds up with the weapons attached

My models never look good and I'm paint twenty termagants, this feels horrible

Halfway through a batch of retro Termagants when I suddenly got the feeling they were gearing up for quite a different sort of game! So how about those Pittsburgh Genestealers, eh?

My centerpiece Norn Emissary based off of the symbiote species in marvel. Essentially done, just need to do the slime/tendril effects once I figure it out.

I think maybe a darker brown, I thought it looked good but now that I did the dry brushing on the shell I kinda don’t like it.