Hi guys, I’m back from outer space and I’m here with a sad look upon my face because part two of the tyranid dataslate review isn’t as soft as part one. The dataslate is still a rip off but this one offers dangerous formations in my opinion.
Incubator Node:
This is the ultimate tax to get another Tervigon in your list, instead of just one overpriced termagant brood you now need three. The Tervigon gets to re-roll any ones that crop up when spawning gants. This pushes up the number of troops arriving into a Tyranid army every turn and while there is nothing in the rules that says the formation’s termagants count as troops, the spawned ones definitely do.
The cost of this is a little prohibitive and you can still fit five Tervigons into an army as it is and use another formation to get Tyrant big guns in there. I would doubt you will see this formation as much but if people are going super breeder with their army lists you could be in trouble. The same rules apply as always, big guns on the Tervigon and splat the gants with Grey Hunters, if you are lucky you can keep out of combat and make the most of your unit’s strengths.
Synaptic Swarm:
This formation is full of synapse creatures. With three Warrior broods and a Tyranid Prime this should cover most of the board with the power of fearlessness. These units have an 18” synapse range which pushes their ability to cover the board to the extreme.
I find that warriors are a small percentage of the units fielded in the Tyranid lists, that isn’t to say that in your local area they aren’t the unit of choice but thirty points a model for something that can be removed fairly easily isn’t a great purchase.
There are better units that offer the same synapse abilities and can cover a lot more of the board in a single turn but if these do turn up in a list they are just an annoyance. Without great strength and low AP biomorphs the warriors are risking a lot to charge Grey Hunters especially with a tooled up Wolf Guard in the squad. Without cover these units are in a bad way with their mediocre saves and while they can take interesting biomorphs and weapons they only serve to further bloat the cost of the units which isn’t a bad thing for their opponents.
Skyblight Swarm:
This is the most choice formation as I can see it. It allows Tyranid players to free up a HQ slot for another Tervigon while increasing the number of flying monsters in the army. This formation is a Fibonacci sequence of pain with one Flying tyrant, one Crone, two Harpies and three Gargoyle broods.
The monstrous creatures gain nothing special but it is always useful to the Tyranid player to have more of them. The Gargoyles however gain lots of shiny buffs with their ability to score even if an objective is contested by another scoring unit. They also respawn in ongoing reserves as a new unit on a 4+ every time the unit is wiped out. I think this is a solid formation. It has no weak points since the Gargoyles are now scoring and semi-immortal and Tyranid flyers are all solid choices. This is the formation that quad guns were built for. Anti-air is going to pay dividends against this formation as four monstrous creatures are damn hard to wipe out unless you can force a grounding. If you can force one of them down prioritise killing it.
Living Artillery Node:
If you like getting hit with barrage and templates then you are probably playing 40k wrong. This formation is a little badly worded, it is probably supposed to be three broods of Biovores, an Exocrine and a Warrior brood. It supplies a lot of damaging units and the synapse creatures to keep them from going to ground. The Warriors must take at least one basic bio cannon but they grant re-rolls to scatter to the formation units within their synapse range. The formation also has pinning on their ranged weapons to twist the knife in your side a little further.
The first unit to kill are the Biovores. Having them sniping characters and special weapons is a blight
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on any army and it is worth excising the problem. I know that the Exocrine seems more dangerous but with its limited range it can be held off with good maneuvering and deployment. This formation will be a job for the fast or the long ranged. There are no 2+ armour saves in these units so krak missiles are welcome allies in the purge. Plasma and bolters will do some good but you will have to use weight of numbers as plasma will not deliver instant kills and bolters allow an armour save.
Getting into combat with Biovores renders them impotent but there are few great methods to deliver that. Wolves players that risk Stormclaws despite my belief that they are still a solid choice so that leaves Drop-Pods. An alpha strike will usually remove a brood or two. One or two units of Grey Hunters should wipe out and lock down the Biovores. Push your luck and deploy them tight against the enemy to prevent them using large and small templates on your units. The only caveat is that with three broods of Biovores it will be hard to remove them before they can make a large impact on the game. If you do focus on them too much you may end up throwing troops away needlessly. I hate barrage weapons and my bias may come through too strong, always deal with the biggest threats but pay heed to the units that are going to become threats in the next turn too.
Endless Swarm:
If you like wave after wave of dross then this is for you. Three broods of Hormagants, two broods of Termagants and a brood of Warriors to keep them in line. This formation allows the gant broods to be recycled when they are wiped out. On a 4+ the unit is in ongoing reserves with all of the upgrades on options that were paid for. The unit continues to count as if it was the original allowing it to be continuously recycled.
These units give up victory points so killing them repeatedly is a good thing if you are playing for kill points. If you are having to deal with them in any other mission the first step is to kill the nearest synapse creature and then drop templates on the units to force them to break. A wave of units like that could seriously impede your ability to bring ranged fire to bare on the Tyranid swarms. I think this formation will be used to bulk out the numbers of gant units in a Tyranid army. If your opponent would be the type to go heavy on Tervigons and Genestealers then this is the perfect way to get some cheaper dross units between you and his more expensive monstrous creatures. Conclusion:
That’s part two of the Tyranid dataslate. The formations are a lot meatier than those in part one. Extra flying monstrous creatures are the biggest danger as it is difficult to fit in enough anti-air power in a Space Wolf list The dangers of monstrous creatures and hordes of cheap dross are not unknown to Space Wolf players. Big guns, gun lines, prescience and a bit of luck with your rolls and you should make a decent show. Join me for part three next week when I will despair at the level of monetisation and tell you about the next dataslate. Until then have fun and roll 6’s.