New GW player ranking system announced!

Games Workshop announced a worldwide ranking system today that rewards you for entering the battlefield and defeating your foes! You earn points for every sanctioned event you join, and you earn even more for each victory. It’s easy! Just find a participating location near you and play!  Oh wait.  Nevermind.  I mistook GW for a company that's actually in touch with their players.  You know - the guys who care enough about the game to put things together like the INAT FAQ so we can do the larger-scale social activity associated with wargaming called tournaments.  Let alone the dozens of individual FAQs and formats of all the tournaments that people put on because they love the social aspect of this hobby.  If we only ever wanted to play 40k with a few friends, it would be a typical $25-$100 boardgame.  Not something I spend thousands of dollars and thousands of hours on - that's something I want to show off, and use as the social entry point for meeting new, like-minded people (AND CRUSH THEM!!!  /grin).  I certainly don't want to only ever face at most the few people that I know well enough to go have a beer and pretzels with on a vaguely routine basis.  I simply don't understand how GW continues to miss the boat here - it is 2011 after all.  With social media in all its varying forms available - not to mention the thousands of gamers who practically bleed this hobby - there simply isn't a good excuse.  The writing is on the wall and competition is scratching at the door - with a battering ram.  The cause for this post, and I keep hoping to see a headline like this for GW in the near future:  Yahoo Boss fired...over the phone ! , share prices jump 20%  In fact, I expect it, unless GW's shareholders are (or continue to be) utter twits.  So much potential for greatness, wasted.  Sorry for the short post - but then again it's a rant - and those are best done with just enough research to make them sting like a rapier going in...  oh - and the bandwagon pic is because this rant seems to be occurring elsewhere too...

PS - GW, if you're reading this: fix the Tyranid codex/FAQ please.

Back from NOVA: What a rush!

Well - lots of buildup over the past year; a lot of waffling on lists, maybe a little bit of Tyranid bravado, but the reality was a thousand times better than I could have wished.  I went 4-4 overall, 3-1 on day 1 in the random brackets, I started on table 2 and ended up the rest of the day getting all my games broadcast live, wearing a microphone, but only 2 were recorded due to technical issues.  So much for remaining silent and only being thought an idiot though - I'd say I removed all doubt!  Day 2 was less forgiving, going 1-3 in Tier 2 (just behind the championship bracket) with two of the three coming down to the last round in close matches.  I only had one loss that I would chalk up as being close to a blowout, but it came against Sean Nayden, in one of my favorite matches of the tournament.  I never dreamed I would do so well; the overall rankings should be interesting to see.  More after the jump..

For the rowers keep on rowing...

Yes the danger must be growing

For the rowers keep on rowing

And they're certainly not showing 

any signs that they are slowing.. 

Yes indeed - the danger of arriving at NOVA with a partially unpainted army looms larger every day.  Getting down to the wire, with only the eyes/teeth, dip, and basing steps to go on most of the candidate models for the big show.  Except for that big stack of 50 gants.  Bleh =) At least the stealers and gargoyle mobs are close; just need to get my Space Hulk brood lord done and I can move to the next layers.  I won't be winning any painting competitions, but I definitely don't want to show up with an unpainted army and get that big fat Zero painting score.

I did manage to finish the display board - so that's one monkey off the back.

Playtesting continues, and narrowing it down to a 1-brood of biovores variant of list 3 and a list that looks an awful lot like Hulk's list here:


Prime w/BS, LW x2
HGx3 x2
Zoanx3
10x tox stealers + broodlord w/scytals (10 models)
10x tox stealers + broodlord (10 models)
Tervigon w/AG, TS, Cat, Onslaught
Tervigon w/AG, TS, Cat
10x gants
10x gants
2x Carnifex w/dual TL Devs/Brainleech, Frag spines

Tuning the NOVA list

Painting like a madman this weekend - so much to do, and made harder because I haven't settled on my final list yet.  As I work through several different options, these are the ones I keep coming back to.  One of my private conclusions, and interestingly borne out as a result of Lyracian's work with Nikephoros' excellent 40k-Metrics series, was that Tyranids have trouble shooting infantry; we can kill vehicles pretty decently, but getting to the tasty morsels inside is often the hard part. In batrep after batrep, everything comes down to getting into close combat - and the larger Tyranid metagame indicates the way to do this is with great big broods of stealers, backed up by tervigon-powered FNP.  So the challenge has been to try and put together a list that can hurt infantry long before getting into cc, can withstand firepower and continue to take down 2-4 vehicles per turn through at least turn 3, has redundant FNP, and has 5 or 6 troops slots to deal with the NOVA conditions.  These are the variants I've put together and had varying dice-dependent success with in my at-home playtesting vs. various lists.  The fact that my losses are generally due to dice and not the inability to be effective is encouraging.

Without further ado - what are your thoughts?

List #1:

Total Roster Cost: 1999
HQ:  1 Tyranid Prime, Lash Whip & Bonesword
Heavy Support:  2 Carnifex Brood, TL Devourer w/Brainleech Worms + Frag Spines
Heavy Support:  2 Biovore Brood
Heavy Support:  2 Biovore Brood
Elite:  3 Zoanthrope Brood
Elite:  3 Hive Guard Brood,
Elite:  3 Hive Guard Brood
Troops: Tervigon, Adrenal Glands + Toxin Sacs + Catalyst
Troops: Tervigon, Adrenal Glands + Toxin Sacs + Catalyst
Troops: 10 Termagant Brood
Troops: 10 Termagant Brood
Troops: 12 Genestealer Brood, Toxin Sacs + Broodlord (+ Scything Talons)
Troops: 8 Genestealer Brood

List #2:

Total Roster Cost: 1999
HQ:  1 The Parasite of Mortrex
Fast Attack: 18 Gargoyle Brood, Adrenal Glands + Toxin Sacs
HQ:  1 Tyranid Prime,  Lash Whip & Bonesword + Regeneration
Heavy Support:  2 Carnifex Brood, TL Devourer w/Brainleech Worms x2 + Frag Spines
Elite:  2 Hive Guard Brood
Elite:  2 Hive Guard Brood
Elite:  3 Zoanthrope Brood
Troops: 1 Tervigon, Adrenal Glands + Toxin Sacs  + Catalyst
Troops: 10 Termagant Brood
Troops: 11 Genestealer Brood, Toxin Sacs + Broodlord (+ Scything Talons)
Troops: 10 Genestealer Brood, Toxin Sacs
Troops: 10 Genestealer Brood, Toxin Sacs

List #3:

Total Roster Cost: 1996
HQ:  1 The Parasite of Mortrex, 160 pts
Fast Attack:  16 Gargoyle Brood, Adrenal Glands + Toxin Sacs
Elite:  3 Zoanthrope Brood
Elite:  3 Hive Guard Brood,
Elite:  3 Hive Guard Brood
Heavy Support:  2 Biovore Brood
Heavy Support:  2 Biovore Brood
Troops: 1 Tervigon, Adrenal Glands + Toxin Sacs  + Catalyst
Troops: 1 Tervigon, Adrenal Glands + Toxin Sacs  + Catalyst
Troops: 10 Termagant Brood
Troops: 10 Termagant Brood
Troops: 15 Genestealer Brood, Toxin Sacs + Broodlord (+ Scything Talons)
Troops: 15 Genestealer Brood, Toxin Sacs

List #4:

Total Roster Cost: 2000
HQ:  1 Tyranid Prime,  Lash Whip & Bonesword + Regeneration
Heavy Support:  2 Carnifex Brood, TL Devourer w/Brainleech Worms x2 + Frag Spines
Heavy Support:  3 Biovore Brood
Elite:  3 Zoanthrope Brood
Elite:  3 Hive Guard Brood,
Elite:  3 Hive Guard Brood
Troops: 1 Tervigon, Adrenal Glands + Toxin Sacs  + Catalyst + Onslaught
Troops: 1 Tervigon, Adrenal Glands + Toxin Sacs  + Catalyst + Onslaught
Troops: 10 Termagant Brood
Troops: 10 Termagant Brood + Devourer
Troops: 16 Genestealer Brood, Toxin Sacs + Broodlord (+ Scything Talons)

Hive Fleet Snowbank emerges!

Slowly...  coming down to the wire for NOVA and still finalizing both list and trying to get paint onto figures.  The builds and basing are pretty much done, spent this weekend getting the display board to the 95% stage and basing/priming everything else. It's gonna be close getting the paint on; thank the Emperor for a painting class I took back at Central Command in San Antonio a few years back on how to use blended acrylics to save time on horde armies.  The guy instructing it would churn out a better than just table-ready 100-model IG army every couple months.  Been practicing it for a while and starting to get moving on my 'nids.  Wish me luck - the clock is definitely ticking.  I'll try to post pics of the finished models as I get there, but in the meantime, I wanted to share the WIP display board.

First stages - just finished painting, adding sand, and gluing down the wood bark rock embankments:

Glued and spackled the Heroscape terrain down =)

And then the nearly finished:

Question though - any thoughts on what I should use to cover the edges?  Thinking some very thin ply board of some sort... hating the gaps and pink foam showing, but don't want to add a ton of weight if I can help it.  Seen the big picture frame route, but that looks like it adds a *lot* of weight.  Spackle alone isn't gonna cut it.  Maybe poster board or foamcore?

The other cool thing I saw this weekend was a dragonfly that I'd love to copy for a hive fleet color scheme - no idea what it's called but it evokes a WWI fighter:

Hope to see some of you at NOVA.  I'll be on the volunteer staff again - and a few kind words of thanks to MVB on that count.  He was kind enough to put up a list thanking the staff from last year here - nice touch and very much appreciated.  Took my dogs a couple weeks to stop barking after last year - sooo much walking bringing the score sheets back and forth, but it was an honor just to be a part of it and to contribute to something truly great.  Can't wait till this year.

Who is bringing Tyranids to NOVA this year??

This video is a win for cheesiest evar (no rickroll, I promise) - Tyranids Rule!

Back to reality...  where Tyranids apparently don't rule.  Here we are, almost a year after this blog started and I decided to focus on the Tyranid metagame, and maybe, just maybe, learning how to build competitive lists and if I'm lucky, to play Tyranids competitively.  GW rained all the hell over that little parade, if you believe the current state of Tyranid meta as represented by the more well-read blogs and forums.  I've lost count of the negative posts and threads and comments and replies everywhere from BoK, 3++, YTTH, Dakka, and even in TheTyranidHive.  Even Synaps3, the blog I would consider hands down to be the best Tyranid blog over the past year, whose has started a GK army (/rolls eyes).  Over the past year I've had hope - but watched it diminish over time.  Hulksmash toyed with nids a bit, Purgatus has a couple lists going but still won't take them to a tournament; Brent gave them a test drive and bailed.  Several of the folks I read voraciously from in the beginning have scaled back their Tyranid play pretty drastically in favor of other armies or away from GW games entirely - AbusePuppy, Kennedy, Lyracian, GMort, Sandwyrm and more.  It would take too long to hyperlink all of the above; if you read this blog, I hope you read most of those I've listed; and if you don't - find them and subscribe.  They've all been an inspiration, a challenge, a tenuous brotherhood, and I deeply value the time they've spent putting even the negative thoughts down to help give Tyranid players a chance - even if its to recommend we not play Tyranids (/grin).

So here we are - on the brink of the biggest, baddest, 2k tourney on the east coast; just over a month away.  256 slots in the NOVA open - who's left?  Who is bringing Tyranids?  Who has big enough biomorphs to think they have a shot at the top tables with Tyranids - despite the braying naysaying??

I'll be there with my 'nids; I'll be content to win more than one game over the two days, given my inexperience and the caliber of players I expect to see.  I hope to do better, but we'll see what the dice gods bring.  Who else will be representing the wretched Tyranid hive of scum and villainy at NOVA this year?

List of lists! ETC 2011 Tyranid lists

A quick thanks to yermom over at The Brown Paintbrush who posted the initial links to the ETC forums for me to find this.  Note the ETC rules have a pretty heavy focus on objectives, and every list is built for taking/holding objectives.  I do find it interesting there isn't a single tyrannofex or fex-star in the list; in fact, only two lists even have a substantial Heavy Support component.  Only one tyrant to be found, and all but one have three full slots of shooty, most are HGs, in their elites.  A common theme is big 'stealer units and lots of catalyst-having tervigons - not a huge surprise there.  Will be fun to follow how the games play out.

Player: Jay Woodcock
Army Description: Tyranids

HQ1: Tervigon (160), Catalyst (15), Toxin Sacs (10) Adrenal Glands (10) Cluster Spines (0) 195
HQ2: Tervigon (160), Catalyst (15), Toxin Sacs (10) Adrenal Glands (10) Cluster Spines (0) 195
Elite 1 : 2 Hive Guards 100
Elite 2 : 2 Hive Guards 100
Elite 3 : 2 Hive Guards 100
Troop 1 : Tervigon (160), Catalyst (15), Toxin Sacs (10) Adrenal Glands (10) Cluster Spines (0) 195
Troop 2 : 10 Termagants ( 10*5 ) 50
Troop 3 : 20 Genestealers (20*14) 280
Troop 4 : 20 Genestealers (20*14) 280
Troop 5 : 10 Genestealers (10*14) 140
Fast 1 : 16 Gargoyle Brood (16*6), Adrenal Glands (16*1) 112
Total Roster Cost : 1747

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PLAYER 1: Joachim, Gossiaux, nickname Keya

ARMY DESCRIPTION : Codex Tyranids

HQ1: Tervigon (160) catalyst (15) scything talons (5) adrenal glands (10) toxin sacs (10) [200 pts]
TROOPS1: 10 termagaunts [50 pts]
TROOPS2: 10 termagaunts [50 pts]
TROOPS3: Tervigon (160) catalyst (15) scything talons (5) adrenal glands (10) toxin sacs (10) [200 pts]
TROOPS4: Tervigon (160) catalyst (15) scything talons (5) adrenal glands (10) toxin sacs (10) [200 pts]
ELITES1: 2 hive guard [100 pts]
ELITES2: 2 hive guard [100 pts]
ELITES3: 3 zoanthrope [180 pts]
HS1: Trygon prime adrenal glands (10) [250 pts]
HS2: Trygon adrenal glands (10) [210 pts]
HS3: Trygon adrenal glands (10) [210 pts]

TOTAL : [1750 pts]

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PLAYER 6: NATHAN "BLOODREAPER" ROBERTS

ARMY DESCRIPTION : TYRANIDS

HQ 1: Tervigon [160], catalyst [15]= [175]
HQ 2: warrior prime [80], dual boneswords [10], scything talons [0]= [90]
ELITE 1: 3 hive guard [3*50] =[150]
ELITE 2: 3 hive guard [3*50] =[150]
ELITE 3: 3 hive guard [3*50] =[150]
TROOP 1: Tervigon [160], catalyst [15]= [175]
TROOP 2: 10 gaunts [10*5]= [50]
TROOP 3: 18 genestealers [18*14], toxin sacs [18*3]= [306]
TROOP 4: 18 genestealers [18*14]= [252]
TROOP 5: 18 genestealers [18*14]= [252]
[TOTAL = 1750pts]

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Player 3 Player Name: Pádraic Ó Confhaola Army Tyranids

HQ1: Tervigon (160), Catalyst (15), Cluster Spines (0) 175 
Elite 1: 3 Hive Guards (150): [150] 
Elite 2: 3 Hive Guards (150): [150]
Elite 3: 3 Hive Guards (150): [150]
Troop 1: Tervigon (160), Catalyst (15), Cluster Spines (0):[175] 
Troop 2:1 0 Termagants (10*5 ) 50 
Troop 3: 20 Genestealers (20*14) 280 
Troop 4: 20 Genestealers (20*14) 280 
Troop 5: 20 Genestealers (20*14), toxin sacs ( 20*3) 340
Total 1750

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PLAYER 1: Filippo 'Saryn' Cipriani

ARMY DESCRIPTION : Tyranids 
HQ : Tervigon (160) adrenal glands (10) toxin sacs (10) catalyst (15) [195]
Elite1 : 3 Hiveguard (150) [150]
Elite2 : 3 Hiveguard (150) [150]
Elite3 : 3 Hiveguard (150) [150]
Troop1 : Tervigon (160) adrenal glands (10) toxin sacs (10) catalyst (15) [195]
Troop2 : Termagant grood, Termagant x 12 (60) [60]
Troop3 :Genestealer Brood, Genestealers x 16 (224) Toxin sacs (48) [272]
Troop4 : Genestealer Brood, Genestealers x 16 (224) Broodlord (60) Scything talons (2) [286]
Troop5 : Genestealer Brood, Genestealers x 10 (140) [140]
Troop6 : Hormagaunt Brood, hormagaunts x 19 (114) adrenal glands (38) [152] 
Total [1750pts]

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PLAYER 1: Markus 'Jokaero' Liechti

ARMY DESCRIPTION : Tyranids

HQ1 : Tervigon, 1 Tervigon (160) with Adrenal glands (10), Toxin sacs (10), Cluster Spines (0) and Catalyst (15) [195 pts]
HQ2 : Tervigon, 1 Tervigon (160) with Adrenal glands (10), Toxin sacs (10), Cluster Spines (0) and Catalyst (15) [195 pts]
Elite1 : Hive Guard Brood, 3 Hive Guard (3*50=150) [150 pts]
Elite2 : Hive Guard Brood, 3 Hive Guard (3*50=150) [150 pts]
Elite3 : Hive Guard Brood, 2 Hive Guard (2*50=100) [100 pts]
Troop1 : Genestealer Brood, 19 Genestealers (19*14=266) [266 pts]
Troop2 : Genestealer Brood, 19 Genestealers (19*14=266) [266 pts]
Troop3 : Genestealer Brood, 7 Genestealers (7*14=98) [98 pts]
Troop4 : Termagant Brood, 10 Termagants (10*5=50) [50 pts]
Troop5 : Tervigon, 1 Tervigon (160), Cluster Spines (0) Catalyst (15) [175 pts]
FA1: Spore Mine Cluster, 3 Spore Mines (3*10=30) [30 pts]
FA2: Spore Mine Cluster, 3 Spore Mines (3*10=30) [30 pts]
HS1: Biovore Brood, 1 Biovore (45) [45pts]
TOTAL [1750 pts]

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PLAYER 3: Thor "Tordenpik" Madsen

ARMY DESCRIPTION : Codex Tyranids. 

HQ1 : Tervigon (160), Cluster Spines (0), Catalyst (15) [175 pts] 
HQ2 : Tervigon (160), Cluster Spines (0), Catalyst (15) [175 pts] 
Elite1 : Hive Guard Brood, 3 Hive Guards (150) [150 pts]
Elite2 : Hive Guard Brood, 3 Hive Guards (150) [150 pts] 
Elite3 : Hive Guard Brood, 3 Hive Guards (150) [150 pts] 
Troop 1 : Tervigon (160), Cluster Spines (0), Catalyst (15), Adrenal Grands (10) [185 pts] 
Troop 2 : Termagant Brood, 10 Termagants (50) [50 pts]
Troop 3 : Genestealer Brood, 17 Genestealers (238) [238 pts] 
Troop 4 : Genestealer Brood, 17 Genestealers (238) [238 pts] 
Troop 5 : Genestealer Brood, 17 Genestealers (238) [238 pts] 
TOTAL [1749 pts] 

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PLAYER: FABIAN "g_g" PAULISTA

ARMY DESCRIPTION : TYRANIDS

HQ 1: Tervigon [160], catalyst [15], adrenal glands [10], toxin sacs [10}= [195]
ELITE 1: 3 hive guard [3*50] =[150]
ELITE 2: 3 hive guard [3*50] =[150]
ELITE 3: 5 Ymgarl- Genestealers [5*23] =[115]
TROOP 1: Tervigon [160], catalyst [15], adrenal glands [10]= [185]
TROOP 2: Tervigon [160], catalyst [15], adrenal glands [10]= [185]
TROOP 3: 10 Termagaunts [10*5]= [50]
TROOP 4: 10 Termagaunts [10*5]= [50]
TROOP 5: 15 genestealers [15*14]= [210]
HEAVY SUPPORT 1: Trygon [200], Prime [40], adrenal glands [10] =[250]
HEAVY SUPPORT 2: Trygon [200], adrenal glands [10] =[210]
[TOTAL = 1750pts]

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PLAYER 7: James Ramsay

ARMY DESCRIPTION: Tyranids

HQ1: Tyranid Prime (80), lash Whip and Bonesword (15), Scything Talons (0) - [95]
HQ2: Tervigon (160), Catalyst (15), Cluster Spines (0) – [175]
Elite1: 3 Hive Guard (150) - [150]
Elite2: 3 Hive Guard (150) - [150]
Elite3: 2 Hive Guard (100) - [100]
Troop1: 18 Genestealers (252) - [252]
Troop2: 18 Genestealers (252) - [252]
Troop3: 17 Genestealers (238) - [238]
Troop4: 10 Termagants (50) - [50]
Troop5: Tervigon (160), Catalyst (15), Cluster Spines (0) – [175]
Fast Attack1: 16 Gargoyles(96), adrenal glands (16)- [112]
[TOTAL POINTS - 1,749]

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PLAYER 2: Pekka Koskivirta

ARMY DESCRIPTION : Tyranids

HQ1 : Tyranid Prime (80) pair of boneswords (10) scything talons (0) [90pts]
HQ2 : Tervigon(160) cluster spines (0) adrenal glands (10) toxin sacs (10) catalyst (15) [195pts]
Elite1 : 3 Hive Guard (3*50) [150pts]
Elite2 : 3 Hive Guard (3*50) [150pts]
Elite3 : 3 Hive Guard (3*50) [150pts]
Troop1 : 20 Genestealers (20*14) [280pts]
Troop2 : 20 Genestealers (20*14) [280pts]
Troop3 : 15 Genestealers (15*14) [210pts]
Troop4 : 10 Termagants (10*5) [50pts]
Troop5 : Tervigon(160) cluster spines (0) adrenal glands (10) toxin sacs (10) catalyst (15) [195pts]
TOTAL [1750]

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PLAYER1: Stefanos Kapetanakis (Stefoserpent)
ARMY DESCRIPTION: CODEX:TYRANIDS 5th Ed.

HQ1:Hive Tyrant(170), LashWhip& Bonesword, Twin-linked Devourer with Brainleech Worms(15), Wings(60),Old Adversary(25), Paroxysm, Leece Essence(Total:270)
HQ2:Tervigon(160), Catalyst(15), Toxin Sacks(10), Claws and Teeth, Spine Clusters(Total: 185)
ELITES1: 3x Hive Guards(150)
ELITES2:2X Hive Guards(100)
ELITES3: 2xZoanthropes(120)
TROOPS1: 10x Termagant(50) Fleshborers(Total:50)
TROOPS2: Tervigon(160), Catalyst(15), Toxin Sacks(10), Adrenal Glands(10), Cluster Spines,Claws and Teeth (Total:195)
TROOPS3: 8xGenestealers (112), Toxin Sacks(24) (Total:136)
TROOPS4: 8xGenestealers (112), Toxin Sacks(24) (Total:136)
FASTATTACK1: 15x Gargoyles(90), Toxin Sacks(15), Adrenal Glands(15)(Total:120)
FASTATTACK2:14x Gargoyles(84), Toxin Sacks(14), Adrenal Glands(14)(Total:112)
FASTATTACK3:5x Raveners(150), Rending Claws(25)(Total:175)
TOTAL [1749pts]