Seeking help for: Facing Tyranids and Adapting to 7th

Cronex13 wrote:

Base to base was the problem though. He had like 2 of his guard in the front, swarmy, and another behind. I had to surround him because apparently the first model has to charge towards the closest enemy model

First charge move must be the 'nearest to nearest' but after that you're free to move into contact with any model you wish provided you are in range.

He cheated you again. Swarmlord with his tyrant guard are one squad. Charge shenanigans have been covered by another poster. You don't split attacks or wounds

Sounds like your pal is not playing you fairly, seems silly if your the only opponents for one another.

Now I get it's an expensive hobby, but get yourself on eBay, there is usually deals to be had, from what you have listed, it seems to me that he has a more competitive range of models that you do.

You can probably pick up a venom for 8-9 quid ( 11-13 dollars?) save up a little bit and see what you can find.

If you can get a few of them it will massively help.

Also, with the limited range you have, why not try to reduce points so that you can make more efficient use of your models.

Hope it helps

Good luck

Jk

Quick note, I actually converted all of my venoms from raiders (old range) by cutting off the bulk of the vehicle (basically kept the nose attached to the back engine) and built a back plank thing from the side runners. I undersling all of my vehicle weapons so put both cannons under the nose.
Buying the older stuff second hand is super cheap these days, by current standards, and a moderate amount of conversion work makes them stand out as awesome models.

I would be curious to see how they look

I've been meaning to take some picks now that most of them are finished (my conversion work, and then bedazzled with extras from the new kits).

They're very similar in size to a "proper" venom - I've never gotten any complaints on that front. I'll see if I can't get a thread in the conversion area up soon... may take a few days due to real life being a pain, but I'll post a quick note here when I get them up.

As to the actual post, most of what I'm about to say has already been covered, but I want to back a few things.

On terrain... "area terrain" is no longer the term, but "Battlefield Debris" is effectively the same thing (except not bonus for GtG). So if something is dubbed "Battlefield Debris" (or, because we've been calling it this for years - "Area Terrain"), having a sliver of your base in it, for non-vehicle models, *does* give the normal 5+ cover save.
Ruins are even better, offering a 4+ with the same lax requirements.
A "Twisted Copse" (formerly "Forest") gives you a 5+ if you draw line of sight through it, period

Now, a hill on a base, personally, I would not call that area terrain. I'd consider it a hill, with the base being a non-entity... but that's for you and your opponent to decide. A hill could also easily be called area terrain (if there's real or imaginary rubble/shrubbery around it).

That said, poison is a great thing to have vs MC's. They'll take their armor save, so cover is moot... you can easily calculate how many shots it *should* take to drop X wounds at Y armor save. Or rather, what I like to do is be cognoscente of how many wounds a given unit in my army can expect to put out.
A venom will do 4 wounds.
A raider with splinter racks (the unit inside - 9+splinter cannon) is good for just shy of 10 at rapid fire range. Plus the X% of the raiders weapon doing something.
Etc.

As to the combat-character-of-choice... Archons, I think, are probably "okay" with an Agoniser. They do a relatively regular 2 wounds to things... just avoid 2+ armor like the plague. And preferably Inv saves, too (no worries vs Nids there). They do have the benefit of unlocking a Court, which, through Sslyth, can give them "secret T5". Basically, if the majority T is 5, the unit as a whole is wounded as T5... so much less.
Succubi are a little more target-dependent, with the Glaive. They have the much-coveted AP2, but are capped at S4, so as soon as you start running into really tough enemies they get a little... meh. Vs T3/4 guys they'll be a decent combaty character... not amazing damage output, but a pretty solid value for the points (I really like the Armor of Misery here, as it helps with overwatch). Then again, I like the Armor of Misery, period.

This has probably already turned into a wall of text, so I'll cut it off. Will try to get some pictures up soon.

jbwms713 wrote:

On terrain... "area terrain" is no longer the term, but "Battlefield Debris" is effectively the same thing (except not bonus for GtG).  So if something is dubbed "Battlefield Debris" (or, because we've been calling it this for years - "Area Terrain"), having a sliver of your base in it, for non-vehicle models, *does* give the normal 5+ cover save.

That's not actually true. Battlefield Debris is Difficult Terrain. A model 'in cover behind' difficult terrain has a 5+ cover save. You get nothing for simply being 'in' difficult terrain, you must be 25% obscured unless specifically stated otherwise by the rules for that terrain piece (such as Rubble).

Slight mistake on my part... it's a Battlescape, not Battlefield Debris, that functions as ye olde area terrain.

Yeah, that's a specific terrain piece ( the one with the wrecked rhino) with its own rules.

True enough, but in my experience (YMMV) People regularly call generic pieces "area terrain", using the rule for the battlescape. Likewise using the twisted copse rules for any given forest.

jbwms713 wrote:

True enough, but in my experience (YMMV) People regularly call generic pieces "area terrain", using the rule for the battlescape.  Likewise using the twisted copse rules for any given forest.

Literally never known anyone do that.

I have accumulated a similar but huge range of 3rd edition models, and have been making them work.  In your particular situation my suggestion would be to try to convert or simply "counts as" your wyches (or female warriors) into a lhamean court for your archon.  They wound anything on 2+, instant death on 6s to wound and only cost 10 points a piece.  I keep 9 as bubble wrap around my archon/succubus, but they're quite likely to wipe out a squad of monstrous creatures on a charge.

Under the current rules I don't believe any tyranids have eternal warrior.

This would work in synergy with your kymarea, who are essentially just an obstacle to screen fire and then hold whatever you want dead in place while all those 2+/ID attacks get where you need them.