Gamers have been ranting about the 5th edition Tyranids since their release and James learned their shortcomings first hand last night. I won't go into great detail about the game (it's just to atrocious to speak in depth about; let's just say that the IG won the 1000 point game with 900 points still on the table). I have contemplated the oversights of the 5th edition Tyranids and here are my thoughts:
1.) Poor/few HQ choices. In lower point games it would be nice to have a balanced, low-point HQ choice that can be armed with long range weapon and close combat armament (maybe the Hive Tyrant just needs to be lower in cost).
2.) Lack of armor saves and invulnerable saves. It costs a Hive Tyrant 40 additional points to give him a 2+ save and he still doesn't have an invulnerable. The only two units in the entire army that have invulnerable saves are Zoanthropes and Swarmlords in close combat. Without tank armor I feel that more creatures should have better resilience.
3.) Drifting small blast template rule has DESTROYED Tyranids' ability to engage in any sort of heavy long-range combat. The only gun in the army of which more than one can be fielded is the Heavy Venom Cannon, which now drifts. James sadly felt the poor statistics of these weapons during the game. With a Hive Tryant and a Carnifex shooting the Heavy Venom Cannons for three turns, only two landed and he only scored one crew shaken result on a Manticore.
4.) Synapse is now almost worthless. That's all I have to say about that.
5.) Monstrous creatures are too slow. When a player is banking on the strength of a close combat creature that can only move a 6" + random d6 run per turn, the enemy can easily stay out of close combat for three turns if he/she is savvy enough.
In conclusion, I am an old Tyranid player and actually enjoyed the army, but I will wait until 6th edition Codex is released before I will ever take them as a seriously competitive army again.
I logged on to post about this very game and found that you beat me to the punch.
ReplyDeleteNice blog guys!
ReplyDeleteSounds like the fight was almost one sided. Could have been the dice gods were unfavorably with one?
I did forget to mention that James was using his Ultramarine dedicated dice for the Tyranids. Could be bad karma from the dice.
ReplyDeleteThe game was very much one-sided. The Heavy Venom Cannons did absolutely nothing and the one chance I got to fire the Zoanthrope's weapon was thwarted by a failed Psychic test.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't until the game was over that I realized that I probably shouldn't have used the gold and blue dice I specifically purchased for the Ultramarines. It appears there's some bad blood between them and the Tyranids.
Sounds brutal, but at it taught you a decent lesson! GW demands different sets of dice for different armies ;)
ReplyDelete