It’s been a great weekend playing a game with Ray (enrgie) to finally settle our long rivalry before he peaces out back to where he is from. We played an annihilation game at 1500 pts. Very close game. Space wolves managed to win only by meager margins. In hindsight, I actually wanted the nids to win. I cannot stress enough how much of a potential I believe nids possess.
Based on this belief, I’ve decided to give my two cents on how I believe the nids should best function. At least against my space wolves. I’m not a nid player, never used them in my army, my only knowledge of them is from the ample experiences I’ve had while playing against them.
Looking at the codex, a lot of the mc’s have really interesting upgrades to soup out your bugs. Predominately the quest for nids on steroids is to find the hardest hitting HQ build that can support the little guys instead of letting them be meat shields. While many people believe you must accept nids will most likely sustain substantial losses, I believe while doing so, nids can also take a lot more lives with them as they get shot or smashed to pulp. Its just what aliens do… I think the most obvious element to consider is timing and synchrony.
Consider this; you only need to hide your MC’s as they get into position. The longer it takes for the MC to get into position, the more vulnerable they are with only 3+ saves and to protect them means using cover (also taking more time to get from a to b) or committing cannon fodders to buy cover saves. All this can be minimized if the MC can be in position as soon as possible. This is where the nids truly shine. When they are at the right place fast enough to break the back of the opposing army.
To fulfill this role, I’m looking at making small additions to Ray’s already powerful list to something even more deadly against space wolves and marines alike. For this I’m looking at the hive tyrant:
Hive tyrants can take many different loadouts to fulfill a wide array of specialized roles to “support” your army. It is by no means a stand-alone unit. For it to function at it’s optimum level, you must make use of it’s synapse ability to buff up the little bugs. Its got heavy combat potential but again, being an mc, it is hard to hide, no invulnerable saves means look out for snipers.
This is my build for a very melee intensive angry Hive Guard, here goes nothing…
Either Lash Whip and Bonesword and Scything Talons or two pairs of Scything Talons, Old Adversary, Wings, Leech Essence, and Paroxysm.
This build is meant for rapid response and close support of your troops. It is meant for getting Preferred Enemy to the area that needs it most, and providing covering fire/extra CQC punch when it gets there. The melee intensive build saves you some points as those weapons are all free/standard, and while Preferred Enemy gives you rerolls against things with WS, it doesn't help at all versus normal vehicles, but the Scything Talons do work.
For Ray’s current list, since your trygons do nothing after deepstriking (not able to assault while shooting its pathetic guns), you might as well scrap that for something that can truly enhance the performance of your overall army. Just remember, the points I want to accomplish with this unit are synergy and synchrony. With these 2 elements, I believe nids will truly be a force to be reckoned with.
On a side note, although pricy, wouldn’t you rather pay for something that works instead of something that just looks like an ugly snake?
There you go Ray, I look forward to facing these when I come for a battle tour in sg. comments are welcomed.
