Hey everyone, Chaplain Sam here. So the latest big news for Tyranid players is the champion of the 11th Company Grand Tournament is none other than... a Tyranid player! This has the Internet buzzing a bit because the somewhat unusual nature of the player's list. He ran a very, very Lictor heavy list. Greg, a.k.a Greggles, a.k.a. your friendly-neighborhood-super-commenter commented on my review of the Deathleaper's Assassin formation. He felt the formation deserved a 'Good' rating, rather than 'Average', and cited the fact that a player had just won a GT using such a list. This prompted me to look into it a bit and now I want to share what I found. I hereby proclaim this blog post to be in the honor of Greg for providing the inspiration. Let's check out what this list is all about!
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Hive Tyrant – wings, 2x twin-linked Devourer, Electroshock Grubs – 240
Hive Tyrant – wings, 2x twin-linked Devourer, Electroshock Grubs – 240
Lictor – 50
Lictor – 50
Lictor – 50
3 Ripper Swarms – Deepstrike – 45
5 Genestealers – 70
5 Genestealers – 70
5 Genestealers – 70
5 Spore Mines – 25
5 Spore Mines – 25
4 Spore Mines – 20
Mawloc – 140
Mawloc – 140
Mawloc – 140
Bastion – Comms relay – 95
Death Leapers Assassin Formation
Death Leaper – 130
Lictor – 50
Lictor – 50
Lictor – 50
Lictor – 50
Lictor – 50
Deathleaper's Assassin Breakdown:
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8 Khorne Bezerkers - champ fist, banner, plasma pistols
Landraider
10 Chaos Marines - 2 melta, Rhino
10 Chaos Marines - 2 plasma, Rhino
7 Plague Marines - 2 melta, Rhino
2 Nurgle Oblits
3 Nurgle Oblits
Chapter Master - gorgons shield, some kind of axe, on bike
5 man bike squad - 2 grav guns, multimelta
10 marine - melta, combi melta, drop pod
10 Marines - plasma, combi plasma, rhino
5 Scouts - heavy bolter, Land Speeder storm
5 Scouts - heavy bolter, Landspeeder storm
Predator - 3 lascannons
Stalker
Thunderfire cannon
Storm Talon
Imperial knight - battle cannon
ethereal
10 Kroot
10 Kroot
3 suits with missile pods and marker drones
2 suits fusion
2 suits fusion
Skyray
Skyray
Riptide
3 Broadsides missile drones
3 Broadsides missile drones
Rune Priest(sumoning powers)
Iron Priest on Wolf
Iron Priest on Wolf
5 Grey hunters - melta gun, Drop pod
5 Grey hunters - melta gun, Drop pod
Drop Pod
Drop Pod
Drop Pod
Company Command Squad - 4 melta, plasma pistol(went in drop pod)
2 Primaris Psykers(divination... prescience, 4+ invul, misfortune, something else)
Astra Priest
Platoon Command Squad - 4 flamers(drop pod)
3x Platoons - lascannon, Chimera
Special weapons squad - 3 melta, flamer, plasma pistol(went in drop pod)
50 Conscripts
2 Wyvrens
5 bike Squads - 3 grav, 2 melta
Scout Bikers
2 Storm Talons
2 Wolf Guard Battle Leaders on Thunderwolves
2 Iron Priests on Thunderwolves
2 Solo Servitors
Army Construction Parameters:
http://www.tangtwo.com/11thcompany/tournament.cfm
"1) No randomness in missions (i.e. no random Maelstrom) allows you to properly strategize and plan your game rather than being surprised each round with what to do next. However, Maelstrom concepts of accumulating points are included in the missions to get best of both worlds!
2) Mission Primary and Secondary selection allows you to customize the mission to best suit the match-up between you and your opponent’s army. This helps to curtail (although not completely eliminate) bad match-ups.
3) Due to having so many mission variables, it’s almost impossible to build an army which can effectively game each mission. This enhances the need for balanced list building, mobility, and player skill."
I'll add that there are many options available to players for progressive scoring and missions that favor speed and flexibility instead of just raw killing power.
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This is turning into a pretty lengthy post! So, I've gathered pretty much everything one would need to review the list and come to a conclusion on the list and the formation. I hope you all will come up with your own thoughts and post them in the comments. I'll share my own thoughts of course, that was the intent of the post.
Tyranid Army List
Hive Tyrant – wings, 2x twin-linked Devourer, Electroshock Grubs – 240
Lictor – 50
Lictor – 50
Lictor – 50
3 Ripper Swarms – Deepstrike – 45
5 Genestealers – 70
5 Genestealers – 70
5 Genestealers – 70
5 Spore Mines – 25
5 Spore Mines – 25
4 Spore Mines – 20
Mawloc – 140
Mawloc – 140
Mawloc – 140
Bastion – Comms relay – 95
Death Leapers Assassin Formation
Death Leaper – 130
Lictor – 50
Lictor – 50
Lictor – 50
Lictor – 50
Lictor – 50
Here's a brief summary of the Deathleaper's Assassin Formation:
- Deathleaper
- 5 Lictors (individual units)
- Preferred Enemy: character/independent character
- Paranoia and Ill Discipline - Enemy units within 12" suffer -1 to their leadership
Results
Game 1 Opponent: Chaos Space Marines
Abbaddon8 Khorne Bezerkers - champ fist, banner, plasma pistols
Landraider
10 Chaos Marines - 2 melta, Rhino
10 Chaos Marines - 2 plasma, Rhino
7 Plague Marines - 2 melta, Rhino
2 Nurgle Oblits
3 Nurgle Oblits
Result: Tyranid Victory
Game 2 Opponent: Iron Hands
Iron hands.Chapter Master - gorgons shield, some kind of axe, on bike
5 man bike squad - 2 grav guns, multimelta
10 marine - melta, combi melta, drop pod
10 Marines - plasma, combi plasma, rhino
5 Scouts - heavy bolter, Land Speeder storm
5 Scouts - heavy bolter, Landspeeder storm
Predator - 3 lascannons
Stalker
Thunderfire cannon
Storm Talon
Imperial knight - battle cannon
Result: Tyranid Victory
Game 3 Opponent: Tau Empire
Buffmander with drone controllerethereal
10 Kroot
10 Kroot
3 suits with missile pods and marker drones
2 suits fusion
2 suits fusion
Skyray
Skyray
Riptide
3 Broadsides missile drones
3 Broadsides missile drones
Result: Tyranid Victory
Game 4: Space Wolves / IG
Rune Priest(summoning powers)Rune Priest(sumoning powers)
Iron Priest on Wolf
Iron Priest on Wolf
5 Grey hunters - melta gun, Drop pod
5 Grey hunters - melta gun, Drop pod
Drop Pod
Drop Pod
Drop Pod
Company Command Squad - 4 melta, plasma pistol(went in drop pod)
2 Primaris Psykers(divination... prescience, 4+ invul, misfortune, something else)
Astra Priest
Platoon Command Squad - 4 flamers(drop pod)
3x Platoons - lascannon, Chimera
Special weapons squad - 3 melta, flamer, plasma pistol(went in drop pod)
50 Conscripts
2 Wyvrens
Result: Tyranid Victory
Game 5: White Scars / Space Wolves
Khan5 bike Squads - 3 grav, 2 melta
Scout Bikers
2 Storm Talons
2 Wolf Guard Battle Leaders on Thunderwolves
2 Iron Priests on Thunderwolves
2 Solo Servitors
Result: Tyranid Victory
Game 6: Eldar??
I believe this was against a Eldar army with 6 Wave Serpents, but what I do know is...
Result: Tyranid Victory
Torrent of Fire did a short post on the list and what I believe was the final opponent (Eldar).
Army Construction Parameters:
http://www.tangtwo.com/11thcompany/tournament.cfm
- 1 CAD + 1 other detachment
- No Forge World
- No superheavy/gargantuan creature lords of war
- Self ally allowed
Summary from Mission Packet:
2) Mission Primary and Secondary selection allows you to customize the mission to best suit the match-up between you and your opponent’s army. This helps to curtail (although not completely eliminate) bad match-ups.
3) Due to having so many mission variables, it’s almost impossible to build an army which can effectively game each mission. This enhances the need for balanced list building, mobility, and player skill."
I'll add that there are many options available to players for progressive scoring and missions that favor speed and flexibility instead of just raw killing power.
This is turning into a pretty lengthy post! So, I've gathered pretty much everything one would need to review the list and come to a conclusion on the list and the formation. I hope you all will come up with your own thoughts and post them in the comments. I'll share my own thoughts of course, that was the intent of the post.
Deathleaper's Assassin Formation Rating - Good
This formation has more potential than I thought, that much is clear. Using Lictors to bring in 3 Mawlocs without scattering packs quite the punch. It also takes advantage of Mawlocs' extremely cheap durability. There are 21 units in the army! For comparison, my Tyranid lists generally have around 14. So the MSU effect is big here. Do you want your grav-bike death star or similar units to waste a turn killing a single Lictor or a min-sized Genestealer unit? The answer is no. It's important to remember that Lictors are strength 6 with rending, so a few of them can take care of most vehicles (Wave Serpents). Of course this list also had the mandatory double Flyrants swooping around unleashing a barrage of strength 6 firepower every turn. The deployment options are pretty much endless with the ability infiltrate and/or deep strike so much of the army.
Having said all that, I think the mission and scoring system helps this list along a bit. As does the army composition limitations. Superheavy vehicles would have been an issue, although it's possible to just ignore them with so many small units. His opponents' lists, while very solid, aren't on the same level as the lists popping up at Nova and other events. He also didn't face either of the lists with the Adamantine Lance formation (I believe there were two). Those armies would have given him trouble with the Imperial Knights ability to target multiple units per turn.
Overall, I'm very, very impressed with the list and how it performed at the tournament. I'm definitely intrigued and I'll have to proxy (who has that many Lictors?!) it some time to try it out on the table top. But I still don't think it will be a frequent tournament winner, nor do I think it's the best Tyranid list out there.
I hope you all enjoyed the post and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Chaplain Sam signing off.
What do you think of the list? Will it be a regular tournament winner? Do you think it's the most competitive Tyranid list out there? Let me know in the comments.