Hey 40k'ers, Chaplain Sam here. I've got another update on the list building progress for TSHFT. Disclaimer - this post features a lot of cheese (chedder, swiss, havarti and more!). This lists Chris and I are leaning towards are unapologetically brutal. It's hard to gear up for the tournament when Chris is running Draigostar in all our practice games, so I blame him for all the Battle Brothers' transgressions. Therefore, please direct any flame to the appropriate person (Chris). So here's the list I ran in our most recent test game:
1850 Tyranids
Hive Fleet Detachment:
Flyrant
Flyrant
Flyrant
Mucolid Spore
Mucolid Spore
Mucolid Spore
Combined Arms Detachment:
Flyrant
Flyrant
Mucolid Spore
Mucolid Spore
21 Gargoyles
Mawloc
Mawloc
Mawloc
Fortification:
Skyshield Landing Pad
Tactics - Pretty simple list concept. I've got 5 Flyrants swooping around blasting everything to bits and providing psychic offense/defense. The Mucolids fill the troop requirements in the cheapest way possible and try to be as annoying as possible. The Gargoyles will tarpit anything that I don't want to shoot and if they're alive go grab some objectives. The Mawlocs are my AP2, anti-skyfire Broadsides and my anti-invisibility. The BAO/LVO (and TSHFT) FAQ rules that Mawlocs' Terror from the Deep (TftD) attack hits invisible units normally. This wasn't an attempt to tailor to Chris' list, just a realization that invisible units won't be uncommon and I need a way to respond. Mawlocs also can operate pretty independently, which is important when nothing in my list can babysit units that need synapse support. The Skyshield Landing Pad lets me comfortably deploy all my Flyrants turn 1 rather than putting anything in reserves or taking heavy losses if I deploy.
Game Result - I played against Chris' invisible Centurion Draigostar and things went really well. I went first so I was able to get all my Flyrants in the air. Chris deployed out of range so I didn't shoot anything. In Chris' turn he used Gates to teleport back into my deployment zone so that my Flyrants would have to waste a turn turning around if I wanted to shoot the Draigostar. Fortunately, I was able to deny Invisibility (score!). He focused fire onto 1 Flyrant but only put on 3 wounds. I passed the grounding check and avoided giving up first blood. My next turn all three Mawlocs came in and pounded the Draigostar and killed all three Centurions. My Flyrants combined fire to drop 1 Dreadknight and put several wounds on a second. The Gargoyles tarpitted the third Dreadknight. Game over! I got lucky with some key rolls so I don't think that the game would be so one-sided if we played again. But still, the list was much more effective than my last list and I like it a lot.
There are still a couple things I'm concerned about: (1) scoring and (2) procuring models.
Mucolid spores can't score and that means I'm completely relying on my Flyrants, Gargoyles and Mawlocs to score for me. I don't expect the Gargoyles to be alive or free from combat and Mawlocs aren't the most reliable method of scoring. Plus I'd rather the Mawlocs focus on pounding enemy units with TftD. I really don't want to land Flyrants mid-game to score Maelstrom points either.
The second issue is procuring 5 Mucolid spores. They come in the Tyrannocyte kit and share parts. They are pretty hard to find on Ebay and I'd either have to pay a premium for the tentacles or mold some myself. I certainly don't want to buy 5 Tyrannocyte boxes just for the Mucolid Spores.
So where does that leave me? I'm thinking about dropping the Gargoyles and swapping the Mucolid Spores for Rippers. They are much cheaper to pick up, they can score and they can get around the board with Deep Strike. It's hard to give up the Gargoyles, but I think it's a better list with more scoring.
Let me know if you have any comments or ideas!
Chaplain Sam signing off.