Tyranid Strategy In The Rulebook Missions: Golden Throne GT Prep 2

Yesterday I started off this series by reviewing the first three book missions as they pertain to my 17 model Nidzilla list. You should check that article out first as I reference some of the tactics I wrote there. This analysis is being done in preparation for the Golden Throne GT, the first grand tournament to feature the new 6^th edition rules. Today I continue on with the final three missions.

Round 4

The Scouring

Dawn of War

The big difference between this mission and Crusade/Big Guns Never Tire is that I know exactly how many objectives there will be. My priorities for placement are the same as there are in Crusade: 1^st get an objective in each deployment zone in area terrain, 2^nd is to get one objective near the table edge in area terrain on a single side, 3^rd is place midfield objectives so that my Tervigon can both be scoring and giving synapse to a unit on the rear objective. I don’t have fast attack so no fancy tactics there. Dawn of War here is nice as the linear deployment zones are the easiest to place objectives in when following my outlined strategy.

Round 5

The Emperor’s Will

Hammer and Anvil

So you thought roll dice and tie was fun? Wait til you play it with the table flipped to have short deployment edges! I want to go on record that Capture and Control actually plays very well for non-imperial armies in my experience…only the mech trains cried about it last edition. On that note my scheme depends on LOS blocking and area terrain as well as my opponents long ranged shooting. If I can hide gants deep out of danger then this is easy. I spawn two gant squads and move the reserved gants onto my objective. I then charge my other 1450 points directly at the enemy. Most the time this style mission turns into a game theory lesson of 75%, 50%, and 25% options of what to attack with an what to defend with. My list lets me literally throw my whole army at the opponent. If there are castled very well I can deep strike with a positive modifier on my reserve rolls.

The big wrench in the work is transport fliers. These units not only kill my gants but make crossing no mans land a joke and requiring me to keep a Tervigon in the backfield. This mission would be the worst to face off with a Necron Scythe-wing.

Round 6

The Relic

Vanguard Strike

I believe that Tyranids are one of the four best options in this mission (Nob Bikers, SM Bikers, and Eldar Jetbikes are the other three I think of). Because gants spawn within six inches of the Tervigon and then move another six, if I deploy 12” from the relic I will always be able to get a gant squad into base contact with the relic on my first turn (unless it is in terrain or my opponent gets there). From there it is about positioning my troop Tervigon six inches from them so that I can pass it on the next turn. I then use my monsters are road blocks and spawn walls of gants to prevent my opponent from engaging the Tervigon. Obviously first turn helps here, but it is not required. The counter to this is to target the central gant squad, but the downside to that is that you are then putting less fire into my monsters. Catalyst would naturally go on the gants.

Though the last three missions are more complicated than the first three, the Tyranid dominant strategy seems to be simplified for these missions. We will see how well my strategies do and how correct my predictions are next week when I put up all my battle reports from the event.

In terms of other preparation for the event, I may try to get a game in tonight to get one last refresher on my unit synergy, but otherwise my priority is on finishing my other Tervigon who is on my paining table. I do not want to play this event with a model that is not glued to hits base, but I also don’t want to glue it down until I am done painting it. Certainly not the sort of training I did for the Darkstar GT, and it is certainly less than I will do for the Midwest Massacre or Adepticon, but that is ok with me. I am going to this event to play people who I may never have the chance to play again from the west coast (hoping to get to play either Reece or Frankie from Frontline Gaming) as well as soak up as much information as I can on the ground about the shifting metagame following the release of sixth. I hope to have a good time and I my lack of serious training will help put me in that mindset.