Eldar & the 5th Edition Tyranid Menace By: Dverning

Eldar & the 5^th Edition Tyranid Menace

The Tyranid Codex now in stores, many Hive Minds are chuckling evilly about all their new toys, Saim-Hann looks to be headed into the prongs of two separate Hive Fleets, and Iyanden is all but turned into biomass. What’s a proud but dying race to do in these tough times?

1. Don’t rush to change your army. Tyranids have NOT drastically changed the face of the game. If your list was already balanced and capable of facing Mech Marines, Drop Marines, Horde Orks and Nidzilla, then you’re likely to be fine against the new Nids. They’re mostly doing the same things, just with different names. Get a few games in against them, see how things fare and THEN adapt. The only unit I’d consider really key to facing Tyranids is a Farseer with Runes of Witnessing: to shut down Zoanthrope Warp Blasts and other nasty Psykers. But then again, I already consider a Farseer nigh mandatory for any balanced list above 1000 points. After that your list might end up with a few more Guardian Jetbikes, opt to add for Warp Spiders, or finally re-shelf your Wraithguard… but generally a competitive list of a month ago is still a competitive list now.
2. Know your enemy. Take the time to flip through the Codex and get a basic orientation to the Tyranid choices. You don’t need to be able to build a list from memory, but you do need to know how to identify their models, what unitss are T4 versus T6, which Monsters give Synapse (and what that means), if large parts of the force will be able to enter play via Outflank or Deep Strike, or even who will explode and damage nearby units when killed. This will lead to knowing how to…
3. Maximize effect by using the right weapon. For example: Zoanthropes and Tyranid Warriors. Both are T4, yet the first has a 3+ Invulnerable Save and 2 Wounds while the other has 4+ Armour and 3 Wounds. A pair of Bright Lances at the Zoanthropes and Dire Avengers into Doomed Warriors might drop one each or so, but reversing the choice of weapon and spell will significantly increase the damage done. In the same sense, Banshees or Harlequins that charge Lash Whip Warriors or Tyrant Guard are in for a nasty surprise, but will greatly enjoy ripping up Genestealers and most Monsters.
4. Divide. Your primary asset isn’t your guns, it is your speed. In general, Eldar armies will out range, out maneuver, and out gun Tyranids, but will be outnumbered and suffer when in close combat and/or pinned in place. Though most Tyranids do not have Frag Grenades, you’re usually better off just not being there in the first place. Taking static formation and play style will be to their strengths, allowing their superior numbers to push you into a corner and swarm over you. You need to be using Jump-Shoot-Jump, Turboboosting Jetbikes, Assault move Jetbikes, Flat Out Skimmer, Reserves Denial, Divination redeploy and all your other tricks to spread them out across the board and engage per your desires. This allows you to…
5. Conquer. A big problem with Tyranids is learning how to engage them, but even harder is knowing what to do when you get there. Here are my general recommendations:
1. Cripple their mobility. Outflanking Genestealers or Mycetic Spores aren’t really a massive threat; once they’ve hit the field the units are subject to normal movement rules and can be avoided. Standard Castle Deployment, Reserves Denial, and other Deep Strike neutralizing formations will seriously reduce their threat. What you need to worry about overall are the units that can keep up with you on the table. Choices like Gargoyles, Shrikes, FlyRants, Harpies and Mawlocs should be high on your priority list to neutralize early. Once you have secured the advantage of speed, turn your eyes toward…
2. Destroy their Spawners. One of the nastiest threats of the new dex is certainly Tervigons and their ability to spawn new broods. Expect to see a number of these beasties on the tables soon. Unless the game is for Kill Points, you should expect them to be popping out babies as fast as they can. Yet in the sense of “know your enemy”, Tervigons also do BAD THINGS to nearby Termagaunts when they die. These Monsters need to die quickly, but for other targets of the same class…
3. Don’t sweat the big guys. Tyrannofex, Carnifex, Trygons, and even Shooty Tyrants all look pretty scary on paper, especially when tooled up with Retinues, multiple model units, Regeneration and other toys. But take an honest look at the details. Most aren’t as big a threat as they seem, especially at range. They’re simple fire magnets that hope to draw fire off of weaker units while everything closes. Ignore them for higher priority targets, Avoid them until you can achieve localized superiority and only engage them when you can…
4. Focus overwhelming fire. With Regeneration, multiple wounds all over, swarm production and many other rules, the worst thing to do to a Tyranid army is spread your fire out. Remember, there’s no Regenerating if the monster is out of Wounds and a single living ‘Gaunt can preserve a Kill Point. Strive to focus your fire for localized overkill and you’re much less likely to have a bad roll or two crumple your entire battle line.

Still, Conquering will not always work. So…

6. Don’t get attached to your units. As a doomed race, every life lost is irreplaceable. But if putting those Fire Dragons a little closer together can keep your Dire Avengers from being charged? That’s lives saved to go on shooting the next turn. Few Nid lists are going to be an “easy win” these days. You will need to accept losses, play to your “A Game” and think beyond the tactics of the current turn. Most especially, you will need to…
7. Always, always, ALWAYS remember the objectives. This is probably THE single biggest reason I see people snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. It doesn’t matter if a unit of Hormagaunts sits on an objective marker all game long, so long as it’s your Scoring Wave Serpent sitting there when the dice are set down. It’s great to strive for tabling your opponent, but that’s gimmick and not a game-winning strategy. The only way to consistently win is to always stay focused on the actual game.

And for some other good thoughts, I would suggest checking out:

http://bellumaeternum.blogspot.com/2010/01/some-musings-on-tyranids-and-freshly.html

http://www.yesthetruthhurts.com/2010/01/editorial-tyranids-vs-eldar.html

http://blackmoors40k.blogspot.com/2010/01/eldar-vs-tyranids.html

http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2010/01/40k-tactics-defeating-hive-mind-eldar.html

I don’t agree with everything any of them have to say, but there’s still some great analysis in these. Cheers and hope you’ve enjoyed this little digression!

Thanks to Dverning over at Maunderings of a 40K Gamer for the great post.

Howling Banshee Tricks by: Dverning

Hey Everyone, Just to let you know that Dverning has been kind enough to share topics from his blog. I thought I'd introduce him with a rather helpful one that is kind to all Eldar Players. You can see the orignal here.

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Over on Warseer's Eldar Tactica, Ernest101 posted the following:
"hey guys, i am having this really big prob, i play a full mech list, when i drop my banshees, they kill almost anything i want them to kill in their path, but after that assault phase, they always get blown to bits... hardly surviving a shooting phase... any suggestion guys?"

My response:
Well, you really have three options:
1. Don't let them shoot at you.
2. Reduce the effect of their shooting at you.
3. Balance your charge so that you are still in CC during their turn.

As I see it, there's several things that can greatly influence the above situations: Fortune, Doom, Multiple Units, Screening, Cover, and Target Selection.

1. Fortune. I can't emphasize enough how useful this power is. Not only can you protect your Banshees in CC and from shooting, but you can also protect their tank as you close into range too.

2. Doom. With only a S3, Banshees often need the added boost of Doom to give them a little extra punch. But you should remember that those re-rolls are optional. Say you've get 15 hits and cause 6 wounds to a 10-man Marine squad. The immediate reaction of most people is to pick up the other 9 dice and re-roll them all at once. This will likely cause 3 more kills and No Retreat will kill off the last guy several times over. However, just re-rolling 3 means 1 more kill, 3 guys doing retalitory fire, and then No Retreat will leave just 1 guy in CC with you. Or you could just play it safe and not re-roll any of them.
An interesting thing about Doom is that the rules as written allow a re-roll no matter the first result. So you can re-roll a success just as easily as a failure. Say you just charged a 5-man Marine squad and caused 7 wounds... why not re-roll 4 successful ones? Then you'll likely only kill 4 and stay in CC with the one last guy. The trick is plausible against larger units, but trickier to predict as the stacked negatives to Ld or number of No Retreat rolls can add a lot of variables.

3. Multiple Units. Banshees have a notable habit of killing of everything in their path. One protection from this is to engage more than one unit. Creative splitting of attacks can wipe out one entire threat and minimize the return threat of the other. Example: I once charged a unit of 10 Khorne Beserkers and wrapped my assault so that two girls also hit a line of 8 Noise Marines. The Beserkers were wiped out by the other 8 girls, and the Noise Marines lost 2. Fearless hits from No Retreat took down 3 more Noise Marines and I slaughtered the rest on his turn.

4. Cover LOS. Banshees don't really care if they're assaulting in the open or in cover, at least for Initiative. Targets in cover will be slowed by difficult terrain tests, meaning they're less likely to just move out of charge range. Even better, there's also a certain psychology to terrain pieces... many players will leave a unit immobile in a "fortified position" even when it might be more tactically advantageous to back out of the position. This is especially true for pieces of cover on or right near objectives. The nice thing about taking the piece of cover from your opponent is that even if you wipe out the enemy, you'll have the benefit of the cover for yourself. Even better is if the piece of cover and/or a Consolidate move will put you out of LOS from the enemy.

5. Screening LOS. Getting Banshees to where they're needed usually means they're in a Wave Serpent. So what does that tank do after dropping them off? Though it's tempting to scream it off to some other section of the battlefield, I've found it can be quite useful to continue it in support of the Banshees. After the Banshees get out, the tank can still move and shoot. Positioning it just to the side of the unit you're going to charge can screen the Banshees from retalitory fire in a wipe out as well as leaving it conveniently nearby should the Banshees want to embark back in the next turn.

6. Target Selection. WHAT you're attacking should also be a big consideration. For example, 10 Banshees charging Doomed Plague Marines should only kill 5.56 of them.

By using all of the above is how you really maximize the output of your Howling Banshees. Because you can't charge from a moving Wave Serpent, you're having to think a turn ahead for getting them into CC. Isn't it worth it to give a little extra consideration for where they'll be after that?