When you think about purchasing a biomorph for one of
your broods, analyze exactly what it is that you are giving
up. Consider the basic Genestealer. For 192 points, you can
field 12 of them with a 5+ save. However, you may see that
Extended Carapace upgrade and think “I’d get
a save against bolters! That has to be worth it! And scything
talons are only 4 points – that’s an extra Attack!” But
now, your Genestealers are 24 points each – for the
same 192 points, you can now get only eight Genestealers.
While you’ve got a save against bolters, you’ve
cost yourself 4 models, making the brood easier to drop below
half strength. While your Genestealers will be much tougher
against the bolters of the Space Marines, their plasma guns,
heavy bolters, and other weapons ignore that expensive upgrade.
Buying biomorphs across the board for your broods can easily
cut the size of your swarm by a third! A good rule of thumb
is to get your numbers up first. Only then should you begin
adding upgrades to broods to use up your last few points.
 In addition to models, Tyranids should also try to maximize
the number of Force Organization slots used. With more broods,
you have more tactical flexibility, and by taking more choices
than your opponent, you have better deployment options.
Consider the following options. One swarm takes two broods
of 32 Hormagaunts each, while another swarm takes six broods
of 10 Hormagaunts each. Both armies fulfill the Troops requirement.
However, the first choice has only two scoring broods, which
limits the number of Victory Points they can claim. Also,
with only two targets to shoot at, the opponent can rest
assured that all his shots will count. The second option
provides six scoring broods, maximizing Victory Point potential.
The smaller brood sizes enable you to make better use of
cover. Six broods give you more Fleet of Claw/Difficult Terrain
rolls, allowing you to get at least some of your force across
the board quickly. Not only that, but you can charge two
of these squads against the same target to get the same amount
of punch as a larger brood.
Focus is a simple concept. Almost no brood in your swarm should try to maximize
its ability in both assault and shooting. While it is easy to enable many of
your broods to dish it out both in close combat and at range, you should avoid
doing so, as you tend to waste points that could be better spent elsewhere.
A Hive Tyrant is a perfect example. Sure, you can purchase
all of the toys: enhanced senses, adrenal glands, toxin sacs,
implant attack, bio-plasma, a
venom cannon, scything talons, and more. However, in doing so, you end up
with a 250-300 point model that will waste some of its potential
every turn. If
you spend 60 points on making your Tyrant a long-ranged death-dealer, you
don’t
want him stuck in close combat. Conversely, if you buy wings and close combat
biomorphs, your Ballistic Skill and ranged weapon-symbiote do you no good
once you are stuck in.
 Pick one area of expertise for Carnifexes and Tyrants and
spend points judiciously to fit that role. Two 300-point
monstrous creatures look very scary on the
table but are much less effective than four 150-point monsters with defined
roles and objectives.
There is one exception to this rule, and that is a Tyranid
Warrior equipped for a shooting role. Because Warriors don’t benefit from taking two guns,
I would suggest that all Warriors with guns take a set of rending claws. While
scything talons might seem like a better choice (being significantly cheaper),
rending claws make the Warriors a real threat should they find themselves in
close combat with power-armoured foes. Because rending claws don’t rely
on Weapon Skill or Strength to do damage, you get a nice dual-role unit, without
having to pay for expensive close combat upgrades.
Tyranids thrive on consistency, and the best way to make sure your swarm performs
consistently is to have several of certain types of brood built into your swarm
design. When you decide to take a specialized brood, consider why you are making
that choice and whether it wouldn’t be better to take multiples.
Consider Hormagaunts and Raveners. If you take these broods,
it is generally because you want a Turn 1 or Turn 2 assault
to harass the opponent and tie
up lines of fire with an early close combat. By taking one brood, you rest
your hopes on one Fleet of Claw roll. A determined opponent can easily wipe
out a brood in 1 turn of shooting. However, by taking two, three, or more
broods, you force your opponent to split his fire or ignore
certain broods. You give
yourself multiple chances for a high Fleet of Claw roll. You open up your
deployment options so that at least one of these broods is
directly across the board from
your chosen target.
Thinking about taking a Zoanthrope with warp blast as your
anti-tank weapon? One can easily fail a Psychic test or miss.
With two or three, you increase
the chances of one of them succeeding in your goal of destroying the tank
that otherwise would run roughshod over your broods.
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