Anatomy of a List: Feast of Blades Qualifier List

Greetings everyone, BeeCee here

I wanted to spend a little bit of time talking about lists today. Lists are the magic word in 40k. When you lose to someone, it's probably their list. Have a tough time at the tables of a tourney, it's because you couldn't take your best list because of XYZ. The list is as integral to 40k as knowing the rules and being tactically sound on the table as well as a primary source of frustration between players when one person's list clearly is superior to another player's.

I thought I would spend my weekly rant/update to you all by going over my list. I already have a bevy of excuses why it isn't better!


Before we jump right in, let's set the stage shall we? The tourney is at Universal Bits and Games in Sioux Falls, SD on July 26th. It is about the closest gaming store I have to me and this will be my first tourney there, so if you happen to be in/from the area and are going to be at the tourney, let me know! I will be pimping the official FTGT tee shirt. The tourney is a 1500 point Feast of Blades qualifier with the winner of the tournament securing a slot in the Feast of Blades event in October.

The Feast of Blades tourney pack includes three missions that will be played as part of the qualifier. The first mission is Kill Points primary and objective secondary; the second mission is objectives primary, kill points secondary; and finally the third mission is area control primary and objectives secondary.

Let's break down the list:

HQ:

What would any Tyranid list be without two flying hive tyrants? These two have 2 twinlinked brainleech devourers and electroshock grubs. I need to count on these guys to pretty much do everything for me. They are my anti-air, they kill herds of infantry, they use the majority of my psychic powers. I can't say enough about them, but at 240 points each they represent one third of the total cost of my army. I need to protect them!

TROOPS:

The trusty Tervigon and "tax"! I can't tell you all how many times I waffled on this choice. I had the other guys on the blog math-hammering, we were talking strategy in Google Hangouts for two straight days about the value of the Tervigon, especially in kill point games where the spawning becomes less effective. She made the cut! Honestly, I just can't let her go, she has been so reliable for me for so many games. She may not be Ms. Right, she'll do right now. (Yeah I just quoted pop punk in a 40k blog, I'm pretty sure my tough guy cred is shot now!)

ELITES:

This area of the force organization chart is where I think I'm taking the biggest risks. Two solo Zoanthropes and a solo Venomthrope. This is kill point city right here but doubling up on the model count on any of these units really doesn't add much survivability. These models represent must haves in the Tyranid lists in my opinion. The Zoanthrope adds two warp dice to your total, three psychic powers, synapse, and the only invulnerable save in the entire Tyranid codex, all for the low low price of 50 points. The Venomthrope is a must have in your list to endure the shooting that you will definitely face as you try to close the ground on the enemy. Shrouded is just such a big deal, combine that with screening gaunts and your big guys have 3+ cover saves. The key is just keeping that fragile Venomthrope alive.

HEAVY SUPPORT:

The Exocrine; if the Tervigon can be called Ms. Right now, the Exocrine is the cheerleader who sometimes calls you when she wants you to pay for something for her. I have had such mixed luck with my Exocrines, but man do I have a mancrush on them. They have AP 2, large blast capability, high rate of fire so you can snapshot flyers in a pinch. These dudes are the bodyguards of the core of my swarm, they love to be in the center of the board defending territory you've taken with the precious biomass of the hive fleet. But BC, you only have one? What is your problem? That's because we aren't done yet!

FORMATION:

It really is going to be the Living Artillery Node. Luckily my friend Ron here at FTGT is going to ship me a spare biovore that I am going to paint up along with three warriors to make this happen.

The original version of my list did not have the LAN in it. It was only after duels with a friend who plays Tau made it apparent that I can not endure markerlight shenanigans or afford to lose my Hive Tyrants to take out markerlights that the LAN made an appearance. The Biovores have a 48" range, str 4 ap 4 large blast and you reroll the scatter dice AND the warriors have a 36" str 4 ap 5 large blast themselves AND all the blasts, even the Exocrine's, pin!

So is this list good enough to qualify for Feast of Blades? I'm not sure. If I had more time I would have explored another detachment and running three flying hive tyrants, they are just that good!

There is also the question about the Tervigon. Will she just be a monumental waste of points? Time will tell. Battle reports and results coming after 7/26! Feel free to post thoughts, questions, and comments, I love hearing from people.

To follow up on my painting post from a while back: I still need to make a photo box and to those who posted that feedback, it was noted and will be acted upon, I promise! Also I haven't forgotten about the painting post in general, it's just been one crazy summer!

More to come!