What is this undefeated poverty Tyranid list all about? Jstove here, and today I’m looking at the undefeated army lists from the 40k London GT, and this is sticking out to me.
Best Coast Pairings had more than one “victor” in this tournament from the sheer number of players. But the undefeated list I was most excited about, and the guy I’d like to hear from most is a list I like to call “Poverty ‘Nids.”
Before I get that far, let’s set the stage. Here’s what you should know about the London GT.
London 40k GT Format
- Rulebook missions and Maelstrom cards
- Standardized, mostly sparse terrain with some line of sight blocks down the middle, identical to every table
- Because of the format structure, multiple players had undefeated runs in the final round. The winner will be crowned by points and votes.
There are a bunch of lists that went undefeated, some of them very typical. The one that was reported as likely to come out on top was a Guard/Custodes list. Other undefeated lists were, of course, a pair of Eldar, but with different builds. One was a pretty typical tournament job, Yvraine with Dark Reapers, jet bikes, and Swoopdawhoops.
Another Eldar soup with a triple Ravager spearhead, Razorwings, and Crimson Hunter spam. Top London GT List breakdowns
Poverty Tyranids list:
Now the first thing I should explain is why I call this list Poverty ‘Nids. I call it that because this list has none of the expensive power hitters in the Tyranid book. There are no biovores, (Which are all resin or pewter and you have to snipe them on eBay.) There are no Hive Guard. (Which are a $70 direct order plastic kit for 3 models and you’ll want at least 6 in your army. Also look at that Hive Tyrant- He doesn’t even have wings!
I can’t begin to express what a massive stud this guy is… He ran an undefeated 5 round clinic on a GT with pretty sparse terrain and finished in the same bracket as Eldar soup and Custodes soup, and he did it with the cheapest, most butt-naked models in the codex.
This army used some of the Bug’s most accessible and easy to get models- Carnifexes are 2 for 90 bucks from GW, which puts them on par with Dreadnought pricing. This is pretty great when you consider that gaunt swarms come 12 to a box for 29 bucks and need huge numbers and die to bolters, and most other big bugs are between 56 and 80 bucks a box.
How’s it work?
First of all, despite the fact that Carnifexes are individually chumps, this Cadillac of ‘Nid players relied on the most important benefit of the unit. They are cheap on points, cheap on the wallet, and infinitely customizable.
Spore cysts mean these guys are all -1 to hit. Just as importantly, Carnifexes deploy as units but are individuals once the game starts. MSU carnifexes with -1 to hit? Eating your drinks? That’s just brilliant, Frank.
‘Fexes aren’t really phenomenal at melee either. Having 4 attacks at 4+ to hit, and being strength 6, so they struggle to wound baby tanks like Rhinos. instead of forcing melee to work, he went with acid maws giving each frontline ‘Fex -5 AP and D3 damage. It was unlikely the ‘Fexes would scratch real tanks with their 4s to hit and 5+ wound rolls but anything on a base smaller than 60mm is sure to catch a brick to the head if the ‘Fex connects. Just for hopes and dreams, he threw in a S8 bone mace tail, but with one attack at 4+, I imagine this was for last resorts and command point rerolls.
The real sauce here though is that the backline ‘Fexes have enhanced senses and Jormungunununununundr hive fleet adaptation. That means they hit on 3+ and are in cover if they stand still. For heat, every ‘Fex has a pair of beehives and a fatty Venom Cannon, going off at S9 with D3 shots.
Shockingly Effective
This actually took me by surprise. Normally, I would never personally kit a Carnifex like this. I’m a big believer in the old school theory that you maximize every model to do exclusively one job. Use that model specifically with a single-minded focus to annihilate its chosen target.
These Cadillac upgraded stealth ‘Venomfexes’ are very versatile, and more importantly, there’s 8 of them. Don’t forget they are all -1 to hit and they all must be shot individually, with 2+ saves. This is a pretty great argument for the versatility and cost-effectiveness of the Carnifex, who for the most part has been largely ignored by the hive mind in favor of super shooty Hive Guard and Biovores that can crap mortal wounds and create board control with spore mines. This dude is really making a case for how deep the ‘Nid bench truly is.
What I love the most about the Venomfex spam is that this kit setup comes completely out of the box. No need to bits order extra parts. Every ‘Fex has an Acid Maw, Bone Mace, Venom Cannon, and a pair of Party Poppers right on the frame. You don’t even have to camp that Hoard o’ Bits page for restocks!
The list doesn’t lack for psychic gas either. With 3 small character un-targetable smite batteries and one fatty on the Hive Tyrant (who is also -1 to hit because he’s got the Kraken stealth relic) there’s no stress for cheap mortal wounds.
With the left hand of the list a fist full of Carnifexes all ready to pop D3 S9 hatred across an empty table while all being in cover MSU -1 to shoot back, the right hook is a cheapo battalion of Cultists. 3 Autogun squads of bullet catchers and a party bus of Genestealers for mop up. With 8 Carnifexes and a Tyrant on the table all as individual targets, how are you ever gonna kill all that stuff… And still kill 20 Genestealers that will blender anything they touch? This dude really knows how to build a list that gives the opponent no right answers.
The biggest problem with the list at first glance is that it obviously won’t get the same mileage in ITC. Where bonus secondaries are awarded for blowing out heavy supports. But hey, different builds for different formats.
I salute my fellow Bugaboo from the Hivemind for his ingenuity. Chomping down on these tasty humans with a left-field list that uses only the lowest budget models in the codex.
Way to feed the swarm, brother!
About the Author: Jack Stover
