Alright, you know the drill. Here are the fast attack options of the Tyranids codex and my ramblings about them.
Tyranid Shrike Brood: Warriors with jump packs, not much more to say about them that I didn't already say about regular warriors. They have one less armor save but can move 12". I think fast moving synapse creatures could be useful but there are some other interesting choices in this slot.
Gargoyle Brood: Termagants with jump packs. They are 10 points a piece but that's not bad for a disruption unit. The unit has Blinding venom, which I am not a fan. Instead of getting your normal melee attacks you can choice one attack that is strength 3, poison 6+, and blind. What was the point of making it poisoned 6+, I mean really? Could it just not be a normal poisoned attack. Blind is good if your opponent fails his initiative test but don't count on it.
I can see these guys in a lot of competitive list because of their speed. They could force your opponent to make choices or be attacked quickly from different angles.
Ravener Brood: Raveners are very similar to warriors in their stat lines, asides from having 6 leadership and a 5+ save. I really like the fact that they are beast. With proper terrain and their movement they should be able to get into combat where they belong.
They come default with two scything talons so on the charge they will have five attacks. You can exchange one set for ranged weapons but I think I would go for rending claws. Delicious, delicious rending, oh my. The unit also has deep strike so that gives you options for deployment and options are always helpful.
They are kind of expensive at 30 points but I would want to test them out on the table to see their merit.
The Red Terror: You can add this character into a Ravener Brood for 85 points. It is just an upgraded Ravener with slightly better stats and a prehensile pincer. He has an interesting rule that could possibly be useful. If you hit with at least 4 attacks and there is an enemy infantry, jump infantry or jet pack infantry , you can try and remove it from play. They get to make 1 invulnerable save or get removed but it doesn't work on Very Bulky or Extremely Bulky. The one downside is that you give up all the attacks that you hit with to do so. The funny thing about it is that you could wreak an opponent's Hive Tyrant with this move. Hive on hive combat GO!
Sky-slasher Swarm Brood: They have the same stats as Rippers but they are jump infantry. They also have the same issue that other units in the slot do their job better. I would prefer a Gargoyle over this any day. The only real use I can see is that the are fast moving ablative wounds. Yet all those wounds don't mean anything with strength 6 shooting instant killing you. I can already imagine my fleet of Chimeras opening up with their multlasers on the swarm of flying roaches,18 point models just popping over and over.
Harpy: The Harpy comes in 25 points cheaper but has 1 extra wound and attack. Improvements are always awesome. The Harpy and Hive Crone have the same stats, 5's for most things across the board. it has 3 atatcks, leadership 10 and a 4+ save.
The Harpy comes default with a Twin Straglethron cannon. The gun has good range, strength 6, AP5, large blast and pinning. It also apparently poops out Spore Mines with it's spore Mine cysts. The weapon is Strength 4, AP4, Large blast, barrage with a mouth full of rules. It acts just like a vector strike, you put the blast over something you've passed over but if it scatters off it creates D3 spore mines instead.
Hive Crone: A new introduction into the Tyranids arsenal and I find it interesting. It really screams out fake Heldrake to me. Though that just might be because it has a flame template and an awesome Vector Strike, plus I am in love with the Heldrake. The Drool Cannon is strength 6, ap4 but it doesn't have torrent sadly. It has a special Vector Strike that is strength 8, making it the strongest Vector Strike in the game. Also it comes with tentaclids.
I didn't have to know what tentaclids did to know I wanted them. Just image yelling at your opponent" Bro I just crushed your terminators with my tentaclids!" Ok, tentaclids aren't that amazing. They are strength 5, AP5, Haywire, seeking, and one use only. Seeking gives them a chance to take out other things in the air since it makes them twin linked against zooming flyers or swooping monsters. They are the default weapons but you can add Stinger salvo or cluster spines for more Dakka.
The unit has good stat though only having a 4+ saves is meh but five wounds should keep you flying for awhile. For only 155 points I welcome this new edition to the Hive.
Spore Mine Cluster: I want to see someone field an entire army of these. Actually I need to see someone make an entire army of these. There aren't any other units in the game like Spore Mines and there probably shouldn't ever be. The spore mines have 1's in every stat besides WS, BS, A, and Sv, those are just 0.
The Spores move 3" and all other movement is halved. They laugh in the face of difficult terrain however the perilous dangerous terrain will cut your spores asunder! Sorry, this unit just makes me want to forge a hard narrative.
The way the unit kills things is in close combat, where at initiative 10 they explode. You put a large blast over one of the spores and every unit friend and foe take a hit equal to the number of models under the blast. The Strength is 4 but is increased by 1 for each spore mine detonating. It is also AP4 and ignores cover.
In theory these things could do damage but couldn't I just shoot them before they assault me? They are incredibly slow, though deep strike will help but I don't think that is enough.
The fast attack slot actually has some good options. I can't wait to dig into Heavy Support then finish this review up with some potential lists. As always I would love to hear your opinions and make sure to follow me if you enjoyed this.
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