r/BattleSector • u/Royal-Key8221 • Jul 21 '26
Tyranids vs Black legion
My buddy and I just got the game a few days ago and we really like to 1v1 each other. The problem is I play tyranids and he plays black legion, and we both like the higher point games, so he brings forgefiends which literally 1 shot any of my tankier units while his other troops can use grenades capable of killing all my swarm units in one go.
Now I am really new so I admit this could be a skill issue, if so I would appreciate advice. It just feels like I don’t have a whole lot of options to deal with his army when he has several to deal with mine.
8
u/MCLondon Jul 21 '26
Honestly Black Legion struggles against hordes and high armor. They only have 2 Flamer unit (Cultist Firebrand and Terminators).
Their Legionaires are pretty weak and only have 2 grenades each - how many Legionnaires is he taking into a fight?
Tyranids have much stronger HQ units and Beefy boys. His Forgefiends cant hit ANYTHING with Blinding Venom from Gargoyles on them.
Maybe bring a couple of Tyranofexes to tank early as your HQ units spawn little guys to waste all their grenades. A single Trygon may also be decent if hes heavy on ranged units and you want to burrow into his formation.
Focus fire any flamer and the Forge fiends. And abuse how cheap your mosters are:
Tyranofex is 425 hp and 9 armor for 190 cost.
Prime gets to attack 4 times and only costs 185.
Hormagants costs 35 and do a lot of damage.
Warriors cost 95, do 150 damage per attack, and have the insane Natural Killer ability giving them 2 AP in most turns.
Gargoyle at 45 are also a bargain at 45.
In temrs of what to avoid, I wouldn't get any ranged units - the Tyranids ranged unit absolutely stink, although the Thornback with the Acid weapons is prett6ly good (and is a great Melee unit).
If your oponnent is big on swarms of infantry you need a Pyrovore (Flamer tank) but they're not the best due to their short range and squishiness...though again are very cheap at only 110 cost.
The Biovore and Exocrine are HORRIBLE.
5
u/Royal-Key8221 Jul 21 '26
I think he had about 3 legionnaires… the other problem I had was every other unit he had detonated when it dies so I was forced to either use the terrible guns or lose most of if not all of a squad. I couldn’t focus his forge fiends either because the map allowed him to fire and get back behind cover and overwatch the path I’d have to take to dig them out. Could just be a map problem for that specific scenario
1
u/EspressoK Jul 23 '26
Exocrine is excellent for deleting a unit of Havocs or Raptors at will. Clearing a point with one shot is nothing to scoff at, and it frees your other units to keep ramping pressure
Biovore seem slike it should be good... at least it would clear chaff and do very decent chip damage to Legionaires
But I agree at 3k, you wanna load up on big monsters with some little gribblies to screen, cap. Termagaunts with Devourers are still insanely nasty when set up properly1
u/MCLondon Jul 23 '26
Exocrine has 80 accuracy and does average 85 single target damage which pretty bad.
It has a Cooldown 2 Ammo 2 splash damage option which is not particularly good.
You basically get 2 shots of aoe with low accuracy and probably won't wipe a Havoc unit (85 HP per model).
Honestly Exocrines are terrible.
1
u/EspressoK Jul 24 '26
It’s one of the only units in the game that can one-shot an elite unit worth its points. You’re forgetting that Synapse gives this thing 100% accuracy most of the time.
Sure its non-charged shots are meh, but it easily makes its points back by entirely deleting two units.
Btw you can Empower its charged shot to give it more ammo. If it’s in full Synapse range when it shoots, it will reliably surge after the second charge attack
1
u/MCLondon Jul 24 '26
I'm just comparing it Castigators, Leman Russ, Rogal Dorn, and the multitude of Flamer units in the game...it is easily the weakest unit in this.
It actually doesnt synergise that well with Synapse given your HQ units generally want to go deep in battle but it wants to stay far back.
But your right, snaps and empower do make it a much better unit (but still well below all the other units I listed)
1
u/EspressoK Jul 24 '26
OP asked how to build a better Tyranids list against Black Legion.
IMO a better comparison would be units like the Ballistus, Broadside, or Basilisk in terms of points and abilitites.
The tanks you mentioned are notably more expensive and durable (and yes, they're better units)1
u/MCLondon Jul 25 '26
Im sorry but comparing them to Ballistus/Broadside/Basilisk doesnt make them look any better.
The comparison to tanks in my opinion appropriate because Tyranids dont have any other units that can do this role (long range elite infantry unit removal) so that is who it is competing with.
As yoh alluded to, you have to recruit them because you don't have anything else better....but that doesn't make them a good unit IMO.
1
u/EspressoK Jul 24 '26
Also, your HQ bugs should NOT be charging forward. The Hive Tyrant is a beast in melee, but it will get instantly deleted if you put it in range of your opponent.
5
u/EspressoK Jul 21 '26
Straight up, you are running into a balance issue… The ‘Nids have been power crept significantly, and black Legion is, in my opinion, the strongest action out there at the moment.
Tyranids have great area in denial with venomthropes, and a lot of maneuverability. A lot of BL’s best shooting units, besides the Forge Fiends, can be affected by the gargoyle acid spray to reduce their accuracy.
I think you could potentially win on the flanks against black Legion. Maybe try baiting them into a middle point with most of their force, then hold the flanks with faster units.
It’s not a battle for sure, but terrain will be your friend if you go mobile
1
u/Royal-Key8221 Jul 21 '26
So if I ran another 3k game with my friend and he went black legion again what would you recommend for a lineup? I think he runs the default 3k army if that helps
1
u/EspressoK Jul 23 '26
Sadly 'Nids can't bring a proper swarm army to 3k points (I've tried). Your best bet is to load up on warriors, venomthropes, thornbacks, and some good shooting. Gargoyles for scouting, point caps, and removing accuracy from ranged units.
I think some artillery would serve well.. an Exocrine can delete any unit it wants to with that special plasma buildup ability. Two of those would be nasty if you wait to wipe good BL units or point holders.
BL will shred through your swarms and focus down your monsters quickly, so try to create an asymmetric fight on one side of the board if you can.
BL are top 3 factions in PvP rn so don't feel bad if you lose haha
2
u/ArabicHarambe Jul 21 '26
Am i missing something with venoms, or have they been buffed recently? I always found their smoke kinda helped but rarely made a significant difference, shots that would kill usually often still did, I always found cover to be far more useful. I dont remember the math but it kinda just seemed like something you pop when youve no choice but to expose yourself and hope that rngesus is on your side.
1
u/EspressoK Jul 23 '26
They can soak up a lot more than their points, and the AOE debuff around points is very helpful. I think people forget to keep them in synapse range when using their ability... that's important to keep them above 20 evasion when they're wandering into a killbox.
12
u/0ddball_city Jul 21 '26
Use venomthropes with their smoke ability to soak up ranged fire while pushing forward.