Kirby's Tyrannofex Review

Okay it's been over two weeks since I finished off my series on the Tyranid Codex but Kirby has done a review on the Tyrannofex. It once again shows how the Old Guard are way off base when they say the new 'Nid Codex doesn't have any decent long range support. A ridiculous view that Raptor1313 debunks in his two part post on 'Nid Range Arsenal. I digress, below is Kirby's T-fex review with my own thoughts in purple...

People still hate them. Don't know why, maybe they just don't get the Tyranid Codex. Warseer has shown time and again they don't so it wouldn't be surprising. Let's be clear here. Tyranids are a good codex and very competitive and effective army in 5th edition. Whilst the FAQ has rendered some of their builds less effective they are still a top notch army. Get over it and move on. Glad we had this convo. So from the Tyranid tactica thread on Warseer we've got a bunch of (I really want to say stupid...) misguided thoughts about the Tyrannofex. You can check out the page here and specific posta here and here by the lovely members of Carnage and No2Wookie. Let's takea quick peek at what the Tyrannofex offers us.

For 265 points we get WS/BS3, S/T/W6, I1, A3, Sv2+ with a 2 shot 48" S10 Ap4, 18" S5 AP5 5" blast and wounds on 2+ template all of which can be fired. So not great at combat with I1 and WS3 but against anything without a PFist + bonuses like Old Adverserary, that's still 2-3 dead guys in combat. Let's be clear here, T-Fexes are not combat beasties but they don't need to  be. Their MC statline makes them decent at combat and if you've got a couple of these + Tervigons + Tyrant + Gants + Hive Guard + Warriors/Raveners + etc, well they add some punch when your lines hit. So on paper they don't really seem worth it. Being able to shoot 3 guns is pretty damn amazing but most of them are short-ranged and only the S10 gun is any decent at anti-tank. However, that S10 gun is huge. Against most armies this gives the Tyranid army an actual option to shoot at 36"+ (and move) at a pretty reliable rate (you can do the stats). The S10 also means you're very likely to suppress whatever you're shooting at. This is good for an army who relies a lot on their Hive Guard/Zoanthropes for anti-tank. It's the same reason here that Harpies are good (but how much love do they get?). I hear you. No love for the Flying Guns of Doom. The S10 is also very important because you have the chance at damaging AV14. It's not a great chance but being able to slow or stop Land Raiders at range is important. Whilst the better tactic is to drop their supporting armor cast, once you've done this you have the option to slow that AV14 behemoth down. WTF!?! Anyone that reads Warseer or Dakka Dakka will know that melta guns are the l33t when it comes to killing Land Raiders. Without them you should just kiss your arse goodbye.  Nothing else in the Tyranid army does this anywhere near reliably at range.

Then you look at it's anti-infantry capabilities. A 5" blast and a template? Sold. I've seen 16 wounds caused by a T-Fex shooting against an infantry unit. Sure, I'm not shooting at a tank but 40k isn't about shooting tanks, it's a game of tactics. Lies!!!! Mech is King. If I can gain more or it's more important for me to remove an infantry unit, I don't have a useless pure anti-tank option. Even Zoanthropes and Hive Guard are good in their own way against infantry. Hello 5th edition codex. Hello Kirby *waves* This also imagines the T-Fex is going to be in combat (the template being 8" long) and as we said before, it's MC statline whilst not great, is still pretty impressive in combat. Unfortunately, individuals like No2Wookie believe a 265 'gun' shouldn't be in combat because then it's not shooting and it won't 'make its points back.' Measuring a units worth by its points is like measuring a guy by his manhood. Who cares if your strictly average. If you can do amazing things then it is all good. Well I was really tempted to stop reading at the last line but I soldiered on. I haven't even bothered reading the forum discussion. I enjoy my sanity a little too much. If it's in combat, your whole army should be close to combat or threatening your opponent which means the enemy has little room to manuever and your MC statlines can come into play against vehicles and infantry alike. Your Hive Guard should also still be shooting at armor to suppress them so those MC attacks can hit stunned/immobed vehicles. As an opponent I'd rather 2 MCs stand at the back of the field and shoot me. Makes my target priority so much easier and the Tyranid army doesn't have multiple T6/2+ models providing cover to the rest of the army.

40k isn't a point and click game. Once again Kirby is trying to trick you. Do not believe his lies. I (and others) have advocated the Tyrannofex since the beginning of the codex because it's such a reliable gun platform which is hard to kill and gives the Tyranid army some amazing flexibility on the battlefield. In my last tournament, ya the T-Fexes didn't do much against vehicles but they provided so much more in most of my games. Kirby didn't even come in the Top 3 so anything he says should be ignored. Not like his blog is filled with Useful Articles for gamers. Amazing anti-infantry (which admittedly, Tyranids need minimal help in), two more MCs in combat, target priority issues for my opponent and free cover to my other MCs to name a few. Would I take them again instead of Trygons? Absolutely. Would I take Trygons over T-Fexes? Absolutely. Hallmark of a good 5th edition codex. Stop the hate; the Tyrannofex is good and is here to stay. Testify Brother!!! Can I get a Hallelujah? Halleujah!!!

- Kirby from the Pinktastic blog

Disclaimer - Kirby is an Imaginary Friend so he shouldn't have any problems with me copy'n'pasting his work. If he does then my feelings will be owied.