Okay, so unless you've been living under a rock quivering slightly you've heard all about the new Tyranid release and the more studious amongst us have seen the new rules about to be bashed against our gunlines and I definately know that many people are doing what they always seem to do with any new release, crying cheese and bemoaning the death of the game particuarly with the Trygon. Now I'm not saying that the Trygon isn't deadly (far from it) - with Strength 6 Toughness 6 and with 6 Wounds taking it down is no mean feat but I reckon it's not the game breaker that everyone anticipates and here's why:
- No Invulnerable save. a three plus armour save means (to be honest) little in today's field - with the abundance of AP 3 or higher weapons this beastie is almost guaranteed no respite from shooting if against a half-decent general
- Toughness 6. This is a major flaw for the Trygon, as the major threat it faces to the opponent obviously means that it will draw a lot of firepower and if you really need this thing dead - it's going to die. A well positioned devastator squad or equivalent unit should be able to tackle it in a few turns. Alternatively, the Eldar have a very good tactic - Fire dragons in that almost-a-necessity falcon. Drive up, park, shoot. Coupled with some supporting fire from other units this is a great way to dispose of the Trygon.
- Cost. 200 points? Ouch! for the same amount we can buy ourselves a nice little squad of Assault Terminators with thunder hammers and storm shields - the bane of any monstrous creature or for a little bit more the Leman Russ Vanquisher with Knight Commander Pask - the last word in long monstrous creature killing
- Preparedness. When you know you're fighting a Trygon (they're not hard to miss) you must be prepared for its arrival - make sure that wherever it logically turns up, it's going to be filled with High strength low AP shots.
- Tarpit. Strength 6 with 6 attacks? My ogryns with commissar laugh at you! With enough wounds to fend this beast off for at least two turns, we're given time to manoeuvre suitible rebuttal into position.
In conclusion the Tyranid release is just like any other, broken? No. Powerful? Yes, we must anticipate some level of power creep but it's not as bad as everyone seems to believe: like every force in the galaxy it has its weaknesses.
This is Robb, over and out.
