Dawn of War Codex

Tyranids Today's Menu:

Openings wit Hive Tyrant:



- 2 Hormas 2 Termas: Use this BO in wide maps without buldings, for fast map control in 1v1 or if you're in mid (3v3). Separate the 2 hormas broods and attack for the flanks or genbash with one horma.

-2 Termas and spore mines:
.Use this against CAOS and kill the heretics.
.If you're facing NIDS, 2 termas into spores. Don't waste them, they are crucial for the first engagement, and immediately BSWB. You can do the same against ORKS.

- 2 termas and Raveners: Use this against ELDAR, go ranged raveners and HT with charge and talons if they have doble shurri, you will need the doble jump and good micro. 2 ravs is also good in 1v1. Attack with all at the same time, or your ravs will die easily. In t2 go zoan for snare his possible falcon or WL and protect your zoan from shees upgrading the raveners Enhanced Muscle Coil. Weapon Knockback and stun will give you the seconds that you need to organize and kill the shees. This BO is also good against PC (with doble zoan and genestealers covering them) and against tanky heroes.

-3 Termas.: Against IMP GUARD. They are good killing sentinels, don't use the 3 squads in the same noumber group, or they will blob like ants. I use 2 broods in number 3 and another one in number 4. HT with Imp synapse and warpfield and in t2 go Endless Swarm as soon as possible, or you will not have req for anything. Recently i discovered that is better against IG, in wide maps, going 2 horma and 2 terma and BSWB (instead of HT wargear) and try to kill all his guardsmen. Hormas are better than terma dealing DPS and sentinels can't stop 16 hormas with one stomp.


-The Hive Tyrant:

.Go Talons and charge if you're facing swarmy races or Improved synapse and warp field if they are SM or GK. Try to lvl up your HT soonish, in lvl 2 he can do charge and seismic roar at the same time. This combo is brutal in t1, and you can even cheat your enemy blobs forcing them to retreat just charging without having more energy to use the seismic roar if you used it before, same as pretending nades or sentinel stomp. Use seismic roar if your HT is in a good enemy retreat path and kill retreating units, this is a good way to lvl your HT fast.
.Combine the improved synapse with AGWB and Endless swarm. Also works on t3 líctors, just take a look on t3 lictor heallthpoints! Do not forget that genestealers also benefit from Imp Synapse, and genestealers are really good killing LR and things like that. Hide them, let the big tanks come and then attack with AGWB, HT crushing claw, Imp Synapse and warpfield, and the genestealers with rending claws. Zoan snare if possible
.Crushing claws against CL, PC, FC, WL or annoying tanky heroes thanks to his wargear.
.Use invulnerability for start engagements, use it when they focus fire your HT and then charge with the rest of your army. Also is good for capping the vps when you need it.
.Venom cannon is awesome against units and vehicles, specially fast vehicles like bloodcrusher and deffdread, and preserves your HT. Combine with improved synapse and warpfield or with charge for hunt vehicles like manticores.
.Bioplasma means 2 fails every 3 or 4 shots, thats why i never use it, and psychic scream can not be compared with the benefits of warpfield. But is good when your HT has bonded exoesqueleton and lvl 4 or more.
.Remember, the HT has a lot of HP, but is really slow and is crucial for your swarm, do not overextend him.


Random things:

-In 3v3 I usually go for doble spores for cover my area during the first engagement, so i can help teammates without losing my flank.

-Neurothrope: Did you know that you can use paroxysm and then stop Avatars or GUOs in the paroxysm area of effect with the spirit leach? that is the Nidlass cannon!(Possible Bug?) Use spirit leach for stop tanky Heroes like FC battlecry with thunderhammerkappa, or WL providence etc. Also, use cataclysm into tyranoformation against big blobs, like warlock warp throw into eldrich.

- 3v3 is not 1v1. If you can ignore one enemy player without endanger your resources or army rearguards, and help teammates going 3v2 or 2v1, do it. Try it when your enemy is slow or he is not attacking.

And of course, gl&hf and sorry for my english.

Thanks a ton for this post!

YOU! nice post man we gonna NID on NID action more

This might be slightly greedy, but how would you adapt your unit line ups for the other nid commanders?

I am not much of a huge fan of the fat melee hero type, but i get the feeling i would not get away with some of these build orders if i were to use say the ravener alpha which has only 60% the hp of a tyrant, no suppression immunity , no base synapse and lacks access to things like charge which all seems very crucial to your play style.

in my case i feel i am often forced to rely on either the opponent not committing as much money in the first engagement as i have to win or the liberal use of spore mines to delay a fight until i get something with measurable staying power.

saltychipmunk wrote:This might be slightly greedy, but how would you adapt your unit line ups for the other nid commanders?

I am not much of a huge fan of the fat melee hero type, but i get the feeling i would not get away with some of these build orders if i were to use say the ravener alpha which has only 60% the hp of a tyrant, no suppression immunity , no base synapse and lacks access to things like charge which all seems very crucial to your play style.

in my case i feel i am often forced to rely on either the opponent not committing as much money in the first engagement as i have to win or the liberal use of spore mines to delay a fight until i get something with measurable staying power.

Because this is what HT does he supports his army with HT with improved synapse and brood nest. He doesn't usually run his HT in unless its necessary. Im not sure what you mean by greedy in this statement as it has worked vs many ppl including me, on a note on that when arent nids greedy what are ye talking about?

@Floid
Thanks for sharing! Brought up some good points i havnt thought about.

Do you know if Endless Swarm will grant you one free model per reinforcement, or if your paying for two/ reinforce two at the time but still pay full price?

Seismic roar only does weapon knockback right? And the damage is piercing, the initial damage and knockback would have full effect, but after that if the opponent retreats 60 piercing dmg in radius 15 over 10s would do 80% less dmg. Idk if its viable vs retreating units, but nice CC and dmg vs those who do stay. As you say, the knockback gives you time to pick of models.

When units retreat, is the melee resistance aura "off"? And on that, do you get 30% extra melee damage? Or is it just the later?

Personally im not either happy with the bio-plasma, its such a wierd ability, really what is its usage area? =S

Just a tip to nid players, HT's venom canon is viable vs blobs/ high models because it has an area effect. You wont hit low model or size small targets that are by themselves. Neither will you hit what you target in a blob, but you will hit whats in the area of where your shots land thanks to the aoe radius.
This is not viable with venom brood though, they dont have an aoe on those venom cannons (plz give them radius 1 aoe or something..), and missed shots will simply just dissapear in the void hitting nothing. Most units are size small, which means you have a 5% chance to hit them... Its not until terminators, tyrant guard, sentinels and the usual larger vehicals were youll get guaranteed hits. About the only units with size medium, which you have a 30% chance to hit, are terminator FC, CL, warriors, VB and HT. Lol, BroC is size small..

IIRC Neurothropes spirit leech only worked/ immobalized one model right? In the describtion it says "immobilizing the squad" which is confusing.

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@Aguxyz
Hes asking for BO/ tips when playin RA or LA.

It can still work the same way the builds mentioned with LA and RA but theres some stuff you have to play smarter like LA can sneak around and abuse Ranged units RA can do the same with burrow ability or you can support him with node if used correctly

HiveSpirit wrote:Do you know if Endless Swarm will grant you one free model per reinforcement, or if your paying for two/ reinforce two at the time but still pay full price?

You pay for 1 model and get 2. (Like a GM squad with a sergeant upgrade)

HiveSpirit wrote:When units retreat, is the melee resistance aura "off"?

Melee resistance is always "on".

HiveSpirit wrote:Just a tip to nid players, HT's venom canon is viable vs blobs/ high models because it has an area effect. You wont hit low model or size small targets that are by themselves. Neither will you hit what you target in a blob, but you will hit whats in the area of where your shots land thanks to the aoe radius.
This is not viable with venom brood though, they dont have an aoe on those venom cannons (plz give them radius 1 aoe or something..), and missed shots will simply just dissapear in the void hitting nothing. Most units are size small, which means you have a 5% chance to hit them... Its not until terminators, tyrant guard, sentinels and the usual larger vehicals were youll get guaranteed hits. About the only units with size medium, which you have a 30% chance to hit, are terminator FC, CL, warriors, VB and HT. Lol, BroC is size small..

The HT's Venom cannon even hits low model count infantry fairly often and does a ton of damage to them. I would definitely not give Venom broods AoE possibilities with their venom cannons. The utility they would have by being AV, being AI with high damage and being basic or ranged synapse would be completely OTT.

Thanks. Did some field testing:
Neurothropes spirit leech only targets one model, i think the ability is minor described differently in game and in the codex. The wording could be missleading if your bad at reading (like meh), no biggie.

As Riku said, melee resistance aura is always on, and a retreating unit takes 30% more melee dmg. And yea endless swarm got you two models, one for free on reinforce, wording in the describtion could be confusing bla bla.

Hive node does not protect/ reduce spore mine damage, so HV + spore mines could be a good strategy to defend your power.
Imo, it seems like HN is a delay and protect thingy, get a "certain" power bash in or delay/ slow the enemy from reaching a vp. Theres probably more to it aswell. Btw, infestation tower gives hive node HN increased sight radius, and 5% dmg reduction + you could spawn rippers and or spire mines SM to defend it/ your power aso.


Why wouldnt spore mines do 1.25 dmg vs heavy infantry? It currently does 1 vs kinda everything, including heavy infantry.

Why should they do 125% damage vs HI? °_O They do 100% damage versus everything...

Because theyre like grenades and they cost insteed of beeing on cooldown? They arnt very effective vs low model, high hp units, its a legit increase.

Spore mines are interesting "grenades", that for sure atleast. Alot of tyranid stuff are, very interesting and different

Wouldn't really want to buff spores against HI. I mean it would make them better against SM and Chaos but they are a free engagement win against Chaos early on anyway. Not sure how they fare against SM. Probably quite a bit less potent.

I don't really see why Spores would need to to do more against HI. The suppression + decent damage is usually plenty to help win out fights against Tacs etc.

The Ravener Alpha:

Today, we have some tips about the RA tunnels. Wargear or build orders will come another day.
Tunnels must be used for optimize this hero.

1. Tunnel lines:
-Build a “First line" of tunnels as soon as possible. In other words, build 2 or 4 tunnels behind your natural power farms. This line will help you coming back faster from the HQ after retreats and also, can be used to retreat to the tunnel instead of "X" if you or your allies can defend the "middle line" AND you're not showing to the enemies where the tunnels are.

"Middle line":

After the first line is finished, build a tunnel every time you have energy, OR save energy for “combat-tunnels”. When blobs are fighting and you think you are winning, your enemy in most cases will retreat slowly, trying to gain terrain, distance between your melee troops and ranged blob. In this moment is possible to deny this distance by building a tunnel where your enemy is moving back. Then try to use it with your melee army or whatever you can. If your enemy is busy trying not to die, he has to make a decision:

-Stop and destroy the tunnel, thing that is good for you.
-Ignore the tunnel, wich is perfect.
-Mass retreat.

Also units from your HQ or near a tunnel from the "first line “could join the engagement.

The "middle line" could be used as "mass teleport-Defensive-tunnel-line”. Fight with 4 ranged units, for example RA 2 termas and zoan in the "middle line" while you leave the melee blob near the "first line", and when you're about to lose, use the tunnel and go to the first line and organize a second engagement with all your army.


2. Random Tunnels.
-Bashing Tunnels: Build tunnels near enemy genfarms, be extremely careful in not losing field, advantage, your genfarms or units meanwhile you’re bashing.
-Retreating path tunnels:
Build tunnels in the enemy retreat paths, especially good with genestealers + catalyst.

3. Anti AOE tunnels:
Fight near the tunnels (“middle line”) and go inside if the enemy uses AOE things, specially good in t1 against sporemines, electric armour, grenades, suppressed units, in t2 against cloud, holyfire, and with lucky, t3 nukes etc. Even useful for waiting inside a tunnel if FC is using battlecry or caos globals like Blood rage.

4. Teammate-tunnels:
Build a tunnel in allied HQs, so they can use your tunnel lines. I would recommend not to do this after build 6 or 8 tunnels around the map. Don’t do this with the first build or second one, or you will be underusing the speed that gives your tunnels during the first engagements, and the RA needs this for being competitive.