Yesterday we looked at getting started in the 40K hobby for as little as possible with Space Marines, so today let’s do it with Tyranids.
Space bugs that are always hungry!
Maybe a friend is playing Space Marines and you don't want to copy them, or the models and gaming lore of Tyranids appeal to you- either way we want to do two things- build a small and inexpensive army to get you into the hobby, and provide as many options as possible with what you are buying.
For Tyranids this is a bit harder since there is no started set for them like Assault on Black Reach and Ebay is kind of hit or miss with what they have- but we will take a look anyway!
Just like with Space Marines we are going to try and do this for $60 or less- the cost of a video game.
First up is Games Workshop retail as a reference point…
We want a box of termagaunts @ $29, a box of warriors @ $42, one box of genestealers @ $30, and a codex at $33 which adds up to….$134 (!). Again, we are in battle force territory here, and we have to do better.
We’ll talk about the unit choices I’m recommending in a moment and why I picked them.
20% off retail if you buy elsewhere online brings it down to $108, but this is still short of our $60 limit.
Time for Ebay…
A bit harder since Tyranids, and what we are looking for is not as plentiful as marines, but with some patience I think we can find what we need. Keep in mind I’m looking for new on the sprue, or built, and unpainted models. If you buy something painted and want to strip it, you might be able to get it for less.
Ebay search...
Three Tyranid warriors on the sprue is $20...
12 Termagaunts on the sprue are @ $18...
8 Genestealers build and unpainted are $18…
For the grand total of $56- combined shipping will take us to just under $60.
So that can be done, but you still need a codex at the minimum which is going for $20 on ebay, bringing our total up to $80. Ok, so it is an expensive video game…
For this army the warriors with all the weapons and upgrades on the sprue are critical- you can’t just buy three already built. The termaguants and genestealers we can buy painted and stripped as noted if they are cheaper then ebay "new".
So what kind of army can we build with this?
More than you might think, actually a lot of fun in the list.
The first warrior you are going to build as your HQ choice as a Prime. You want to paint and model all the upgrades and different weapon options included on the sprue so you can swap them out on the prime to try and have fun with different weapon combinations.
Stuff like this is normally done with small rare earth magnets in the hobby- magnetizing an arm or a gun so you can mix and match depending on what you are playing, but magnets cost money- eventually you will want to go that way, but for now we are going to use some stuff that is called blue tac around my neck of the woods. $1.29 for a few strips of it, it is blue “putty” that you put on the edges of posters to hand them on the wall- take a tiny amount and use it to stick in the socketed joins of your prime and your weapon swaps are all set. Being new to the hobby this will also be easier then modeling and drilling the model for magnets.
The other two warriors are going to be turned into lictors- angle the large scything talons up, add a second smaller set or the warrior hands, shave down the tail and you are set. One of my many lictors was made this way- this guy below is an example using the warrior body and parts, just with a different head.
Gaunts you build as gaunts and the genestealers as genesteaelrs.
Now onto the army builds…
As a basic list you have the following game legal40K army at just over 400 points before playing with upgrades…
== HQ ==
Tyranid Prime (1) - Deathspitter, Rending Claws
== Elites ==
Lictor (1)
Lictor (1)
== Troops ==
Hormagaunt Brood (12)
Genestealer Brood (8)
You have a nice little core of gaunts that the prime joins, the lictors can pop in anywhere for fun using deepstrike, the genestealers can start out on the table, they can infiltrate, or outflank opening up lots of options. With the models you have you can also play one of the lictors as Deathleaper to mix things up.
You can also play Kill Team and Combat Patrol games, join up in doubles games, etc. just like yesterday’s article.
Painting is also super easy- you can do it for about $10 following the outline here: http://saimhann.blogspot.com/2011/05/painting-space-bugs-101.html and is totally within reach of a beginner even if you have never painted anything before- the results really look great.
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