Buuuuugs!

Hey guys, Bangley here. So JD and I managed to get a copy of the new 'Nids book a little early and took it for a test run. We played a little 1250 game; he ran the bugs and I ran my Eldar. My list was a pretty typical meched-up Eldar deal, with Eldrad, some Avengers in Serpents, Fire Dragons in a Falcon, and some Warp Spiders. JD tried out the Tervigon spam we've been reading about so much from BoLS running three of them, with some Hive Guard and Genestealers as backup.
I won't go into too much detail, but my take on the new Tyranids is as follows: play against them like you used to and you'll pretty much be fine. It's always been about target priority, and it still is. I want to talk about the overall changes and a few specific things we tried.
Let's get to the big changes first. For me, bugs used to be kind of a cake walk. They had no real ability to shoot down my tanks, so I could basically run circles and pick off what I wanted when I wanted. This new book makes a few big changes, namely more big bugs, more little bugs, and a few units that can actually shoot worth a damn. For example, in this game, I knew only the Hive Guard presented a real shooting threat to me so they were my first targets. I managed to take one unit down early and avoid the other for the most part. So I had one tank get immobilized, and one lose a gun. Everything else was fine. Being an objective mission, this was good. So while the new bugs can shoot some now, it's not over the top. It's not like you're suddenly facing a Guard gun line with claws. While there are more big bugs available, you can only fit so many in a list. I mean there's at least one for every force org slot, so Nid Zilla players will be happy. But it's not as bad as the rumors made it sound. As for more little bugs, c'mon. They're Termagants. I don't really care how many you have.
As far as specific units go, I both hate and love the Tervigon. I think spamming them is a mistake since you have a monster that really does nothing on its own, and makes little guys that do even less. BUT! It generates scoring units, and gives your piddly little Gants limitless numbers. Which is nice. I think one or two of these should be a staple, but any more is a mistake. Hive Guard are nice, and I think they're a good choice, but comparing them to Zoanthropes.... I'm not sure. I'm leaning towards a mixed bag, like one unit of each or two units of Guard and one of Thropes. Termagants.... are Termagants. Enough said.

So if you're dreading the clawed doom headed your way, just keep your head straight and play smart and you'll be fine. Anyone else had some experience with the new Tyranids? Let's hear it- I like comments...

-Bangley, out.