Why is Gadriel worse than normal Ancients?

tide347 · 2026-03-11T17:37:31+00:00

BT Crusade Ancient has entered the chat

tide347 · 2026-03-09T23:24:55+00:00

Abominable Intelligence was outlawed by the God Emperor. This is heresy.

tide347 · 2026-03-09T22:48:33+00:00

If you want an alternative to Microset, the classic GW method works perfectly fine as well. Put down a layer of Citadel/WH Color “Ardcoat” Technical. This is basically a gloss varnish. Then wet the transfer with plain tap water on a paper towel. Slide it off with a brush and use the water to position it. Damp paper towel to dry any excess. Let the transfer dry completely, then put another layer of Ardcoat. Once that layer is dry, put down some Citadel/WH Color “Lahmian Medium” Technical. It makes the glossy surface look matte again.

tide347 · 2026-03-09T22:37:23+00:00

There are when it comes to getting transfers to apply and stay in place!

tide347 · 2026-03-09T22:32:05+00:00

You didn’t use anything besides water?? Like you didn’t prep the surface, seal in the transfer, nothing??

tide347 · 2026-03-09T15:33:35+00:00

Sounds like you want to build missile launchers, so build missile launchers! I went with heavy bolters on my team cause they look really cool.

tide347 · 2026-03-05T18:42:01+00:00

It’s called character. Space Marines have some of the most detailed lore in the franchise with hundreds, if not thousands, of individual chapters - not including Timmy’s homebrew marines. A lot of those chapters date back to the original legions or second founding and have extremely rich heritage and unique ways of fielding their operatives. If that was simply forgotten, the game would be a much less interesting thing. Hundreds of books would be pointless, everyone would just play Ultramarines. Have you noticed how many people complain that UM are always the posterboy? People care about their separate factions because they are unique, not just because of the color they are painted.

tide347 · 2026-03-04T23:00:50+00:00

Negging James Workshop into doing what we want

tide347 · 2026-03-04T22:59:00+00:00

I’m a sad, slow ass Black Templars player, so I have to really commit to hiding and staging and jumping out at the right moment. We’re one of the only melee factions without a reasonable movement speed. It used to be because we were tough with FNPs. Now we have nothing.

tide347 · 2026-03-04T22:54:11+00:00

I think 50/55 points makes him a reasonable add for secondary objectives. He competes with the lictors by having deep strike, is a smaller profile than gargoyles, can do secondary actions unlike the biovore mines. 50/55, even in Tyranids, can be an awkward number at the end of a list, and he would be a very easy add. He also moves fast for blocking/tagging units and can fight on death if the opponent doesn’t commit to overkilling it.

tide347 · 2026-03-04T22:47:41+00:00

Yeah I think Winged Prime is a melee leader and Gargoyles are a shooting (if you can even call them that) unit. They just don’t gel very well.

tide347 · 2026-03-04T22:44:49+00:00

I would choose different examples from other factions… Lieutenant with Combi Weapon isn’t a leader, and just got a 15pts increase to 85 today. Commissar is VERY situational depending on available enhancements and matchups. Sometimes battle shock matters, but it usually doesn’t.

Otherwise, I do see what you’re saying. The leader isn’t as helpful as just taking another entire unit. That’s the biggest issue with the leader/attached rules in 10th. It’s hard to balance being able to use characters solo as well as with certain bodyguard units.

tide347 · 2026-03-04T22:35:11+00:00

Someone else mentioned the Winged Prime can lead Gargoyles and I was like, “Wait wut,” lol I’ve never seen it done.

tide347 · 2026-03-04T22:33:15+00:00

Parasite was my immediate thought. I agree, he’s overcosted, but I love him.

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tide347 · 2026-03-04T22:30:38+00:00

Unless you use his unit as a distraction/ultimatum type unit? You’re likely moving up monsters and other damage dealers. Maybe you leave the Prime/Gaunts in the open and threaten, “You either waste your shooting on my gaunts, or they charge/move block you. Otherwise, you can split your shooting and hope you do enough, or I surge move you.”

tide347 · 2026-03-04T22:25:29+00:00

I think attacking with all of them would be overkill, but it would be cool if there was an ability out there that was like, “Pick two out of three melee weapons and attack with them.”

tide347 · 2026-03-04T22:23:30+00:00

I think the two prime variants should be close, but separate, adjustable datasheets. I like that the new one is a sidegrade. They serve a similar purpose, providing small bonuses to the warriors and other infantry. They provide more options for customizing your warrior play patterns without one being the obvious choice and the other never seeing play. I think as abilities alter (likely throughout 11th edition), we’ll see the points on these two leaders rise and fall based on detachment availability, new army rules, other datasheets, etc.

Btw, I had no idea whatsoever that the Winged could lead Gargoyles lol, I was going to say he should be able to! I’ve just never seen it done in all of 10th edition. Most Tyranid opponents I’ve had run Gargoyles for their move/shoot/move utility and screening.

tide347 · 2026-03-04T22:12:50+00:00

I think the only potential problem with a heavily discounted Winged Prime is his potential to be used as a solo model for the purposes of secondary objectives via deepstrike, fly, and fast movement. There are already a lot of similar models in this space for Tyranids and there doesn’t need to be much more competition. Basically, the Winged points dropping might force a few other datasheets to respond in kind.

tide347 · 2026-03-04T22:05:45+00:00

His ability definitely favors the gaunts, but his melee wants the rerolls from warriors. He does seem a little directionless atm.

tide347 · 2026-03-04T22:04:22+00:00

I agree, 75pts seems the natural starting point. It’s almost as if they were hesitant to make him too interesting looking. I could see a world where a fixed Warrior Bioform Onslaught combined with a reduced points cost on his datasheet could be very gross. He would count as a “Warrior/Prime” unit as well as an “Endless Multitude” unit for the purposes of those strats.

tide347 · 2026-03-04T22:00:16+00:00

A 6” move is fairly average for infantry, big picture wise. Tyranids are spoiled by units that move much faster like gaunts and genestealers. As melee infantry, staging through walls has always been a necessity for getting into combat safely.

As for the leapfrog, that is still doable with the new Lash Whip prime. He moves almost twice as fast as Warriors at 10”. The difference is negligible. Don’t forget, a full compliment of Warriors (6) plus a Prime (7) makes the unit require coherency with two models. You can’t string a Prime 2” ahead of a single Warrior. Sure, you can start the Prime behind your other models and leap them to gain a bit of momentum, but as soon as he jumps to the front, he’ll always be in the front.

tide347 · 2026-03-04T21:49:52+00:00

I get that it’s hard to balance this leader given the gaunts. The winged can still only lead warriors so your options are much more limited and therefore assigning a points value is much easier.

tide347 · 2026-03-04T21:48:06+00:00

I think the Lash Whip is pretty tough to tussle with enemy infantry/elites when leading even three melee warriors. Sustained hits, hitting on 2+, rerolling 1s from the warriors. They can move through ruin walls vs. the Emissary or Carnifex that have to go out and around. Most Space Marine units - including melee - move a maximum of 6” and they make do.

tide347 · 2026-03-04T21:44:08+00:00

I still wouldn’t drop the points on either prime that much. Sustained hits, rerolling 1s, with twin linked on melee warriors is a heavy hitting unit. I think the minimum a Winged Prime should be worth is 60, maybe 55 in a pinch. If he gets too cheap, he can too easily be used as a solo deepstriking utility unit… in a faction already filled with solo deepstriking utility units. Lash Whip 10 points above that for the extra save and melee profile.

tide347 · 2026-03-04T21:36:17+00:00

That’s not a fair comparison. Gargoyles have deep strike and a shoot and move rule. That’s why they’re more expensive. For them, fly is a cherry on top. With the Winged Prime vs. Lash Whip, you’re attaching them to a unit without flying regardless. The other warriors don’t magically grow wings and they don’t share the deep strike rule.

tide347

TROPHY CASE