With the new rulers for flyers (Death from the Skies), Flying Monstrous Creatures seem to have gotten a large buff! Now that there's only one type of flyer that can hit them at full ballistic skill while the FMC is in swooping mode (Fighter type flyers), FMCs are harder to take down. Now, almost everything is going to be snap shooting at FMCs! These rules have inspired me to create a "Tyranid Flying Circus" list.
COMBINED ARMS DETACHMENT - 975 pts
HQ
Hive Tyrant w/ Electroshock Grubs, Wings, and dual twin-linked devourers with brain leech worms - 240 pts (Warlord)
Hive Tyrant w/ Electroshock Grubs, Wings, and dual twin-linked devourers with brain leech worms - 240 pts
Troops
Mucolid Spore Cluster - 15 pts
Mucolid Spore Cluster - 15 pts
Fast Attack
Hive Crone - 155 pts
Hive Crone - 155 pts
Hive Crone - 155 pts
SKYBLIGHT SWARM FORMATION - 875 pts
Hive Tyrant w/ Electroshock Grubs, Wings, and dual twin-linked devourers with brain leech worms - 240 pts
Hive Crone - 155 pts
Harpy w/ Heavy Venom cannon - 140 pts
Harpy w/ Heavy Venom cannon - 140 pts
Gargoyle Brood with Adrenal Glands - 80 pts
Gargoyle Brood - 60 pts
Gargoyle Brood - 60 pts
There are 9 total FMCs: 3 Flying Hive Tyrants, 4 Hive Crones, and 2 Harpies. I think the FMCs really speak for themselves and each brings a lot of versatility to the list. Each of them has at least one way to deal with high armor value targets (via haywire, vector striking, or Str 9 weapons) and/or massed infantry (via volume of shots or template/blast weapons). In addition to this, each of the Hive Tyrants is a ML2 psyker so, statistically, at least one of them should get Warp Lance or Psychic Scream. I can't think of a model/unit to which any of them can't reliably do at least some damage.
Three of the remaining five units in this army are ObSec units with Deep Strike. The Gargoyle unit with adrenal glands will likely start on the table (instead of deep striking) to grab a Turn 1 objective while the other two Gargoyle units deploy via Deep Strike later on in the game. Another benefit of the formation is that it allows me to bring back a destroyed Gargoyle unit back into Ongoing Reserves for free on a roll of 4+, which can Deep Strike if that unit initially deployed via Deep Strike. Essentially if my enemy kills a downfield Gargoyle unit, there's a 50% that the same Gargoyle unit will be right back where it was on my following turn at full strength. Albeit, it may be in a slightly different location due to scatter.
The two Mucolid Spore Clusters are mostly a cheep troop tax that allows me to field 9 FMCs. However, they can potentially serve as area control against flyers or infantry. Their Initiative 10 Str 8 explosion is nothing to ignore.
Let me know what you guys think! I'd love to get some feedback and/or what you guys think the weaknesses of this army are.
EDIT: Mucolid Spore rules.