Friday, January 29, 2010

The Harpy - Big and Flying.


The Tyranid Harpy
 The Flying monster of the Tyranid Army. Just how devastating can he be? Well, let’s just say he can be a monster or a liability.
 Pros:
Fast. As Jump Infantry, he can be quite Fast. With an initial Threat range of 18” from the deployment edge, he can reach the enemy on first turn possibly.
Tough: With a T5 most things will need a 5 to wound him.
Twin Linked Guns- With a Ballistic Skill of 3, this makes him essentially a BS of 4.5. Better Than a Space Marine!
Close Combat: While his Weapon skill is only a 3, you do get the opportunity to re-roll any 1’s your roll to hit, It’s not much but it helps. But with only 2 attacks, you’re not best suited for Close Combat.

Having that Twin Linked Heavy Venom cannon is a great option.

The Spore Mine Drop is a potentially amazing weapon, but with only a 12 inch move it can very easily land on the harpy itself. Single Shot in the Movement phase makes it good for using over infantry (orks) and then shooting it's cluster spines and perhaps the barbed strangler into another unit to do a lot of pie-plate damage.
Cons:
No Model, you have to convert this guy if you want to use him. Your best bet is a Carnifex with a pair of daemon/balrog/dragon wings. Simply don’t give him the “Feet” of the Carnifex and use the back sockets for the Scything Tallons.
Toughness 5 -  Means he’s vulnerable to Instant Death to Vindicators, Railguns, Vortex of Doom, and Force Weapons.
1 Shooting Weapon - So, with a BS 3 (twin linked) you get all of 1 shot. 160-170 Points is a lot for a single shot monster.
CC - With a WS of 3 he is very weak in CC. Though his Str of 5 will let him penetrate up to a 17 AV. so he may be used against vehicles that have..... not moved.


Non-Synapse - This guy can hurt you with his lurking (since he's a monsterous creature) hard to gain cover.


All in all:


I love the concept, and will use him, but GW could have priced him a bit more efficiently.
Like much in this codex....

My Ideal Setup:
Harpy - Twin Linked Heavy Venom Cannon, Regeneration, Cluster Spines - 185 Points

(Photo Used without permission from Bell of Lost Souls)

1 comment:

  1. I think the Harpy has a special ability useful for attacking people in cover. If only he had more than 2 attacks.

    ReplyDelete

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