Hive Fleet Behemoth by Michael Lietzke
This Themed Army Idea comes from the fertile imagination of Michael Lietzke. All of you Tyranid players should remember Behemoth as the first Hive Fleet to attack the Imperium, devastating several planets (including Tyran, hence the name "Tyranids") before smashing into the entire Ultramarines Chapter on their homeworld, Macragge. In creating this army, Michael has picked up where the story left off.

Background
Hive Fleet Behemoth was practically wiped out during their attack on Macragge: only a few Hive Ships managed to escape. The surviving creatures are desperate for new genetic material, both to survive and reproduce. No longer having the ability to consume planets, the fleet conducts raids on planets, retreating at the first sign of danger. 

The lack of genetic material is most obvious in the Tyranid ground swarms. There are very few Warriors, and specialized creatures like Lictors and Zoanthropes are almost non-existent. The fleet is constantly looking for genetic material to re-create these fighting machines.

Philosophy
Since Hive Fleet Behemoth is short on genetic supplies, it has to rely on its simplest bio-constructs: Termagants, and lots of them! Anytime you select a squad of Troops or Fast Attack units, ALWAYS take as many models as you can.

The larger, more specialized bio-constructs are in short supply, so use the following army list to represent this problem. Also, Flesh Hooks are not allowed.

HQ
Only one Hive Tyrant.

Elites
You can only spend 15% of your points on Elite units.

Troops
Start with a core of 64 Termagants for your two Troop choices, and build up from there. You may take one squad of Genestealers for every two full broods of Termagants. 

Fast Attack
You may only take one brood of Gargoyles.

Heavy Support
You can only spend 15% of your points on Heavy Support.

Painting and Modeling
Since the battle of Macragge, Hive Fleet Behemoth has mutated: paint these bugs  in a "deep sea creature" scheme (at right). Prime them black, put colored metallic dots on their back (Termagants actually have bumps you can paint,) paint their eyes red, and you’re done! If you want to pick out any details, like teeth, use a subdued color, like brown. Since you’ll be painting over black, it’s difficult for even yellows to appear bright. You want the metallic dots to really shine, and if you use bright colors, you’ll take away from the effect of the metallic paint on black. Also, keep any highlighting subdued and limited, for the same reason.

Can’t find colored metallics? Then you can use a bright silver metallic, and paint over it with a thinned down color paint. The problem with this technique is that it’s difficult to make a uniform color. If you don’t mind spending the money, you can buy transparent paint from Testors. Transparent paint is also great for painting those clear plastic blast templates to look like flames….

For weapons, I prefer to paint them in a dark red, again with minimal highlighting. This keeps the model dark, while still distinguishing the bio-weapon from the Tyranid using it. Remember, each weapon is a living creature. If you want, you could paint it with its own deep sea pattern;  just don’t take away from the main model.

To distinguish broods, try one of these two techniques. You can use the dot pattern, or you can change the bases. For the dot pattern, you can easily use various combinations of colors to distinguish broods, while still keeping the whole swarm coherent in appearance. One brood might have all green dots, another all blue, another blue and green, and another with yellow and orange.

Or, you can base each brood in a different way. You could have one brood running on grass, another on concrete, and another on sand. Or, you could have them all on grass, and paint the bottom of the base in different colors. Or you could put some distinguishing feature on the base, like a rock or tuft of grass. Or a combination of any of these.

Just remember to keep it quick and simple. You’ve got a TON of little bugs to paint.

For the rare big ones, come up with something to really make them stand out while still fitting in. Maybe they have stripes instead of dots, or have really BIG dots, or maybe their entire chest is bioluminescent. Personally, I plan to paint mine in a black and white scheme, just because I think it looks damn cool, even if it’s dominating in comparison. You could paint a whole army this way, but I don’t have that kind of time….

General Tactics
With so many Termagants and Hormagaunts, your opponent will likely feel as overwhelmed as you. You’re also probably wondering how you can even win, especially against a tank-heavy army.

First, the main role of your Termagants is to get shot. That’s right, cannon fodder. The good news is, since you should have almost 100 of them in even a small battle, you can take absurd amounts of casualties without losing any serious fighting capabilities. Once you get within 12" of an enemy squad though, it’s all over. First your Termagants shoot, then the Hormagaunts leap forward into hand-to-hand, tying up the enemy if not killing them outright. Even Terminators will fall against 30 Termagants that get into this 12" range.

However, the real strength of your army lies in your Hive Tyrant. This thing is a monster in assaults, rips apart vehicles, and can carry your only anti-tank gun. However, it’s also your lynch pin. If something takes him out early, your vast army of Termagants will be in big trouble.

Anything you add to this core army is just icing on the cake. Throw in some Lictors, and you can leap out at unsuspecting tanks. Field some Genestealers and watch ‘em munch an entire flank on their own. Add a Zoanthrope to pop Terminators from afar. Field a Carnifex, and you’ll be surprised at how much firepower your enemy throws at it, instead of something that’s really threatening. A Carnifex is like the fullback of your swarm; it takes all the hits while your running back (the Hive Tyrant) makes the big score.
 

Related Pages
Other Tyranid Themed Army Ideas
 
 

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© Text and photos copyright Michael Lietzke, November 2000. Used with permission.
 

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