Regarding the Tyranid FAQ:
"You MUST take 6 Escort Drones for each hive ship in the fleet"
I can't believe that is in the FAQ.
My gripe with this is that it completely destroys the variety in the Tyranid fleet list. It basically makes the Hiveship at least 90 points more expensive, and forces you to take the same generic Drones at the detriment of cool things like Vanguards, Krakens and Cruisers.
It is also particularily crippling when you consider the only real restriction in the Nid fleet list: only 2 Cruisers per Hiveship. 1 Hiveship + 2 Cruisers is close to 500 points, not including escort drones. Meaning that at 1000 points you are either stuck with 1 Hiveship - 2 Cruisers and 500 points of escorts (!) or 2 Hiveships, 12 Drones and virtually no Cruisers.
Basically what I am saying is that if the aim was to restrict the number of Hiveships, this is crippling because at 1000 points you cannot replace the loss of a Hiveship with a couple of Cruisers.
Not mentioning that Krakens and Vanguards (a very interesting unit for tactical play: his marker-light ability coupled with the instinctive behaviour table makes for some real interesting play as you try to maneuvre these guys close to your target, not to mention having one around is the only way to target ordnance waves) will also get the shaft at 1000 points in favour of boring slow Drones.
The Hiveship is key to the Tyranid list: it unlocks cruisers, provides synapse, provides practically the only source of AC (which is ESSENTIAL to Nids), and only source of long range firepower. I find it hard as it is to make a balanced and flexible list at 1000 points without using refits, but the Drone thing just ruins it.
If you want people to take more escorts over Hiveships, make that "you must take 6 escorts (any type) for each hiveship in the fleet". That will make more balanced lists without destroying the variety in the Nid list. This would make a whole lot more sense too with regards to the initial wording in Armada: it seems they wanted people to take between 6 and 12 escorts per Hiveships, which would be similar to the restriction on Cruisers (i.e. you need Hiveships to unlock the rest of your army; makes sense fluff wise too).
Rant off
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That said I really appreciate all the work that's been done here, especially in the Nid list which is patchy as hell (missing costs in the fleet list, missing descriptions, confusing L/F/R options etc... and I'm not even going to get started on the "Are refits legal?" thing
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