Why hello there my lovely readers!

I know this is a few weeks post-LVO, but with Adepticon just finishing up and the beginning of this year’s circuit upon us, I wanted to see if the LVO 40k Championship winner Sean Nayden could give us some insight into his killer bug list and the tournament experience for anyone looking to up their competitive game in 2015!

Here’s a link to Sean’s list for anyone playing the home game.


Q: Do you play any other armies? If so, why nids for LVO?

A: My first army was Eldar back in 2000. That was quickly followed as most 40k players will attest to with a Space Marine army... Salamanders in my case. Then Dark Eldar, followed with a brief collection of Tyranids. I tend to play armies for a lengthy period.

Eldar were my army of choice when I was younger in 3rd and 4th edition, not in tournaments. In 5th edition when I started to play at events I was playing Space Marines for much of that edition and then started to switch to Dark Eldar for the last year or so of the edition. Right around that time Tyranids were once again in a dark place so I bought a Tyranid army on a bet with a friend and took them to one event and did well and then simply put it aside. Went back to a long Dark Eldar obsession that spanned then end of 5th edition and the entirety of 6th edition and into the start of 7th edition, mixed of course with Eldar allies and such as available.

Then with the new dark eldar codex my obsession was broken and my attention shifted back to Tyranids, so that’s where I am currently and why they were my choice for LVO. Tyranids are in fact my smallest collection by far. I think I have 10,000pts of marines, 8000 Eldar, 4000 dark eldar and probably only 2500pts of Tyranids.



Q: What is the basic strategy behind your nid list? Was it tailored to the LVO missions or just a strong general build?

A: I’d consider it just a strong general build that began with models that appealed to me. I really like the Lictor model and had purchased them several years ago and built a list around them with similar feeling models such as the Mawlocs and some genestealers. I also had bought the beautiful Forge World Flyrant to accompany the list. As time passed Flyrants have become more and more powerful and sadly the only choice for top level play with Tyranid HQ's.

The rest of the list boils down to a combination of units that count for nothing when killed, yet can do some damage if ignored. Lictors which are really powerful for their points cost and combo well with the Mawlocs terror from the deep special rule.



Q: How do you think the missions complemented your play style and list? Did you enjoy the mission format? Were there any things you'd like to see different next year?

A: The missions were pretty basic... not in a bad way. They were pretty easy to keep track of and for players to read and evaluate which is important and I think lets you focus on playing your opponent and just playing 40k rather than getting caught up in complicated missions.

I think the emphasis on first blood causes some issues with some players but does help mitigate the power of going second in their format; however this certainly helped with my list which would almost always afford me the opportunity to gain first blood while still taking the power position of second turn. But I enjoyed it a lot and the simplicity of its integration of book missions and maelstrom makes things easier for people like myself... I tend to gloss over anything that groups more than a few sentences together... I notoriously do not really read missions and opponents army lists, it’s a character flaw that has at times cost me at events.



Q: What was your favorite match of the day and why?

A: I had a ton of great opponents all weekend. And my games were all great. I will say that the finals match with Nick Rose was my favorite. We had joked all weekend that it would be funny and cause the internet never ending headaches if we could pilot our lists to the finals.

Then we had a shock and had to play on day one and we thought our dreams were over. He won his semi final game and was standing near-bye as I finished mine and it was clear I had won we both started jumping up and down like little kids and laughing hysterically that his scouts and my lictors had made it all the way. It was a very well-played and tactical game as well which I enjoyed, and having played each other once there were no surprises we could really pull, elevated the game to another level.



Q: What is your usual method/timeline for playtesting? And lastly, any tips for newer tourney players aspiring to be in your spot next year?

A: My usual method for playtesting is to pick an army idea or concept that I think I can work and appeals to me in terms of play style and model choices. Then I try to get a few games in with people I know that are pretty good at the game. Then I like to go to small events and larger ones if I’m feeling confident. From there I tinker with what I think the list needs more in terms of the ever shifting meta.

Since I play a style list for a long period... year or more on the tournament circuit it allows me to use feelings from the last event filtered through the lenses of what I think new releases will bring to the table. The key to me is consistency. Large alterations to the list would require me to play more games to get comfortable with those changes, and since I don’t always have the time to play tons of games that means I like to keep shifts tighter so I can apply past experience more readily.

While preparing for the 11th company GT in November I played only 2 games before the event after not playing Tyranids primary in years. In changing my 11th company winning list to my LVO list I played only 5 games prior to LVO with the new list and those were all in a more local GT. I know some other guys that prepared with 50+ games with a list before LVO, which is awesome but I don’t have that kind of time, so I get a few games to get a feel and stick to making lists that fit with my style of play so that every game I play can help contribute to how I play the game.



And there you have it! Hopefully we can keep this series going with the major tournaments of 2015, so if you have any tournament you want to see covered, let me know over at the 40k Universe or in the comment section below. A big thank you to Sean for giving up his time to help us all out, and congratulations on your win! ?