u/PrinceRaven

Why this rule is not in the Fight Phase section of the book I'll never know.

They do, however Fight First supersedes that. The rules appendix explains how to resolve both sides having instances of Always Fights First on pages 361-362, and states that you start with the player whose turn is taking place.

Shake well before use. Undercoating leads to better results. Contrast paints can be a little inconsistent in viscosity, you might want to thin it down a bit. After painting take advantage of the drying time to brush away any pools you don't want on flat surfaces with a clean brush.

Old One Eye is one of my go-to picks for a 3rd or 4th HQ after Hive Tyrant(s) and Neurothrope.

Save 15 points, give it Synaptic Enhancement and time its arrival with activating Warp Shielding. Place the marker so it threatens multiple objectives.

For this list I'd definitely go Behemoth, as it gives you access to Territorial Instincts and the extra strength lets you get the Swarmlord's attacks to S10 and Screamer Killers to S8. It also gives the Trygon Prime access to Monstrous Musculature which is huge for its normally damage 2 attacks.

I mean if it's just a casual group you can do whatever you want.

Competitively, I think the best Warriors right now are running Dual boneswords and Deathspitters with as many venom cannons as the unit is allowed to bring. Throw them in Behemoth so you hit S8 in the first turn of combat (or S9 if you get Adrenal Glands), get double light and heavy cover bonuses with naturalised camouflage, and have access to Behemoth's fight on death stratagem.

I use Really Useful Boxes with metal sheets glued to their bottom and magnets on the bottom of my minis' bases. With all the wings and sticky-out bits Tyranids have I don't like foam.

War Zone Nephilim: Grand Tournament

I imagine it is because they are upgraded 'thropes, dunno what reasoning they have for the Haruspex though.

Because they are Elites

First, always use the Mawloc in a Territorial Instincts list. The whole goal of the Mawloc is to be disruptive and steal objectives, it needs Objective Secured to do that well.
Place the marker close enough to an objective that any of your opponents models left there will be taking mortal wounds, but off centre towards another objective, such that you could still place the Mawloc on that one as well. This gives you flexibility in where to place the Mawloc in case your opponent tries to screen out your placement on the objective your marker's on.
To increase survivability, give the Mawloc Synaptic Enhancement and hold the Warp Shielding synaptic imperative until round 2.

Yes, they follow the Look Out Sir rules, so you still need a unit to be closer to the enemy to protect the Hive Tyrant.

Might want to re-read your rulebook, the requirement is 9 wounds, he's juuust in.

Old One Eye is fantastic, while he is expensive he hits like a truck and as a character benefits from both Look Out, Sir to make him very survivable and the ability to Heroic Intervention. Being able to bring other Carnifexes to 2+ to hit is a lovely benefit as well but not even the main reason I play him tbh.

Nah I typically get them from an online distributor.

I'm fond of P3 and Vallejo. I've heard good things about Pro Acryl as well, apparently their Bold Titanium White is amazing. I also really like Tamiya's panel liner, though I wouldn't use it on nids.

I would drop a few spore cysts for either Old One Eye to get extra meme-y or a Neurothrope and Zonathropes for some good psychic presence and access to warp shielding. My version of the list has no spore cysts at all, so it runs Old One Eye, 9 hvc carnifexes, and 4 screamer killers.

For Hive Fleet I'd go custom with Territorial Instincts and Ambush Predators.

My current colour scheme is mostly AP speedpaints, I use fire giant orange for the base of the carapace, magic blue for the skin, pallid bone for talons and hooves, purple alchemy for vents, brains, and other details, and orc skin for eyes. To match the scheme with citadel contrast you'd use gryph-hound orange, talassar blue, skeleton horde, volupus pink, and warp lightning.

You could definitely do a Behemoth scheme with contrast/speedpaints.

The Tervigon is a better choice competitively but it sounds like the Trygon Prime is a better choice thematically, so I guess the question is which is more important to you?

Deal mortal wounds equal to successful wound rolls.

Deathleaper or Venomthropes killing their Warlord is 9 points on a 2+, your Winged Hive Tyrant killing 3 characters over the course of a game is an easy 12, Cranial Feasting is pretty easy to max so long as the enemy actually has characters. It's also nice in that it forces people to either give up points or pull their unit champions early.

To prevent denial of Psychic Interrogation, always use Warp Siphon on the psyker you Interrogate with. Personally, I'd rather just go Warp Ritual, but you can't get the full 90 points with Warp Ritual, so for maxing Interrogation it is.

You're right, that these two do depend on them actually having characters, we don't have a good strategy to max out all secondaries against enemies that do not.

As for Spore Nodes. You use the constantly respawning Termagants blob that you rush up the board as fast as possible, the free unit of 10 Termagants the Tervigon pops out (hold onto those as long as possible, only spawn them when they're going to get you points or you think the Tervigon won't survive until your next turn), and maybe even an Encircle the Prey'd unit of Gargoyles. Unfortunately you can't use Deathleaper as she's Elite.

A good alternative to Spore Nodes is Raise the Banners, which this style of list is still very good at, but it's much harder to max out.

Build a list with a Tervigon and big Termagant blob, Reaper Tyrant, Deathleaper.

Take Cranial Feasting, Spore Nodes, and Psychic Interrogation. If they have strong denial you can accept a 97 with Warp Ritual or go for No Prisoners, Engage on All Fronts, or Bring it Down, depending on enemy list composition and mission.

I am begging you not to actively discourage new players like this.

It gives all Hive Tendril units within 6" of any SYNAPSE unit the imperative. SYNAPSE units are always within 6" of themselves.