Editing Warhammer 40,000/8th Edition Tactics/Tyranids (section)

===Elites===

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<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Haruspex</div>

[[Image:HaruspexGW.jpeg|thumb|left|He looks familiar because he starred in the tentacle hentai you just watched]]










The Haruspex's primary function is infantry chewing and almost everything in its arsenal is meant to help with that. Its Maw makes D3 Hit rolls for each attack allocated to it, meaning it averages 8 attacks, and for every model it kills with said Maw, it gets to make another attack with its claws, so it can rack up a pretty impressive body count if you send it at the right units. And if there is no tough infantry to chew, just throw it at a transport, which it can crack open with the claws. Its tongue gun heals it when it kills something with it, and if it kills at least one model in melee it also heals a wound, so throw it at the opponent and watch it heal all the damage the opponent painstakingly put into it. That said, don't expect the Haruspex to kill too much. If the opponent knows about it, he will do his damnedest to shoot it down before it can reach his gunline, which is also great because then he doesn't focus on the rest of your army, and with T8 13 wounds and a 3+, this is easier said than done.







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*Haruspexen cost a ''whopping'' 198 points, which is ultimately why they will reliably disappoint you. In general, any problem you would solve with a Haruspex, you should be solving with a Carnifex.
**Alternate alternate take: The maw gives an average of 8 attacks, for 4 hits. Against GEQ, that's about 3 dead. You then get to make 3 more attacks with your claws, killing another 1~2. So this monster whose purpose is supposedly to kill lots of infantry will kill about an average of only 4~5 guardsmen per turn in melee. Which, for ~200 points, on a model with 7 inch movement that needs to get within 12 inches of the enemy to do anything at all, is quite pathetic. It really would need to get a lot more attacks to be even potentially viable. Else no matter how tanky it is, your opponent can just safely ignore it. Therefore, the Haruspex is probably the worst monster in the codex. Considering that the codex already dropped the points cost by about 80 compared to index, that is ''really'' sad...
**As of Chapter Approved 2019 a Haruspex will only set you back 150 points and it seems from Blood of Baal that GW are really trying to make Haruspexen a "thing". With the right combo of hive fleet traits (think Prey Sight + Metamorphic regrowth) you can have yourself a Haruspex that hits on 3+ on the charge and gains a wound back at the start of your turns even before it's gobbled anyone up. Then consider dropping Dermic Symbiosis on it for a 5++ OR Murderous Size to make that maw into a strength 8, AP-2, damage D3+1 MEQ killer. Either or those adaptive physiologies, combined with the unique Haruspex strategem, may finally make them into the murder machines they were always meant to be. They certainly aren't an auto-take, but they might have a future in some lists.

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<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Hive Guard</div>

[[Image:HiveGuard.jpg|thumb|left|That Pink-thing from Doom, but with a bigass gun]]










Once, the premier transport killers, the Hive Guard are still a fantastic ranged unit. Both their weapons are great at killing vehicles, but the Impaler Cannon is also great at killing Monsters and hiding in bunkers while doing so, ''because it doesn't need line of sight''. If you don't want to take a Tyrannofex and still want some anti-vehicle firepower, take a unit of these and have done. Do note that Impaler Cannons are Heavy, so you'll be at -1 to hit if you move, but with reasonably competent deployment and 36" range on these now, it shouldn't be too much of an issue. Unlike most 'Nids, Hive Guard are dedicated to shooting and are good at it; Impaler Cannons are BS3+ Heavy 2 S8 AP-2 D1 d3, so a good salvo from these has a fair chance of knocking out or at least seriously degrading medium tanks.








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* Alternately, the Shockcannon is an Assault weapon, so you can move and fire without penalty, albeit at shorter range. It has the irritating random 1d3 shot thing going on, but with a minimum of three models per unit, you'll probably average out to 2 per. Also, mortal wounds vs vehicles on a 4+ in addition to other damage (and potentially even more on a 6+). Mathematically, a full squad of 6 armed with Shockcannons will average 5.33 extra mortal wounds against any vehicle, which is already enough to outdamage a full unit of Impaler Hive Guard and the similarly priced (238 to Shockcannon Guards’ 234) shoot-twice Rupture Cannon Tyrannofex against Land Raiders and the like, not even factoring in the damage that the actual shots do. They’re also cheaper than Impalers, but of course the problem is their range at only 24”, consider deepstriking them with Jormungandr strat/Tyrannocyte. And they’re going to die faster as you can’t hide behind walls and bunkers and still shoot at things without having line of sight, but then again you can accomplish significantly more vehicle damage with Shockcannon guards than with Impaler guards while they’re alive, which somewhat counteracts this. 
**With Impaler Cannons, these things are a great way to preserve your firebase vs the inevitable massed lascannon Alpha Strike to which things like Exocrines are unfortunately quite vulnerable. Assuming your table has even halfway decent LOS blocking terrain, a squad of three shouldn't be difficult to stick behind a solid wall or similar, and you can then cheerfully rain salvos on your opponent without fear of retaliation, because you can fire without being fired upon.
***''A full squad of 6 with Hive Fleet Kronos and the Single-Minded Annihilation strategem is pumping out 24 S8 shots at 3+, re-rolling 1s. Go think about that for a while and bring the tissues back when you're done.''
****''Oh wow Kevin, that witty line about the tissues really makes me wonder a haruspex makes you do...yeesh...grow up you balding neckbeard 


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<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Lictor</div>

[[Image:Lictor.jpeg|thumb|left|The Fluff says these guys are Hot Shit, the Codex says they're just shit]]










A single Lictor isn't particularly scary. It has a scary profile, but a full unit of anything won't be too impressed. However, each one has a 47.84% chance of making its charge when it pops up (which won't stack with {{W40Kkeyword|behemoth}} in any way), and Chameleonic Skin makes them completely immune to anything with WS6+, which means a pair of them will usually (72.8%) be able to tarpit a problematic tank that's been left outside of its bubble wrap. Lictors also have access to a couple of the best stratagems you have, which have the usual problem of not being able to be spammed - Feeder Tendrils lets you gamble on a 2/3 chance to make a CP profit, and Pheromone Trail lets you deliver Genestealers or Trygon Devilgants next to the Lictor instead (which is where you'll really notice your inability to spam the Stratagem). They also intrinsically don't care about Synapse, since they're 1-model units and don't have Instinctive Behaviour.








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*That said, Lictors are pretty bad. Their best trick is Pheromone Trails, which is why {{W40Kkeyword|Jormungandr}} has ''absolutely'' no use for them - The Enemy Below ''is'' spammable, because you use it outside of any game phase.
*A points drop in Chapter Approved 2018, and an additional Lictor-specific strategem in 2019, might have breathed some life into the old mantis stalkers. For 1CP you have a model with the potential to shut down an entire unit's worth of overwatch with a +1" re-rollable charge. Just imagine your opponents face when his Knight Valiant is denied its Conflagration Cannon's overwatch for the sake of a 34 point resin model, and your 'fexes make it in unmolested!


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<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Maleceptor</div>

[[Image:Malecepter.jpeg|thumb|left|Looks like an amalgam between the queen from Alien and a gummy bear]]










A giant Zoanthrope stuffed in an oversized Carnifex that doesn't quite fit either role. The Maleceptor has some impressive survivability with T7 W12 3+/4++, but it fundamentally costs 172 points - enough to buy ''two'' Neurothropes with plenty of points left over, and they can hide behind your army, with a better invuln save and the ability to heal with their Smites. It has massive scything talons it can't drop, but M7 A3 WS4/5/6+r1 S7/6/5 AP-3 D1d6 really isn't scary for the points. Its psychic capabilities are... weird. It knows Smite and one power from the Hive Mind discipline, and can cast and deny two powers per turn, but it also gets +1 to cast and deny, so it adds a bit of reliability. It can also forego casting its power and instead send out a shockwave that hits up to 6 enemy units (the maximum drops as it is wounded) within 6" for an average of 1 1/6 mortal wounds each, kind of like a Mawloc, but with more range and fewer wounds dealt. If it had a way to get that close when it needed to, this would be a very different discussion, but it just isn't very fast and it can't deep strike. Save yourself the trouble - you have better sources for everything the Maleceptor offers (Synapse and Mortal Wounds spam).







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* Well there is one way you can deliver a Maleceptor. Be Kraken, Advance and use your fleet stratagem, then use Metabollic Overdrive and advance too. You have about 30" of movement. Is this viable at all? No, but it can be plenty of [[fun]].
* There is one and ONLY ONE reason to take a Maleceptor over 3 Zoanthropes... and that's if you're using {{W40Kkeyword|Jormungandr}}. With Jormungandr your Maleceptors gain a 2+ save anywhere they go, giving them much better survivability, maximizing your use of your Hive Fleet as well as gaining the Psychic and Synapse support you'll definitely want.
*Well, two reasons. On the flip-side, point for point the Maleceptor is possibly the best single-unit mid-backfield defensive Synaptic-line-anchor in the codex. Cheaper than a Tervigon by far, it's also way more resilient to S9+ -2AP+ heavy weapons fire thanks to it's 4++ invuln., where things like lascannons wound it and a Tervigon on 3s but the 'Ceptor shrugs off 50% of the hits on average.  Sure, autocannons are 50% more effective vs it than a Tervigon (going from wounding 2/6 to 3/6 of the time, 50% increase) but if autocannons are chipping away at this buffing-synapse lump they're not hitting anything else.  It's tougher than equal points of Zoanthropes and can hold it's own in melee better than most other Synapse units where it's decent T7, Sv3+ & 4++ combined with Overload can help it survive vs other melee Elites until help arrives, even vs thunder hammers.  You don't need to worry about the model's 7" move so much if the enemies are coming to you.  The deciding factor is how important Synapse is to you in 8th edition (and if you want to run lots of Monsters or not)...
*(Note: This unit had its points changed in Chapter Approved 2018)


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<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Pyrovore</div>

[[Image:PyrovoreGW.jpeg|thumb|left|Finally made it]]










The formerly worst unit in the whole game got yet another buff. They now seem to be predestined to be shoved into a Tyrannocyte, as their Flamespurt has just high enough range to be used right after disembarking, but that's a loooot of points to pay for delivering a maximum of 3 Pyrovores. They're also better in melee then they used to be, and are decently cheap now. Considering how awesome Biovores are now, your Pyrovores will probably still be counts-as-Biovores. If you could legally fit multiple units into a Tyrannocyte, these guys would be a ''lot'' better. For now, at the very least they are cheap efficient melee deterrent, with flamer-overwatch, acid blood, ''and'' the ability to explode.









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* {{W40Kkeyword|Jormungandr}} can pop them out using their hive-fleet specific strategem The Enemy Below as well... but with those 60mm bases (and a Trygon or squad of Raveners as well) you're going to need a lot of real-estate or it's going to be a tight fit.
**Alternative take: Don't forget that these chuck out mortal wounds as they die. AND they have a longer range heavy flamer and a power sword. For 25 points. While being tougher then a warrior. They might not be amazing, but they can definitely make your opponent think twice if they get too close. 
*(Note: This unit had its points changed in Chapter Approved 2018)


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<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Tyrant Guard</div>

[[Image:Tyrant Guard.jpeg|thumb|left|Flunkies for your Big Evil Monkey]]










Dedicated bodyguards for your Hive Tyrant. These guys can intercept shots meant for your Hive Tyrant, which is great as it keeps your big boss safe that much longer. Should the Tyrant die regardless, they all gain 1 extra attack the turn after it dies. The Guards themselves have a pretty decent profile with 7" movement, WS3+, S/T5, 3 attacks and 3+ armour and can take some great gear.











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*With crushing claws they become decently scary hitting on 4+ with 3 S10 AP-3 DD3 attacks each, giving them tank-wrecking power enough to contest with Carnifexes or Hive Guard and making them a veritable threat against elites that don't have good invulnerable saves. This loadout is costly however at 49 points per model before even considering adrenal glands/toxin sacs (though Hive Guard with impaler cannons are a close 48 points per model).
*''With the wording at the moment, if your Tyrant manages to cast Catalyst upon himself then the Tyrant will first get his normal save, then his Catalyst save, and finally his 2+ guard save.'' This may be FAQed in the future.
*Unfortunately rather cost-inefficient considering their lack of the {{W40Kkeyword|character}} keyword, and easily killed, because aside from wounds, they're actually rather fragile. Could be decent on a Walkrant.


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<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Venomthrope</div>

[[Image:VenomthropeGW.jpeg|thumb|left|Yeah, you saw these guys in your hentai too]]










These are mainly used to keep the rest of your swarm safe. Enemy units take a -1 To Hit penalty when shooting at any infantry that hugs Venomthropes, so keep them in the middle of your swarm, preferably behind some Monsters, since the Venomthropes aren't characters and so if the opponent can draw line of sight to these rather tall models, he can hit them.










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*The codex changed the aura to a 6" and can shroud Monsters if they have 3 models in a unit, with 6 models in a unit it becomes 9". So the choice between Venomthropes and Malanthropes depends on your taste. Malanthropes can survive longer, give re-rolls when they wipe out a unit, and are Synapse (especially important in a Leviathan detachment) but their range is miniscule, Venomthropes can be easily shot at, but have higher damage output and longer range in addition to the ability to use the Feeder Tendrils stratagem for farming CPs.


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{| class="wikitable"
|'''[[Zoanthrope|Zoanthropes]]''': Once the Tyranids' premier tank killers, the Zoanthropes took a couple of hits this time. First, you now have to field them in units of 3 or more. Second, their ability to blow holes the size of a Predator Tank into a Predator Tank has been reduced to them shooting out a slightly stronger ''Smite'' at a longer range, though the power boost only applies in units of 4 or more 'thropes (although 2d3 or 3+d3 mortal wounds isn't to be sneezed at). That said, in units of 4 or more, they can also cast a second power, which makes them much more useful, but also forces you to play at least 4 or 5 of them.
|
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====Special Characters====

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<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Deathleaper</div>

[[Image:Deathleaper.jpeg|thumb|left|A boi that will kill the guy you spent 6 months painting]]










Deathleaper remains a character killer, even more so in an edition where characters can no longer hide inside large units to avoid him.














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*His '''superior chameleonic skin''' forces enemies to subtract 2 from their hit rolls. That includes ranged AND melee. That is quite a debuff, especially for characters that normally hit on 3+. In addition, he adds 2 instead of 1 while in cover, giving him a cool 3+ anytime he's hiding.
*'''It's after me!''' is now a re-roll to hit and to wound in the fight phase on a character chosen at the start of the game. He no longer has his amazing deployment rules and is now forced to deploy like a Lictor, that is, 9" away from all enemies. This severely neuters what was a pretty good harassing unit or character killer. He got two wounds to compensate so... yay? Still, his -2 to hit, re-roll charge on the turn he pops up, and 6 wounds mean he's well suited to tying up irritating heavy weapons squads or big angry tanks; denying them a round or two of shooting can pay for him straight up regardless of whether he actually kills anything.
**Do watch out for "Heroic Intervention" and similar abilities when doing this. Deathleaper won't be tying up much of anything apart from his own innards if a CC monster like Abaddon is within 3" of whatever you want not to shoot.
*(Note: This unit had its points changed in Chapter Approved 2018)


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<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">The Red Terror</div>

[[Image:The Red Terror.jpeg|thumb|left|]]










A super Ravener to make your other Raveners hit better. If you want to take him, make sure he has some of his buddies with him. Ideally, you want an Trygon Prime to spread Synapse around, the Red Terror, at least 6 Raveners and something to come out of the Trygon's tunnel to pull this off. If you have all these pieces together, you can do some [[/d/|unspeakable things]] to your opponent's army with extremely accurate Raveners that don't run ever.
**He is also the 2nd cheapest elite slot unit (lictors are cheapest), and his '''Swallow Whole''' ability allows him to devour any model, so long as you can roll equal to or greater than that model's maximum wound characteristic with a d6. Since he is so cheap, and a very fast character with deep-strike, you can use him as an assassin to instakill a character or elite infantry model, ignoring any saves or feel-no-pains! Though you want to have 1 CP at hand in case you need to reroll the Swallow. With some luck, he can even swallow an Ad-Mech [[Ironstrider Ballistarius|chicken walker]]! [[Anal Circumference|(Best not to dwell on the logistics of that one...)]]











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*It is easy to overlook The Red Terror's '''swallow whole''' rule, as it needs all 4 of its attacks to hit before even rolling to see if it goes through. Made worse considering it only has 4 attacks and the tail slap doesn't count. However, then you realise it hits on 2+ and has 2 pairs of scything talons, giving it 1 more attack and allows it to re-roll 1s to hit. Hitting 4 out of 5 attacks on 2+ re-rolling 1s looks very possible, then roll 2+ to instantly take out a pesky Terminator or roll a 6 and swallow a whole Broadside. '''Bon appetit!'''
**An additional note on this rule: it specifies rolling above the target's wound characteristic i.e. their maximum number of wounds, not current number of wounds, so the dreams of The Red Terror scoffing down a wounded Chimera will sadly never be realized. It may be a Tyranid, but it has the decency to at least open its lunch box. With an exception for Ork Warbuggies (and Eldar Vyper/Venoms), those are slim enough to fit into The Red Terror's diet.
***An additional additional note: swallow whole specifies the attacks must come from his scything talons. This means that if he somehow gets in a position where he can't use his talons due to a specific rule or some-such (i.e. against Jain Zar), [[fail|'''he cannot swallow''']].
*(Note: This unit had its points changed in Chapter Approved 2018)


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