Editing Grimdark Future/Tactics/Alien Hives

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==Why Play Alien Hives==
The alien hives are capable of switching between hordes of chittering gnats and hulking monstrosities. To maximize your army involves finding a sweet spot between these two areas, as both have very visible weaknesses - the mobs can get blasted to oblivion and the big guys become very attractive to anyone with Deadly.

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====Pros====
* A hybrid between hordes and super tough monsters
* You've got ways of spitting out more units on the board
* Plenty of ways to cast and block spells

====Cons====
* You've got a lot of units to keep track of
* Your army has issues with quality with the best only being at 3+
* Your monsters make for very tempting targets for fusion guns

==Special Rules==
*''Corrosive:'' When your Hive Titan gets wounded in melee its attacker takes 1 hit. You get the most mileage out of this by feeding your Titan enemy blobs.
*''Explode(X):'' If the model gets within 1" of an enemy unit it dies the enemy takes X times 3 hits. The unit also automatically passes morale tests.
*''No retreat:'' Instead of failing a morale test one unit dies and the test is passed. If you have this its use is not optional. Can be equipped onto all three Grunts, who thanks to their low Defense are prone to suffering morale tests.
*''Pheromones:'' One friendly unit within 12" gets to move 6". Useful but expensive, so position the unit using it well.
*''Psy-Barrier:'' The unit in question can now block psychic powers as if had Psychic(2). This turns into a +2 bonus to block if the already is Psychic. Good as a cheap defensive tool against psychic powers on the Prime Warrior, and turns the Psycho-Rex into a master of blocking at D6+4.
*''Psychic Synapse:'' The unit as a whole is Psychic(1) for casting and blocking, except you get to roll for every model in the unit and pick the best result. This makes Synapse Floaters the best at casting the most difficult spells.
*''Shrouding Mist:'' Activating the unit gives 2 units within 6" Stealth the next time that they are shot at. Good for warding off large volumes of infantry fire, less so against high Quality opponents.
*''Spawn Brood:'' Upon activation the Spawning Beast automatically creates either 5 Assault Grunts, 5 Shooter Grunts or 3 Hive Swarms for free. While none are upgraded this is ridiculously cost-efficient.
*''Spores:'' If your Mortar Beast or Invasion Artillery misses it creates 3 Spores or 1 Massive Spore 12" away from the target in the position of your opponent's choosing, and the unit cannot be activated that turn. A wily opponent will use this to block off your units that haven't been Activated yet, so keep this in mind.
*''Surprise Attack:'' A supercharged Ambush that lets you pop up up to 1" away from enemy units, and if you appear up to 3" within an enemy unit roll 2 dice, with every 2+ dealing 3 AP(1) hits to one unit within range.
*''Takedown:'' When your Shadow Hunter is in melee on a 2+ it gets to land an AP(1) Deadly(3) hit on a single model. Useful for sniping characters and special weapons.

==Psychic Powers==
*'''Psychic Blast (4+):''' One enemy unit within 12" takes one hit with AP(2) and Deadly(3). Bad news for any solo units.
*'''Terror (4+):''' Two enemy units within 12" suffers -2 on their next morale roll. Time this right to wipe out two enemy units in one go.
*'''Animate Flora (5+):''' 2 friendly units within 6" get Flying on their next activation. Let your fast units move through walls.
*'''Shriek (5+):''' Two enemy units within 12" suffer an 4 AP(1) hits each. Pretty much built to give you breathing room without being Psychic Blast tiers of deadly.
*'''Infuse Life (6+):''' One friendly unit within 12" gets Regeneration the next time it takes wounds. An absolute godsend for your softer units, but can be exploited by firing a weaksauce attack from the same or a different unit first.
*'''Overwhelm (6+):''' One enemy model within 12" takes 3 AP(4) hits. If you wanted to focus fire on Shriek, this can be more reliable damage than Psychic Blast.

==Unit Analysis==
===Heroes===
* '''Hive Lord:''' A very flexible but also expensive pick. In low points games, it may struggle to get where it needs even with wings. Can be upgraded to be either very shooty, very choppy, or a mix of both, along with some support options. Somewhat unusually the Hive Lord is actually best run on his own, as with Tough(12) and 2+ Defense he can take a beating and doesn’t offer any benefits to the unit he joins besides a morale boost. The Heavy Acid Cannon is fun, but it's obscenely expensive and you don't get the shots you get with other heavy weapons. Exploit his Fear by slapping good melee weapons on him (Sword Claws for Tough units, Smashing Claws for larger units with good Defense) and going to town. Wings are pricy but allow for the surgical removal of troublesome units by slapping your Hive Lord down on them.

* '''Prime Warrior:''' While not quite as flexible as the Hive Lords, these guys are still very flexible for 200 points less. They're a lot more fragile but have access to several options, including a wide arsenal of cheap guns and can be used as an affordable anti-Psychic platform with Hive Protector. They possess several options for affordable can opening like the Smashing CLaws, but be careful not to let them punch above their weight class.

* '''Snatcher Lord:''' The only Psychic among the Heroes by default, though only at a rating of 1. The combination of Fast, Scout and Strider all make this hero incredibly mobile out of the gate, and for much less. Its claws also have Rending on them, making short work of armor while Tough 3 gives it some limited protection. It has no upgrades, so what you buy is what you get. Use them for blitz attacks against units your opponent would rather keep out of melee, and take it from there. Just don't send them in alone: Defense 4+ and Tough(3) is nothing to write home about.

===Infantry===
* '''Shooter Grunts:''' Very basic horde unit with two shots on a Quality 5+ at a pitiful 12” range. Do not forget that they have Strider for those sudden surprise attacks. They are cheap though, and can serve as good chaff or to add some activations if you’re taking lots of big boys. Of the unit upgrades only Adrenaline is worth it: you don't want Grunts in melee and their limited Quality means that they're pinned all the time otherwise and they're cheap enough to tank the losses. They have a surprising number of upgrade options to their guns. The first two can be taken any number of times, with the rest being limited to two per unit:
** Bio-Spiners are free and have AP(1) at the cost of ''halving'' their range. Not really worth it.
** Bio-Ravagers increase their range by 50%. Useful, but it makes your unit significantly more expensive.
** Bio-Fusers have AP(4) and Deadly(3), which is good for vehicle and hero sniping, but this is hurt by the Grunts' Quality and the gun's short range.
** Bio-Flamers have A6, but only 6" range. Combined units can really dish out the pain, but require you to get close.
** Bio-Shredders have A3 and Rending to deal some decent damage, but are once again hurt by their short 9" range.
** Bio-Plasma has a cool AP(4) and the same range as the Grunts' regular gun, but Quality 5+ makes it a gamble.
** Bio-Spikers are a costly 15 points for a Sniper weapon, which fixes the Grunts' chance to land some hits and can pick off enemy special weapons. They're the most effective when paired with Bio-Ravagers thanks to them both having 18" range, but this becomes very expensive very quickly.

* '''Assault Grunts:''' Angrier stabby Grunts. These get an extra attack in melee and are Fast on top of having Strider, making them great for sudden charges. Adrenaline works great for them just like with the Shooter Grunts, and them being Fast makes Heavy Bite an interesting choice as well. Toxic Cysts is tempting, but very expensive for such a fragile unit. Do not throw them at powerful units: have them deal with basic troops while the rest of your army picks other targets. Up to two models per unit can replace their claws with one of the following:
** Serratec Claws are A1 Blast(3). This increases your damage output nicely, but lacks any other effects. Pairs nicely with Poison Cysts if you take it.
** Piercing Claws have AP(1) and Rending, letting you take a gamble on letting them rip through enemy armor, but you don't want your Grunts to fight those anyway.
** Sword Claws have a single AP(2) and Deadly(3), making it great for fighting Tough units... which again isn't where you want your Grunts.
** Smashing Claws are for when you absolutely NEED to wound with AP(4). A combined unit with four of these and Adrenaline can be pretty scary, as long as you don't get shredded after the fight.

* '''Winged Grunts:''' Grunts, with the same upgrade options, but now with Flying and Ambush for 30pts more. Due to their increased price these are less of a chaff unit, and can serve two main roles. One is to be a late-game objective grabber, where they are protected from a turn or two of shooting. The other is to harass backlines, which will only be useful if your opponent has fragile long-range units. In that case, running them with Bio-Flamers can result in a lot of dice being rolled. In either case however, this is a specialty unit which should only be used in situations where that ambush is useful and something like Swarms or winged Warriors aren’t the right tool.

* '''Soul-Snatchers:''' Your elite melee units. There's less of them when compared to Assault Grunts, but they have superior Quality and Defense. Your weapons are also Rending and you have a Scout move so you can make an alpha strike. This also makes them great for nabbing early objectives. If you buy the upgrade you can also make one of them a Psychic(1), which can create a nasty surprise or two. Flying Soul-Snatchers, anyone?

* '''Hive Warriors:''' The elite units. Each of them is tanky with a 4+ save, Fearless and Tough(3), so they can definitely hold their own in almost any situation. It also helps that they also have both choppy and shooty options: giving everyone two Smashing Claws is costly, but hitting your enemy with 6 AP(4) attacks per model will dumpster most enemy units. Their guns are tooled to dealing with infantry hordes either through sheer number of attacks or Blast(3), and one model per unit can take a more powerful gun to either deal with even more infantry or split fire to deal with stray vehicles or monsters Note that you need to buy a Ravager Gun before you buy another gun, which is a 5 point increase. You can also grab wings for the unit, which gives them a boost to mobility that's bolstered by their toughness but is rather costly.

* '''Hive Guardians:''' The toughest of the goons. A 3+ save and Tough 3 means that he won't be going any time soon. While they can take all melee weapons that the Warriors can, the Guardians have Relentless to improve their ranged combat. They can pick the Heavy Ravager Gun that is a special weapon for the Warriors, the Shock Harpoon for Deadly(3) or the Skewer Cannon for long range and AP(4), but this is very expensive.

* '''Hive Swarm:''' Despite having Tough(3) they only have Defense 6+, so do not let them get shot at, and while A3 Poison is nothing to sneeze at a Quality 6+ is pitiful. Hive Swarms make up for this by being almost half the cost of Grunts,  and their Strider allows for the quick capture of an objectife or cheap chaff. They are also Fearless so they don't immediately melt when having to take Morale tests. They can be upgraded with Spine Shooters for A4 AP(1), but the real treat is Ambush: for a token cost they can suddenly pop up onto any objective and go to town.

* '''Ravenous Beasts:''' Pure elite assault types. Out of the box they are Warriors but with Fast and Strider instead of Fearless at a minimal point increase. They have the same melee options and can be upgraded with ''either'' Scout or Ambush, the better option of the two depending on the battle.

* '''Synapse Floaters:''' Synapse Floaters are actually pretty durable for artillery. They still have a 4+ save and Tough(3) on top of Stealth to make them less vulnerable to ranged fire, and can buy Regeneration to tank even more. Their Psy-BLasts can lay down quite a number of hits against weaker units, but their real role is to exploit the Psychic Syanpse rule, which lets the entire unit count as being Psychic(1). When you cast or block you roll equal to the number of models in a unit, then take the best result. This means that successful casts are all but guaranteed and makes them the best users of the most complex powers. Just keep them out of melee and you should be fine.

* '''Venom Floaters:''' Your floating cover generators. Sure, they have Tough(3) and 3 poisoned attacks to make them effective in combat with their Hive Warrior statline, but they can share their Stealth with up to two units within 6" per activation, so time their use right.

* '''Shadow Hunter:''' The premier assassin unit. Between Ambush, Fast, Fear, Stealth, Strider and Tough(6), you're going to have plenty of time to get within melee range and then close in to rip the unlucky target apart. Can access the same melee weapons as the Prime Warrior, and can buy Takedown: for a modest fee it is essentially an additional Deadly(3) attack at Quality 2+.

* '''Spores:''' Great chaff. They die to a stiff breeze, but they offer two big advantages. One, they’re a very cheap unit that your opponent has to deal with, and two, they are one of the cheapest activations in the game. They’re especially useful against hordes or units with low defense, as 9 automatic hits is nothing to scoff at for 45pts. Note that this is ''not'' a Blast attack, so even if used against solo units it's a lot of damage. But the main utility is that cheap activation. It means that you have more capability to outmaneuver your opponent by forcing them to move first when it may not be advantageous, because you can just stall them with little cheap units. Combined, these hit hard and are still only 90pts.

* '''Massive Spore:''' The same thing as Spores, but with one Tough(3) model instead. That means they don’t lose effectiveness as they take damage, but are susceptible to Deadly weapons instead of Blast and can’t be combined. They also have larger models and may have a harder time getting cover.

===Monsters===
* '''Carnivo-Rex:''' The cheapest of your monsters. Tough(12) and 13 attacks out of the gate with several options to improve their effectiveness. The large number of attacks is a necessity because of the Rex' 4+ Quality, making it difficult for them to get a lot of mileage out of the various fewer attacks but deadlier effects options that it has access to. For this reason the various expensive gun upgrades are better used elsewhere. Give it Impact(3), one of the cheaper weapons and aim it at your enemies. Regeneration is nice if you can afford it, but feel free to cut cost here.

* '''Toxico-Rex:''' A pricier version of the Carnivo-Rex, it comes with A9 Poison attacks and an Acid Spurt to provide some extra damage. Thanks to its Stealth and Shrouding Mist abilities it is able to resist enemy fire much better and can protect your units as well. Aside from access to Impact(3) and Regeneration it has no upgrades, so its cost won't go up. Unlike its brother the Toxico-Rex deals better with mobs of low-Defense infantry because of its poor AP, so use it wisely.

* '''Psycho-Rex:''' A Psychic(2) platform that can be upgraded to get +2 to spell blocks, makig it a premier anti-psychic unit. It has access to the same upgrades as the Carnivo-Rex minus the guns, but because it's significantly pricier and lacks the Vicious Jaws of its brother it should not be used as a fire and forget unit in the same fashion. Its Heavy Psy-Blast provides some support but it won't shred the enemy. Fortunately it has Stealth to keep it alive longer, but don't put it in melee with elite enemy infantry. It can also be given the Pheromones upgrade to give an extra move to one of your units per activation, but if you really want these pick up a Prime Warrior at a much lower cost.

* '''Devourer Beast:''' The first of the beefy Tough(18) boys, and the cheapest. With three sets of claws and a Stomp attack it puts out 15 attacks per turn, and cam be further improved by taking the Impact(6) upgrade. With access to cheap methods to shred either blobs of infantry or peel apart high-Defense units it can look forward to wiping out an entire enemy unit in one go especially combined with its Fear ability, but this will leave it at the mercy of enemy return fire. The Devourer Beast has access to the Impact and Regeneration of the Rexes, but at an increased cost due to its improved Tough rating and higher number of Impact attacks.

* '''Tyrant Beast:''' One of your ranged monsters. It can be given the same weapons as the Rexes at th same cost, making them better due to the Beast's 3+ Quality. Its Stomp also helps it melee capabilities, but it shines due to its gun. The staggering A18 AP(1) on its Toxic Spray can deal significant damage due to its sheer rate of fire, with two more options. The Bio-Pods have a longer range and even more firepower at A24, but lack the AP. Which one you want depends on what you are going to shoot: the Toxic Spray deals more damage against units whose Defense is better than 4+, the Bio-Pods are better against those below that. At precisely 4+ they are equal. At a much pricier point investment you get the Fracture Cannon, a huge 30" A3 AP(3) Deadly(6) weapon used to turn monsters and tanks inside out. Keep an eye on this critter's cost: merely getting Regeneration and the Fracture Cannon puts it at 760 points, which is a massive point sink for a single unit.

* '''Artillery Beast:''' Indirect fire at 36" means you'll want to park this beastie in cover somewhere and never take it out. A3 Blast(3) Rending on its Shredder Bio-Artillery is a bad time for most targets, but its gun can be exchanged for three alternatives. The Spitter Bio-Artillery gets an additional attack and AP(1) at the cost of Rending, Acid Bio-Artillery has AP(3) and Deadly(3) instead of Blast to be able to deal with tough targets, and Plasma Bio-Artillery has a simple AP(4) to deal with tough blobs of infantry. Do note that the upgrades are far form cheap, with the latter upgrades sending the Artillery Beast towards or past 700 points. It can upgrade its weapons and get Impact(6), but why would you on an infantry unit? This one's pricy enough as is, so don't make it costlier than you need it to be. It can defend itself in melee with 12 attacks, but just keep firing and you should be fine.

* '''Spawning Beast:''' 18" A12 Rending is effective against basic infantry, and its 12 attacks let it defend itself just fine. Its real ability and the reason it's the second-most expensive unit on your list is its Spawn Brood ability: upon every activation it spawns 5 Assault Grunts, 5 Shooter Grunts or 3 Hive Swarms (all unupgraded) fully within 6" of the Spawning Beast, for free and without any hooks. That's an obscene amount of points it can produce per battle, with every spawning producing almost 20% of the Beast's cost for free. This makes it an obvious target and should be protected at all costs, and makes it easier to justify spending some more to get Regeneration and a pair of cheap weapons to give whatever charges it a good scare.

* '''Burrower:''' An underground blender. Surprise Attack lets it pop up out of anywhere and charge, and its terrifying 18 attacks means it'll do some damage. Give it Smashing Claws for 12 AP(4) attacks, Battering Tusks for Impact (6) and it's got favorable odds to one-shot anything Tough(12) or below, and might even finish off tougher units that have already been damaged. 600 points for such an outfit is nothing to casually throw away, but it'll do damage for sure.

* '''Flamer Beast:''' A cheap A6 AP(1) platform with Tough(6). With only one weapon available it should not be put into melee, but when put against an injured target of opportunity it just might edge out. But then again, you might as well Spit Flames and take out the unit that way.

* '''Mortar Beast:''' Blast(9) would be a justifier on its own, but it gets better. When this weapon misses (and with Quality 4+ it will) it instead creates a unit of either 3 Spores or 1 Massive Spore 12" away from said unit, placed by your opponent. Said Spores cannot be activated in the same round and it might mess with your battle plans a bit, but still, free Spores. Obviously Blast(9) with not extra abilities means that you'll want to shoot at large blobs of basic infantry. You'll want this one even less in melee than the Flamer Beast, and its Indirect fire makes it a primary candidate for spending the entire game in cover.

* '''Rapacious Beast:''' Your lone aircraft is rather modest with Tough(6) and 12 shots, half of which are Rending. It's non-Rending shots can be exchanged for either a Twin Barb Cannon with Blast(3) and AP(1), or a Twin Acid Cannon with Deadly(3), AP(3) and Lock-On. Both deal good damage against different targets, but they're pretty pricy on a cheap platform like the Rapacious Beast. It can also be upgraded with either Missile Bucks for some long-range A2 AP(3) Lock-On, or an odd weapon in the form of Spore Bombs: only 6" but A2, Blast(9) and Spores to make it a mobile and actually cheaper Mortar Beast. But because it's much more exposed it requires better timing and the use of the Beast's superior maneuverability to deal damage.

* '''Invasion Carrier:''' Your only transport is also capable of Ambush, which is a pleasant way to drop its cargo (11 models of any sort). This means that you can throw in a pack of Grunts or Hive Warriors backed up by a Hero at the worst possible flank to snag a point. However, on its own it's essentially chaff. It's A6 AP(1) melee option is nothing to write home about, and while it can be given several ranged weapons their cost and low rate of fire means it's probably better to use the Carrier as-is and drop units onto the battlefield where needed. Keep it around as a bullet sponge or a way to inflict Fatigue on your enemy's best units and it should do fine.

* '''Invasion Artillery:''' A Mortar Beast with Ambush at only 5 points more. Sure it's Slow, but the Mortar Beast wasn't going to move anyway. A6 AP(1) keeps basic infantry away, and it can be upgraded with the same guns as the Carrier. Useful for plopping down on an objective when necessary, but it's not very good at keeping it without support.

==Army Building==

===Starter Armies===

===General Advice===

===Tactics===
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====Pros====
*Lots of hordes
* Plenty of ways to cast and block spells

====Cons====
* You've got a lot of units to keep track of
* Your army has issues with quality with the best only being at 3+
* Your high AP weapons are allocated on the biggest monsters, making them big targets

==Special Rules==

*''Pheromones:'' Two units within 12" of this unit get to add +1 to their next morale checks. Important for when you're managing your packs of grunts.
*''Psychic Barrier:'' The unit in question can now block psychic powers as if it could cast. This turns into a +1 bonus to block if the unit could already cast.

==Psychic Powers==
*'''Fear (4+):''' One enemy unit within 12" suffers -2 on their next morale roll.
*'''Psychic Blast (4+):'''  One enemy unit within 12" takes one hit with AP 2 and Deadly 3. Bad news for any solo units.
*'''Infuse Life (5+):''' One friendly unit within 12" gets Regeneration when they suffer their next hit. An absolute godsend for your softer units.
*'''Shriek (5+):''' Two enemy units within 12" suffer an 3 AP 2 hits each. Pretty much built to give you breathing room without being Psychic Blast tiers of deadly.
*'''Animate Flora (6+):''' A setpiece within 6" of the caster can be moved anywhere within 6" or removed from play. This is especially helpful in keeping your gunlines alive or exposing the enemy.
*'''Overwhelm (6+):''' One enemy model within 12" takes 3 AP 2 hits. If you wanted to focus fire on Shriek, this can be more reliable damage than Psychic Blast.

==Unit Analysis==
===Heroes===
* '''Veteran Warrior:''' A Hero Hive Warrior for all intents and purposes,  meaning it's the closest you got to a meatwall with Tough 6 and a 3+ defense. That said, you're got a very flexible hero, capable of switching between melee and shooting. Additionally, you can buy it wings, Pheromones and Psychic Barrier depending on how much you plan on supporting your army.
**Melee: by default, the veteran warrior has a set of razor claws, giving you three AP 1 attacks. If you want, you can even swap the base bio-carbine for a second set of claws for no cost. You can switch either of these claws for the following: Piercing Claws (Rending), Smashing Claws (AP 3), Serrated Claws (+3 attacks), Sword Claws (Deadly 3) or Whip-limb+Sword Claw (-1 attack but Deadly 6, major overkill). 
**Shooting: The basic bio-carbine gives you a mid-range 18" A3 weapon. This can be replaced with twin bio-pistols (6 attacks at 12"), bio-spitter (lone Blast 3 at 24"), shredder cannon (4 attacks at 24"), barb cannon (long-ranged Blast 3 with AP 1) or acid cannon (also long-ranged with AP 3 and Deadly 3). You can additionally buy some other short-ranged weapons: poison hooks (A3 Poison), shredding hooks (A3 Rending), shock hooks (A3 AP 2), or acid hooks (A3 Deadly 3).

* '''Snatcher Veteran:''' A super Soul-Snatcher, though you're also picking the cheapest of the lot. This guy loses out on Fear, but you have all the other goodies and can buy an additional set of razor claws to compliment the rending claws it has. This is the only hero that can pick up Psychic 1.

===Infantry===
* '''Grunts:''' Very basic horde unit with only one strike/shot on a 5+ at a pitiful 12” range. They are cheap though, and can serve as good chaff or to add some activations if you’re taking lots of big boys. They have a surprising number of upgrade options, including a couple melee upgrades (although I find these to be better when saved for assault grunts, you will get much more mileage from them). They can get one special weapon, three of which are of particular interest. The Bio-Shredder is a cheap option, but a 6” range means you might fire it once the entire game. The Shock Gun provides some needed AP2, but on a 5+ won’t hit often. The Bio-flamer is appealing, with a 12” range and 6 attacks you may get some use out of it. The Acid Gun faces the same issue with its 6” range compounded by also only one shot, and finally the Bio-rifle is a good choice for units which plan to hold objectives. It offers a very cheap AP1 sniper which can remove special weapons from enemy units. In my opinion the Bio-flamer or Bio-rifle are the best all around choices. As for the rest of the squad, here you get three upgrade options, Bio-pistols which give them an extra attack for 5 ppm, Bio-spikes which upgrade their shots to AP1, and Bio-carbines which give a longer 18” range and triple the shots, but at nearly double the unit cost. For an objective-sitting squad, carbines may be a good choice, but also increase the threat potential. Otherwise, for general purpose, either the pistols or spikes are solid choices, or you can also just keep them cheap and run them plain. If their main purpose is to server as chaff, then that’s probably the way to go.

* '''Assault Grunt:''' Angrier stabby Grunts, but you only get one model. These get an extra attack in melee and are Fast for 40pts more. They can grab some melee upgrades such as doubling their attacks, adding Rending, AP2, or Deadly 3. They can also take Furious and/or Poison for 10pts. However, they’re just as squishy as Grunts and even more expensive, so be sparing with upgrades. That said, AP2 attacks are not to be ignored on such a cheap unit, especially if you also grab Furious (with Fast, if you’re good with positioning, you should get the charge most of the time).

* '''Winged Grunt:''' Grunts, with the same upgrade options, but now with Flying and Ambush for 60pts. Due to their increased price these are less of a chaff unit, and can serve two main roles. One is to be a late-game objective grabber, where they are protected from a turn or two of shooting. In this case giving them a rifle can be a good choice. The other is to harass backlines, which will only be useful if your opponent has fragile long-range units. In that case, running them with pistols and a flamer can result in a lot of dice being rolled. In either case however, this is a specialty unit which should only be used in situations where that ambush is useful and something like Swarms or winged Warriors aren’t the right tool.

* '''Soul-Snatcher:''' Your elite melee unit. They're  over twice the cost of an Assault Grunt, but your weapons are also Rending and you have a Scout move so you can make an alpha strike. This also makes them great for nabbing early objectives. If you buy the upgrade, you can also make one of them a Psychic, though a limited one.

* '''Hive Swarm:''' Fairly tough for the price and can be given Ambush and a 12” A6 gun fairly cheaply. Again, there are two main roles here; objective holder or cheap suicide unit. For 65pts you can get a unit which can appear on any objective, and requires likely a full unit’s or more to deal with. That can draw fire away from your Grunts, or make your controlled objectives harder to shift. Alternatively, for 5pts you can drop them in next to whatever unit you need to deal with and plink shots on them, but with only 6+ quality don’t plan on hitting much.

* '''Hive Warriors:''' The elite units. Each of them is tanky with a 4+ save and Tough 3, so they can definitely hold their own in any situation. It also helps that they also have both choppy and shooty options. You can also grab wings for the unit, which gives them a boost to mobility that's bolstered by their toughness.

* '''Ravenous Beast:''' Pure elite assault type. These guys lack any shooting and only two sets of 3 attacks with AP 1, so you'll be needing to make use of Fast and Strider to avoid fire. You have only two options for upgrades: Tunnel Attack so you can grab Ambush and then rush in on an enemy, or Scout so you can start fighting faster. The choice between the two ultimately boils down to when you want these guys to begin slicing into the competition.

* '''Venom Floater:''' Your floating cover generator. Sure, they have Tough 3 and 6 poisoned attacks to make them effective in combat with their Hive Warrior statline, but their abilty to grant Stealth to two nearby units iis way more useful.

* '''Synapse Floaters:''' Synapse Floaters are actually pretty durable for artillery. They still have a 4+ save and Tough 3, but they also get to use Regeneration to tank even more. But their real role is in being pure psychic support. Since they aren't tied to any unit, they'll be able to blast away while being guarded by sturdier models.

* '''Hive Guardian:''' The toughest of the goons. A 2+ save and Tough 3 means that he won't be going any time soon. you can strap him up with a variety of deadlier melee weapons so you can screen the potential threats to your Heroes. You could also grab either the Heavy Shock-Gun for its AP 2 and Blast 3 for mob removal or the Bio-Harpoon for AP 4 and Deadly 3 so you can kill most anything.

==Army Building==

===Starter Armies===

===General Advice===

===Tactics===

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[[Category:Grimdark Future Tactics]]
{{Grimdark_Future_Tactics}}