Swarmlord

2017-02-09T06:08:40Z

2601:602:0:E420:F4A0:9D18:6026:53D6:

[[File:Swarmlord Codex Tyranids.jpg|thumb|300px|Let it never be said that Hive Tyrants can't be [[Fist of the North Star|manly]] too.]]
'''The Swarmlord''', also known as Schwarmfuhrer (due to his first leaked images comming from german WD scans, also it sounds way cooler) and also Gargamel (owing to how he fucked over Papa Smurf), is one of the few [[Tyranid]] character with a little bit of personality. Essentially the Granddaddy of all [[Hive Tyrant|Hive Tyrants]], the Swarmlord is the [[Creed]] of the Tyranid army, and also the most intelligent, cunning and experienced Hive Tyrant of the swarm. Whenever the Hive Mind can't overwhelm the opposition with sheer numbers or adapting new tactics, it spawns the Swarmlord, and he [[/tg/ gets shit done|gets shit done]]. And besides being a super-general, the Swarmlord is also a [[Khorne|close combat monster]] and [[Tzeentch|powerful psyker]], capable of facing off with [[Abaddon|the Despoiler]] himself.

He's also immortal, as his memories and personality are constantly saved by the hive mind and are placed in brand new shiny body if the previous one got blasted apart with massed melta fire. While the hive mind could potentially spawn a new Swarmlord without the previous one being slain, which could lead to multiple Swarmlords on different battlefields, no evidences of such cloning exists. However, if the Macragge Swarmlord is still alive, hibernating under the surface of the planet, there ARE at least two Swarmlords in the Galaxy.

He's something of an Ensemble Darkhorse on /tg/, well liked and thought of as incredibly badass. Shitting all over Calgar probably has something to do with it.

He serves as the Super-Heavy unit of the [[Tyranid]] Army in [[Dawn of War 2]].

===List of deeds===
*First seen on Tyran, leading [[Hive Fleet Behemoth]]'s final assault on a Mechanicum outpost. Not quite clear why, because the battle was pretty one-sided, although he could have been gathering more data about human warfare.

*Showed up on Macragge and kicked major ass, outclassing [[Marneus Calgar]] in both tactics and close combat. He cut off Papa Smurf's limbs, guts and one eye, but due to plot armor, failed to kill him. The honor guard managed to recover their [[Chapter Master]] thanks to the <s>force-feeding</s> heroic sacrifice of their commander to the Swarmlord to buy some time. While the [[Ultramarines]] withdrew to the space, the Swarmlord led his forces to the polar fortresses to omnomnom the First Company and [[Ultramar]] [[Planetary Defense Force|PDF]]. And he succeeded. Unfortunately, the space battle for Macragge hadn't gone so well, mainly because the Imperial Fleet had the balls of steel Ultrasmurfs lacked; while the Tyranids won the planet, they lost the war. It's not quite clear what had happened to the Swarmlord, as his body was never found. It's possible that he's still under the surface of Macragge, waiting for a new hive fleet.

*It's likely that the The Great Beast, who lead [[Hive Fleet Kraken]]'s invasion on [[Craftworld Iyanden]] was the Swarmlord itself. The Avatar of [[Khaine]] attempted to goad the creature in single combat during the fighting. However, the Swarmlord, not really knowing nor giving a damn about honorable duels and such, tricked The Avatar into getting shit kicked by twelve Carnifexes. It also avoided all Eldar attempts to assassinate him until the corsair prince [[Yriel]] finally managed to stab him in the face with a cursed spear. (If you look closely at the wording used, it's more likely to be a Hive Tyrant with Armoured Carpace.)

*Showed leading [[Hive Fleet Leviathan]] at the last years of M41, where it once planned and executed [[Indrick Boreale|multiple simultaneous and devastating]] attacks on Hodur Sector, resulted in omnomnoming two dozens of imperial worlds (including one space marine chapter home world) in less then two months. Such a rapid and unstoppable Tyranid advance is rumored to be the main reason for inquisitor [[Kryptman]]'s decision to launch his infamous mass-exterminatus cordon project and [[Blood Ravens|stolen]]-genestealer project to redirect Leviathan into an ork empire.
*Now he's rumored to be in the [[Octarius War|Octarius]] empire, pwning [[Ork]]s. It was going well, but then the [[Eldar]] went and purged the entire system of all life, and after that Ghazgkhull showed up, hopped up on WAAAAGH energy and blessed by the direct intervention of Gork and Mork themselves.
[[file:Senordelahorda.png|thumb|El Señor de la Horda y su corcel, [[Raveners|el Terror Rojo]]]]

===On the tabletop===
[[file:Swarmbaus.jpg|thumb|left|Who's the toughest motherfucker on the board? Well, this guy ''was'', before that [[Robin Cruddace|skubby arsehole]] happened.]]

The Swarmlord is one of the most deadly and expensive HQs in the game, being able to buff his army and slaughter almost anything in close combat with high weapon skill instant death attacks. It is as vulnerable to anti-tank fire as any other Tyrant with only one extra wound and a basic tyrant armor save, but more survivable in close combat due to a 4++ he gets from parrying attacks with his swords. There are only a couple HQ models outside Apocalypse capable of killing a Swarmlord in a challenge with a chance of or better than 50% - Primarchs, Draigo, Lysander, Abaddon and Skarbrand primarily, but also anything with a lot of high strength/AP attacks, anything that causes instant death or anyone that has Eternal Warrior, and even that doesn't save them <s>sometimes</s> most of the time. Give him a unit of [[Tyrant Guard]] and he's damn near unstoppable. If you have a friend who is a Blood Angels player who won't shut up about how powerful Mephiston is, just say "Swarmlord" and you instantly end/win any ensuing argument. Also it's hilarious.

And then, [[Robin Cruddace|6th edition happened]]. It lost Eternal Warrior, and Tyranids as a whole lost access to the main book psychic powers, including their buffs. And he lost his special rule that made enemies reroll successful invuln saves, AND got 5 point price increase as a final slap in the face. What does he get from all of this? One additional attack and he's level 3 psyker. ONE, UNO, EIN attack and ML3 when there isn't really much to use it on due to the Tyranid psychic table being at most decent-ish and unspectacular, and he gets less rolls for powers than he used to. Christ...

Given the removal of the Parasite, the nerfs to walking Hive Tyrants (R.I.P armored shell), and the obscene overcosting of Primes, the general theory on why the Swarmlord and other Tyranid HQs was hit so hard is that GW wants to promote sales of Flyrants and Tyrant Guard which are not only big and expensive models, but big and expensive models you have to buy a lot of. Everyone already had walkrants, most people only ever got one swarmlord, and the prime is a rather small model by GW standards. Tyrant Guard weren't spectacularly buffed, but Flyrants are one of the clear winners of the new book.

The Swarmlord however, is likely going to be sitting this edition out unless a new FAQ, Dataslate, Supplement, or Forgeworld book allows Tyranids to roll on BRB powers, and maybe give him back his rerolls while they're at it. So ends a year and a half of true glory, replaced with bitter mediocrity and memories of godhood now lost.

DAMN YOU, CRUDDACE!

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:TacticalSwarmlord.png|The Swarmlord and a certain [[Creed|tactical genius]] team up. [[Awesome|Can I get a "Hell yeah!", people?]]
</gallery>

{{Template:Tyranids-Creatures}}

Venomthrope

2017-02-08T21:27:45Z

2601:602:0:E420:F4A0:9D18:6026:53D6:

[[File:Venomthrope.jpg|300px|thumb|right|This bug is your friend. He keeps you safe.]]
What the [[Zoanthrope]] is to the concept of "psyker", the '''Venomthrope''' is to the concept of "poison". Floating above the ground on organic balloons full of toxins and sporting enough tentacles to make [[Cthulhu]] blush, the Venomthrope is effectively a short-range terraformer for the [[Tyranid]] invasion force. The cloud of spores and bacteria it emits are not only a comfortable little bubble for Tyranid units, they're a huge pain in the ass for any of those pesky planetary defenders that might have survived this long. It relates to the [[Toxicrene]] in roughly the same way as the [[Zoanthrope]] does to the [[Maleceptor]], exept that the Toxicrene does not suck.

==On the Tabletop==
The Venomthrope has 2+ poisoned attacks and gives Shrouded to all units within a 6" inch radius. This makes them extremely useful as support for your masses of [[Termagaunt|gaunts]] so that they have at least some kind of save. This also works great for supporting your [[Carnifex]]es and [[Hive Tyrant]]s alongside their [[Tyrant Guard|followers]]: that cover save is a blessing when dealing with AP3 weapons. This obviously makes the Venomthrope a premier target for the enemy forces: especially [[Tau]] are laughing as they ignore your cover save and one-shot your entire brood with a powerful weapon. Template weapons are dangerous as well: a few shots with the equivalent of a [[Flamer|Heavy Flamer]] will do a lot of damage on your Venomthropes. But as long as you keep them in the back and protected by units that can devour whatever unit that comes near it, discouraging suicide tactics a bit. And make sure you take out the opposing [[Imperial Ordnance Pieces|artillery]] ASAP.

{{Tyranids-Creatures}}

Venomthrope

2017-02-08T21:26:07Z

2601:602:0:E420:F4A0:9D18:6026:53D6:

[[File:Venomthrope.jpg|300px|thumb|right|This bug is your friend. He keeps you safe.]]
What the [[Zoanthrope]] is to the concept of "psyker", the '''Venomthrope''' is to the concept of "poison". Floating above the ground on organic balloons full of toxins and sporting enough tentacles to make [[Cthulhu]] blush, the Venomthrope is effectively a short-range terraformer for the [[Tyranid]] invasion force. The cloud of spores and bacteria it emits are not only a comfortable little bubble for Tyranid units, they're a huge pain in the ass for any of those pesky planetary defenders that might have survived this long. It relates to the [[Toxicrene]] in roughly the same way as the [[Zoanthrope]] does to the [[Maleceptor]], exept that the Toxicrene does not suck.

==On the Tabletop==
The Venomthrope has 2+ poisoned attacks and gives Shrouded to all units within a 6" inch radius. This makes them extremely useful as support for your masses of [[Termagaunt|gaunts]] so that they have at least some kind of save. This also works great for supporting your [[Carnifex]]es and [[Hive Tyrant]]s alongside their [[Tyrant Guard|followers]]: that cover save is a blessing when dealing with AP3 weapons. This obviously makes the Venomthrope a premier target for the enemy forces: especially [[Tau]] are laughing as they ignore your cover save and one-shot your entire brood with a powerful weapon. Template weapons are dangerous as well: a few shots with the equivalent of a [[Flamer|Heavy Flamer]] will do a lot of damage on your Venomthropes. But as long as you keep them in the back and proteded by units that can devour whatever unit that comes near it, discouraging suicide tactics a bit. And make sure you take out the opposing [[Imperial Ordnance Pieces|artillery]] ASAP.

{{Tyranids-Creatures}}

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Swarmlord

Venomthrope

Venomthrope