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

===HQ Units===

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Broodlord</div>
[[Image:Broodlord.jpeg|thumb|left|Oi, ready to die, ]]












An old but well-remembered unit makes its reappearance. Way back in 4th edition, the broodlord was introduced as a cheap alternative to the expensive Hive Tyrant. However, the 5th and 6th edition codices said "screw that", and made it into the equivalent of a genestealer sergeant. Now, the Broodlord is back with a vengeance, and ready to get back to what he does best: ripping marines in half. And damn boi, he is good at it.










<div class="mw-collapsible-content">


*Like his smaller kin, he has a 5++ invulnerable save, and can both advance and charge in the same turn. With a base move of 8", that means this guy's average threat range is a staggering 19.5", and can be further boosted by taking the Kraken or Behemoth Hive Fleet Adaptations. Your opponent had better avoid setting up on the 24" line! 
*As a level 1 Psyker, he knows Smite and one other power from the Hive Mind Discipline. He can attempt to cast and deny one power a turn. In addition, the Broodlord has gained '''Synapse''' (no more needs casting ''Dominion'') and '''Shadow in the Warp'''.
*Any friendly Genestealer unit within 6" of this fellow gets to add 1 to hit in the Fight phase. That is, if he hasn't already murdered everything around him with his 6 monstrous rending claw attacks that also re-roll to wound.
*As a {{W40kKeyword|CHARACTER}} model with "just" 6 wounds, he can't be targeted by enemy shooting unless he's the closest target, so make sure he's with some buddies. (Except when you face a Deathwatch player, who will happily pay 2 CP for shooting through your genestealers to kill the Broodlord.)
*He's also {{W40kKeyword|INFANTRY}}, so take the opportunity to boost his 4+ save with some terrain.
*(Note: This unit had its points changed in Chapter Approved 2018)

</div></div>
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Hive Tyrant</div>

[[Image:HiveTyrant.jpg|thumb|left|Classic 'nid poster boi]]










Hive Tyrant is the original Tyranid HQ unit and has remained through every incarnation of the codex. While the Tyrant's popularity has waxed and waned over the years, make no mistake that this unit can get shit done if used correctly. The current version is an extremely customizable unit that can excel in the shooting, psychic, and melee phases. Furthermore, his 18" synapse radius and access to psychic powers makes him an exceptional anchor for your army. However, any opponent with an ounce of experience knows to target the Tyrant first, so it '''will''' draw fire.










<div class="mw-collapsible-content">


* Defensively, the Tyrant is stacked with a toughness of 7, 12 wounds, a 3+ save and a minty fresh 4++. This can be further enhanced with Hive Fleet Adaptions, warlord traits, and wargear. However, it also has degrading scores for Movement, WS, and BS, and most critically, can be picked out by enemies even if it is not the closest unit.
* He's a Psyker and can cast two powers a turn and deny one as well as knowing Smite and 2 powers from the Hive Mind Discipline).
* ''Winged tyrants deserve a special mention'' for the options they bring to the table. With a movement speed of 16" while undamaged, they are extremely fast and can bring pressure exactly where it is needed. In addition, winged tyrants can execute a powerful alpha strike via a deep strike or Fall Back and still shoot thanks to the {{W40kKeyword|FLY}} keyword. ''(Note: This unit had its points changed in Chapter Approved 2018)''
*'''Dakka'rant''': This venerable build is not quite what it used to be. The Deathspitters are a waste of your time - there's nothing they'll excel at killing for their points - and, unfortunately, so is the stranglethorn, which is better than Deathspitters, but not by enough to matter. Instead, you should be looking at either quadruple Devourers, which gets you a whopping 24 shots at S6, or a Heavy Venom Cannon to replace two of the Devourers, for hunting enemy heavies.
*'''Melee tyrant'''
**Ignore his "default" loadout; his free melee weapon choice is monstrous rending claws, ''not'' monstrous scything talons, which cost as much as lash whip and monstrous bonesword at 15, or you can take the really expensive option of a pair of monstrous boneswords for 20(don't). The claws are easily his best melee weapon available, not only due to their cost, but because they re-roll all failed wounds; if you want to spend points on upping his melee, buy him toxin sacs to with his claws, but his other weapon should ''always'' be a gun to make sure he has something to do before he gets stuck in.
**If you insist on double melee, he can take two sets of talons for 20 points total (which will give you 5 attacks with them), which is strictly better than talons and boneswords; rending claws or lash whips and boneswords can both be paired with a pair of boneswords, giving you 4 attacks with the better weapon and 1 with the boneswords pair, '''but your points efficiency will be garbage at that point''', except against multi-wound targets with T6 and higher (with regards to the rending claws/bonesword combo specifically) If you’re fine with points inefficiency however (or say you’re using power levels) you can get up to 6 attacks base if you take a pair of monstrous scything talons and use them as the Scythes of Tyran relic, and then take a pair of monstrous boneswords, for 5 S7 AP-3 D3 attacks with even MORE attacks on 6+ to hit and 1 S6 AP-2 D3 attack (and also a tail attack), making this the strongest melee tyrant you can build. With toxin sacs, this tyrant actually outperforms the Swarmlord ''against T5/6''. You can also make a 'budget' Swarmlord by taking two pairs of monstrous boneswords and making one of them the Slayer Sabres for 6 S6 AP-2 D3 attacks.
*'''Balanced Tyrant''': In general, a balanced loadout with one close combat and one ranged option looks to be the early approach on how to build a Tyrant. Adrenal Glands for advance and charge bonuses is a must, Toxin Sacs synergises nicely with Monstrous Rending Claws which are a free and effective close combat option, and a pair of Devourers with Brainleech Worms are great horde mulchers, or a Heavy Venom Cannon against heavies.

</div></div>

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Malanthrope</div>

[[Image:Malannthrope.jpeg|thumb|left|A lot less insidious than he looks.]]









Moved to HQ (again), but still can be taken in broods of 3, is still a synapse creature, and still has the Venomthrope's ability to debuff the to-hit chance of enemies, which works on all units rather than just {{W40kKeyword|INFANTRY}} (FAQ confirms this benefit is conferred to units with a model in range like the old Shrouded rule). Being a character with 9 wounds now means it's harder to hit than ever before, and while it can only use a grasping tail to attack its ability to cause mortal wounds on a 4+ means most foes won't try to engage it in melee in the first place. And any time the last model in a unit is slain with the Malanthrope 1" away, '''all units with the same {{W40kKeyword|<HIVE FLEET>}} keyword''' re-roll 1s to hit against any model that shares the Faction keywords of the slain enemy. As a result, you can gain re-rolls against every Imperial army just by killing off a Guardsman near it. Use against the jackass who thinks his <'''WU-TANG CLAN'''> Taudar army is hot shit.












<div class="mw-collapsible-content">


* Malanthropes are great babysitters for backfield artillery units like Exocrines, Biovores, and Tyrannofexes with Rupture Cannons. Their slow speed isn't a factor and the protection they offer is much appreciated.
*On the other hand, even an assault army can benefit from it quite a bit, the -1 to be hit in the first turn allows you to worry a bit less of how you set a unit of hormagaunts or genestealers as long as you babysit them with a Malanthrope (see daisy chain) 
**While using them to babysit your backfield is a perfectly viable strategy for these things, you will get more out of them if used more aggressively to support your frontlines. While Malanthropes are well priced, Synapse and -1 to hit is a bit of waste for the points if it's only being applied to a couple of backline gunbeasts, particularly given that the sort of single shot weapons that will be blasting big holes in them are the perfect home for shooting phase CP rerolls. On the other hand, that kind of support is invaluable for your big squads of Stealers and Gaunts ''where -1 to hit will likely reduce their incoming damage by 25 or 33%'' depending upon your opponent's BS, and getting up close and personal makes it that much more likely that you'll get to actually capitalise on the Malanthrope's other abilities. The issue of course is keeping up with them; consider using the Metabolic Overdrive stratagem to effectively double their speed.
*Malanthrope became a bit least perfect unit, since Chapter Approved changed it's point value from 90 to 140. Ouch. That's 55% price rising.

</div></div>

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Neurothrope</div>

[[Image:Nuerothrope.jpeg|thumb|left|Leechy.]]











Shifted to HQ, but otherwise still a bigger, nastier Zoanthrope for all intents and purposes. It retains the ability to heal itself and nearby Zoanthropes with Spirit Leech, but only for 1 wound. It also allows nearby Zoanthropes (and itself) to re-roll 1s on psychic tests.












<div class="mw-collapsible-content">


*Strangely, it can cast 2 powers but only knows 1 in addition to Smite, basically forcing it to be a Smite spammer.
*Consider making this thing your Warlord; they have a nice invulnerable save and few enough wounds that they can reliably hide behind a screen of other nids. Adaptive Biology is a relatively solid choice for the Warlord Trait; not only can you turn it on yourself via Perils, you can regenerate the wound you lose to turn it on via Smite.
*(Note: This unit had its points changed in Chapter Approved 2018)

</div></div>

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Tervigon</div>

[[Image:Tervigon.jpeg|thumb|left|A fellow fa/tg/uy hissing at his Mum for coming into the basement without tendies]]

Though no longer able to cheese out by becoming a Troops Choice, it still remains an incredibly useful resource. Use the Termagants in order to shield it, as it has a degrading Movement, BS, and WS, and if it dies, nearby friendly {{W40kKeyword|<HIVE FLEET>}} Termies eat d6 Mortal Wounds. In other words, stick to few big units to mitigate the backlash. Unfortunately, its gun is pretty terrible for the cost, and it can't hide behind the Termagants it's supposed to be babysitting, so it's usually not a great idea - it'll just evaporate in short order to incoming lascannons. Instead, consider a Neurothrope with Onslaught or Catalyst, if you want Termagant support.

<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

*The bitch has quite a lot of wounds, can take Chameleonic Mutation for -1 to hit, and she'll probably die not earlier than 2-3 rounds. That's a whole squad of Termies that can fill the cracks formed in your 1st locust wave. I'd say it's worth the points if your shock troops can get stuck in.  
*Friendly {{W40kKeyword|<HIVE FLEET>}} Termagants within range re-roll hit rolls of 1 when shooting, which is fantastic with the amount of shots a big blob of them pumps out. 
*It's a Level 1 Psyker that can cast or deny one power a turn and knows one power from the Hive Mind Discipline. Consider ''Catalyst'' to make that blob of Termagants more durable.
*It can spawn a new clutch of 10 Termagants (which will cost you reinforcement points) or reinforce an existing mob within range (which won't), but these models can only use Fleshborers (in the latter case, only lost Termagants with Fleshborers can be returned). This will kill any incentive to use anything else if you buy one. However, since Termagants can mix and match weapons, you can take a unit with 10 ablative Fleshborers and 20 Devourers for actually hurting the enemy - bringing multiple Tervigons to replenish the same unit is legal, but a really bad idea.
*Just remember that most of the time it’s worth taking the Tervigon’s point value in Termagants rather than a Tervigon; she costs 180pts after CA 2019, which can get you a Termagant brood with 15 Devourers and 15 Fleshborers.
*All in all, the Tervigon is kind of useless in this edition. She has too many wounds to hide behind the little bugs she produces, you have to pay reinforcement points for a new group of maximum ten termagant - why don't you just buy and bring 'em? - and she will cause a fucklot of mortal wounds to her babies, if she dies. What probably happens in the enemies' first shooting phase.
*With a new point drop in CA 2019 and the rules from Psychic Awakening, she might actually have a purpose now. You can give her the Dermic Symbiosis ability for a 5++ save and slowed stat degradation, which helps her not explode on turn 1. Walk her up the board with her babies and she might be able to draw anti-tank fire from your other monsters.
*(Note: This unit had its points changed in Chapter Approved 2019)

</div></div>
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Tyranid Prime</div>

[[Image:Tyranid Prime.jpeg|thumb|left|Bigger than a warrior, smaller than a tyrant, and just as hangry]]

The other {{W40kKeyword|INFANTRY}} Tyranid HQ. It's still rather pricey, and it's still got the Warrior's share of weapons (except for the Bio-cannons, which it doesn't know how to carry). Unlike before, though, this has a use with other Warriors, as it adds +1 to Hit rolls for nearby Warriors and Shrikes (if you use the Index) of the same {{W40kKeyword|<HIVE FLEET>}}. Plonk down next to a blob of Deathspitter-Warriors and watch them shoot things to death or plonk him down in the middle of a blob of Bonesword-Warriors and watch them shred.  Because +1 to hit has a larger impact the worse the stat it buffs, this means his net impact is usually more felt when used for ranged support than melee support (although he can do both).  Also, note that because he doesn't buff himself and carries worse weapons, once he's inside a Warrior blob, he's usually the least useful unit in it, as he buffs Warriors up to matching his own accuracy.

<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

*Math-wise: Everything may vary based on the equipment and if you prefer a versatile character or more wounds, but generally, if you plan to take a lot of warriors, Prime buff is price-effective for around 7 warriors (7 warriors+prime > 12 warriors)
*CA 2019 reduced the cost of Warriors by 2pts per model to a total of 18. 12 Warriors with Deathspitters fire 36 shots and hit with 18; this will cost you 23pts per model or 25pts with boneswords for a total of 300pts. For the same number of points, 9 Warriors and a Prime all with Deathspitters and boneswords fire 30 shots and hit with 20. This doesn't account for any bio-cannons you may have snuck into your Warrior units, but obviously you want those expensive guns to hit. If you're running lots of Warriors and have HQ slots to fill, a Prime isn't a bad choice, though keep in mind that keeping 9 Warriors within the Prime's bubble limits the units' mobility somewhat (only one model from the unit of warriors is required to be in range of the ability for the buff to apply).
*(Note: This unit had its points changed in Chapter Approved 2018)

</div></div>

====Special Characters====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Old One Eye</div>

[[Image:Old One Eye.jpeg|thumb|left|Who needs two eyes if you only charge in one direction?]]










This bastard got more focused on '''''smashing''''' now, and with his regeneration of 1 wound on each of your turns, he worries a lot less about damage, expecially since he's got 9 wounds, so that he is able to hide behind other units! A great buffer piece for a Carnifex-heavy army.








<div class="mw-collapsible-content">


*Charging gives him a 4+ chance to deal d3 Mortal Wounds to whatever he gets into melee with, and adds +1 to his hit rolls on the first turn of charge. On top of that, for any hit roll of 6+, he gains an extra attack with the same weapon (tail excluded). With its charge bonus and Alpha Leader rule, effectively giving him +2, that means on a roll of 4 or more he gets an extra attack, multiplying his attacks (outside of debuffs) by 1.5 with his talons (7.3 total on average, after accuracy), or by 1.33 with his claws (5.5, after accuracy). '''Yummy.'''
*Nearby friendly {{W40kKeyword|<HIVE FLEET> CARNIFEX}} gain +1 to hit in melee, ''including himself'', making him a natural leader for a crew, and meaning he usually hits on a 2+, even with his claws.
*If he's your Warlord, he has to have Adaptive Biology, which is particularly nice for synergy with his regeneration, making him incredibly hard to kill.
*He's obviously bad under {{W40kKeyword|Kronos}} or {{W40kKeyword|Hydra}}, and pretty bad under {{W40kKeyword|Jormungandr}}, but {{W40kKeyword|Gorgon}}, {{W40kKeyword|Kraken}}, and {{W40kKeyword|Behemoth}} all make him better at his job, and {{W40kKeyword|Leviathan}} heaps even more durability on him, if you didn't bring ''Catalyst'' along.


</div></div>

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">The Swarmlord</div>

[[Image:The Swarmlord.jpeg|thumb|left|How does one design a Tyranid? Take an old one, add 100% swords, 200% Size and 99999% the price!]]

The Biggest Beast with a Beastly Pricetag. He's still the boss for combat with his Bone Sabres and a Pincer tail, but his Movement, Strength, and Attack scores will decrease as he takes damage, and if he dies, he has a chance to deal d3 Mortal Wounds to all nearby units. Maximum combat damage output is 27 wounds, meaning the Swarmlord is capable of decking an Imperial Knight in a single round of combat (though statistically unlikely), taking into account damage from the Swarmlord’s level 2 psychic abilities. Expect to see many, if not most, Nid armies with him as warlord. 

<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

*He's stacked with a 4++ (upped to 3++ in melee), something he was missing last edition, and can really be felt (on average 15.43 astartes lascannon shots are required to kill him [same for other hive tyrants]).
*He can grant a nearby unit the ability to move and/or advance during his shooting phase as if it was the movement phase, which is incredibly awesome to have for a choppy army. Remember he only affects one unit with this, so make sure it's a big unit, and combine it with Onslaught to allow shooting or charging without penalties. ''If the Swarmlord Hive Commanders and Onslaughts himself, his total charge threat range is, on average, a whopping 33"!'' 
**'''This does not mean he should run off on his own and get himself shot to death'''. His place should be with the rest of you army, providing that sweet synapse and psychic powers, all this while launching hormagaunts, carnifexes and genestealers units at the enemy.
*He's a Level 2 Psyker (meaning he can cast or deny 2 powers a turn as well as learning Smite and 2 powers from the Hive Mind Discipline) with an 18" range for Synapse and Shadow, like all Hive Tyrants, except for the improved Deny.
*He has two weaknesses to be aware of. Annoyingly enough, he doesn't have any kind of AoE re-roll buff, which most characters have this edition, not even anything like the scything talon hit or rending claw wound re-rolls that normal tyrants can get. This makes his damage output somewhat unreliable despite being probably the best single-model melee unit in the codex. As such care should be taken when engaging units with Hit debuffs or high toughness, particularly if said units are also strong in melee (knights, primarchs etc.), but also in cases where they aren't, as if he charges a tank and fails to kill it the enemy will likely fall back and blast him to pieces next turn (actually, the latter is probably even more likely to happen if he does kill it). Secondly like the other Hive Tyrants he has 12 wounds, so the enemy can always choose to shoot him, and being stuck footslogging that is not good news if the enemy is aiming all their guns at him (not when we're strangers to [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|that special, but guarranteed scenario]]). Though you really should have either Tyrant guard or extremely high threat saturation (you are playing Tyranids after all) to combat this.
*Avoid sending him up against Guilliman before he has died for the first time. Mathematically the Primarch has a huge edge on the tabletop - he hits and wounds on the same numbers but can re-roll both, has a better chance for a lot of mortal wounds, and doesn't degrade. You need lucky rolls to kill him before getting drowned in mortal wounds, or worse maimed down to your last set of stats, at which point you have very little chance of winning. Watching in frustration as your expensive beatstick flails around with 4 S6 attacks and a tail attack, with no re-rolls against T6 2+/3++, is not fun.
*(Note: This unit had its points changed in Chapter Approved 2018)

</div></div>