Editing Warhammer 40,000/5th Edition Tactics/Tyranids (section)

===Heavy Support===
*'''Biovores:''' A unit to be respected by any footslogger with an armor save of 4+ or worse, Biovores are mobile artillery beasts that deliver spore mines directly to the enemy. The mines, when they hit, each create a S4, AP 4, large blast, and when they don't hit they will actually land on the field and remain present until they are shot or wandered into. It's not exactly what one would think of as "heavy" support, but it is probably among the best ranged anti-infantry support in the codex. The only problem is, one has to ask if more anti-infantry is really what one seeks when such is the strength of almost every other unit in the codex. In Apocalypse games, where long ranged ability becomes crucial due to the much larger average board size, they become far more viable as a way to deal with infantry blobs from a distance, though they lack the Dactylis' balls out firepower, they can be fielded in much larger numbers to swamp the battlefield in pieplates and spore mines.  
*'''Carnifex:''' A perfect summary of the Carnifex in 5th edition would be "too expensive." This is especially so once you start buying upgrades for them. They have four attacks which they can re-roll to hit and a strength of nine, but their WS of three is pretty average. They can hold their own against basic squads, but one hidden power fist will ruin their day in a heartbeat (or lack thereof). Even against a five man Space Marine Tac Squad, the Carnifex lacks the attacks and accuracy to clean up its enemies before it gets walloped, and a Krak missile or two to soften the beast up will guarantee its death. The reason for this circumstance is that the Carnifex used to be [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|the go-to unit of the Tyranid codex]] in 4th edition. However, there is one important thing to consider: nothing dismantles tanks in close combat as well as a Carnifex. It's a poor consolation prize, and while we're at it we'll make it the second unit in the codex with access to frag grenades. Bizarrely, you can give it Toxin Sacs for 10 more points, which actually change the to-wound on most things from 2+ to 4+. The only time toxin sacs will have a positive effect is fighting T10 units...yeah. They work better in Apocalypse games, where you will more frequently encounter extremely high toughness Gargantuan and Monstrous creatures, which make the Poison sacs a better investment, so where you would use the Trygons to sweep away infantry unworthy of your bio-titan's attentions, use the Carnifex to slap down enemy Monstrous and Gargantuan creatures.  
*'''Mawloc:''' Effectively a weaker, less accurate Trygon with the ability to cause damage to enemy squads as it enters play. When it Deep Strikes on an enemy unit, *EVERY* model underneath it takes a S6 AP 2 hit, vehicles being hit on the rear; considering the large base size of the Mawloc, one can potentially hit a lot of models; in practice, between accuracy issues and cover saves, it does less damage than one would initially expect. However, the primary use of the Mawloc is for vehicle displacement; any model which isn't killed must be moved to make way for the Mawloc to move through, being auto-destroyed should they not be able to escape; while the odds of killing a vehicle in the open with this are relatively minimal, the Mawloc can find use in disrupting vehicle formations, making it easier to rearshot vehicles, assault them, or pull them off objectives. This makes anti-castling its primary use. Overshadowed by the Dactylis in Apocalypse games.  
*'''Old One Eye:''' OOE is one of the most tragic models in the codex. It exemplifies everything that is wrong with the new Carnifex pricing and then compounds it to make a model so costly that it hurts the entire army just by being there. The price tag is equivalent to a Land Raider, but OOE is only as tough and as durable as a normal Carnifex. It has a 5+ regeneration ability that lets it recover wounds, but this does not save it from the trick of hitting the beast with a Krak Missile or two before assaulting it with a Power Fist. I can also roll one additional attack for every original attack that hits, but it can't roll new attacks generated from new attacks. Unfortunately it does not out perform a normal Carnifex with crushing claws by much, and it is out performed by Trygons for less cost. In Apocalypse games he becomes even more pointless.  
*'''Trygon:''' The Trygon is a former Apocalypse heavyweight which has been scaled down for standard 40k games and is the smallest of the bio-titans and the only bio-titan to lack biocannons. An expensive model to be sure, it is still considered one of the highlights of the Tyranid codex. Like most other Tyranid Monstrous Creatures, the 6 Toughness 6 wounds (Formerly Toughness 7 5 wounds back in it's days of being a forge world exclusive, the toughness was probably decreased so that it wouldn't be COMPLETELY immune to S3 weapons like lasguns anymore while it was given another wound to compensate) allow it to take hits like a champ, and its raw statline, Fleet, and dual Scything Talons make it a melee powerhouse. And it has a cute little shooting attack, which it is generally advisable to ignore in favor of Running. As a final note, the Trygon itself does not have the option for a Mycetic Spore, but Deep Strikes with the same Scatter-reduction rules built into its cost; whether you consider this an advantage or not depends on your opinion of Spores. In Apocalypse games, their height and toughness allows them to act like moving cover for Gargantuan Bio-titans, and due to the Tyranid's lack of blast templates, they are great for clearing away tarpits from your bio-titans.   
*'''Tyrannofex:''' A primarily Ranged Bio-titan; This unit is of hotly debated usefulness. Scorned by some, and cherished as an unassailable bastion of destruction by others, they are ultimately models that lack a unified purpose. Costing as much or more than a Land Raider, T-Fexes have six wounds, a toughness of six, and a 2+ save, meaning they are all but invulnerable to regular infantry. Their standard build is bristling with anti-infantry weaponry, sporting two flamer templates and a short range large blast, but most people don't feel they particularly need more anti-infantry support from such an expensive unit. What the Tyranids do need is anti-armor, and that is something the Tyrannofex provides, but at considerable cost and with remedial reliability. Fans of the T-Fex insist it is a perfect tool because it draws fire away from your more important units without flinching, while opponents detract that the T-Fex's weakness is being ignored. The model is so costly that one must sacrifice whole broods of other units to field one, so it doesn't always hurt the enemy to just not shoot at the T-Fex. The reason why their use is debated at all is because T-Fexes are the Tyranid codex's only long range anti-armor units, providing a S10, Assault 2 firearm that can reach across the board, letting you crack open Land Raiders from a long distance. Ultimately they are slow, fill a niche by desperation rather than proficiency, and should '''not''' be used in games with point limits below 1,500. If titans, superheavy tanks, gargantuan creatures, and stompas are appearing on the board (such as in a game of apocalypse) T-fexes find themselves overshadowed due to the sheer number of biocannon (all of them being S10 AP3 Heavy 3-9 weapons) equipped units that will become available to the tyranids. But they do provide a nice backup to the gargantuan bio-titans. A good use for them in apocalypse is to clear away super-heavy units that would otherwise tie down your Bio-titans or threaten your army while leaving your Apocalypse Bio-titans free to focus on other things. Additionally, they make for excellent Titan finishers. Essentially, treat them as more expendable shadow sword equivalents. For some incomprehensible reason, both the Acid Spray and Rupture cannon are only AP4, making them useless against MEQs, seriously, it's chances of penetrating a land raider's armour is *identical* to it's chances of getting by a marine's armour save, what the ''fuck''?
** Also, HOLY SHIT! GW finally got off their asses and [http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?prodId=prod1460213a&amp;_requestid=696029 released a model for this thing!]