Editing Warhammer 40,000/6th Edition Tactics/Tyranids (section)

==Unit Analysis==

'''6th edition for Tyranids, a couple of points that apply to the changes of the race overall.'''

*'''Psychic Powers:''' Unfortunately Tyranids at present cannot swap or exchange psychic powers for any powers within the psychic disciplines. They may only use Powers of the Hive Mind. Yes, no more Main Rule Book psychic disciplines.  This is an ENORMOUS nerf as it means the Tyranids no longer have any source of Eternal Warrior, making MC-heavy lists especially vulnerable to any source of the Instant Death rule (Distort weapons, force weapons, etc)
**'''EDIT''': Stay tuned for 7th edition, because although you don't have book powers you can spam so many psykers that the opponent can't do squat with theirs. If you can't have disciplines, NO ONE WILL.

*'''Poison:''' New rules for poison let you use your strength if it's better, while gaining a reroll on the wound if your S equals or exceeds the T of the defender. Monstrous creatures can get Toxin Sacs for mere pennies and the upgrade is now highly recommended for them. 

*No deep-striking Carnifexes or just about any of your other MCs now that Mycetic Spores are out of the game.

*New Instinctive Behavior rules. Each Behavior has one of 3 results- roll a d6 to determine which one, with the first being 1-3, the second being 4-5, and the third only occurring on a 6. Given that the first (and most common one) is always the worst, keep your best units in synapse range- nothing could be more humiliating than having two members of a Carnifex brood eat each other because they moved too far away from their synapse creature.
**Lurk: 1-3 Fall Back / 4-5 Can shoot only when in cover / 6 Can shoot only when in cover, gains Stealth
**Hunt: 1-3 Go to Ground / 4-5 Shoot closest unit / 6 Shoot closest enemy unit, gains Preferred Enemy
**Feed: 1-3 Inflicts hits on themselves / 4-5 Charge closest enemy unit / 6 Charge closest enemy unit, gains Rage
***Single model units ignore Feed 1-3 results, instead acting as if they rolled a 4 or 5. 
***Fearless models ignore Hunt 1-3 results, instead acting as if they rolled a 4 or 5.

*A pair of melee biomorphs is now considered to be only 1 CCW, in a bit of initially-awkward streamlining. The intended equivalence is "my Space Marine has only one Chainsword" -> "my Tyranid has only one Pair of Talons". The end result of this streamlining: a lower number of attacks all around - for some units that exchange talons for guns. Hive Tyrants, Tyranid Primes, Warriors, Shrikes, Genestealers, and Broodlords have the same number of attacks on their profile as they did in the last codex, but can now take two sets of melee weapons for a net increase in attacks (no scything rerolls though. Still more attacks.) Hint: Give your broodlord an extra attack for 4 pts.

===HQ Units===
*'''Hive Tyrant:''' Now with BS 4. The Hive Tyrant is often regarded as the "leader" of the Hive because they are gigantic monsters with synapse power. Synapse keeps all the little monsters from running around out of your control, therefore the Hive Tyrant is the boss. Unfortunately, Hive Tyrants are very expensive in the 6th edition, clocking in at 1.65x the cost of any no-name Space Marine HQ base but lacking invulnerable saves or the ability to join any squads (Tyrant Guard are a special case, Hive Tyrants are never Independent Characters and cannot leave a unit of Tyrant Guard once they join it) and tend to get focus-fired to death when on their own. Their upgrades are also pretty expensive, but they sport a good range of versatility that can make or break the Tyrant on the battlefield such as wings or toxin sacs. Hive Commander and Old Adversary are worthy upgrades, HC gives a friendly unit Outflank, while OA is Prefered Enemy (Everything!) in close combat only now. And it's no longer an AoE upgrade. However, Tyrants can now take multiples of those. Indescribable Horror is okay, but many armies either ignores Fear or have high Ld. If you consider taking one of these without either wings or tyrant guard in a game bigger than 500 punch yourself in the face hard.
**'''Winged Tyrants''': now count as FMC and can soar above the battlefield raining down death or landing into assaults. A note on the new glancing rules for vehicles; it's quite easy to get to the softer side and rear arcs on most vehicles with the tyrant's newfound mobility, and 12 Twin-Linked Strength 6 shots average 5.333 [Whoo hoo BS4] hull points on AV10 and 3.556 hull points on AV11. Splendid! In 6th edition, wings make the Tyrant MUCH more survivable. Tyrant can no longer get a 2+ armour save so tyrant guard are a must as everything with the word power in it will shank him. Since Nids lack effective anti-air, Wings are the only real option now that they can no longer use Armoured Shell. It bears noting that Flyrants are much cheaper, and with slightly more viable FA FMCs the possibility of saturated flying circus gets scary especially with double chart [not that anyone does that]. They also get two powers translating to a 1:3 chance of getting Warp lance. Flying Tyrnats with the Ymgarl factor are actually a viable choice since they can now ignore air defence batteries for the one turn that they need to destroy them.
**'''Walking Tyrant:''' If you ''do'' choose to footslog (and there's a reason it's called foot slogging), there are a few misleading loadouts to recognize. Heavy Venom Cannons are a waste of the Tyrant's potential. People consider combining the Stranglethorn with the Miasma Cannon for anti-infantry. Don't do this. It is expensive at 40 points. The Miasma cannon is only a SMALL blast, and if you want to get in range to be using its template mode, then you might as well be using the Devourers with Brainleech Worms. ''Speaking of Devourers,'' don't take these. If you're using short ranged guns, you might as well be taking Wings for a few reasons. While you're in combat, you're wasting the points you spent on Devourers while simultaneously inhibiting the Tyrant's full combat potential. While you're outside of combat, your ''expensive'' Tyrant Guard remain only as extra wounds instead of close combat beasts. Equip your Tyrants for what they'll be best at -- close combat. Give him Old Adversary and call it a day. If you're playing against high initiative armies, give him a Lash Whip and Bonesword.
**'''Another Opinion:''' A Hive Tyrant without Wings is more reliable in getting to close combat. The reason why you should give him a Stranglethorn Cannon is to give him a ranged weapon so he can shoot at the enemy back, plus Pinning helps your swarm a lot. A recommended loadout is to give him, as previously mentioned, the Lash Whip and Bonesword with either the Stranglethorn or the Miasma Cannon. The latter is much better, as for only five points more than the Venom Cannon, it has poisoned (2+), and it can be converted into a template, which also wounds on a 2+. Although it can't do much against vehicles, it's versatility makes up for that. To be more precise why you should give him a cannon of your choice, it makes him versatile and he haves enough attacks to go against other Monsterous Creatures and Walkers. If you just want he to rip and tear infantry and the likes, the winged Hive Tyrant is a better choice overall. 
**'''Tyrant Guard:''' They're S5, T6 with 2 wounds, 3+ armour, Rending Claws and Scything Talons. If you're planning on footslogging the Swarmlord across the board, Tyrant Guard are your means to get them there. They're really handy, but would 3 wounds and/or a 2+ armour save be too much to ask for? They are stated to be pound for pound the most well armoured tyranids, for fucks sake the Hive Mind decided not to give them eyes so the enemy couldn't shoot those and they stole space marine fused ribs and black carapace! Still, Tyrant Guards can automatically take Look Out, Sir wounds from the Hive Tyrant and Swarmlord without rolling, so you can now place them in the back and troll your opponent with 5th edition wound allocation! Additionally, they can now take lashwhip/bonesword or Crushing Claws, which will give them S6, ap2, armourbane, and unwieldy. It's an interesting use for Tyrant guards, but conditional.

*'''Tervigon:''' Tervigons were the bread and butter of the Tyranid codex, but now they've taken the brunt of the nerfing. While they are listed as an HQ choice, they should always be taken as troops because there's a reason why no other codex can have scoring Pyker Monstrous Creatures (hint: it's cheesy). Of course, there's a catch to this- you need to have 30 Gaunts in your army for each Tervigon you want to field as a Troops choice, and the Gaunts can't move or assault on the turn they spawn. On top of the 35 point increase for the Tervigon itself, that means that the cost of using a single Tervigon as a Troops choice has gone up by 105 points! Tervigons are really simple to use too as besides just keeping them on objectives, all you have to worry about is when to spawn and when you know her time is up. If you care at all about the Tervigon's ability to actually fight in close combat, feel free to throw Maw-claws of Thyrax on it for 10pts.  15 pts is okay for Crushing Claws, but at the same time the Tervi's Initiative is 2 whether you take Claws or not. Still, 15pts isn't awful for the considerable anti armour power (not that MCs in general need any help against armour in assault.  Consider taking the Reaper instead, it pushes the Tervi up to initiative 5).  Also, keep in mind that Brood Progenitor no longer gives Toxin Sacs and Adrenal Glands to entire broods of Termagaunts, but Counter Attack instead, and the buff is now a 12" bubble. Downside is counter attack requires a leadership test and with gaunts being LD 6 [finally perhaps the "explanation" for the Tyranid Prime's ungodly points increase] or so, it's unreliable. That said, any termagaunts spawned from the Tervigon will be codex gaunts.  There's no way to give them other upgrades and the newly spawned gaunts won't be able to move or assault on the turn they're spawned, making them easy targets for anything with access to pie plates. On top of that, if the enemy is smart enough to aim for the Tervigon with a high strength, AP3 or better weapon and actually pops her, all those gaunts are going to get faceraped harder than ever before now that the psychic backlash radius is doubled (so weigh the cost/benefits of taking Regeneration on her, it tends to be helpful, most armies are unlikely to kill the entire monster in one turn giving her a chance to heal quite a lot). They're still worth fielding as Tervigons still help out the army, but you can't run an army of them anymore as it'll be very expensive (Plus they can't be Warlords anymore since they're missing the Character profile), so it's best to use them as buffers for your Gaunts and non-synapse units (With the Primaris blessing). Alternatively rules as written; you can now spawn (after the move) on a turn you outflank the mama-bug with the Tyrant's Hive Commander ability.  tl;dr - Take Tervigon as Troops, spawn Termagants, move them to a different Synapse Creature before they get Backlashed, profit.

*'''Tyranid Prime:''' Last edition the Prime was a middleweight boxer fighting in a lightweight division. Now he clocks in at 125 points. His only upgrade, aside from the Wargear table, is Flesh Hooks. In addition you can take anything from the Bio-Artifacts, basic bio-weapons, and melee bio-weapons. However, once all is said and done, the only upgrades you want to look at are Boneswords, Lash Whips, and the Norn Crown. The upgrades are pretty explanatory; ignore everything else because they're either too expensive or ill-suited for the unit. The most important aspect to discuss is its special rules. Synapse Creature, Shadow in the Warp, and Independent Character. These rules constitute for the exaggerated price of the HQ. Putting the Prime in a unit will make it ''the only implacable Synapse'' unit in the codex. This allows the Prime for Look Out, Sir exploits too. Place it in front of Gaunts to allocate wounds to the models just behind him. Put it in a Carnifex brood to distribute wounds evenly (honestly this will be useful for any multi-wound, multi-model unit -- i.e. a lot of the Tyranid Codex). Overall, an expensive support HQ that will earn its points back if you utilize its full potential.

*'''Malanthrope'''  

It should be noted the a ridiculous amount of 'rules' exist for this unit on the web, some of which state it's an 85pt elite infantry choice that can come in broods of 1-3...

(ForgeWorld) with the new rules, the malanthrope went from <s>nasty in close combat to barely average</s> an Apocalypse unit to a solid support style HQ choice. 110 pts, they can be taken in broods of 1-3. S5 T5 with 4W and I5, toxin sacs, toxic miasma, fleet, move through cover, 3+ save, synapse and regeneration all included. It also has a unique rule that whenever it kills a unit, all nids in synapse range get preferred enemy that unit type (ex. infantry, MC, jump infantry, etc). A good choice that is starting to look better and better. A must have if you want a cheap HQ choice. Use it in a hormaguant/gargoyle heavy army to kill something quickly and start turning the swarm of generally killing creatures into a unholy wave of destruction. And they aren't on the Lord of War listings, and just because they're in Imperial Armour Apocalypse doesn't make them Apocalypse only. The unit entry is 40k stamped as HQ unit, so if you own it, go for it.

====Special Characters====

*'''The [[Swarmlord]]:''' The ancient unstoppable Swarmlord is a model begging to be a part of a "Deathstar" unit. Reason being that the Swarmlord is massive, devastatingly powerful, unreasonably expensive (in fact it got a price increase in the codex, but a minor one at 5pts), possesses a high demand for resources during the game, and has laughably stupid weaknesses for all it took to get the damn thing. The Swarmlord basically reads like a simple flow chart; is he in assault? if no: get into assault, if yes: win assault. Its most glaring weakness is hitting it with six Krak missiles or any equivalent will statistically put it down without a fight since every missile wounds on a 2+ and ignores the damn thing's armour save. However, the Swarmlord is a Psyker (Mastery Level 3) and has several special abilities that buff either himself or nearby units in varying ways. It also gets an invulnerable save in close combat and has a ridiculously high WS. If it is in close combat, it will seriously skullfuck whatever it's fighting. It also gets to add 1 to all its reserve rolls and can give its unit or a friendly unit within 18" Furious Charge, Monster Hunter, or Preferred Enemy till end of turn. But with only an invulnerable save in close combat, the ability to roll for a Warlord Trait, or Eternal Warrior, it's nowhere even close to being the death machine it used to be. Also, they took away his ability to force enemies in close combat to reroll their invulnerable saves, so even in assault he's not the rape train he used to be. Still able to gimp almost anything tho.

*'''Deathleaper''': Inexplicably made into an HQ unit, Deathleaper is point-per point the most fragile unit in the codex, partially to compensate for the relative difficulty one can have in killing him. All shooting at him is reduced to a Snap Shot, so non-melee armies will have trouble with him (except [[Tau]] with their [[Markerlight]]s), and it makes him immune to blasts and flamers. Unfortunately, the special rules have very situational usage. One allows the Tyranid player to pick an enemy model and lower its leadership by D3, which is useful for negating bonuses from abilities like Rites of Battle (or psykers and all). Deathleaper tends to get used mostly in a Reserve Army for his Pheromone Trail (precision Deepstriking Mawlocs, heh heh heh...), acting as a buffer in anticipation of the Hive Tyrant/Swarmlord being shot. From there, he might act as a minor assassin unit. Although he's not for many armies, his utility can come into play. One special rule got added to him and the Lictors: Infiltrate. Not sure if this is a good thing or a so-so thing. Time will tell. He has hit and run, character, a lot of attacks and high ws which might be useful for assalting, challenging murdering at I7 and running. Backed up with some genestealers especially with a broodlord against armies vulnerable against pinning
EDIT: the Deathleaper IS NOT an Independent Character, so you can't join other units.

*'''Old One Eye:''' OOE is one of the most tragic models in the codex, and now even more so since it takes up an HQ slot better used for just about anything else. The model is very expensive at a shade over 200 points. The price tag is equivalent to a Land Raider, but OOE is only as tough and as durable as a normal Carnifex. It has the 4+ Regeneration ability at all times, which is rolled separately from IWND if you can find a way to give it to him. And if you make this guy your warlord, (which you won't because you're warlord is the one with the highest LD and his is the lowest of any HQ unit and you can only take one of him) he gets Feel No Pain the turn [[Derp|''after']]' he gets shot at. Although, if he does survive that he becomes very very hard to kill. His ability to let friendly units within his 12" bubble to use his Ld 8 for Leadership tests could help in a pinch, but don't rely on it, unless you don't bring any Synapse creatures. It can also roll one additional attack for every original attack that hits, but it can't [[Blood Angels|roll new attacks generated from new attacks]].  He becomes even worse in the new codex, now that curshing claws no longer grant D3 additional attacks, and the berserk rampage discounts hits caused by his nifty new D3 HoW hits; on top of that the +1 strength and ap 2 are redundant thanks to his already being an S 10 monsterous creature.  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 more or less pointless.

*Thanks to Deathleaper and Old One Eye being HQ choices now, you can field an entire army completely devoid of Synapse Creatures. While strongly not recommended, we suggest you play this list at least once for comedy value in a casual game for the [[lulz]].

===Elites===
The first thing one notices about Tyranid Elites is that you actually have options and possible upgrades for a number of the choices. Tyranids have a lot of Elite options, but many players generally opt for Hive Guard or Zoanthropes as their one stop purchase for reliable ranged anti-vehicle firepower, something not as easily found in the rest of the codex. In the transition from 5E to 6E mech lists took a hit in that glancing hits on vehicles would have off 1 of maybe 2-3 hull points. As a result Tyranids gained a lot of ability to tear mech lists apart with other units and thus Elites are more free form.

*'''[[Hive Guard]]:''' Hive Guard are the premier Tyranid armour hunters. For five points more than a Land Speeder, you're getting model with two wounds, T6, and a 4+ save armed with the bastard offspring of a Krak Missile and a Storm Bolter. Firing two BS 3, Strength 8 shots a turn, a unit of three, or even two, of these guys will bust open transports, light skimmers, or even heavier armour should they be able to flank-it (or just glance often enough). Like everything else in the Tyranid codex, it maintains full fire-efficiency on the move. The only drawback is 24" is a relatively short range for popping light transports. For some unfathomable reason its gun only has AP4, making it useless against single-wound MEQs (which may have been to stop it from being an MEQ killer, remember GW luvs Space Marines). However, the Hive Guard does not need line of sight to hit a target, and it does not give a fuck about any intervening cover. Also the gun's special rule allows it to ignore cover saves from night fighting as well as anything attempting to benefit from the new jink rule and anything that popped smoke the turn before. Even with a slight nerf they are still an auto-take. And now they come in a box where you can make 3 of them from they have become even more attractive.
**Hive Guards now have a new gun called the shockcannon. Check out the Ranged Weapon section for more details.

*'''[[Lictor]]s:''' Oh boy, where do we start from here? Lictors are now cheaper, and they still keep their stats and weapons. However, they got a lot of Special Rules to help them  and the army out. They don't scatter from Deep Strike, and what's interesting is any units that comes into play via Deep Strike doesn't scatter within 6' of the Lictors. Just think of it, Mawlocs that don't scatter now have a better chance in gobbling up a unit camping on an objective! Fear is meh, but Hit and Run and Stealth is always handy. They can't assault from Deep Strike or Infiltrate, but have some tricks to compensate if you can protect them. Their close combat ability is limited by only 2 attacks, but rending and S6 make them mildly effective against HQ's... but for that matter, why aren't you taking deathleaper? Overall Lictors are better than previous editions. They are, incidentally, one of the three Tyranid models with Frag Grenades. Best used as a very good distraction/homing beacon.

*'''[[Pyrovore]]s:''' Back in fifth edition, Pyrovores were almost-universally viewed as the most pointless, useless, and confusingly detrimental unit in the entire Tyranids Codex. How about now? Well, it's gotten better, but then it's would've been hard to go anywhere but up with this model. It received a 5 point price reduction and a buffs to a few stats (an extra Wound there, a little more Initiative there), which is... better? But then it still doesn't seem to serve a purpose in the army, especially given you can still take Hive Guard, and Venomthropes are a lot better now. There's also some [[RAW]] wording-loophole shenanigans about its Volatile rule; basically, it says that ''every unit on the board'' takes hits equal to all non-Pyrovore models within [[D6]] inches of a Pyrovore hit by Instant Death, but most players would be smart enough that you wouldn't get away with it. Also, the biomorphs it has (Acid Blood and Acid Maw) were pretty much nerfed but not too badly, the latter being reduced to a single AP2 attack instead of all of the critter's attacks ignoring armour. The only good thing is that it seems that it benefits from the Promethium pipeline in Stronghold Assault, so... there's that? Honestly, it's still one of (if not ''the'') worst units in the game. But hey, now you can take packs of them!!! :D  :|.
**Alternate Take: a brood of 3 dropped in a pod behind enemy lines is a veritable wall of death and can only do good things; 1) they get shot off the board - less shots at other things 2) they get charged, can overwatch and will then likely die in spectacular fashion (and to be honest they are arguably better when they die anyway) 3) opponent says, "meh...Pyrovores...how bad can they be?" and ignores them (unlikely but moron's do exist). Really any way you look at it, 3 in a pod is a win-win all round 

*'''[[Venomthrope]]s:''' Venomthropes are a solid choice in 6th edition. All <s>models</s> units within 6" of them get Shrouded. They're fantastic support units for protecting against gunlines, and they also confer a save to monstrous creatures in a Nidzilla style army, like the Trygon or Tyrannofex or even a Heirophant.  Units with stealth, such as Lictors, can take a 4+ cover save from being near Venomthropes increasing the screening potential of Rippers if they need to advance across open ground. If night fighting is in play, anything near a Venomthrope is nearly unkillable with the cover saves they will receive. Venomthropes also have a 2+ poison and the toxic miasma biomorph (once per game an enemy unit suffers a number of hits equal to the number of models from their unit in base to base with the Venomthrope.  The hits have the poison as well and ignores cover USR)  but they don't really belong in close combat... but they aren't pushovers any more either. I6 from lash whips and 2+ poison are pretty good. Don't have them charge alone: use them as finishers instead. Since Venomthropes give Shrouded they can be used to boost the cover save provided by units, meaning that a big blob of gaunts can provide a 3+ cover save to a unit of Venomthropes and whatever else you can stick behind the gaunts and in the Shrouded bubble. A possible way of getting footslogging tyrants, warriors and MCs across the board without getting utterly obliterated. Doesn't work when the enemy has Ignores Cover of course. Like all of those flamers out there that absolutely facerape gaunts to begin with.
:'''An Alternate Take:''' Something to consider in addition to Venomthropes in your army is the Aegis Defense Line. If you line one up straight across middle of the board, you can give everything behind it a better cover save of 4+, besides Trygons, and barring the oddly angled shot on an MC. It is also cheaper, can't die, doesn't take up a valuable Elites slot, and can sometimes block LoS completely. It works both ways, but that usually isn't a problem since most of our AP values are too low to hurt MEQ's anyway. It's a toss-up between the utility of the Venomthropes' defensive grenades versus the cost and reliability of the ADL's cover save. Pro Tip: Take both! Venomthropes giving shrouded to Exocrines, Tyrannofexes, Hive Guard and the like for a 2+ save! Crones when they glide or fly on near a Venomthope will get 5+ cover out in the open as well, 3+ if they choose to dive (not a bad idea due to their main damage being their vector strike). The Venomthrope is going to be the lynchpin in a lot of lists.

*'''[[Zoanthrope]]s:''' This WAS another unit that any player would be a fool not to consider investing in. Now, they have some trouble with synergy. They are still arguably some of the best anti-armour units in the game, using a S10 AP2 LANCE attack to punch through any heavy armour on the field. They also have a S5, AP3, blast template to throw at Space Marines that get too comfortable with their good saves. A brood of them can lay down touhou esque barrages of firepower with FUCKING MIND BULLETS. Three full broods of them can lay down an truly epic amount of mental dakka that will fuck up the shit of everything and anything in front of them. The only drawback to Zoanthropes is that their attacks are psychic, and that their lance attack is short range, only 18". Also, guess what you can't take anymore? Pods are gone, along with all access to core rulebook psychic powers, so they have trouble getting into Lance range. What did they get in exchange? Brotherhood of Psykers (Mastery Level 2) and a special version of Warp Blast where they can make multiple shots in each Psychic test as long as they have multiple models in the brood. Plus, these are your cheap and reliable source for Synapse Creatures, and they can extend their range from Dominion. Unlike Warriors they aren't easily instant killed, and for how much they cost per a model, that's nothing to sneeze at. They're not exactly ''bad'' now, but the loss of Mycetic Spores really hurt them more than any other single unit.  However, thanks to the rewording of the Trygon's tunneling rules, these suckas can come out and [[rape|raep]] those bastards hiding in the back (provided the Trygon puts the tunnel in a spot where they can hit something when they come out).  Now your opponent will definitely be focusing them down, but boy can they eat up fire like candy, leaving the rest of your horde unfucked for that turn.
:The Brotherhood of Psykers actually helps these guys out a lot. Remember having a brood of 3, and when you finally got within lance range, you took THREE psychic tests, and your opponent took THREE deny the witch rolls before you even got to roll for hits and pens? Not anymore! One psychic test and one deny the witch for all 3 shots! (Wouldn't one DtW for each lance be better than 1 DtW to deny all three?) fewer perils of the warp! And that one time when the tank does deny your 3 S 10 AP2 shots, throw your dust collecting useless genestealers into his eyes! Remember, all enemy units can use Deny the Witch, even tanks, as they count as an enemy unit. [[Awesome|The drivers within use the power of vehicle love to extend their force of will to the hull of their tanks.]]

*'''[[/d/|Haruspex]]:''' This hentai monster wannabe is a designated infantry-killer, with a rape-tongue of S6 AP2 (Assault 1, Precision Shots on a To Hit of 6, 12" range), A3, and 5 wounds. While unimpressive on paper, each <strike>hit it successfully lands</strike> unsaved wound it causes gives it an extra attack in that combat (extra attacks do not generate extra attacks) and it can restore one wound a turn if it successfully lands an unsaved wound on an enemy. Combined with Regen, it manages to out-[[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX]] the Carnifex. [[Games Workshop|Coincidence? I think not]].  Now if only Tyranids could still deep-strike... But weighing in at $80 a pop for 3A at WS3, then considering missed wounds, you're not doing much better than other options, and some may not really be able to justify the absurd price tag for an altogether mediocre unit. The 'Gulp!' tongue just smacks of uninspired. The GW website promises he'll gobble up units, but that's not really likely.
:It's good to remember that with the addition of the Haruspex, Nids now have Monstrous Creatures available in every single force organization slot.

===Troops===
Troops are where you are going to ''get your swarm on'', everything except warriors and rippers can be fielded in absolutely MASSIVE numbers (and even then they just sacrifice quantity for quality). The upgrades for your troops can really have an impact on how they fight but while the upgrade cost is small the bulk order of them can run you a lot of points, almost doubling the point costs of some choices. Everything works best when you keep them within a synapse from something like a Tyrant or Warriors, with Rippers it is absolutely mandatory. Tyranid troops are basically the reason other races have weapons with crap AP values, you will lose them in droves, and yet STILL have enough to bury your enemy in bodies.

Oh, and as for the update, this is where a large number of buffs came in: Gaunts are one point cheaper, and they run d6 + 3 in the shooting phase. Make the most of it.

*'''Genestealers:''' Genestealers are very solid units. They have a 5+ save, which is easily punctured by any Space Marine worth a damn, but their combat ability makes up for that. They can easily shred plenty of enemy units (up to and including Baneblades if you can get to their rear armour) in close combat thanks to rending, high initiative, great weapon skill, and an acceptable number of attacks (Thanks to two pairs of claws, they get another attack :D). However, despite all this, they aren't really the core player of the army. They come with infiltration built in, so their best use is often to keep the enemy bottled up. A squad or two of flanking Genestealers will cause most players to give pause to spreading out to the edges of the board. Additionally, you can also upgrade one genestealer to a broodlord, which is essentially a 3 wound, ws7, s/t5 nightmare with The Horror psyker power. Give the Broodlord adrenal glands and it can pop landraiders. All things considered you can't say many bad things about Genestealers. Thankfully, they can be fielded in pretty large numbers, not quite as massive as that of Gaunts, but enough to pretty much swamp anything in front of them.  Almost nothing in the game short of AV 14 armour survives more than one turn when faced with a full genestealer brood with a broodlord.
**Definately give the broodlord +1A for 4 points. Just do it.
**Another update!  Rending claws are S user AP5 rending.  It's only a slight change but helps when putting genestealers against weaker enemies (guardsmen, eldar, etc.)
**Genestealers will kill anything they touch (well...maybe not Wyches with a Pain Token, but no one uses them anymore). They are, after all, probably the greatest assault unit in the game. Any opponent that knows this will stay FAR away from them. This makes genestealers a major psychological tool in addition to what some would say is the greatest unit in the codex.
**tl;dr - Take Genestealers+Broodlord vs armies that don't have a lot of units immune to Pinning.  Infiltrate them as close as possible to the enemy's gunlines and The Horror them repeatedly.  You won't be able to assault them the turn you Infiltrate, but you can assault the next turn.

*'''Hormagaunts:''' Hormagaunts, due to being cheap and having cheap access to poison, are among the most devastating and effective attackers in the <s>Tyranid army</s> The entire game. Per point spent, they deal more damage, survive more wounds, and can even run across the board faster than anything else that can compete with them. Their only major drawback is a stark lack of frag grenades. However, keep them from fighting with inopportune targets and get them Feel No Pain from <s>a Tervigon</s> any psyker with Catalyst, and these little bugs will really tear it up on the battlefield. They can also equip adrenal glands to glance tanks and transports to death on the charge. Plus, you can field them in absolutely massive broods, rivaling full sized guard platoons in sheer size. Now get +2 attacks on the charge when outside Synapse with less [[Derp|charging at the nearest enemy]] when you start to Feed. 
**Update time! Now only +2 attacks on the charge on a roll of 6 outside of synapse, otherwise enjoy your [number of models] S3 hits 50% of the time! (yes, they hit themselves). They run faster, which is basically the whole point of hormies in 6th. A late game objective grabber. Being a bolt pistol cheaper they are better at this, and remember grounded nids don't take Instinctive Behavior.
**Fun House Rule: let Tervigons spawn these guys and let the madness ensue 

*'''Rippers:''' Tyranids have numerous traditional weaknesses, one being blast templates. Rippers, being swarms, take double damage from blast templates. Having a toughness of three, they are morbidly weak to Instant Death as well. Their weapon skill is low, their saves are 6+, they can't hold or contest objectives, and <strike>they die if they fall out of synapse</strike> they die less than 5E if they fall out of synapse and roll 1-3 (which they will). To say they at least aren't an actively inhibiting part of any army would be a stretch. And with the Parasite of Mortrex removed along with a points increase for no apparent reason, there's basically no reason at all to use them any longer.
* However, Rippers can now purchase deep strike for pennies. Of course, this hardly redeems them, but if you really want to have some, it does make them usuable as a halfway decent distraction unit than can simply go to ground every turn for immunity to Instinctive Behavior and +1 to cover.<strike> As swarms auto-pass dangerous terrain, there's no stopping you from deepstriking into cover.</strike> 6ed Swarms are not slowed by difficult terrain but must test for dangerous terrain as normal. 

*'''Termagants:''' Termagants are pretty much nothing (base) compared to hormagaunts and genestealers. Their guns are short to mid range, their ballistic skill is average, they fight as well as Guardsmen in close combat and their saves are worse. In fact, they cost one less point than Guardsman, and since Termagants can't ride transports there isn't much that can be done with them. However, for every brood of 30 Termagants you have, one Tervigon can be purchased as a troop choice, and Termagants receive counter-attack from being next to a Tervigon. Therefore, despite their mediocre-at-best statline, they are arguably the most competitive Troops choices on the tabletops of sixth edition when paired with the Tervigon. Like Hormagaunts, they can be fielded in numbers so large the gameboard will look like an unending sea of bugs. Give them devourers though, pay a pretty penny for a hive tyrant with Hive Commander and have them Outflank on a side of the board and they can certainly dish out alot of dakka! If you want Preferred Enemy, you must bring the Swarmlord to grant them that special rule. THIS combo is slaughter incarnate to infantry.
**Something to keep in mind is Termagants can now Mix and Match weapons. Due to the wording, any model can replace their weapon with a different one, rather than a unit. Want some good [[Dakka|dakka]] but don't want to pay through the nose for having 30 Devourers? Just take at least half and let the other half keep their Flesh Borers! This means you can also experiment with Spinefists and Spike Rifles now that they're free.

*'''Warriors:''' Warriors are also a solid unit, but they have one problem: Instant Death. They have a 4+ save, three wounds, and a toughness of four, so against small arms fire they're as tough as Terminators. However, hit their squad with a Battle Cannon and they all evaporate, and autocannons will rip them into very small pieces. They have access to weapons that ignore armour saves, have decent guns, have good weapon skill, and overall have some pretty reasonable options. It's just not a good idea to make an entire army composed of Warriors since small numbers and being no-brainer targets will hurt them. Cover can be their friend in 6th and with Primes leading them, at least Str8 won't be such a problem. The question is, though, do you wanna risk your Prime?
**And we should probably mention that Boneswords are AP3 now. Don't bother pairing them together, take one with a Lash Whip and give them Rending Claws so they won't be limited to MEQs.
**If you do use Warriors, take a unit of three, equip one with a Cannon of your choice, include a pair of Rending Claws on two other Warriors, and have them sit on an objective at your deployment zone. They make a decent unit that can shoot Blast weapons while still be able to hold on their own if someone trys to assault them.

===Fast Attack===
*'''Gargoyles:''' Gaunts with wings, effectively. They are, in quite nearly every way, just Termagants with wings. They have the same stats and the same weapons. However, aside from the 12" movement there are two differences: they can exchange all of their attacks and instead make a single poisoned attack with the Blind special rule. Another thing is that Gargoyles are Jump Infantry and essentially receive a free bonus hit at I10 on the charge if they use their "jump pack" for the charge instead of for their movement.  This does allow you to re-roll your charge range, though. Throw in poison and Gargoyles become some savage monstrous creature hunters (great for fucking over other Tyranid armies and Chaos Daemons). Taking HoW into consideration, Gargoyles are incredibly cost efficient models. If you give them both upgrades, you're paying 10 points for: 12'' + 2d6'' charge, 1 S3 I4 hit, 2 S4 I4 Poisoned attacks, and a S4 AP5 assault weapon shot. Point for point, superior to even Storm Boyz. Sadly, they aren't too fantastic against much besides infantry; if they can't kill or cripple what they charged in the first round there's not much hope for the unit coming out alive... So while it doesn't hurt to have them around, they also don't always help. Like all Jump Infantry, they do have Deep Strike, the trick is getting them into Synapse before they start lapsing into Instinctive Behavior: Hunt and uselessly shooting Fleshborers instead of assaulting like they should.

*'''Harpies:''' Harpies are one of the most heavily affected models in the Tyranid list and in their case it was a positive change over. Flying monstrous creatures are not just cool, but until more AA weapons find themselves into the game, they are also very hard to kill (warning:  Quadguns will rape FMCs in general, and any army can take an Aegis line except nids - on top of that, all of the new 6th edition armies with the possible exception of Dark Angels have their own Flyers which will raperaperape a Harpy.  See Vendetta/Hellturkey/Stormtalon). Harpies don't come especially cheap, running a tab not unlike a Tervigon, and are not quite as tough when you actually get a hit on them. However for that price you end up with a pretty heavy gunship, the stock primary gun is a Twin-linked S6 pinning large blast OR for a small cost, a Twin-linked S9 small blast. Tack on another choice between Cluster or Stinger salvo (I recommend cluster as the harpy doesn't have great BS) and you can threaten big chunks of troops at once. After that the Harpy can drop a cluster of Spore mines on an enemy it passes over once per turn and finally vector strikes that can be used against light vehicles (including fliers) or just whoever you happen to be running over. All this leads to a very harassy flier with enough pie for everyone. Keep them in the back during deployment though, as they start in Gliding mode and thus can be instagibbed by Str10 Large Blasts, which are mostly short-ranged. Make it a point to stay out of range or LOS of a Quadgun until they can at least Jink. Their extreme mobility and range will get them where they need to be no problem once they're in the air.  Once most sources of AA have been dealt with, fly it over a blob of infantry and drop a spore mine + vector strike for maximum lulz.

*'''Hive Crone:'''With 4 S5 Haywire missiles that rerolls to hit against fliers, combined with an INSANE S8 Vector strike, expect to see between 1-3 of these guys in every tournament. They're fragile, but with 5 wounds and no fliers or Skyfire guns with S10 to instant kill them, they're here to dominate the sky! Or fail their grounded test and get eaten alive. Don't forget, they can start the game ON THE TABLE! Once the enemy air support is gone, time to vector strike tanks and blast infantry. Is your opponent arguing that he has a cover save against your vector strikes? Well, there's no range on vector strike (Its a melee hit, come on), there's no cover saves! (You can keep the flamer, or trade it in for Cluster Spines or stinger salvo). But that 4+ armour save is certainly going to be a problem against...well, nearly everything. Fly them on near some Venomthropes for some shrouded goodness. 3+ cover out in the open? Awesome.
::The Harpy and the Crone are made with the same kit. The kit is $80 ($115 'Strayahbucks). One of the few units (the Harpy) that wasn't nerfed in the Tyranid's codex is also one of the most expensive Nid kits to buy; [[Just As Planned|One of GW's many strategies to squeeze extra cash from their customers]]. 

*'''Raveners:''' Raveners are very similar to Warriors, but they're faster, have higher initiative, have more attacks, and are more fragile. Ultimately they're ok. They aren't as good at fighting as a swarm of Hormagaunts, aren't as tough as Warriors, and get expensive when equipped with ranged weapons, but their Fleet move, 12" movement, and complete immunity to non-mysterious terrain give them a niche to fill. Ideally, they're harassers, designed to make unexpected long range assaults into exposed heavy weapons teams or infantry who think they're safely controlling an objective. The main thing to worry about with them is Instant Death and getting caught in the open. Their 5+ saves mean they won't get armour against the most typical foes, and if you can't clean up that Space Marine with a hidden Power Fist in one round then you'll have some very dead Raveners on your hands - see link for Tyranid warrior health issues.
**'''The Red Terror:''' For 85-points you may add the Red Terror to one of your Ravener broods (one use per army), which has better stats, access to prehensile pincers, and the Swallow Whole ability (hitting a unit with 4 attacks automatically removes a model, and ignores armour and cover saves). If you're going to use them, you may as well splurge on it. Something that is often overlooked is that the Red Terror also provides a Leadership of 8 instead of the Raveners' usual 6, which gives them greater autonomy from your Synapse Creatures. The most important aspect about The Red Terror though is that it is a Character and can thus allocate wounds to your Raveners. This is therefore going to make a Ravener brood much more resilient. He ignores instant death from missile launchers (T5), has a 4+ save that can reduce the typical damage from AP5 weaponry, and can (statistically with 6 attacks on the charge) swallow whole a hidden powerfist. 

*'''Shrikes:''' Winged warriors which cost just as much as the normal warriors but have a weaker armour save, made up for with a much greater mobility. Equip them with any combination of your favorite melee weapons and get these guys into an assault ASAP, get kills, and then onto the next squad before you can shake a ripper at them. They still suffer from anything that can instant death them and although they can now take the Prime, there isn't much point as the Prime can't fly.  <strike>ACTUALLY! The Prime can now take wings as a biomorph option making him move as quickly as the Shrikes also giving him is tasty BS of 4.</strike> <nowiki>*wings are not listed on the 'biomorph' table that the Tyranid Prime can take upgrades from, the 'Wings' biomorph is only an option on Hive Tyrants*</nowiki> If you can manage hopping them from cover to cover running, they won't disappoint you. Overall, a strong contender for a Fast Attack slot on your army. Now the same cost as regular warriors and/or raveners.

*'''Sky-Slashers:''' Rippers with cute little wings. Not much better than the grounded version, but now with the added weakness of taking dangerous terrain checks if they use their jump move while in terrain! They can, however, use their jump move to assault, which gives them a free I10 hit, in addition to their other attacks for a metric fuck ton of paper cuts on the charge. If they take Adrenal glands, they can glance AV10 rear armour vehicles to death on the charge, with a 12+2d6" threat range. Otherwise, see Rippers, described above. 

*'''Spore Mines:''' With the new codex, these guys move 3" in the movement phase, can run and assault normally (But halves their roll), and will explode in close combat at intiative step 10, with a large blast S4, AP 4, however, you only get to place one large blast. For each additional Spore mine beyond the exploding one, add +1S to the blast (to a maximum of S10, only allowed 6 mines in a cluster. GW maths at it's finest) and remove them all afterwards. This means that they can be a good distraction for relatively little cost, able to really scare tanks and light infantry with high strength blasts. They also don't count as kill points, so if you have the spare points, these are a great point sink.

===Heavy Support===
This organization chart is easily the best in the codex. Pretty much everything is either decent (Mawlocs and Trygons) or solid overall (Exocrine and Biovores), so feel free to drop a lot of spare points here as this slot is the most competitive out of the others. That being said, you have a bunch of choices that wants to be in your army, so this really depends on what you brought from the other charts. Running broods of Termagants with a Tervigon? Carnifexes help bridge the gap of close combat. Using a bunch of Hormagaunts and Gargoyles? A Trygon Prime gives them the Synapse support, while Biovores and a Tyrannofex lay down the anti-infantry shots. Tyranid's Heavy Support is an all around versatile chart, so no matter what list you play, you should always consider investing here.

*'''Biovores:''' A unit to be respected by any footslogger with an armour 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 D3 Spore Mines 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. Plus with the slight buff (Mostly unnecessary, except the extra wound) and point decrease, Biovores just went from being a good choice, to a solid choice. The buff to Spore Mines sweetens the deal, and they don't count as kill points if they don't hit and get shot at the next turn. 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, they can be fielded in much larger numbers to swamp the battlefield in pieplates and spore mines.  

*'''Carnifex:''' Carnifexes start off at 120 point but can get very expensive once you start buying upgrades for them. They have three attacks base at Str9 and start with 2 pairs of CC weapons (two pairs of talons), but their WS is pretty average. They can hold their own against basic squads by themselves, but one hidden power fist will ruin their day in a heartbeat (or lack thereof). Even against a five man Space Marine Tac Squad, a lone 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. However, there is one important thing to consider: nothing dismantles tanks in close combat as well as a Carnifex. There are other options the new vehicle cracking power of many of the other Tyranid units but the Carnifex still holds the prize. Also hilariously the second unit in the codex with access to frag grenade equivalents. Toxin Sacs on the Carnifex gives you a rerolls to Wound for pennies. With 2 Twin-Linked Devourers, they become surprisingly powerful at destroying flyers (rerolling to hit), MEQs and TEQs (forcing saves), GEQ ICs (instant death), and even light to medium vehicles (volume of fire) at range. For only 150 points, with the option to be taken in larger broods, this setup rarely disappoints. Speaking of large broods, Carnifex large broods are a major point sink but are massively powerful, especially when they take the 4+ regeneration and are joined by a Prime for look of boss scenarios. All in all, Carnifexes have certainly seen some buffs in 6th edition, with the new Monstrous Creature cover rules, the changes to vehicles, and Hammer of Wrath and its points drop. Still sucks statswise when compared to a Daemon Prince. But they cost 120 points, so they're getting a fair trade off. Carnifex specific Hammer of Wrath gets d3 hits instead of just one; at strength 9, this is HUGE.  Base Screamer-Killers (dual scything talons) will be able to lay out loads of pain. Crushing Claws are now really good for them for only 15 points and the 4+ regeneration is AMAZING. To sum up, a really good vehicle dismantler while being decently hard to kill, the options of being in large broods and other options for fire support.

*'''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 side; considering the large base size of the Mawloc, one can potentially hit a lot of models; and as an added bonus it ignores cover too. (And if it somehow doesn't clear the area, it inflicts ANOTHER S6 AP2 hit). It's not [[Pyrovore|outright unusable]] -- the two S6 AP2 pie plates part is still true -- but vehicles are only hit on side armour, and the survivors are ''NOT'' pushed out of the way anymore. '''This means that if you fail to kill EVERYTHING under the template, the Mawloc mishaps!''' (though this can be a good thing, because you have a 50% chance to go into ongoing reserves and just nom again the next turn) Hive Mind help you if you scatter onto a Leman Russ. It can still Burrow after a successful Deep Strike.  To lessen the sting a bit, it's 30 points cheaper. Still works with lictors only better now that lictors infiltrate. Pro Tip the Mawloc base is smaller than the template, so you don't need to clear everything just almost all of it.

*'''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, its raw statline and Fleet, makes him a melee powerhouse. As Scything Talons got nerfed hard, they no longer are quite the bringers of death they were before. However, as toxin sacs can be bought for less than a gaunt, they can rather easily regain their rerolling death, even if it is for wounds rather than hits. It also has a respectably powerful shooting attack. As a final note, the Trygon itself does not have the option for a Mycetic Spore(but that's gone now), but Deep Strikes with the same Scatter-reduction rules built into its cost; you should always use this rule as it gets the Trygon into combat very quick. Can also leave a hole for 1 <b>infantry</b> unit per turn to arrive from after it emerges <s>(Pro Tip, combine this with the Haruspex or a Carnifex Brood)</s>(However Zoanthropes are fair game, or a big blob of devourer armed Termagants) 

*'''Trygon Prime''': We've come across one of the units that didn't change much from the update (Other than being 10 pts cheaper and have access to the Bio-Artefacts), but remains a viable choice nonetheless. The fact that it can Deep Strike and provide Synapse makes him suited for a fast moving list and being a back up Synapse creature in case something bad happened to your other Synapse creatures. You really have to take advantage of the Deep Strike rule to get your points worth, otherwise it will be a waste and be outclassed by a walking Hive Tyrant with Tyrant Guards. The fact you can equip Artefacts like the Reaper of Obliterax is enticing, although again, just taking it to use the weapon and nothing more will not only be a point sink, but will attract guns to shoot at it. However if you play to the Prime's strength and use his rules, then he's worth taking. Upgrades are't needed, although Toxin Sacs and Regeneration are great, albeit the latter is expensive, which you need to keep it cheap unless you're playing a game where you have plenty of points to spend. Toss in a Toxinspike tail if you know you'll be facing high toughness monsters, otherwise keep him bare as he can still tear units apart and haves enough wounds to see him through the mid game and beyond. Given that he costs 40 pts extra than a regular Trygon, while still keeping most of the same stats that makes him good and provide Synapse, you won't be disappointed in the Prime if you use his rules to your advantage. 

*'''Exocrine''': Another new model with a big gun that's Assault 6, Str 7, AP2 shots. Or it can drop a big blast that's also S7 AP2. Park its butt for a round, and it's +1 BS (As an extra thought, give this adrenaline glands and have someone cast onslaught on it, it can stay stationary in the movement phase, then run a re-rollable D6'' then shoot at BS 4). It's stats are slightly weaker than base monster stats but it can still hold its own in a fight. Too bad the range isn't all that good, so make sure it has a few meat-shields protecting it. 
 
*'''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 five more points than a Keeper of Secrets, 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-armour, 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-armour 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? Alternatively, a Tyrannofex can be used as a linebreaker unit, since most power weapons are ap3 now.
**Alternate use - As said previously, the secondary weapons are created primarily for anti-infantry. Therefore, make the tyrannofex a complete infantry hunter (Your elite slots should be your anti-vehicle. They do a much better job). In the new edition thorax swarms now count as weapons in their own right, meaning they count towards your total number of shots per turn, so gone are the days of the triple-template Tyrannofex. However, thorax swarms no longer have to be taken, and electroshock grub now have the haywire rule, giving the Tyrannofex some close range anti armour power and a surprisingly good overwatch weapon against charging Dreadnoughts. With a 2+ armour save, T6 and W6, deploy as a line-breaker (which will also qualify this beast to be your DISTRACTION CARNIFEX) and force your opponent to choose between unloading ALL his firepower to kill it, or retreating his units out of cover, which could work well for your other units. And don't forget that it's STILL an MC, so don't be afraid to smash any vehicles unfortunate enough to get within charge range. Give this creature regeneration and it'll survive the whole game. 

*'''Stone Crusher Carnifex (Forge World):''' your basic fex with 2+ armour, -1A, no talons, AP1 crushing claws and it will not die USR. It's basically the ideal [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX]]. It's absurdly cheap in point cost (but not in real money - this is forge world after all), until you realize that there is no mycetic spore option. Its a realy bad idea to footslog a Carnifex all over the board - not even 2+ and IWND can save him from being shot to death. Stick him behind a mob of gaunts until he gets to the enemy.

===Apocalypse Units===
*'''Hierodule''' Though it looks like a gigantic gaunt, it's really more like a carnifex on angry, angry steroids; this Bio-titan eats tanks for breakfast and is roughly the Tyranid equivalent of a baseline Stompa or a Warhound class scout titan.  It comes in two versions, the melee only version which has four FUCKHUEG scything talons that can carve up vehicles and superheavies in close combat, and has a FUCKHUEG flamer. The ranged version has two FUCKHUEG scything talons and two biocannons (this particular version of the biocannon is S10 AP3 Heavy 6) which means that you can spit out six twin linked S10 AP3 hits per turn, now despite "only" having AP3, the sheer number of high strength shots will quite regularly defeat AV 14, so you can pop open land raiders and monoliths (the only two units with AV 14 all around), kill baneblades and battle fortresses from the front (though it's still recommended that you go for their side or rear armour, <strike>because you should always try to take the most favorable option possible</strike> attack their weak point for massive damage), take out titans and stompas (Void shields and power fields only have an AV of 12 and collapse if struck with either a glancing or penetrating hit, though only one layer of shielding will be destroyed by a single hit; as for a titan's armour, it's generally identical to a baneblade's, not even a warlord has AV 14 on it's sides or rear), Brass scorpions, and Gargantuan creatures. Overall, a solid choice. In addition, all biotitans can tank shock, but this is generally most useful for the melee Hierodule, as it lets it just plow through a whole army of infantry models to get at the superheavy sitting at the back with a smug smile on it's face. Hilariously, Lysander can beat even the melee version of this in CC, for 1/3 of the points, but that tends to apply to most storm-shielded models up against Tyranids.
*'''Hierophant''' Coming in at a thousand points, the Hierophant is the priciest Tyranid unit in regular scale (or more accurately, not-epic) 40k and is easily one of the priciest units period.  But it makes up for that by having two extremely long ranged s10 ap3 (yes, a shot from this is more likely to kill [[Land Raider]] than it is a terminator, go figure) heavy 6 biocannons, gargantuan creature rules, a metric fuckton of claws, lash-whips, warp-fields, and some of the highest armour saves, toughness, wounds, and strength stats you have ever seen. You thought the four uber-daemons were tough? You haven't seen shit, compared to this beastie those four are nothing. There is not a single non-apocalypse unit in any codex that this thing wouldn't eat for breakfast.  No matter what range it fights at, it will fuck something's shit up. Mr.space marine with a hidden power fist doesn't have shit on this guy. It is however, an colossal firemagnet, even if he is nigh on impossible to kill. With regeneration, he is pretty much the ultimate damage sponge, the few things that do hurt him will simply be rolled away. The psychic power 'Warp Field' gives it a 6++.  Where it really shines is close combat against other super heavies where it will [[RIP AND TEAR]] with wild abandon. Beware taking it against [[Dark Eldar]], massed Poisoned shooting will fuck it's shit right up.
*'''Harridan''' the Tyranids' flyer, [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-unAYdgfpl40/UqD2TTGbDII/AAAAAAAABg0/U0rxmwcBJRw/s1600/578180_673592002675715_2073376128_n.jpg|and it's only lord of war in the escalation book]] it is for all intents and purposes, a fucking flying Hierodule (with the best of both versions) it has the exact same bio-cannons as a Hierodule (S10 Ap3 Heavy 6) but as a flyer, most things can't hit it, and it can pop open tanks with it's bio-cannons or its claws and is one of the only Tyranid units that can deal with enemy flyers (some people debate that it can actually assault a flyer, tearing it's shit up, and now with sixth edition, it most certainly can!). It can carry One Gargoyle brood, but mainly you want this for the bio-cannons mounted on a extremely difficult to hit platform, though a trio of Harridans shitting out twelve full sized broods of Gargoyles right on top of someone is a hilarious way to drown someone in flyers. Due to its immensely powerful guns, only superheavy fliers have any chance of surviving being shot at by the bio-cannons and even then they're going to take a severe beating to their 1d3 structure points. With its gargoyle broods, it can fulfill three out of four major roles for fliers excellently, air superiority, ground attack, and bombing. Strangely for a Tyranid unit, it's very elite compared to other fliers, very powerful, but also expensive, so the enemy's fliers will probably outnumber your harridans. Escort them with flyrants and harpies, laugh at your enemies feeble attempts at stopping these terrors from tearing them a new asshole. And if you stand still, you can shoot your bio-cannons TWICE, twelve S10 twin linked shots are going to fuck over anything it comes across. Really the only other fliers that can challenge the Harridan is the strength d wielding tiger shark or the Manta. Pray you never have to fight a manta, with it's 4++, 10SP, 96 S6 shots, 11 TL S7 AP3 shots, 2 Heavy Railguns and shitload of missiles.    

Note that copious amounts of Poisoned weapons are the bane of bio-titans (note that the FAQ says that super heavy creatures are only poisoned on a 6 rather a 4 or less, so it's not that bad), so armies like the [[Dark Eldar]] who typically spontaneously explode in apocalypse games are actually a legitimate threat to your units. Be wary of this, and unless you are confident that your smaller units are the real punch of your army, and not the bio-titans, be prepared to sacrifice other Tyranid units to keep your Bio-titans safe from poison.