Tyranid Review: HQ Tactica

The second part of my Tyranid review. I cover the HQ section here. Again these are just my opinions.

If you disagree or have any feedback, let me know. This is as much to help me figure out the new 

Codex as to provide my review.

Hive Tyrant

It’s not a Tyranid army without a Hive Tyrant. The iconic leader of the swarm, the Hive Tyrant boasts a decent statline, Mastery Level 2, and access to most of the wargear chart. He also has the Synapse Creature and Shadow in the Warp special rules allowing him to keep both his underlings and any enemy psykers nearby in check. 

A Hive Tyrant of Hive Fleet Leviathan

Before getting into the majority of the options, we need to mention the Wings biomorph. For a reasonably minor cost you can turn your Hive Tyrant into a Flying Monstrous Creature. This provides him with much greater manoeuvrability and provides some defence as well. To get the most out of your Hive Tyrant I see very little reason to not take Wings; they just add so much to the unit. In the past a Hive Tyrant with Wings toting two pairs of Devourers with Brainleech Worms has been the go-to Tyrant load out, and I don’t think this has changed. Twelve twin-linked S6 shots that can use the Skyfire rule can do a lot of damage to most units. If you are so inclined, you’ll be fine only taking one pair of Devourers and either Scything Talons or Bonesword & Lashwhip. With two rolls on the Tyranid Discipline table there’s a moderate chance of rolling Warp Blast, and Wings provides you with Vector Strike, both of which will count as a shooting attack. This also helps close combat Hive Tyrants to remain viable.

The Hive Tyrant has access to three unique upgrades; Indescribable Horror, Old Adversary, and Hive Commander. Indescribable Horror improves the Tyrant’s Fear, Old Adversary gives him Preferred Enemy, and Hive Commander allows a Troop choice to Outflank. Hive Commander is a nifty upgrade to give to a Tervigon, but the other two aren’t worth talking about. Many units are immune to Fear and rerolls are easy to get on a Hive Tyrant through Toxin Sacs or the Reaper.

I will take about walking Tyrants in the Tyrant Guard entry.

Example Builds

Hive Tyrant                                                                                                     250pts

Devourers with Brainleech Worms, Devourers with Brainleech Worms

Wings, Hive Commander

This option would be the one I would field most often. With twin-linked BS4 you’ll be reliably throwing out 10-11 S6 hits which are able to shoot down most flyers. Even with two pairs of Devourers, he is no slouch in combat either. Hive Commander allows you to Outflank a Tervigon allowing you to start spawning Termagants in your opponents backfield.   

Hive Tyrant                                                                                                     260pts

Reaper of Obliterax, Scything Talons

Wings, Adrenal Glands

If I wanted to run a close combat Tyrant, I would consider this build. If I can roll it, Warp Blast and Vector Strike would be the two ranged weapons I would make use of. The combination of the Reaper and Adrenal Glands provides the Tyrant with 6 S8 attacks on the charge which reroll to wound, 6’s cause Instant Death, and all at Initiative 8. While it is expensive, I feel you get what you pay for. S8 is particularly nice as it allows for the Instant Deathing of T4 models without relying on rolling a 6, while also allowing you to inflict a decent amount of wound son even the toughest opponents. On the charge, you should statistically kill a Wraithlord, and even have a reasonable chance at getting a 6 to Instant Death a Wraithknight. The Shred provided by the Reaper gives you a second chance at rolling a 6 with your failed wounds too. Fleet is also a great ability for any combat unit.

Swarmlord

The Swarmlord at Macragge

A special character Hive Tyrant, the Swarmlord is one of the scariest characters in the game. He comes with the same special rules as a Hive Tyrant but gains a bonus to reserves, can hand out a special rule to a nearby unit, comes with the extra synapse range Warlord Trait, and is a Mastery Level 3 Psyker. His statline is similar to a Hive Tyrant’s but he has an extra WS, W, and I. He is equipped with two pairs of unique Bone Sabres which grant him a 4+ Invulnerable Save in combat and the Instant Death rule. The selection of special rules he can give to a nearby unit are: Furious Charge, Monster Hunter, or Preferred Enemy. 

He is expensive at 285pts (and really needs to buy a bodyguard so will end up costing more) but he does add a lot to the army. He can go toe to toe with most units and come out on top, hands out special rules, can fire of three psychic powers, buffs reserve rolls, and has a larger synapse. I feel his major weaknesses (his high cost and how slow he is) will result in him not seeing much play. He also takes up a slot that could be filled by a Winged Hive Tyrant.

Tyrant Guard

With W2, T6 and a 3+ save, these guys are tough. They can be purchased as bodyguards for a Tyrant or the Swarmlord. Note that you don’t need to deploy with them so if you are a fan of the unit but want to run a Flying Hive Tyrant, you are free to deploy them separately. Treat these as a mandatory purchase if you are taking a Hive Tyrant without Wings or the Swarmlord. They are needed for the added survivability as they allow a Tyrant/Swarmlord to join the unit like an Independent Character could. 50pts essentially gets you an extra two wounds with a few attacks attached. They come stock with Rending Claws and Scything Talons, but can exchange the Talons for Bonesword & Lashwhip, or Crushing Claws. I would suggest running either two with no weapon upgrades or three with one having Crushing Claws for the added combat punch. Adrenal Glands and Toxin Sacs are both relatively cheap upgrades, so these can be added too. Note that unless the Tyrant also has Adrenal Glands they will not benefit from Fleet.

A Tyrant Guard berserking

A walking Tyrant will benefit more from the Monstrous Bio-cannons as it will allow him to influence the game more as he advances. A Heavy Venom Cannon will allow you to take pot-shots enemy vehicles as you advance, while a Stranglethorn Cannon will allow you to lay down some Pinning anti-infantry pie plates. You could argue that taking Adrenal Glands and then Fleeting up the board would be more beneficial but any Tyrant looking to get into melee should really be flying. The benefit of a walking Tyrant is that it provides a durable centre to your swarm that provides synapse with access to Dominion for improved range.

Example Builds

Swarmlord                                                                                                      455pts

3 Tyrant Guard

1 pair of Crushing Claws

An extremely expensive unit that is hard as nails. With 11 T6 3+ Armour Save wounds, advance this unit up behind some cover, or with a Venomthrope in tow (or both) and your opponent will struggle to deal with it (especially as you’ll likely have other faster Monstrous Creatures drawing fire). With the slow speed, lack of any ranged weapons, and high costs, I would rarely run this myself but it is practically the only way to run the Swarmlord.

Hive Tyrant                                                                                                     305pts            

Scything Talons, Heavy Venom Cannon

Hive Commander

2 Tyrant Guard

Much more reasonably costed, this unit only has 8 T6 3+ Armour Save wounds but is less than 70% of the cost and is also less threatening so will draw less fire. This Tyrant’s job is to advance with the rest of the army, providing synapse, supporting them with his psychic powers, allowing a troop choice to Outflank and throwing out a S9 blast as he advances. While I am still unlikely to run this over a Hive Tyrant with Wings, I prefer this style of build to the Swarmlord above.

Old One Eye

A special character Carnifex, Old One eye costs 45pts more than a similarly equipped Carnifex but comes with a few extras. His statline is slightly different, with an extra point of S, A, and Ld. He gains two special rules; Alpha Leader, and Berserk Rampage. Alpha Leader is a poor man’s Synapse Creature as it allows units within 12” to use his Leadership of 8 instead of their own. This helps them pass Instinctive Behaviour tests easier, but it really isn’t a replacement. Berserk Rampage grants him an extra attack for each hit he scores on an enemy unit. These do not grant further bonus attacks. This generally means that he’ll get 4-5 S10 Armourbane hits on an enemy unit, plus his Tail Attack. You may as well just remove any vehicles he reaches, especially if they didn’t move in the previous turn. If you select him to be your Warlord he also gains the Adaptive Biology Warlord trait which grants him Feel No Pain after he takes a wound.

Old One Eye on Calth

While I think he is only slightly overcosted, I don’t think he’s a great option. His loadout isn’t optimal and he has to run up the field on his lonesome. He would be much more viable if he were an upgrade character to a brood of Carnifex as that would allow him to actually reach the enemy. As it is, most armies will be able to just blow him of the field on Turn 1, Warlord Trait or not.

Tervigon

Rocking 6 wounds at T6 and a 3+ Armour Save, the Tervigon is rather resilient. It is a Synapse Creature, has Shadow in the Warp, Mastery Level 1, and Stinger Salvo. With below average offensive stats for a Tyranid Monstrous Creature the value of the Tervigon clearly does not lie in combat. The Tervigon’s main job is the ability to spawn units of Termagants.

At the end of the movement phase a Tervigon can spawn some Termagants. The size of the unit is determined by rolling 3D6. If any doubles are rolled (about a 50% chance) the Tervigon has ran out of Termagants to spawn and can’t do it for the rest of the game. These spawned Termagants cannot move or charge that turn, but can run or shoot. Termagants within 12” of a Tervigon also gain the Counter-attack special rule. On the flipside, if a Tervigon dies, every Termagant unit within 12” suffer 3D6 S3 hits.

The best thing about the Tervigon is actually part of the Termagant profile. For every 30 strong brood of Termagants you have you can take a Tervigon as a Troop choice. If you are running Tervigons, this is how I’d suggest you do it. Being taken as Troops allows you to Outflank it using Hive Commander, as well as providing you with a tough scoring Monstrous Creature with which you can capture objectives.

A Hive Fleet Kraken Tervigon

The Tervigon is one of the few units I would rather have Stinger Salvo than Cluster Spines on, as the Large Blast could prove quite dangerous to any spawned Termagants if you roll a bad scatter. As for the other upgrade options, I would suggest leaving the Tervigon barebones. If you want it to advance into the thick of it and wish to send it into combat rather than plonking it on an objective Crushing Claws is a fine upgrade. As it can take Bio-artefacts you could even give it the Reaper. I don’t think it’s a terribly viable strategy, but it definitely increases its combat capabilities and could take an opponent by surprise. As I said, barebones, as a Troop choice is my suggestion. I’d definitely include at least one in most armies.

Tyranid Prime

An HQ Tyranid Warrior and our only Independent Character. He can give his BS and WS to a unit of Warriors and is also T5 so can tank any S8-9 hits the unit takes. Beyond that there is not much to him. By the time you give him his wargear you’ll be in Hive Tyrant price range. The Hive Tyrant will only be barebones, but it’ll still add more to the army than the Prime. Unless you have a specific role in mind for him, leave him at home. He has a model now I guess…that’s nice.

Deathleaper

Deathleaper stalking his prey

A special character Lictor. Over a regular Lictor he has +3 WS, +1 I, and +1 A. Other than that he gets two more special rules; “It’s after me!”, and “Where is it?”. These allow you to reduce the Leadership of an enemy character by D3 as long as Deathleaper is alive, and enemy units may only snapfire at him. If he is your Warlord, he also gets the Mind Eater Warlord Trait although he is too squishy to go up against most Independent Characters.

He’s not great in my opinion. If you take him you’re really taking him for the –D3 Leadership to an enemy psyker. If that isn’t super important to you, you can take almost three regular Lictors instead of Deathleaper and they’ll serve you better.

Summary

The Hive Tyrant really is the stand out choice of the HQ section. The only other option that can compete in my opinion is the Tervigon, and even that is mainly due to the fact it can be a Troop choice. Perhaps I am over valuing the Tyrant but he actively made other choices seem worse by them taking up a slot he could fill.

That's it for the HQ review. I'll work on the Elite and Troop sections tomorrow.