This article is the first in a series about the new Tyranid Codex. They are intended to stimulate creativity in the use of all the new options we have available and help players forge effective armies both with their current models and the shiny new ones. With no further ado, I bring you...

What Color is Your Carnifex?

With the new Tyranid codex and new model releases comes a huge, new Carnifex model. It is plastic and as big as a tank! In addition, the new codex gives it a list of options far greater than any other Tyranid, giving it a lot of possibilities. I recall somebody saying that you could make 257 distinct Carnifi. I don't know if that's true, but I am sure that not all the options are equal, and not all of them are really useful. You can make a 327pt Carnifex. It would be pretty powerful, but would it be worth it to have that many points tied up in a single model? I'll let you decide that for yourself, but I'll give you my thoughts on it all as well.

Okay, so how do I tell the good options from the great ones and avoid the useless ones? Well, most of the options depend greatly on how you plan to use your Carnifex and what role you want them to play in your army. Even the stoutest Carnifex isn't an army by itself (though that gives me a great scenario idea.) You want them to fit in with your army. They might supplement the theme of your army (Like a Screamer Killer Assault Carnifex supplementing an all-assault swarm.) On the other talon, they might complement your theme. (Such as a Venom-Cannon armed Carnifex adding some range to the afore-mentioned assault swarm.) Okay, so I can use them to expand my theme or to make it more well-rounded, how does that narrow my options? It doesn't narrow your options on every conceivable Carnifex, but it can on the one you are designing at the moment. It means that you have a plan, so you can take what you need and leave the stuff you don't. A T7 W5 Sv2+ Regenerating Carnifex costs a lot of points and won't necessarily make sense in every army.

The Assault Carnifex: Now, we get into a brief bit of math. An assault Carnifex moves 6" each turn, and may assault 6" if in range. Coupled with typical deployment zones being more than 24" apart (go look at the scenarios in the 4th edition rulebook, I'll wait) that means a Carnifex typically won't get to assault until Turn 4, even if the enemy doesn't move away from you. That only leaves 5-6 Assault Phases to do all your damage. It gets MUCH worse if your assault carnifex starts in Reserves, such as in missions that use Escalation. What does this mean? It means that you can't rely on an assault Carnifex always getting to the enemy lines, and if it does, it won't always have much time to do damage. To me, that suggests that any Carnifex built solely for assault should be very inexpensive, otherwise you are wasting points that won't do anything for you. (If you can claim an objective or a table quarter with the Carnifex, then it becomes more useful, but it's still awfully slow to claim objectives.) I feel that a Carnifex built solely for Assault shouldn't be much more expensive than the Shock Troops Elite Carnifex rule: 114pts. Beyond this and you'll have a hard time getting your points back. Some more math for you: A Screamer-Killer has 4 attacks plus Bioplasma and hits a Space Marine on a 4+, Wounding on 2+ and ignoring saves (except for the Bioplasma. This works out to (4 x 1/2 x 5/6)+(1/2 x 5/6 x 1/3) 1.8 Dead Space Marines per assault phase. (It will be slightly more due to extra attacks from charging, but it may also end up outside of combat at times, so I'll leave it there.) That works out to 27pts/Assault phase. The Screamer-Killer could then do 135-162.5 damage, assuming it started on the board. Yes, they can kill vehicles too, but again, they may die on the way or never reach combat as well. I feel Space Marines are a good compromise.
The Assault Weapon Biomorphs offer only a few good options, however. Rending Claws, for example, serve no purpose, unless you are trying to skimp on points to get something else (like trying to fit Crushing Claws on an Elite Carnifex.) Lash Whips can be useful to keep enemies from hurting you, but I'd rather rely on good Toughness and Armor Save plus a Standard Scything Talon. Crushing Claws seem like a good idea, but they just aren't. They replace the Carnifex' basic attacks with 1d6, which averages to 3.5, but it's not actually as good as it sounds. Remember that you are also taking up a weapon slot that could be a Scything Talon, which means you are replacing 2+1 attacks (3 for those of you playing along at home) with 3.5 attacks on the average. Uh, I get an extra half attack for 17 extra points? Hmm. On the other hand, Tusked is a good buy. It gets a full extra attack on the charge for only a bit more than a Scything Talon. Mace and Scythe tails really only do you any good if you are in base contact with 4+ models, which means they will never help on the charge, unless you've got a really funny looking base.

The Gun Platform: Okay, now we start talking about adding a gun or two to the Carnifex. This gives the big lug something to do on those 4+ turns he spends walking up the field. It also can give your army some effective ranged anti-vehicle firepower. In the new Codex, some guns were improved and some were slightly weakened, particularly for the Carnifex. No more S9 Devourers, they now have a Strength cap, which makes them no stronger than a 6, even for the massive Carnifex. To partially make up for this, a lot of the smaller weapons are twin-linked on the big guys, and we all know they need all the help they can get aiming! Double Venom Cannons now count as a single, twin-linked weapon, which is a big downgrade, but still isn't a horrible deal, as it means you'll at least hit more often, even if you only get half the shots. Venom Cannons are obviously good against vehicles. Barbed Stranglers, though less effective, can still be worthwhile. A Deathspitter is much less expensive and even though it'll be only S7 vs a S8 or 10, the twin-linked goodness makes it a good secondary weapon. The Twin-Linked Devourer, as well, can be pretty effective against lighter vehicles with a S6 coupled with more shots and twin-linked accuracy.

The other Biomorphs: Okay, so what about the other Biomorphs? I'm glad you asked, I'll make a list:

Acid Maw: This isn't terribly expensive, but it only helps a little bit. Think of it like a performance guarantee: the 1 time in 6 that your Carnifex might fail to Wound on a charge becomes 1 time in 36! Not incredible, but not bad.

Adrenal Glands +1 Initiative: Pretty cheap and let's you go before the nasty guys with Powerfists. Pretty good, but not a must-buy.

Adrenal Glands +1 Weapon Skill: Not expensive, but you'll still only hit Space Marines on a 4+, it just means they won't hit you quite as often. This could be good combined with Toxic Miasma, but otherwise leave it off. If you want to hit somebody more often, hang our near something with Feeder Tendrils, like a Lictor. That way you can almost always hit on 3+!

Bio-Plasma: Inexpensive. Not terribly effective (about a 1 in 6 chance to kill a Space Marine) but it does let you hit Skimmers and Fast Vehicles on a 4+ instead of a 6. If you have a lot of them, it might be worthwhile.

Bonded Exoskeleton: Fairly Expensive, but T7 is much better than T6. You get a better chance against those pesky plasma weapons and also those S7 and S8 weapons as well. That covers a lot, but on the other talon, it doesn't help against those Lascannons and Railguns. A good buy, certainly not great, however.

Enhanced Senses: This is a must buy for any Carnifex with a ranged weapon. Having a better chance to hit with your weapon lets you make more use of those points you spent on it.

Extended Carapace: This is more expensive than previously, and I'm not sure it's worth it. It's not a bad buy, as it gives you protection from all those Krak Missiles and the like, and it doubles your save against weapons that don't penetrate your armor. On the other hand, most of my opponents don't bother to shoot at my Carnifexes unless they are the only targets available, so I'm not sure I'll keep using this one.

Flesh Hooks: It's only a point, and it lets you fight at the SAME TIME as enemies in cover. This is pretty useful, as it sort of masks the low Initiative of the Carnifex, at least when charging into cover. Not quite a Must-buy, but pretty close.

Implant Attack: If you are planning on hitting enemy Monstrous Creatures and Characters, it can be very effective. My Carnifexes have rarely run into them, however, as they usually focus on my Tyrant instead, so put these in the Good, but not Great category.

Regenerate: For 30pts, if you are still alive, you get a 1/6 chance of recovering the Wound. Every Turn. This is huge! While I wouldn't always recommend it, it's well worth the points, maybe better than Bonded Exoskeleton, Reinforced Chitin or even Extended Carapace. The more expensive your Carnifex, the more useful it is. (It's also more effective if you pair it with Reinforced Chitin, since it gives you an extra Wound to try to recover.)

Reinforced Chitin: 15pts for an Extra Wound? That's a pretty good buy as well. Keeps you alive just a bit longer, so you can do more damage!

Spine Banks: For a very cheap price you get a gun that doesn't take a gun slot. Okay, it's only S6 with a 12" range, but it's not a bad buy, particularly compared to the other Back options.

Spore Cysts: Inexpensive, but it doesn't do much, either. With the reduction of the effects of poison spore mines, coupled with the fact that it simply drifts from the Carnifex, I'm not sure this is even a useful option, unless you are really into Spore Mines.

Symbiote Rippers: Uh, okay, it's pretty cheap, but I can have my Carnifex count as 11 models instead of 10 for outnumbering purposes? Err, yeah.

Tail Weapons, -Mace or -Scythe: Not great as they require you to be in contact with a lot of enemies for them to work, so that'll never happen on your charge.

Thornback: Hmm. It's moderately expensive, but having a Carnifex count as 20 models for outnumbering purposes isn't a bad deal. If you win a combat against Space Marine types, the extra damage will certainly help whittle them down.

Toxin Sacs: The only times this is really worth it are if you are trying to instakill T5 Characters, of which there aren't that many, or if you are wanting a S5 Scythetail attack. I'll just stick with S9, thanks.

Toxic Miasma: This could be pretty useful combined with Adrenal Glands +1 Weapon Skill, as it lets you hit Space Marines on 3's and makes them hit you on 4's.

Tusked: Gives you an extra Attack on the charge, so you can cut through the enemy faster. Not a bad little upgrade.

Building a Better Carnifex: Okay, so what are some good Carnifex Builds? Well, I don't want to spoil all your fun, but here are some that I like. (Note: I am not the creator of all of these, some of the credit goes to the members of WarpShadow.)

Tusked Killer: This is an Elite Carnifex. It is basically a Screamer Killer, but it replaces the Bio-Plasma and Adrenal Glands +1 WS with the Tusked Biomorph, giving it a more effective attack on every charge. 111pts.

Devilfex: This is also an Elite Carnifex. It is a strange shooting Carnifex that someone on Warpshadow came up with. (Vsurma, I think.) It has Enhanced Senses and two sets of Twin-Linked Devourers. That gives it 8 S6 shots at BS3, rerolling misses AND rerolling failed Wounds. It can actually cut through almost 2 Space Marines per turn and is the bane of any Light Vehlcle. 114pts.

Tusked Horror: This is basically a pumped up version of the Tusked Killer, with the intent of wiping out whole squads on the charge. It has 2 sets of Scything Talons and is Tusked. Acid Maw, +1 WS, Thornback, Toxic Miasma. 144pts. With 6 attacks on the charge, probably hitting on 3's and rerolling failed Wounds, it will likely win the combat. Counting as 20 models should help the enemy decide to run away. Unfortunately, the low Initiative can't be helped much, but adding a fast creature such as a Lictor or Ravener should ensure the squad is run down. Crushing Claws could also be used here, but they are awfully expensive for their value.

Omnifex: This is a Jack-of-all-trades Carnifex. It is an attempt at decent shooting and decent assault capabilities. Venom Cannon, Scything Talons, Spine Banks, Adrenal Glands +1 WS, Enhanced Senses, Regenerate. 177pts.

Venomfex: This is a shooting Carnifex, designed to take down enemy vehicles at range. Venom Cannon, Barbed Strangler, Enhanced Senses. 148pts.

Godzillafex: This is a gauntlet thrown in the face of the opponent, daring him to strike it down. It might be a pretty good distraction, too. Crushing Claws, Venom Cannon, Scythe Tail, Spore Cysts, Adrenal Glands (both), Enhanced Senses, Bonded Exoskeleton, Extended Carapace, Reinforced Chitin, Regenerate, Implant Attack, Toxic Miasma, Toxin Sacs. A whopping 298pts. Basically, shove this up the middle and let it make a nuisance of itself, cutting down vehicles and sending out Spore Mines and then laugh as they try to kill a T7 W5 creature with SV2+ that Regenerates. (Or cry if it gets stuck off the board in Escalation!)

I hope this gives you some ideas as to where to go and what to do with your Carnifi. A lot of options are good for stimulating creativity, but direction and thought will temper those ideas to make effective weapons for you.

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