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A Shadow in the Warp... Thanks primarily to the Genetic Scouts at Warpshadow for their information and double- and triple-checking. Plus their patience and their adherence to any Non-Disclosure Agreements they might have. Please note that there are no point costs listed below and I have tried to avoid too much in the way of specifics. These are rumors that have been confirmed by several sources, all of which are conscious of NDA-type agreements. I am simply putting them down in this format to ease the transition into the new codex for us Tyranid players. Note as well that there are some items that I have speculated on, based on confirmed information from several sources. (if A and B are correct, this must mean C, even though no one has said C.) If this speculation goes beyond what has been released officially, do not blame my sources, but rather my active imagination, and if any of this information is deemed too sensitive by GW or parties thereof, please contact me and I will happily remove it. Please Note: Since this article is about easing your army into the new codex, I am intentionally leaving out most of the information about new versions of old models. I want to concentrate on rules changes that will effect our swarms. While appearance is important, I'll leave that to the individual Hive Minds and just talk about the most substantiated and likely rumors about rules. “So, I understand the Tyranid army is changing a bit, what does that mean for my army?” Good question. I’ll go through the most substantiated rumors piece-by-piece, then try to sum it all up for what it all means. New Tyranid Codex: Expected release date is early May, though that may be only for the Army box, not separately purchasable, they usually bundle them that way for a few weeks or so. The book itself is laid out in a similar way to the current codex, but there is no “Back of the Book” any more. You select the options for each species from it’s entry in the Armylist. (Somewhat like getting Toxin Sacs for Genestealers now, only apparently with more options. See the notes on Mutation, below. Mutation and Mutants: The main Mutation rules are gone. There is a possibility that Rending Claw mutants or other such things will still exist, but in a more defined way, much like Heavy or Special Weapons in Space Marine Squads. Allegedly, Hive Nodes are right out. Guns: it looks
like
most ranged bio-weapons
except
the Venom Cannon get an upgrade. Most of them seem to get extra range,
and the Devourer and Fleshborer get Living Ammunition, which means they
get to reroll failed Wounds. Spinefists are apparently also twinlinked
now. There are also Strength limits for the weapons however, which
presumably means you can’t get a S9 Devourer for your Carnifex anymore.
I’ve heard that the Big Ones get something to make up for this, if they
are armed with such weapons, but not what it is. With
all that in mind, on to the Codex!! HQ BroodLord. Basically a giant Genestealer. It’s an HQ choice between a Warrior and a Tyrant and allegedly can take a retinue of Genestealers with Infiltrate. Supposedly can be as Strong as a Tyrant and gets power weapon attacks instead of Rending Claws. Looks like it can be upgraded to a 3+ save. Hive Tyrant: Can still take wings, but Tyrants won't be as essential in swarms. Winged HT's will now be 0-1. Tyrant Guard: Tyrant Guard will operate slightly differently to what we are currently used to. Mostly they will no longer be able to protect Winged Tyrants, apparently.
Warriors: Synapse is apparently much
more
valuable
in the new codex. (presumably not just due to potential loss of Hive
Node mutants) Allegedly, multiwound creatures under the Synapse
umbrella are immune to instakill, so no more Warriors gakked by a
Missile Launcher in one shot. Supposedly, Warriors are going to be the
backbone of the army now, while Hive Tyrants won’t be as necessary. (No
information on how this will be so) Note that almost everyone I’ve seen
with inside information seems to be very excited about Warriors, but
I’m not seeing the excitement with the current, substantiated rumors. I
think that this has to do with the effect of Synapse and it’s
synergistic effect on the rest of the army. Between the loss of Hive
Nodes and the apparent immunity to instakill weapons spread by Synapse
Coverage, having Warriors to spread that Synapse farther could be a
very good thing. There may be some additional benefits they have not
mentioned, however. Lictors: Their current "Secret
Deployment"
has
been revisited as a modifed version of Deep Strike and must be tied to
a
piece of Area Terrain. They will have the same Rending Claws and
Scything Talons as before, with the addition of one
Biomorph (Feeder Tentacles, I think) They also have one new special
abilty related to
the advanced scout nature of Lictors and Tyranid Reserve rolls. Troops Genestealers: Genestealers can Fleet, but can no longer Infiltrate. There is supposed to be a Biomorph that lets them use the Scout rules. Said to be several new biomorphs, such as Miasma and Feeder Tentacles, but no news as to what they do. Gaunts: There will be two types of Gaunt, Walking and Leaping. Apparently Walking ones can get guns, but not close combat biomorphs, and Leaping ones can’t get guns. Apparently, some gaunts (those under a certain point value?) may get the option for Without Number, which means they are recycled when the unit dies. There is a possibility that these will Deepstrike in, rather than starting at the board edge, though that is less confirmed. Rippers: I’ve heard that they will get
the
option
for Leaping or Flying, but I have not heard about Rending Claws or
other mutations. Fast Attack Spore Mines: Possibility that they can be bought in squads and can deep strike as Fast Attack choices. Gargoyles: I have heard no mention of them in rumors. (Not, like, they are getting the axe, just no changes!) Raveners: Apparently now may Deep
Strike
and
function as Beasts (meaning they Fleet!) also get a ranged Weapon
option IN ADDITION to 2 close combat biomorphs. (So, like Rending
Claws, Scything Talons AND a Devourer or something.) Again, will
allegedly benefit from being immune to Instakill if within Synapse
Range. Heavy Support Carnifex: Rumoured that "Crushing claws" option from OOE may become standard. Said to have "lots of options." It is fairly well confirmed that Carnifexes under a certain point value will count as Elites, and there has been mention of having as many as 6 Carnifexes in an army, so everybody who likes the big bugs will be very happy. There are rumored to be a number of options which will increase the number of attacks a Carnifex gets in Close combat, making them worthwhile taking as a CC beast again. Likely to have the option of Regeneration. Biovores: I haven’t really heard anything that has been substantiated about these, though presumably they will also benefit from immunity to instakill while under Synapse control. Zoanthropes: Again, I haven’t heard a
lot
confirmed about them, aside from the immunity to instakill while under
synapse. Apparently Warp Field will now give them a small invulnerable
save as well as their 2+ save. There is also an option called Shadows
of the Warp or something, though I don’t have any corroborated data on
what it does. Summing Up Okay, so what does it all mean? Well, in general, it sounds like there will be a lot more variety in Tyranid armies now, since most of the Medium Ones have been improved. (Currently, Tyranid armies tend toward a lot of Little Ones, like gaunts or a lot of Big Ones, like Carnifexes and Hive Tyrants. Now that Raveners and Warriors and the like are going to be better, we should start seeing more of them around.) Now What? In general, if you are buying new stuff or building right now, you want to know what to focus on and what to wait for. I can certainly understand. As much as I like shiny new toys, I couldn’t stand to just wait around for a few months to get an army together. Well, Warriors aren’t getting a resculpt and you’ll probably need some if you don’t have them already, or extra if you do use them. In addition, Gaunts may be repackaged, (possibly all leapers in one box, all walkers in another) but they won’t be resculpted. With the options for converting them and the new possibilities for the various weapons, I don’t think you can go wrong by getting a box or two of Gaunts. If you absolutely, positively have to start an army now, round it off with some Zoanthropes. I haven’t heard of resculpts for them and they are good anti-vehicle models, which should work even better once the codex comes. Yes and..? Okay, that’s all well and good, but what does it mean for your army? That’s the question, isn’t it? If you have an existing army, it probably won’t be major transplant surgery, just some tweaks here and there. Unless you’ve been using Double-Devourer Hive Tyrants or an all-Ripper army, it won’t be a huge change, just a bit more focused. In general, start using more Warriors and No Hive Nodes. Even though the rumors say that some of the Mutant stuff survives in a different form, if you plan now with no Mutants at all, it’ll be icing on the cake when the Codex arrives and you see what you can take. Oh, and stop with the Scythegaunts, too. (Too bad, I’ve only just come around to how good they can be. Oh well, live and adapt.) If you enjoyed this, email me and let me know |