We got a new preview yesterday from Games Workshop, with a look at brand new Bio-Artefacts for the upcoming Tyranids Codex.
Games Workshop is previewing the Tyranids all week, and from the looks of it there’s some big, big changes incoming. Let’s take a look at what the new Bio-Artefacts look like and how some special characters will work.
Psychic Scream (the #6 power on their Psychic chart) is going to be a great way to get some mortal wounds in and possibly shut down an enemy Psyker, and with a warp charge value of 5 it shouldn’t be too hard. If manifested the nearest enemy unit within 18″ suffers D3 mortal wounds. Additionally, if it’s a Psyker, roll two dice and if the result is higher than their leadership you can randomly select one of their psychic powers that they will no longer be able to use.
Hyper-Adaptive Biology is giving Grogon models +1 to Toughness at the end of the first phase in which the model suffers any wounds.
Which looks to line up with the rest of the rumored rules we published on Monday for the hive fleets:
Gorgon
- Hive Fleet Attribute: Re-roll 1’s To-Hit during the Fight Phase.
- Warlord Trait: At the end of the Fight Phase roll a dice for each unit within 1”/3”* of the Warlord. On a 4+ that unit suffers a Mortal Wound.
- Stratagem: Hypertoxicity (1CP)
Use during the Fight Phase. Choose a Gorgon unit equipped with Toxin Sacs. The biomorph does 1 additional damage on To-Wound rolls of 5+ instead of 6+.
Adaptive Biology gets triggered at the end of the first phase your Warlord suffers any wounds. For the rest of the battle you’ll reduce the damage by 1 anytime you’re inflicting damage upon the Warlord. 
The Hive Tyrant is going to have a Movement, WS/BS that will change depending on how much health it has left. Other than that it’s going to have Strength 6, Toughness 7, 12 Wounds, 4 Attacks, Leadership 10, and a 3+ Save.
Balethorn cannon is an Artefact for Kronos models with stranglethorn cannon only. You can swap it out for the balethorn cannon which has a 36″ Range, Assault D6, Strength 7, -1 AP, and does 2 Damage. Additionally, you can add 1 to hit rolls for this weapon when attacking a unit with 10 or more models, and invulnerable saves cannot be taken against this weapon. That’s one way to shut down horde armies.
Hydra models with two deathspitters with slimer maggots are going to be able to swap out the two deathsplitters with a Slimer Maggot Infestation. The Slimer Maggot Infestation has a 24″ Range, Assault 6, Strength 7, -1 AP, does 1 Damage, and you can re-roll failed wound rolls for this weapon.
The Miasma Cannon is going to be a great choice to swap in on any model with a heavy weapon. It will replace the model’s heavy venom cannon and has a 36″ Range, Assault D3, Strength 9, -2 AP, and does D3 Damage. Where it really gets painful is in its ability. The weapon auto hits if the target is within 8″, and it always wounds targets on a 2+, excluding vehicles.
The Tyranids are looking like they’re really going to be a strong and deadly force to see on the tabletop.
These are some big changes on the way for Tyranid players. What are your thoughts? Are you looking forward to the changes? Let us know in the comments below.
