Tyranids are ready to swarm the tabletops with more 40k rules coming to the faction inside Psychic Awakening Blood of Baal. Check out the latest for these bugs!
Warhammer Community revealed what’s on the way for your favorite bugs in 40k. Tyranids are in desperate need of a rules overhaul and here is the first real big wave of content we’ve seen coming to the faction since their codex.
Tyranids Get McPick Two Hive Fleet Rules
First seen in the Space Marine codex supplements, players could pull from a table of two Chapter rules. However, now it looks like Tyranids are jumping aboard as well.
Now, Blood of Baal lets you create your own Hive Fleet and you get to choose its Hive Fleet Adaptations!
The new book includes a list of cool rules and you get to select two of these abilities – if you’ve ever dreamed of being a Norn-Queen, your day has come. Try Hypermetabolic Acceleration and Senses of the Outer Dark for a Hive Fleet that’s all about munching in melee – they’ll help you get where you’re going faster and potentially mitigate the effects of Overwatch when you get there.
Kraken was one of the most melee-centric Hive Fleets out there from the main codex. However, with rules like rerolling advances AND getting a 4+++ FNP in Overwatch, Genestealer swarms might have just gotten even better.
Hive Fleet-Specific Psychic Powers
GW also announced that every major named Hive Fleet would be getting their own unique psychic power to cast. For Hive Fleet Leviathan, they can boost their Synapse range by another 6″.
As the different Hive Fleets adapt in various ways, they also develop distinctive psychic powers. Now, psyker-beasts from Behemoth, Kraken, Leviathan, Gorgon, Jormungandr, Hydra and Kronos can select a power specific to their Hive Fleet.
New Stratagems
Aggressive Adaptation can add a little more punch to a unit that has already devoured some enemy biomass. a Fatty squad of Genestealers that just ate some Scout Squad’s lunch can have their regular rending claws sit at -2 AP instead of -1. That’s huge, but it’ll also probably put a VERY big target on the units’ back.
Two New Tyranid Bio-Artifact Revealed
Pathogenesis is a relic weapon that increases the range of your character’s main weapon by 8″ and can reroll a single hit and wound. This should go on a unit that might have just a handful of shots but can dish out a lot of damage. This is really good for something with some indirect fire or just for keeping an HQ relevant while the rest of the force scuttles up the board.
All-New Tyranid Exclusive Ruleset: Adaptive Physiology
A Tyranid Warlord can usually select a Warlord Trait, but with Blood of Baal, your leader-beasts will have another option. Rather than determining a Trait, you can select an Infantry unit or a Monster in your army and give it an Adaptive Physiology instead. These represent a range of gene-spliced abilities that the Tyranids use in order to secure victory.
Essentially, instead of choosing a Warlord Trait, you can give a unit in your force an Adaptive Physiology to show their advanced genetic sequencing over their counterparts. This gives an entire unit a pseudo-Warlord Trait bonus rule!
Dynamic Camouflage is an awesome rule if you plan on keeping a unit back and camping an objective. Maybe something like Engineers in ITC. Since they can be shot at even behind friendly units, you can at least give them a +2 cover save and make them less attractive for your opponent to shoot at!
Overall, this is an early look at the Tyranid support but most definitely a step in the right direction. What are your thoughts on the new wave of rules? Do you think this will give them a unique edge over other factions in the current meta?
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About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials:@RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
