This is a (hopefully) brief and handy guide to using the Tyranid army in Games Workshop’s (delete according to personal taste) popular and engrossing/sad and geeky/overpriced and oversimplified science fiction wargame Warhammer 40,000. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

What follows is only a description of what does and doesn’t work for me. There are other, equally valid ways of playing this army (I shouldn’t wonder).

First Principles

There are a couple of obvious things to bear in mind when playing Tyranids.

1. You should get into close combat as fast as possible.

This is mainly because this is where the strength of the army is to be found! Nearly everything in the army is good up close, whether it be due to high strength and the ability to ignore armour, high initiative and razor claws, or simply loads of attacks and sheer weight of numbers. My Tyranids have only been beaten in close combat by Blood Angels, although I suspect World Eaters and other new Chaos assault troops could give me a close call, and Orks and Dark Eldar have fought me to a standstill.

Getting into close combat also neutralises one of the army’s main weaknesses: the enemy’s ability to target any model not hidden by scenery (which usually means either your big bugs (Hive Tyrant or Carnifexes) or Genestealers. Models in combat can’t be targetted, plus close combats block lines of fire. This should not be used as an excuse for arranging things so that one Genestealer is fighting a Wraithlord, with another ten strung out behind it to shield the rest of the army on the grounds of ‘that unit’s in combat, it can’t be shot through’!

2. Protect your important troops.

By ‘important’ I mean your Hive Tyrant, Tyranid Warriors, and Carnifexes. The first two are vitally important as they are the only things keeping the army under control, while the Carnifex is one of the most formidable units in the game and will deservedly draw a lot of fire. The Tyrant can have a 2+ save as one of its psychic powers, which makes it nearly krak-missile proof. The Carnifex can also buy extra armour to get a 2+ save. Both are very good value for points and I would only consider not buying the armour if I knew I was fighting an army with a lot of AP1 and 2 weapons, such as Eldar (of any persuasion).

Arguably even better is the 4+ save Warriors can get for a meagre 3 points per model. This is pretty much compulsory for me, without it they get scythed down by bolters far too easily.

The only extra armour option I tend to ignore is the 5+ save you can give to Genestealers. 5+ still isn’t enough against anything stronger than a lasgun or grot blaster, and in close combat the Stealers will hopefully slaughter most of their enemy and so not get hit back very often. Plus, it’s a tricky conversion…

Tyranid Psychic Powers

Well, I must confess I tend to stick to the same combos – Warp Blast and Warp Shield for my Hive Tyrant (along with the compulsory Synapse Creature and Horror), and Warp Blast for Zoanthropes. This is to protect my Tyrant and give the army some ranged anti-armour capacity. That said, a power-by-power examination follows…

• Synapse Creature – one of the foundation stones of the ‘Nid army design. Comes as standard on Tyrants and Warriors. I would only give it to a Zoanthrope if I wasn’t taking many Warriors, which hardly ever happens.
• The Horror – not really a factor in most of my games as it only works when someone assaults my Tyrant - which hardly ever happens, I’m usually the one doing the assaulting, and anyone so brave or foolish is usually Fearless anyway. Plus I keep forgetting about it. Can’t be given to Zoanthropes, but then again you wouldn’t want to anyway.
• Psychic Scream – never used it, and from reading the codex I’m not sure I want to. By lowering the Ld, it makes an enemy rout more likely, and I’m not sure I really want my enemies running off, it means I have to chase after them. I would much rather they stuck around and got eaten where they stood. Possibly a good investment for a Zoanthrope when playing a large, low Ld army (i.e Imperial Guard).
• Catalyst – used it a couple of times against Dark Eldar, which was a nasty surprise for my opponent – it allows dead models to strike back after being slain by faster Initiative troops, and is therefore not popular with high I but low save guys like Wyches. The new Wych rules would probably negate most of the beneift, though. Not a power I would routinely take.
• Warp Blast – the big brain zap. Now, I don’t like Venom Cannons, they’re low AP, they don’t penetrate armour, on Warriors they’re only like a weak autocannon, and on big bugs they take up a valuable weapons ‘slot’. So I only have one in the army (on a Warrior). This leaves me slightly short on anti-armour capacity, especially at the start of games when tanks are usually at least two foot away across the table. My answer is to take at least one model with Warp Blast. More than one can be devastating: I’ve played against armies with three Zoanthropes all with this power, and on the Blast setting all three firing at the same unit can annihilate a Space Marine tactical squad in a single turn. So a compulsary purchase in my book.
• Warp Shield – compulsary for Zoanthropes, and quite welcome it is too. Virtually compulsory on Hive Tyrants, too (see notes up the page on protecting the big bugs).

The Army List

HQ

Hive Tyrant

Lovely model (okay, the inspiration for the current version is clear), lovely rules, pretty much compulsory in any game over 500 points. One of the nastiest killers in the game if you use it right – which in my opinion means giving it rending claws, scything talons, Warp Blast, Warp Shield, and Implant Attack. The result is a beastie capable of taking on anything in a straight fight (Implant Attack effectively halves the wounds of any enemy characters you take on), although you should be wary of engaging characters supported by a squad unless you have some little bugs to back you up too.

Tyrant Guard

Very useful against shooty armies, especially when the terrain is sparse. Basically just some extra wounds for the Hive Tyrant when those AP1 and 2 starcannon, plasma weapons, lascannon and railguns start pointing its way, anything they manage to kill themselves is just a bonus.

Elites

Tyranid Warriors (can also be taken as HQ)

Nice models, and the synapse ability is very useful (the Tyrant can’t be everywhere at once), but rarely a game-winning unit in my experience. This may be down to my habit of giving broods a real mixture of ranged weapons, concentrating all on one type may be better. A mix of talons and claws works pretty well in close combat, and with S5 they don’t even need claws to take out vehicles as heavy as rhinos or (even better) Killa Kanz.
I use two units of 4-5 models in general, but you could potentially take five broods of nine given they’re an HQ and an Elites choice.

Lictors

A unit that sounds cool but one I’ve had trouble making work in the past. Like most of the medium-sized Nid monsters, this works fine ripping into low I, lightly armoured troops, but against anything in power armour you really have to be lucky with the dice to do much damage, and with T4 and a 5+ save it’s not going to be able to take many enemy hits back. Makes a pretty good ambush hunter against vehicles, though, I’ve got through a Land Raider’s hull with one of these on occasion. I keep forgetting about the hit and run ability though. Not an essential unit in my book.

Troops

Genestealers

Always worth considering, not least for their Infiltrate ability. That said, always take a full squad as you need as many attacks as possible when you charge (more attacks equals more dice equals more 6s equals more instant kills against the enemy). The least mobile Nid infantry and so best used to sneak up on the enemy lines/firebase rather than engaging in running battles with fast troops and assault specialists. If you do get a full charge in in numbers, you can potentially take out anything – I’ve done this against Death Company, Wraithlords, tanks… haven’t had the chance to try it on a C’Tan yet but I’m no particular hurry to!

Termagants

Just about the only numerous troop type that’s no use in close combat, but they are quite zippy and cheap. The shooting attack isn’t anything special either. However, they are extremely useful for tying up enemy nasties such as dreadnoughts and the like – chucking 20 unbreakable Termies at a dread will keep it bogged down for most of the rest of the game, while (hopefully) you can concentrate on chewing up the rest of the enemy army. Be sure to leave a synapse unit hanging around nearby, though. Or, stick a hive node mutant in the brood and send it off to a quiet corner of the battlefield (even leave it in the deployment zone) if table quarters are important to the mission you’re playing.

Ripper Swarms

Mercifully cheap and a potential distraction, but tactically very limited and weak. 3 wounds a base sounds good but T3 means even assault cannon and Tau plasma rifles can Instant Kill them. Use them to absorb the first enemy charge, if he makes one, or just plough them into combat to soak up wounds. In an emergency they can be used to tie up dreads as mentioned just up the page, but they won’t last long against S10 dreadnoughts (or anything else).

Hormagaunts

Cheap, nasty, fast, and fairly essential. Use at least twenty, slam them forward as fast as you can (don’t go out of your way to stay in cover), and swamp the enemy front line. They tend to zoom off out of synapse range very quickly and have low Gaunt Ld so a hive node mutant is always worth considering. These guys should be your first wave of attackers.

Fast Attack

Raveners

Cool model, but another troop type that really struggles against power armour and the like. Probably best used either singly or in serious numbers (my preference would be the second option). Like the Lictor, only T4 and with a 5+ save, so you need to devastate the enemy if you go into combat with them, to cut down the numbers of return attacks. Their high A score means devourers are quite a good choice of weapon, I hesitate to go all-out for close combat with them. Even with a mix of weapons they can be lethal when assaulting Orks and Guard.

Gargoyles

Never used them (the models look quite fragile and fiddly to carry around), but they look like a mixture of Termies and Hormies. Can’t really speak about these guys with any authority whatsoever.

Heavy Support

Carnifex

Don’t leave home without at least one (I take two) and think very seriously about buying extended carapace for every one you take. These things are game-winners if used right, easily capable of taking on nearly any other unit in the game (though, once again, hard characters supported by squads should be handled with care). They don’t come with a great range of weapons – don’t bother with rending claws at all, the instant wound for rolling a 6 to hit isn’t worth it as you’ll Instant Kill any normal-sized biped on a 2+ to wound anyway (Invulnerable Saves notwithstanding). At least one pair of scything talons is a must (you need at least three attacks), and two pairs are a good investment. As I said, I don’t bother with venom cannon on big bugs, but on a Carnifex a barbed strangler is a S8 weapon with the ordinance template. Need I say more? I nearly always take two of these things, one with two pairs of talons, the other with talons and strangler (in the past it’s killed eighty percent of a Guard infantry squad with a single shot). With the extended carapace, massed heavy weapons or severe close combat nastiness (force weapons or agonisers) are required to kill them.

Zoanthropes

Hmmm, these are good, just not as good as Carnifex. I generally only use mine when I fancy a change or I’m pretty sure I’ll be facing a fast opponent who’ll be able to outflank the swarm and attack any biovores I take (Space Wolves, Dark Eldar and Speed Freeks, generally). It usually gets given Warp Blast for extra anti-armour shooting. The 2+ save means that in an emergency it can be used to tie up non-power weapon equipped squads in close combat and stop them shooting (useful against devastators, broadside suits, etc).

Biovores

Useful, nice models too, just not very mobile. If you’re lucky the spore mines will disrupt your enemy’s shooting at the beginning of the game and you may get lucky and kill a light vehicle. The fact they’re not a guess range weapon is a real bonus. The real issue with them is what ammo to take – frag, poison or bio-acid? My default choice is poison, as it can potentially hurt things like Wraithlords and Greater Demons, and is also nasty against armies that rely on open-topped vehicles to get into combat. Frag isn’t too shabby either, but really only useful against big soft armies like Guard or Orks. Bio-acid I tend to avoid as the template is so small and so likely to point the wrong way, plus you need 5s to hurt most power-armoured troops (who are the guys you’ll probably be shooting acid mines at). When I can I take frag and poison and mix it up a bit. These guys normally get left behind the advance and drift out of synapse range – it’s at this point you inevitably roll an 11 for their instinctive behaviour Ld check, but that’s life…

General Strategy and Tactics

Playing to your mission criteria is usually a good idea but with Nids you really are limited to just assaulting the enemy ASAP. There are all sorts of reasons for this, but it mainly boils down to the fact that the enemy will almost certainly be more shooty than you and spreading out or sneaking around will almost certainly just give him time to blast away at you.

Aggressive deployment (i.e., as close to the enemy as possible) is strongly recommended, but use cover to protect as many bugs as possible, particularly synapse creatures. And then just get him - Hormagaunts and Raveners should be in assault range by turn three at the very latest, until then try to keep him tied up with spore mines, Lictors and any Genestealers you’re allowed to infiltrate. This first wave will probably go splat quite quickly, but it should take a fair few models down with it and block some enemy fire lanes. Your slower second wave of Termagants, Rippers, Warriors, Zoanthropes and non-infiltrating Genestealers should be moving up anyway, taking what shots they can at enemy armour and fire support. Stick the Rippers, Warriors, and Genestealers into combat the first chance you get. Hot on their hooved heels should be your third wave of the Hive Tyrant, his Guards, and the Carnifexes, who should be more than capable of tackling the survivors.

Most of your army isn’t that durable so you will probably find yourself reduced to only remnants of your broods of smaller bugs, leaving the big fellas to tidy up the scraps. The important thing is to keep your opponent under pressure. Which units you should target first depends on your mission – in Cleanse, it should be his most mobile stuff, which will otherwise be able to get away from you and contest table quarters. If the game depends on VPs, just jump on the juiciest unit in sight. With any army, trial and error and learning from doing is part of the fun, but this is just what I’ve found works for me.