Tyranid rules you wish existed

[Doc Ruby]

Suppose you could design 3 Tyranid rules (or less) or modifications which would immediately be applied to the current codex. I thought it might be interesting to see what everyone could come up with, preferably designed at solving holes in the current codex.

I'll start:

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Armoured Shell: (An addition for our lack of vehicles)
Tyranid models with an Armoured Shell who are hit with shooting, blasts, and template attacks that are AP-, AP6, and AP5, treat the model as though it is T8 for the purposes of rolling to wound.

Tyranid Carnifex now have an Armoured Shell
Tyranid Tyrant Guard now have an Armoured Shell

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Tyranid Pyrovore are now independant characters

Bio-Implosion:
Tyranid Pyrovores may elect to use one Bio-Implosion attack in close combat during its initiative phase in addition to its normal attacks. If they do so, elect one friendly Tyranid Model in the same unit as the Pyrovore. The Pyrovore may not elect himself. The elected model deals a Str 6 AP3 attack that automatically hits each model in base to base contact with the elected model, friendly or otherwise. After this attack is resolved, the friendly Tyranid Model is removed from play as a casualty. This Tyranid casualty counts as though the opponent slayed the model for purposes of determining assault results.
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Leap: (A fix for what 6th edition broke)
Tyranid units which contain at least one model with the Leap special rule may make a special charge attack once per game. This charge attack allows the unit to charge even after running and/or arriving from outflanking.

Tyranid Hormagaunts now have Leap
Tyranid Genestealers now have Leap
Tyranid Ymmgarl Genestealers now have Leap
Tyranid Raveners now have Leap
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[patsfan32]

Throw in FMC being able to assault fliers and ill vote ypu to write the next codex lol. The sole reason A cc only army will never work

[Squire]

Obviously a prime should be able to join a group of warriors in a spore

[Nightmare20]

Deathspitters grant the ability to fire on fliers with no penalty (to justify the extra cost and add viability), MC torso weapons could exchanged for assault grenades, higher BS for the Tyrannofex to justify the cost of the rupture cannon.

[elitemaster]

Hormies should be beast again and can run and charge.

Hive Gaurd have skyfire.

Ever Tyranid go at its I even when charging into cover.

I ran into so many games were my opponemt wins cuz I go last in battle when i charge throw cover.

[Geneva]

Bring back Leaping as a biomorph. I want beast movement for my Warriors and Hormagaunts again. In fact, one of my wishlistings back when the 5th Ed codex was first coming out was for a way to give Carnifex leaping too. Just to be able to viably field a super fast, pure CC army of chittering scything talons.

I'd like to see Raveners get a similar rule to the Mawloc's template attack, even if it's something small like a S:4 Ap:5, Large Blast. It might make deep striking them actually worth considering for once. Also, let the damn Lictor actually assault when he arrives on the board! It never fails to astound me how bad the Lictor's rules were written this edition. And they weren't exactly stellar in 4th to begin with.

Lastly I really want to see Carnifexen become beastly battering rams again, like the old Shovel Tusker build in 4th. T7 with a 2+ save and a rule that let's them Tank Shock as if they were a vehicle. That would be sweet!

[fleetofclaw]

Masters of Ambush
All Tyranid creatures with the Move Through Cover special rule attack at their full initiative when assaulting through cover.

Lichtors and Deathleaper can assault out of deepstrike but scatter 1d6 (to represent them getting spotted on their approach)

Make Cfex t7 and ws5.

There are a billion other things but that's a start.

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using proboards

[killercroc]

Bring back the old bad-A broodlord that made marine units wet themselves. I always brought my Broodlord HQ and his retinue of evil scything talon, extended carapace, toxin sacs buddies.

[t⊗theark]

Bring back the mutability of the 4th edition codex.

Here's an anti air option:

Gargoyle Strike
A brood of gargoyles within synapse may assault any skimmer or flyer, eve if it's flying, as if it were a normal vehicle. If the brood chooses to do so, 2D6 wounds are automatically inflicted upon the brood, no saves allowed. The flyer takes a strength 7 hit for every 3 wounds inflicted upon the gargoyles unit.

I don't see it too far fetched that synapse creatures would throw gargoyles at flyers in a sorta bird strike.

[ranmafan]

Alien Reasoning - Tyranid Characters/ICs can choose to decline any challenges issued with no penalties (remain active in combat.)

The Ravenous Swarm - All Tyranid models add 3" to their charge distance (to a maximum of 12").

Aerial Combatants - Tyranid FMCs can engage flying vehicles in Assault (add some rules but this is the general idea)

Lurking Menace - If the unit contains at least one model with this rule, they may assault through difficult terrain at half their unmodified initiative. (striking at full I might be too OP, although that isn't a bad thing for Nids...)

Also:
Hormagants are now beasts. xD Now that they can hold objectives again...

[Raven]

Feb 3, 2013 22:39:37 GMT patsfan32 said:

Throw in FMC being able to assault fliers and ill vote ypu to write the next codex lol. The sole reason A cc only army will never work

Or allow you to Smash on Vector Strikes.

I'd like to see invulnerable saves on Hive Tyrants, (the larger nids generate warp fields according to a variety of sources except our codex) cheaper/tougher Carnifex, an anti-air option on the Harpy, faster hormagaunts, a use for the pyrovore, more frag spines/flesh hooks spread around on models that actually need them, Genestealers and Lictors being able to assault the turn they arrive from reserves, and the ability for the Swarmlord to ignore challenges.
I don't think any of those are too radical that the next codex writer wouldn't use them, and they would go a long way towards making different builds viable.

Feb 4, 2013 1:32:52 GMT t⊗theark said:

Bring back the mutability of the 4th edition codex.

Here's an anti air option:

Gargoyle Strike
A brood of gargoyles within synapse may assault any skimmer or flyer, eve if it's flying, as if it were a normal vehicle. If the brood chooses to do so, 2D6 wounds are automatically inflicted upon the brood, no saves allowed. The flyer takes a strength 7 hit for every 3 wounds inflicted upon the gargoyles unit.

I don't see it too far fetched that synapse creatures would throw gargoyles at flyers in a sorta bird strike.

I love it, it fits in with the fluff as well.

[Squire]

Not a Tyranid specific rule, but it would be good if using overwatch forced the shooting unit to strike at I1 in that round of combat

[chuckles]

Tervigons, I'd go for 2D6 spawned gaunts, with an option to use three or 4 but unable to spawn any more for the rest of the game.

I think increasing the number of Flying Monstrous Creatures we have and making sure they can pose a realistic threat to flyers would make an all CC swarm viable. Concept: Wyvern, about 120 points, WS4 and 3 or 4 attacks, no guns and same Toughness, save wounds etc as a Harpy, but with S7 and a special rule that lets them attack flyers in CC. I'd also give them Sonic Screech and leave it off the Harpy, to give the two more distinctive roles. Such a creature would fit very nicely in the Fast Attack slot as a flyer defence for CC orientated armies.

I think Synapse Creatures should get a 5+ invulnerable. As Daemons players will tell you a 5++ is good enough that you're glad you had it, but not so good that your opponents will hate you for having it.

Terror rules for the big gribblies that actually do something. Fear tests on 3D6 for non-Fearless units, normal Fear tests for Fearless etc units. Increased likelihood of units running in terror from the giant bio-mechanical monster. Potentially makes Carnifex better as a line-breaker unit (although I think I'd honestly prefer them just to get a halfway decent statline and points cost. Either works though).

Certain creatures getting the ability to assault the turn they arrive from reserve, though at the cost of being able to shoot. If anyone should be able to do this I feel it's the army that deploys, in the initial stages at least, almost entirely from orbital insertion.

I don't think the rules are, mostly, where our army falls down. It's in point costs, statlines and equipment that we get the biggest shaft.

[halos]

•Tyrannic Toughness;
Tyranid bioforms are deceptively resilient to damage, the alien impulse of the Hive Mind forcing them into action even with shattered limbs or ruptured organs.
Whilst within Synapse range any Tyranid unit will suffer the effects of Instant Death only from wounds with a Strength value one higher than that normally required to inflict Instant Death.
eg. A T4 Warrior will only suffer from Instant Death from a wound of S9 or higher (T4x2 = 8, 8+1 = 9)
This new Instant Death threshold does apply for caculating whether or not a unit will be allowed a Feel No Pain roll.
Tyrannic Tougness has no effect on Instant Death caused by Force Weapons, Boneswords, Tesseract Labyrinths or other similar arcane equipment.

((This is, I think, a mid-point between the silliness of army-wide EW in 4th ed and the current 'everything that's not a MC is weak to ID' standpoint.))

•Grappling Limbs
'Grappling limbs' is a catch-all term for any number of flailing arms, tails, tentacles or mandibles on a Tyranid organism designed to latch onto an enemies guard and pull apart their defense before combat begins.
A Tyranid model with the Grappling Limbs biomorph counts as having Assault Grenades for the purposes of charging through terrain. Note that this does not mean they can throw Grenades in the shooting phase nor use them to assault vehicles, they simply ignore the initative penalty for charging through terrain. In addition the Grappling Limbs of a Monstrous Creature are formidably strong, enough to keep grasp of even the mightiest warrior. Enemy Characters in a challenge with a Tyranid Monstrous Creature armed with Grappling Limbs suffers a +1 penalty to the Initative check required to escape the Challenge via an Heroic Intervention.
-Hormagaunts, Trygons/Trygon Primes and Lictors/Deathleaper have Grappling Limbs as standard.
-Can be purchased for Genestealers (+1pt per model)/Broodlord (+3pts)
-Raveners (+3pts per model)
-Termagants (+1pt per model)
-Hive Tyrants (+10pts)
-Tyrant Guard (+4pts per model)
-Ripper Swarms (+1pt per base)
-Tyranid Warriors (+2pts per base)
-Mawloc (+10pts)

((Just adds some much needed Grenades, there is no reason why Tyranid assault units shouldn't get some grenade equivalent, it's just daft.))

•Pheromone Trail
The Tyranid Lictor is a fearsome ambush predator, reports of units being stalked across the landscape for weeks before the beasts strike are not unheard of. Worse yet the presence of a Lictor inevitably means the rest of the swarm is not far behind...
For every unit of Lictors (including the Deathleaper) in a Tyranid army the controlling player may 'mark' a single enemy unit using a suitable counter or other method.
This marked unit is the target of the Lictor and is unnerved by half-sightings of the elusive clawed phantom, chittering sounds from outside tents whilst resting and other phenomena producing a sense of unease. They are unwilling to travel through dense terrain lest the Lictor lies in wait ahead. A Marked unit suffers a -1 penalty to any cover saves it recieves from Terrain (cover saves from Wargear, Mysterious Objectives or Night Fighting are unaffected) in addition the unit suffers a -1" movement penalty when it attempts to move through any difficult terrain as it thoroughly scours the area for traces of the Lictor.
Whilst the Lictor is not on the table it will attempt to ambush straggling members of the unit and pull them into the undergrowth or up shadowy stairwells in order to devour them. A Marked unit counts all Area Terrain as Dangerous Terrain. In addition the more Lictors in a brood marking the unit the more dangerous the prospect of travelling through terrain becomes. For every Lictor above the first in a brood the Dangerous Terrain checks for the marked unit suffer a +1 to pass. (So with 3 Lictors a roll of 4+ would be required to avoid being ambushed.)
The mark of the stalking Lictors is not just for their benefit, other Tyranids can follow the rich chemical scent layed out by the Lictors in order to guide their assault. Any Tyranid unit arriving from Reserves (although not via Deep Strike) may attempt to declare an assault versus a Marked unit. This includes the Lictors themselves.
The player turn after the Lictors have arrived from Reserves their Mark is removed from play and it's effects also. Everytime the Deathleaper re-enters Reserves he may select a new target to Mark.
Finally the effects of Pheromone Marks are cumulative. A unit marked by 3 Lictor broods would suffer a -3 to it's Cover Saves and -3" for moving through terrain.
((Something to buff the poor Lictor. Might be a tad powerful as I haven't tested it, but I think it's fine. Most Tyranid guns don't get the AP to abuse the loss of cover save. Only really 'OP' factor is charging from reserves, but really it just lets Genestealers do what they could in 5th anyway. Plus the effect is lost after the Lictor arrives anyway.))

•Brood Symbiosis
A Tyranid horde is truly a sight to behold; waves of small chittering beasts bound atwixt the legs of collosal bio-monstrosities and other creatures near twice the height of a man lumber amongst it all.
The Tyranids are well known for their formidable synergy between different broods, using the abilities of a particular organism to shore up the weaknesses of another.
Brood Symbiosis allows broods of Warriors, Termagants, Hormagaunts and Genestealers to include members of other broods within their ranks to improve their combat effectiveness. For example a Genestealer Brood may choose to bring with it a Pyrovore to melt through enemy strongholds before charging in.
Models added to broods in this manner become a part of that Brood in every way, they must move with it, keep coherency with it and fire at or assault it's target.
-Adding Brood Symbiosis
-Any brood of Warriors, Raveners, Termagants, Hormagaunts or Genestealers may purchase Brood Symbiotes with the below limitations and points costs:
-0-3 Warrior* (Pts: As codex entry +10)
-0-2 Pyrovore (Pts: As codex entry +5)
-0-3 Ravener* (Pts: As codex entry +5)
-0-8 Genestealer* (As codex entry +2)
-0-1 Venomthrope** (As codex entry +10)
-0-6 Spore Mines*** (As codex entry +1)
--A brood may only over purchase one type of Brood Symbiote, a Hormagaunt unit cannot also contain both Genestealers and Warriors, for example.
--All Brood Symbiotes may purchase biomorphs as if they were normal broods with the exception of Genestealers which may never be upgraded to Broodlords but can otherwise buy upgrades as normal.
--Brood Symbiotes are assumed to be adapted towards travelling with their host brood. As such Brood Symbiotes will gain the Unit Type and and movement upgrades (Fleet, Move Through Cover, Bounding Leap, Infiltrate) of the host brood.
--It is typically a simple matter to pick out Brood Symbiotes from the organisms around them. And model with Precision Shots may allocate to a Brood Symbiote on the roll of a 5+ instead of the usual 6+. Brood Symbiotes are not Characters and may not make Lo,S rolls. However, the models of the surrounding brood can still attempt to shield the Symbiote with their bodies if necessary, this action is resolved identically to a Lo,S roll but will only succeed on a 5+.

*Brood Symbiosis cannot be used to add models of the same type as the host unit, so a Brood of Warriors may not add 0-3 additional Warriors as a part of Brood Symbiosis for example. (Similarly for Genestealers and Raveners.)
**A brood containing a Venomthrope will count as having the defensive grenade effect of the Spore Cloud as if it were a Venomthrope unit until the Venomthrope is slain.
*** Spore Mines attached to a unit are guided by the movement of the surrounding individuals and do not suffer from random movement, instead just move them as part of the unit. In addition the Spore Mines attached via Brood Symbiosis are specially adapted to spray an area with virulent toxins to which the host unit is immune. When the host unit charges or is charged the Spore Mines will react as normal models (piling in at I1.) As soon as they come into base contact with an enemy model they will detonate as usual however ignore any Tyranid models from the host brood caught in the blast.

((This is just something I threw together at the end, providing a bit of the mutability which is missing from the 5th ed book whilst, hopefully, not being too confusing towards opponents. Plus it allows for some nice combos which are think are mostly not too broken.))

[chuckles]

I like the Brood Symbiosis idea but it does seem too complicated. If I were writing a new Codex (and I am, although obviously as a fandex since I don'twork for GW sadly), I'd simply put the option to take a model from the listed broods into the entry for other broods (so in the Options for Warriors you can pay X points to add a venomthrope or whatever). Then I'd give the models that can join the brood the following special rule:

Mixed Broods. Models with the Mixed Broods special rule can be targeted as if they were a separate model to the rest of the brood. However, they may make use of the Look Out Sir! rule, with wounds being allocated to a different model on a roll of 3+.

Simple but effective.

An alternative would be to give the models you've mentioned a special rule akin to what Wolf Guard have allowing them to be split across broods as squad leaders. In some ways I think this would work better as you've got more limitations on how many of these guys you can take, and it just feels neater to me.