Just getting back into the hobby.

[joekin]

I have a question and was out of the hobby for quite some time. What are the rules I need to play Tyranids? What main rule book do I need/ army book. Also, are there any other additional books you need to play the army?

I have a 25PL Octarius themed system tournament that is coming up. It something small that makes it easier for old/new players to get back into the hobby. I don’t know what is good or bad with the current edition and was curious to get back into things. I have not played for a few years.

[hivefleetkerrigan]

For tyranids, you will need:
The tyranid codex
The latest power level adjustments
The FAQs for your rules

You might want:
War zone octarius: rising tide
White dwarf 471

The "you might want" list is a set of additional rules that give tyranids a lot more power and flexibility on the table but are not required to play.

Hope this helps and happy gaming!

[terminatoruk]

Welcome back! I was in the same boat a few years back too :-)

Unfortunately it isn't the best time rules wise currently as it is a bit all over the place at the moment.

To flesh out the above:

- You'll need a copy if the Warhammer 40000 9th edition rulebook. GW also offer a free copy of the core rules as a PDF on their website to get you started

- The current Tyranids Codex is from 8th edition / 2017 (18?) and is a bit out of date now. There are hints that our 9th edition codex is coming this year and maybe as soon as March so might not be the best investment in a physical copy at the moment. I won't link but you might be able to get by on an electronic copy for the time being (I've had a odd on my phone for years) until the new physical copy edition turns up. Alternatively - try looking into Battlescribe which is a list builder and army rules parser all-in-one (and free) or checking out the website Wahpedia.ru which has rules for everything in the game in a Wikipedia style website

- War Zone Octarius Book 1 : Rising Tide has been out for a few months but contains an excellent Hive Fleet Levithan (the classic white and purple gw official scheme) supplement that has a bunch of psychic powers, relics and stratagems which are significantly better than the base codex. In addition, it also has the new Synaptic Link rules (powerful paid-for buffs for synapse creatures) and a re-print of the 'Blood of Baal' psychic awakening book that came towards the end of 8th edition which has some useful 'adaptive physiology' rules that can buff key units - a recommended purchase

- The White Dwarf as mentioned above (I know, weird place to have it) has the rules for our hottest and, arguably, most effective way to play - a new army of renown called the 'Crusher Stampede'. This army restricts you to using only our biggest monsters and our largest infantry models such as Tyranid Warriors and Raveners (so no Termagants, rippers, hormaguants, genesteallers etc..). In exchange you gain an army-wide significant durability buff and it the most effective way to play a 'monster mash' style army of big creatures

- Finally, this weekend the pre-order of Chapter Approved 2022 went up for order. It contains the latest mission pack and has all the up-to-date points for fielding a Tyranid army. Quite useful but it's looking like these will come out twice a year meaning they only have a 6-month lifespan. Alternatively you can get away with using Battlescribe (which gets automatically point updates) and looking up missions in Wahpedia.

Good luck and let us know if you have any more questions!