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Hey Dakka,

I didn't know whereto put this but I'm wondering could anybody help me making special rules for my Tyranid terrain?
I'd really like people to help.

Thanks, Tyranid Horde

Depends what we're talking about. If you're doing Tyranid digesting pools, the regular dangerous terrain rules would work just fine. Or you could have units that get to close to a brood nest take D6 strength 3 attacks, to represent newborn bugs attacking them. If said nests are in synapse range, they won't attack Tyranids. Anyway, those are just my two quick ideas.

Its like a brood nest so I was thinking about rolling a dice for things that may happen.

could make for an interest house rule. Though if the terrain can attack the enemy, why not make it to where the enemy can kill the terrain? Something like using the buildings rules would work id think.

Yeah! That could work.

In Dawn of War 2, tyranids have these little terrain emplacements that lob spore mines at things approaching them.

I'm not sure how viable it would be to use in a tabletop game, but maybe a little thing that uses the biovore spore mine launcher weapon rules to attack would be neat.

One of the roll for effect rules should be that any infantry crossing the area take a LD test or Go to Ground due to spores bursting up into their faces.

There can be spore chimneys, which exhaust microscopic spore clouds. Those spores are toxic and corrosive, and can penalize or damage nearby units; for example, as the Hierophant biotitan (Apocalypse): the cloud hits with initiative 1 and hits automatically; wounds with 4+ (only affects to units wich are in close-combat, but in our case, they can hit all units in a radio with some 1D6 probability) (extracted from Apocalypse book).

Yeah, the spore chimneys could be a neat idea. You could do what he said above, or maybe use the venomthrope's spore cloud special rule, or the toxic miasma rule, or all of them!

I'm liking the ideas! Keep em coming!

Glad to help ^^

There are three ways of going about this sort of thing:

1) Tyranid-themed terrain with no special rules beyond Impassable, Difficult, Dangerous etc. This is the version all players should/would be fine with, since you've invented nothing outside of the core rulebook. I know it's not what you've asked for here, but it's good to keep this option in mind as a fallback in case someone starts to cry.

2) Tyranid-themed terrain with special rules that affect all players (including Tyranid players). You can start to have a lot of fun here, and since it is affecting everyone it can remain reasonably fair.

3) Tyranid-themed terrain with special rules that affect different armies in different ways (e.g. Tyranid terrain does not attack other Tyranids, or gives passive boosts to other Tyranids, or only atttacks vehicles etc). This is where you can start getting really flavourful, but you also begin to sacrifice balance for narrative. Ideal for a themed campaign (or simple stand-alone games) where you want more than just player versus Tyranid, and go so far as to have player versus Tyranid & Tyranid-infested landscape.

Up next, what sorts of Tyranid-themed terrain can we reach out for?

Spore Chimneys - alien towers growing out of the landscape, belching forth spores in all shapes and sizes from microscopic necrotic spores that liquify your lungs to full-blown Spore Mines that drift off into the distance.
Capilary Towers - alien towers that grow out of the landscape and (eventually) reach up into space - it is through these towers that the Hive Fleet in space consumes much of the planet below.
Reclamation Pool - lakes of alien digestive fluids into which the planets' surface is dumped, where it is rendered down into goo and ultimately fed up the Capiliary Towers. These start out as small ponds, and eventually become vast oceans.
Magma Vents - tunnels that stretch down into the mantle under the planet's surface, releasing massive amounts of thermal energy so that the Tyranid infestation can grown with unholy speed. These occasionally errupt with jets of super-heated air. They are carved out my Magma Corers, a special subspecies of Carnifex adapted for digging and resistant to extremes of temperature and pressure.
Brood Nests - organic growths on the surface of a world that cover underground Tyranid breeding chambers. They perform a dual function, replenishing the marauding swarms as they pass by and defending the local area if non-Tyranid forces approach.
Brood Hive - massive organic growths, essentially a large-scale brood nest where larger and more complex Tyranid organisms (Carnifexes, Trygons, Bio-Titans etc) are grown by the surface infestation.
Hive Nodes - organic growths on the surface of a world that perform various functions for the Tyranids depending on types, including Synapse control, belching poisoned clouds, firing Spore Mines and lashing out with barbed whips.
Assorted Tyranid Flora - local plantlife grows out of control and becomes predatory, and the Tyranids bring their own species of vicious alien plant as well. A jungle is a deadly place for a non-Tyranid during an infestation, with flesh-hungry vines and man-traps growing with insane speed all across the surface.

There are a lot of ideas in there, most of which would be pretty easily translated onto the tabletop. A few of the more distinct options could have a fairly large impact on a game, and so would need to be worked into a scenario somehow so as not to unduly upset game balance. An assault on a massive Brood Hive for instance, where the objective is to destroy the Hive is far more player-friendly than a simple 5 objective game where the Tyranid player has the added advantage of periodically spawning extra units.

A few suggestions for rules while I'm here (note, these are all firmly under the "themed mission, unbalanced for normal play" category):

Spore Chimney - Impassable Terrain, generates a Venomthrope's Spore Cloud in a 6" radius (normal effects, so 5+ cover to Tyranids, Dangerous Terrain test taken by any enemy unit that assaults a Tyranid unit within 6" of the Chimney, or comes within 6" of the Chimney itself, allows the Tyranid player to fire one Spore Mine up to 12" from the Chimney each turn as if it were a Biovore. T8, 3W, 3+Sv, "killing" the Chimney will deactivate the Spore Cloud effect, though the Chimney itself remains as Impassable Terrain.

Synapse Hive Node - Impassable Terrain, grants Synapse to all Tyranid units within 6". T5, 2W, 4+Sv, "killing" the Node will deactivate the Synapse effect, though the Node itself remains as Impassable Terrain.

Spore Mine Hive Node - Impassable Terrain, allows the Tyranid player to fire one Spore Mine up to 24" from the Chimney each turn as if it were a Biovore. T5, 2W, 4+Sv, "killing" the Node will deactivate the Spore Mine launches, though the Node itself remains as Impassable Terrain.

Brood Nest - Impassable Terrain, grants Synapse to all Tyranid units within 6", at the start of each Tyranid turn roll a D6, on a 1-3 a unit of 3D6 Termagants with Fleshborers is spawned (with no model more than 6" from the Brood Nest), on a 4-5 a unit of 3D6 Hormagaunts is spawned (with no model more than 6" from the Brood Nest), on a 6 a unit of D6 Genestealers is spawned (with no model more than 6" from the Brood Nest). T6, 5W, 4+Sv, "killing" the Brood Nest will prevent further units being spawned, though the Brood Nest itself remains as Impassable Terrain.

Brood Hive - Impassable Terrain, grants Synapse to all Tyranid units within 12", at the start of each Tyranid turn roll a D6, on a 1-2 a unit of 5D6 Termagants with Fleshborers is spawned (with no model more than 6" from the Brood Hive), on a 3-4 a unit of 5D6 Hormagaunts is spawned (with no model more than 6" from the Brood Hive), on a 5 a unit of 2D6 Genestealers is spawned (with no model more than 6" from the Brood Hive), on a 6 a Carnifex (with two sets of Scything Talons) is spawned (not placed more than 6" from the Brood Hive). T8, 10W, 4+Sv, Regenerate, "killing" the Brood Nest will prevent further units being spawned, though the Brood Hive itself remains as Impassable Terrain.

Obviously these examples have gotten more and more crazy as I've gone along, but something along those lines can really inject something different into a game of 40k if you're willing to try something themed. Of course, you can go down a much more user-friendly route and simply model local plants grown out of control with Tyranid parts (Dangerous Terrain), Reclamation Pools (Impassable Terrain) and Capilary Towers (Impassable Terrain, tall and Line of Sight blocking).

I love these ideas and thank the OP for starting this thread.

On the nest/hive idea I'd go with the progenitor rule so that there is a chance of 'running out of eggs' and I'll probably playtest the wounds/saves.
But yes over the top and themed

Dont forget the most important tyranid terrain of all! A brood of dead carnifex's with choppas stuck in their bodies, and huge rents from power claws, and maybe a few orc legs that got left behind....

Xyptc, thats a great amount of ideas! I'm definitly play-testing them.

The easiest way to make terrain that boosts tyranids or only attacks other armies is to grant them a point value. This allows you to make them a bit tougher and attack a bit stronger while keeping everything fair

But then everyone would avoid them.

well it is up to you to place them somewhere hard to avoid, like right by an objective or in your opponents deployment zone

Tyranid Horde wrote:But then everyone would avoid them.

Which is why I recommend building them into the scenario you're playing. The point of inventing the neat little rules for Tyranid terrain is so that it impacts your game in a thematic, so it makes sense that you'd design the scenario with that in mind. If you're just looking for additions to your Tyranid list to hammer people with then it's probably a bad idea to invent terrain rules that advantage you.

It doesn't even have to be that complicated - a simple Take & Hold type mission to an objective in the centre of the board, through a table dotted with hostile Tyranid terrain and marauding Tyranid units could easily represent attacking forces trying to fight there way to "something" to either blow it up, collect a sample etc, and it ensures that your terrain has an appropriate impact on the game.