Tyranid Hydraphant

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**Eddtheman**

Ive decided to build a Hydraphant to be the centerpiece for my tyranid army, (basically the nid version of a warlord/imperator titan), but their aren't any official rules for it and all unofficial rules ive seen have been pretty overpowered.I wanted the bug to be true to the Epic Fluff: a large heirophant for taking on superheavies, but does not provide the swarm with any psycic support. Here is my forst attempt:
Points- 2,500
Ws Bs S T W I A Ld Sv
4 3 10 10 12 3 6 10 2+

Equipment and Special Rules
Gargantuan Creature (see Forgeworld's apocalypse update)
Regeneration -
At the start of the Tyranid players turn, as long as the Hydraphant is still alive, roll a D6 for each wound that the model has suffered. On the roll of a 6, a wound is regained.
Toxic Miasma-
At the end of each player turn, every non vehicle enemy model within 6” of the Hydraphant must pass a toughness test or suffer a wound at Ap-. In addition, all non tyranid units engaged in combat with the Hydraphant take a hit with the following profile : S1, Ap-, poisoned [4+], unwieldy.
Warp Field-
The Hydraphant is protected by a psychic shield, similar to the protection of a Zoeanthrope, it provides a 5+ invulnerable save.
Hydraphant Biocannon
72”- S 10, Ap 2, Assault 10
Bio Plasma Spray
Hellstorm, S7, Ap 2, Assault 1 torrent

**McNinja**

Eddtheman wrote:Ive decided to build a Hydraphant to be the centerpiece for my tyranid army, (basically the nid version of a warlord/imperator titan), but their aren't any official rules for it and all unofficial rules ive seen have been pretty overpowered.I wanted the bug to be true to the Epic Fluff: a large heirophant for taking on superheavies, but does not provide the swarm with any psycic support. Here is my forst attempt:
Points- 2,500
Ws Bs S T W I A Ld Sv
...4 3 10 10 12 3 6 10 2+

Equipment and Special Rules
Gargantuan Creature (see Forgeworld's apocalypse update)
Regeneration -
At the start of the Tyranid players turn, as long as the Hydraphant is still alive, roll a D6 for each wound that the model has suffered. On the roll of a 6, a wound is regained.
Toxic Miasma-
At the end of each player turn, every non vehicle enemy model within 6” of the Hydraphant must pass a toughness test or suffer a wound at Ap-. In addition, all non tyranid units engaged in combat with the Hydraphant take a hit with the following profile : S1, Ap-, poisoned, unwieldy.
Lash Whips-
Anyenemy model in base contact with the Hydraphant counts as initiative 1.
Warp Field-
The Hydraphant is protected by a psychic shield, similar to the protection of a Zoeanthrope, it provides a 5+ invulnerable save.
Hydraphant Biocannon
72”- S 10, Ap 2, Assault 10
Bio Plasma Spray
Hellstorm, S7, Ap 2, Assault 1. Place the template so that the small end is within 12” of the Hydraphant, and the larger end is no closer to the Hydraphant.

Let's see... Regeneration could be changed to It Will Not Die, Toxic Maisma doesn't have a poisoned value (4+?), Lash Whips is a tad OP, and the Bio-Plasma spray should just have the Torrent special rule since the wording is the same. Other than that, not bad. Worth more than 2500 points, though.

**Valkyrie**

Can't have 12 wounds, as no stat can go higher than 10

**Eddtheman**

@ McNinja- changed bio plasma and removed lash whips. Toxic miasma should be 4+ (still somewhat in 5th edition mode) I chose regeneration over it will not die because regeneration is in the tyranid codex, at the rule ties the Hydraphant in with the rest of the codex.

@ Valkyrie- the rulebook does say that stats cannot go above 10, but I think that the Hydraphant needs them for the price. The Heirophant, it's smaller cousin, is T9 with 10 wounds and costs half the Hydra.

I started with the Heirophant from the Apoc book and built from there. For double the points, the Hydraphant lost Weapon skill, Initiative and attacks and rerolls to hit, but gained wounds, toughness and 1 better invulnerable save. Regeneration, toxic miasma and lash whips were taken directly from the Heirophant. The Hydraphant guns gained range, 1 better Ap and 2 shots, and the bio acid spray was added. I think that the Hydraphant is well worth his cost, especially compared to warlords and phantoms, but I am still interested in Dakka's opinion

**chrisrawr**

lash whips were fine on it imo.

I also dunno about the cost. That's 10 flyrants with varying loadouts. Every little girl and their power fist can attempt to wound the Hydra - I'm just not seeing the levels of firepower needed to put it on on-par with things that can fob out Dstrength pieplates willy-nilly.

Maybe give it Fear

**Eddtheman**

@Chrisrawr to be fair, all gargantuan creatures have move through cover, fearless, eternal warrior, D3 Hammer of wrath, assault grenades, not affected by psychic powers without a strength value, can move 12", assault 3d6, can tank shock, and are terrifying (fear at a -1 modifier).

**chrisrawr**

I figured about as much for most of those, but it's nice to see fear in there. Still don't see why it can't have lashwhips

**McNinja**

Well, it really doesn't make sense, unless they're sort of normal-sized lash whips. I figured they would be titan sized, like most titan CCWs, so those wouldn't really hamper anything as much as they would smash them like a tree. I figured anything attempting to kill it in CC is going to have a tough enough time, Lash Whips would make it that much better.

Although while it might make sense for a giant monster to slow down smaller opponents, I think it would be hilarious for Necron Wraith whip coils to do that to a massive, 200 foot tall creature.

**chrisrawr**

There's usually a rule in Apoc that "Big is immune to small."

**Eddtheman**

The heirophant has lash whips, which hang from the lowest part of the torso and are used to ensnare smaller enemies, as did the epic hydraphant, IIrc. I dont think the exclusion of lash whips is important, as being T10 means that only weapons S7 or higher can hurt it. Almost all close combat weapons that are S7 or higher are unwieldy, so it really doesn't matter all that much. I included them to keep the idea that the Hydraphant is a bigger, stronger Heirophant, rather than any in-game advantage. If it is an issue, I don't have a problem removing them from the model.

here are the full rules for Gargantuan Creatures, courtesy of Forgeworld:
http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Downloads/Product/PDF/a/apoc6thupdate.pdf
And a picture of the Heirophant's lash whips:

Finally, this is a sketch of the hydraphant compared to a person and the heirophant (not mine)

**chrisrawr**

That's amazing and you're amazing.

Also, going to direct you to this: http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=115091

If your group allows homebrew, with a little bit of work Lucius' dex could be really awesome. Mostly involves increasing points costs on many things in my opinion.

**McNinja**

Those would be some looooong lash whips.

**Iranna**

Valkyrie wrote:Can't have 12 wounds, as no stat can go higher than 10

Actually, now Wounds and Attacks can both go over 10.

Iranna.