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The Trygon won't have 5 attacks at STR10.

Ok allow me to correct your math.

+6 Base
+2 Feed
+1 Charge
= 9 attacks

Smash divides by 2 rounded up

9/2= 4.5

rounded to 5

Feed (Rage) doesn't add on to the Charge attacks - it replaces it. 2 instead of 1.

If I remember right - I'm at work and my book is at home.

rigeld2 wrote:Feed (Rage) doesn't add on to the Charge attacks - it replaces it. 2 instead of 1.

If I remember right - I'm at work and my book is at home.

You are correct, it goes

Charge + 1
Rage (from Feed) +1
= 2

broodstar wrote:Ok allow me to correct your math.

+6 Base
+2 Feed
+1 Charge
= 9 attacks

Smash divides by 2 rounded up

9/2= 4.5

rounded to 5

So allow me to correct your math.

+6 Base
+1 Rage
+1 Charge
= 8 attacks

Smash divides by 2 rounded up

8/2= 4

4 != 5

Griever wrote:

rigeld2 wrote:Feed (Rage) doesn't add on to the Charge attacks - it replaces it. 2 instead of 1.

If I remember right - I'm at work and my book is at home.

You are correct, it goes

Charge + 1
Rage (from Feed) +1
= 2

You sure? I swore they stacked. I could be wrong, I'll have to read it again.

Rage grants +2 attacks on the charge rather than +1. The real buff with the new rage is the fact that you can now control that you unit with feed if its out of synapse range, hell its probably better if it isn't in range sometimes!

l0k1 wrote:Rage grants +2 attacks on the charge rather than +1. The real buff with the new rage is the fact that you can now control that you unit with feed if its out of synapse range, hell its probably better if it isn't in range sometimes!

It's worth pointing out that some units won't be very survivable if you take them out of synapse to get Rage. Hormagaunts especially will suffer horribly if they lose a round of combat, as they will need to take a morale test with their already poor Ld. And the less said about Rippers the better...

If we are thinking strictly anti tank, I would take a dakkafex (190) over a Trygon (200). A Carnifex at S9 doesn't need to smash, and with 5 attacks without rage you average 3.3 hits. Because every hit will take away a hull point for AV1o rear, that is a dead vehicle automatically.

On top of that though, because I am shooting it before I charge I am taking statistically 2.97 hull points off AV11 and 1.44 off AV12.

As for the wounds argument, if you are running a carnifex by itself then the 2 less wounds is a big deal, but if you run it as a fex unit or have an attached Prime it is more survivable. Personally I like a unit of two with a 105 point Prime. Look out sir gives great shenanigans, and once the Prime crosses the table he go challenge squad sergeants.

Well, I've never even thought of putting a prime with a carnifex unit, but that's brilliant. And don't forget, a carnifex can effectively shoot down flyers, while a Trygon deep strikes and waves once before it's destroyed. Tygons always fail me.

Hi Folks

Gargoyles with adrenal's are now ridiculous. 15 of them will reliably destroy any 3HP vehicle and be able to do so from a fair distance away. Can be scoring in 20% of objective games. Does a ridiculous amount of wounds for their points as well. 15 on a charge, 17.5 if we include shooting as well.... Am I missing anything key here?

Fliers are giving me some trouble. I may choose to ignore them. Some necron lists may prove to be really troublesome.

On the matter of Biomancy powers & Broodlords; Not having a BS is great as it forces the selection of the other 4 buff/nerf (effective buff!) powers. I like the idea of enfeebling that nob squad and annihilating him with impaler cannons. Sadly I don't think I can free up points to field any broodlords as it would mean dropping one of my two staple Tervigons (which can also take biomancy powers... Hmmm..... ).

All of this talk about Nids being rubbish in 6th seems... Wrong.

I mean they look like they will really tear face, but in what incarnation, Swarm or Nidzilla?

I'm more inclined to play Nidzilla as I love painting huge models, but is it viable now?

Puscifer wrote:All of this talk about Nids being rubbish in 6th seems... Wrong.

I mean they look like they will really tear face, but in what incarnation, Swarm or Nidzilla?

I'm more inclined to play Nidzilla as I love painting huge models, but is it viable now?

I think both could work. With the new MC rules nidzilla certainly is an option (mmmh fear...). But the ablity to glance things to death makes swarms viable too. I think your best option is to do a little of both. MCs are great, but like tanks they need infantry support.

rigeld2 wrote:

broodstar wrote:Ok allow me to correct your math.

+6 Base
+2 Feed
+1 Charge
= 9 attacks

Smash divides by 2 rounded up

9/2= 4.5

rounded to 5

So allow me to correct your math.

+6 Base
+1 Rage
+1 Charge
= 8 attacks

Smash divides by 2 rounded up

8/2= 4

4 != 5

Smash actually halves your attack characteristic. The attack characteristic for Tyrgons is 6.

So, smash attacks are:
6 / 2 = 3 - Attack Characteristic
+1 - Charge
+1 - Rage
-------------
5 attacks at S10


This really benefits units with with 3 attacks. For example, a Tervigon.

3 / 2 = 2 - Attack Characteristic (rounded up)
+1 - Charge
+1d3 - Warpspeed
+1d3 - Claws
-------
5 to 9 attacks at S10

Hmm that's an interesting interpretation.. But I personally think that's not how it works, as the Charge Bonus rule says: "A model that charged this turn get +1 Attack..." (page 24). I read it as a change of your characteristic.. Although I'm not sure of that.

Sure hope nids will do better this edition, just started collecting them at the end of fifth.. Want to do a genestealer list but that'll probably not work huh?

feluca wrote:Hmm that's an interesting interpretation.. But I personally think that's not how it works, as the Charge Bonus rule says: "A model that charged this turn get +1 Attack..." (page 24). I read it as a change of your characteristic.. Although I'm not sure of that.

I thought it was wrong at first, but after checking the rulebook (page 2) it seems he's right. You always modify characteristics in this order:

Multipliers first (e.g. half strength or double attacks)
Then addition/subtraction (e.g. +1 strength, -4 Ld)
Then Set modifiers (e.g. set initiative to 10, BS to 1)

This makes Smash rather more effective than we thought, as any extra attacks from charging, Rage, crushing claws etc aren't halved. You end up with 3 base attacks for a Trygon, or 2 for other MC's in addition to extra attacks. Tervigons with crushing claws and/or warp speed could be amazing in dealing with nearby tanks.

Yep, I think NamelessBard is right after all, makes Monstrous Creatures the true anti-tank weapons, as they should be.

On a different note: I'm thinking of new strategics for my list and Gargoyels are even better than before for holding up units. In my last game I held up a Deamon Prince with ~10 hormagants for 2 player turns, while inflicting a wound (poison). Gargoyels would be even better at wounding, and are faster to intercept enemy units. It gets even better when you know the enemy must wound (at least) 10 times before the unit is gone, a real speed bump for most cc units (I'm not talking about true death stars).

You would never smash with a carnifex. Give him crushing claws and adrenal glands and get him outside of synapse. 4 base attacks, 2 for rage/feed and an additional d3 for the claws. So up to 9 S10 attacks on the charge; that should result in 5-6 hits (reroll ones) on 3s and hopefully 2 pens and a couple of glances even against armour 13/14. Nice. Problem is still getting him there as it has always been with CC fexes, but new run rules might help a little.

I'm still thinking dakka fexes and glancing light transports to death on a T6 platform - 12 S6 shots twin linked. The fact that AP- no longer has minuses on the vehicle damage table is a major boost (this is the case isn't it?). Any opening to charge a vehicle is just icing on top.

I will then stick with some zoanthropes for any armour 14. Anyone who fields more than 1-2 armour 14 vehicles is then looking to get close enough to my MCs at some point for a charge.

ruminator wrote:You would never smash with a carnifex. Give him crushing claws and adrenal glands and get him outside of synapse. 4 base attacks, 2 for rage/feed and an additional d3 for the claws. So up to 9 S10 attacks on the charge; that should result in 5-6 hits (reroll ones) on 3s and hopefully 2 pens and a couple of glances even against armour 13/14. Nice. Problem is still getting him there as it has always been with CC fexes, but new run rules might help a little.

I'm still thinking dakka fexes and glancing light transports to death on a T6 platform - 12 S6 shots twin linked. The fact that AP- no longer has minuses on the vehicle damage table is a major boost (this is the case isn't it?). Any opening to charge a vehicle is just icing on top.

I will then stick with some zoanthropes for any armour 14. Anyone who fields more than 1-2 armour 14 vehicles is then looking to get close enough to my MCs at some point for a charge.

You are forgetting spore pods. You just have to decide what you want your carnifex to do. If you want them crumping vehicles I would suggest duel devourers and drop podding behind the tank and using both the fex and the pod to rip the rear armor a new one. If you want a carnifex to rip up infantry then could also go with the melee fex. Melee fex is not efficient against vehicles because the vehicle can drive away from the fex but if you land behind the vehicle you can -sometimes- force the tank to drive towards the enemy in front of it. It's all situational.

ruminator wrote:You would never smash with a carnifex. Give him crushing claws and adrenal glands and get him outside of synapse. 4 base attacks, 2 for rage/feed and an additional d3 for the claws. So up to 9 S10 attacks on the charge; that should result in 5-6 hits (reroll ones) on 3s and hopefully 2 pens and a couple of glances even against armour 13/14. Nice. Problem is still getting him there as it has always been with CC fexes, but new run rules might help a little.

You don't get the pen re-roll unless you smash. So for the Fex it's a case of taking all the attacks as-is, or taking 2 less attacks and re-rolling them all as needed.

ruminator wrote:I'm still thinking dakka fexes and glancing light transports to death on a T6 platform - 12 S6 shots twin linked. The fact that AP- no longer has minuses on the vehicle damage table is a major boost (this is the case isn't it?). Any opening to charge a vehicle is just icing on top.

It doesn't make any difference as the damage table was shifted up by 1 anyway for pens (explodes on a 6, just like with the -1 modifier before). The key change is just that now you can kill the vehicle with a set number of glances, which are easy to achieve with 12 shots.

Robbietobbie wrote:Sure hope nids will do better this edition, just started collecting them at the end of fifth.. Want to do a genestealer list but that'll probably not work huh?

Genestealers got punched in the face in the last nid book by taking away the option of 4+ armor and grenades so they die in droves to most weapons and can't use thier higher initiative to charge into terrain. Any enemy with a brain cell would fight in terrain to get the advantage over you.

Genestealers then got punched in the balls in 6th edition by making it so that they can't charge during an outflank maneuver when they come on the board. Thier best use last edition was threatening the sides of the table, now they show up and eat hot lead so there is no point in even putting them on the table.

Out of everything I would say Genestealers took the hardest body blows out of the entire army.

(Note: I am working on this tactica for a Dakka article. Please offer any criticisms or comments on how to improve it.)

Here is guide for helping people choose which psychic discipline to choose.

One complaint people have is that swapping powers out is a bad idea because the codex powers are already really good and you would not want lose them. But this is only partly true. The codex powers are good, but so are many of the rule book powers. It is not a matter of the powers being “better” or “worse” it is a matter of what fits your army. It is like saying a hammer is better than a wrench. If you are wiping everything in close combat but getting murdered by fliers, than swapping your Brood Lords’ powers might help. So remember it is not about “better” it is about the right tool for the right job.

Also some people are turned off by random psychic powers. But look at it this way, all Tyranid pychers can take at least two powers and the discipline options only have 5-6 possibilities and you can swap out a roll for a primaris power. So the new system is not completely random, its Back Jack and this guide will help you count the cards.

Every power will be rated 0 to 3.

0 meaning you don’t want this power on a specific unit, 1 meaning you may get some use out of it in the right situation or it might be a good back up power (you get at least two remember), 2 means it is a good fit for that unit and 3 means this power has huge potential with the specific unit.

This first post will cover the Discipline Biomancy

Primaus power "Smite"

Hive Tyrant Score: 1

Not bad against units like terminator or mega armored orks. But with the Hive Tyrant’s BS you are looking at maybe 1 kill per shot and the range of 12 inches is very limiting.

Swarm Lord Score 1

See Hive Tyrant entry

Zoanthrope Score: 0

Good against heavy armored infantry but you have to get way to close. You could drop 2-3 terminator with brood in a spore pod. But on the whole not a good choice as you will be immediately charged the next turn

Doom: Score: 2

Doom is a little less fragile than a normal Zoanthrope, so it is not so bad to get in close and any kills that Doom gets makes it more dangerously.

Brood Lord Score: 0

This is a witch fire power so Brood Lords cannot use this.

Tervigon Score: 0

It is not a good idea to only be 12 inches form an enemy with a tervigon without intervening friendly gaunts and in that case you may grant a cover save to your opponent making your AP 2 pointless.

Power #1Iron Arm

Hive Tyrant Score: 3

With this power you can make your Hive Tyrant at LEAST a toughness 7 strength 7 close combat beast every turn. With adrenal glands and a good roll some turns you could be toughness 9 strength 10. Imagine insta-killing thunder cavalry and having thunder hammers wounding you on a 5+

Swarm Lord Score 3

Every thing I said about the Hive Tyrant and more. Iron Arm + parrying blades+ bone sabers = winning every challenge in the game

Zoanthrope Score: 0

Zoanthrope are not meant for close combat. It could be an OK secondary ability to protect you from shooting if you are not in a good position to use any other power, but that is it.

Doom Score 1

It can prevent instant death but that comes at the price of using any other ability. Could be an OK backup, but there are better options out there.

Brood Lord Score: 3

Perfect for Brood Lords and winning challenges and having a few strength 8 rending hits is great for taking down AV 14.

Tervigon Score: 1

Tervigons are the ultimate support unit. But it is not meant to smash through the enemy by itself. However it could be useful helping you hold an objective while under fire from heavy weapons, and that allows you to keep plumbing out more gaunts.

Power #2 Enfeeble

Hive Tyrant Score: 3

A great support power to weaken units you are about to attack or are worried might attack you. Is a group of Assault Terminators going to charge you on their turn? Well hit them with this and now they their hammers are wounding on +3.

Swarm Lord Score 3

See Hive Tyrant entry

Zoanthrope Score: 3

With this ability will you will be able to support your forces in a number of was. It is particularly useful for helping a unit charging into cover. (An Assault Marine squad would only be able to get 2 kills against genestealers charging them in cover (as opposed to 3 normally) and on top of that now your genestealers are wounding on a 3+.

Doom Score 1

This is a great power but doom is an offensive unit. By using it with this power you are just paying more for a Zoanthrope

Brood Lord Score: 3

Great for all the same reasons listed under Zoanthropes except you will be able to come along when the attach brood of genestealers infiltrates or outflanks (note: Since it is a malediction you will not be able to use it on the turn you infiltrate or outflank)

Tervigon Score: 3

Hit an Ork squad with this and now your charging gaunts with furious charge and toxin sac are wounding on re-rollable 3+ and the Orks are wounding your gaunts on a 5+. Yes Please!

Power # 3 Endurance

Hive Tyrant Score: 3

This power will make Hive Tyrant an incredible support unit, not to mention the ability to give itself Feel No Pain and It Won’t Die. Perfect for dealing with heavy fire (which all Hive Tyrants get) and power weapons.

Swarm Lord Score 3

Even better than for the Swarm Lord than for a Hive Tyrant because you can use it and another ability in the same turn.

Zoanthrope Score: 3

Another awesome support power. Great for keeping your troops alive against shooty army’s overwatch. Not to mention that it helps with your troops charging into cover.

Doom: 1
Again Doom is not a support unit it needs to be killing, this is a great power but a bad power for Doom.

Brood Lord Score: 3

This power is great at keeping the Brood Lord’s unit alive until it reaches its target.

Tervigon Score: 3

This is even better that the Tervigon’s FNP power. Because it allows for It Won’t Die for multi wound models and it has twice the range.

#4 “Life Leech”

Hive Tyrant Score: 3

Another great power, the kills are not much but the ability to regains wounds is a big deal for monstrous creatures. It cannot heal as much as the codex power equivalent but it will heal much more reliably (Against Marines you have a 83% chance of killing on marine and regaining one wound, with the codex version you only had a 66% chance, but in theory you could heal up to three wounds at a time, but you only have an 11% chance of that). Also you have the added bonus of having a slim chance to harm light armor at a distance.

Swarm Lord Score 3

See Hive Tyrant entry

Zoanthrope Score: 1

Not as good of a shooting power as you primaris power against troops and barely effective against light vehicles. The ability to heal is nice but the range is too short for you to avoid close combat.

Doom: 2

It is a good power because it generates kills, but since you can only use it to regenerate starting wounds it is only good really helpful when you are low on wounds (but if you are down to 1 wound and using this would regenerate 2 wounds per kill unit you were back to your starting point... nice)

Brood Lord Score: 0

Yet another witchfire power so no love for the Brood Lord on this one.

Tervigon Score: 1

Not great for a Tervigon. The ability to regain a wound in a pinch is nice, but ultimately the Tervigon is a support unit, not a killer and like other shooting powers with a good AP it will often be nullified by the termigaunts that surround it.

Power#5 “Warp Speed”

Hive Tyrant Score: 3

One of the best Biomancy powers for Hive Tyrant. You can fleet so your threat range just jump up and the ability to have reasonable chance to get up to 8 attacks on the charge with an initiative that will out strip 95% of the models in the game turns your already threatening Hive Tyrant into absolute murder. With two scything talons and toxin sacs you could kill 7 marines on the charge.

Swarm Lord Score: 3

This power is even better for a Swarm Lord than a Hive Tyrant because without the options to take wings, fleet gives you some much needed speed.

Zoanthrope Score: 0

Even with this power Zoanthropes should avoid close combat.

Doom: Score: 2

Once you get your strength up after a few kills this power is a good way to makes Doom a serious close combat threat.

Brood Lord Score: 3

Brood Lord’s bread and butter is close combat, and anything that makes them better at that good. Also it is possible that you can reach initiative 10 with this power, which could make a difference when charging through cover

Tervigon Score: 1

If all your support creature are gone this power will make a Tervigon more of a threat when it is back in a corner. But that comes at the expense of not having a power than could have buffed it’s minions before the tide turned against you.

Power #6 “Haemorrharge”

Hive Tyrant Score: 1

Not as good as it sounds. Sure the potential is there to wipe a whole squad, but that is not likely. Against a Terminator squad you only have a 10.8% of getting 2 kills and a 3.5% chance to get 3. But since it is a focused witch power it is not a bad way to pick a powerfist out of squad before you charge.

Swarm Lord Score: 1

See Hive Tyrant entry

Zoanthrope Score: 1

Since it is a focused witch power it have it tactical advantages, But when you compare how many kills you can the primaris power is better.

Doom: Score: 2

Could be a good power to build up wounds by hitting low toughness targets but it is not a real killer. Even against toughness 3 you only have a 12.5% chance of killing 3 models.

Brood Lord Score: 0

This is a witchfire power so Brood Lords cannot use this.

Tervigon Score: 0

A lack luster attack that does not mesh well the Tervigon’s support roll


Here are the final score for the Biomancy discipline.


A score of 0-1 means do not pick this discipline.

A score of 1-2 means that it is risky choice, as odds are you will not get a power that is a great fit, but if you already have a good power and want to play against the odds hoping for a specific skill you are looking at a 16.6% chance of getting it. Though your odds go up as you choose skills from this school if you already have one power from it (or cannot get it due to the warp charge). If there are only five options left you have a 20% chance of getting the skill you want. If there are four it is 25% and three is 33%.

A score of 2-3 means that it is a good chances that if you pick this discipline you will get at least one really good power.

Finally since the Primaris power can be chosen it may mitigate the overall score.

Hive Tyrant: 2.66 with a primaris score of 1
Swarm Lord: 2.66 with a primaris score of 1
Zoanthrope 1.33 with a primaris score of 0
Doom: 1.33 with a primaris score of 2
Brood Lord Score: 2 with a primaris score of 0
Tervigon: 1.5


I will post the other displines later. I welcome any feed back on this artical on how to make it better.

I think the math for the 7 Atk, 10 Str should go

100% - (1/6)^7 = 99.99964%

chance to hit and auto pen an AV 10

since...one can't go over 100% for this sort of math.

I think that our low LD gribblies, combined with the new Go To Ground and Fearless, just got a lot better.

Tyranid Turn 1:
1. Move and Run Hormagaunts forward (3D6 with re-roll for fleet should get them 11-12" forwards total), hopefully into area terrain (or at least behind some shrubberies).
2. Move Synapse up to 12.1" behind Hormagaunts (thanks to Premeasuring).

Enemy Turn
1. Hormagaunts grant 5+ cover to the medium nids behind them. Not bad.
2. Enemy shoots Hormagaunts. Being out of Synapse, they are NOT Fearless so they may Go To Ground (for 3+ cover saves in area terrain or behind a ruin wall, 5+ if behind fences/shrubbery). Small-medium broods will likely lose 25% of their number to any decent amount of shooting anyways.
3. Hormagaunts are likely to fail Morale (rolling against LD6). They fall back (Gone To Ground no longer prevents later Morale Checks) and are no longer Gone to Ground.

Tyranid Turn 2:
Fleeing Hormagaunts are now in Synapse and become Fearless. Repeat.

Kind of like a poor nid's "Get Back In The Fight", but relies on failing an LD6 check instead of passing an LD7-8 check

Part 2 of my guide to Tyranid pychic powers in 6th edition

Discipline Telekinesis

Primaus power “Assail”

Hive Tyrant Score: 2

Not bad. It is hard to go wrong with a beam power as it is a good way to shoot fliers. Additionally if you do not have lashing whips this is a good way to deal with high (As far as I can tell in the rules there is nothing saying beams cannot hit zooming fliers) and high initiative foes. Also it is a great way to thin down a hoard army before you get into stuck in a tar pit close combat.

Swarm Lord Score: 2

Same as for Hive Tyrant, but a little better as the Swarm Lord cannot take lashing whips.

Zoanthrope Score: 2

A good power because it is a primaris. Though it is not as powerful as your codex powers but it hits more reliably. Because it is a beam weapon it is a good way to take on AV 10 fliers. Also 3 Zoanthrope with this power could do a lot of damage in the right circumstances, and the strikedown power is an ok defense against getting charged (and particularly nasty against jump units as they will need to take a dangerous terrain check to move).

Doom: Score: 3

With Doom you want lots of kills and this can give it to you. Three or four kills against light infantry are very possible, even at a decent range.

Brood Lord Score: 2

Nice to have a range weapon with some genestealers and a decent primaris power, but you run two risks. One you might kill too many of your opponents that are close to you and put you out of charge range. Second since it is a beam weapon you might be blocked from using it by the other genestealters in the squad unless you put the Brood Lord out front, which leave him open for being shot.

Tervigon Score: 0

Because it is a beam you a liable to kill as many of your own guants as you are the enemy.

Power #1 “Crush”

Hive Tyrant Score: 1

A very random power but you will average strength 7 and 3 to 4 AP. But having the power to auto wound or auto penetrate is great and having it be a focus power is even better (say bye-bye power fist sergeant). The main down side is the range and that it is only one shot, which does not work well with your BS skill.

Swarm Lord Score: 1

See Hive Tyrant entry

Zoanthrope Score: 2

Could be a good back up power as a poor man’s warp lance. Especially if you pod strike and hit rear armor. But the fact that against AV 14 you have a 9% chance of an auto penetrating hit on top of a 22% chance of rolling a strength 9 or greater shot is noting to sneeze at and the random AP could really is more likely than not going to give you a better than average AP. The main down side is the very short range.

Doom: Score: 2

See Zoanthrope entry

Brood Lord Score: 0

Another witchfire power, another 0.

Tervigon Score: 0

Short range, 1 shot, and not a supportive power makes it a bad fit for the Tervigon.

Power #2 “Gate of Infinity”

Hive Tyrant Score: 3/0 (with wings)

This power is awesome for a walking Hive Tyrant with Hive Guard. There is some risk involved but the ability to move a Hive Tyrant Death Star 24 inches in a single turn is going to terrify any opponent. Great for charging into enemy lines or getting out of tight spots. Also good for dakka Tyrants. The down side is that if you have wings this power is redundant as swoop would better service you that this power.

Swarm Lord Score: 3

What is the one weakness of the Swarm Lord? He is too slow. Now he is not. And the ability to unleash a second psychic power in the same turn makes him even more deadly.

Zoanthrope Score: 2

Look mom! No Spore pod. If just one Zoanthrope in a brood it exponential makes the rest of the brood more deadly. Deepstrike behind vehicles to pop them with codex powers with the other two, deepstrike to safely, deepstrike in range of another friend brood to buff them, the options are endless. But there is a down side if you have 3 Zoanthropes and they all get “Gate of Infinity” it is a bit of waste.

Doom: Score: 3

This power makes doom extremely dangerous. And you have 2 other psychic power slots to give him offensive powers.

Brood Lord Score: 3

A great power getting into charge range, out of weapons fire ranges or into cover gets a whole lot easier. Don’t be turned off by the risk. You are not going to be losing Hive Guard like a Tyrant would. The dangers are minimal Lets say to Brood Lord with 12 genestealers jumps into cover and roll doubles, you lose 1 for the jump and because you have move through terrain you do not take dangerous terrain tests in this edition, so you are safe. How many would you loose if you had to run 24 inches in the open?

Tervigon Score: 1

A nice way to jump out of danger but, that is about it.

Power #3 “Objuration Mechanicum”

Hive Tyrant Score: 3

How do we deal with fliers and vehicles at range? Objuration Mechanicum. It is perfect for keeping and flying monstrous creatures safe too. Also it destroys any enemy ability to snap fire or over watch. This power really helps shore up the weakness of a Tyranid army.

Swarm Lord Score 3

See Hive Tyrant entry

Zoanthrope Score: 3

This is perfect for Zoanthrope and it is a massively powerful malediction. But the best thing is that it can take out fliers and AV 14 with equal ease at a range of 24 inches. It auto hits and gives you 66.6% chance for a glancing hit and a 16.6% chance for a penetrating hit. You are if you pass your physic test and the enemy vehicle fails its deny the witch role you have a 83.3% chance of taking a hull point against any vehicle regardless of armor, zoom, or a cover save. This power was made for Zoanthrope!

Doom: Score: 2

This is an amazing power but does not mesh well with Doom’s special skills.

Brood Lord Score: 3

Not only do you genestealers have nothing to fear from over watch it give you a great anti vehicle long-range weapon. But lets go back to over watch. Let’s say you genestealers are charging 12 Fire warriors. Normally you would loss 3, with this power you might not loss any (44% chance of one lost genestealer). It can even lessen the blow against over watch flamers.

Tervigon Score: 3

Yes Please! Not only does your Tervigon get some great mid range anti vehicle power. You can support your gaunts to help keep them alive. Normally a Marine Tactical squad can drop 9 guants at rapid-fire range. If you hit them with this power they will only be able kill 7.

Power # 4”Shock Wave”

Hive Tyrant Score: 0

Since most things that would want to charge a Hive Tyrant would shrug off a few strength 3 hit and are unlikely to be susceptible to pinning. Odds are you will not get much use of this power.

Swarm Lord Score 0

See Hive Tyrant entry

Zoanthrope Score: 1

It could be a nice back up power to keep form getting charged by a light infantry. But odds are it won’t help you much.

Doom: Score: 0

It could potentially be a good way to get a lot of wounds against grots, or some sort of swarm units. But ultimately Doom is not a good fit for this power.

Brood Lord Score: 2

Since it is a nova power the brood Brood Lord can use it and any shooting is better than nothing. You will use it more than most other psyches because you are always trying to get into as close range as possible. Also the pinning effect could be used to keep weaker units from running away.

Tervigon Score: 0

You are surrounded by gaunts. Tervigon is not looking for a way to come up with more strength 3 hits.

Power #5 “Telekine Dome”

Hive Tyrant Score: 3

A 5+ invul save you say? On a Hive Tyrant no less... This is an amazing combo and since it can be used to bless other units as well it gives you a lot of tactical flexibility.

Swarm Lord Score 3

This skill is awesome on a Hive Tyrant and even better on a Swarm Lord. Since it has two psychic powers per turn you could use this every turn of the game and still be able to use an offensive power.

Zoanthrope Score: 3
Perfect of making a support Zoanthrope brood. Since Zoanthropes already have a better invulnerable save you can focus on supporting other broods and with a range of 24 inches there will always be good opportunities to use this skill.
Doom: Score: 2
Same old story, a great power but Doom is a killer and need powers that help him kill.
Brood Lord Score: 3
Great for all the same reason it is good for Hive Tyrants and Zoanthropes.
Tervigon Score: 3
Perhaps the only psycher that will be able to use the ricochet aspect because you gaunt will often be at close range with the enemy. Just think a Fire Warrior team rapid fires at your gaunts with a marker light as support. Normally you would loss 13 gaunts. Now you only loss 9 and you kill 1 or 2 Fire Warriors for free.
Power #6 “Vortex of Doom”
Hive Tyrant Score: -
You would reroll this as you do not have the warp charge for it.

Swarm Lord Score 1

It is hard to say no to 10 strength AP 1 blast. But the Swarm Lords BS and the short range of this attack you will always run the risk of it scattering back on him. Also it is a 2-warp charge so you loss the opportunity to use any other ability that turn. Over all the range is too limiting. If you are close enough to shoot something you will want to be trying to charge with the Swarm Lord. It is not a shooty model.

Zoanthrope Score: -
You would reroll this as you do not have the warp charge for it.
Doom: Score: -

Brood Lord Score: -

You would reroll this as you do not have the warp charge for it.

Tervigon Score: -

You would reroll this as you do not have the warp charge for it.


Here are the final score for the Telekinesis discipline.

A score of 0-1 means do not pick this discipline.

A score of 1-2 means that it is risky choice, as odds are you will not get a power that is a great fit, but if you already have a good power and want to play against the odds hoping for a specific skill you are looking at a 16.6% chance of getting it. Though your odds go up as you choose skills from this school if you have one power (or cannot get it due to the warp charge) you have a 20% chance of getting the skill you want. If you have two it is 25% and three is 33%.

A score of 2-3 means that it is a good chances that if you pick this discipline you will get at least one really good power.

Finally since the Primaris power can be chosen it may mitigate the overall score.

Hive Tyrant: 2 with a primaris score of 2
Hive Tyrant with wing: 1.4 with a primaris score of 2
Swarm Lord: 1.8 with a primaris score of 2
Zoanthrope 2.2 with a primaris score of 2
Doom: 1.8 with a primaris score of 3
Brood Lord Score: 2.2 with a primaris score of 2
Tervigon: 1.4 with a primaris score of 2

Part 3 of my guide to Tyranid psychic powers in 6th edition

Discipline Telepathy

Primaus power “Psychic Shriek”

Hive Tyrant Score: 2

This is a great power to use before charging if you are up close and personal. Elite units will fear its ability inflict wounds regardless of toughness or armor. Horde units will fear it due to low leadership. Unfortunately your BS will make this a less reliable power

Swarm Lord Score: 2

See Hive Tyrant entry

Zoanthrope Score: 2

A good power because it is a primaris so you can guarantee to have three in a brood have it which would be very deadly. But you do have to get close and if the rolls do not go your way you could be wiped by being charge next turn.

Doom: Score: 3

This is perfect for Doom because it has the same power (with a shorter range but uses a radius) as an ability, no a psychic power. So you could do both in the same turn! That is an average of 4 dead Marines (and 4 new wounds for you) in one turn!

Brood Lord Score: 0

Since this is a witchfire it will not do the Brood Lord any good.

Tervigon Score: 1

Since most units within 12 inches of a Tervigon should be lock in combat with gaunts this power won’t pay off to well

Power #1 “Dominate”

Hive Tyrant Score: 3

Perfect to cripple low leadership armies, and you might get lucky with higher leadership ones too (it can be hard to roll a 9 or less 3 times in a row). A great support power for your army and a great way to keep heavy units from shooting at you. Take that Long Fangs!

Swarm Lord Score: 3

See Hive Tyrant entry

Zoanthrope Score: 3

A good defensive support power. Even though the power does not stack it would not be so bad to have more than one model with this power in case the first is stopped by a successful deny the witch roll.

Doom: Score: 2

Same old story. A good power but not an offensive one, so it is no good for Doom.

Brood Lord Score: 0

Witchfire power = 0.

Tervigon Score: 3

This is a great support power and the tervigon is a support unit. They go together nicely

Power #2 “Mental Fortitude”

Hive Tyrant Score: 1

Not a hot power for Tyranids it could be nice to make a raging unit outside synapse range fearless, or to help a unit that is falling back and not near any synapse creatures regroup. So the power is very situational in its usefulness.

Swarm Lord Score: 1

See Hive Tyrant entry

Zoanthrope Score: 1

See Hive Tyrant entry

Doom: Score: 0

Not a killing power so no good for Doom.

Brood Lord Score: 1

See Hive Tyrant entry

Tervigon Score: 1

See Hive Tyrant entry

Power #3 “Puppet Master”

Hive Tyrant Score: 3

Want to shoot down a flier? Just use this power and “borrow” a missile launcher. Is there an enemy entrenched in cover? Borrow a tank and drop a template ordinance shell on them.

Swarm Lord Score 3

See Hive Tyrant entry

Zoanthrope Score: 3

See Hive Tyrant entry
¬¬
Doom: Score: 2

This is strong power but does not gp well with Doom’s special skills.

Brood Lord Score: 3

See Hive Tyrant entry

Tervigon Score: 3

See Hive Tyrant entry

Power # 4”Terrify”

Hive Tyrant Score: 2

Since mosterous creatures already cause fear, this is not as big of a deal for a Hive Tyrant. But it is a good support power and has the added effect of affecting fearless models, which against some armies could really pay off.

Swarm Lord Score 2

See Hive Tyrant entry

Zoanthrope Score: 3

This is a great support power and is well suited as part of any support Zoanthrope brood.

Doom: Score: 3

A good power as it helps Doom become much more affective in close combat.

Brood Lord Score: 3

Genestealers are somewhat fragile. This power can give then a lot more staying power in combat if your opponent can only hit on 5+.

Tervigon Score: 3

Fear + Gaunts + brood progenitor with toxin sacs and adrenal glands = Steamroller

Power #5 “Invisibility”

Hive Tyrant Score: -

You would reroll this as you do not have the warp charge for it.

Swarm Lord Score 3

A huge support ability. There is no model in the Tyranid codex that could not benefit immensely from this power. It is well worth two warp charges.

Zoanthrope Score: -
You would reroll this as you do not have the warp charge for it.

Doom: Score: -
You would reroll this as you do not have the warp charge for it.

Brood Lord Score: -
You would reroll this as you do not have the warp charge for it.

Tervigon Score: -
You would reroll this as you do not have the warp charge for it.

Power #6 “Hallucination”
Hive Tyrant Score: -

This power requires two charges so is not an option for this model.

Swarm Lord Score 3

A very potent power that is great at knocking tough units out of the fight until they can be dealt with later.

Zoanthrope Score: -
You would reroll this as you do not have the warp charge for it.

Doom: Score: -

Brood Lord Score: -

You would reroll this as you do not have the warp charge for it.

Tervigon Score: -

You would reroll this as you do not have the warp charge for it.


Here are the final score for the Telepathy discipline.

A score of 0-1 means do not pick this discipline.

A score of 1-2 means that it is risky choice, as odds are you will not get a power that is a great fit, but if you already have a good power and want to play against the odds hoping for a specific skill you are looking at a 16.6% chance of getting it. Though your odds go up as you choose skills from this school if you have one power (or cannot get it due to the warp charge) you have a 20% chance of getting the skill you want. If you have two it is 25% and three is 33%.

A score of 2-3 means that it is a good chances that if you pick this discipline you will get at least one really good power.

Finally since the Primaris power can be chosen it may mitigate the overall score.

Hive Tyrant: 2.25 with a primaris score of 2
Swarm Lord: 2.5 with a primaris score of 2
Zoanthrope 2.5 with a primaris score of 2
Doom: 1.75 with a primaris score of 3
Brood Lord Score: 1.75 with a primaris score of 2
Tervigon: 2.5 with a primaris score of 1

One point about puppet master that immensely improves it's usefulness: while a psyker can only cast it once per turn, three different psykers (zoan brood) can hit the same unit and make it perform three shooting attacks during your turn. Why hello there, Mister manticore missile launcher!

The chances of rolling 3 times the same result is very slim (1/6*1/6*1/6). Therefor, I see no reason to swap the Zoanthrope's psychic power for a random one, and much more likely to be worse or just situational.

xttz wrote:

ruminator wrote:You would never smash with a carnifex. Give him crushing claws and adrenal glands and get him outside of synapse. 4 base attacks, 2 for rage/feed and an additional d3 for the claws. So up to 9 S10 attacks on the charge; that should result in 5-6 hits (reroll ones) on 3s and hopefully 2 pens and a couple of glances even against armour 13/14. Nice. Problem is still getting him there as it has always been with CC fexes, but new run rules might help a little.

You don't get the pen re-roll unless you smash. So for the Fex it's a case of taking all the attacks as-is, or taking 2 less attacks and re-rolling them all as needed.

ruminator wrote:I'm still thinking dakka fexes and glancing light transports to death on a T6 platform - 12 S6 shots twin linked. The fact that AP- no longer has minuses on the vehicle damage table is a major boost (this is the case isn't it?). Any opening to charge a vehicle is just icing on top.

It doesn't make any difference as the damage table was shifted up by 1 anyway for pens (explodes on a 6, just like with the -1 modifier before). The key change is just that now you can kill the vehicle with a set number of glances, which are easy to achieve with 12 shots.

4 glances and vehicles are dead anyway ... Maybe just me, I like numbers of attacks and I'm compensating for losing all those stealer dice rolls!

AP- had a -1 in 5th which is why it didn't work as reliable anti-tank, now it's just as good as AP3,4,5 etc. So an improvement. 12 S6 shots with re-rolls certainly didn't guarantee a dead rhino in 5th, but near as in 6th.