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Preface; Tyranid stratagems suck. No, I don't mean that they're not good (a couple of them are downright terrifyingly effective!), but rather they just don't seem to do the things that Tyranids are known for doing. I don't recall ever reading an enthralling story about the Tyranids where the excitement/tension built because the Tyranids shots twice in quick succession, or because despite its lumbering bulk the Exocrine was extremely accurate while on the move. So, I present here, a list of stratagems that would actually fit the Tyranid concept in the hopes that someone at GW finds some inspiration here. I will modify these so they fit better in 9th edition.

Endless Swarm - 2CP
Use this stratagem at the end of your Movement Phase. Remove a friendly unit of Tyranid infantry from the battlefield and set that unit back up in Strategic Reserves at its starting strength.

Overriding Imperative - 2CP
Use this stratagem during the Movement Phase. Choose a friendly Synapse Creature. All friendly Tyranid Monsters within 12" of that unit use their top wounds profile until the end of the turn.

Waste of Ammo - 1CP
Use this stratagem when an enemy unit targets a <Hive Fleet> unit in your army and a friendly <Hive Fleet> Termagant or Hormagaunt unit is closer to that enemy unit. Whenever the targeted unit loses a wound, you may roll a dice. On a 6, that unit does not lose that wound, and the closest friendly Termagant or Hormagaunt unit to the enemy unit suffers a mortal wound instead.

Environmental Apocalypse - 2CP
Use this stratagem after both armies are deployed, and only once each battle. Roll a die for each enemy unit. On a 6, that unit suffers a mortal wound.

Perfectly Adapted - 2CP
Use this stratagem after an enemy destroys a <Hive Fleet> unit that was within 12" of a Synapse Creature from your army. Add 1 to saving throws for friendly <Hive Fleet> against wounds caused by weapons with the same name as the weapon that destroyed that unit. You cannot use this stratagem to affect the same weapon more than once per game.

Viciously Feral - 2CP
Use at the end of the Fight Phase. Choose a <Hive Fleet> unit outside of 18" of any <Hive Fleet> Synapse Creature, other than a Genestealer unit. That unit immediately fights as if it was within engagement range of enemy units and hadn't charged, even if it has already done so this turn, and suffers a -1 to its hit rolls.

Recycled Biomatter - 1CP
Use during your Command Phase. Select a <Hive Fleet> Monster within 3" of a <Hive Fleet> Infantry unit. The Infantry unit suffers d3 mortal wounds and the Monster heals a number of wounds lost this way.

Gargoyle Bombers - 1CP
Use during your Charge Phase. Select a unit of <Hive Fleet> Gargoyles from your army that has been selected to charge and is within 3" of a friendly unit of <Hive Fleet> Spore Mines. When that Gargoyle unit completes a charge this turn, for each model that ended the charge move within 1/2" of an enemy unit you may destroy one Gargoyle and one of those Spore Mines explodes as if it were in the destroyed Gargoyle's position.

Slip Through Shadows - 1CP
Use during the Fight Phase. Select a Lictor unit that completed a charge this turn. That Lictor can pile in and consolidate an additional 3" this turn, can do so in any direction, can make attacks against any enemy unit within engagement range as if it had charged them, and can move through enemy models during pile and and consolidate moves as if it had the Fly keyword.

Cells of the Super Predator - 1CP
Use during the Shooting Phase. Select an enemy unit within engagement range of a friendly Tyranid Infantry unit. You may shoot at that enemy unit as if it was not in a friendly unit's engagement range, but each unmodified hit roll of 1 hits a friendly model of your choice within that unit's engagement range.

Horror From Beyond The Stars - 1CP
Use when a friendly Tyranid Psyker is charged and is not within the engagement range of an enemy unit. Instead of shooting weapons, that unit may attempt to cast the Smite psychic power.

Hunter's Sense - 2CP
Use when an enemy unit is set up within 12" of a friendly Tyranid unit. A friendly unit within 12" of that enemy unit may attempt to charge it as if it were the Charge Phase.

 Yarium wrote:
...Endless Swarm - 2CP
Use this stratagem at the end of your Movement Phase. Remove a friendly unit of Tyranid infantry from the battlefield and set that unit back up in Strategic Reserves at its starting strength...

Any infantry? Endless Zoanthropes? Hive Guard? Thematically it might make more sense to limit this some.

 AnomanderRake wrote:

 Yarium wrote:
...Endless Swarm - 2CP
Use this stratagem at the end of your Movement Phase. Remove a friendly unit of Tyranid infantry from the battlefield and set that unit back up in Strategic Reserves at its starting strength...

Any infantry? Endless Zoanthropes? Hive Guard? Thematically it might make more sense to limit this some.

Lol, yeah, it should definitely be limited to Troops, and once per unit ever.

Really cool stuff! I'd be fine playing with or against any of these. A few things that caught my attention:

 Yarium wrote:

Endless Swarm - 2CP
Use this stratagem at the end of your Movement Phase. Remove a friendly unit of Tyranid infantry from the battlefield and set that unit back up in Strategic Reserves at its starting strength.

As has been noted, it might be a good idea to limit this to troops. Also, as it's currently written, this could technically be used to relocate a character model, which may not be your intent.

Environmental Apocalypse - 2CP
Use this stratagem after both armies are deployed, and only once each battle. Roll a die for each enemy unit. On a 6, that unit suffers a mortal wound.

This feels like a lot of dice rolling for not a lot of effect.I think I'd rather see the cost increased along with the effect. Maybe up the CP cost to 3 or 4 and then do 1 mortal wound on a 2+ or d3 mortal wounds on a 6+? Or something similar to Imhotek's special ability? Also, to clarify, this works on models embarked on transports and located in reserves, yes?

Perfectly Adapted - 2CP
Use this stratagem after an enemy destroys a <Hive Fleet> unit that was within 12" of a Synapse Creature from your army. Add 1 to saving throws for friendly <Hive Fleet> against wounds caused by weapons with the same name as the weapon that destroyed that unit. You cannot use this stratagem to affect the same weapon more than once per game.

To clarify, this bonus lasts for the rest of the game, right? This is probably fine as-is, but I I do note that this would let you make some extended carapace jormungandr genestealers have a 2+ save out in the open. Which, again, proooobably fine. I do wonder if this might work better as a hive fleet chapter tactic type rule though?

Recycled Biomatter - 1CP
Use during your Command Phase. Select a <Hive Fleet> Monster within 3" of a <Hive Fleet> Infantry unit. The Infantry unit suffers d3 mortal wounds and the Monster heals a number of wounds lost this way.

Does this mean that using this on an infantry unit that has FNP could potentially limit how many wounds I heal?

Horror From Beyond The Stars - 1CP
Use when a friendly Tyranid Psyker is charged and is not within the engagement range of an enemy unit. Instead of shooting weapons, that unit may attempt to cast the Smite psychic power.

Can this be denied given that it isn't happening in the psychic phase?

Hunter's Sense - 2CP
Use when an enemy unit is set up within 12" of a friendly Tyranid unit. A friendly unit within 12" of that enemy unit may attempt to charge it as if it were the Charge Phase.

This is the onlyl one that I'm a little unsure about. On one hand, a (usually) 9+" charge is easy to fail, and it kind of stinks to spend 2CP on something that's so likely to do nothing. On the other hand, when you do make the charge, you're likely to be doing so with a unit that will just shred whatever unit just arrived from reserves before it gets to make any attacks; and you might be basically invalidating any CP your opponent spent to get there in the first place.

Overall, lots of cool and fluff options.

Endless Swarm definitely needs to be adjusted. It would probably be best to keep at 2CP for Gaunts and 3CP for warriors. On a unit like zoanthropes this would just be too powerful. Returning a units to super smite status would be an almost auto-include

Overriding imperative should pick a single Tyranid monster instead of all monsters within 12”. 24” of coverage is a massive aura and you would almost never be out of range for this barring disaster.

Is waste of ammo suppose to work in the fight phase? Right now it does.

Perfectly adapted either should not effect invul saves or cap them at a 3+. 2++ Zoanthropes are not good for balance. Also 2CP to permanently buff your entire army is very strong. The closest I can think of is the ork looting strat and it’s not even close to this good.

Like overriding imperative, cells of the super predator should probably just go on a single unit rather than let the entire army fire into a combat.

Does Hunters Sense trigger the option for overwatch? I can’t see many people using the option if they’re subjected to a free round of shooting.

Updated notes:
@ Wyldhunt
- re: Environmental Apocalypse. Yes to both. I don't need the stratagems to be good, but I want them to be there. In battles with the Tyranids, the planet itself is turning against you and can kill you. Constant spores rain down and choke the lungs. Vines grow so quickly and tough that they strip the tracks from vehicles that stay in place too long. All before you even see combat.

- re: Recycles Biomatter. Yes, that is on purpose. You don't lose the wounds, you don't regain the wounds. Leviathan Hive Fleet would find that this occasionally heals less.

- re: Horror From Beyond the Stars. Yeah, it would need to be modified to say "as though it were the Psychic Phase" so that it's clear that it could be denied.

- re: Hunter's Sense. I think it'd be fine. Like Auspex Scan, the other player gets their choice of what to put down first to try and goad this out, or to just not put down in range of the scary stuff. It's also riskier than Auspex Scan or the like, since if you fail the charge it's 2CP for nothing. All those things combined with the potential whiff and I think it'd be fine.


@ evil_kiwi_60
- re: Endless Swarm. Yeah, as stated it definitely needs to be adjusted to just apply to Troops, but the intent definitely is for this to be an auto-include, just like how the Wracks one is an auto include for Dark Eldar and the Boyz one is for Orks. It's crazy to me that Tyranids don't have an ability like this considering their fluff, yet Orks do, as do Astra Militarum (though theirs is mind-bendingly awful).

- re: Overriding Imperative. 1CP to use on a Monster within 12" of a Synapse Creature is probably the right way to go. Good call.

- re: Waste of Ammo. While it would work in other phases, it'd be much, much more difficult to use effectively, since the gaunts need to be closer to your opponent than the target. With Psychic Powers, this means only directed powers can work (Smite won't), with Overwatch, I'm fine with it, and with combat, again, you just need to be closer to the target than to the Gaunts for it to not be used. So I don't think that's an issue.

- re: Perfectly Adapted. Holy molly you're right! I would adjust to be +1 to saving throws against that specific weapon, but not Invulnerable saving throws. However, that's the trick right there - it's only +1 to saving throws against a specific weapon. This makes it actually a safety-valve against broken builds in the future. Most armies have many different weapons, so I don't think this is too crazy once you remove the Inv save from it.

- re: Cells of the Super Predator. The intent was that by shooting into your opponent's unit, you'll also remove enough of your own models to put them out of engagement range, and then you can fire at that enemy unit normally with the rest of your army anyways. However, I think you make a good point, and it could be "a unit" rather than any unit shooting in there.

- re: Hunters Sense. It would, but I think most armies would rather take a turn of only having a specific unit being hit by 6's and then shutting the enemy unit down, rather than taking a turn of having any unit in your army shot normally and then possibly taking Overwatch again anyways. Free round of shooting it is definitely not.



Thanks for everyone looking over and offering such constructive observations!