Loyal Necron Lychguard
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DESIGN GOAL
Create 5 Tyranids Detachments that are each geared toward a thematic warfare strategy Tyranids employ and give different playstyles and experiences while allowing the use of an almost infinite number of lists within each detachment. These are replacements for all the GW detachments. Names are meant to give a horror-movie feel. I started out basing detachments on the stages of Tyranid invasions, Reconnaissance Fleet, Infestation Onslaught, Assault Brood, Subjugation Swarm, Absorption Nexus. The problem is that these are all tied with units, I actually think GW’s datasheet focussed detachments make sense in this context on the condition that the detachments help you represent rules that you otherwise normally wouldn’t get, things like towers and pools being fed by Ripper Swarms or spores choking the atmosphere, that’s just not how it turned out, it’s all X, Y and Z datasheets are harder, better, faster, ultimately achieving nothing the index did not since spam lists were already viable if the points were right.
AMBUSH
Detachment Rule: Biomorphs
Every warrior organism in the Tyranid race is fashioned by the ineffable alien will of the Hive Mind. Their flesh and chitin is endlessly mutable, honed into whatever form will prove most lethal to the prey.
At the start of the first battle round, select one of the following Biomorphs to be active for TYRANIDS units from your army until the end of the battle:
Adrenal Glands: Ranged weapons equipped by TYRANIDS units with this Biomorph have the ASSAULT ability. TYRANIDS units with this Biomorph are eligible to declare a charge in a turn in which they Advanced.
Extended Carapace: Improve the Save characteristic of units with this Biomorph by 1 (to a maximum of 4+). Each time an attack with AP -1 is allocated to a model with this Biomorph, treat that AP as 0.
Toxin Sacs: Each time a TYRANIDS model with this Biomorph makes a melee attack that targets a CHARACTER unit, that attack has the [LETHAL HITS] ability.
DEATHLEAPER loses the Hunter Organism rule and can be your WARLORD.
Stratagems:
PSYCHOSTATIC DISRUPTION (1CP)
Ambush Battle Tactic Stratagem
A maelstrom of psychostatic disruption boils about this bioform, causing teleport signals to fluctuate.
WHEN: Your opponent’s Reinforcements step
TARGET: One TYRANIDS SYNAPSE unit from your army
EFFECT: Enemy units cannot be set up from Reserves within 12" of your unit.
SAVAGE ROAR (1CP)
Ambush Battle Tactic Stratagem
This monster is even more terrifying to behold than other bioforms of its kind.
WHEN: Fight phase, just after an enemy unit has selected its targets.
TARGET: One TYRANIDS MONSTER unit from your army that was selected as the target of one or more of those attacks.
EFFECT: That enemy unit must take a Battle-shock test. Until the end of the phase, each time a model in that unit makes an attack that targets your unit, subtract 1 from the Hit roll. If that Battle-shock test is failed, also subtract 1 from the Wound roll.
THE SMOTHERING SHADOW (1CP)
Ambush Battle Tactic Stratagem
In the heart of the swarms, the Shadow in the Warp can literally kill with its smothering power.
WHEN: An enemy unit is set up from Reserves
TARGET: That enemy unit
EFFECT: That unit must take a Battle-shock test. If failed, it is Battle-shocked until the end of your turn.
SURPRISE ASSAULT (1CP)
Ambush Battle Tactic Stratagem
A hive fleet’s vanguard organisms favour mobility and aggression, keeping the foe on the back foot with repeated coordinated assaults.
WHEN: Your Shooting phase
TARGET: One TYRANIDS unit from your army
EFFECT: After it has shot, that unit can make a Normal Move of D6". That unit is not eligible to declare a charge this turn.
UNSEEN LURKERS (1CP)
Ambush Battle Tactic Stratagem
Hyper-attuned senses warn vanguard organisms when they are being targeted by the prey.
WHEN: Your opponent’s Shooting phase, just after an enemy unit has selected its targets.
TARGET: One TYRANIDS unit from your army
EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, that unit can only be selected as the target of ranged attacks if the attacking model is within 18", or within 6" if the unit has the Lone Operative ability.
PERVASIVE DREAD (1CP)
Ambush Battle Tactic Stratagem
With the death of their leader, the surviving prey feel an ominous sense of doom press down upon them, heightened by subtle psionic assault.
WHEN: An enemy non-Bodyguard CHARACTER unit is destroyed by your army
EFFECT: Until the end of the battle, subtract 1 from the Leadership characteristic of enemy units. This is cumulative.
Enhancements:
Alien Cunning 20 pts
This leader-beast possesses highly sophisticated neural pathways, allowing it to identify priority strategic assets and adapt the disposition of its warriors to seize them before the foe even recognise their value.
TYRANIDS model only.
After both players have deployed their armies, you can select up to three TYRANIDS units from your army and redeploy them. When doing so, you can set those units up in Strategic Reserves, even if you would normally exceed the limit for Strategic Reserves.
Stalker 20 pts
This hunter seeks vital priority prey that has been pheromonally marked for swift slaughter.
TYRANIDS model only.
At the start of the battle, select one enemy unit.
If that unit is destroyed, you gain 1CP.
If that unit is destroyed by the bearer, your opponent loses all CP.
Null nodules 20 pts
A contraganglion knot in this creature’s cranium channels and amplifies the smothering power of the Shadow in the Warp to nullify its prey’s psychic abilities and command cohesion.
TYRANIDS model only.
At the start of the battle, select one of the following effects:
Enemy PSYKERS within 12" of the bearer worsen their Leadership characteristic by 1. The bearer has a 5+ Feel No Pain against Psychic Attacks and Mortal Wounds.
OR
Each time an enemy unit within 12" of the bearer is targeted with a Stratagem, that Stratagem costs 1CP more to use.
Adaptive toxins 20 pts
This creature was created for one purpose: to completely eradicate the defenders of the target prey world.
TYRANIDS model only.
At the start of the battle, select one of the following abilities for the bearer’s melee weapons:
[SUSTAINED HITS 1]
[PRECISION]
CHRYSALIS
Detachment Rule: Synaptic Imperatives
Every Tyranid organism is an extension of a vast, shifting intelligence that does not merely react to war, but anticipates it. On alien battlefields, the Hive Mind does not commit to a single method of war. It selects the one that ensures total consumption.
At the start of each battle round, you can select one of the Synaptic Imperatives below. Until the start of the next battle round, that Imperative is active for your army.
While a TYRANIDS unit from your army is within Synapse Range of your army, it benefits from the active Imperative.
Each Synaptic Imperative can only be selected once per battle.
Once all Synaptic Imperatives have been used, your Stratagems gain the following additional effect:
When using a Stratagem that targets a TYRANIDS unit, you may also select one SYNAPSE unit from your army within Synapse Range of that unit. You can then also select one additional non-SYNAPSE TYRANIDS unit within Synapse Range of that SYNAPSE unit.
*Hunt: While this unit is within Synapse Range of your army, add 3" to its Advance rolls.
*Lurk: While this unit is within Synapse Range of your army, improve the Save characteristic by 1 for this unit.
*Feed: Each time an enemy unit (excluding AIRCRAFT) ends a Normal or Advance move within 6" of one or more TYRANIDS units within Synapse Range from your army, one of those TYRANIDS units within Synapse Range can make a Surge move towards that enemy unit. To do so, roll one D6: models in your unit move a number of inches up to this result, but your unit must end that move as close as possible to that enemy unit. When doing so, those models can be moved within Engagement Range of that enemy unit. A unit cannot make a Surge move while it is within Engagement Range of one or more enemy units.
Stratagems
Rapid Regeneration (1CP)
Chrysalis Battle Tactic Stratagem
Even grievous damage is not an end, only a delay in consumption.
WHEN: Your Command phase.
TARGET: One TYRANIDS unit from your army.
EFFECT: That unit cannot shoot this turn.That unit regains up to D3 lost wounds.
Predatory Compulsion (1CP)
Chrysalis Battle Tactic Stratagem
The Hive Mind sharpens instinct into violence until hesitation ceases to exist.
WHEN: The Fight phase.
TARGET: One TYRANIDS unit from your army.
EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, each time a model in your unit makes an attack, it has the [SUSTAINED HITS 2] and [HAZARDOUS] ability.
Preservation Imperative (1CP)
Chrysalis Battle Tactic Stratagem
Some organisms are not yet ready to be spent. The Hive Mind shields them until the moment of perfect use.
WHEN: Your opponent’s Shooting phase.
TARGET: One TYRANIDS unit from your army.
EFFECT: Until the end of your next turn, that unit has a 5+ invulnerable save against ranged attacks, but cannot declare a charge.
Broodguard Impulse (1CP)
Chrysalis Battle Tactic Stratagem
Even retreat is a weapon when guided by synaptic will.
WHEN: Your Movement phase, after a TYRANIDS unit from your army Falls Back.
TARGET: That TYRANIDS unit.
EFFECT: Until the end of the turn, that unit is eligible to shoot, and improve its Objective Control characteristic by 1.
Bounding Advance (1CP)
Chrysalis Battle Tactic Stratagem
The swarm does not run. It converges.
WHEN: Your Movement phase.
TARGET: One TYRANIDS unit from your army.
EFFECT: That unit automatically counts as rolling an unmodified 6 for its advance roll this phase. That unit must end its move no further from the closest enemy unit than when it started.
Synaptic Goading (2CP)
Fear is not felt. It is enforced.
WHEN: The Shooting phase or Fight phase.
TARGET: One TYRANIDS unit from your army.
EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, that unit must target the closest eligible enemy unit with all attacks. Each time that unit makes an attack, add 1 to the Hit roll.
Enhancements
The Dirgeheart of Kharis 20 pts
A pulsing organ-node that broadcasts the inevitability of extinction through the synaptic web, fraying the resolve of all lesser minds nearby.
TYRANIDS model only.
Aura ability: Enemy units within range of the bearer worsen their Leadership characteristic by 1.
At the start of the battle, this range is 6". At the start of each battle round, increase this range by 3".
Synaptic Linchpin 20 pts
This organism anchors surrounding bioforms into a denser synaptic lattice, extending the reach of the Hive Mind as the battle evolves.
TYRANIDS model only.
At the start of each battle round, increase this model’s Synapse Range by 3".
Biophagic Flow 20 pts
A self-sustaining metabolic loop that accelerates regeneration as biomass is consumed across the battlefield.
TYRANIDS model only.
In your Command phase his model regains up to 1 lost wound per battle round number (max 3).
Perfectly Adapted 20 pts
The Hive Mind refines this organism in real time, rewriting its bio-structure to match the demands of the battlefield.
TYRANIDS model only.
At the start of each Command phase, select one of the following:
Improve this model’s Toughness characteristic by 1 until the end of the game. This bonus can stack.
Improve the Strength characteristic of this model’s melee weapons by 1 until the end of the game. This bonus can stack.
PURSUIT
Detachment Rule: Questing Tendrils
Tyranid hunting forms do not commit to battle lines. They flow through combat like a living instinct, abandoning positions the moment prey is weakened and reforming elsewhere with impossible speed.
TYRANIDS units with this ability are eligible to declare a charge in a turn in which they Fell Back.
In addition, such units may add 3" to Consolidation moves they make.
Stratagems
Power of the Hive Mind (1CP)
Pursuit Battle Tactic Stratagem
Psychic interference does not simply disrupt the prey, it shackles it in place for the kill.
WHEN: Your Shooting phase, when a TYRANIDS unit inflicts an unsaved wound on a unit .
TARGET: That TYRANIDS unit.
EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, if that unit suffers one or more wounds from a Psychic Attack, enemy units that made those attacks cannot Fall Back or Advance in their next turn.
Crippling Toxins (1CP)
Pursuit Battle Tactic Stratagem
The prey’s flesh is rewritten mid-combat, its structure collapsing under alien biochemical assault.
WHEN: The Shooting phase.
TARGET: One TYRANIDS unit from your army.
EFFECT: Each time a ranged attack made by that unit successfully wounds an enemy unit, that enemy unit suffers a -1 modifier to its Toughness characteristic until the end of the turn.
Untrammelled Ferocity (1CP)
Pursuit Strategic Ploy Stratagem
Even massive prey cannot escape once the swarm decides it will not allow escape.
WHEN: Your Movement phase.
TARGET: One TYRANIDS MONSTER unit from your army that has not been selected to move this phase.
EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, each time a model in that unit makes a Normal, Advance, or Fall Back move, it can move through models (excluding TITANIC models) and terrain features with a height of 4" or less.
It can move within Engagement Range of enemy models but cannot end that move within Engagement Range of them.
If it moves through terrain features taller than 4", roll one D6 after the unit has moved. On a 1, that unit is Battle-shocked.
Swarm-Guided Salvoes (1CP)
Pursuit Strategic Ploy Stratagem
Fire is not suppression. It is direction. Every shot is a step closer to the kill.
WHEN: Your Shooting phase.
TARGET: One TYRANIDS unit from your army.
EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, all ranged weapons equipped by models in that unit gain the PISTOL ability.
Death Frenzy (1CP)
Pursuit Strategic Ploy Stratagem
Even death is not an escape. It is simply another moment of violence.
WHEN: The Fight phase, just after an enemy unit selects its targets.
TARGET: One TYRANIDS unit from your army that was selected as the target of one or more of the attacking unit’s attacks.
EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, each time a model in your unit is destroyed, if it has not fought this phase, roll one D6. On a 4+, do not remove it from play. After the attacking unit has finished making its attacks, that model fights and is then removed.
If the target unit did not charge this turn, add 3 to the roll.
Overrun (1CP)
Pursuit Strategic Ploy Stratagem
The swarm does not pause after killing. It collapses forward into the next prey.
WHEN: The Fight phase, just before a TYRANIDS unit from your army Consolidates.
TARGET: That TYRANIDS unit.
EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, when that unit Consolidates, it may move up to 3" further than normal, provided it ends that move within Engagement Range of one or more enemy units.
Piercing Talons 20 pts
These claws are honed to find weakness in armour and flesh alike, striking with sudden lethal precision at the moment of impact.
TYRANIDS model only.
Each time the bearer makes a charge move, after that move is completed, select one enemy unit within Engagement Range of the bearer. That unit suffers D3 mortal wounds.
Adrenalised Onslaught 20 pts
The creature’s endocrine system is permanently spiked with pursuit hormones, driving it into impossible bursts of speed and relentless motion even when falling back from combat.
TYRANIDS model only.
The bearer is eligible to shoot and declare a charge in a turn in which it Fell Back.
Each time the bearer Advances, do not roll for the Advance move. Instead, add 6" to that move.
Monstrous Nemesis 20 pts
Some prey are marked so completely that the Hive Mind refuses to release its grip until they are utterly erased from existence.
TYRANIDS model only.
Once per battle, in a turn in which the bearer has made a charge move, after it has fought, it can fight a second time.
When doing so, all attacks made by the bearer must target a single MONSTER or VEHICLE unit.
Neuronode 20 pts
A secondary synaptic relay blooms within the creature’s cortex, allowing it to momentarily extend instinctive coordination to nearby organisms in a burst of predatory clarity.
TYRANIDS model only.
The bearer can shoot even while within Engagement Range of enemy units.
Once per battle, in your Command phase, select one friendly TYRANIDS unit within 6" of the bearer. Until the end of the phase, that unit gains the same ability.
SWARM
Detachment Rule: ENDLESS REGENERATION
The battlefield is not a contest of forces but a digestive surface. Every fallen body is reprocessed into new predators or reforged flesh that refuses to die.
In your Command phase, TYRANIDS units with this ability within 3" of a terrain feature do one of the following:
One model in that unit regains up to D3 lost wounds.
One destroyed INFANTRY model (excluding CHARACTERS) is returned to that unit with its full wounds remaining. If that unit is an ENDLESS MULTITUDE unit, up to 3 destroyed models are returned instead.
Stratagems:
FEED THE SWARM (1CP)
Swarm Battle Tactic Stratagem
Even death is not waste, only redistribution of biomass to more useful predators.
WHEN: After a unit is destroyed within 3" of a terrain feature.
TARGET: One TERVIGON model from your army within 3" of that terrain feature.
EFFECT: Select one friendly TERMAGANTS unit within 6" of the target. Return up to D3+3 destroyed models to that unit.
INSURMOUNTABLE ODDS (1CP)
Swarm Strategic Ploy Stratagem
Even annihilation becomes a trigger for further eruption of the swarm.
WHEN: After a TYRANIDS unit within 3" of a terrain feature is destroyed.
TARGET: One TYRANIDS unit from your army within 3" of that same terrain feature.
EFFECT: That unit can make a D6 Surge move.
UNENDING WAVES (2CP)
Swarm Strategic Ploy Stratagem
The swarm does not reinforce. It reappears already hungry.
WHEN: Any phase, after an ENDLESS MULTITUDE unit is destroyed.
TARGET: That destroyed unit.
EFFECT: Add a new unit to your army identical to the destroyed unit and place it into Strategic Reserves at Starting Strength.
RESTRICTIONS: Any attached CHARACTER units are not returned. This Stratagem can only be used once per battle.
CHOKING SPORES (1CP)
Swarm Strategic Ploy Stratagem
The air itself becomes a restraint, thick with bio-aerosols that turn movement into suffocation.
WHEN: Start of your opponent’s Movement phase.
TARGET: One enemy unit within 3" of a terrain feature.
EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, that unit’s Advance rolls are changed to an unmodified 1.
SECURE BIOMASS (1CP)
Swarm Strategic Ploy Stratagem
Marked prey are chemically guided into inevitability, their positions betrayed by invisible scent maps.
WHEN: Your Shooting phase.
TARGET: One enemy unit within 3" of a terrain feature.
EFFECT: That unit is treated as not receiving the benefits of cover for the rest of the phase, and TYRANIDS units gain re-roll Hit rolls of 1 against it.
TYRANNOFORMED (1CP)
Swarm Strategic Ploy Stratagem
What is claimed is not held by force but by continuous biological occupation.
WHEN: Your Command phase.
TARGET: One TYRANIDS unit from your army within range of an objective marker you control.
EFFECT: That objective marker remains under your control until your opponent controls it at the start or end of a turn, even if you have no models within range of it.
Enhancements:
HUNTING GROUNDS 20 pts
The prey is already marked by unseen biochemical tracers, its hiding places rendered meaningless by omnipresent sensory mapping.
TYRANIDS model only.
The bearer’s ranged and melee weapons have the IGNORES COVER ability.
Enemy units within 6" of the bearer lose the benefits of cover.
ENRAGED RESERVES 20 pts
Even death is denied to specimens too valuable to waste, their aggression flaring uncontrollably at the moment of destruction.
TYRANIDS model only.
If the bearer is destroyed by a melee attack and has not yet fought this phase, roll one D6. On a 4+, do not remove it from play.
The bearer can fight after the attacking unit has finished making its attacks, then is removed from play.
If the bearer is within 3" of a terrain feature, add 3 to this roll.
NATURALISED CAMOUFLAGE 20 pts
The organism’s chitin subtly shifts to match its surroundings, rendering it nearly indistinguishable from terrain until it moves.
TYRANIDS model only.
While the bearer’s unit is within 3" of a terrain feature, it has the Stealth ability.
INSTINCTIVE DEFENCE 20 pts
The organism reacts to threat without conscious command, striking before the enemy even completes its attack motion.
TYRANIDS model only.
While the bearer is within 3" of a terrain feature, you can target the bearer’s unit with the Heroic Intervention Stratagem for 0CP. In addition, while the bearer is within 3" of a terrain feature, models in the bearer’s unit have the Fights First ability.
TREMORS
Detachment Rule: TUNNEL NETWORKS
The world is already hollow. The surface is merely a crust over living passageways that the Hive Mind controls and expands at will.
In the Muster Armies step, you can select up to 2 TRYGON models from your army. The selected units gain the CHARACTER keyword.
Certain areas of the battlefield are considered to be within your army’s Tunnel Network, as follows:
Your deployment zone is always within your army’s Tunnel Network.
At the start of any phase, if you control at least half of the objective markers within No Man’s Land, until the end of that phase, No Man’s Land is within your army’s Tunnel Network.
At the start of any phase, if you control at least half of the objective markers within your opponent’s deployment zone, until the end of that phase, your opponent’s deployment zone is within your army’s Tunnel Network.
Each time a TYRANIDS unit from your army is set up on the battlefield from Reserves, if it is set up wholly within your army’s Tunnel Network, it can be set up anywhere more than 6" horizontally away from all enemy models instead of more than 9".
Stratagems:
RETREAT BELOW (1CP)
Tremors Strategic Ploy Stratagem
The ground opens and swallows the wounded, returning them to the endless subterranean war machine.
WHEN: End of your opponent’s Fight phase.
TARGET: Up to two TYRANIDS units from your army within your Tunnel Network, or one TYRANIDS unit from your army.
EFFECT: Remove the targeted units from the battlefield and place them into Strategic Reserves.
RESTRICTIONS: The targeted units must be more than 3" away from all enemy units.
SEISMIC DISRUPTION (1CP)
Tremors Strategic Ploy Stratagem
The battlefield fractures under unseen pressure waves that destabilise enemy movement patterns.
WHEN: Start of the enemy Movement phase.
TARGET: All enemy units within your Tunnel Network.
EFFECT: Subtract 1" from the Move characteristic of those units until the end of the phase.
SURPRISE ASSAULT (1CP)
Tremors Strategic Ploy Stratagem
There is no warning, only rupture as the prey is dragged into close combat from beneath their feet.
WHEN: Fight phase.
TARGET: One TYRANIDS unit from your army within your Tunnel Network.
EFFECT: That unit has the Fight First ability this phase.
COLLAPSING GROUND (1CP)
Tremors Strategic Ploy Stratagem
The earth betrays the prey, turning movement into sudden violent descent into unseen depths.
WHEN: An enemy unit starts or ends a Normal, Advance or Fall Back move within your Tunnel Network.
TARGET: That enemy unit.
EFFECT: Roll one D6. On a 2 to 5, that unit suffers 2 mortal wounds. On a 6, it suffers 4 mortal wounds.
TUNNEL RELAY (1CP)
Tremors Strategic Ploy Stratagem
The network expands temporarily, allowing rapid projection of the swarm through newly excavated bio-channels.
WHEN: Your Command phase.
TARGET: One BURROWER model from your army.
EFFECT: Until the end of the turn, all areas within 6" of the target are considered to be within your Tunnel Network.
TREMOR SENSE (1CP)
Tremors Strategic Ploy Stratagem
The Hive Mind reads vibrations through stone and soil, reacting instantly to intrusion into its domain.
WHEN: An enemy unit is set up from Reserves within 12" of a TYRANIDS unit from your army.
TARGET: That TYRANIDS unit.
EFFECT: That unit can make a D6" move.
Enhancements:
Ominous Presence 20 pts
The air above the burrows feels wrong, as if the ground itself is watching.
TYRANIDS model only. Enemy units within 6" of the bearer have their Objective Control characteristic reduced by 1.
Parasitic Biomorphology 20 pts
Each kill feeds not only the swarm, but the will of the creature beneath it.
TYRANIDS model only. Each time the bearer destroys an enemy model, improve the bearer’s Objective Control characteristic by 1 for the rest of the battle.
Trygon Prime 20 pts
Only rarely manifested by the hive fleets, the Trygon Prime possesses a greatly enhanced synaptic network within its neural cortex, enabling it to more precisely coordinate the assaults of burrowing Tyranid creatures.
TRYGON model only. The bearer gains the SYNAPSE keyword. Improve the Strength and Weapon Skill characteristics of melee weapons equipped by the bearer by 1.
Synaptic Control 20 pts
Tyranids are one with the Hive Mind; individuality is a disadvantage that they surpass.
TYRANID SYNAPSE model only. Add 1 to the Objective Control characteristic of friendly TYRANIDS units while they are within Synapse Range of the bearer.
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Fixture of Dakka
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Running stream of thought as I read through:
AMBUSH
* Having trouble figuring out what the intended theme is. It's kind of like a fusion of invasion fleet and vanguard? With a little extra synaptic stuff splashed in? I think it works fine as a replacement for Invasion Fleet, but I'm not sure how well it would let me pull off my vanguard shenanigans.
* Biomorphs look pretty good. Not sure Extended Carapace needs to negate -1 AP. Having your own save be better is one thing, but I'm skittish about rules that just shut down the cool thing your opponent paid for.
I don't like Toxin Sacs being tied to the CHARACTER keyword. It doesn't make sense to me that toxins designed to kill chapter master Bob wouldn't also be effective against other astartes. Also, not having an option to have LH versus monsters/vehicles means that my (very melee heavy) 'nid collection would really struggle into vehicles with this detachment.
* Strats look pretty good. I'd never use Smothering Shadow. 1CP for a *chance* that my opponent will become shocked *just in case* my opponent targets them with a strat later that *might* make a difference is just too much of a gamble. Only having it last until the end of your opponent's turn also limits how good it is considerably.
Surprise Assault is mechanically fine, but I'm not sure what "vanguard" organisms you had in mind here. Genestealers and lictors don't shoot much, and gargoyles already have a move-shoot-move.
* Enhancements mostly seem fine, but I think Stalker might be miswritten in some way? What does "your selected target" mean? We're already talking about the only "selected target" in the context of that enhancement.
* Adaptive Toxins: Implies that a weapon being poisonous somehow allows that weapon to bypass bodyguards and let you select a character as a target? Mechanically fine.
* I like the concept of choosing the effect of some enhancements at the start of the battle to reflect adaptations designed to counter specific threats.
CHRYSALIS
This one seems a little messier to me:
* The stratagem sharing thing after you've uses your other impulses seems very powerful, but not being able to use it until turn 4 at the earliest is a pretty big limiter. Idk. Feels weird. Is there a reason not to just write specific stratagems with the option to target additional units the way the codex currently does? That gives you more control over which strats that rule applies to and doesn't lock the fluffy rule behind a minimum turn number.
* Lurk: I think I get what you're going for, but it feels weird that you can "lurk" out in the open without terrain being involved. Probably fine as-is.
* Feed: The mechanic is fine. The way it's written is awkward given that you already spent like a paragraph defining who can benefit from the imperative. Can probably be shortened to something like, "When an enemy unit finishes a move during the enemy movement phase, one unit with this rule may make a d6" Surge move. They may move within engagement range when making this move."
*Predatory Compulsion: Do tyranids *have* any Hazardous melee weapons? Might be clearer to say they lose the Hazardous rule until the end of the phase to avoid debates about what "normal penalties" are.
* Preservation Imperative: What's the unit/scenario that would let a tyranid unit make a charge move during the enemy turn? Just the heroic intervention strat?
*Broodguard impulse: Feels like you should be able to improve your OC without needing to fall back first, but otherwise fine.
* Bounding Advance: How does this interact with the Hunt imperative? Does it cancel it out (sets advance to 6" so there's no "advance roll," or does it let things move 9"? 9" Feels like too much to me, but cancelling Hunt out does create a mild anti-synergy.
* Perfectly Adapted: Are these changes meant to be permanent/stack? Giving a hive tyrant +5 toughness over the course of the game (and making lascannons fish for 5s to wound starting turn 3) is probably a bit much.
PURSUIT
* Detachment rule seems solid.
* Power of the Hive Mind: I get what you're going for, but thematically this feels like it maybe ought to be a Chrysalis strat. Also, this is too niche for my taste. Lots of armies won't have any Psychic Attacks to begin with let alone psychic attacks on units and in circumstances where Falling Back is relevant. Also, the Psychic Phase doesn't exist.
* Crippling Toxins: I think what you intended for this to do is to apply -1 Toughness to a target after the tyranid unit finishes resolving its shooting. As-written, it instead forces you to slow roll as you steadily make the enemy easier and easier to wound, and also you potentially lower their Toughness to 0 or less in a single salvo of shooting. If I'm right about the intent, I'd probably rewrite this to only let you debuff a single enemy unit just so you don't have to resolve a gant squad split-firing at 12 different enemy units to maximize the debuff.
* Death Frenzy: Is fine, just curious about what the thinking was behind the +3 if you didn't charge part. The 'nids are more likely to fight on death as part of a protracted fight?
* Piercing Talons: Generally, GW tries to avoid guaranteed mortal wound damage. If you wanted to cleave closer to GW's approach, it should probably be something like roll a d6, do nothing on a 1, do d3 mortals on a 2-5, and do 3 mortals on a 6. Or something like that.
* Adrenalised Onslaught: The fall-back-and-charge is redundant with the detachment rule. Should probably rephrase as "the bearer's unit advances" so that there's no confusion as to whether a prime loses this benefit when attached to a squad.
* Monstrous Nemesis: Is there any precedent for fighting a second time in 10th? I thought 9th had kind of concluded that mechanic was a bad idea? Feels like it probably warrants a higher price tag than 20 points.
* Neuronode: Redundant with the strat that turns your guns into pistols. Also, I'm not sure who this is for? IIRC, warrior primes don't have guns, brood lords don't either, and MCs already get to shoot into melee. So is the intention that this is 20 points to turn off the -1 to-hit penalty from Big Guns? Or just a way of getting around the once-per-turn restriction on stratagems?
SWARM
* Detachment rule is fine, although I kind of liked that the assimilation swarm gave some of our less popular units an additional role. I feel like this sort of gives you less reason to field assimilator units?
* Choking Spores: Interesting. Basically as bad as not getting to do an advance move at all, but technically still allows the advance so that they can still use abilities that trigger off of advancing. Kind of niche in that you need to predict that a unit will want to advance in the first place and that the advance roll would have been high enough to make a meaningful difference. I'd almost be tempted to make the buff weaker (-2 to advance rolls) but have it impact all enemy units within range of a targeted terrain piece instead? So you don't have to be as much of a fortune teller and can instead just mildly debuff a whole patch of the battlefield.
* Secure Biomass: Probably fine. I'm overthinking it. Kind of worried that it discourages tactical movement by not only granting a buff against units in terrain but also taking away the one benefit (cover) that they theoretically would have received from trying to use cover? Idk. I generally like the concept of incorporating the terrain like this, so I'm probably just overthinking it.
* Instinctive Defense: Free HI *and* Fights First is pretty powerful. Basically turns a brood lord's unit into a much nastier version of a squad of howling banshees in terms of creating big "no charging allowed" sections of the table. About to be nerfed in 11th, obviously, but might be too good in the meantime? If nothing else, probably ought to be more expensive. Not sure how to avoid making this one feelsbad.
* Just want to note that on the tables I play on, it's pretty rare for a unit to *not* be within 3" of at least one piece of terrain at all times. So wihle I like the terrain tie-in for thematic reasons, I'd note that it isn't really much of a limiting factor/downside. If you did want to restrict the ranges of some of these rules a bit, consider having them apply to units that are actually within terrain rather than just within 3".
TREMORS
* Detachment rule is pretty powerful, but makes you set it up to use it. Flavorful.
* Seismic Disruption: I'm worried that 1" is too minor a benefit to be worth it. I think you could reasonably get away with 2".
* Surprise Assault: It's more powerful than the interrupt strat. Might need to cost 2CP despite needing to be within your network.
* Enhancements: These are fine individually, but 3 of the 4 are just OC manipulation. Makes them feel very one-note. Would be nice to see more variety, especially given that you're letting trygons become characters in this detachment.
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