Overall, the Codex is strikingly similar to the last one! There are no radical changes. The main thing is that the model range has been updated.

In fact, I get the distinct impression that Phil Kelly was nervous to make any significant changes in the shadow of Andy Chambers who created the previous list. Or if I were more generous I would say that the list simply didn’t need any significant changes.

But a part of me did wonder why I had to pay £12 for a new book which was so similar to the old one. But that’s progress, I guess. However, where there have been changes they are almost entirely for the better.

The good news for Tyranid players is that the troops are in many cases better and cheaper, so your points will go further. This is probably just a part of the general “feature creep” which happens with successive versions of all of the Codexes.

One of the differences between this version of the Codex and the last is that there are now pages and pages of background fluff. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing is down to personal preference I guess, and maybe how long you’ve been in the hobby. For me it’s a bad thing; I would rather use my imagination. The writing rarely inspires me, and a lot of the time I’m reading the same stuff over and again.

The rules have been re-organised to bring the design-your-own biomorph options into the main list entries and there are now more biomorphs than previously. There is one new character, the Broodlord, and there are tweaks to some of the rules and tweaks to the points values.

In many cases, Tyranids are cheaper than they used to be and performance is better, e.g. Fleshborers and Devourers now have the “Living Ammunition” rule which means they get a re-roll on the To-Wound dice. They also get the Strength benefits of the Toxin Sacs upgrade.

I think Termagants have been made better for the points because no-one was taking them before. And otherwise what do you do with the Termagants that come in the same box as the Hormagaunts? (I converted mine to Hormagaunts)

Even Genestealers are cheaper, and they now have Fleet of Claw which means watch out they will be on you even quicker. And if that wasn’t bad enough for opponents of the Tyranids, you can give them the “Scuttlers” upgrade which means they count as Scouts and get a free move into the battlefield before turn one!

What with cheaper scything talons, how much harder can Stealers get? The answer is…to be led by a Broodlord, the new super-Genestealer!

The new models are definitely superior and correct some rather dubious designs in the previous iteration of the Tyranids (especially that Carnifex!).

The new range are all much more consistent with each other. And of course we now have a plastic Carnifex (hooray!).

There is a new Carnifex, Hive Tyrant, Ravener, Zoanthrope, I think new Lictor (damned near identical if it is new) and new Genestealers. The Stealers have hardly changed. Mainly they have added biomorph options like scything talons and feeder tendrils.

Unfortunately, cool as the feeder tendrils are, unless I am mistaken the rules for them means that they are an almost complete waste of time. With feeder tendrils all enemy count as ‘preferred enemy’, which means you hit on 3+ in close combat. But…Genestealers have a massive WS 6 so they’re virtually always going to hit on 3+ anyway. But I guess that’s why they are only 1 point. I will build a small brood of Stealers with Feeder Tendrils just because they look good and I don’t mind wasting 1 point each for them.

The Broodlord is a new HQ choice which means that you can now have a Stealer-only army or a swarm-only army, i.e. without Warriors and Hive Tyrants. The Broodlord comes with a retinue of Stealers. They get to Infiltrate, but lose Fleet of Claw and Scuttlers. The Broodlord character is of course an absolute close combat monster.

The model and concept art for the Broodlord is a bit disappointing. Given that it is faster, tougher, stronger, etc. than a normal Stealer, in fact the model looks more human – which is going in the wrong direction I would have thought. I also had to laugh at the special rule “Inhuman Strength”. What do they mean “Inhuman”? It’s a bloody Tyranid, for God’s sake. Of course it’s not human!

So, I haven’t decided yet how to model the Broodlord. I think it deserves a special conversion which makes it much tougher than the standard model representation. Of course I could use my old Patriarch model, but that looks too ‘senior’.

Models-wise, my reaction is as follows:

• Nice Tyrant, but I’m happy with my existing Tyrant (and in any case I have a first generation Tyrant and a second generation Tyrant already);
• New Carnifex is a vast improvement and a really cool model with loads of bimorph options so that is a must-have. In fact the only question is “How many?”;
• Even though I’ve got hundreds of Stealers already, I still want some of the new ones, I just have to have some of those biomorphs;
• Apart from that, my model collection is fine;
• I want a Broodlord, but I’m not sure about the standard model, so may convert my own (starting with a standard Stealer and building it up with plates, bigger head, bigger claws, etc.?)

Rules-wise, my thoughts are as follows:

• All my current models and units are pretty fine as they are and haven’t changed that much;
• I will have a brood of biomorphed Stealers, just for pure fun;
• I am still agonising over the Carnifexes – how many and how to equip?

The best thing about the new Tyranids is of course the beautiful new Carnifex model and all the lovely biomorph options for it. So which ones to choose?

Who wouldn’t love to have one of those big thornbacks, with acid jaws, tusks, mace tail, etc. but you can’t have them all, and are they worth the points anyway?

There are basically three types of Carnifex as I see it:

• Living artillery
• Assault brute
• General purpose

The living artillery Carnifex should be designed purely for firepower. That means something like twin Barbed Stranglers, Toxin Sacs, Enhanced Senses.

The Assault brute needs some close combat upgrades like Adrenal Glands (WS), scything talons and/or crushing claws, and maybe something like acid maw.

The general purpose Carnifex will have one weapon, typically a Barbed Strangler, but also scything talons or crushing claws.

My initial tendency is to go for a general purpose Carnifex, especially as I usually field only 1000 points so I will only get one model. However, I’ve been thinking…the weakness of Tyranids is anti-tank weapons, especially ranged anti-tank weapons. The best weapon is the Zoanthrope’s Warp Blast, but that is relatively close range.

The only heavy weapons with range greater than 24” are the Barbed Strangler and Venom Cannon in the hands of a Carnifex. So I think you have no choice but to give these to your Carnifexes. What else is a Carnifex for? You’ll have more than enough assault troops. Apart from heavy weapons, the Carnifex is good at two things:

• Being tough and drawing a lot of fire;
• Being able to assault tanks and the like;

But both of these functions can be achieved even if you equip your Carnifex as a living battery. It’s still going to be tough, depending on what upgrades you give it, and it’s still going to be able to knock over tanks.

My conclusion therefore is that Carnifexes should primarily be equipped as living batteries, with barbed strangler and/or venom cannon.

Now the weapon options are:

• Twin Barbed Strangler
• Twin Venom Cannon
• Barbed Strangler and Venom Cannon

The Codex is a ambiguous in this area, but I assume that a Carnifex with two weapons fires both of them and they DO NOT count as a single, twin-linked weapon.

[There are mistakes in the Codex, for sure. One of these would appear to be the points cost for a Carnifex Barbed Strangler. It has different points dependent on toxin sacs, as usual, except in the case of the Carnifex the toxin sacs won’t make any difference to the weapon because it is MAX S8. So a S9 Carnifex and a S10 Carnifex will still shoot with a S8 Barbed Strangler. Another mistake is that in the example the Barbed Strangler is listed as 30p when in the biomorphs it is listed as 20/25p.]

The combination I favour is one of each type of weapon. They can both be fired at tanks (Venom Cannon has higher strength but only does glancing hits, better against armour 14 tanks, whereas Barbed Strangler is better at lower armour tanks), and they can both be fired at tough infantry or monster targets (Venom Cannon is two shots, Barbed Strangler uses the Large Blast marker, both will Instant Kill Space Marines, Necrons, Tau Battlesuits, etc.).

I have yet to see an example of a Carnifex with this weapon combination, but it is an obvious choice when you think about it, especially as you have one of each weapon in the box so it would be difficult to give it twin Barbed Stranglers or twin Venom Cannon (as in one of the examples in the Codex).