WARHAMMER 40,000: CODEX TYRANIDS1

WARHAMMER 40,000 CODEX:TYRANIDS

Official Update Version 1.2Although we strive to ensure that our codexes are perfect,sometimes mistakes do creep in. In addition, we occasionallyprint new versions of our rules, which require amendments to bemade in older versions of our codexes. When such issues arise,we feel that it is important to deal with them as promptly as wecan, and we therefore produce regular updates for all of ourcodexes. When changes are made, the version number will beupdated, and any changes from the previous version will behighlighted in Magenta. Where a version number has a letter,E.g. 1.1a, this means it has had a local update, only in thatlanguage, to clarify a translation issue or other minor correction.

Each update is split into three sections: Errata, Amendments,and ‘Frequently Asked Questions’. The Errata corrects anymistakes in the codex, while the Amendments bring the codexup to date with the latest version of the rules. The FrequentlyAsked Questions (or ‘FAQ’) section answers commonly askedquestions about the rules. Although you can mark correctionsdirectly in your codex, this is by no means necessary – just keepa copy of the update with your codex.

ERRATAPage 33 – Synapse Creature, second paragraph.Change the last sentence to “If a unit that is falling back iswithin synapse range before it moves in the Movement phase, itautomatically regroups, regardless of any normal restrictions.

Page 33 – Shadow in the Warp, second paragraph.Change to “Any enemy psyker within 12” of a Tyranid with theShadow in the Warp special rule must roll an extra dice whentaking Psychic tests, and will suffer a Perils of the Warp attackon the roll of any double 1 or double 6.

Page 33 – Instinctive Behaviour, second paragraph.Change to “All unengaged Tyranid units that are not fallingback and have not gone to ground, must take a Leadership testat the beginning of their Movement phase:”

Page 35 – Tyrant Guard, Blind RampageThe first sentence should be changed to: “If a Hive Tyrant(including the Swarmlord) is killed…”

Page 41 – Chameleonic Skin, second paragraph.Add “Independent Characters cannot join a Lictor Broodbefore it arrives from reserve.” between the first two sentences.

Page 43 – Harpy, Spore Mine Cysts.The first sentence of the asterisked note should be changed to:“*If, after the final position of the first blast marker in thebarrage…”

Page 48 – Biovores, Spore Mine Launcher.The first sentence of the asterisked note should be changed to:“*If, after the final position of the first blast marker in thebarrage…”

Page 48 – Spore Mines, Living Bomb.The penultimate sentence of the second paragraph should bechanged to: “…resolve any hits at Strength 4 AP 4.”

Page 51 – Mawloc, Terror from the Deep.This rule refers to using a large blast template. The word“template” should be changed to “marker” throughout theparagraph.

AMENDMENTSNote that this is an older Codex, written for a previous editionof the rules. You will therefore need to consult the Referencesection of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook for an up to date listof Unit Types and Vehicle Hull Points. You’ll also find that someof the weapons in this Codex are written out longhand, ratherthan using the weapon profile format in the Warhammer 40,000rulebook. Don’t worry – these are functionally identical, unlessnoted otherwise in this document.

Two Toughness ValuesWhere a model has two Toughness values presented on itsprofile, one of which is presented in brackets, always use thebracketed value. Ignore the other value entirely.

2WARHAMMER 40,000: CODEX TYRANIDS

Psychic PowersAny model with psychic powers may use the psychic disciplinesfound in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook, instead of those inCodex: Tyranids. If it does so, for each psychic power it has fromCodex: Tyranids (including those it has purchased), generate anew power from either the Biomancy, Telekinesis or Telepathydisciplines (in any combination) before armies are deployed.

Page 33 – Instinctive Behaviour, Feed.Change the second paragraph to read “A unit that Feeds issubject to the Rage special rule. In addition, the unit may notfire any weapons in the Shooting phase, though it may still run”.

Page 34 – Hive Tyrant, Indescribable Horror.Change the second paragraph to read “Units wishing todeclare a charge against a Hive Tyrant with the IndescribableHorror upgrade, or the unit it is with, must first pass aLeadership test. If the test is passed then the unit may chargeas normal. If the test is failed then the squad falters and maynot charge that turn. This has no effect on units that have theFearless special rule”.

Page 35 – Tyrant Guard, Shieldwall.Change the first sentence of the second paragraph to read “Asingle Hive Tyrant (including the Swarmlord) may join a unitof Tyrant Guard exactly as if it had the Independent Characterspecial rule and, while part of the unit, is treated as such forthe purposes of Look Out Sir! rolls, Challenges, PrecisionShots and Precision Strikes”.

Page 43 – Harpy.Change Unit Type to Flying Monstrous Creature.

Page 43 – Harpy, Sonic Screech.Change the second paragraph to read “Harpies do not sufferthe penalties for charging enemies through cover, but insteadfight at their normal Initiative in the ensuing combat. Inaddition, any non-vehicle unit that is charged by a Harpy musthalve its Initiative value (rounding up) for the duration of theFight sub-phase”.

Page 45 – Venomthrope, Spore Cloud.Change the second paragraph to read “The Venomthrope unitand all friendly units within 6" of the unit have a 5+ cover saveagainst any shooting attacks. Any non-vehicle enemy modelthat charges one of these units must take a dangerous terraintest to represent the toxic effects of the spore cloud. Inaddition enemy units do not gain their bonus Attacks forcharging a Venomthrope Brood”.

Page 48 – Spore Mine Clusters, Orbital Deployment.Change the third sentence to read “If any scatter off the boardor into impassable terrain then the cluster is destroyed”.

Page 54 – Mycetic Spore, Transport Spore.Change the second paragraph to read “A Mycetic Spore cancarry a single unit of up to 20 infantry models or a singlemonstrous creature within its armoured shell. Once a MyceticSpore has landed, all creatures within must immediately deploy– place the unit such that every model is wholly within 6" of theMycetic Spore. If any models cannot be deployed because ofimpassable terrain or enemy models within 1", those modelsare destroyed. A unit that Deep Strikes via a Mycetic Sporecannot move or assault in the same turn it arrives but mayshoot or run.”

Page 56 – The Swarmlord, Swarm Leader.Change the first sentence to read “At the beginning of yourShooting phase, the Swarmlord can bestow one of thefollowing special rules onto any one friendly unit within 18":Preferred Enemy or Furious Charge”.

Page 59 – Deathleaper, Where is it?Change this entry to read “Deathleaper has the Shroudedspecial rule.”

Page 62 – Hypnotic Gaze.Change the first sentence of the second paragraph to read“This psychic power is used at the beginning of your Fight sub-phase, after any challenges have been issued and accepted ordeclined”.

Page 62 – Tyranid Psychic Powers, Onslaught.Change the last sentence to read “A unit under the effect ofOnslaught may not charge that turn.”

Page 82 – Heavy Venom Cannon/Venom Cannon.Change the asterisked section of text to read “Unless the targetis an open-topped vehicle, any penetrating hits inflicted by aheavy venom cannon suffers an additional -1 penalty to rolls onthe Vehicle Damage chart”.

Page 83 – Crushing Claws.Change the second paragraph to read “A Tyranid with crushingclaws gains an extra D3 Attacks in close combat (rolled for atthe beginning of each Fight sub-phase) but strikes at Initiativestep 1, regardless of any modifiers”.

Page 83 – Close Combat Weapon, Lash Whips.Change the second paragraph to read “Any enemy model thatis in base contact with a Tyranid with one or more lash whips atthe beginning of the Fight sub-phase counts their Initiativevalue as 1 until the end of the Assault phase, regardless of theiractual Initiative.”

Page 84 – Biomorph Upgrades, Wings.Add the following sentence to the end of the paragraph: “HiveTyrants with the Wings biomorph are Flying MonstrousCreatures”.

WARHAMMER 40,000: CODEX TYRANIDS3

FAQsQ: Are Tyranid units inside buildings (i.e. the Bastion) subject toinstinctive behaviour tests? Furthermore, are they able to manual fireemplaced weapons or weapon emplacements?A: No to both questions.

Q: Do Tyranid models have to test for Instinctive Behaviour on thesame turn they arrive from reserve? (p33)A: No.

Q: Do units who begin their turn more than 12" from any SynapseCreature have to test for Instinctive Behaviour if a Synapse Creaturearrives from reserve within 12" at the beginning of the Movementphase? (p33)A: Yes – the model has begun its Movement phase outside ofsynapse range.

Q: Does Shadow in the Warp affect psykers who are taking a Psychictest whilst embarked within a transport vehicle? (p33)A: Yes.

Q: If I have more than one Hive Tyrant with the Hive Commanderability, do their bonuses to reserve rolls stack? Also, do I get to outflankwith one Troops unit, or one Troops unit per Hive Tyrant with thisupgrade? (p34)A: No, the reserve roll bonuses do not stack. You can onlychoose to outflank with a single unit of Troops, regardless ofhow many Hive Tyrants you have with this ability.

Q: What Psychic Mastery Level is a Hive Tyrant? (p34)A: Mastery Level 1.

Q: What Psychic Mastery Level is a Broodlord? (p40)A: Mastery Level 1.

Q: What Psychic Mastery Level is a Zoanthrope? (p44)A: Mastery Level 1.

Q: What Psychic Mastery Level is a Tervigon? (p52)A: Mastery Level 1.

Q: What Psychic Mastery Level is the Swarmlord? (p56)A: Mastery Level 2.

Q: What Psychic Mastery Level is the Doom of Malantai? (p58)A: Mastery Level 1.

Q: Is the reserve roll bonus for having a Hive Tyrant with the HiveCommander ability cumulative with the reserve roll bonuses granted bya Lictor’s Pheromone Trail and/or the Swarmlord’s Alien Cunningrules? (p34, 41)A: Yes.

Q: Can a Hive Tyrant or the Swarmlord choose to leave a unit ofTyrant Guard once it has joined them? (p35)A: No.

Q: If a unit of Tyrant Guard, joined by either by a Hive Tyrant or theSwarmlord, launches an assault in which the Hive Tyrant/Swarmlordis killed before the surviving Tyrant Guard have struck any blows, willthey gain Strength bonus due to Furious Charge even though theydidn’t have this special rule at the time when they initiated the assault?(p35)A: No.

Q: How many victory points is a unit of Tyrant Guard that has beenjoined by a Hive Tyrant (including the Swarmlord) worth? (p35)A: Two.

Q: Can Raveners in the same brood be equipped with a mixture ofScything Talons and Rending Claws? (p37)A. No, all Raveners in the brood must have the same options.

Q: Can a Tyranid Broodlord (which has BS 0) use a witchfire psychicpower that doesn’t require a roll To Hit? If not, is he able to re-roll thepsychic power because he cannot use it? (p40)A: No to both questions.

Q: Must a Lictor brood be placed in unit coherency with each otherwhen arriving from reserve? (p41)A: Yes.

Q: Are the blast markers for a Harpy’s Spore Mine Cysts placedfollowing the rules for multiple blasts, or multiple barrages? (p43)A: Multiple barrages.

Q: Do all Zoanthropes in a brood have to use the same psychic power inthe Shooting phase? (p44)A: No.

Q: When a Zoanthrope brood uses a psychic power, do I need to take aPsychic test for each individual Zoanthrope in the brood, or just one testfor the whole brood? (p44)A: Each Zoanthrope in the brood must take a separate Psychictest. Note that this means that a wound caused by Perils of theWarp will be allocated to the Zoanthrope that suffered theattack.

Q: Must every non-vehicle model in a unit that assaults a Venomthropebrood take a Dangerous Terrain test? (p45)A: Yes.

Q: Do enemy models assaulting a Venomthrope brood, or anotherfriendly Tyranid unit within range of its Spore Cloud, have theirInitiative reduced to 1 for assaulting through the cloud? (p45)A: No, as the Spore Cloud is not a piece of terrain.

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Q: Can a model take a cover save from wargear such as smokelaunchers or an Ork Mekboy’s kustom force field against shootingattacks made by Hive Guard impaler cannons? (p47)A: No.

Q: If a brood of Hive Guard fail their Instinctive Behaviour test andare forced to lurk, can they still fire their impaler cannons at a targetthat is within range but not within line of sight? (p47)A: No.

Q: Can a unit take cover saves from any source other than the terrainthey are in, or touching, against Wounds caused by an impalercannon? (p47)A: No.

Q: Can a model take a cover save from the Jink special rule againstshooting attacks made by Hive Guard impaler cannons? (p47)A: No.

Q: Does a Spore Mine’s random movement replace its normalmovement, or is it in addition to it? (p48)A: It replaces its normal movement.

Q: Also, can a Spore Mine move in the Assault phase? (p48)A: No.

Q: What happens if an enemy unit assaults a Spore Mine? (p48)A: As soon as an enemy model comes into base-to-base contactwith the Spore Mine, it immediately explodes. Resolve anydamage from the explosion. If the enemy model that initiatedthe explosion (presumably the model that was closest to theSpore Mine) has died, then the remaining squad members willnot be within distance to assault the enemy and so no othermodel is moved. If the enemy model who initiated theexplosion survives, any remaining squad members are allowedto complete their assault move to maintain squad coherencybut they cannot then make a sweeping advance, consolidationmove etc.

Q: In scenarios where players are trying to capture objectives, areSpore Mine Clusters placed before or after the objectives? (p48)A: After.

Q: How far away must my opponent deploy from any Spore Mines fromclusters that have arrived by Deep Strike? (p48)A: 1".

Q: Can infantry units without wings that were going to arrive fromreserves using the deep strike or outflank rules, instead choose to arrivevia a Trygon’s Subterranean Assault ability. (p50)A: No.

Q: Can a Mawloc choose to Deep Strike onto a point occupied by anenemy model on purpose in order to use the Terror from the Deep specialrule? (p51)A: Yes.

Q: Are Zooming Flyers or Swooping Flying Monstrous Creaturesaffected by Mawloc’s Terror From the Deep special rule? (p51)A: No. However, if the Mawloc cannot be placed because aZooming Flyer or a Swooping Flying Monstrous Creature is inthe way, move the obstructing model by the shortest distance sothat they are 1" away from the Mawloc when it is placed.

Q: Can I take cover saves from a Mawloc’s Terror from the Deepattack? (p51)A: Yes.

Q: If an Independent Character has joined a unit of Termagants thatare within 6" of a Tervigon, will they gain all the benefits of the BroodProgenitor special rule and, when it is slain, could they suffer damagedue to the Brood Progenitor special rule? (p52)A: Yes to both questions.

Q: At what point does my model need to be in range of a Tervigon togain the bonuses of Brood Progenitor special rule? (p52)A: When you put the bonuses to use, i.e. when the model ischarged or when it makes its close combat attacks.

Q: Can a Tervigon who has used the Onslaught psychic power (apsychic shooting attack) on a friendly Tyranid unit, fire a weapon atan enemy unit or launch an assault in the same turn? (p52)A: No.

Q: Can a Mycetic Spore be subject to a Tank Shock and, if so, can itstill choose whether to Death or Glory or simply move out of the way?(p54)A: Yes, but it must choose to make a Death of Glory attack as itcannot move for any reason once it has entered the battle.

Q: If a Tyranid unit takes a Mycetic Spore, can an IndependentCharacter join the brood before deployment (and hence deep strike inwith the brood)? (p54)A: No.

Q: If a Tyranid unit takes a Mycetic Spore, can it choose to deploynormally whilst the empty Mycetic Spore deep strikes on its own? (p54)A: No.

Q: A Mycetic Spore cannot move itself once it has entered the battle, butcan it be moved by another model (e.g. by a Mawloc’s Terror from theDeep special rule)? (p54)A: Yes.

Q: Tyranid Special Characters. Are Tyranid Special Charactersconsidered to be special versions of the standard creatures of their typefor the purposes of using psychic powers, biomorphs and special rules?For example, is the Swarmlord considered to be a Hive Tyrant for thepurposes of using Hive Tyrant psychic powers? Similarly, isDeathleaper considered to be a Lictor for the purposes of ChameleonicSkin and Pheromone Trail, is the Doom of Malan’tai considered to be aZoanthrope for the purposes of Warp Field, is Old One Eye consideredto be Carnifex for the purposes of Living Battering Ram and areYmgarl Genestealers considered to be Genestealers for the purposes ofBrood Telepathy? (p56-61)A. Yes in all cases.

Q: If the Doom of Malan'tai successfully uses the Cataclysm psychicpower but suffers a Perils of the Warp attack when making its psychictest, does it take the wound before or after determining the Strength ofthe attack? (p58)A: Beforehand.

Q: Can cover saves be taken against wounds inflicted by the Doom ofMalan’tai’s Spirit Leech ability? (p58)A: Yes.

Q: Does the Doom of Malan’tai’s Spirit Leech ability affect unitsembarked in transport vehicles? (p58)A: No.

Q: Tyranid Ymgarl Genestealers use their Alter Form rule at thebeginning of the Assault phase. If I choose them to have a ProtectiveCarapace, will they benefit from Toughness 5 against Overwatch fire?(p61)A: Yes.

Q: The rulebook states that nobody can attack on the same turn thatthey arrive from Reserves. However, the Ymgarl Genestealers Dormantspecial rule contradicts this. Which is correct? (p61)A: Ymgarl Genestealers may charge on the turn they arrivefrom Reserves.

Q: Can Psychic Scream affect units embarked within a transportvehicle? (p62)A: No.

Q: If a model with a lash whip is slain by enemy models not in basecontact and at a higher Initiative step, when do the enemy models thatwere initially in base contact and affected by the lash whip (andtherefore reduced to Initiative 1) actually fight? (p83)A: The effects of the whip coils/lash whips take place at thebeginning of the Fight sub-phase and last until the end of theAssault phase, so the affected models would still fight atInitiative step 1 that turn.

Q: If a model makes a Pile In move which brings it into base contactwith a model with a lash whip, does it then fight at its normalInitiative step or must it wait until the Initiative 1 step? (p83)A: It fights at its normal Initiative 1 step.

Q: If a model with lash whips is attacking a model with an Initiative-boosting rule/piece of wargear (e.g. Furious Charge, an Eldar BansheeMask etc.), which order are the Initiatives modified? (p83)A: As a ‘set value modifier’ the lash whip effect is applied afterall other modifiers. If the model is affected by another set valuemodifier, roll off to see which is applied first at the start of eachFight sub-phase.

Q: Do lash whips affect Sweeping Advances? (p83)A: No.

Q: Do Tyranid models combine the effects of multiple Tyranid closecombat weapons in an assault? For example, if I have model that hasboth Scything Talons and Rending Claws, do I re-roll results of 1 ToHit and still have the Rending special rule. (p83)A: Yes.

Q: When attacking models with the acid blood biomorph, when are theInitiative tests taken? (p84)A: Resolve any tests and remove any casualties at the end ofeach Initiative step.

Q: If a model with acid blood takes an unsaved Wound from a Walker,does the Walker get to take an Initiative test, and only if it fails this testdo you roll to see if it suffers a glancing hit? (p84)A: Yes.

Q: When a Tyranid model with the regeneration biomorph (includingOld One Eye’s Rapid Regeneration) rolls to recover lost wounds, can itattempt to recover wounds suffered in the battle that have already beenregenerated? (p84)A: No. When rolling to regenerate wounds roll a number ofdice equal to the difference between the model’s currentnumber of Wounds and its starting number of Wounds.

Q: Can Harpies and Hive Tyrants with the wings biomorph deepstrike? (p84)A: Yes.

Last updated January 2013

5 WARHAMMER 40,000: CODEX TYRANIDS