WARHAMMER 40,000 CODEX:
T YRANIDS
Official Update Version 1.2
Although we strive to ensure that our codexes are perfect,
sometimes mistakes do creep in. In addition, we occasionally
print new versions of our rules, which require amendments to be
made in older versions of our codexes. When such issues arise,
we feel that it is important to deal with them as promptly as we
can, and we therefore produce regular updates for all of our
codexes. When changes are made, the version number will be
updated, and any changes from the previous version will be
highlighted in Magenta. Where a version number has a letter,
E.g. 1.1a, this means it has had a local update, only in that
language, 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 any
mistakes in the codex, while the Amendments bring the codex
up to date with the latest version of the rules. The Frequently
Asked Questions (or ‘FAQ’) section answers commonly asked
questions about the rules. Although you can mark corrections
directly in your codex, this is by no means necessary – just keep
a copy of the update with your codex.
ERRATA
Page 33 – Synapse Creature, second paragraph.
Change the last sentence to “If a unit that is falling back is
within synapse range before it moves in the Movement phase, it
automatically regroups, regardless of any normal restrictions.
Page 41 – Chameleonic Skin, second paragraph.
Add “Independent Characters cannot join a Lictor Brood
before 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 the
barrage…”
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 the
barrage…”
Page 48 – Spore Mines, Living Bomb.
The penultimate sentence of the second paragraph should be
changed 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 the
paragraph.
AMENDMENTS
Page 33 – Shadow in the Warp, second paragraph.
Change to “Any enemy psyker within 12” of a Tyranid with the
Shadow in the Warp special rule must roll an extra dice when
taking Psychic tests, and will suffer a Perils of the Warp attack
on the roll of any double 1 or double 6.
Note that this is an older Codex, written for a previous edition
of the rules. You will therefore need to consult the Reference
section of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook for an up to date list
of Unit Types and Vehicle Hull Points. You’ll also find that some
of the weapons in this Codex are written out longhand, rather
than using the weapon profile format in the Warhammer 40,000
rulebook. Don’t worry – these are functionally identical, unless
noted otherwise in this document.
Page 33 – Instinctive Behaviour, second paragraph.
Change to “All unengaged Tyranid units that are not falling
back and have not gone to ground, must take a Leadership test
at the beginning of their Movement phase:”
Two Toughness Values
Where a model has two Toughness values presented on its
profile, one of which is presented in brackets, always use the
bracketed value. Ignore the other value entirely.
Page 35 – Tyrant Guard, Blind Rampage
The first sentence should be changed to: “If a Hive Tyrant
(including the Swarmlord) is killed…”
1
WARHAMMER 40,000: CODEX TYRANIDS
Psychic Powers
Any model with psychic powers may use the psychic disciplines
found in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook, instead of those in
Codex: Tyranids. If it does so, for each psychic power it has from
Codex: Tyranids (including those it has purchased), generate a
new power from either the Biomancy, Telekinesis or Telepathy
disciplines (in any combination) before armies are deployed.
Page 33 – Instinctive Behaviour, Feed.
Change the second paragraph to read “A unit that Feeds is
subject to the Rage special rule. In addition, the unit may not
fire 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 to
declare a charge against a Hive Tyrant with the Indescribable
Horror upgrade, or the unit it is with, must first pass a
Leadership test. If the test is passed then the unit may charge
as normal. If the test is failed then the squad falters and may
not charge that turn. This has no effect on units that have the
Fearless special rule”.
Page 35 – Tyrant Guard, Shieldwall.
Change the first sentence of the second paragraph to read “A
single Hive Tyrant (including the Swarmlord) may join a unit
of Tyrant Guard exactly as if it had the Independent Character
special rule and, while part of the unit, is treated as such for
the purposes of Look Out Sir! rolls, Challenges, Precision
Shots 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 suffer
the penalties for charging enemies through cover, but instead
fight at their normal Initiative in the ensuing combat. In
addition, any non-vehicle unit that is charged by a Harpy must
halve its Initiative value (rounding up) for the duration of the
Fight sub-phase”.
Page 45 – Venomthrope, Spore Cloud.
Change the second paragraph to read “The Venomthrope unit
and all friendly units within 6" of the unit have a 5+ cover save
against any shooting attacks. Any non-vehicle enemy model
that charges one of these units must take a dangerous terrain
test to represent the toxic effects of the spore cloud. In
addition enemy units do not gain their bonus Attacks for
charging a Venomthrope Brood”.
Page 48 – Spore Mine Clusters, Orbital Deployment.
Change the third sentence to read “If any scatter off the board
or into impassable terrain then the cluster is destroyed”.
Page 54 – Mycetic Spore, Transport Spore.
Change the second paragraph to read “A Mycetic Spore can
carry a single unit of up to 20 infantry models or a single
monstrous creature within its armoured shell. Once a Mycetic
Spore has landed, all creatures within must immediately deploy
– place the unit such that every model is wholly within 6" of the
Mycetic Spore. If any models cannot be deployed because of
impassable terrain or enemy models within 1", those models
are destroyed. A unit that Deep Strikes via a Mycetic Spore
cannot move or assault in the same turn it arrives but may
shoot or run.”
Page 56 – The Swarmlord, Swarm Leader.
Change the first sentence to read “At the beginning of your
Shooting phase, the Swarmlord can bestow one of the
following 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 Shrouded
special 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 subphase, after any challenges have been issued and accepted or
declined”.
Page 62 – Tyranid Psychic Powers, Onslaught.
Change the last sentence to read “A unit under the effect of
Onslaught may not charge that turn.”
Page 82 – Heavy Venom Cannon/Venom Cannon.
Change the asterisked section of text to read “Unless the target
is an open-topped vehicle, any penetrating hits inflicted by a
heavy venom cannon suffers an additional -1 penalty to rolls on
the Vehicle Damage chart”.
Page 83 – Crushing Claws.
Change the second paragraph to read “A Tyranid with crushing
claws gains an extra D3 Attacks in close combat (rolled for at
the beginning of each Fight sub-phase) but strikes at Initiative
step 1, regardless of any modifiers”.
Page 83 – Close Combat Weapon, Lash Whips.
Change the second paragraph to read “Any enemy model that
is in base contact with a Tyranid with one or more lash whips at
the beginning of the Fight sub-phase counts their Initiative
value as 1 until the end of the Assault phase, regardless of their
actual Initiative.”
Page 84 – Biomorph Upgrades, Wings.
Add the following sentence to the end of the paragraph: “Hive
Tyrants with the Wings biomorph are Flying Monstrous
Creatures”.
WARHAMMER 40,000: CODEX TYRANIDS
2
FAQs
Q: Are Tyranid units inside buildings (i.e. the Bastion) subject to
instinctive behaviour tests? Furthermore, are they able to manual fire
emplaced weapons or weapon emplacements?
A: No to both questions.
Q: Do Tyranid models have to test for Instinctive Behaviour on the
same turn they arrive from reserve? (p33)
A: No.
Q: Do units who begin their turn more than 12" from any Synapse
Creature have to test for Instinctive Behaviour if a Synapse Creature
arrives from reserve within 12" at the beginning of the Movement
phase? (p33)
A: Yes – the model has begun its Movement phase outside of
synapse range.
Q: Does Shadow in the Warp affect psykers who are taking a Psychic
test whilst embarked within a transport vehicle? (p33)
A: Yes.
Q: If I have more than one Hive Tyrant with the Hive Commander
ability, do their bonuses to reserve rolls stack? Also, do I get to outflank
with one Troops unit, or one Troops unit per Hive Tyrant with this
upgrade? (p34)
A: No, the reserve roll bonuses do not stack. You can only
choose to outflank with a single unit of Troops, regardless of
how 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 Hive
Commander ability cumulative with the reserve roll bonuses granted by
a Lictor’s Pheromone Trail and/or the Swarmlord’s Alien Cunning
rules? (p34, 41)
A: Yes.
3
WARHAMMER 40,000: CODEX TYRANIDS
Q: Can a Hive Tyrant or the Swarmlord choose to leave a unit of
Tyrant Guard once it has joined them? (p35)
A: No.
Q: If a unit of Tyrant Guard, joined by either by a Hive Tyrant or the
Swarmlord, launches an assault in which the Hive Tyrant/Swarmlord
is killed before the surviving Tyrant Guard have struck any blows, will
they gain Strength bonus due to Furious Charge even though they
didn’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 been
joined by a Hive Tyrant (including the Swarmlord) worth? (p35)
A: Two.
Q: Can Raveners in the same brood be equipped with a mixture of
Scything 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 psychic
power that doesn’t require a roll To Hit? If not, is he able to re-roll the
psychic power because he cannot use it? (p40)
A: No to both questions.
Q: Must a Lictor brood be placed in unit coherency with each other
when arriving from reserve? (p41)
A: Yes.
Q: Are the blast markers for a Harpy’s Spore Mine Cysts placed
following 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 in
the Shooting phase? (p44)
A: No.
Q: When a Zoanthrope brood uses a psychic power, do I need to take a
Psychic test for each individual Zoanthrope in the brood, or just one test
for the whole brood? (p44)
A: Each Zoanthrope in the brood must take a separate Psychic
test. Note that this means that a wound caused by Perils of the
Warp will be allocated to the Zoanthrope that suffered the
attack.
Q: Must every non-vehicle model in a unit that assaults a Venomthrope
brood take a Dangerous Terrain test? (p45)
A: Yes.
Q: Do enemy models assaulting a Venomthrope brood, or another
friendly Tyranid unit within range of its Spore Cloud, have their
Initiative reduced to 1 for assaulting through the cloud? (p45)
A: No, as the Spore Cloud is not a piece of terrain.
Q: Can a model take a cover save from wargear such as smoke
launchers or an Ork Mekboy’s kustom force field against shooting
attacks made by Hive Guard impaler cannons? (p47)
A: No.
Q: Can a Mawloc choose to Deep Strike onto a point occupied by an
enemy model on purpose in order to use the Terror from the Deep special
rule? (p51)
A: Yes.
Q: If a brood of Hive Guard fail their Instinctive Behaviour test and
are forced to lurk, can they still fire their impaler cannons at a target
that is within range but not within line of sight? (p47)
A: No.
Q: Are Zooming Flyers or Swooping Flying Monstrous Creatures
affected by Mawloc’s Terror From the Deep special rule? (p51)
A: No. However, if the Mawloc cannot be placed because a
Zooming Flyer or a Swooping Flying Monstrous Creature is in
the way, move the obstructing model by the shortest distance so
that they are 1" away from the Mawloc when it is placed.
Q: Can a unit take cover saves from any source other than the terrain
they are in, or touching, against Wounds caused by an impaler
cannon? (p47)
A: No.
Q: Can a model take a cover save from the Jink special rule against
shooting attacks made by Hive Guard impaler cannons? (p47)
A: No.
Q: Does a Spore Mine’s random movement replace its normal
movement, 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 contact
with the Spore Mine, it immediately explodes. Resolve any
damage from the explosion. If the enemy model that initiated
the explosion (presumably the model that was closest to the
Spore Mine) has died, then the remaining squad members will
not be within distance to assault the enemy and so no other
model is moved. If the enemy model who initiated the
explosion survives, any remaining squad members are allowed
to complete their assault move to maintain squad coherency
but they cannot then make a sweeping advance, consolidation
move etc.
Q: Can I take cover saves from a Mawloc’s Terror from the Deep
attack? (p51)
A: Yes.
Q: If an Independent Character has joined a unit of Termagants that
are within 6" of a Tervigon, will they gain all the benefits of the Brood
Progenitor special rule and, when it is slain, could they suffer damage
due 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 to
gain the bonuses of Brood Progenitor special rule? (p52)
A: When you put the bonuses to use, i.e. when the model is
charged or when it makes its close combat attacks.
Q: Can a Tervigon who has used the Onslaught psychic power (a
psychic shooting attack) on a friendly Tyranid unit, fire a weapon at
an 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 it
still 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 it
cannot move for any reason once it has entered the battle.
Q: In scenarios where players are trying to capture objectives, are
Spore Mine Clusters placed before or after the objectives? (p48)
A: After.
Q: If a Tyranid unit takes a Mycetic Spore, can an Independent
Character join the brood before deployment (and hence deep strike in
with the brood)? (p54)
A: No.
Q: How far away must my opponent deploy from any Spore Mines from
clusters that have arrived by Deep Strike? (p48)
A: 1".
Q: If a Tyranid unit takes a Mycetic Spore, can it choose to deploy
normally whilst the empty Mycetic Spore deep strikes on its own? (p54)
A: No.
Q: Can infantry units without wings that were going to arrive from
reserves using the deep strike or outflank rules, instead choose to arrive
via a Trygon’s Subterranean Assault ability. (p50)
A: No.
Q: A Mycetic Spore cannot move itself once it has entered the battle, but
can it be moved by another model (e.g. by a Mawloc’s Terror from the
Deep special rule)? (p54)
A: Yes.
WARHAMMER 40,000: CODEX TYRANIDS
4
Q: Tyranid Special Characters. Are Tyranid Special Characters
considered to be special versions of the standard creatures of their type
for the purposes of using psychic powers, biomorphs and special rules?
For example, is the Swarmlord considered to be a Hive Tyrant for the
purposes of using Hive Tyrant psychic powers? Similarly, is
Deathleaper considered to be a Lictor for the purposes of Chameleonic
Skin and Pheromone Trail, is the Doom of Malan’tai considered to be a
Zoanthrope for the purposes of Warp Field, is Old One Eye considered
to be Carnifex for the purposes of Living Battering Ram and are
Ymgarl Genestealers considered to be Genestealers for the purposes of
Brood Telepathy? (p56-61)
A. Yes in all cases.
Q: If the Doom of Malan'tai successfully uses the Cataclysm psychic
power but suffers a Perils of the Warp attack when making its psychic
test, does it take the wound before or after determining the Strength of
the attack? (p58)
A: Beforehand.
Q: Can cover saves be taken against wounds inflicted by the Doom of
Malan’tai’s Spirit Leech ability? (p58)
A: Yes.
Q: Does the Doom of Malan’tai’s Spirit Leech ability affect units
embarked in transport vehicles? (p58)
A: No.
Q: Tyranid Ymgarl Genestealers use their Alter Form rule at the
beginning of the Assault phase. If I choose them to have a Protective
Carapace, will they benefit from Toughness 5 against Overwatch fire?
(p61)
A: Yes.
Q: The rulebook states that nobody can attack on the same turn that
they arrive from Reserves. However, the Ymgarl Genestealers Dormant
special rule contradicts this. Which is correct? (p61)
A: Ymgarl Genestealers may charge on the turn they arrive
from Reserves.
Q: Can Psychic Scream affect units embarked within a transport
vehicle? (p62)
A: No.
Q: If a model with a lash whip is slain by enemy models not in base
contact and at a higher Initiative step, when do the enemy models that
were initially in base contact and affected by the lash whip (and
therefore reduced to Initiative 1) actually fight? (p83)
A: The effects of the whip coils/lash whips take place at the
beginning of the Fight sub-phase and last until the end of the
Assault phase, so the affected models would still fight at
Initiative step 1 that turn.
5
WARHAMMER 40,000: CODEX TYRANIDS
Q: If a model makes a Pile In move which brings it into base contact
with a model with a lash whip, does it then fight at its normal
Initiative 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 Initiativeboosting rule/piece of wargear (e.g. Furious Charge, an Eldar Banshee
Mask etc.), which order are the Initiatives modified? (p83)
A: As a ‘set value modifier’ the lash whip effect is applied after
all other modifiers. If the model is affected by another set value
modifier, roll off to see which is applied first at the start of each
Fight sub-phase.
Q: Do lash whips affect Sweeping Advances? (p83)
A: No.
Q: Do Tyranid models combine the effects of multiple Tyranid close
combat weapons in an assault? For example, if I have model that has
both Scything Talons and Rending Claws, do I re-roll results of 1 To
Hit and still have the Rending special rule. (p83)
A: Yes.
Q: When attacking models with the acid blood biomorph, when are the
Initiative tests taken? (p84)
A: Resolve any tests and remove any casualties at the end of
each 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 test
do you roll to see if it suffers a glancing hit? (p84)
A: Yes.
Q: When a Tyranid model with the regeneration biomorph (including
Old One Eye’s Rapid Regeneration) rolls to recover lost wounds, can it
attempt to recover wounds suffered in the battle that have already been
regenerated? (p84)
A: No. When rolling to regenerate wounds roll a number of
dice equal to the difference between the model’s current
number of Wounds and its starting number of Wounds.
Q: Can Harpies and Hive Tyrants with the wings biomorph deep
strike? (p84)
A: Yes.
Last updated January 2013