Ye gods, the long wait for the 3rd edition Codex was agonising as a teenager... and that first sneak preview of the revamped Tyranid Warrior was electrifying. I feel the same way about the kit that you do about the 4th ed plastic Carnifex. And then I left the country to live overseas two weeks after its release, and didn't so much as see a 40K model for a year. Sigh. If an operative is within six inches of an operative with Synapse (Tyranid Warrior) add 1 to its APL. A fantastic ploy, as mentioned in previous articles APL modification is one of the most powerful abilities in Kill Team, and this is one of the better examples available to a team. It is important to note that Hive Fleet teams have no method of performing Shoot or Fight Actions more than once during an activation, however this ploy can still be incredibly useful, particularly on Tyranid Warriors armed with both melee and ranged options. A Aggressive Biostrain

Whilst it is true that the Tyranids are forced to remain at sublight speeds while within the gravitic boundaries of a planetary system, they are capable of superluminal velocities when travelling through interstellar space. This capability is the result of a small Tyranid bio-ship classified by the savants of the Imperium of Man as a " Narvhal." They possess few ranged weapons, but their sheer numbers and close combat specialisation makes up for the slaughter if they are led by a capable commander. As a result, a Tyranid Hive Fleet must use more conventional forms of biologically-induced reaction-based propulsion during the final approach to a new star system, which can slow their arrival by Terran years or even entire solar decades. Whilst this form of propulsion is ultimately slower than a reliance upon the Warp-Drive, it is a great deal more reliable and allows the Tyranids to move slowly, if implacably, across the galaxy.Tyranid Hive Fleets do not travel through the Warp like Imperial starships. Yet, the hive fleets' incredibly fast rate of advance into the galaxy belies the argument made by some that they do not possess a mode of faster-than-light travel. But the most important thing about the 3rd ed release was of course the PLASTIC HORMAGAUNTS. Praise be. No more tipping over, gouging scrapes in the terrain, or impaling your unwary hand on a sharp metal spear-arm. It wouldn’t be a Tyranid army without a variety of slowly floating bags of pressurized death threatening to inflict mortal wounds on your enemies. Depending on how GW decides to FAQ things spore mines could either be game breaking or just another novelty.

In 942.M41, Commissar Ciaphas Cain, while on a mission on the Ice World of Nusquam Fundumentibus, discovered hibernating Tyranids buried deep in the permafrost; the swarm was apparently carried to the planet by a Hive Ship that had crashed on the planet seven millennia earlier, prior to any human colonisation.

Not owning a huge number of tyranids, I thought it would be fun to start building a small tyranid force for use in Kill Teams, focusing mainly on tyranid warriors. The tyranid warriors have always been an iconic element of Warhammer 40,000, represented in several classic illustrations (I particularly remember those from the 2nd edition of Warhammer 40K; quite a few good ones are in the Codex Imperialis). Nothing in the tyranid range has achieved the wholly alien and bizarre look captured by the original plastic tyranid warriors . Their bipedal ant-like frames tower over their modern counterparts and their faces have a subtle, yet horrible, resemblance to a rat. Just as it seemed the defences of the Segmentum Solar and perhaps Terra itself would be tested, the Tyranids were distracted by being deflected into the star system of the powerful Ork Empire of Octarius in the Octarius Sector of the Segmentum Ultima. The Magos Biologis of the Imperium categorises each Tyranid hive fleet as a separate force, an individual entity that competes with other hive fleets for resources. Indeed, each is self-sufficient, appearing to exhibit different strategies and developing unique creatures to overcome its prey. This means that, by the time the Shadow in the Warp falls, it is already too late; these beleaguered planets are effectively on their own. They must fend for themselves and face the Tyranid swarm with the weapons they have to hand, or die in the attempt.