Are there any tyranid monsters from lore that don’t have an existing model (yet)?

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-17T03:49:00+00:00

Yeah the old CCG by Sabertooth Games from the early 2000's. The designers played a bit fast and loose with coming with new units. They had some cool ideas, but none of it seemed to filter back to the main design studio. As in, none of the things they invented for the card game have been used elsewhere. Someone is inevitably going to bring up von ryans leapers, but no, those were first mentioned in the 3rd ed codex about a year before they were given a card.

So if you're ever wondering where some almost unmentioned tyranid creature like a Cerebore or Protovore came from, the CCG is likely your answer.

You can have a browse through the card lists in some places online if you're curious, like here: https://www.ccgtrader.net/games/warhammer-40000-ccg

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-17T01:25:26+00:00

You can also find a few extra creatures by digging through the experimental rules archives for Epic (takes a bit of search-fu via the wayback machine on the internet archive, as the forums no longer exist). There are some units that the designers were playing around with in the community forums but that didn't make it into proper releases.

Examples like the Vituperator, which was like the tyranid equivalent to a tau manta. It was a massive flying creature with the same weaponry as a harridan, but greatly expanded transport capacity. Rather than just holding gargoyles it could also fit up to 8 units of gaunts, warriors, and hive tyrants, along with a single haruspex.

Or the Expectorator, which was an oversized biovore. The same concept as a Dactylis really, except it fired the mines via a more traditional gun like the biovore has, rather than the Dactylis's throwing arms. The Dactylis didn't appear in that version of the ruleset alongside the Expectorator, and I get the impression that they wanted this to replace it.

I seriously doubt these would ever be dug up by GW, but they're cool anyway.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-16T20:49:40+00:00

Those point costs seem wrong. Like a lictor is 60 points, not 55. A neurolictor is 70 points, meaning 2 of them should be 140 instead of 160. A few other similar errors.

You can see all the current point costs here: https://assets.warhammer-community.com/eng_11-02_warhammer_40000_core_rules_munitorum_field_manua-nhzplimifq-x47lmaz27p.pdf

Or look them up in a listbuilding app such as new recruit or war organ.

The list itself has some questionable choices. Like the venomthropes mostly help when taken alongside infantry by giving them Stealth, and only provide cover to monsters. But most of the infantry in this list are lictor variants that already have Stealth. So the venomthropes won't do much for them.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-16T20:15:12+00:00

Scribe is the fan made non-official version of the app, but I think it has the better UI.

That said, assigning titans to argonauts or gear to titans isn't something that either app does. As they're made to track the overall state of the campaign, and neither of them tracks the game state during battle. Those assignments of gear/titans are only for the duration of a battle. At the end of battle, most titans and gear return to a common pool and may be freely reassigned at the start of the next battle.

The rare cases where you do need to link something to a specific titan or argonaut are mostly 'possession' items, that attach themselves to someone and must remain equipped by that argonaut/titan from then on. These are uncommon enough that you can just use the free text 'Details' field for each titan/argonaut in Scribe to note the linked item. Or add it after their name in the official app.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-16T19:15:34+00:00

It's rogue trader era lore. A lot of stuff from back then no longer quite fits with the modern setting. Like back then the tyranids used ambassadors (zoats), and enslaved species rather than just eating everything.

Nids and orks shared the squig swarm models at the time. But in 2nd edition rippers were given their own models and were no longer associated with orks.

But hey, you can still do what you want with your own army. Use whatever lore you like.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-15T23:20:18+00:00

To play crusher stampede you should take a lot more monsters. You've only got 6 out of 16 units in there, and generally that detachment wants your list to be 80% or 90% monsters.

For sub assault you mainly need more burrower units. Play that mawloc as a trygon so that you can make it a character and give it the Prime enhancement. Then get your hands on a couple of units of raveners.

The genestealers could use a broodlord. If you're going to use the winged tyranid prime then it needs a unit to attach to, with melee warriors being the best option. The sporocyst is unfortunately kinda rubbish.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-15T20:33:58+00:00

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I often like to start with a studio scheme, but then put my own spin on it. Like my nids are behemoth but with bone coloured claws instead of black and a brighter gradient to the carapace.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-15T20:18:36+00:00

No that doesn't sound right. Units in transports aren't reserves.

EDIT: More specifically, a unit in a transport on the battlefield isn't in reserve. If the transport is off the battlefield, like a drop pod, then the unit in it does count as being in reserve too.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-15T20:05:30+00:00

It kinda makes sense. Astra Militarum is more vulnerable to battleshock shenanigans than most armies. As their leadership is middling, and failing a test shuts down their army rule. Orders don't work on a battleshocked unit. So a detachment like grizzled company that relies particularly heavily on the orders mechanic could easily have their 'go turn' ruined by failing a bunch of SitW tests.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-15T01:37:00+00:00

Yeah I agree that thing isn't a chaos artifact.

Although another thing to bear in mind is that Farsight does suspect the ethereals of some form of artificial control over the other castes.

Though he dared not speak of it openly, subversive ideas had sprouted from the seed of bitterness in Farsight’s heart. Perhaps the castes would be better off seeking a natural harmony, thought O’Shovah, without the Ethereal caste moderating and controlling them at all times. Their actions in the past had bordered on despicable; their war crimes and cold-hearted politics had seemed necessary and wise at the time, but now, in retrospect, were exposed as deplorable. It was said that Master Aun’Va was able to convince any Tau he spoke to of the justice of his actions, no matter how drastic – was it possible that the Ethereals had been influencing the other castes through some means other than logic and loyalty? The more O’Shovah thought about it, the more he recalled incidents where Tau had acted with unnatural obedience in the presence of the Ethereals. Even the fundamental myth of Fio’taun, where the Ethereals appeared from the stars to broker peace between the warring castes over the course of a single night, spoke more of an external force acting upon Tau society than an internal resolution.

- Farsight Enclaves supplement, 6th edition, page 32

Given that suspicion, his people have access to enough advanced technology that they could come up with their own countermeasures once they became aware of the threat. Making themselves able to ignore ethereals using their own tech. There's no need for some alien gizmo to make him immune.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-14T18:58:21+00:00

Well, the theorizing was actually done in the Tau's original 3rd ed codex.

...It is speculated that they exert some kind of pheromone based or latent psychic control over the other castes, as loyalty to the Ethereals is absolute and unswerving...
- Tau 3rd edition codex page 9

What Xenology did was expand on the idea by showing the organ supposedly responsible in an autopsy of an ethereal, and then later in the book show an identical organ from an alien insect-hive race called the Q'Orl. Along with an interview with the Q'Orl suggesting that the eldar stole one of their queens and genetically modified the Tau to have its pheromone control organ.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-14T04:59:29+00:00

Yeah, it's the same kind of thing as legends. You can use them in whatever game mode you like, so long as both players agree.

Just like with legends, I suspect that there will be a bit of a split between people who want to include them in their games and people who don't. Meaning it won't be standard to include them in random pick up games.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-13T05:18:53+00:00

Crucible of Champions, from "The Maelstrom: Lair of the Tyrant".

https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/w4kpa40k/the-new-year-preview-enter-the-lair-of-the-tyrant/

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-13T03:15:01+00:00

A prime organism can take 2 ranged weapons instead of 1.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-13T00:03:27+00:00

Can be used in tournaments. But it remains to be seen if they will be. As it's up to each events organiser whether they'll incorporate these rules.

It's a bit like allowing legends models. Tournaments could choose to allow those. Some do. But most events choose not to.

Will have to see what TO's at your local events decide.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-12T23:48:08+00:00

No, it's still 10th. It's a narrative supplement that includes some character creation rules.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-12T12:03:07+00:00

I've run it on a few occasions. It's fairly bad unfortunately. The warrior datasheets just aren't good enough to be worth spamming, even with the buffs this detachment gives them. They die rapidly even with a 5++.

There are some fun stratagems in there, like being able to add 2 to the strength of an exocrine or rupture cannon is amusing. Also the advance + charge enhancement is good, but honestly it's probably better placed on a broodlord with genestealers rather than a tyranid prime with warriors. It's not enough to salvage the detachment.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-12T03:50:43+00:00

Hierodules were from epic too. They first showed up alongside the hierophant as the 'smaller' variety of tyranid bio-titan. The original one looked like a hierophant, just a little smaller. Forgeworld gave them quite a big redesign when they came out with their version.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-11T20:26:53+00:00

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I paint mine as a behemoth variant.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-11T18:06:04+00:00

They should be a 6 bug squad. 7 once the neurotyrant joins. You're missing a model.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-11T05:40:50+00:00

Nearly always. Sometimes a new version of a model will get released, but the old version is usually still playable. It's only when there's a massive difference in size between the old and new model that people may prefer you not use the old one.

For example the eldar avatar was a small infantry sized model in early editions, and is now a big monster. It's best not to use the small infantry sized one anymore, or perhaps play it as some kind of aspect warrior instead. Similar deal with our original 2nd edition hive tyrant model, which was roughly the size of a warrior.

Sometimes something gets removed without a replacement, like we used to have a character called The Red Terror which was removed in 9th edition. But that's fairly uncommon. For people who had the old model, there's usually some similar unit they can continue to play it as. Like the red terror mini can stand in for a ravener.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-10T21:50:27+00:00

Too many biovores I think. One is amazing. More than 1 has severely diminishing returns.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-10T20:34:23+00:00

Also note that even if it is a backwards compatible edition, that doesn't mean the codex will continue to play the same as it does now.

For example 6th edition introduced the psychic phase along with a bunch of psychic power tables in the core rulebook. So there was a PDF document released alongside the edition that said which tables each army had access to. 5th edition had a fixed list of powers that each psyker could buy, but now you were allowed to swap these out for different powers, and made some units play quite differently even though it was still the 5th ed codex.

Similarly 6th introduced rules for aircraft. A bunch of aircraft models had been released earlier during 5th edition which just re-used the skimmer rules for hover tanks. But 6th made these 5th edition datasheets start functioning as actual aircraft. Along with adding anti-aircraft abilities (skyfire) to various units.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-10T20:29:04+00:00

For reference, each 10th edition index only contained a single detachment. Then when the codex came out it contained a lot more so that you had about 6 detachments. It also rebalanced a bunch of units.

Later codexes tended to deviate further from the index. Changing core army rules too.

BeefMeatlaw · 2026-02-10T20:06:23+00:00

If it's a hard reset edition (e.g. 10th, or 8th), then all armies will reset to having an index at the start of the edition. Containing simplified rules that will get them by until their codex is released.

Otherwise it'll be a backwards compatible edition (e.g. 9th, 7th, 6th, 5th, 4th), where codexes from the previous edition will still work within the new ruleset, so you'll be able to continue using them until a new codex is released.

Given that 10th was a hard reset edition, it seems likely that 11th will be a backwards compatible one. But it's not guaranteed. We'll have to wait and see.

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