Stratagems: The 16 new Stratagems often focus on specific units and monsters, so my Haruspex is definitely going to benefit from Feeding the Hunger (re-roll hits!) and my Exocrine is going to love Symbiotic Devastation – it counts as not having moved in the shooting phase, which means it can redeploy and still benefit from +1 to hit rolls and shooting twice!

Tyranid Warrior ( Shrike) • Ravener • Genestealer • Gaunt ( Termagant • Hormagaunt • Barbgaunt • Neurogaunt) • Ripper ( Sky-Slasher) Exoskeletal Reinforcement – Units treat an armour penetration value of -1 as 0 instead. A slight bump in durability, but it is certainly no Armour of Contempt . Probably best to skip it as AP varies so heavily faction-to-faction. D This model is point-cheap for what it can accomplish in the right circumstances. Players may get hung up on the Terror from the Deep ability that ( similar to other Orbital Bombardment -like rules ) places a marker and promises pain for any enemy units that are within range at the start of your next Movement phase. This ability can be good to deter your opponent from a location, but a lot of players are going to just accept this as the cost of play and move on. This is neat, but unless you start the ball rolling on the first turn doing this ties your monster up off-table for another turn and against enemy units smaller than five models it’s going to fail a third of the time anyway. If you really want to force mortals onto an enemy unit, get this into combat where its Distensible Jaws ability can put in some work. Psychic Power: Hive Nexus (WC 7) – Allows one CORE unit to benefit from an inactive Synaptic Imperative . This took a bit of a nerf, as it was being abused by Maleceptors, but it is still a really damn good power to have on hand. There are a number of Synaptic Imperatives that are useful at any given time, and being capable of doling them out as-needed ( without a reuse limit) is very strong. Indefinitely 5++ Tyranid Warriors, anyone? A Kraken improves the overall speed with its strong unique psychic power, Relic, and Stratagem. Competitively it is the second most popular Hive Fleet.This is an obvious limitation placed on your HIVE TYRANT models because they’re just that good. You can still dip into additional models if you want, but you’re going to have to pay the detachment tax for it and make sure you can fill your slots appropriately. With the recent change to how Synaptic Imperatives are tied to your WARLORD models status, forcing your HIVE TYRANT to take on the mantle means they’ll be an even greater target. Consider if some Tyrant Guard will fit into your army list budget, because they’re very helpful in avoiding some big-time disappointment. Hive Fleet Adaptations Scorch Bugs (1CP/2CP) – One unit adds 6″ to the range and 1 to the Strength of Fleshborer or Fleshborer Hive weapons. If the unit has 16+ models or is a MONSTER , the Stratagem costs 2CP instead of 1CP. Fleshborers sitting at S5 means this can be very useful against T3 or T5 models, taking it to wound on a 2+/3+ respectively. That said 2CP is steep for a few more -1AP wounds. C+ Psychic Scream (WC 5) – An enemy unit within 18″ suffers d3 mortal wounds and if that unit is a PSYKER and the roll result exceeds the units Leadership score the unit losses access to one psychic power randomly for the rest of the battle. Typically used to just force some extra wounds as a cheap “second” Smite . The random power loss is generally not going to be a thing and planning on it for any reason is just inviting disappointment. B Relics This is a bit of a muddled unit entry and competitively is not going to see much play. A CARNIFEX that has slightly better shooting rules and and slightly better melee rules at a slightly higher cost. Competitive Tyranid lists are looking to squeeze as much out of every unit as they can and the benefits here are not enough for the modest point tax. Hive Guard

Rarefied Enhancements (1CP) – Give a Relic to a CHARACTER that is not your WARLORD . Standard codex strat, but there’s a lot of good relics out there. A Now the Hive Fleet equivalent of a Space Marine Lieutenant, the Tyranid Prime is potentially a free slot so long as you’re fielding a unit of Warriors as well. Compared to the cost of a normal Warrior they’re probably slightly overcosted for what they bring to the table, unless you’re fielding a gunline in which case their Guidemind Imperative is very useful and probably worth considering. Tervigon Heightened Senses – The WARLORD can fight first in the fight phase and can re-roll hit rolls. Hoenstly not a bad buff, but it competes with better traits. BThis control can be disrupted, however, with the death of the Hive Mind's synapse creatures through which it transmits and augments its psychic commands, such as when a Hive Tyrant's death leaves the lesser Tyranid bioforms to act completely on basic animal instinct. Synaptic Tendrils – In your Command phase, if your WARLORD has one of the following abilities it can use it twice: Alpha Warrior , Bio-impulses , Brood Pregenitor , Vicious Insight , Warp Siphon , Will of the Hive Mind . Doubling up on some of the better abilities can be very useful and the big winner here is a Neurothrope, where two Warp Siphon ‘d units can much more reliably succeed in their Psychic Powers and inflict a “super” Smite . A An extremely tough weapons platform, the Tyrannofex can be kitted out as either anti-infantry or anti-tank. Both options have some play but the most competitively popular by far is going to be the acid spray option, as D2 hits at range are a big threat to the numerous W2 models out there. The rupture cannon option is high risk/high reward and might not be the type of gamble you’d want to take in high-stakes play. If you do, it is likely best as Leviathan where the free hit re-roll is going to help mitigate poor results. Stone-crusher Carnifex (Forgeworld)

HQ: Neurothrope (Power: Onslaught, Power: Catalyst, Power: Paroxysm, WLT: Synaptic Tendrils, Relic: The Resonance Barb) 100pts, -2CPUnits are treated as having the benefit of Light Cover, unless they already have Light Cover in which case they additionally have Heavy Cover. Onslaught (WC 6) – One unit within Synaptic Link range does not suffer the hit penalty from Advancing and is eligible to declare a charge if it Advanced. Fantastic utility power and critical to have in your Psychic arsenal if you plan on making charges at any time. A+ At the tail-end of their 8th Edition rules, both of these Lord of War models got a bit of a revival thanks to Crusher Stampede. Unfortunately in 9th Edition they suffer from some targeted rules excluding TITANIC models from upgrades and powers that would make them a much more competitive choice. Some of the Hive Fleets do offer some interesting interactions, so there might still be some potential here, but there have not been a significant number of competitive lists featuring these huge investments. Harridan (Forgeworld) The short version is you pretty much can’t go wrong with a Winged Hive Tyrant competitively. The usual competitive build is going to have Adrenal Glands and monstrous bonesword, with or without the Reaper upgrade ( and it should be with ). Hive Tyrant

HFA: Bio-Barrage – Add 4″ to the range to any ranged weapons. Simple and useful, Kronos gives you a little more cushion for your gunline. B+ This, right here, is THE Synaptic Imperative . All others pale in comparison to the capability to reduce incoming damage for a round by up to 33-50%*. Typically utilized in the first turn unless you or your opponent are playing really cagey, apply this imperative when you’re going to be taking the heaviest fire. Competitively, it’s almost assumed that you’re going to be fielding a unit of Zoanthropes for this every time. The actual unit its tied to is great on its own, but if it was just 150pts for this alone it might still be worth it. It’s that good. Use it. A+ The Hive Mind is the gestalt collective consciousness of the Tyranid species. It is a nearly omniscient entity composed of pure psychic energy that originated outside of the Milky Way Galaxy. The Hive Tyrant is said to be a living vessel for it. It controls every Tyranid creature in a mental vice-like grip and directs their every action. Long the butt of many jokes, the current codex has raised the Tyranid faction to a legitimate powerhouse. So much so that the faction has taken a few nerfs across both army rules and point values to reduce their overall power. Even post-nerf, the bugs are still sittin’ well toward the top of the win lists–feel free to take a gander over at 40K Stats if you’re interested in some of the hard numbers. Psychotropic Venom (1CP) – In the Morale phase, select one non-VEHICLE enemy unit in Engagement Range of a LASH WHIP or TOXIC LASHES unit. That enemy unit subtracts 2 from its Leadership characteristic and subtracts 1 from Combat Attrition tests. If you’ve put some hurt into an enemy unit with lash-havers and want to force greater losses ( especially on large units), that has some potential. B

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Leviathan offers incredible durability for SYNAPSE models that were already tough, and the natural re-roll can assist units that have a small number of high-powered shoots. While the Hive Fleet traits and power are great, the Warlord Trait, Relic, and Stratagem are pretty underwhelming. Regardless, the siren song of Synaptic Control/Hive Nexus makes Leviathan the clear leader in Hive Fleet competitive popularity. Gorgon Synaptic Ganglia – PSYKER units can re-roll failed Deny the Witch tests and also increase the range of any manifested power by 3″. The Tyranid already have a number of anti-Psyker abilities, so this isn’t critical, especially considering a good number of matchups may not have Psykers at all… D Feed Biomorphologies Encircle The Prey (1CP) – Use this Stratagem at the end of the Movement phase ( this was FAQd since publication ) and select one BURROWERS or FLY unit and remove that unit from the battlefield. In the Reinforcements step of the next Movement phase, that unit can be returned to the table anywhere more than 9″ away from enemy units. A unit cannot be selected for this Stratagem if it was setup on the battlefield that turn. Good for scoring secondaries or threatening open objectives. B