Yesterday, we showcased how the Hive Mind has made a few choice improvements to the humble fleshborer, meaning even smaller Tyranid bioforms can pack a nasty new punch – especially once supported by a choice Synaptic Imperative. The Ordo Xenos have been hard at work studying the newest specimens, and they’ve uncovered yet more improvements afoot in the upcoming Codex: Tyranids.
Toxicrenes are one of the giant beast-breeds engineered by the Hive Fleets, specialised in biowarfare. These towering monsters are known for the lashing toxic tendrils that grasp and slash at their foes, and the clouds of semi-sentient spores they pump out of their carapace chimneys.
These two potent bioweapons – shared with its smaller Venomthrope cousins – make the Toxicrene the perfect response to massed INFANTRY. Charge this living spore factory into your opponent’s squads, and they'll soon find themselves embraced in a cloud of Choking Spores. This relaxing aromatherapy session dissolves the enemy’s stress (as well as their flesh and organs), making it that much harder for them to land a hit.
This new aura of corrosive corpuscles is bad enough, but the Toxicrene’s Hypertoxic Miasma is also making a return – and it’s nastier than ever. A byproduct of the spores churned out by this chitinous chain-smoker, this venomous fog burns everything it touches, inflicting mortal wounds on enemies just for being in Engagement Range of a Toxicrene – and rendering them unable to fight until after all of your units have had their turn.*
All this makes the Toxicrene an ideal escort for your melee swarms. Its debilitating cloud of hurt renders enemies useless in combat, slow to strike back and unable to hit even when they do, but won’t even tickle your Hormagaunts – they’ve probably smelled worse deodorant inside the Hive Fleet’s locker rooms.**
That isn’t everything this vile beast can offer your forces, either. As well as being a mobile area denial biomorph, it boasts Massive Toxic Lashes that are lethal in both the Shooting phase, where they sport 2D6 attacks, and the Fight phase, where they get a massive 12 attacks.
These wound anything except VEHICLES or TITANIC foes on a roll of 2+, which means the Toxicrene will effortlessly tear apart even the most elite infantry with its flailing feelers. And since it’s a MONSTER, it can shoot within Engagement Range – you don’t want to get bogged down against this tentacled terror.
Of course, you might not have a choice. Hive Mind players might remember the Grasping Tendrils Stratagem – that’s back, but as an entirely free ability. Once per turn, each Toxicrene can use its Massive Grasping Tendrils to envelop an enemy unit – on a D6 roll of a 3+ (or 2+, if they’re INFANTRY), they can’t Fall Back at all.
There are plenty of ways to increase the potency of this particular biomorph in the upcoming Codex: Tyranids. As a MONSTER it can benefit from the Warp Shielding Synaptic Imperative – use your Zoanthropes to create a baleful bulwark that will eat away your opponent's defence while miring them in suffocating spores and noxious hugs.***
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* Being dissolved by semi-sentient spores is just one of the million reasons we’re glad Warhammer 40,000 is fiction.
** Or when hanging out with the big daddy of sporecasting Tyranids, the corpse-eating Malanthrope.
*** The Hive Mind’s psychic broadcast of “Free Hugs” has yet to see much success outside of the Genestealer Cults.