Death and destruction reign among the stars as man is caught in an endless struggle for survival, spent for the whims of madmen and sacrificed for the amusement of unknowable gods. But beyond these stars, a greater threat yet lurks – a force of insatiable hunger and unspeakable violence, bent on nothing but the total consumption of all organic matter.
These are the Tyranids – wherever they go, they leave lifeless worlds adrift in their wake.
Here’s everything you need to know if you’re thinking of starting an army of these extragalactic monsters.
New to the world of Warhammer 40,000? This quick-fire primer will get you up to speed on the merciless alien threat of the Tyranids – what they are, how they look, and the way they play on the tabletop.
The Tyranids are a predatory swarm of voracious, single-minded organisms driven to fight, die, and consume by the Hive Mind – a supremely intelligent gestalt consciousness that controls everything from the mightiest of hive ships to the smallest microorganism. Its unimaginably vast hive fleets form tendrils that surge into the galaxy from beyond its barren rim, barrelling closer towards an unknown goal with every passing moment as planets and solar systems are stripped bare of life by insatiable living ships.
The first warning of this extinction-level threat came from recovered datalogs on a frontier ocean world named Tyran. When the Imperial authorities arrived, the entire planet had already been reduced to a featureless rock, its seas drunk dry by an unidentified xenos entity – soon to be named after the planet itself.
What followed was a series of apocalyptic wars against these all-consuming hordes that doomed numerous planets and entire star-systems. Notable battles include the devastation of the Aeldari Craftworld Iyanden, the destruction of the Scythes of the Emperor Space Marines Chapter, and the near-obliteration of the Blood Angels and their successors. Perhaps the most famous conflict was the Battle for Macragge, in which the entire Ultramarines 1st Company died to a man defending the planet's polar fortress. The Tyranids have no language that humans can understand, but the Imperium names each new invasion after a monster from mankind’s ancient myths: Behemoth, Kraken, and Leviathan are each major threats. Each of these cataclysmic invasions has so far been halted, though at huge cost. But now a colossal new swarm of Hive Fleet Leviathan has emerged on the Imperium’s western fringe – far from their previous attacks – consuming all on its inexorable path towards the Imperium’s core…
On the tabletop, Tyranids are a fast, hard-hitting melee force, rightly feared for their array of ferociously tough monsters, but this is far from their only trick. Relentless biological adaptation and wicked strategic flexibility means Tyranids can excel in any kind of combat.
The Tyranids can bring a wide array of exotic ranged troops to the field – with biological artillery platforms supplemented by short-range acid-firing warrior beasts. They pack some of the most exotic and deadly weaponry in the 41st Millennium (and that’s saying something!).It’s common to see Tyranid armies that vastly outnumber their opponent. Gaunts are the smallest warrior-organisms in the Tyranid army, arriving in vast swarms to bury opponents in a tide of talons, teeth, and living firepower.
The hive fleets also have many jumping and flying units. A Tyranid army can fill the skies with alien horrors soaring aloft on bat-like wings, and delivering death from above with devastating bio-weapons. Among their most feared units are variants of the assassin-like Lictors – chameleonic, mantis-limbed killers that pick off enemy leaders and isolated units.
Large monsters comprise some of the most striking units in the army. Who doesn’t love a towering army of terrifying living battering rams? The Carnifex and the building-sized psychic powerhouse of the Norn Emissary smash through defensive lines, while giant gun-beasts such as the Tyrannofex obliterate enemy armour from a distance.
However you begin your Tyranid swarm, you’ll have a flexible and powerful fighting force at your fingertips, and breathtakingly cool units to paint wherever you choose to expand. Now get out there, and sink your teeth into a delectable galaxy just waiting to be devoured.
Combat Patrol is a game mode perfect for beginners and veterans alike, where bite-sized forces clash in fast and finely balanced games.
The Tyranids, however, still swarm like it’s the last day of swarming season – bringing 32 miniatures to the table with a wide variety of combat styles. This is more than almost any other Combat Patrol, and makes dealing with their relentless tide of claws and teeth a daunting prospect.
Known as the Vardenghast Swarm, this excellent army is a great way to start off a Tyranid collection, and lets you have a taste of the myriad ways the Hive Mind wages war. Units like the Termagants and Barbgaunts are fierce ranged combatants with powerful guns, while the Terror of Vardenghast and Von Ryan’s Leapers rip their prey to pieces in close combat.
These inhuman monsters are uniquely equipped to sap enemy morale, as the powerful influence of the Hive Mind shrouds the battlefield in a pall of pure terror known as the Shadow in the Warp. This ability disrupts your opponent’s battle plans, and reflects just how horrifying it would be to stand up to hordes of hungry aliens.
All you need to deploy your Vardenghast Swarm is a few dice, a ruler, and the downloadable rules below – the Core Rules show you how to play the game, the Combat Patrol Datasheets provide a balanced army that’s ready to play, and the Combat Patrol Missions give you some thrilling objectives to fight over!
One of the best things about painting Tyranids is that, as an utterly alien race undergoing constant adaptation, they look fantastic in any colour scheme you can think of. The way you paint your miniatures in no way restricts how they play on the tabletop, so let your imagination run wild!
If you’re looking for a few early ideas, the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Leviathan are a great place to start. Their distinctive purple chitinous plates and bone-coloured skin stands out beautifully on the battlefield, and is easy to get to grips with thanks to the dedicated Termagants + Paint Set.
It’s a lot easier than you might think to get your Vardenghast Swarm looking as good as they do on the box, and the paint experts at Citadel Colour have cooked up a list of their recommended paints to bring the colours of Hive Fleet Leviathan to life.You can use these paints in the following steps to get your Combat Patrol ready to munch their first biomass. Work on Tyranid skin, carapaces, claws, weapons, and wings, and if you’re feeling brave you can tackle the eyes, teeth, and lolling tongues.
For those who want to get their miniatures onto the tabletop as quickly as possible, the Warhammer Painting team have also concocted a quick how-to guide using a minimum of paints and simple techniques to get yours Battle Ready in no time.
Once you have a few Combat Patrol games under your belt and you’re ready to go from a small swarm to a fully-fledged hive fleet, you might be wondering where you want to go next.
Your first stop is Codex: Tyranids – the essential companion to the Tyranids faction containing dozens of pages of background lore and gorgeously painted miniatures, as well as rules for over 40 different units and plenty of different ways to play them. Together with a copy of the Warhammer 40,000 Core Book, you’ll have all of the rules you need to start playing full-size games of Warhammer 40,000.
You might also have an idea by now of how you want to play your Tyranids, but no matter which kind of swarm appeals to you, there’s a vast array of reinforcements to choose from.
First and foremost – add some bigger beasties. Smashing tanks apart with nothing more than claws and brawn is a riot, and your options for Hive Mind-powered can-crushing range from the brawling Carnifex to the bombarding Exocrine. The towering Hive Tyrant, meanwhile, is both an excellent leader and powerful fighter, literally designed to lead Tyranid armies in battle – you’ll just have to decide if you want yours with a majestic pair of wings or not.
Genestealers have lightning speed and vicious claws which slice through thick armour. They are pure predators who relentlessly tear through their unfortunate prey, whether they’re shivering soldiers hiding in bunkers or giant superhuman warriors who know no fear.
You also can’t go wrong by adding Gaunts to your swarm – Termagants use their terrifying bio-weapons to spit acid, needles, and carnivorous insect-like living ammunition over enemies from afar, while Hormagaunts bound up the field in great, loping strides. Both units also come with a Ripper Swarm in the box.
Ultimately, the best miniatures you can buy are the ones you think are the coolest, and picking up Codex: Tyranids is the best way to find out what tickles your fancy next. Expand your paint collection with the Paint + Tools Set, pick up a new unit or three, and soon you’ll have everything you need to start playing your first full games of Warhammer 40,000.
Books about Tyranids are great because their utterly relentless nature makes them a great villain candidate. Most recently, the new edition of Warhammer 40,000 kicked off the Fourth Tyrannic War, and the first salvoes of that conflict took shape in Leviathan by Darius Hinks.
You can also witness some of the greatest doomed stands against the Hive Mind’s minions in The Great Devourer, a compilation of nine quality short stories from fan-favourite Black Library authors that track the carnage committed in Hive Fleet Leviathan’s wake.
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