Post by colossus on Nov 21, 2009 20:29:21 GMT -5
Vanguard Swarm
Once a Genestealer Cult has taken root on a world, a signal goes out from the Patriarch calling to the void to bring forth the Hive Fleet. First to arrive are the Vanguard Swarms which begin to cripple the defenses of a planet paving way for the Hive Fleet itself to begin to assault. The Vanguard Swarm is teeming with Genestealers, many of which have been integrated from the Coven if it is still present when the swarm arrives. The assault is bolstered by ambush attacks from hundreds of Lictors, flocks of Gargoyles & Spore mines descending from the skies & finally from below with the emergence of Raveners & ultimately Trygon. A Vanguard Swarm is an elite army designed to shatter the defense of so many worlds, so expected are its attacks & so efficient at death are its predators.
- Armies must be selected using the most recent edition of Codex Tyranids with the latest FAQ from Games Workshops website.
- Army Selection may ONLY be made from the the following list:
HQ - Broodlords; Tyranid Ravagers
ELITES - Taloned Horrors; Tyranid Ravagers; Lictors (no 0-1 restrictions)
TROOPS - Raveners; Genestealers
FAST ATTACK - Red Terrors; Gargoyles; Ariel Spore Mines; Spore Mines
HEAVY SUPPORT - Vanguard Genestealers; 0-1 Trygon - Because of the secretive nature of the Vanguard Swarm there is every chance that the battle will be fought at night or day(?)
To represent this, Dusk & Dawn rules are used as described on page 84 of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook but with one important exception - a roll of a 1 or a 2 indicates the night fighting rules are used on turn one. - Each surviving Lictor on the battlefield at the end of the game is worth 80 victory points to the Vanguard Player.
Tyranid Ravagers
With many worlds on the Eastern Fringe being heavily defended with fortifications & dug outs. The Hive Mind proved itself to be supremely adaptable. A new evolution of the Tyranid Warrior was seen on the battlefields of Radnar to devastating effect as they burrowed under the Hive city walls & emerged in vast numbers in the underhive. Leading thousands of Raveners & Trygon, the Ravagers directed the attacks with ruthless proficiency sundering Radnar Prime in a single night, Four Billion humans reduced to meat for the jaws of the Great Devourer.
You may include Tyranid Ravager broods in a Vanguard Swarm as HQ or Elite choices.
Tyranid Ravager 45 Points
| Ws | Bs | S | T | W | I | A | Ld | Sv |
| 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 4+ |
Number/Brood: 3-6 Tyranid Ravagers.
Bio-Weapons Tyranid Ravagers are armed with Scything Talons (additional attack included in profile) & Rending Claws.
Each Ravager may choose a weapon symbiote to replace their Rending Claws. They may only choose one symbiote each but they do not have to make the same selection. Only one model in the brood may be armed with either a Venom Cannon or Barbed Strangler.
Weapon Symbiotes
Barbed Strangler
Venom Cannon
Death Spitter
Fleshborer
Lash Whip
Spinefists
Devourer
I didn't post the point cost for these because they are the same as listed on page 37 of the Tyranid Codex. You can look that up on your own.
Special Rules
Tyranid: Ravagers are Tyranids and so benefits from the rules laid down in the Codex Tyranids.
Beasts: Ravagers are beasts. See Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook.
Synapse Creature: All Tyranid Ravagers have the Synapse Creature psychic power.
Deep Strike: Like Raveners, Tyranid Ravagers burrow well below & behind enemy lines waiting for just the right moment to appear & attack unsuspecting prey. Tyranid Ravagers may always enter play using the Deep Strike special rule.
Summon From Below: The presence of Tyranid Ravagers on the battlefield draws others of their kin to them. All Deep Striking Raveners, Red Terrors & the Trygon may re-roll the scatter dice provided that there is already a Tyranid Ravager brood in play.
Taloned Horrors
It was the attack on Hamman's World that Lamenter Astartes forces became the first to engage the terrifying beast know by those brave warriors as he Taloned Horror. Evolved along similar lines to the Hormagaunt strain of Tyranid but much more massive & deadly. The taloned Horror is impossibly fast and agile for it's size. Vid-casts have recorded creatures of this type scaling walls of a ravine to then leap backward onto a departing transport. The creatures in question were only slain after they had breached the hull of the transport ship & brought it crashing down in a fiery conflagration.
You may include Taloned Horrors in a Vanguard Swarm army as Elite choices.
Taloned Horror 150 Points
| Ws | Bs | S | T | W | I | A | Ld | Sv |
| 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 4+ |
Number/Brood: 1 Taloned Horror
Bio-Weapons: A Taloned Horror is armed with Hooked Limbs, Scything Talons (additional attacks included in profile) Spine Banks, a Scythe Tail & Venom Injectors. A Taloned Horror cannot be modified in any way.
Special Rules
Tyranid: Taloned Horrors are Tyranids and so benefits from the rules laid down in the Codex Tyranids.
Scuttler: An intelligent hunter the Taloned Horror patiently stalks it's prey before racing forward to eviscerate it. The Taloned Horror has the Scouts universal rule as described on page 75 of the Warhammer rulebook.
Leaping: Taloned Horrors have massively powerful hind limbs that can propel the forward in great leaping bounds toward their prey.
They have the Leaping Biomorph as described on page 33 of the Tyranid codex.
Hooked Limbs: In addition to it's powerful hind legs the Taloned Horror has a set of hooked limbs which enable it to scale sheer surfaces & obstacles without impediment. Taloned Horrors ignore difficult terrain entirely & treat impassable terrain as difficult.
Venom Injectors: Once it has caught it's prey the Taloned Horror to rapidly inject it with deadly tyrannic phage cells which eat away at physical matter while causing incredible agony to the unfortunate victim. All wounds caused by the Taloned Horror in close combat will slay their opponent outright as though the wound was caused by an attack the was double the targets toughness. Models immune to this type of instant death (such as those with an Adamantine Mantle) are unaffected & lose one wound as normal. Armor saves may not be taken (on account of the Taloned Horror being a Monstrous Creature) but invulnerable saves are unaffected. This has no effect on vehicles.
Monstrous Creature: Taloned Horrors are Monstrous Creatures as described on page 71 of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.
Fearless: See page 75 of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.
Feel No Pain: Because of the single-minded nature of the Taloned Horror's advance coupled with its highly evolved reflexes-
the creature's benefit from the Feel No Pain universal rule found on page 75 of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.
Red Terrors
The Red Terror was a Tyranid creatures sighted during the assault on Devlan, an Imperial mining world on the Eastern Fringe at the outbreak of the war & no further sighting of this particular creature has been confirmed since. However, a variant breed of Ravener has been sighted among the Vanguard Swarms of Hive Fleet Krakken. Although not the original Red Terror, they bear many of the hallmarks of that terrifying creature. Magos Biologists have hypothesized that they may in fact be a prepubescent phase of a much larger adult organism...
You may include Red Terrors in a Vanguard Swarm as Fast Attack choices.
Red Terror 140 Points
| Ws | Bs | S | T | W | I | A | Ld | Sv |
| 6 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 4+ |
Number/Brood: 1 Red Terror
Bio-Weapons: A Red Terror is armed with a Rending Maw (counts as Rending Claws). Two Sets of Scything Talons (additional attack included in profile) & a Scythe Tail. It is able to generate short burst of bio-electric energy represented by the Bio-plasma biomorph.
Special Rules
Tyranid: Red Terrors are Tyranids and so benefits from the rules laid down in the Codex Tyranids.
Beasts: Red Terrors are beasts. See Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook.
Deep Strike: Like Raveners, Red Terrors burrow well below & behind enemy lines waiting for just the right moment to appear & attack unsuspecting prey. Red Terrors may always enter play using the Deep Strike special rule.
Monstrous Creature: Red Terrors count as Monstrous Creatures. See page 71 of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.
Fearless: Red Terrors are without fear. See page 75 of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.
Swallow Whole: A Red Terror is capable of swallowing men whole. If a Red Terror hits with four or more of its attacks in the assault phase, it can choose a single enemy in base to base contact & swallow it whole! Note: there is no need to declare this beforehand, as this is an option you can elect to use if you roll enough hits.
A Red Terror scores no other hits if it swallows an enemy; it is entirely engaged in cramming the unfortunate victim into its maw. The swallowed model is removed as a casualty; no roll to wound is made. Armor & Invulnerable saving throws do not apply. Wargear, such as bionics, cannot save the victim.
- Models with a Strength &/or Toughness value of 5 or greater. This includes bonuses from Power Weapons or the Black Sword.
- Bikes or cavalry models
- Anything that has an Armor Value - ie: Tarantulas, Dreadnoughts, etc.
Engineered by Hive Fleet Krakken to create a more lightly armored, stealthier Genestealer. The Vanguard Genestealer lurks unseen in the dark spaces ahead of the assault by the approaching swarm & makes lightning fast attacks on its foe. Unlike the Lictor, with which it shares many traits the Vanguard Genestealers are used by the Tyranids as a diversionary force designed to tie up enemy forces long enough to for the remainder of the swarm to make final contact.
Vanguard Genestealer 24 Points
| Ws | Bs | S | T | W | I | A | Ld | Sv |
| 6 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 5+ |
Number/Brood: 3-9 Vanguard Genestealers
Bio-Weapons: Vanguard Genestealers have Rending Claws. They may not be given any other Biomorphs.
Special Rules
Fleet of Claw: Vanguard Genestealers can race toward their enemies from concealment at supernatural speeds. They benefit from the Fleet Special Rule as described in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.
Tyranid: Ravagers are Tyranids and so benefits from the rules laid down in the Codex Tyranids.
Brood Telepathy: Genestealers have their own brood telepathy which allows to operate separately from the influence of the Hive Mind. Because of this, Vanguard Genestealer broods outside of the range of any Synapse Creatures do not use Instinctive Behavior rules & instead take moral checks & pinning tests just like ordinary troops.
Secret Deployment: Vanguard Genestealers broods deploy using the Deep Strike rule, regardless of the mission, to represent them leaping out from concealment. They must always Deep Strike into a piece of area terrain. If this terrain is classified as impassable, the Vanguard Genestealer brood will not be destroyed, but instead placed as normal. If the Deep Strike roll would take the Vanguard Genestealers out of the boundaries of the chosen area terrain, the Vanguard Genestealer brood must be placed as close to the point indicated as possible without leaving that terrain piece. A Vanguard Genestealer brood may not move, but can Fleet of Claw & Assault the turn it enters play.
Notes:
This was retyped from a PDF no longer available on the Tempest Fugitives website. After reading this I've noticed the fluff was written poorly. I added it in anyway just for fun. Also, a lot was pulled right out of the codex. I've decided to re-write all of those (codex) portions, ie: Deep Strike fluff.