The Hive Mind of the Tyranids is an ever-adapting intelligence, reacting to changing conditions by creating new bioforms to send into battle. Some of these are highly specialised, such as the psychic Zoanthropes and infiltrating Lictors, while others are spawned to be effective against a wide variety of threats. The new Tyranid Prime with Lash Whip is one such beast.
This terrifying Tyranid is a battlefield leader, created to push forward into enemy lines at the head of a host of bioforms, and devastate the enemy, be they weak and fleshy Guardsmen or Aeldari (yum), well-protected Space Marines or Necrons (crunchy), or even mighty battle tanks (could break your teeth). To this end, the Hive Mind has seen fit to give it a variety of melee weapons suited to any task.
The Tyranid Prime thrives in combat, and it’s geared up to get there. With Toughness 5, 6 Wounds, and a 3+ Save, it’s pretty strong on its own, but you’re more likely to find it leading units of Hormagaunts, Termagants, or either flavour of Tyranid Warriors. Sure, your opponents can try to cut through 20 Hormagaunts to get to the Prime, but its Aggressive Leader-beast ability will make them regret such a choice – it gives a D6” Surge move to the Prime’s unit once per enemy Shooting phase, letting it get even closer at the cost of a few expendable bodies.
Once it reaches combat, the Prime has three weapons to choose from, each tailored to a different type of foe. Lots of weak enemies standing in your path? Break out the lash whip for eight Attacks at Strength 4, doing 1 Damage each. Power armoured pests trying to ruin your day? Six scything talon swipes at Strength 6 and Damage 2 should sort them out. Anything bigger? The rending claw with its four Strength 8, Damage 3 attacks should make a dent.
Oh, and did we mention that they all have AP-2, and that the Alpha Warrior ability gives them Sustained Hits?
As a leader-beast, the Tyranid Prime is a Synapse creature, meaning that nearby Tyranids benefit from resistance to Battle-shock and, thanks to the Warhammer 40,000 Balance Dataslate, +1 Strength to their melee weapons… which makes the Prime’s own attacks that much more effective. It also forces nearby enemies to subtract one from their Shadow in the Warp-induced Battle-shock tests, which is really just a bonus for getting your Prime up close and personal with the foe.
You’ll be able to pre-order the Tyranid Prime with Lash Whip soon. The updated Tyranids Faction Pack, which includes the new datasheet, will also be available from the Warhammer Community Downloads page soon, so you can start planning your hive fleet’s next adaptation.
