How Good Are The New Tyranid Warlord Traits?

Since yesterday, I’ve been flipping through the new Tyranid Codex. I’ll freely admit that – thus far – Nids have been something of a blind spot for me in Warhammer 40K.

That Tyranids cannot be allied with other armies also makes them more difficult to collect in 6th Edition. There are simply fewer options to just build … say … 300 pts. to try with another army to see how it goes. Kill Team might be a way to get a few Tyranid-minis on the table.

That said, no time like right now to learn more about the Great Devourer!

Let’s start with the new Warlord Traits…

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#1 – Why Are The Warlord Traits Interesting?

Why start with Warlord traits?

Originally, I was playing around with a “5 things I like about the new Tyranid Codex”-type of blog-post. The Warlord Traits likely would’ve made that list, first and foremost because of the first one – Nature’s Bane – which struck me as an incredibly fun idea.

Nature’s Bane allows your Tyranid Warlord to turn a piece of forest-type terrain into a Carnivorous Jungle each turn, if in range. Mental images of trees turning “tyranid” to gobble up Catachans or Kroot hiding in the woods immediately came to me.

Admittedly, it’s a very situational trait, which depends a lot on terrain and the opponent. Still, it’s “cinematic” done right IMO.

But I digress…

I had a closer look at the Warlord Traits and, baffled by the question of how “potent” it is (or isn’t), turned to blogs more knowledgeable in these things than me. The answers seem to cover the entire spectrum.

I guess the only consensus is that my personal favourite among these Warlord Traits is junk

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#2 – The New Tyranid Warlord Traits

So.. without a tactical assessment, here’s what Tyranid Warlords got.

1. Nature’s Bane – Turns a single forest or jungle within 12″ of the Warlord into a Carnivorous Jungle at the start of the movement phase (the Carnivorous Jungle, in turn, hands out Str. 5 AP- hits in the shooting phase to things in the forest).
2. Heightened Senses – Night Vision for the Warlord and nearby units.
3. Synaptic Lynchpin – 50% more range for the Warlord’s synapse.
4. Mind Eater – Extra victory points for eating enemy Independent Characters in a challenge.
5. Digestive Denial – Another terrain-specific trait, allowing the Warlord to reduce cover saves granted by one piece of terrain on the board (though not for Fortifications bought with an army).
6. Adaptive Biology – A small Feel No Pain for the Warlord after (!) he (it?) suffered an unsaved wound.

They all sound fun and flavourful, though there is no straight-up “re-roll all 1s on saving throws” or “deep-strike without scatter”, as some previous Codexes have seen.

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#3 – Thoughts?

Not one but two terrain-specific traits really push the point that Tyranid Players should bring terrain, lots of it, which, arguably, they should do anyhow (and more terrain tends to make prettier tables). Than again, players may be unable to do so in organised play.

None of these traits may be “game-defining” in the way a flawlessly deep-striking Farsight Bomb might. Or could they? Are these traits a “failure” or merely modest about their potency?

I’d be grateful to get a few opinion on these new Tyranid Warlord Traits. If you’ve had a look at them, let me know what you think in the comments below!

Z.