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Warhammer 40K: War Zone Octarius Book 1 – ‘Rising Tide’ Reveals New Tyranid Rules

4 Minute Read
Oct 11 2021
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The Tyranids are getting some new rules in the upcoming War Zone Octarius Book 1: Rising Tide. Let’s take a look at few previews!

War Zone Octarious is a pretty famous battleground in the 40k universe. It’s home to a massive Ork Waaagh!!! and (thanks to a certain Imperial Inquisitor) it’s also the home of a massive Tyranid Invasion from Hive Fleet Leviathan. Up until now, we’ve really only gotten to see the Ork side of things. But Games Workshop is finally taking a plunge into the Hive with the upcoming Rising Tide book. Things are looking up for the Tyranids.

via Warhammer Community

“The constant carnage has forced the Hive Mind to adapt its forces in all sorts of ways – such as the new Synaptic Link abilities – and now Rising Tide’s Codex Supplement: Leviathan is here packed with rules to help you consume the Octarius sector. New Relics, Warlord Traits, and Stratagems are on hand to power up bioforms big and small, and combined with Codex: Tyranids they’ll make your swarm more terrifying than ever.”

That’s right – new relics, warlord traits, and stratagems are coming with the book – hopefully to up the Tyranid’s game plan to bring them more inline with the current edition. I’m sure Tyranid players would have preferred an entirely new codex (with some new models) but for now we’ll take what we can get. We do get a look at some of the new rules so let’s dive right into a new relic from the Hive!

Your boneswords/monstrous boneswords now ignore Invulnerable saves! That’s a plus for these weapons. That could be really nasty for monsters with boneswords as their typically already have solid AP – this may allow them to bypass a target’s saves entirely.

Gestalt Commander is an interesting option as it allows you to borrow Commander Warlord Traits from another hive – in this case Levithan. That could provide you with some pretty wild combos and you might want to double check out swapping out your hive fleet keyword will interact with other things.

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The Tyranids are also getting a some new boosts to their warlord traits as mentioned and you might have a tough time deciding on what to take…So why not take two? You can with the new Alpha Leader-Beast Stratagem. For only a command point you can nominate another creature to gain the benefits of being a warlord. Tyranid Primes are great candidates for the upgrade and you can pair that with Swarm Leader for some hive-tastic synergy.

 

By the way, it’s not just Leviathan getting all the updates. All Tyranids are getting new “thematic Agendas” and if you want to launch your own Crusade army you’ll have access to new Battle traits, too.

“You never know quite what the armies you face in Crusade campaigns will add to their roster next, but the natural adaptability of the Tyranids means they’ll rarely be left without a suitable tool for the job. Being able to modify your strongest Monsters to deal with key enemy units means your opponents will live in fear of a swarm that seems to counter their every move.”

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Getting to swap out your battle traits on a veteran squads in a Crusade Campaign seems like it could be handy! Adapt and overcome – it’s what Tyranids do.

One other benefit of the new Rising Tide book is that it also will have an Appendix: Tyranids section which also includes all the additional rules from Psychic Awakening for the Tyranids. That should make this book the definitive update for the Tyranids…until we get a new codex that is!

Pre-Orders for the book are going live this weekend!

 

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Author: Adam Harrison
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