Editing Warhammer 40,000/8th Edition Tactics/Tyranids (section)

==Psychic Powers==
The Hive Mind discipline is the only psychic table your psykers will be rolling on, or choosing from. With the Codex, there are now 6 powers plus the automatically known '''Smite''' power.

*Because everyone knows it, I'll put this here for reference - '''Smite''': WC5, +1 WC for each attempt to use it in a turn after the first. Targets the closest visible enemy unit within 18". That unit suffers d3 mortal wounds. If the casting value rolled was over 10, the unit suffers d6 mortal wounds instead. It's pretty versatile overall.

#'''Dominion''': WC5, Select a friendly Tyranid unit within 36" of the psyker, until your next Psychic phase they ignore Instinctive Behaviour and automatically pass morale. Not a must have now that IB is not so bad, but still pretty nice to have.
#'''The Horror''': WC6. A unit within 24" that is visible to the caster subtracts 1 from their to hit rolls and Leadership characteristic.
#*Basically hobbled versions of the old 7E Powers of the Hive Mind ''The Horror'' and ''Paroxysm'' rolled into a single power. 
#**-1 penalties can screw over armies that rely heavily on rerolls and effects that trigger on to hit rolls of 6. For instance, necron tesla weapons will never go off since all their 6s become 5s.
#**Also great against plasma heavy armies, as any supercharged weapon kills the bearers on 1s and 2s. If they shot Sporecyst Carnifexes or units close to a Venomthrope, that penalty rises to killing on a 3 as well, so they'll have a 50/50 chance of blowing themselves up if they supercharge.
#'''Catalyst''': WC6. A {{W40kKeyword|TYRANID}} unit within 18" of the caster gets to ignore any wound or mortal wound it takes on a roll of 5+, until the Tyranid player's next psychic phase. Remember that FnP equivalents can be used to nullify mortal wounds. 
#*Basically a longer range version of the old ''Catalyst'' power but one that doesn't affect both the caster and target.
#*Note that this is not a save which is taken before damage gets allocated. It's a save against wounds, which are worked out after damage is applied. A failed save against a 3 damage weapon means 3 of these additional rolls will be needed. So while not as effective against multiple damage weapons it can still help reduce the impact on your larger creatures. Leviathan has a Hive Fleet Adaptation with a similar effect, so it doesn't benefit quite as much.
#'''Onslaught''': WC6 (seeing a theme here on the charge values). An 18" power that allows a {{W40kKeyword|TYRANID}} unit to advance and shoot in the same turn without suffering any penalties to the BS for moving/advancing with Heavy Weapons or Assault weapons. Oh, and they can charge after advancing too! 
#*The old ''Onslaught'' power on steroids.
#*Even if the unit has no guns this allows a unit to advance and still charge.
#*Since powers are now picked expect to see this power on every level 1 psyker (albeit you can only attempt to manifest this on one unit a turn in matched).
#*Somewhat of a gamble, as you Advance before Psychic Round so if you fail to manifest the power you've shut down the unit you planned to boost. Consider casting this with a Maleceptor, as his +1 to Psychic Tests makes this a lot more reliable. Alternatively, if you're trying to get that unit of Gaunts up the table in turn 1, then paired with The Swarmlord you could have your little critters Move as normal (no advance), then have The Swarmlord cast Onslaught on them. If it doesn't go off, you're still able to move them again (instead of shooting) using Hive Commander and so are still able to Charge. If it DOES go off, you can Move AND Advance with Hive Commander (which you do in the shooting phase), and still charge. i.e. No risk of losing your charge.
#*Most effective with Kraken (which has better advance rolls and more reason to advance when possible) and Behemoth (which will appreciate the further boost to its rerollable charges).
#'''Paroxysm''': WC5. Select an enemy unit within 18" of the Psyker, that unit fights last until your next Psychic phase. If the unit has an ability that allows them to fight first then they are considered to not have that ability. Fuck [[Slaanesh]].
#*It’s worth noting that according to the Tyranid Codex FAQs the Counter-Offensive Stratagem cannot be used on units under the effect of this psychic power, which is a nice buff to melee heavy armies.
#'''Psychic Scream''': WC5. The nearest enemy target within 18" suffers D3 mortal wounds. If the target is a psyker, roll 2d6; if the result is higher than their Ld, a randomly chosen psychic power they know is disabled for the rest of the battle. Doesn't have quite the same potential to inflict damage as Smite, but the ability to disable a unit's potential to buff allies or throw around mindbullets of their own more than makes up for it. It's not gonna be easy to use on characters though, so your best targets are probably Thousand Sons, Tzeentch daemons, and Grey Knights (because they ''deserve'' even more pain).
#*This can also force your opponent to take the same power on more than one Psyker to try and counteract the disabling effect. Since the Rule of One in Matched Play prevents repeated attempts to manifest a given power more than once per psychic phase, you can weaken your opponent in the psychic phase even if you don't actually manifest this power- either you cripple the other guy's psykers, or you force then to waste a valuable power slot. Either way, you benefit.
#*Keep in mind this is not Smite, it's possible to Smite AND Psychic Scream with one unit (Psychic Scream can be used only once per turn as normal)
#*RAW, this can force a Psyker to lose access to Smite. Have fun making Smite spammers even more useless.

===Hive Fleet-Specific===
As of Psychic Awakening, each Hive Fleet also gets a power only it can use. 
*'''{{W40Kkeyword|Behemoth}} - Unstoppable Hunger (WC7)''': Pick a friendly Behemoth unit within 9”. Until the end of the turn, add 1 to the wound rolls for that unit’s melee attacks. 
**This power is amazing on multiple units. On Genestealers, your rending claws will trigger on a 5+, while letting your mid-size bugs tackle their MEQ equivalents.
***Not multiple units at once, obviously! 
****It WOULD be more amazing on multiple units at once, obviously! 
*'''{{W40kKeyword|Leviathan}} - Hive Nexus (WC6)''': The range of the Synapse ability for anything that has it is increased to 18".
*'''{{W40Kkeyword|Kraken}} - Synaptic Lure (WC5)''': Pick an enemy unit. Until the end of the turn, re-roll charge rolls made by friendly Kraken units that target that unit. 
**Unless it gets an FAQ, this power currently has a range of infinite, so consider throwing it on a backfield neurothrope you want babysitting your biovores and hiveguard.
*'''{{W40Kkeyword|Gorgon}} - Poisonous Influence (WC6)''': Until the start of your next psychic phase, improve the AP on melee weapons for friendly models within 9” of this unit by one. 
*'''{{W40Kkeyword|Jormungandr}} - Lurking Maws(WC6)''': Pick a visible enemy unit. Until end of turn, re-roll hit rolls against that unit from friendly Jormungandr units set up on the battlefield this turn. You cannot cast this in the first battle round.
**This is another source of total rerolls, which is something Tyranids have been sorely lacking. Combines well with anything that can come in via Tyrannocyte or Trygon tunnel, but Hiveguard, Shooty warriors, or devourer gaunts all stand out as obvious picks.
*'''{{W40Kkeyword|Kronos}} - Symbiostorm (WC6)''': Pick a friendly unit 12”. Until the end of the turn, when that unit rolls a 6+ to hit with a ranged weapon, you get an additional hit. 
**This combines well with a Tyranid Prime's +1 to hit aura for warriors (and you can even let them shoot twice for 2 commandpoints) or even better with an Exocrine that stood still (or pretends to have stood still with the new stratagem).
*'''{{W40Kkeyword|Hydra}} - Death Shriek (WC5)''': Until your next Psychic phase, when a friendly hydra model that is within 6” of both this psyker and an enemy unit is destroyed, roll a D6. On a 6, the closest enemy unit takes 1 mortal wound. Another way of turning your Gaunts into a blob full of suicide bombers.