Hydraphant
The Malal of Tyranid Bio-Titans. These guys are so elusive and rare that not even Lexicanum has a page for it. Hydraphants are long range bio-titans armed with warp blast weapons, bio-plasmic breath, massive claws, and spines that can be used to damage enemies. They are the largest tyranid creatures capable of planetary deployment, even bigger then the large Hierophant.
A Hydraphant is often used with a Hive Tyrant melded to its back to act as a swarm command unit. The fact that that little cradle on its back holds a vestigial hive tyrant tells you how massive it is.
Their size puts them at least the equivalent of Reaver Titans at the bare minimum to Warlord Titans at the absolute maximum.
Tabletop Fan-Rules
7th edition
Hydraphant Bio Titan Points: 2500
WS 6 BS 3 S D T 10 W 10 I 4 A 10 LD 10 SV 2+/4++
Fixed Weapons and Biomorphs: Spore Cloud Scything Talons (Attacks included in profile) Lash Whip Flesh Hooks Feeder Tendrils Spore Cloud Regenerate Leaping Toxic Miasma
Optional Weapons(Pick 1): Two Hydraphant Bio Cannons: 64", SD, AP2, Apoc. Barrage (3) per cannon. Bio-Plasma Discharge: Hellstorm Template, SD, AP1, Assault (6)
Psychic Powers: Warp Field - The Hydraphant's Warp Field power provides a 4+ Invulnerable Save rather than a 6+. Synapse Creature - The Hydraphant provides Synapse to any model or unit within 24" from the centre of its model.
Special Rules: Impossible Entity - Putting aside the terror from the sight of such a beast for a moment, one can't help but to marvel at how such a large creature can stand, let alone move effectively in conditions under gravity. To represent this unfathomable durability, the Hydraphant may make Feel no Pain rolls for any unsaved wound from any source, except for those dealt by a Destroyer Weapon.
Base Size - The Hydraphant's base size is a circle of 10" radius. Because of the size of the model there is often no physical base to represent this. Instead, measure 10" out from the centre of the creature's body to check if any model that could be within this range.
Trample Assault - Due to its large size, the Hydraphant will tear a devastating path of destruction if it chooses to assault. This is represented by the Trample Assault special rule. After selecting any model or unit in range to assault, move the Hydraphant in a straight line to it, ignoring any intervening models and difficult terrain. For each model of each unit (Friend or foe!) that comes in contact with the creature's base as it moves, roll a single Destroyer Strength attack. Following this, resolve the assault against the target as normal.
Hydraphant Pts/model: 2000
WS: 6 BS: 3 S: 10 T: 9 W: 10 I: 3 A: 10 Ld: 10 Sv: 2+
Unit: 1 Hydraphant
Type: Gargantuan Creature
Weapon-symbiotes and Biomorphs:
- Toxic Miasma - Spore Clouds - Lash Whips - Scything Talons - Enhanced Regeneration - Pyro-acid Breath - Armoured Shell
Along with these options the Hydraphant can choose one of the following weapon-symbiotes:
- Gargantuan Crusher Claws - Two Bio-cannons - Venom Mortar
Hive Mind Powers:
- Warp Field - The Terror
SPECIAL RULES
Gargantuan Crusher Claws: Hydraphant’s have been seen with biomorphs resembling enormous crab claws, which are often used to tear down battlements and enemy titans alike. These count as a Titan Close Combat Weapon and follow the rules for them as described on page 96 of Codex: Apocalypse.
Enhanced Regeneration: The Hydraphant’s body has the ability to rapidly recover from mortal wounds. At the start of your turn as long as the Hydraphant is alive, roll a D6 for each Wound lost: for every 5 or 6 rolled, the Hydraphant recovers a single lost wound.
Towering Monstrosity: Because of its immense size, it is difficult for a Hydraphant to engage targets that are too close. It suffers from the following limitations:
- Weapon-symbiotes have a minimum range of 24” - A Hydraphant’s Crusher Claws can only be used against Gargantuan Creatures and Super-heavy Vehicles.
Pyro-acid Breath: Similar to a Screamer Killer, the Hydraphant is capable of producing a bio-plasma-like substance in its gullet by utilising grinding plates, the resulting cacophonic scream is loud enough to break eardrums and drown-out the greatest of cannon shots. Pyro-acid Breath uses the following profile:
Pyro-acid Breath* Range: Hellstorm** Strength: D AP: 2 Special: Heavy 1, Destroyer
- Pyroacid Breath is not affected by the Towering Monstrocity rules.
- Place the Hellstorm Template so that the narrow end is within 18” of the Hydraphant’s mouth. Treat this as any other template weapon.
Bio-cannons: Like a Heirophant, the Hydraphant can be seen on the battlefield wielding two huge symbiotic bio-cannons. They have the following profile:
Bio-cannons Range: 24" - 72" Strength: 10 AP: 3 Special: Assault 10
Venom Mortar: If not seen with Bio-cannons, or gigantic claws, the Hydraphant will have its forelimbs fused together and integrated into its carapace, creating a huge stationary cannon. The Venom Mortar has the following profile:
Venom Mortar Range: G 24"-360" Strength: 9 AP: 3 Special: Apocalypse Barrage (5)
Points- 2,500 Ws Bs S T W I A Ld Sv ...4 3 10 10 12 3 6 10 2+
Equipment and Special Rules Gargantuan Creature (see Forgeworld's apocalypse update) Regeneration - At the start of the Tyranid players turn, as long as the Hydraphant is still alive, roll a D6 for each wound that the model has suffered. On the roll of a 6, a wound is regained. Toxic Miasma- At the end of each player turn, every non vehicle enemy model within 6” of the Hydraphant must pass a toughness test or suffer a wound at Ap-. In addition, all non tyranid units engaged in combat with the Hydraphant take a hit with the following profile : S1, Ap-, poisoned, unwieldy. Lash Whips- Anyenemy model in base contact with the Hydraphant counts as initiative 1. Warp Field- The Hydraphant is protected by a psychic shield, similar to the protection of a Zoeanthrope, it provides a 5+ invulnerable save. Hydraphant Biocannon 72”- S 10, Ap 2, Assault 10 Bio Plasma Spray Hellstorm, S7, Ap 2, Assault 1. Place the template so that the small end is within 12” of the Hydraphant, and the larger end is no closer to the Hydraphant.
8th edition
A Hydraphant is a single model armed with two Hydraphant Dire Bio-Cannons, a pair of Spore Cloud Scything Talons, Pyro Acid Breath, a Venom Mortar Launcher and Feeder Tendrils.
| Name | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | A | Ld | Sv | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hydraphant | * | * | * | 17 | 15 | 80 | 6 | 10 | 2+ | 6000 |
| Weapon | Range | Type | S | AP | D | Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spore cloud scything talons | Melee | Melee | X2 | -5 | 5D3 | Attacks made against Infantry count as 3 hits instead of 1, but suffer a -1 to hit. You can also re-rell wound rolls of 1 for this weapon. |
| Hydrophant dire bio-cannon | Macro 12 | 96” | 16 | -3 | 2D6 | Every wound roll of 6+ against Vehicles, Monsters or Titanic units inflicts an additional 3D3 mortal wounds in addition to its normal damage. |
| Pyro acid breath | Pistol 4D6 | 18” | 6 | -3 | 2 | Units hit by this weapon suffer a -1 to their leadership characteristic until their next turn. This weapon automatically hits its target. |
| Venom mortar launcher | Heavy 20 | 36”-360” | 6 | -2 | 1 | Units hit by this weapon suffer a -1 to their leadership characteristic until their next turn. This weapon does not require line of sight to hit its target and a unit targeted by this weapon does not gain the benefit of cover. |
| Feeder tendrils | Melee | Melee | User | -3 | 1 | Make 4 hit rolls for each attack made with this weapon, instead of 1. Every model slain by this weapon or every 2 damage dealt by this weapon heals the bearer of this weapon for 1 wound. |
| Remaining W | M | WS | BS | Casting bonus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65-80+ | 18” | 2+ | 2+ | +3 |
| 40-64 | 14” | 3+ | 3+ | +2 |
| 20-39 | 12” | 4+ | 4+ | +2 |
| 10-19 | 10” | 5+ | 5+ | +1 |
| 1-9 | 8” | 5+ | 5+ | +1 |
Wargear options:
- A hydrophant must choose one of the following three abilities:
- Incendiary ichor and burning flesh
- Gigantic swarm incubation chamber
- Attention of the norn queens
Abilities:
- Incendiary Ichor and Acidic Flesh: The flesh of the Tyranid's largest creatures is loaded with acids and combustible fluids which will squirt out of any wounds and instantly catch fire, dousing nearby enemies with flaming acid.
- When an enemy unit within 18” of this model inflicts one or more wounds on this model on a 4+ that model suffers a mortal wound. If this damage was dealt by a melee attack then attacking unit suffers 2D3 mortal wounds on a 2+ instead.
- Gigantic swarm incubation chamber: A cavernous space inside the hydrophant in which it stores excess biomatter and smaller tyranids which it will spill out onto the battlefield to surprise its foes.
- This model gains the Transport keyword and may transport up to 40 <Hive Fleet> Genestealers, Termagaunt or Hormagaunt, or two units of up to 6 Hive Guard, Tyrant Guard or Warriors. It may also transport a single Hive Tyrant or two Broodlords. In addition, at the beginning of your turn all friendly Tyranid Infantry units within 6” regain D3 previously lost wounds at the beginning of your turn, these wounds may also be used to bring back previously slain models, as long as those models do not have a wound characteristic greater than 1.
- Attention of the norn queens: Hydrophants are tasked to perform extremely important tasks, and subsequently will be watched over specifically by the norn queens in orbit, instead of being treated as just one of the numerous horde.
- This model adds an additional +1 to its psychic tests and +1 to its invulnerability saves.
- Titanic monster: We’re talking bigger than Imperator Titans levels of huge here, seriously, these things are enormous.
- A model with this rule can Fall Back in the movement phase and still shoot and/or charge during its turn. When this model Falls Back, it can even move over enemy models as long as they possess the Infantry keyword and as long as it ends it’s move more than 1” from enemy models. This model may still shoot if there are enemy models within 1” of it as long as they possess the Infantry keyword. In this case it can shoot at enemies within 1” of itself or any other visible enemy unit that is not within 1” of a friendly unit. Finally, this model only gains a cover bonus to its armour save if at least half of it is obscured from the firing unit.
- Massive psychic backlashing: Hydraphants (like the slightly smaller Dominatrix) act as massive command and control hubs for a Hive Tyrant's invasion on a planet If they were to ever be slain then its psychic backlash would severely cripple any hopes the Tyranids have of devouring the planet.
- When this model is slain all Tyranid units (those in reserve are simply slain) suffer D6 mortal wounds and all Psyker on the battlefield suffer 2D6 mortal wounds.
- Shadow in the warp:
- Enemy pskers within 36” of this model subtract 1 from their psychic tests. In addition, this model does not suffer perils in the warp for rolling greater than 12 when manifesting or denying psychic powers.
- Dominating Presence: Due to its sheer size, the Hydraphant is easily capable of controlling key strategic positions without requiring aid from lesser bio-organisms.
- This creature has the Objective Secured special rule. When a Hydraphant is within 3" of an objective, any enemy units that have a similar rule are considered to not have that rule.
- Synapse:
- Friendly <Hive Fleet> units within 72” automatically pass morale tests.
- Bio-Titan Psychic Field: Trying to get an attack to land on such a beast when it’s psychic might is channelled against you is a near impossible task.
- This model has a 3+ invulnerability save against shooting attacks, and a 4+ invulnerability save against melee attacks.
- Impossible entity: Such a creature made out of mere flesh and bone, and of such unimaginable size shouldn’t exist. But it does, and it continues to exist no matter how many bullets are thrown at it.
- This model ignores all damage on a 5+ except damage dealt by Macro weapons. In addition, all enemy units within 36” subtract 4 from their leadership characteristic.
- Symbol of power: the presence of such a huge beast is inspiring to say the least to any other Tyranids near it, and therefore fight harder to provide it with the support it needs.
- All <Tyranid> units within 24" of a model with this special rule gain an extra attack in the Shooting and Fight phases. In addition, any to wound rolls of 6 made by a unit near a model with this special rule deal an extra mortal wound to the target unit.
- Clouds of death and despair: The Hydraphant constantly emits vast quantities of spores which shroud other tyranids and choke it’s foes.
- Enemy units targeting friendly <Hive Fleet> units within 24” of this model subtract 1 from their hit rolls. In addition, enemy units within 24” of this model subtract 3” from their movement characteristic and suffer 1 wound mortal at the end of their movement phase on a 4+ on a D6.
This model is a psyker, it can manifest 3 spells each turn, deny 3 spells each turn and knows 3 powers from the Hive Mind Discipline, and may re-roll one dice when determining which powers it possesses.
Faction Keywords: Tyranid, <Hive Fleet>
Keywords: Titanic, Psyker, Hydraphant, Transport
Tactics
The Hydraphant exists as the largest possible model the Tyranids can currently field, coming in with suitably titanic stats (S17 T15 W80 SV 2+/3++/4++ (which can be upped to 2+/2++/3++)) and some suitably powerful guns, although at best they are only Strength 16, which may seem like a lot but for something which is equivalent to a Warlord class Titan it is nothing that special (although it does fire 24 of these shots, with each wound roll of 6+ dealing 3D3 mortal wounds against Vehicles, Monsters and Titanic models, so it’s by no means weak, it will eat smaller titans like Warhounds for breakfast). Where it truly shines is in the destruction of enemy tanks, infantry and as a massive force multiplier for your tyranids.
Firstly, its Clouds of death and despair rule will make your troops (at least within 24") almost impossible to hit when combined with a venomthrope, and will slow down and choke everyone else (something that you’d be shelling out hundreds, if not thousands of points to a achieve normally, and on a much less durable frame than the Hydraphant). This, combined with the option to make the Hydraphant a transport which heals/revives all units within 6” D3 previously lost wounds or models (as long as the models have a maximum wound count of 1) actually gives you a reason to group your forces together like an actual swarm and encourages you to take infantry units in an apocalypse game, something which would normally just be a waste of points or a means of accessing more strategems. Next in the general support department it’s also a psyker (not on the same level of a Dominatrix with a norn queen on its back though) who can cast three powers from the hive mind discipline and deny three powers a turn, all with a +3 casting bonus (like Magnus this degrades with damage), meaning that even with the new +1 casting cost to smite each time its used you can still reliably cast it 3 times a turn. Alternatively, if you want to be That Guy, you can cast catalyst on the Hydraphant to make it virtually invulnerable or suitably buff up the swarms of infantry scurrying around its legs. If you really wanted to go overboard on the psychic powers then you can choose the Attention of the Norn Queen ability instead, which gives the hydraphant a +1 to all its psychic tests (have fun with your almost guarenteed D6 mortal wound smite with your +4 manifesting bonus) and invulnerability saves, giving you a 2++ against shooting attacks and a 3++ against melee attacks, making it just as/more durable than a Warlord Titan (although you can’t block mortal wounds), waltz this in front of your army to absorb all the dakka like a distraction carnifex on Uber, space steroids.
The Hydraphant does of course come armed for a fight as well as being an excellent support unit. Starting with it’s more long range support guns, it has a Venom Mortar Launcher (effectively a weaker, long range mega bolter), a heavy 20, 36-360” S6 ap -2 damage 1 gun which ignores line of sight and cover, and has the perfect stats to annihilate guardsmen (you will kill 13.9 guardsmen on average per volley) and has the range to chip away at anything your opponent is trying to hide away on the opposite side of the board. For larger targets (as previously mentioned) it possesses two Hydrophant dire bio-cannons, Macro 12 96" S16 ap-3 2D6 weapons which deal an additional 3D3 mortal wounds on a wound roll of 6+ against Vehicle, Monster or Titanic units. These two guns are undeniably powerful, and will annihilate heavy armour and smaller class titans, but for something which is supposed to be equivilent to a warlord class titan they are "relatively" weak, their main advantage being high rates of fire. As such you'll want to reserve these guns to vehicle hunting, being far more than capable of annihilating a baneblade or knight in a single 12 shot volley. For point defence it has its Pyro acid breath, 18" Pistol 4D6 autohitting shots which hit like a mega bolter which inflicts a -1 leadership to the target, deterring anyone from charging you (10 man guardsman squads will be destroied with plenty of room to spare), helping to keep your defensive swarms unmolested and your titan free from tarpits. With its ObSec rule, sit on top of the main objective and watch your opponent cry.
Melee wise it has the standard 1 attack = 4 hits, Strength: User melee weapon you'd expect of a Warlord Titan, but every model slain or every 2 Damage dealt to an enemy by this weapon heals the wielder by 1 wound, allowing you to out grind against things like knights, but if you want something harder hitting then there are its Spore cloud scything talons, classic double strength (i.e. S32) ap -5 weapons which deal 5D3 damage, and with a constant 6 attacks there won't be much which can survive against it in melee, especially when backed up by its invulnerability saves. The Imperium just lost their monopoly on Apocalypse.