DISTRACTION CARNIFEX

DISTRACTION CARNIFEX!

EVERYONE START SHOOTING!!

Overview

A well-known tactic from 4th Edition, which was actually kind of clever for use by Tyranid players. The idea was to use the reasonably-priced Carnifex of yore as a gigantic distraction during games. It worked pretty well, since the first inclination of any player seeing a Carnifex on the table is to blast the ever-loving shit out of it with every weapon they have. Because it was very easy to back up the Carnifex's 6 toughness with a 2+ armor save, it was actually pretty difficult to bring down one without using shit like Lascannons. Every round that you had say, a Leman Russ Battle Tank firing all its weapons at it and NOT at your swarms of Gaunts was generally a good thing, and since it was easy to make a distraction Carnifex mildly intimidating with nothing more than a weapon biomorph (giving it a barbed strangler was a good example), this tactic was very successful against smaller but more elite armies and helped considerably to deal with certain offensive builds.

Why It Doesn't Work Anymore

In fifth Edition, Carnifexes don't get extended carapace (so their armor save is, at best, 3+), and they cost a lot more. This generally prevents Carnifexes from being used in the DISTRACTION CARNIFEX role they used to occasionally serve in. The higher cost for biomorph enhancements is another reason it doesn't work. The big reason, though, is the combination of costs and armor reduction; a lot of weapons that were only reasonably likely to put a dent in a Carnifex in 4th (Missile Launchers, Battle Cannons, etc) are now quite capable of fucking its shit up en masse now.

Haha WTF

During one particularly notorious game, full of hot women post-codex update in New York - a Guard player allegedly killed a Carnifex on turn 1 by hammering it with Hunter-Killer Missiles after CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED-ing a mechanized platoon into position. Just as planned. Something like this also happened in the Ultramarines Omnibus, with a PDF soldier grabbing a missile launcher, running up beside the Astartes and firing point-blank into the open mouth of a Carnifex right before it could fire a blast of bio-plasma. He then proceeded to pick up a dead commissar's chainsword and fight the Tyranids along side the Ultramarine captain... and he kept up with the captain.

This isn't that weird, though. I mean, the Carnifex only has four wounds and it doesn't get saves from anything AP3 or better. You'd need, what? Four accurate missiles to kill one? Thanks to higher vehicle survivability and the Imperial Guard being the most frustrating heroic and invincible mechanized army out there - more difficult to bring down than Nidzilla ever was, so thanks Robin Cruddace - most all-rounder armies have more than enough heavy weapons to kill a Carnifex on a single turn.

...Albeit not on turn one from across the board. Using only Chimeras. Jesus.

Variants

• Distraction Wraithlord: It's big, scary, 3+ save, T8 and capable of fucking shit up.
• Distraction Wraithknight: It's bigger, scarier, 3++ save, T8, six wounds and WILL be targeted by all anti tank weapons until it dies.
• Distraction Hive Tyrant. 2+ armour and a +3 to toughness from Iron arm (assuming that he doesn't die before he can cast it). Also intimidates people like the Carnifex used to.
• Distraction Stonecrusher Carnifex - Someone in Forge World was pretty sad about Distraction Carnifex doesn't work anymore, so they create their own with 2+ armor and 5+ regeneration. It's cheap, durable, intimidating, but a bit slow, meaning it draws a lot of fire. Just as planned.
• Distraction Celestine, a giant magnet that draws just about every enemy projectile away from your battle sisters and towards her. And she'll just keep getting back up every time she dies.
• Distraction Battlewagon. Simply give it some guns, a Deffrolla and put some nobs in it and your opponent will shoot at it like no tomorrow.
• Distraction Deathwing Knights. Put Belial with them, deepstrike them right next to all the most dangerous units in your foe's army, and watch them squirm to murder them all. They may all die either by the sheer amounts of firepower or melee directed towards them, but it's worth watching your foe ignore Devastators, Deathwing Terminators, Ravenwing, and other such unit, just for the sheer infamous reputation that the Knights have gained.
• Distraction MURDER SWORD: Chaos Space Marine one. Give a MURDER SWORD to a random champion (or even better, a Dark Apostle), stick it in a nest of Cultists, and laugh as the enemy targets it for the rest of the game because they don't want it getting within 400 clicks of their special snowflake character. (Though you are fucked if the enemy has good snipers.)
• Distraction Riptide: the advent of the new tau codex means you can field a T6 MC with a 2+,3++ save combo and 5 wounds. Give it stimulant injectors and it can shrug off anything you can throw at it for not much more than its base cost.
• Distraction Dreadknight: Take a T6 W4 Termi with a weapon for ~170 points and see the enemy focus him without realy damaging him fast.