WARHAMMER 40,000: FURY OF THE

SWARM
Version 0.1

Welcome to Warhammer 40,000’s answer to horde mode. It’s extremely WIP. If you have
feedback or questions, you head to the feedback form, email contact@goonhammer.com or
reach out to me (Charlie) on Instagram. If you’re a Goonhammer patron, you can also @
Charlie B on the Discord server.

The Second Most Important Rule: Always Be A Masochist

If Fury of the Swarm is too easy, it will feel flat and self-indulgent. While these rules intentionally allow you
to trick or trap the Tyranids, the rules also require you to act in good faith. Should it ever be ambiguous as
to what the rules compel the Tyranids to do, you and your fellow players should always have the Tyranids do
the nastiest thing possible. You’ll usually know what that is. If you can’t pick between a few vicious
options, randomise which one occurs.

Designer’s note: using Crusade armies in Fury of the Swarm

My instinct is that while players shouldn’t earn Crusade XP playing these Missions (you ought to fight a real
opponent for that!) you can absolutely use your Crusade army. However, such legendary warriors are
expected to take on the nastiest missions. As such, the Tyranid force should increase in size by 20 points
for each Crusade Point you deploy. Brace yourselves.

Obviously these rules are purely here to facilitate fun, and like any wargame rules are ultimately a set of
guidelines you can choose to use or alter. If you think it would be more fun to play a FotS campaign whilst
tracking Tyrannic War Crusade upgrades, then I have neither the power nor the inclination to stop you!
Designer’s note: this probably shouldn’t be your first rodeo
These test rules assume a fair degree of familiarity with Warhammer 40,000. As the rules are refined, I’ll
endeavour to make it more beginner friendly. A copy of the Core Rules and the relevant army rules will be
needed.

Coming soon: campaigns

The concept of this co-op/solo way to play Warhammer 40K is that each mission will slot into one of the
three phases of a Tyranid invasion. You can play as many games as you like in each of the campaign’s
phases before moving on to the next, perhaps just playing one, or going for the best of three, or even more.
If you have multiple teams of players, then having each team play at least one game during each Phase is a
good way to immediately widen the scope of the emergent story.

Campaign Phase 1: Sporefall

The opening phases of a Tyranid invasion are critical. Orbital defences and anti-air assets must all be
protected so that they can cause maximal damage to the incoming Hive Fleet. The Tyranids are never
passive, though, and vanguard organisms like Lictors and Genestealers seek to weaken the Swarm’s prey.

If you lose the majority of missions during Sporefall, this will trigger additional advantages for the Tyranids
during the Fulcrum.

Campaign Phase 2: The Fulcrum

The most decisive engagements of the invasion are fought during the Fulcrum, where the defenders try
desperately to keep the Swarm from overwhelming them. If they succeed, the Swarm might just exhaust
itself. Every inch of ground, every scrap of biomass that can be denied the Tyranids, is one painful step on
the tenuous path to victory.

If you lose the majority of missions during the Fulcrum, then in Phase 3 you can only play missions from the
Evacuation category. If you win, however, you unlock missions from the Extermination category as you go on
the offensive.

Campaign Phase 3: Extermination/Evacuation

By now it is known if the defenders have failed to save their world, but what remains to be seen is what
happens to them. Do they escape on the last shuttle as the Swarm envelops the planet, or did their
victories during the Fulcrum enable them to torch the Tyranids’ spore chimneys and spawning pools?

Depending on the outcome of the Fulcrum, these missions will either contain epic last stands or bug hunt
scenarios.
Universal Hive rules
By default, the rules in this section are always in effect regardless of which mission you’re playing. They
define some common terms and behavioural protocols.

FORMING A TYRANID ARMY IN FURY OF THE SWARM

Unless otherwise specified in the Mission briefing, these rules assume you are fighting a well-rounded
Tyranid force available from your collection, with a mix of unit types and weapons. As a very rough guide, for
each MONSTER unit, you will also want at least one elite infantry unit (such as Tyranid Warriors, Hive Guard,
Genestealers, etc) and at least one ENDLESS MULTITUDE unit. There should also be a relatively even spread
between melee-focused units and ranged units.

To make totting up the swarm’s points easier, you can use this Google Sheet. As an example, here is a
swarm worth about a thousand points:

Above: A small but balanced Hive Fleet Kraken Swarm containing three monsters (Hive Tyrant, Carnifex, Tyrannofex), three elite
infantry units (Tyranid Warriors, Hive Guard, Biovore) and four broods of light infantry (3x termagants and some hormagaunts).
Additionally, this force contains a mixture of melee and ranged threats.
Detachments, Enhancements and Stratagems
The Tyranids in Fury of the Swarm do not use the rules for detachments or enhancements, nor do they use
Stratagems unless otherwise specified.

Synapse Clusters
When setting up a mission, it will instruct you to divide the Tyranid army into a number of Synapse Clusters.
These are groups of units clumped around a unit with the SYNAPSE keyword. If a Hive Tyrant is present, it
should form the first Cluster. After that, work your way down the remaining SYNAPSE units order of
descending points cost. Once you have a SYNAPSE unit for each Cluster, divide the Tyranid units - including
any surplus SYNAPSE units - between the Clusters as evenly as possible (in points terms).

Theming Clusters
Certain units are natural broodfellows, and others aren’t. If you’ve got both Termagants and a Tervigon, then
clearly they belong in the same Synapse Cluster. Likewise, Gargoyles make natural escorts for other flying
creatures. If no particular themes emerge, or if you’re not very familiar with the Tyranid army, then don’t
worry about it!

Deploying Synapse Clusters

The SYNAPSE unit leading the Cluster is placed first, with the other units in the Cluster being placed within
6” of it. So far as is possible, the Cluster should be placed wholly within 6”, but the vagaries of terrain and
differing unit sizes means you shouldn’t worry too much - just place them as close as possible.

Deep Striking & Infiltrating Tyranids

Tyranid units with these abilities are not assigned to a Synape Cluster. Instead, any units with these
abilities will always use them. If this would place them in reserve, they will arrive in the Tyranids’ second
turn. When deploying Tyranids by Deep Strike, or Infiltrating, randomly pick a Preferred Prey unit (see
in-game behaviours, below), and attempt to find any place they could be deployed as close as possible to
that target. Remember, when doing so, to obey the Second Most Important Rule!

Do Clusters have to stick together in game?

No; they will naturally break apart as each unit reacts to its surroundings.

IN-GAME BEHAVIOURS
Preferred Prey
The rules below refer to a Tyranid unit’s Preferred Prey.
● The Preferred Prey of Tyranid weapons with a Strength of 8 or less is any non-VEHICLE or
non-MONSTER unit.
● The Preferred Prey of Tyranid weapons with a Strength of 9 or more is any VEHICLE or MONSTER
unit.
● Any weapon with the ANTI-X keyword will always count the appropriate unit type as its Preferred
Prey..
● For Tyranids with split attack profiles (e.g. Zoanthropes’ ranged attacks), compare the closest
Preferred Prey of each profile, then target the most expensive Player unit from those options.
○ e.g. a Zoanthrope brood is close to a unit of Intercessors and a Repulsor. Since the
Repulsor is the most expensive unit, the Zoanthropes will use focused witchfire rather
than regular witchfire, and will target the Repulsor.
● Tyranid units will not charge or attack any unit which they can only wound on a 6+ unless they are
in melee with it and have no other targets. They will attempt to fall back from such units in their
Movement phase.

A note to experienced players: this ready reckoner based on the Strength value will inevitably return
imperfect outcomes. Experienced players will no doubt be familiar with the way in which weapons in
Warhammer 40,000 are generally fairly clearly optimised to engage either light infantry, heavy infantry, light
vehicles/monsters or heavy vehicles/monsters. If you understand a weapon’s intended purpose, you should
usually overrule Preferred Prey’s default setting in favour of a more appropriate outcome.

Shadow In The Warp

The Tyranids’ signature army ability will automatically trigger in the Command phase of the Players’ third
turn.

Tyranid Unit Abilities

Targeted Unit Abilities

If a unit has an ability which targets a specific unit, then if there’s any uncertainty about which target would
be best for the Tyranids to pick, choose the most expensive viable target.
● For example, if a Broodloord is in combat with full strength units of Bladeguard (100 points) and
Intercessors (95 points) then the Bladeguard would receive the Broodlord’s Hypnotic Gaze ability
because Bladeguard both cost the most points, and are the greater melee threat. If however the
Bladeguard were down to their last member while the Intercessors were still at full strength, the
 Broodlord’s Hynotic Gaze will instead fall upon the Intercessors. In short, one should always be
guided by the Second Most Important Rule.

Tyranids with Highly Contextual Abilities

Some Tyranid units, such as Termagants, have abilities which are quite contextual in their use. In term I may
go through the roster and present suggestions of how (if at all) to use these abilities, but for now that
would make the rules prohibitively long. In general I would ignore such abilities unless they have an
extremely obvious use case at the time.

There's Always More

At the start of the Tyranid Command phase, roll a D6 for each destroyed Tyranid unit. On a 6+ that unit
enters strategic reserve, regardless of the game turn. ENDLESS MULTITUDE and TYRANID WARRIOR units
instead pass this roll on a 4+. Units which cost 200+ points instead pass this roll on a 6+ followed by a
4+.

At the end of the Tyranid Movement phase, roll a dice for each unit now in strategic reserve and place them
wholly within 6” of the correspondingly numbered spawn point, as denoted on the Mission map.

Units should be placed as close to their Preferred Prey as possible. Furthermore if there are other units or
pieces of terrain in the way, just place the unit as close to the spawn point as possible while remaining at
least 1” away from the Players’ units.

Additionally, roll a D6 for each ENDLESS MULTITUDE unit currently in play. On a 4+, up to D3+3 destroyed
models are returned to each of these units. Place the new arrivals at the back of the unit, i.e. on the far side
of the nearest Player unit.

Surplus Biomass
When playing a mission with the surplus biomass rule, destroyed units gain a +1 bonus to respawn (i.e.
5+/3+).

Assault Organisms
Most Tyranid creatures are designed to assault enemy positions, and by default follow these guidelines:
● At the start of the Movement phase of the Tyranid turn, you always start by moving the Tyranid
units closest to Player units, and work your way backwards through the Tyranid force.
 ● A Tyranid will always move towards their closest Preferred Prey (see above). If there is no Preferred
Prey within 36”, or no Preferred Prey for whom the unit can get range and Line of Sight, they will
instead Advance towards the closest objective currently controlled by the players.
● They will only advance if doing so won’t prevent them shooting or getting a <10” charge on a
target.
● Tyranid units will always shoot and charge their closest Preferred Prey. Units should be chosen to
shoot and fight in descending points value. If multiple units cost the same points, making it hard to
decide, roll a D6 for each of these units, with the highest rolling units being resolved first.

Designer’s commentary: why aren’t the Tyranids going for the objectives?
By default, the swarm wants to eat you. But in certain missions, their behaviour will be modified as the Hive
Mind pursues more specific goals, attacking weak points in defence lines or perhaps hunting vital personnel
it’s identified as a threat.

Scuttle around the ankles

In games of Fury of the Swarm, Tyranid units can move freely through each other whether or not they have
the MONSTER keyword, although obviously none of them can end their move somewhere there’s no room for
their base.

Ranged Support Organisms

Some Tyranid creatures are designed purely for ranged combat. These organisms follow the guidance for
assault organisms above, with one exception: they will move the minimum amount necessary to get range
and line of sight on their Preferred Prey, unless they have [INDIRECT FIRE] weapons, in which case, they’ll
move towards the nearest piece of concealing cover and fire upon their closest Preferred Prey during the
Shotoing phase. They will not attempt to Charge. The following are classed as Ranged Support Organisms:
● Pyrovores
● Zoanthropes
● Exocrines
● Biovores
● Hive Guard
● Tyrannofexes
● Barbgaunts
Assigning hits to Tyranids
When removing Tyranid casualties and/or assigning wounds during the Shooting phase, always assign
wounds to the miniature closest to the firing model when possible (wounded models must be removed
before unwounded ones as normal).

In the Melee phase, hits are instead assigned to the farthest models, thus preserving engagement range as
long as possible.

Fulcrum Mission: Retake and Hold

The Tyranids have taken a key location, and you’ve been sent to get it back before they can consume
everything in the area.

Designer’s note: the first mission is the vaguest

This mission has been designed to be a sort of ‘default’ mission much like Only War on p59 of the
Warhammer 40,000 Core Rules; a highly replayable scenario to try out Fury of the Swarm for the first time.
It should work OK regardless of whatever you have in your terrain collection, from weird alien landscapes to
stacks of books.

If you have an extensive terrain collection you could easily switch up the theme of this mission from game
to game. It could be about defending a major population centre, evacuating non-combatants from the
objective points, or just as easily it could be about holding an agri-complex full of grain silos that you really
don’t want the Tyranids eating. Maybe it’s a crucial supply cache. The possibilities aren’t endless, but
they’re substantial.

1: MUSTER ARMIES
You may deploy any size of army you like for this scenario. The Tyranids will have a 25% points advantage
over you, and should ideally be an all-rounder force with at least two SYNAPSE units and at least one
ENDLESS MULTITUDE unit. If not, just do your best with what you’ve got!

Modifying the scenario for tiny armies

If the Tyranid army is less than a thousand points, perhaps because you haven’t had a chance to collect
and/or paint sufficient units but want to try this game mode anyway, then change the win conditions from
12 Victory Points to 6, and replace the four objective markers with two halfway up the battlefield.

2: MISSION OBJECTIVES
Starting from the second battle round, at the end of your turn, you gain 1 Victory Point (VP) for each
objective marker you control. Details of how to control objective markers can be found on page 58 of the
Warhammer 40,000 rules.

3: CREATE THE BATTLEFIELD

First, place four objective markers and six counters to represent spawn points as shown in the map below.
D6 are perfect counters, since they’re also numbered 1-6. Then, place a temporary counter on Tyranid
deployment zones A and B.

Now to throw down some scenery. If possible, place a large terrain feature on or adjacent to each of the
objective markers (these represent the key strategic features you are trying to hold). If possible, there
should be some taller terrain features in the centre of the table.

If you need to move the Tyranid deployment zones to adjust for a satisfying terrain layout then go for it, just
keep the Second Most Important Rule in mind when you do so.
4: DETERMINE ATTACKER
You are the Attacker in this scenario; the Tyranids are the Defender.

5: DECLARE & DETERMINE BATTLE FORMATIONS

In the order stated below, you decide:
● Which of your Leader units will start the battle attached (you must specify which Leader unit is
attached to which Bodyguard unit).
● Which of your units will start the battle embarked within Transport models (you must specify
which units are embarked within which models).
● Which of your units will start the battle in Reserves (including Strategic Reserves).

Determine Synapse Clusters

The Tyranid army is divided into two Synapse Clusters in this mission. If the Tyranid force contains any
DEEP STRIKE units, these are placed in reserve, and will arrive in turn 2. Any INFILTRATORS units are not
assigned to Synapse Clusters, and will deploy independently.

6: DEPLOY ARMIES
First, the Players’ army is deployed, excepting any INFILTRATORS. Each Tyranid deployment zone is then
randomly assigned a Synapse Cluster. Next, the Players deploy their INFILTRATORS. Finally, any Tyranid
INFILTRATORS units are deployed as close to their Preferred Prey as possible.

7: DETERMINE FIRST TURN

The Players get the first turn in this scenario.

8: RESOLVE PRE-BATTLE RULES

Resolve any pre-battle rules your army has, after which the Tyranids’ pre-battle rules (if any) are resolved.

9: BEGIN THE BATTLE

The first battle round begins. Continue to resolve battle rounds until the battle ends.
● Sporefall defeat condition: if the Players lost the Sporefall phase of the invasion campaign, this
mission uses the Surplus Biomass rule outlined in the rules section that explains how There’s
Always More.

10: END THE BATTLE

The battle ends when your army has been wiped out, or once the fifth battle round has ended (whichever
comes first).

11: DETERMINE VICTOR

If you earned 12 or more victory points, you are victorious. Any other result is a win for the Tyranids.