40K: Fear The ‘Leaper!

2 Minute Read

Apr 28 2010

Fritz here, and having recently been spotted playing Tyrands I wanted to say that hands down I think the biggest MVP in the new codex is Deathleaper. Let me share with you some bullet points on how I’m using him in my games…
Ask any Eldar player how they feel about the state of psychic powers in the game. All of the 5th edition codexes have powerful psyker options and Space Marine librarians are out in droves with null zone. Being able to drop minus D3 leadership on an enemy pskyer alone is worth the price of admission for Deathleaper. But what if your opponent doesn’t have a psyker? Well then I look to target the highest leadership model in the unit that poses the biggest threat to my army. Long fangs in the bag with split fire frag missiles- the sarge in the unit fears the ‘leaper. Enemy commanders who can share their higher leadership- they take the hit.

Deathleaper is also key to my core strategy of siphoning off enemy units so the bulk of my swarm can gobble up my opponent. Just like with my Saim-Hann I want to divide my opponent’s army up and focus all of my army on these smaller pockets. When Deathleaper arrives I look to place him on the table somewhere that marks him as an easy target in kill point missions, or as a sudden threat that needs to be reacted to in objective missions. With the ‘leaper suddenly appearing in your back ranks next to your Manticores, he gets your attention as you peel off a unit or two to swat him. Of course once my opponent gets close enough to be a threat he pops back off the board.

Finally DL is key in my turn five strategies for contest objectives, especially in capture and control. I always try to place what objectives I can in cover, so at the bottom of turn five (assuming I’m going second) I can pop him in next to it to contest. If the game goes on, he then goes to ground for the 2+ cover save. For my Tyranids, Capture and Control is all about expending my 70+ buggies to open up a hole for Deathleaper to sneak in and contest. My next Tyranid article will look at how to stop this from happening, and how I go about stopping my opponent from stopping me…

~Fellow hive Tyrants how are you using Deathleaper? For all you other players out there how have you been burned by the ‘leaper? four months in, the Tyranids are now firmly integrated into the meta game. What are you guys seeing out there.

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Author: Fred Hansen

Fred Hansens (aka Fritz) is a long time tabletop game player with over a decade of experience. He specializes in Warhammer 40K, both tactics and hobby. He began writing for BoLS in 2009.

Tactics Tyranids Warhammer 40k