Warhammer 40K: This Week’s Meta Hotness – Tyranid Pyrovore

5 Minute Read

May 18 2022

Woohoo the good ole standby made a showing this past week with an event that ran the new Balance Dataslate. The creepy looking Tyranid Pyrovore finally gets to shine in the new Nid codex.

In the ever-shifting meta of 40K, armies rise and fall. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about armies that are hot or not, but a lot less time looking at units that are running the show. Today let’s start by taking a look at one of the hottest units currently running around the tabletop.

Tyranid Pyrovore Basics

The new Tyranid codex did a glow up on a lot of “bad” units from previous codexes. One of the biggest updates was to the Pyrovore which went from a weird joke to a powerhouse of death and destruction. You get 2 “flamer” options that are extremely good. One is a 12″ version that is just as good as the old Drukhari Dark technomancer flamer. It is d6 shots, strength 6, Ap -2, and flat 2 damage. We complained how good it was for Drukhari and we got it again on a cheaper and better platform. The other flamer is an 18″ flamer that shoots 2d6 shots, strength 4, Ap -1 and flat 1 damage. Both of these are pretty good and when you add it to a 30 point, Strength 5, Toughness 5, and 5 wound Marine equivalent you start to see how this unit went from WTH to oh HECK YEAH! Oh you can also add in some Stratagems that allow you to do mortal wounds on a 4+ per wound it took in close combat. Nothing like a little bit of protection on this useful unit.

Why are Pyrovores good?

I told you their stats and if you had that option in say Death Guard or other older armies you would jump on it right away. You get a 1-3 unit that sits at 90 points with 15 wounds, auto hitting weapons, and stratagems that are decent. They are also an infantry model which means they can go thru walls, drop banners, and do a manner of wonderful things other units can’t do. Again this is all for a 90 point investment that is sitting on Strength and Toughness of 5 with a 3+ save. I can’t think of any army that wouldn’t want these in there. If you think about it they are basically Heavy Intercessors with a better gun, more wounds individually, and a way better gun.

Sample List

Saying a unit is hot is all well and good, but let’s take a look at how players are using it. John Lennon used this to win the Seattle Open put on by GW just a few weeks ago. John is an excellent player and beat up a ton of other Tyrannid armies with this list. He went 8-0 and the Pyrovores helped out a lot just by being pains in the butt. You can see them ganging up with another excellent mid range body with the Ravenors (which I am sure to talk about soon).

++ Battalion Detachment (Tyranids) [95 PL, 1,650pts] ++

Hive Fleet: Kraken

+ No Force Org Slot +

Tyrant Guard [15 PL, 170pts]: Toxin Sacs
. 4x Tyrant Guard (Lash/Sword): 4x Lash Whip and Bonecleaver, 4x Two Rending Claws

+ HQ +
Neurothrope [5 PL, 100pts]: Power: Catalyst, Power: Onslaught, Warlord, Warlord Trait: Synaptic Tendrils
. Relic: Resonance Barb: Power: Paroxysm

Winged Hive Tyrant [11 PL, 205pts]: Adrenal Glands, Lash Whip and Monstrous Bonesword, Power: Onslaught, Power: Psychic Scream, Relic: The Reaper of Obilterax

+ Troops +

Tyranid Warriors [4 PL, 80pts]
. Tyranid Warrior: Dual Boneswords, Venom Cannon
. Tyranid Warrior: Deathspitter, Dual Boneswords
. Tyranid Warrior: Deathspitter, Dual Boneswords

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+ Elites +

Maleceptor [9 PL, 170pts]: Power: Neuroparasite, Power: The Horror

Pyrovores [2 PL, 30pts]: Pyrovore

Pyrovores [6 PL, 90pts]
. 3x Pyrovore: 3x Acid Maw, 3x Bludgeoning Fists, 3x Flamespurt

Venomthropes [5 PL, 105pts]
. 3x Venomthrope: 3x Toxic Lashes

+ Fast Attack +

Raveners [8 PL, 150pts]
. Ravener: Deathspitter, Two Rending Claws
. Ravener: Deathspitter, Two Rending Claws
. Ravener: Deathspitter, Two Rending Claws
. Ravener: Deathspitter, Two Rending Claws
. Ravener: Deathspitter, Two Rending Claws

++ Patrol Detachment -2CP (Tyranids) [17 PL, 350pts, -1CP] ++

+ Configuration +

Hive Fleet: Kraken

+ Stratagems +

Hive Predator [-1CP]: Extra Warlord Trait

+ HQ +

Hive Tyrant [9 PL, 190pts]: 2x Heavy Venom Cannon, Power: Onslaught, Power: Paroxysm, Relic: Pathogenesis, Warlord Trait: Direct Guidance

+ Troops +

Gargoyles [4 PL, 80pts]
. 10x Gargoyle: 10x Fleshborer

+ Fast Attack +

Parasite of Mortrex [4 PL, 80pts]: Warlord Trait: Alien Cunning

++ Total: [112 PL, -1CP, 2,000pts] ++

Using the Pyrovore

The army utilizes so many bodies to just gum up the table. All of them can shoot pretty well, are hard to remove, and just help you win the game. The Pyrovores give a nice answer to things by giving you some auto hitting options. The guns are both assault so you can reach out a lot farther then people expect and throw a ton of flaming death on someone. I expect these guys to get a points hike soon with the Raveners and any other big bodied mid range Tyranid.

The most annoying thing about the Pyrovore is that they don’t have a plastic model and rely on Finecast options that are not exactly printed heavily. This is most likely the reason you won’t see nearly as many as they are hard to get. I do see some cool conversions using Tyrant guard, greenstuff, and a love of Giger looking things.

NOM NOM NOM!

Let us know what units you think are hot right now, down in the comments!

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Author: Thomas / Goatboy

Thomas Reidy, aka Goatboy, the ever-evil member of BoLS. I do arts, play 40k, and even paint a lot of stuff. I have been playing Warhammer 40K since the 1990s, and have won multiple national events including Adepticon and GW GTs. I've been writing for BoLS for 15 years. Look at my Instagram to see what I am working on - or working on for someone. I am always doing something hobby related.

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