Dear Sirs;

On behalf of various Warhammer 40k players, I am writing to you to express the unhappiness with three decisions in the recent Tyranid FAQ. These three decisions have affected the very framework of how we play our armies. Our army is said to be one of the most balanced codex's released in recent years. We feel that the FAQ has ruined this balance, and this is upsetting.

The three questions we feel need to be changed are about Independent Characters joining broods before deploying in a Mycetic Spore, Shadow in the Warp affecting psykers in vehicles and Mycetic Spores needing to be deployed with a brood inside. I will now write about the implications and suggest changes of each question individually.

Q: If a Tyranid unit takes a Mycetic Spore, can an
Independent Character join the brood before
deployment (and hence Deep Strike in with the brood)?
A: No.

The implications of this text is that Tyranid players are unable to take Tyranid Primes' with normal Tyranid Warriors. Attaching a Tyranid Prime to a brood of Tyranid Warriors is an important strategic asset which we feel has been taken away from Tyranids with this FAQ.

We also feel it is unfair that our Independent Characters are not allowed to join units before deployment in a Mycetic Spore, as many other armies are allowed to do this (such as Space Marines and their Drop Pods).

We suggest that an addition shall be made to the FAQ stating that Tyranid Primes' can join a brood of Tyranid warriors that are taking a Mycetic Spore before deployment (and hence Deep Strike in with the brood).

The second decision we are unhappy about:

Q: Does Shadow in the Warp affect psykers who are
taking a Psychic test whilst embarked within a
transport vehicle?
A: No.

In our beloved game of Warhammer 40,000 vehicles are among the hardest type of unit to take down. Psykers are also quite a difficult unit to play against, due to their destructive powers. An example is the special rule Jaws of the World Wolf. It is extremely good at destroying our Monstrous Creatures, which are the main Vehicle killers and Synapse providers. One of our best ways of killing psykers is making them succumb to the effects of Shadow in the Warp. However, now boarding them in vehicles makes them immune to this asset, as well as giving them protection we can find difficult to break.

Also, many other armies have similar psychic powers such as the Eldar Runes of Warding, and Space Marine Psychic hoods. Again this is an unfair, biased FAQ against the Tyranid Codex.

We suggest that the FAQ question shall be changed to:

Q: Does Shadow in the Warp affect psykers who are
taking a Psychic test whilst embarked within a
transport vehicle?
A: Yes.

The final question:

Q: If a Tyranid unit takes a Mycetic Spore, can it choose
to deploy normally whilst the empty Mycetic Spore
Deep Strikes on its own?
A: No.

We feel that this is unfair tactically. Space Marines have the option of deploying empty Drop Pods, what is different about Tyranids? The fact that our broods must deploy with the Mycetic spores limits our tactical flexibility. Against some armies we prefer to not have our models Deep Strike into battle. However, we must now Deep Strike our models. The effects of this increases in Tournaments, where we can not change our list, and therefore puts us at a disadvantage to other armies.

Therefore we propose this to be changed to:

Q: If a Tyranid unit takes a Mycetic Spore, can it choose
to deploy normally whilst the empty Mycetic Spore
Deep Strikes on its own?
A: Yes.

I hope that these suggested improvements will be taken into account, and we all would like to see the FAQ change to the way we suggest. You will find attached the signatures of other Warhammer players and loyal customers who share the same point of view as I.

Yours Truly,

A worried Warhammer 40,000 player.

Links