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This is SprueSentry strategy commentary, not official rules. The parts of this detachment reprinted or amended in the Tyranids Faction Pack version 1.2, the release that arrived with the 26 August 2026 balance update, are confirmed against that document, re-checked on 27 August 2026. The rest of the stratagem and enhancement lists come from the 10th-edition codex and are cross-checked across two independent community rules mirrors. The Detachment Point cost and enhancement points come from the official Munitorum Field Manual version 1.3, updated 26 August 2026. Points move with every update, so confirm them in the Warhammer 40,000 app before a game.
Tyranids units with this ability are eligible to charge in a turn they Fell Back, and Vanguard Invader units are also eligible to charge in a turn they Advanced. A second rule, Vanguard Prime, makes Deathleaper lose Hunter Organism and lets it be your Warlord.
1CP. A Vanguard Invader unit forces a Battle-shock test on its target and gets +1 to Hit against it, plus +1 to Wound if that test failed.
1CP. A Vanguard Invader Infantry unit gains Precision on its melee weapons, to pick out an attached enemy character.
1CP. One Tyranids unit, or up to two Vanguard Invader units, in Reserves count the battle round as one higher for arriving.
2CP. After an enemy ends a move, up to two Vanguard Invader units within 8" (or one other Tyranids Infantry unit) each make a Normal move of up to 6". The Faction Pack tightened this range from 9" to 8".
1CP. A targeted Vanguard Invader unit can only be shot by attackers within 18", or within 6" if it has Lone Operative.
1CP. Up to two Vanguard Invader units, or one Tyranids Infantry unit, more than 3" from enemies go back into Strategic Reserves.
After both players deploy, redeploy up to three Vanguard Invader units, and any of them can be placed into Strategic Reserves regardless of the usual limit. Reprinted in the Faction Pack's Rules Updates.
Vanguard Invader model only. Pick one enemy unit at the start of the battle; the bearer adds 1 to Hit and Wound rolls against it.
While the bearer is on the battlefield, each enemy unit arriving from Reserves must take a Battle-shock test on a 2+.
Vanguard Invader model only. This unit has Stealth. The Faction Pack cut this down to Stealth alone.
The Vanguard Prime rule is written for it: it drops Hunter Organism and can be your Warlord.
See the box: price and offersFast Vanguard Invader melee that gets the most out of Advance and charge.
See the box: price and offersMobile infiltrators whose Pouncing Leap was rewritten in the Faction Pack to cheapen Heroic Intervention.
See the box: price and offersThe Faction Pack added Vanguard Invader to Mawloc, Raveners and Trygon, so they now benefit from the detachment rule.
See the box: price and offersA Vanguard Invader infiltrator for Assassin Beasts precision melee and Unseen Lurkers protection.
See the box: price and offersThe same Lictors and Neurolictors gain Deep Strike and anti-Character Hit re-rolls on top of Advance and charge.
A hit-and-run list needs someone to stand on objectives; durable Battleline Warriors do that.
Adds a heavy anchor to a fast, fragile skirmish force.
How to play Vanguard Onslaught in 11th edition — the 2-DP fast-infiltrator detachment that advances-and-charges and hunts characters with Lictors and Genestealers.
Sprue Sentry strategy commentary for 11th edition, not official rules. Games Workshop updates points and rules regularly; always confirm against the current official rules and latest update before a game.
Vanguard Onslaught is the Tyranids fast-infiltrator detachment: a 2-Detachment-Point package for an aggressive, mobile alpha strike built around Lictors, Genestealers, Raveners and other vanguard bioforms. It reflects Warhammer 40,000 11th edition.
This is SprueSentry strategy commentary, not official rules. This is a codex detachment, so the Tyranids Faction Pack version 1.2 doesn't reprint it in full, but it does amend three pieces of it (the Chameleonic and Neuronode enhancements and the Hypersensory Scillia stratagem), and those amendments are confirmed against that document. The rest of the lists come from the 10th-edition codex, cross-checked across two independent community rules mirrors. We re-checked the pack's amendments on 27 August 2026 against version 1.2, the release that arrived with the 26 August 2026 balance update. DP costs and points move with dataslates, so confirm them in the Warhammer 40,000 app before a game.
Your Tyranids units with the ability are eligible to charge in a turn they Fell Back, and your Vanguard Invader units are also eligible to charge in a turn they Advanced. That gives your fast bioforms enormous, reliable charge threat and lets them disengage and re-commit at will.
A second rule, Vanguard Prime, makes Deathleaper lose Hunter Organism and lets it be your Warlord.
Worth knowing: the Faction Pack added the Vanguard Invader keyword to Mawloc, Raveners and Trygon, so those burrowing bioforms now get the Advance-and-charge half of the rule too. It's a hit-and-run skirmish detachment that dictates where combat happens.
Take it for an aggressive, mobile, melee-forward alpha-strike list built around fast infiltrating bioforms. It maximises Lictor, Genestealer and Ravener hit-and-run play and reserve manipulation. Avoid it if your list leans on shooting — it does little for ranged output. At 2 DP it leaves 1 DP for a support like Ambush Predators.
Sample gameplan: deploy a light footprint, holding Vanguard Invaders in reserves and infiltrating positions. Use Neuronode and Seeded Broods to control arrival timing, then advance-and-charge with Questing Tendrils to strike key targets turn two. Stack Surprise Assault or Stalker on a priority kill, use Unseen Lurkers and Hypersensory Scillia to dodge return fire and reposition, and Invisible Hunter to pull a unit out and re-commit it later.
2 DP, leaving 1 DP at a 2,000-point game for a support detachment. (It's a Reconnaissance-role detachment carried over from the codex.)
Questing Tendrils: your Tyranids units are eligible to charge in a turn they Fell Back, and your Vanguard Invader units are also eligible to charge in a turn they Advanced. A second rule, Vanguard Prime, makes Deathleaper lose Hunter Organism and lets it be your Warlord.
Vanguard Invaders: Lictors and Deathleaper, Genestealers and Von Ryan's Leapers, plus Mawlocs, Raveners and Trygons, which the Faction Pack added the Vanguard Invader keyword to. It's an all-melee, hit-and-run detachment.
No — it's almost entirely melee and mobility focused, with little to offer ranged output. Take it for an aggressive infiltrating alpha strike, not a gunline.
Written by Sprue Sentry, grounded in the cited sources. Original commentary, not Games Workshop rules text.