How to Play Tyranids in Warhammer 40,000 11th Edition

The structural change is Detachment Points. In 10th edition you chose one detachment; in 11th you get a DP budget — roughly 2 DP at 1,000 points and 3 DP at 2,000 points — and spend it on detachments that each cost 1 to 3 DP, so you can now combine detachments.

Ten Tyranid detachments are legal: the six from the codex, plus the four the Faction Pack prints in full (Ambush Predators, Talons of the Norn Queen, Warrior Bioform Onslaught and Subterranean Assault). Warhammer Community's May 2026 Faction Focus presented the first three of those as the faction's new detachments for 11th edition.

The pack itself doesn't print DP costs, but the Munitorum Field Manual does, and it's a live official document updated alongside each balance pass (currently version 1.3, 26 August 2026). It gives three at 1 DP (Ambush Predators, Talons of the Norn Queen, Warrior Bioform Onslaught), five at 2 DP (Crusher Stampede, Assimilation Swarm, Unending Swarm, Synaptic Nexus, Vanguard Onslaught), and two at 3 DP (Invasion Fleet and Subterranean Assault). It also lists no UNIQUE tag on any Tyranid detachment, so the budget is your only pairing restriction. Points move with every update, so the Warhammer 40,000 app is still what you check at the table, and there's no full 11th-edition codex yet, so a future book could change things again.

Synapse is the backbone of a Tyranid army, and the Faction Pack reprints it precisely. While a Tyranids unit is within 6" of a friendly Synapse model (Warriors, Tyranid Primes, big monsters, the Neurotyrant and friends) it is within Synapse Range, and it gets two things: it takes Battle-shock tests on 3D6 instead of 2D6, and each of its models adds 1 to the Strength of its melee attacks. Keep your synapse web intact and the swarm functions as one organism; let it collapse and your smaller bugs start to falter — and several detachments key their best tricks off Synapse Range.

Shadow in the Warp is a single, decisive button rather than a passive aura. Once per battle, in either player's Command phase, if a unit with the ability is on the board, every enemy unit on the battlefield must take a Battle-shock test, and any enemy within 6" of one of your Synapse units subtracts 1 from that test. Pick your moment: use it on the turn the most enemy units are exposed and closest to your synapse creatures.

Your DP budget scales with game size: about 2 DP at 1,000 points and 3 DP at 2,000 points. Costs:

• Invasion Fleet (3 DP) fills your whole 2,000-point budget with one strong package.
• 2-DP detachments (Crusher Stampede, Assimilation Swarm, Unending Swarm, Synaptic Nexus, Vanguard Onslaught) leave 1 DP spare for a support.
• 1-DP detachments (Ambush Predators, Talons of the Norn Queen, Warrior Bioform Onslaught) are the glue — bolt one onto a 2-DP core to add ambushers, Norn support, or a durable Warrior battleline.
• Subterranean Assault (3 DP) is the other detachment that fills a 2,000-point budget on its own, so it comes with no room for a support.

Unlike some factions, Tyranid detachments carry no UNIQUE tag in the Munitorum Field Manual, so the only thing limiting a pairing is the DP budget.

The new list-building question is "one big 3-DP detachment, or a 2 + 1 split?" A 2-DP core plus a 1-DP support gives you two detachment rules and two stratagem/enhancement lists to draw from.

Ten detachments are legal. By role, with DP costs:

• Invasion Fleet (3 DP) — the flexible all-comers generalist with a menu of Hyper-adaptations. Start here.
• Crusher Stampede (2 DP) — big monsters that grow more accurate and deadly as they take damage.
• Unending Swarm (2 DP) — a gaunt horde that surges forward when it is shot at.
• Assimilation Swarm (2 DP) — Harvester regeneration that heals your monsters and returns dead gaunts.
• Synaptic Nexus (2 DP) — a round-long, army-wide Imperative for everything in Synapse Range.
• Vanguard Onslaught (2 DP) — fast, infiltrating vanguard bioforms that advance and charge.
• Subterranean Assault (3 DP) — Tunnel Markers, burrowing Trygons and Mawlocs, and army-wide re-rolls of Hit rolls of 1.
• Ambush Predators (1 DP) — Deep-Striking Lictors and Neurolictors that hunt characters.
• Talons of the Norn Queen (1 DP) — flexible Norn-monster support.
• Warrior Bioform Onslaught (1 DP) — makes Tyranid Warriors a durable Battleline core.

Pick a core from your collection and playstyle:

• All-comers / unsure → Invasion Fleet. Big monsters → Crusher Stampede. Gaunt hordes → Unending Swarm. Monster-heavy durability → Assimilation Swarm. Fast infiltrators → Vanguard Onslaught. Trygons, Mawlocs and reserve tricks → Subterranean Assault.

If your core is a 2-DP detachment, spend the leftover DP on a 1-DP support:

• Ambush Predators to add character-hunting Lictors and ambush pressure.
• Warrior Bioform Onslaught to field a tough, synapse-carrying Warrior battleline.
• Talons of the Norn Queen if you run a Norn monster and want it more flexible.

A concrete example at 2,000 points: a Crusher Stampede 2-DP monster core + 1-DP Warrior Bioform Onslaught gives you a wall of big beasts plus a resilient Warrior spine that keeps your synapse web alive. (The two 3-DP detachments, Invasion Fleet and Subterranean Assault, instead use your whole budget as a single package, with no room for a support alongside.)

Two habits win Tyranid games. First, protect your synapse web. Position Warriors, Primes and big synapse creatures so your smaller bugs stay within 6"; if the opponent snipes your synapse, the 3D6 Battle-shock tests and the +1 melee Strength evaporate, and so do the Synapse-gated effects in Synaptic Nexus, Unending Swarm and Invasion Fleet. Second, spend Shadow in the Warp deliberately. It fires once per battle and hits every enemy unit at once, so hold it for the round where the most enemy units are exposed and sitting within 6" of your synapse creatures for that extra -1.

And since 11th edition lets you run two detachments, remember you can use both detachments' stratagems — a 2 + 1 split widens your toolbox.

If you're new or returning, build an Invasion Fleet list first. Its Adaptation menu is forgiving, it teaches synapse positioning without extra sub-systems, and almost any Tyranid collection fits inside it. Once you're comfortable, try a 2 + 1 DP split to add a support detachment that suits your swarm.

Because Tyranids are still on a Faction Pack rather than a full 11th-edition codex, watch for a future codex that could re-tune detachments and points. Until then, everything here reflects the current, live rules.