Dakka Articles

TACTICA CARNIFEX: EQUIPPING YOUR CARNIFEX

CH1: PREFACE

This article is intended to help you narrow down what weapon and biomorph combinations to give your Carnifexes using the new codex. In general, I’m not going to talk so much about how to use your Carnifexes in the game (although I will dabble into that subject from time to time when appropriate), but rather which combinations are effective or ineffective given the likely role a Carnifex plays in your army.

Before we get into combinations of weapons and biomorphs, I’d like to establish some basic principles I believe about the Carnifex. Please remember that these are just my personal opinions and I am not trying to claim that anything I say is absolute.

Throughout this article, I will be speaking in generalities. Of course there will always be situations where the opposite of what I am saying is true. Ogryns, for example, are a small pricey unit that a single Barbed Strangler round can wipe out. Plague Marines without a Powerfist are a small pricey unit that the Carnifex would love to get into close combat against. However, in general, the Carnifex will not see such wonderful matchups in the majority of games you play.  Which is exactly why I will be dealing with the general; I am looking for situations you can expect to occur in the majority of your games.

CH2: PRINCIPLES OF THE CARNIFEX

2A - The easiest way for a Carnifex to make his points back is to destroy a vehicle (or two); especially by shooting it.

This is a very important principle to remember when equipping your Carnifex.

In general, destroying a vehicle is much easier than destroying a unit. Enemy units that are small enough to be wiped out by a single round of shooting tend to be tough enough to withstand the type of firepower the Carnifex is carrying (MEQs). Units that are weak enough to be damaged by a Carnifex’s shooting tend to be large and cheap in points; meaning you probably won’t kill them in a single round, and if you do, they likely aren’t worth that many points (IG, Orks).

Vehicles on the other hand, no matter how big and tough, can always be destroyed by a single shot; that potential is always there.

2B - It is much easier for a properly equipped Carnifex to shoot and destroy a vehicle then it is to reach and destroy a vehicle in close combat.

Nearly all (non-walker) vehicles move faster than the Carnifex. That means an opponent who really doesn’t want a particular vehicle to be in combat with your Carnifex will probably make sure your Carnifex never reaches it. In addition, it will invariably take multiple turns to reach said vehicle and once in combat (if the vehicle is a skimmer or moved more than 6” in its previous movement phase) the vehicle will only be hit on rolls of 6+; meaning the Carnifex will need to be pretty lucky to destroy it.

On the other hand the Carnifex’s ranged weaponry, although not the very best in the game at destroying vehicles, can certainly each hold their own; especially the Venom Cannon, despite only ever causing glancing hits.

2C - Close combat with non-vehicle units can present many challenges for the Carnifex.

Unless a Carnifex is uber-tooled for close combat, it is going to be lucky to cause 4 wounds a round in close combat. Units weak in close combat tend to be large enough to tie the Carnifex up for several rounds (Grots), while those that are small and pricey tend to have invulnerable saves or powerful weapons that can easily dispatch the Carnifex in close combat (Terminators, Grey Knights). In addition, the invisible Powerfist found in many, many 4th edition units is a real danger to the Carnifex.

2D - Carnifexes get by with a little help from their friends. Or do they?

Carnifexes in a close combat alone face many dangers. Many of those dangers can be lessened if it gets into combat along with another Tyranid unit. Especially if that unit has more models then the enemy unit they’re fighting (thereby keeping hidden Powerfists locked in place away from the Carnifex).

A Carnifex alone in combat can spend several turns, if not the rest of the game, locked in combat with the same unit (and often will end up being killed by the hidden Powerfists). A Gaunt unit locked in close combat alone will also usually spend several turns locked in combat with the same unit only to eventually be grinded to death.

However, a Carnifex in the same combat with a unit of Gaunts can create a winning situation where the enemy unit is destroyed or run down leaving both Tyranid units free to attack something else. In short, a Carnifex can be a very complimentary unit to have in close combat along with another Tyranid unit.

With that said, the Carnifex is not a hidden weapon. Your opponent can (and probably will) remove casualties caused by other Tyranid units from those model(s) in base contact with your Carnifex, thereby denying it the chance to strike. It is possible to lessen this effect by careful placement of your Carnifex in combat, but the Carnifex’s slow speed and the large size of other Tyranid units often means that the Carnifex has little choice about which enemy model(s) to engage.

So despite its strengths, the Carnifex has many weaknesses in close combat. It is liable to get swarmed (and possibly killed) alone in combat, but as its Initiative is lower than nearly every other Tyranid creature, fighting alongside allies can often leave it unable to strike.

2E - Carnifexes need to know their role.

Many creatures in 40K make you pay a penalty if you use them against the role their statistics were built for. Orks, for example, pay 8 points minimum for a statline that includes 2 Attacks. In the case of Shoota Boys, the Ork player is effectively paying for an extra Attack that is unlikely to be of use the whole game. If given the option to remove the extra attack off that Shoota Boy for 1 point a model, I think the majority of smart gamers would jump at the chance.

The Tyranid army suffers from the same issue. If you tool up your Hive Tyrant to be a shooting monster, you are still stuck paying the points for a high Weapon Skill, Initiative, and three Attacks that are unlikely to be used. Tyranid Warriors also suffer this curse.

I would argue that Carnifexes are unique in that the majority of their points are assigned because of the fact that they have a Toughness of 6, 4 Wounds, a 3+ armor save, and a Strength of 9. Luckily, all of those attributes are useful for either a shooting or close combat role.

This means that any further points you put into the Carnifex will be spent shaping it into the creature you want it to be, without the chunk of useless abilities and points that many creatures in 40K are saddled with.

To but it bluntly: If you are going to take 2 ranged weapons on your Carnifex, resist the urge to give it close combat oriented biomorphs. You have paid the points to make this creature into a shooting beast, and the easiest way for a Carnifex to achieve Victory Points is to shoot at vehicles; so let it do so!

Giving a double-ranged weapon Carnifex close combat oriented biomorphs only means that you may be tempted so send this Carnifex into close combat. To be frank, this is not something that this type of Carnifex will do particularly well, no matter what biomorphs you give it. You cannot escape the fact that it only has 2 base Attacks.

I am not trying to say that a shooty Carnifex should never charge into close combat. There will obviously be desperate times in a game where an extra couple of S9 attacks may well turn the tide. However, if you paid the points to make a shooty beast, it should remain shooting if at all possible.

I am also not implying that Carnifexes with a mix of close combat and ranged weaponry are a poor idea; Far from it. It’s just that if you want a close combat Carnifex, then do not take two ranged weapons. Instead, take a separate beast for each role.

2F - In Conclusion:

Always consider the Golden Rule: the easiest way for a Carnifex to accumulate Victory Points is to destroy a vehicle by shooting it.

That doesn’t mean that you should only take Carnifexes in order to shoot vehicles. In fact many scenario variants don’t even use Victory Points (Alpha level games, for example), and accomplishing a mission objective (like sitting in a table quarter or ending the game in the middle of the battlefield) may be worth far more towards victory than any damage the Carnifex could possibly inflict during the game.

Still, the golden rule is an important concept that you should always keep in the back of your mind as we discuss further.

CH3: THE ELITE CARNIFEX

For discussion of the Elite Carnifex, I’m going to organize different battlefield roles into separate categories in order to examine them more efficiently.

3A - Pure Close Combat Carnifex.

I do not recommend taking a pure close combat Carnifex (and that includes Heavy Support Carnifexes too).  A good pure CC Carnifex is going to run you anywhere from 113 to 225+ pts. Every 1/3 of the games, you're going to play with Escalation. And unless your opponent is an idiot (or the game lasts more than 8 turns), the Carnifex will not be killing anything the whole game.

Is a pure CC Carnifex worth the loss of around 200 points (or more if you take more than one CC Carnifex) in 1/3 of your games?  Not in my opinion.

However, that said, if you are absolutely 100% convinced that you need a close combat Carnifex (or two), then I would strongly suggest you stick with a very cheap variation.

That way if you do get stuck playing Escalation, you are not stuck with too many “dead” points. Besides, a stripped down CC Carnifex with no biomorphs at all will hold a table quarter just as well as a Carnifex with Crushing Claws and 100 points of biomorphs will.

Another benefit the Elite Carnifex has over its heavier counterpart is that in non-Escalation games it is set up later in the deployment process. This means an Elite Carnifex stands a much greater chance of being deployed in a location where it will actually see some close combat.

The moral of the story? If you’re going to take a close combat Carnifex, make it an Elite. So we are going to do our best to get the most effective close combat killer while keeping the cost to a minimum.

3A.1 - Elite Close Combat Symbiote Choices.
The weapon choices available to a CC Elite Carnifex are pretty simple. Although it is possible to take Crushing Claws, in order to make the points cap, you’d have to take Rending Claws as your second weapon and no (useful) biomorphs. That would leave our Carnifex with D6 Attacks (or D6+1 on the charge) each round of combat.

If you consider the fact that for less points two sets of Scything Talons means the Carnifex will have consistent 4 Attacks (or 5 on the charge), plus some points to spend on biomorphs, the choice should be obvious. Crushing Claws here are more of a detriment than a boon.

A Lash Whip/Scything Talons combo can be a bit tempting to create a really defensive Carnifex who can hold up a unit on his own for several turns. However, as the Whip affects only models in base contact, it is far too easy for an enemy player to surround the Carnifex with regular troops while keeping the models with more than one attack (read Vet Sgt with Powerfist) in a supporting position. This essentially means the Lash Whip will have no effect at all (except for robbing you of a slot to get an additional Attack).

By a process of elimination we’ve determined that a close combat Elite Carnifex should always have 2 Scything Talons.

3A.2 - Whittling down Elite Biomorphs.
After taking the Scything Talons, we are left with 13 points to spend on biomorphs. There are a number of Biomorphs that we can immediately cross off our list. This is because they are either entirely ineffective, or are only useful in combination with other biomorphs that we cannot afford on our Elite Carnifex budget. Those biomorphs are:

• Acid Maw. I would never, ever recommend taking Acid Maw on a Carnifex. Ever. Even left at a Strength of 9 a Carnifex will rarely ever face off against opponents where it doesn’t need a 2+ roll to wound. Paying 6 points to essentially re-roll ‘1’s (and only in the first round of combat) is not an effective way to spend points in your army. I will not be discussing Acid Maw further in this article.
• Bio-Plasma. This is a gimmick attack that is made useless by the fact that it strikes at a higher Initiative then the rest of the Carnifex’s Attacks (and does not ignore armor saves). If successful, your opponent will (if convenient to them) pull the one model in base contact (if the Carnifex is charging) thus not allowing you to make the rest of your attacks. Do not take this biomorph on a Carnifex ever. I will not be discussing Bio-Plasma further in this article.
• Spore Cysts. I honestly do not know who would take this biomorph. It has the potential to wound the Carnifex every time you use it (which is not something that is normally easy to do). In addition, the Spore Mine is produced in the shooting phase, and is placed in base contact with the Carnifex. That means when the opponent’s shooting phase rolls around, if the enemy unit is armed with low strength weapons, they now have a target (spore mines) to shoot at that, if detonated, wounds the Carnifex on a ‘4+’ (“Toxic” Spore Mines). I honestly cannot see a positive benefit of taking this biomorph. I will not be discussing Spore Cysts further in this article.
• Tail-Weapon: Scythe. A Tail Scythe gains value when coupled with the Toxin Sacs biomorph (which we can’t afford on our Elite Carnifex). It also costs twice as many points as a Tail Mace (5 vs. 10). Against any opponent above Toughness 2, a Strength 4 Tail Scythe does not statistically offer twice the number of wounds that a Tail Mace does. That makes the Tail Scythe a marginal, at best, choice for an Elite Carnifex. Instead we are much better off taking a Tail Mace for 5 points less.
• Toxin Sacs (+1 Strength). If we were to take Toxin Sacs on our Elite Carnifex that would preclude us from taking any other biomorphs of value. About the only thing our Elite Carnifex would gain is a better chance of taking down a Monolith. Versus any other vehicle, a 9+2D6 penetration roll should be more than sufficient to destroy it. As such, Toxin Sacs really aren’t worth considering as an option for an Elite Carnifex.
• Tusked. This biomorph is only worth its points when taken in combination with Adrenal Glands (WS) and the Toxic Miasma biomorphs. These biomorphs improve the Carnifex’s chance to maximize the one-round extra attack. Since we, yet again, cannot afford these combinations, we will pass on Tusked.
• Symbiote Rippers. Symbiote Rippers are a poor choice for any Carnifex. The Carnifex already counts as 10 models (being a Monstrous Creature) in combat. The rare times when having a single additional model for outnumbering will matter in a combat when a Carnifex is involved is so rare that even for 2 points I think your points are better spent elsewhere. In addition, you generally don't want your opponents running from your Carnifex unless you've got some faster units engaged along side. In those situations the enemy is already vastly outnumbered. I will not be discussing Symbiote Rippers further in this article.

• A quick note on Flesh Hooks. At one point, Flesh Hooks are mandatory for a CC Carnifex (as long as you have the point to spare), but are only a mediocre choice for any other type of Carnifex. The point of Frag grenades/Flesh Hooks for a charging model is to give them a chance to strike before getting killed. A charging Carnifex will generally only be facing a few enemy models (the one he is in base contact with plus whoever is within 2” of that model). The only enemy he really fears is the one with a Power fist; who is going to get to strike anyway unless the Carnifex gets extremely lucky and kills all the models in his kill zone (or the opponent is forced to remove the model in base contact before the Powerfist gets to swing).

The general rule of thumb for taking Flesh Hooks is: the more Attacks the Carnifex can make, the more chance it will have of killing all enemies within its kill zone, and the more worthwhile it is to take Flesh Hooks.

3A.3 - Quality Elite Close Combat Biomorphs.
Now that we’ve whittled down our list, that leaves the following close combat themed biomorphs available to for us (to make a combination of 13 points or less):

Adrenal Glands(I) (6 points), Adrenal Glands(WS) (4 points), Tail Weapon: Mace (5 points) and Toxic Miasma (8 points).

Although there are several decent combinations that boost the Carnifex’s close combat ability a little, there are two combinations that work really, really well together:

• Adrenal Glands(WS) & Adrenal Glands(I). This is the all-around CC Carnifex. With five Attacks on the charge (along with Flesh Hooks) that strike before any Powerfists, this configuration stands a chance to kill the Powerfist model if you can get 3 or less enemy models (including the Powerfist model) in the kill zone. At the very least, the opposing player may be forced to remove the one model in base contact, which would mean the Powerfist doesn’t get to swing.

However, since the Carnifex is rather slow, getting it into that perfect position to “snipe” a Powerfist model may prove highly difficult. That is why I recommend the following configuration instead:

• Adrenal Glands(WS) & Toxic Miasma.  If I were to take a CC Carnifex, this is the configuration I would choose every time.

This combination will get you more average hits than the previous configuration versus WS4 (or less) models. Since the majority of standard infantry models in the game are WS4 or less, this combination gives the Carnifex a distinct boost in CC prowess. It is also makes it more resilient against attacks from WS5 enemies (such as Characters).

Also, if equipped with Flesh Hooks, when this Carnifex charges a unit in cover it will strike before Powerfists. If that enemy unit is WS4 or less, it stands a better chance of “sniping” the Powerfist model then did the previous configuration.

3A.4 - Elite Close Combat Carnifex Summary.
So, if you decide to go against my advice and take a CC Carnifex, your only two choices are:

• 2 sets of Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands (WS), Adrenal Glands (I), Flesh Hooks (112 points).
• 2 sets of Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands (WS), Toxic Miasma, Flesh Hooks (114 points).

3B - Elite Gun Carnifex (or “Dakkafex”)

If you followed my advice, we've ruled out the pure CC Carnifex, and we know that we're giving all of ours Carnifexes at least one gun.

3B.1 - Poor Elite Ranged Symbiotes.
Keep in mind that the Carnifex comes base with a BS of 2, and it is 8 points to give him Enhanced Senses (BS3). Because of the points cap, we can't take a Venom Cannon at all, and if we take a Barbed Strangler, we're stuck with the paltry BS2. Now, a BS2 can work provided that: A) the weapon is twin-linked or B) fires a ton of shots. The Barbed Strangler does neither. Taking a unit that is going to spend the majority of most games doing nothing (missing in the shooting phase), is not the kind of unit you want to include in your army. So, the Barbed Strangler is out on Elite Carnifexes.

That leaves us with the twin-linked Devourer and the twin-linked Deathspitter as our choice of ranged weapons. The Deathspitter sucks for many reasons. It costs 5 more points than the Devourer, is an all or nothing proposition (single shot) and suffers from the terrible new blast rules (you must place the center hole over an enemy model). That leaves us with a clear winner: All Elite Carnifexes we want to shoot will be equipped with a twin-linked Devourer.

3B.2 - The Twin-Linked Devourer.
The Devourer is actually a pretty darn good choice for the Carnifex. It is a 18" Assault weapon which translates into 24" of potential range each turn.  It kicks out 4 S6 twin-linked shots; Good enough to obliterate light vehicles like Land Speeders, Ork Trukks and DE Raiders; it has the potential to hurt AV11-12 vehicles and can cause a fair amount of wounds on troop units (especially with the living ammo rule). The fact that it is twin-linked means that it compensates somewhat for the Carnifexes BS2 (he becomes effectively a little better than BS3), so we don't have to take Enhanced Senses if we don't want to.

3B.3 - Gunfex Summary.
By eliminating poor choices, we’ve made our decision easy. For a pure shooty Elite Carnifex, there is only one set of options:

• Dakkafex: 2 Twin-linked Devourers & Enhanced Senses (113 points).

This gives you 8 S6 shots at 18", of which 6 will most likely hit (with a twin-linked BS3).  All 6 hits will most likely wound anything with a T4 or less (with the Living Ammo 'to wound' re-roll).  That's nothing to sneeze at.

This Carnifex obviously wants to hover out of enemy charge range pouring fire into vulnerable units. You wouldn't want to get him into close combat unless you were charging with several units (as he only has WS3, I1, and A2).

3C - The Mixed Elite Carnifex w/Shooting Emphasis.

3C.1 - Arming the Mixed Elite Shooting Carnifex.
For our mixed shooting/CC Carnifex, we’re going to take one ranged weapon and one close combat symbiote. As we discussed above, the only quality choice for a ranged weapon is the twin-linked Devourer.

For a CC symbiote our choices are pretty limited. Crushing Claws is automatically out due to points and Rending Claws offer too little benefit for the valuable space they fill for us to even to consider them. That leaves us with Scything Talons or a Lash Whip. As the Lash Whip (as discussed above) really isn’t a great choice for a Carnifex, our choice is made for us: all of our Elite Carnifexes that aren’t purely shooty will have Scything Talons as their CC symbiote.

With just our weapon choices made, our Elite Carnifex is already 103 points. That leaves us with a mere 11 points to play with. The next question is: do we want our mixed Carnifex to lean more towards shooting or CC? How we spend our last 11 points will decide this factor.
 
3C.2 - Enhanced Senses or Spine Banks?
For a shooting slant, our only two considerations are Enhanced Senses (BS3) or Spine Banks (a bonus Spinefist). Enhanced Senses may seem like the better bet (to maximize your 4 Devourer shots at 18"), but it costs 8 points, leaving only 3 to spare. That’s not enough to purchase anything else worthwhile.

On the other hand, taking Spine Banks give us another 2 twin-linked S6 shots at 12", and while all those shots will now be at BS2, the twin-linked nature of all the shooting means that we won't be losing too many hits (within 12” you’ll be averaging about the same amount of S6 hits: namely about 3 hits). More importantly, since Spinebanks are only 5 points, that leaves us with 6 points to spend on CC biomorphs. Our quality choices are any one of the following: Adrenal Glands (I) (6 points), Adrenal Glands (WS) (4 points) or Tail Weapon: Mace (5 points).

3C.3 - Mixed Elite Shooting Biomorphs.
I think all of those choices have some merit depending on what role you want the Carnifex to perform. Let's explore them a little:

• Adrenal Glands (+1 I). With only 3 attacks (4 on the charge) and a WS of 3, this Carnifex is probably not going to be taking on enemy units on his own. The only positive of striking at I2 is that it is before the dreaded Powerfist strikes. On his own, the Carnifex is generally not going to cause enough wounds to remove that PFist. However, if assaulting with multiple units, its I2 attacks might be just enough to kill the PFist guy before he swings. In addition, if the bugs do win combat, that I2 gives him a slightly better chance to run a unit down in a sweeping advance (although I wouldn’t hold my breath).
• Adrenal Glands (+1 WS). This biomorph would be most useful for a Carnifex that will get stuck in close combat by himself. A WS of 4 doesn't tend to help him to hit any better (unless he's fighting WS3 or lesser opponents), but it can make him much more survivable against WS4 troops (especially against those WS4 Pfists). If you plan on having your Carnifex hold up a shooty unit of troops by himself for several turns, this would be the biomorph for you.
• Tail Weapon: Mace. Again, this is a biomorph for a Carnifex who likes to get stuck in combat on his own. This is a much more offensive (defensive) ability than Adrenal Glands (WS), as it gives the Carnifex an extra full strength (S9) attack if he starts the combat phase in base contact with 4 or more combatants.  That gives the Carnifex a fairly potent 4 attacks every round of combat after the first (provided he's surrounded).

Of the above biomorph choices, the one I gravitate towards is the Tail Mace. I imagine our Carnifex with twin-linked Devourer and Spine banks getting charged fairly often by a bunch of enemy infantry (as he tends to get within 12” to fire), so I'm going to go out on a limb and choose the Tail Mace as our clear winner.

3C.4 - Mixed Elite Carnifex w/ Shooting Emphasis Summary.
Our Mixed Elite Carnifex w/ shooting emphasis is one of the following two (depending on your preference) variations:

• twin-linked Devourer, Scything Talons & Enhanced Senses (111 points).
• twin-linked Devourer, Scything Talons, Spine Banks & Tail Weapon: Mace (113 points).

3D - The Mixed Elite Carnifex w/Close Combat Emphasis.

As we discussed before, we're giving our mixed Elite Carnifex a Devourer and Scything Talons; that's a given. However here, we're going for a CC slant, so we're not going to take Enhanced Senses or Spine Banks, which leaves us with the full 11 points of biomorphs to work with.

3D.1 - More Expensive Elite Close Combat Biomorphs.
Those extra points open up a couple expensive CC themed biomorphs. We have so few points left they’d have to be taken as the sole biomorph on the Carnifex:

• Implant Attack. This is generally only good against characters (and the rare multi-wound unit). As we don’t expect our Elite Carnifex to stand up well to a character, we’re not going to spend our precious points on this biomorph.
• Toxic Miasma. On a Carnifex, this biomorph is only really helpful if you’ve already taken Adrenal Glands (WS). Since we can’t afford to take both, we’re going to pass on this biomorph.

3D.2 - Combining Cheaper Biomorphs.
Instead of taking a lone ineffective biomorph, I believe we get much better results with a combination of two cheaper ones. The following quality Biomorphs (not counting Flesh Hooks) can be combined for 11 points or under:

Adrenal Glands (I) (6 pts), Adrenal Glands (WS) (4 pts), Tail Weapon: Mace (5 pts).

One huge negative combo would be Tail Mace with Adrenal Glands (I). This would have the Carnifex striking at different Initiative steps (as the Tail always strikes at I1) which, like with Bio-Plasma, is a bad thing. That leaves us the following two combinations:

• Adrenal Glands (WS) and Adrenal Glands (I). Exactly like the pure CC equivalent (scroll back up for more info), this configuration is just a generally better CC fighter. However, with one less Attack than the pure CC version, this Carnifex has a much smaller chance of “sniping” the Powerfist before it can swing.
• Adrenal Glands (WS) and Tail Weapon: Mace. I prefer this choice. The increase in WS (as already discussed) means he can sit in combat with WS4 troops and suffer less damage. The Tail Mace means that while sitting in that combat he’s making 4 S9 attacks. These two biomorphs compliment each other very nicely.

3D.3 - Mixed Elite Carnifex w/Close Combat Emphasis Summary.
So our Mixed Elite Carnifex w/ CC emphasis is one of the following two (depending on your preference) variations:

• twin-linked Devourer, Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands (WS) & Adrenal Glands (I) (113 points).
• twin-linked Devourer, Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands (WS) & Tail Weapon: Mace (112 points).

CH 4: THE HEAVY SUPPORT CARNIFEX

4 - Principles of the Heavy Support Carnifex.
Before I begin, I’m going to discuss a couple of points about the Heavy Support Carnifex.

4A - It is important to note that the Heavy Support Carnifex can fill a role in the Tyranid army that no other unit can; that is: long-range high Strength shooting.
Zoanthropes have half the range on their S10 shot and a Hive Tyrant can only achieve a S8 Venom Cannon.

Therefore, if you don’t take any Heavy Support Carnifexes (or if you don’t equip those you take with at least one Venom Cannon) your army will lack versatility. You will have to depend on close combat attacks (or short ranged Zoanthrope blasts) to take out heavy vehicles.

Since it is far easier to destroy a vehicle through shooting than it is through close combat, it is a huge mistake to go to war without taking Heavy Support Carnifexes with Venom Cannons.

A comparable concept would be an army that had nearly no CC ability (like the Tau). Say that army had a single unit type that could be equipped either to fight in close combat well, or shoot at the expense of its close combat ability. If you choose to equip that unit to shoot, you’ve chosen to make your army one-dimensional; in other words: a gimmick army.

Gimmick armies have their place in the game of 40K, but they always meet their match when the opponent has several units that can counter the gimmick.

In the Tyranid Army List you have other units that fight well in close combat; you have other units that can shoot infantry; you have other units that can engage vehicles in close combat and destroy them.

But you do not have any other unit that can shoot a very high Strength shot at long range. If you pass on Heavy Support Carnifexes with Venom Cannons, you have already begun to paint yourself into the corner.

With that in mind, I recommend we always give our Heavy Support Carnifexes a Venom Cannon. Although a Barbed Strangler has some uses, the fact that it is only a single shot means that it will be missing half of the game. Besides that, it is only Strength 8. Although this is great for shooting infantry, it is not so great against heavier vehicles (AV 13-14). Since the Carnifex is the only unit which can get that useful 36” S10 shooting, we should covet THAT shooting.

4A.1 - Beware your spending habits.
Many players will find the Myriad of biomorph choices for a Heavy Support Carnifex highly addictive. They will keep adding and adding, and before you know it, this single unit costs more than 250 points.

At that cost, it is highly unlikely the Carnifex will ever kill enough enemy models to pay for himself. However the chance that the enemy, given the right circumstances, can kill that Carnifex (and claim that hefty cost) will always be there.

No matter what the role of our Heavy Support Carnifexes, we want to get the maximum amount of effectiveness for the minimum number of points. We should always keep that concept in mind when building our Heavy Support Carnifexes. It also means we can add a couple of items to our list of things that we are never, ever going to take (along with Acid Maw and Bio-Plasma):

• Regenerate. For 30 points this is just way over-the-top too expensive for an ability that may very well never get any use in a game. This biomorph is like taking insurance in blackjack: it exists only for suckers. If you are going to pay a ton of points for an ability, always make sure you can use it!
• Two Venom Cannons (twin-linked). If I really need to tell you why we won’t consider this choice, then you’ve long ago stopped reading this article, having decided it is rubbish.

4B - Equipping the Heavy Support Carnifex
For discussion of the Heavy Support Carnifex, I’m going to organize different battlefield roles into separate categories in order to examine them more efficiently.

4B.1 - Heavy Support Gun Carnifex (or “Gunfex”).
In the case of a Gunfex, we are taking two sets of ranged weapons, similar to the Elite “Dakkafex” configuration. One of those weapons is obviously going to be a Venom Cannon based on the discussion above.