From below emerges one of the most terrifying bio-forms the Hive Mind has ever created; The Red Terror! Bursting forth at lightning speed and swallowing whole crucial parts of enemy forces, only to disappear once again beneath the ground waiting to strike again!

The overwhelming hit and run tactics of The Red Terror is what defines it, both in the lore and on the tabletop and we were determined to capture that in Combat Cards. Focused on dealing concentrated damage to a single target and then retreating, we have The Red Terrors Special Rule – “It Came From Below”.

Warlord Rule

It Came From Below

If an enemy card takes damage equal to 70% or more of its base Wounds from Melee attacks during a turn, destroy it. Additionally, at the end of the turn, return all friendly cards that dealt Melee damage to that card to your hand. 

Mastering the Rule

So we’ve got a few familiar elements here, but combined in a unique way. The first part, dealing a certain amount of a card base Wounds as damage to trigger and instant kill, borrows directly from Illic Nightspear, but requires the use of Melee, not Ranged. This means the window for opportunity is small, damaged cards may pass the point where this can trigger, but just like Illic, by factoring base Wounds you can easily get around Wounds increases from Traits or Special Rules.

On top of that, there is also a bounce effect. When the kill effect is triggered, each card that dealt Melee damage to the destroyed card is returned to hand at the end of the turn. Important to note, this only happens when the kill effect is triggered. Destroying a card with Melee in general will not trigger the bounce. Also of note this bounce effect happens at the end of each turn, so your cards are still vulnerable to counter attacks, but by the same token, do not disappear mid combat, leaving other friendly cards exposed. This of course makes the Trait “Target Acquired” particularly lethal, giving a better chance at a multi-unit bounce! 

Which brings us on to the Red Terror themselves who have the combined traits of Deadshot and Furious Charge. This means the Red Terror is an incredible threat and, if bounced, able to get multiple uses of both its Traits and make the most of its potent Melee attack.

It is an exciting new release for the Tyranids who have been looking for an injection of some fresh play and power for a while now and the Red Terror definitely fits the bill! Devour your enemies with lightning ambushes and bring the Hive Mind one step closer to consuming the galaxy!