Tyranids Von Ryan’s Leapers

[Nephaston]

Leapers being upsized Gaunts reminds me of that one rumour mentioning "Hypergaunts", Coincidence? yeah, probably. But that same rumour also mentions Macrofexes and that just sounds like something I want, so i'll needlessly cling to it.

[Urauloth]

I wonder if we'll see a lictor/deathleaper kit in the upcoming release wave? These presumably being smaller serious-injury-leapers.
I like the minis, a good redesign of the old metal gaunts.

[tinpact]

I think the paintjob doesn't do the models any favors - I don't like the Leviathan(?) scheme they use as the default anyway, but the highlights on the chitin plates add a lot of noise.

Edited April 11, 2023 by tinpact

[INKS]

4 hours ago, phandaal said:

After careful consideration of the many confused-face emojis I received today, I am ready to repent for my sins. I too love the Van Leeuwen Ice Cream bug with all my heart, and it totally does not look anything like a mini lictor.

 

Anyone who disagrees shall face the full wrath of my confusion.

Van Leeuwen? Aliens reference? 

 

[Alby the Slayer]

In the middle of the name drama () and the  emoji storm, I came to add my 2 cents saying I really like them, they are very dynamic and I am pretty sure these are the ones we will have on the 10th box, so I am curious to see their single release box, but I am happy to have them. Now let us see the screamer killer, please?

 

Oh, the only minor problem for me is that line of teeth above the tentacles in some heads. They are pretty useless( genetic error?) and they make the nid looks like a yoke hillbilly (need a banjo?). I think I will cover that and give them the old cthulhu/illithid treatment.

[Nephaston]

Chances are these will be like Skhorpek Destroyers, where they go from bundle to standalone instead of a later multipart.

[spessmarine]

1 hour ago, Alby the Slayer said:

Oh, the only minor problem for me is that line of teeth above the tentacles in some heads. They are pretty useless( genetic error?) and they make the nid looks like a yoke hillbilly (need a banjo?). I think I will cover that and give them the old cthulhu/illithid treatment.

If you look at some of the chompers the AoS vampires have got, GW is struggling a bit when it comes to how to do teeth.

[sitnam]

17 hours ago, Lord Marshal said:

 

 

 

 

 
The more I look at this picture the more I love it. Yes it’s just a promotional image for a new kit, but Arcos charging gribbly beasts is just awesome.  I need to pickup more arco-flaggelants.

 

I wonder, between these guys and the rumored shrikes, it seems that the Warrior sized Nids might be the big focus of this Tyranids wave. Kind of reminds me of the heavy destroyer focus of the Necron refresh

 

[Cyrox]

Other than the heads being very busy, i really like these.

 

Don't get all the hubbub about the name, I think its cool especially as it references back to older books/lore, but each to their own.

 

I can see us getting a fancy new Lictor thats bigger and badder at some point too.

[Verevolf]

Nah something about the head/face puts me off these.

 

On another point.

 

Anyone else get the feeling the Necron will be the “heroes” against the Tyranids? They are the perfect anti Hive Fleet opponent, zero Biomass, non psykers. So many of the strongest traits of the Tyranid are nullified.

[Grenzer]

19 minutes ago, Verevolf said:

Anyone else get the feeling the Necron will be the “heroes” against the Tyranids? They are the perfect anti Hive Fleet opponent, zero Biomass, non psykers. So many of the strongest traits of the Tyranid are nullified.

In the current lore, thats what is being set up. Hopefully GW does something with it eventually.

 

- Silent King put the necrons to sleep and went into intergalactic exile.

- Searching for the perfect organism for the necrons to reverse biotransference with.

- Discovers the tyranids, who will eventually consume all life in the universe.

- Returns to wake up the sleeping necrons and destroy the tyranid threat.

[Ming the Merciless]

6 hours ago, INKS said:

Van Leeuwen? Aliens reference? 

 

"It's what we call a shake 'n' bake colony."

[Captain Coolpants]

I honestly don't like them. I dislike how most of these alien bugs are somewhat bipedal. Even if they have 6 legs and are crawling, still just look like they are bipedal but crawling. GW need to make things more alien. Regular real world bugs look more alien in my opinion. 

[Iron Father Ferrum]

20 hours ago, matcap86 said:

 

New stuff, heck yes. Any new Xenos is a win in my book. 

 

Yup!  More dirty xenos for us to purge in the Emperor's Name!

[Khornestar]

Dumb name but as pointed out so are most names in 40k. Barely matters.

 

Cool models and cool unit. An army of these + lictors + maleceptor or two would be awesome to see on the table.

[Kastor Krieg]

2 hours ago, Captain Coolpants said:

 Regular real world bugs look more alien in my opinion. 

They literally would be the furthest from alien as possible.

 

[Lemondish]

17 hours ago, tinpact said:

I think the paintjob doesn't do the models any favors - I don't like the Leviathan(?) scheme they use as the default anyway, but the highlights on the chitin plates add a lot of noise.

I would keep an eye on their Instagram. They've been trickling out photos of the new Termagant in various hive fleet colours (some of them look absolutely fantastic), so we will hopefully get something like that with these too.

[MithrilForge]

One of the few Problems I ever had with a Nid army (apart from painting a LOT of them) was Storage space & Transport to games, these leapers look great for sure but those arms stuck up all high look thematic and dynamic but will hinder how I may fit them into a Foam transport case.... I guess that's a first world problem 

The other Big problem is what Scheme to choose?, as lemondish said above all those new schemes the Termagants are painted in are pretty cool...  But which one !?!...

 

M.  

[Lemondish]

1 hour ago, Mumeishi said:

One of the few Problems I ever had with a Nid army (apart from painting a LOT of them) was Storage space & Transport to games, these leapers look great for sure but those arms stuck up all high look thematic and dynamic but will hinder how I may fit them into a Foam transport case.... I guess that's a first world problem 

The other Big problem is what Scheme to choose?, as lemondish said above all those new schemes the Termagants are painted in are pretty cool...  But which one !?!...

 

M.  

I'm really hoping we get a look at Kraken versions of them soon. It's the one I'm leaning towards, only because I need a chitin colouring that will stand out on my Deathwatch bases and that fancy new Lt., and the red would fit well I imagine. 

 

As for transport, have you considered using some magnets on bases so that they stick to metal sheeting that you can stick either in a plastic storage container or a classic toolbox?

[Urauloth]

These do look like they're going to cause some storage and transport issues, admittedly.

[Brother Tyler]

The three factions in which I expect to see more variation are the Astra Militarum, Chaos Daemons, and Tyranids. The first is because of the diversity of worlds represented by the faction, with much of the variation simply being cosmetic. The second is because of the manifold forms of Chaos and its ability to manifest in whatever form it deems necessary to the purpose at hand. The third is because it is ever-evolving, responding to the threats posed by lifeforms it encounters and devours, assimilating the genetic strength into the hive fleets. It makes sense to me that we would see the Tyranids develop new capabilities, both hybridizing existing lifeforms and developing entirely new ones.

 

Von Ryan's Leapers are a great callback to old lore. It's a great example of an in-universe name. It's kind of goofy in its way, but that's part of the charm of the setting. It's simply how the Imperium has codified these gribblies, but it isn't their real name (whatever that might be in the hive fleets - I would bet that naming conventions to the Tyranids relate more to their genetic makeup). I imagine that these creatures either move in a leaping fashion or are known to attack by suddenly leaping from hiding (or both), and I pity Von Ryan, whether that was an individual or a world.

 

So these look like an intermediary lifeform between Hormagaunts and Lictors, combing elements of both (with a dash of Ravener and Genestealer thrown in for good measure). Where the Lictors are scout organisms that operate in advance of the main Tyranid force, the Leapers, like the Hormagaunts, appear to come later. They might also serve as scout organisms, potentially following the Lictors; or they might be part of the main hive fleet force that overwhelms the biomass of the planet. Or maybe they'll do both. It will be interesting to learn more about them as we see more lore and the actual rules.

 

 

Switching gears for a second, I'm very disappointed to have seen how unproductive this discussion became, especially considering some of the individuals involved who should have known better. I can understand when there are points of fact that can be brought up, but matters of opinion are rarely settled in online discussions. That Von Ryan's Leapers are a fulfillment of old lore is one point of fact. That Von Ryan's Leapers bear similarities to both Hormagaunts and Lictors is another point of fact (as made clear in the Warhammer Community article). We can point facts out without being jerks to each other. Just about everything else over which we bickered, however, was subjective opinion. Are Von Ryan's Leapers more like Hormagaunts or Lictors (or Raveners, or whatever)? Are the mouths functional? Do the Tyranids need more variety? Does the color scheme do the models justice? Do the sculpts work? There are a wide range of answers on each of those questions, and just about any other question that we might bring up. I don't mind the tentacles on the mouths (I don't love them, but I don't hate them). It's okay for someone else to love them, and for another person to hate them. Without knowing more lore about Von Ryan's Leapers, I'm content with thinking they're a 50/50 split between Hormagaunts and Lictors. Someone else might think they're 75/25 while another hobbyist might think it's actually 25/75; and a third hobbyist might think they're actually a 50/35/15 split with Raveners taking the third portion. That's okay. We're not all going to agree with each other, and it is both foolish and misguided to think that we should even try to force other people to think the same as us. None of us is in any way diminished just because someone else disagrees with us. More importantly, just because someone disagrees with us doesn't mean that they're wrong (or that we are right).

 

I'm glad to see that things settled down, but the staff had to go through and edit/hide some posts. Hopefully we won't have to do that again in this discussion.

 

 

Getting back to Von Ryan's Leapers, it will be interesting to see how these fit in with both the existing units as well as with the other new units that we're likely to see. I'm also wondering how they will fit in with the Genestealers functionality. As with any range refresh/expansion, these will offer players new opportunities (and GW can rake in the profits). While I am not personally a Tyranids player, I rejoice for the members of the community that might enjoy adding these models to their collections. And I wonder if we'll see them in Kill Team (for which I might want them).

[Lemondish]

3 hours ago, Urauloth said:

These do look like they're going to cause some storage and transport issues, admittedly.

That's a fantastic point, and one someone mentioned in the Reddit thread as well. Still, magnets on bases - can't recommend it enough.

Edited April 12, 2023 by Lemondish

[Xenith]

6 hours ago, Urauloth said:

These do look like they're going to cause some storage and transport issues, admittedly.

 

 Welcome to Nids! Gargoyles are by far the worst I've dealt with. Big wings and every one of them tipped with multiple spikes. As above, I'm probably moving to tuff crates for them, +/- magnets. 

[Mandragola]

Nothing will ever be worse than when I used to have to infiltrate 39 kroot into woods. Those things are entirely made out of spikes and hooks, which would snap off and get caught in stuff all the time. These actually look fairly solid in comparison.

 

I quite like the models. I'm no expert on the lore but it seems like they do a slightly different job to Lictors. My understanding is that the hive mind is all about maximising efficiency, meaning it would create potentially tiny variations to suit local requirements. If I'm remembering that right, then the Lictor/Leaper split doesn't seem too tricky to imagine.

 

The poses are fun. I like the two that are running anyway. The Captain Morgan one on the hero rock doesn't seem to fit quite so well. If they do remake the Tyrannid range then it would be cool if they made them all a bit more dynamic, in my opinion.

[Brother Nathan]

at this point im more curious as to how they will operate differently from ravengers as that seem to be their real competition more than lictors...