Hive Guard
SWORD: what Hive Guard kills
Damage for its points
per 100 pts spent
Its 160 pts kill ~77 pts in one activation.Typical shooter: 44 per 100
Best against hordes, weakest against heavy infantry
Into each enemy type
Units near it by SWORD
Across the game· shooters
SHIELD: how hard Hive Guard is to kill for its points
Toughness for its points
per 100 pts spent
Its 160 pts take ~684 pts of enemy units to kill.Typical shooter: 298 per 100
Units near it by SHIELD
Across the game· shooters
What reviewers say
4 reviewers- Real anti-tank from reserve 3 of 4
- A strong overwatch threat 3 of 4
- Shine in Subterranean Assault 1 of 4
- Very dependent on one detachment 3 of 4
- Slow without tunnels 1 of 4
- Switched off once tagged in melee 1 of 4
Compare
| Unit | Letter | SWORD | SHIELD | Lists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hive Guard160 pts | A | Top 39% | Top 13% | 34of 217 |
| Zoanthropes190 pts | A | Top 28% | Bottom 47% | 103of 217 |
| Genestealers140 pts | B | Top 29% | Top 42% | 54of 217 |
How we got these numbers
What we ran
Hive Guard, 6 models, 160 pts, with 6 Chitinous claws and teeth, 6 Shockcannon, in Invasion Fleet (Hyper Adaptions: Swarming Instincts). On its own: no leader, no stratagems, no other units' auras. Counted as dice: the army rule and the detachment's rule.
SWORD
Enemy points it kills in one activation, per 100 pts of its own, against a mix of targets weighted like top tournament lists.
160 pts → kills ~77 pts → 48 per 100SHIELD
Enemy points it takes to kill it, per 100 pts of its own: the points of the cheapest units from top lists that kill it 80% of the time. It's per point, so a costly unit has to be much tougher to score the same.
~684 pts → 428 per 100Top and bottom %
Where each number ranks among the game's 407 shooters. How we score.
The letter
The average of 4 reviewers' newest Tyranids tier lists: Auspex Tactics (12 Sep), Into the Hive Mind (12 Oct), HivemindHobbies (18 Oct), Maelstrom Gaming Studios (26 Oct). A reviewer who would rather not be counted: tell us.
Lists
217 public Tyranids tournament lists, September – November 2026, from grimstat-corpus (CC BY 4.0). Also from Listhammer. Organisers and players: ask us and we'll take a list or an event down. Numbers run 2 Nov.