Screamer-killer
SWORD: what Screamer-killer kills
Damage for its points
per 100 pts spent
Its 125 pts kill ~94 pts in one activation.Typical melee unit: 55 per 100
Best against heavy infantry, weakest against hordes
Into each enemy type
Units near it by SWORD
Across the game· melee units
SHIELD: how hard Screamer-killer is to kill for its points
Toughness for its points
per 100 pts spent
Its 125 pts take ~466 pts of enemy units to kill.Typical melee unit: 307 per 100
Units near it by SHIELD
Across the game· melee units
What reviewers say
4 reviewers- Sets up a battleshock right before you hit 3 of 4
- Hits very hard 2 of 4
- A better gun and more attacks than a Tyrannofex 1 of 4
- The Haruspex or Toxicrene is tougher for about the same points 2 of 4
- Slow and hard to get into combat 1 of 4
- No re-rolls, not even from Old One Eye 1 of 4
Compare
| Unit | Letter | SWORD | SHIELD | Lists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screamer-killer125 pts | B | Top 18% | Top 23% | 20of 217 |
| Haruspex125 pts | B | Top 14% | Top 10% | 43of 217 |
| Mawloc130 pts | B | Bottom 45% | Top 15% | 18of 217 |
How we got these numbers
What we ran
Screamer-killer, 125 pts, with its datasheet's weapons, 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.
125 pts → kills ~94 pts → 75 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.
~466 pts → 373 per 100Top and bottom %
Where each number ranks among the game's 572 melee units. 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.