RULES / POINTS VERSION:

10th Edition, 2025 – 2026 Chapter Approved

September 2025 Balanced Dataslate and MFM Points Update

MATCHUP:

Faction: Space Marines

Detachment: Shadowmark Talon

VS

Faction: Tyranids

Detachment: Invasion Fleet

MISSION:

Primary: Supply Drop

Terrain: GW Terrain Layout 1

Deployment: Hammer & Anvil

RESULT:

85 – 51 Win for Space Marines

OVERALL TAKEAWAYS:

• Overall game
  • This game was messy and an absolute rock fight until the end of Round 3, which is when Space Marines were finally able to separate.
  • Despite what there scoreboard says, I think the Tyranids played a better game than the Space Marines.,  Their list had less inherent power and they were leading for most of the first 3 rounds.  If it weren’t for some board spacing mistakes that led to the Inceptors getting access to the Exocrines, there is a real chance the Tyranids could have won this game.
  • I’m not happy with how I played the Space Marines game.  Some of this is my own stubbornness, as the optimal way to play this detachment is to utilize Devastator Centurions, which is a model/unit that I despise.  I also wanted to have a Phobos theme to my list that felt “Ravenguard-ish”.  Both decisions removed power from what the meta way to play this list would be.  That said, I did not lack for killing power or movement options.  Instead, I think the issue is that I raised the skill threshold required to pilot this detachment well and I therefore need more reps into it.  
• Space Marines
  • This detachment feels very much like a Grey Knights of Necrons Hypercrypt detachment, except that unlike Grey Knights it has some serious firepower and access to tricks.
  • This is probably my new favorite Space Marines detachment and I definitely will focus on getting some more reps into it.  The movement shenanigans and easy access to Lone Op and Infiltrator abilities is a major advantage that I enjoy.
  • During Deployment, I focused on creating options for myself.  The Scouts, Combi-Weapon Lieutenant, and Judiciar + Bladeguard all were Infiltrated into the midfield with the Incursors and Invictor Tactical Warsuit being setup where they could use Scout moves to quickly stage behind terrain.  The Infiltrators, Shaan, Gladiator Lancer, Inceptors, and Shrike’s JPI unit all were deployed conservatively and effectively screened out my entire Deployment Zone.
  • Tyranids got first turn and pushed hard into the midfield to start grabbing objectives.  Luckily, the conservative deployment, detachment rule providing Stealth outside of 12 inches, and access to Lone Ops meant that the Tyranids did essentially 0 damage Round 1 (only 3 Incursors died).
  • Round 1 for the Space Marines is where I think I started making some good decisions, but also some mistakes.
    • The Good decisions were:
      • I lifted the inceptors via Into Shadows stratagem and then Deep Strikes them into a gap in the Tyranid Deployment Zone to kill the Oat of Moment’d Exocrine.
      • I used the Move-Shoot-Move ability of the Phobos Lieutenant + Incursors to get within 3 inches of one Maleceptor while the other Incursor unit cleared a Lictor of the midfield objective with shooting and a Haywire Mine.
      • The Combi-Weapon Lieutenant toed onto the center objective and used his 12 inch Coronal Susrrant enhancement to shut down any Tyranid Heroic Intervention or Counter-Offensive opportunities, while also doing actions and holding the critical objective for the game.
      • I moved my Bladeguard and Judiciar into position to screen the Tyranids off of the center objective and then charged a Termagant unit in order to use it to roadblock the Tyranids.
    • The mistakes were:
      • I brought Shrike’s JPI unit out way too early and charged him into a Malecepter on one flank.  While they did 5 mortals on the charge, which stacked with the Incursors Haywire Mine and an Invictor Warsuit Tank Shock, they mostly whiffed in melee and did not kill the Maleceptor.  This left them tarpitted on this objective and an easy target for a Tyranid Warrior counter charge in Round 2.
      • I picked up my Scouts using their Guerrilla Tactics ability, which was OK, but then couldn’t find a great spot for them to setup into and left them in Strategic Reserves as a result.  Not a major mistake, but in hindsight it would have helped to leave 1 of the 2 on the table and within Grenades range of the Maleceptor that I didn’t kill. 
  • In Round 2, the Nids pushed back onto both side objectives by killing Shrike + his JPI’s and tying up the Invictor Tactical Warsuit in combat.  They also got one of their Termagant blobs onto the other side objective, which put 20 OC on it.  The Space Marines cracked back by using the Inceptors (who the Tyranids ignored) to kill the Hive Tyrant and then using a Rapid Ingressing Jump Pack Captain + Vanguard Veterans squad to finish of the 1 Wound Maleceptor and most of the Warriors that had killed Shrike and co.  The Bladeguard also kept pushing up into the 2nd Termagaunt squad and killed them.
  • In Round 3, the Captain and Vanguard Veterans all died to an Exocrine and the last of the Warriors + Winged Prime.  They were quickly avenged by the Bladeguard Vets, who cleared that objective, and the Inceptors, who had gone back Into Shadows and deep striked down to kill the Exocrine.  From there on out, the Space Marines controlled all objectives that mattered and held a significant unit advantage over the Tyranids.
  • Key Combos:
    • Kayvaan Shrike + 10 JPI’s + Feint ands Thrust stratagem + Hammer of Wrath ability = A unit that can hide outside of 12 inches and not be shot due to Shrike’s Trifold Path of the Shadow ability and then use Advance & Charge to threaten almost anything on the board with a chance to deal an average of 5-6 mortal wounds on the charge.
    • Aethon Shaan’s Master of Shadows ability + Inceptors + Incursors Multi-Spectrum Array ability OR Stunning Fusillade stratagem to create a unit that Uppy-Downy’s for free every turn, can drop down at 6 inches, and then kill almost anything it can reach. 
    • Jump Pack Captain + Rites of Battle Ability + Hunter’s Instincts Enhancement + Vanguard Veterans for a free Rapid Ingress on a 10 model jump pack unit.  Just the threat of this kept the Tyranids VERY concerned about zoning out their Deployment Zone.
  • Key Stratagems
    • Raptorial Vigilance for a 6 inch reactive move.  This was great on the Incursors for the turn after they used their Haywire Mine to back them away from a charge while also move blocking the Tyranids.
    • Rapid Ingress – See above combo.
    • Stunning Fusillade – See above combo.
    • Into Darkness – Having Shaan on the board to use this for free for the first 4 rounds was AMAZING.
    • Armour of Contempt – It stacks super well with the detachment rule and made the Gladiator Lancer very tough to kill. 
• Tyranids
  • Tyranids had a pretty straightforward plan for this game.  Maleceptors go out first to grab the two side objectives while the Exocrines and Tyrannofex pepper the enemy with ranged fire.  The Termagants then serve as a second wave of high OC with the Hive Tyrant and tervigon buffing them to swamp the opponent once the Maleceptors are down.  The Warriors are there to serve as a counter charge threat while the Gargoyles are a Deep Strike threat.  
  • My game plan was working great until the Nids left a gap in their screening that allowed the Inceptors to drop in and blow up an Exocrine.  They then doubled down on that mistake by ignoring the Inceptors in favor of trying to clear away the Gladiator Lancer and Bladeguard, with both attempts resulting in whiffs.  This allowed the Inceptors to then kill the Hive Tyrant in Round 2, which effectively nerfed the Nids 2nd wave and caused them to run out of gas by Round 3.
  • Key Combos:
    • Tervigon + Adaptive Biology – this makes “Mama T” virtually unkillable and definitely not worth the investment to go after.  It also makes her a perfect “buff wagon” for the Termagants and an ideal unit for mid board actions (she did Sabotage, Establish Locust, and Recover Assets all in this game).
    • Hive Tyrant + Will of the Hive Mind ability + Endless Swarm stratagem OR Rapid Regeneration stratagem = You can use the Hive Tyrant to give 1 Termagant unit a 5+ Feel No Pain or bring back D3+3 Termagants to 2 units.  This plus the Spawn Termagants ability from “Mama T” makes those units beyond annoying to deal with.
    • Winged Tyranid Prime + Alpha Warrior ability for Sustained 1 + Adrenal Surge stratagem + Tyranid Warriors’ Adaptive Instincts to have a unit of Tyranid Warriors hitting on 3+,  rerolling 1’s, getting Sustained on 5+, and then rerolling the wound roll because of Twin Linked.  This combo decimated both Shrike + 10 JPI’s and Jump Pack Captain + 10 Van Vets. 
  • Key Stratagems
    • Endless Swarm, Rapid Regeneration, and Adrenal Swarm – See above

WHAT I WOULD CHANGE NEXT TIME:

• Space Marines
  • I need more reps with this detachment.  I don’t think I played the Shrike + JPI’s or Captain + Vanguard Vets units well as I got them tar pitted and then killed for not great returns.   
• Tyranids
  • I came out a bit too aggressively and created too much space for the Inceptors to exploit.  I should have tightened up my board control more and/or focused on killing the Inceptors as early as possible into the game.

EARNED HIMSELF A NAME: Inceptors.  The 6 model unit utilized Return to Shadows, 6 inch Deep Strike, and Oath of Moment to kill both Exocrines and the Hive Tyrant over the course of 4 Rounds of the game.

MAGNUS OF THE GAME: Kayvaan Shrike + JPI’s.  They did fantastic Round 1 by charging a Maleceptor and then doing 5 mortal wounds on the charge.  Unfortunately, they whiffed hard in melee and then left it on 1 Wound and all died to a Tyranid Warrior with Winged Prime charge next turn.  Not a good trade and it was frustrating to not get to use all of their cool abilities to jump around the board. 

LISTS:

Space Marines

Raven Guard

Shadowmark Talon

Strike Force (2,000 Points)

CHARACTERS

Aethon Shaan (85 Points)

  • Warlord

  • 1x Claws of Severax

  • 1x Heavy bolt pistol

Captain with Jump Pack (100 Points)

  • 1x Plasma pistol

  • 1x Power fist

  • Enhancements: Hunter’s Instincts

Judiciar (95 Points)

  • 1x Absolvor bolt pistol

  • 1x Executioner relic blade

  • Enhancements: Blackwing Shroud

Kayvaan Shrike (100 Points)

  • 1x Blackout

  • 1x The Raven’s Talons

Lieutenant in Phobos Armour (55 Points)

  • 1x Bolt Pistol

  • 1x Master-crafted bolt carbine

  • 1x Paired combat blades

Lieutenant with Combi-weapon (100 Points)

  • 1x Combi-weapon

  • 1x Paired combat blades

  • Enhancements: Coronal Susurrant

OTHER DATASHEETS

Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs (170 Points)

  • 1x Assault Intercessor Sergeant with Jump Pack

     ◦ 1x Plasma pistol

     ◦ 1x Power fist

  • 9x Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs

     ◦ 9x Astartes chainsword

     ◦ 7x Heavy bolt pistol

     ◦ 2x Plasma pistol

Bladeguard Veteran Squad (170 Points)

  • 1x Bladeguard Veteran Sergeant

     ◦ 1x Master-crafted power weapon

     ◦ 1x Neo-volkite pistol

  • 5x Bladeguard Veteran

     ◦ 5x Heavy bolt pistol

     ◦ 5x Master-crafted power weapon

Gladiator Lancer (160 Points)

  • 1x Armoured hull

  • 1x Icarus rocket pod

  • 1x Ironhail heavy stubber

  • 1x Lancer laser destroyer

  • 2x Storm bolter

Inceptor Squad (240 Points)

  • 1x Inceptor Sergeant

     ◦ 1x Close combat weapon

     ◦ 1x Plasma exterminators

  • 5x Inceptor

     ◦ 5x Close combat weapon

     ◦ 5x Plasma exterminators

Incursor Squad (80 Points)

  • 1x Incursor Sergeant

     ◦ 1x Bolt pistol

     ◦ 1x Occulus bolt carbine

     ◦ 1x Paired combat blades

  • 4x Incursor

     ◦ 4x Bolt pistol

     ◦ 1x Haywire Mine

     ◦ 4x Occulus bolt carbine

     ◦ 4x Paired combat blades

Incursor Squad (80 Points)

  • 1x Incursor Sergeant

     ◦ 1x Bolt pistol

     ◦ 1x Occulus bolt carbine

     ◦ 1x Paired combat blades

  • 4x Incursor

     ◦ 4x Bolt pistol

     ◦ 1x Haywire Mine

     ◦ 4x Occulus bolt carbine

     ◦ 4x Paired combat blades

Infiltrator Squad (100 Points)

  • 1x Infiltrator Sergeant

     ◦ 1x Bolt pistol

     ◦ 1x Close combat weapon

     ◦ 1x Marksman bolt carbine

  • 4x Infiltrator

     ◦ 4x Bolt pistol

     ◦ 4x Close combat weapon

     ◦ 1x Helix Gauntlet

     ◦ 1x Infiltrator Comms Array

     ◦ 4x Marksman bolt carbine

Invictor Tactical Warsuit (125 Points)

  • 1x Fragstorm grenade launcher

  • 1x Heavy bolter

  • 1x Invictor fist

  • 1x Twin ironhail autocannon

  • 1x Twin ironhail heavy stubber

Scout Squad (70 Points)

  • 1x Scout Sergeant

     ◦ 1x Astartes chainsword

     ◦ 1x Bolt pistol

     ◦ 1x Close combat weapon

  • 4x Scout

     ◦ 4x Bolt pistol

     ◦ 4x Boltgun

     ◦ 4x Close combat weapon

Scout Squad (70 Points)

  • 1x Scout Sergeant

     ◦ 1x Astartes chainsword

     ◦ 1x Bolt pistol

     ◦ 1x Close combat weapon

  • 4x Scout

     ◦ 4x Bolt pistol

     ◦ 4x Boltgun

     ◦ 4x Close combat weapon

Vanguard Veteran Squad with Jump Packs (190 Points)

  • 1x Vanguard Veteran Sergeant with Jump Pack

     ◦ 1x Storm Shield

     ◦ 1x Vanguard Veteran weapon

  • 9x Vanguard Veteran with Jump Pack

     ◦ 9x Storm Shield

     ◦ 9x Vanguard Veteran weapon

Tyranids

Invasion Fleet

Strike Force (2,000 Points)

CHARACTERS

Hive Tyrant (210 Points)

  • Warlord

  • 1x Heavy venom cannon

  • 1x Monstrous bonesword and lash whip

  • Enhancements: Perfectly Adapted

Tervigon (185 Points)

  • 1x Massive scything talons

  • 1x Stinger salvoes

  • Enhancements: Adaptive Biology

Winged Tyranid Prime (85 Points)

  • 1x Prime talons

  • Enhancements: Synaptic Lynchpin

BATTLELINE

Gargoyles (85 Points)

  • 10x Gargoyle

     ◦ 10x Blinding venom

     ◦ 10x Fleshborer

Termagants (120 Points)

  • 20x Termagant

     ◦ 20x Chitinous claws and teeth

     ◦ 20x Fleshborer

Termagants (120 Points)

  • 20x Termagant

     ◦ 20x Chitinous claws and teeth

     ◦ 20x Fleshborer

OTHER DATASHEETS

Exocrine (140 Points)

  • 1x Bio-plasmic cannon

  • 1x Powerful limbs

Exocrine (140 Points)

  • 1x Bio-plasmic cannon

  • 1x Powerful limbs

Lictor (60 Points)

  • 1x Lictor claws and talons

Maleceptor (170 Points)

  • 1x Massive scything talons

  • 1x Psychic overload

Maleceptor (170 Points)

  • 1x Massive scything talons

  • 1x Psychic overload

Pyrovores (40 Points)

  • 1x Chitin-barbed limbs

  • 1x Flamespurt

Raveners (125 Points)

  • 5x Ravener

     ◦ 5x Ravener claws and talons

Tyranid Warriors with Melee Bio-weapons (150 Points)

  • 1x Tyranid Prime

     ◦ 1x Tyranid Warrior claws and talons

  • 5x Tyranid Warrior

     ◦ 5x Tyranid Warrior claws and talons

Tyrannofex (200 Points)

  • 1x Powerful limbs

  • 1x Rupture cannon

  • 1x Stinger salvoes