Murderous Size is one of the fun new Adaptive Physiologies Tyranid players can choose to give to a unit in their army with the “Monster” keyword. (So long as you forgo your Warlord Trait or use the stratagem Progeny of the Hive.) We took a look at this Adaptive Physiology as it relates to Hive Tyrants using the Reaper of Obliterax or Scythes of Tyran Bio-Artefacts but this article will take into account a few of the other popular choices in a Tyranid army.
The Chart
The chart below shows various Tyranid monsters and how effective they are at killing different units you are likely to come across. (The exception to this is Custodes who I threw in because they are just super tough and interesting to compare with.) Each cell in this chart has two numbers divided by a slash. The first number represents the number of models of the type listed at the top of the column that the monster to the left would FULLY kill. (Just wounding won’t cut it.) The second number shows how many kills you would get if the monster was also given the Murderous Size Adaptive Physiology. See chart below.
Note: The Haruspex row is a little weird since it has two sets of numbers in each column. The first set of numbers ONLY accounts for the Ravenous Maw attacks. The second set of numbers represents TOTAL kills including the ones from Shovelling Claws. For example, a Haruspex (using the Feeding the Hunger stratagem) will kill 4 Guardsmen with its Ravenous Maws (the first number in the first set) and will kill 5 total with the extra attacks from Shovelling Claws. The next set shows that it would kill 6 Guardsmen with its Ravenous Maws if it had Murderous Size, and 8 total when you include the extra attacks from the Shovelling Claws.
The Winners
Against Guardsmen and other light infantry, it is well worth it to give Murderous Size to a Haruspex. (This effectiveness goes up significantly if we use the codex stratagem Voracious Appetite as well as the new Behemoth psychic power “Unstoppable Hunger,” but we will look more closely at that another day.)
Against literally anything else, the biggest winner is Old One Eye using his Monstrous Scything Talons. Against vehicles, it will actually do MORE damage with the Murderous Sized Monstrous Scything Talons than with its Monstrous Crushing Claws! (Edit: The Blood of Baal FAQ removed the ability to give Adaptive Strategies to named characters.)
Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that the Swarmlord (Edit: Sadly, the Swarmlord cannot benefit from Adaptive Strategies.) and Trygon both increase their damage output against vehicles by more than double, although it seems a bit of a waste to use this Adaptive Physiology on one of these models when there are better options.
Conclusion
Mulch through hordes of Orks, inferior Tyranid Hive Fleets, and Guardsmen with your Haruspexes or give Murderous Size to Old One Eye or a Hive Tyrant with the Scythes of Tyran (go look at that previous article!) if you really want to improve the damage output against everything that isn’t a weaker infantry model. Otherwise, you may be better off considering a different Adaptive Physiology for your monsters. (We will look at the others soon so stay tuned!)
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