Tyranid Deathleaper Boss Fight

Homebrew by D31iriumTrigger

A custom Kill Team boss fight designed around the modern NPO/Joint Ops style using the Tyranid Deathleaper as a stealth-horror nemesis that repeatedly vanishes and reappears.

I have tried to convert its major 40K identity - Infiltrator, Stealth, Lone Operative, Fear of the Unseen, Feeder Tendrils - into Kill Team equivalents focused on concealment, threat spikes, and disruption rather than raw stat inflation.

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Composition

Rule: HUNTING PATTERN (Boss AI)

When activated, the Deathleaper follows priority:

  1. Fight an injured operative.
  2. Charge the closest isolated operative (no ally within 3").
  3. Move to Heavy terrain near a vulnerable operative.
  4. Vanish into Shadow if possible.

The boss should feel intelligent, not random.

Deathleaper
A 3
M 7"
S 4+
W 32
Weapons
ATK
HIT
DMG
Lictor Claws and Talons (Brutal, Lethal 5+, Severe)
6
2
5/7
Abilities
Apex PredatorFear of the UnseenUnseen TerrorVanish into Shadow

Apex Predator: The Deathleaper cannot begin the battle on the killzone. Instead, place three Ambush Markers (20–25mm tokens) anywhere outside deployment zones.

At the end of Turning Point 1, and at the end of every subsequent Turning Point in which it is absent, the Deathleaper may emerge.

When the Deathleaper emerges, replace one Ambush Marker with the model.

  • It gains a Conceal order.
  • It can immediately perform a free Dash.

Fear of the Unseen: Enemy operatives within 6" suffer:

  • 1 APL (minimum 2) while within range.
  • Cannot perform mission actions costing 2AP or more.
  • If they begin activation within 6", roll 1D6:
    • 1–2: operative is Shaken — subtract 1" from Move and cannot Dash.
    • 3–6: no additional effect.

Unseen Terror: The Deathleaper always counts as Obscured while it has a Conceal order unless an enemy operative is within 4".

Additionally, whenever an operative attempts to Shoot it from more than 6". Retain one normal save automatically.

Vanish into Shadow: At the end of any activation, if the Deathleaper:

  • is not within control range of an enemy,
  • and is not below half health this Turning Point,

it may disappear.

Remove it from the board and place three new Ambush Markers:

  • one within 6" of its last position,
  • two elsewhere beyond 6" of enemies.
HIVE FLEET, TYRANID, DEATHLEAPER, NPO, BOSS
New Operative
A 2
M 6"
S 4+
W 10
Equipment

Flesh Hooks:
During each friendly HIVE FLEET operative's activation, you can ignore the first vertical distance of 2" they move during one climb up.


Extended Chitin:
Once per turning point, when an operative is shooting a friendly HIVE FLEET operative, in the roll defence dice step, you can retain one of your normal successes as a critical success instead.


Feeder Tendrils:
Each time a friendly HIVE FLEET operative incapacitates an enemy operative while Fighting or Retaliating, it regains D3 lost wounds.


Adrenal Glands:
Once per game as a STRATEGIC GAMBIT, add 1" to the Movement characteristic of all friendly HIVE FLEET operatives until the end of the turning point.


Ploys

Strategic - New Ploy:


TacOps
Seek And Destroy: Sweep & Clear

Reveal: The first time an enemy operative is incapacitated while contesting an objective marker, or the first time a friendly operative performs the Clear action (whichever comes first).

Additional Rules:

When an enemy operative that contests an objective marker is incapacitated, that objective marker gains one of your Swept tokens (if it doesn't already have one) until the Ready step of the next Strategy phase.

Mission Action: Clear (1 AP)

  • An objective marker the active operative controls is cleared for the turning point.
  • An operative cannot perform this action during the first turning point, or while within control range of an enemy operative.

Victory Points:

  • At the end of each turning point after the first, if at least one objective marker (excluding your objective marker) is cleared and enemy operatives do not contest that marker, you score 1VP. If that marker also has one of your Swept tokens, you score 2VP instead.
  • If friendly operatives control an objective marker that has one of your Swept tokens, you score 1 VP.

You cannot score more than 2VP from this op per turning point.


Seek And Destroy: Dominate

Reveal: The first time an enemy operative is incapacitated by a friendly operative.

Additional Rules:

Each time a friendly operative incapacitates an enemy operative, that friendly operative gains one of your or two of your Dominate tokens if that enemy operative had a Wounds stat of 12 or more.

Victory Points:

At the end of the third and fourth turning point, you can remove Dominate tokens from friendly operatives that aren't incapacitated. For each you remove, you score 1VP.

You cannot score more than 3VP from this op per turning point.


Seek And Destroy: Rout

Reveal: The first time you score VP from this op.

Victory Points:

Whenever a friendly operative incapacitates an enemy operative, if that friendly operative is within 6" of your opponent's drop zone, you score 1VP; if this is true and that enemy operative had a Wounds stat of 12 or more, you score 2VP instead.

You cannot score more than 2VP from this op per turning point.


Infiltration: Track Enemy

Reveal: The first time you score VP from this op.

Additional Rules:

An enemy operative is being tracked if it's a valid target for a friendly operative within 6" of it. That friendly operative must have a Conceal order, cannot be a valid target for the enemy operative it's attempting to track, and cannot be within control range of enemy operatives.

Victory Points:

At the end of each turning point after the first:

  • If one enemy operative is being tracked, you score 1VP, or 2VP instead if it's the fourth turning point.
  • If two or more enemy operatives are being tracked, you score 2VP.

You cannot score more than 2VP from this op per turning point.


Infiltration: Plant Devices

Reveal: The first time a friendly operative performs the Plant Device action.

Mission Action: Plant Device (1 AP)

  • One objective marker the active operative controls gains one of your Device tokens.
  • An operative cannot perform this action during the first turning point, while within control range of an enemy operative, or if that objective marker already has one of your Device tokens.

Victory Points:

At the end of each turning point after the first:

  • If your opponent's objective marker has one of your Device tokens, you score 1VP.
  • For each other objective marker enemy operatives contest that has one of your Device tokens, you score 1VP.

You cannot score more than 2VP from this op per turning point.


Infiltration: Steal Intelligence

Reveal: The first time an enemy operative is incapacitated.

Additional Rules:

Whenever an enemy operative is incapacitated, before it's removed from the killzone, place one of your Intelligence mission markers within its control range.

Friendly operatives can perform the Pick Up Marker action on your Intelligence mission markers, and for the purposes of that action's conditions, ignore the first Intelligence mission marker the active operative is carrying. In other words, each friendly operative can carry up to two Intelligence mission markers, or one and one other marker.

Victory Points:

At the end of each turning point after the first, if any friendly operatives are carrying any of your Intelligence mission markers, you score 1VP.

At the end of the battle, for each of your Intelligence mission markers friendly operatives are carrying, you score 1VP.


Recon: Flank

Reveal: As a STRATEGIC GAMBIT.

Additional Rules:

Divide the killzone into two flanks (left and right) by drawing an imaginary line that's just like the centreline, except it runs from the centre of each player's killzone edge. An operative contests a flank while both wholly within it and wholly within their opponent's territory. Friendly operatives control a flank if the total APL stat of those contesting it is greater than that of enemy operatives.

Victory Points:

  • After you reveal this op, at the end of each turning point after the first, for each flank friendly operatives control, you score 1VP.
  • In the fourth turning point, ff friendly operatives also controlled that flank at the end of the third turning point, you score 2VP instead.

You cannot score more than 2VP from this op per turning point.


Recon: Retrieval

Reveal: The first time you score VP from this op.

Mission Action: Retrieve (1 AP)

  • If the active operative controls an objective marker that hasn't been searched by friendly operatives, that operative is now carrying one of your Retrieval mission markers and that objective marker has been searched by friendly operatives. Friendly operatives can perform the Pick Up Marker action on your Retrieval mission markers.
  • An operative cannot perform this action during the first turning point, while within control range of an enemy operative, or if it's already carrying a marker.

Victory Points:

  • The first time each objective marker is searched by friendly operatives, you score 1VP.
  • At the end of the battle, for each of your Retrieval mission markers friendly operatives are carrying, you score 1VP.

Recon: Scout Enemy Movement

Reveal: The first time a friendly operative performs the Scout action.

Mission Action: Scout (1 AP)

  • Select one ready enemy operative visible to and more than 6" from the active operative. That enemy operative is now monitored until the Ready step of the next Strategy phase.
  • An operative cannot perform this action while it has an Engage order, during the first turning point, or while within control range of an enemy operative.

Victory Points:

At the end of each turning point after the first, for each monitored enemy operative that's visible to friendly operatives, you score 1VP. Note that it doesn't have to be a friendly operative that performed the Scout action.

You cannot score more than 2VP from this op per turning point.