The Swarmlord
SWORD: what The Swarmlord kills
Damage for its points
per 100 pts
Its 210 pts kill ~107 pts in one activation.Typical melee unit: 49 per 100
Into each enemy type
SHIELD: how hard The Swarmlord is to kill for its points
Toughness for its points
per 100 pts
It takes about 13% of a top army's turn to remove 100 pts of it. To remove all 210 pts: about 555 pts of enemy units, 4 times in 5.Typical melee unit: 284 per 100
What creators say
4 creators- The army's one reliable command point maker 4 of 4
- Makes enemy stratagems cost more nearby 3 of 4
- Hits very hard in melee 2 of 4
- Good protection 1 of 4
- The Hive Tyrant is cheaper and a bit more useful 1 of 4
- A lot of points and not very durable 1 of 4
Units near it
Per 100 pts, its nearest in Tyranids and across the game
SWORD
Across the game· melee units
SHIELD
Across the game· melee units
Leading a squad
The leader adds 87 pts of kills a turn (0 from rules, 87 from attacks) for 210 pts: more per point than the squad alone, so the leader pays for itself here.
The leader adds 983 pts to what the enemy must spend (0 from rules, 983 from wounds) for 210 pts: less per point than the squad alone.
SWORD and SHIELD against 100 top lists, the squad and the pair compared at one size. The leader's points are always counted.
How we got these numbers
SWORD 45 · 210 pts kill ~107 pts in one activation
SHIELD 276 · about 13% of a top army's turn to remove 100 pts of it
To remove it: about 555 pts of enemy units, 4 times in 5
Ranked among the game's 566 melee units · How we score ›
What we ran
- The Swarmlord, 210 pts
- Its datasheet's weapons
- Counted as dice: the army rule and the detachment's rule
- Not counted: leaders, stratagems, other units' auras
The letter: 4 creators
- Auspex Tactics · 12 Sep
- Into the Hive Mind · 12 Oct
- HivemindHobbies · 18 Oct
- Maelstrom Gaming Studios · 26 Oct
The lists: 271
- From grimstat-corpus (CC BY 4.0), September – November 2026. Also from Listhammer, MiniHeadQuarters, ChampionsHub. Questions about a list or an event? Get in touch.
- Numbers run 9 Nov