Tyranid characters?

[Dlatrex]

This could have been a subset discussion of the Crowe-Rapier question. The chapter on Characters does not seem to very specifically detail what does or does not count as a character. Or rather it explicitly lists sergeants and IC's as 'characters'. However it goes on to list Mephistion who is clearly listed in the blood-angels FAQ as a 'single model entity' and neither a sarge nor an IC.

I'm of course most interested in how this relates specifically to Tyranids. The Tyranid Prime, and the PoM are pretty obviously IC's... but what about the Swarmlord? Do any of the 'unique' models count as Characters? What about un-named hive tyrants joined to a unit of tyrant guard?

Perhaps I missed this being enumerated elsewhere.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

Check the list of unit profiles in the back of the rulebook - anything that's a character will have that listed there. For instance, Mephiston is "Inf (Ch)".

[Sam]

The problem with saying "check the back of the book" is that none of the named characters are listed there.

Edit: Case in point - Mephiston is not listed under Blood Angels, so he cannot be listed as "Inf (Ch)".

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

Huh, missed that. Stuff like Hive Tyrants are there though, so still functional advice :P

I guess "Special Characters" qualify as Characters?

[thecactusman17]

Units with the Unique attribute are always characters regardless of status as an independent unit. Unique models (such as Mephy, named HQs, even Bjorn) are characters.

[pauljc]

I don't know why this question keeps popping up. The BRB lists almost every example you need to know. And if a Special or Independant Character doesn't qualify as a character, then I don't know what does...

[Dlatrex]

Units with the Unique attribute are always characters regardless of status as an independent unit. Unique models (such as Mephy, named HQs, even Bjorn) are characters.

This was my understanding, but I don't know that I've seen it listed anywhere. Is this an explicit rule or an implicit rule?

[bfmusashi]

Mephiston is named on page 63 as an example of a character. Page 39 says an Independent Character follows all the rules for characters, plus some extras.
The only weird question I can think of would be Bjorn and that cranky Furioso as no other dreads are characters. I'd give it to them though, just to hear the lengthy stream of insults a 10,000 year old grumpy pants or a blood crazed murder bot would come up with for a challenge. On a side note, why aren't there any Wraithlord characters? A 15ft robot zombie that lives in a misty haze of senile ramblings would be fun as hell. Give 'em a spirit seer that loved them in life and it'd be the Notebook but with bloody battles. God, I hope it ends like the book.

[bfmusashi]

110's section on special characters makes it seem like a name confers character rules but doesn't explicitly say so. Making the leap is logical, but could lead to odd things later on, for example, blind grenades and the blind USR. I'm not sure how one would argue that works, but people are really good at convolution.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

On a side note, why aren't there any Wraithlord characters? A 15ft robot zombie that lives in a misty haze of senile ramblings would be fun as hell. Give 'em a spirit seer that loved them in life and it'd be the Notebook but with bloody battles. God, I hope it ends like the book.

All Wraithlords are characters in 6th, fun/ups their durability.