Homage to the ECW wrestling event very much intended here. The Drawbridge Mega-Battle Hive Mind has been hard at work planning our year-end event, and we wanted to revisit the Bug Hunt that people had a lot of fun with for our 10th edition launch event. So we’re announcing Bug Hunt 2: A December to Dismember! All the info you need is below.

Background: Pocket dimensions are perfect for the mysterious Hunt-Master to stage his little games. And this time he’s crafted one where he can see just how effective the various hunters of the universe fare when set loose on quarry. Across all sorts of armies and races there were strange disappearances, as units turned up missing without explanation. As their peers searched for them, these wayward forces find themselves waking up on a shoreline of an island teeming with Tyranid organisms, from the smallest to the greatest. And given one simple explanation in a carefully filigreed scroll with writing bafflingly in their own native tongue: “Hunt as many as you can. The winners will be returned, the rest kept for eternity. Kill your trophies and compete for the greatest haul… but at least one of your number needs to return to your transport to keep them.”

What: This will be a staged event that runs all evening on Thursday, December 4th. Players can contribute in two ways, both by painting Tyranid models to populate the island, and by bringing a single squad and a transport that can hold them (see more info below) and seeing just what all they can hunt before escaping the various “islands” with their haul. There will be multiple GM’s on hand so people can compete starting at different points on the 12 foot island board we’ll have, and we’ll keep a “leader board” through the night detailing which players have the most Tyranid kills on their safari expeditions… while still managing to get a single model back and free. If there’s room, players can even give a try multiple times during the evening with their squads. As always, prizes at Drawbridge will be based upon a random draw amongst participants where additional draws will be entered for not only the winner, but for each unit newly painted for the event that participants bring (as we ask all models in these events be a minimum of three colors and based), and for “best painted” Tyranids and hunting squads alike.

Hunting Squads: Players participating in the bug hunt will bring one infantry squad of their choosing, attach one character (non-epic, so no “named” characters), and a vehicle that can transport that squad and character. Note that while the temptation may be the most expensive transport, note that the Tyranids will have a set of “Artificial Intelligence” rules for when they notice something and attack it–so a Land Raider firing off lascannons 48″ away might just alert the entire half of the island. That means no jump infantry or other “doesn’t fit in a transport” types, and that some armies will have different limitations (e.g. Necrons can only transport Warriors in their Ghost Arks, but they can bring a Night Scythe if they want a different sort of unit… tho who knows what flying Tyranids might notice that tasty flying croissant). Also, no Drop Pods… as the point is needing to “get away to safety” in the transport. There will be entries into the prize draw for fielding a newly-painted squad, a newly-painted transport, best painted combo squad+transport, and best “Hunters” themed squad (aimed at those who want to convert up a squad of specialized hunters or even specifically Tyranid hunters). And sorry: no Knights armies and no Daemons, given the nature of this event being about a squad striking out from a transport (don’t worry: Knight Night Fight Night 5 will happen in early 2026, and we did Daemon-cember last year).

Bugs for the Cause: The goal is to cover the table in groups of Tyranid models, from large to small. The more the merrier. So to encourage people to paint up those units each squad of Tyranid models that are painted up for the event give the person bringing them a bonus two draws in the prize pool. And we’d love if the established Tyranid players bring along their masses as well, just to crowd the board with some amazing Nid biodiversity.

How Will it Run? See below for the “if/then” set of “Hive Mind” reactions that will guide when and where Tyranid units respond to the attacks of the hunter squads. The sound of battle, the smell of casualties, the sight of long range gunfire, all will have a chance to draw other squads of Tyranids into the fray. Especially dangerous when the last stragglers are trying to get back to their transport with a haul of bug trophies! As always with our big events, the goal is simple, silly, and thematic rules to get us throwing dice together and laughing at the fortunes (and misfortunes) of squads as they compete for glory in this latest Bug Hunt!

Leaders: As mentioned above, players can choose to have one character attached to the squad as well. Ideally we are thinking of them as “medic” support characters, particularly apothecary/hospitaller/painboy type models, but you can bring any model that isn’t an “epic” hero.

To reward those who were taking the time to do up their dedicated medic-type models, those fielding a medic will get a bonus in the game. That list is: Apothecary, Sanguinary Priest, Hospitaller, Painboy, Painboss, Plague Surgeon, and Biophagus. Anyone fielding those models will get one “emergency patch-up”, where they can once during their mission, at the end of any phase, roll a d6 and restore that many models to their unit. That’s in addition to their other rules. It’s a very limited list by design, really only the proper healers (sorry rebuilders in Necrons and cloners in Drukhari). If there’s some new version of this type of model I’m missing from other factions let me know and I’ll add them.

Tyranid “Artificial Intelligence” Rules:

Every player turn their units will be doing things, and those things generate chances for the Tyranids to hear, feel, smell, or sense them and attack back. Each player will have a d20 placed near their forces to represent the “alert level” for their turn. The list below has the various things that increase alarm amongst the Tyranids. They are additive (cumulative?), and certain Tyranids have a chance to sense some things more than others (burrowers sense movement of heavy vehicles, while Psychic powers being used can be seen by Hive Mind critters). At the end of the player’s turn (move, shoot, charge, assault), note the number that the alert level has risen to that turn and then the player must roll ABOVE that number to remain undetected.

Action/Occurrence	Alert Level Modifier	Type
Unit Advances	+1	Sound
Hover Transport Moves	+1	Sound
Tracked or Wheeled Transport Moves	+2	Sound, Vibration
Aircraft Transport Moves	+1	Sight
Aircraft Transport’s Move comes within 24” of Flying Tyranid model	+4	Sight
Massive Transport Moves (really huge hard-to-miss stuff that people might bring… Monolith or Stompa for instance)	+5	Sight
Tyranids Unit damaged by ranged attacks	+3	Sound, Smell
Ranged Attacks from Silenced source (GM uses judgment, but needs to be like sniper rifles or properly silenced stuff… note that Ork Kommando guns are NOT silenced)	-2	Sound
Ranged attacks fired from a vehicle or infantry “Big Gun” or “Loud Gun” source (again GM judgment–machine guns and big cannons here, any projectile weapons that make a “bang” louder than a bolter)	+2	Sound, Vibration
Tyranids Unit damaged by melee attacks	+4	Sound, Smell
Melee Attacks from Silenced Source (only commando troops get this: Kommandos, Catachans, Night Lords, Raven Guard, Scouts, Reivers, Striking Scorpions, etc.)	-2	Sound
All Targeted Unit(s) Completely Wiped Out in this turn	-2	Synapse
Model uses an ability or an attack with the “Psychic” keyword	+2	Synapse
Something else that would alert a unit (GM’s discretion)	+X by GM’s discretion	GM’s discretion
Something else that would keep a unit hidden/silent/unobserved, such as move after shoot to a hidden position or specific wargear (GM’s discretion)	-X by GM’s discretion	GM’s discretion

The player then checks for Alert at the very end of their turn by rolling a d20 and comparing to their Alert Level for their prior turn. If they roll ABOVE their Alert level, no problem, their hunt has remained undetected. Any Tyranids that are in engagement range, have been shot but not killed by them, or have noticed them in a prior term but not reached them, get to respond with movement, shooting, charge, fight as normal, but no other Tyranid units notice and remain dormant. Tyranid units in melee also get to fight back in the player turn as normal. 

If the player rolls BELOW their Alert level, then the GM rolls a d3. That many units beyond any shot/hit respond to the attack. What units respond depend on the modifier descriptions (they indicate which model responds first). After that it is simply the nearest three models to affected Tyranid units or to the player units themselves (GM discretion for what makes sense given the situation). 

Synapse: If this modifier was involved, the first unit to respond is the nearest Synapse creature. The GM may then designate any one other Tyranid model within 12” of that Synapse creature to be notified by their Synapse leader if a 2 or 3 was the result of the d3 . 

Sight: If this modifier was involved, the first unit to respond is the closest flying or winged creature

Smell: If this modifier was involved, the first unit to respond is the nearest unit of Rippers or Gaunts

Sound: No special choices, just nearest models

Vibration: If this modifier was involved, the first unit to respond is the closest burrowing creature (Raveners, Mawloc, Trygon, etc.)

If multiples of these are involved, the GM can use their discretion about what units compose the d3 responding (as long as they’re drawn from the correct sorts of units)