Flood swarm form

Flood Swarms are a type of flying Flood species.

They were described by Halo Wars developers as "infected buzzards crossed with evil bats". They usually travel in groups, and attack with barbs projectiles. They are relatively weak, but can easily dispatch most infantry.

Of Flood Swarms
Individual Flood Swarms have low health and do less damage than other Flood forms. They counter this by flying in groups of 15 to 25 members. When in a group, the Flood Swarms keep moving. This reduces damage to individual units, as one is more likely to spread damage over multiple Swarms. This also increases their effective rate of fire - Flood forms that are ready to fire move to the front of the group, fire, and then head to the rear.

Groups of Flood Swarms are often found flying rather aimlessly before they notice an enemy unit. They then pursue that unit until they die, the unit dies, or the unit significantly outpaces the Swarm. Small groups of infantry or individual vehicles will almost always be destroyed.

When a group of Swarms first encounters an enemy unit, almost all the Swarms will fire their projectiles, dealing a large amount of damage in a short time. After the initial barrage, they will fire in a volley pattern, a few Swarms going to the front, firing, and then returning to the rear. Any enemy unit will be under considerable fire.

Against Flood Swarms
Individual Flood Swarms are rather simple to kill - any one unit will quickly kill it. In groups, however, Flood Swarms are much more dangerous.

To avoid getting killed:
 * Do NOT send single units out to scout terrain. A group of Flood Swarms can and will simply kill the unit.
 * If an infantry unit is caught under fire, find them cover. Otherwise, they're dead.
 * Speed is better than raw firepower - a Warthog, constantly moving, will do better than a stationary Scorpion.
 * That being said, do NOT rely on speed alone to save your unit - the first barrage can kill a Warthog near-instantly.
 * While the MAAT-9 Wolverine is good against most air units, it is ineffective against a group of Swarms - they are too fast, too maneuverable, and have such high numbers that in between missile barrages, they will kill your Wolverine.
 * Always watch your scouting unit - steer it away from groups of Flood Swarms at the edge of its line of sight.
 * NEVER assume you will win! Any unit can be killed by a group of Swarms, especially without support.

To kill Flood Swarms:
 * Use these units: Marines/ODSTs, Warthogs, Hornets, and Vultures. Any mixture will do.
 * Attack en masse. That is, attack with a large group of units. The Swarms will have trouble targeting units to kill, either focusing on a few units and ignoring the rest or spreading out their fire so all the units live longer.
 * Attack from more than one side. The Swarms will focus on one group and not the other, letting themselves be damaged.
 * Lure them back to a base protected by Medium or Large Base Turrets. The Turret's heavy machine guns rip apart the Swarms.

Appearances
Flood Swarms appear on the level The Flood in Halo Wars. They can also be found on the multiplayer map Release, as part of the third wave of Flood released from the containment facility.