Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

-Loki- wrote:

Scrabb wrote:I like to interpret many of those pieces as the hivemind accessing files on similar enemies it has defeated and assimulated in the past and rebooting the good stuff. I like to think the heavy weapons not working on day two means they've slowed down consumption of world number fifty billion by three percent to give heavy armor to units attacking the strongest pockets of resistance.

All IMO of course.

While they need to store the information of what they are fighting to recall later, they still do evolve quickly to new threats. The bit about fighting the Tau - that's the first time they were fighting against Tau. They had never been shot by those weapons or fought against those tactics before. Yet they evolved protection simply in the short time between engagements. They couldn't recall those evolutions, since they didn't exist yet.

So I guess we can rate the hivemind as a billion super geniuses who work round the clock

Still, according to canon the tau are alive and well despite those mutations and they're a germ in the grand scheme of things.

@Shrouger: You're right that chest pumping passages don't really help anything. How many guaranteed victors are there? Half of all factions? But the codex information contains most of the information we need to do any conjecture.

Scrabb wrote:Still, according to canon the tau are alive and well despite those mutations and they're a germ in the grand scheme of things.

That would be because an Imperial reinforcment fleet for the Damocles Crusade arrived and allied with the Tau.

I think it's hilarious how the only time the 'Nids develop race specific counters is against the Tau; where are all the lasgun immune gaunts?

-Loki- wrote:

Scrabb wrote:Still, according to canon the tau are alive and well despite those mutations and they're a germ in the grand scheme of things.

That would be because an Imperial reinforcment fleet for the Damocles Crusade arrived and allied with the Tau.

Hey, racial ability: does not become desperate enemies with every sapient force ever encountered is a good trait to have.

Retribution wrote:I think it's hilarious how the only time the 'Nids develop race specific counters is against the Tau; where are all the lasgun immune gaunts?

They don't need to develop lasgun immunity. Everything in 40k has it naturally.

Scrabb wrote:
I mean, a splinter fleet gets obliterated by some insane super weapon that tractor beams a star into it. Does the hive mind of that fleet plate all it's ships in indestrucium? Why didn't it already have that activated if it can? If it couldn't but now can what new information did it get? Does it have enough actual indestructium to plate all the ships with? Where did it come from? If the entire process is nids get hurt/lose/feel sad then EVOLUTION and they can't get hurt/win/feel happy than tyranids are beyond lame.

I like to interpret many of those pieces as the hivemind accessing files on similar enemies it has defeated and assimilated in the past and rebooting the good stuff. I like to think the heavy weapons not working on day two means they've slowed down consumption of world number fifty billion by three percent to give heavy armor to units attacking the strongest pockets of resistance.

All IMO of course.

I would say that the Hive Mind is not "all knowing", but merely "all remembering" like your data file idea so to speak, with a good portion of creative problem solving to boot. Which would explain why a fleet being obliterated by that insane star hurling super weapon would not be thought of before hand by the Hive Mind. Not to mention that the technology for a super weapon like that is, for lack of better words, 'alien' to Tyranids; so again, it wouldn't have been thought of in advance to already equip the fleet with the needed protective armor. It was mentioned a few pages back, and I might be wrong with the time line, but I think after that incident the Hive Mind then started figuring out ways to hurl planets/meteorites as well... So lesson learned.

Once info is processed by the Hive Mind, it is sent to the Norn Queens for immediate production of new broods. The old broods already on the field eventually get the same instructions and can either climb back in to the digestion pool for revamping, or do what minor adjustments they can do to themselves internally with what they already have. As for the fleet ships, the Norn Queen is already inside with plenty of digestive goo for a complete and almost instant remodeling of the whole ship when needed.

Psyker_9er wrote:

Scrabb wrote:
I mean, a splinter fleet gets obliterated by some insane super weapon that tractor beams a star into it. Does the hive mind of that fleet plate all it's ships in indestrucium? Why didn't it already have that activated if it can? If it couldn't but now can what new information did it get? Does it have enough actual indestructium to plate all the ships with? Where did it come from? If the entire process is nids get hurt/lose/feel sad then EVOLUTION and they can't get hurt/win/feel happy than tyranids are beyond lame.

I like to interpret many of those pieces as the hivemind accessing files on similar enemies it has defeated and assimilated in the past and rebooting the good stuff. I like to think the heavy weapons not working on day two means they've slowed down consumption of world number fifty billion by three percent to give heavy armor to units attacking the strongest pockets of resistance.

All IMO of course.

I would say that the Hive Mind is not "all knowing", but merely "all remembering" like your data file idea so to speak, with a good portion of creative problem solving to boot. Which would explain why a fleet being obliterated by that insane star hurling super weapon would not be thought of before hand by the Hive Mind. Not to mention that the technology for a super weapon like that is, for lack of better words, 'alien' to Tyranids; so again, it wouldn't have been thought of in advance to already equip the fleet with the needed protective armor. It was mentioned a few pages back, and I might be wrong with the time line, but I think after that incident the Hive Mind then started figuring out ways to hurl planets/meteorites as well... So lesson learned.

Once info is processed by the Hive Mind, it is sent to the Norn Queens for immediate production of new broods. The old broods already on the field eventually get the same instructions and can either climb back in to the digestion pool for revamping, or do what minor adjustments they can do to themselves internally with what they already have. As for the fleet ships, the Norn Queen is already inside with plenty of digestive goo for a complete and almost instant remodeling of the whole ship when needed.

But is the fleet now immune to suns exploding or not? And if they are did it cost them anything?

Scrabb wrote:But is the fleet now immune to suns exploding or not? And if they are did it cost them anything?

Well, the first fleet of biomass that got hit with the star, I would say is gone and lost for good. After that, the other ships would only be adding to what is already in place, or breaking down and redesigning things, so it would a be minimal loss of resources. As for being immune to being hit with a star... I can't honestly answer that, it is a freaking star we are talking about after all ... But the point is, even large scale complete revamping of entire fleets is done in the most effective manner using the least amount of resources or simply recycled with no resource loss.

One point that we seem to be overlooking; every time the 'Nids fail an attack, they do not simply lose biomass, they jumpstart the growth of any Ork boyz that survived. Given the constant state of war between the two races, any Orks that survive even a few years can easily expect to reach Ghazkul's size. The Tyranids are not only significantly increasing the birthrates among Orks by killing them in droves (so long as the Orks hold the world, of course), they are ensuring that the survivors form a ready made corps of Nobz.

Also, given the various mutations the Tyranids will likely have, they will significantly alter Ork kultur.

1. Orks in this war will have to be cunning as well as brutal to survive, meaning that the Ork leaders will develop a new standard of intelligence. These intellectually superior bosses will be better able to respond to the Tyranid mutations.

2. With the spree of looting that will follow the IOM's fall, more progressive clans like the Death Skulls and Blood Axes will thrive; the Snakebites, meanwhile, will likely be overwhelmed by the Tyranids, while the Goffs and Bad Moons will be forced to accept the virtues of the fellow clans, meaning that the concepts of strategy and technology will come to the forefront. Combined with the previous change to Ork society, we can safely assume that the Orks will begin to adopt a more strategic mindset.
-Subpoint: The Octarius Orks will adopt such strategies because they are Blood Axes, and therefore value intelligence and strategy. Source: Lexicanum

Additionally, if Ghazkul is still alive (we assume for the sake of argument that he is), he will lead a new Waaagh! against the Tyranids with the same vision with which he engulfed Armageddon in endless war. As simply overwhelming the enemy is out of the question, Ghazkul will likely recognize the importance of strategy against this new foe and surround himself with Blood Axe bosses, supporting social change #2.

With regard to Tyranid adaptation; the Ork Meks are constantly innovating (Ghazkul made wide-spread use of teleporters to bring down ground troops the battle for Armageddon, something the Imperium with all its resources has never done), meaning they can at least partially counter the evolution of the Tyranids. Essentially, they are combining a curiosity and need to invent on par with that of the Tau with resources and manpower even greater than the Imperium.

Here is a hypothetical technology the Orks could easily put to use;

A "Rok Cannon" (they may already have something like this); huge Dakka mounted onto looted Imperium ships or Space Hulks that fires actual Rok's into enemy ships. The damage done by each rok that makes it past the spore mines is tremendous, and each Rok can then begin blasting at the insides of the Tyranid ship, all the while unloading Boyz to keep the 'gaunts at bay. The teleporter relay built into each Rok (like those used during the second war for Armageddon) could bring a near endless supply of Orks onboard the ship. With the Roks as a beachead, the Orks could push through the ship, doing serious damage and forcing the Tyranids to redirect their efforts towards defending their own fleet rather than attacking the Ork world. Of course, at least the first waves of boyz would need Burnas to stop the ship from absorbing any fallen Orks.

Just an idea for the Ork navy.

I'll step off now.

Shrouger wrote:One point that we seem to be overlooking; every time the 'Nids fail an attack, they do not simply lose biomass, they jumpstart the growth of any Ork boyz that survived. Given the constant state of war between the two races, any Orks that survive even a few years can easily expect to reach Ghazkul's size. The Tyranids are not only significantly increasing the birthrates among Orks by killing them in droves (so long as the Orks hold the world, of course), they are ensuring that the survivors form a ready made corps of Nobz.
Here is a hypothetical technology the Orks could easily put to use;

One point everyone seems to overlook is also this - The Orks are not the primary source of biomass consumed. Sure, it adds to it, but the land held by the Tyranids is hyperproductive. This is initiated in the first phase of the Tyranid invasion, spores enter the atmosphere (that actually are dangerous to non-Tyanid life too) which promote hyperactive growth in the plant life of the planet. As long as Tyranids hold ground on the planet, they have a constant supply of biomass from the plants that are constantly growing and pollinating.

Shrouger wrote:A "Rok Cannon" (they may already have something like this); huge Dakka mounted onto looted Imperium ships or Space Hulks that fires actual Rok's into enemy ships. The damage done by each rok that makes it past the spore mines is tremendous, and each Rok can then begin blasting at the insides of the Tyranid ship, all the while unloading Boyz to keep the 'gaunts at bay. The teleporter relay built into each Rok (like those used during the second war for Armageddon) could bring a near endless supply of Orks onboard the ship. With the Roks as a beachead, the Orks could push through the ship, doing serious damage and forcing the Tyranids to redirect their efforts towards defending their own fleet rather than attacking the Ork world. Of course, at least the first waves of boyz would need Burnas to stop the ship from absorbing any fallen Orks.

Cool technology. Which the Tyranids already have, and have already used as well. Hive Fleet Naga threw asteroids at a planet to not only cause significant damage to defences, but also to mask its mycetic spores from anti-aircraft fire.

There's also plenty of Tyranid life forms still on the hive Ships for defense. This is actually the primary purpose of Tervigons. They patrol the Hive Ships and overproduce swarms of Termagants in reaction to a boarding, and also use their synaptic link to attract other Tyranids from around th ship.

Tyranids can also use the same tactic on the Orks. Throw asteroids at the Ork ships, with trails of mycetic spores full of heavy assault creatures to board Ork ships. Or even, you know, catch those roks and throw them back, which would be the same as catching a moving asteroid to throw at a planet.

One point everyone seems to overlook is also this - The Orks are not the primary source of biomass consumed. Sure, it adds to it, but the land held by the Tyranids is hyperproductive. This is initiated in the first phase of the Tyranid invasion, spores enter the atmosphere (that actually are dangerous to non-Tyanid life too) which promote hyperactive growth in the plant life of the planet. As long as Tyranids hold ground on the planet, they have a constant supply of biomass from the plants that are constantly growing and pollinating.

That won't stop the two from killing each other. The Orks will fight the Tyranids out of instinct, and the Tyranids will fight back in order to secure the bionass.

Also, it is impossible for plants to grow and pollinate at those extraordinary rates indefinitely, otherwise they would all have evolved to such a point, leaving animal evolution at a much more primitive level. At some point, the plants will die out, with the planet's nutrients completely depleted; the Tyranids can be sustained for a few months at most by a single world, after which time the planet will be completely barren. The Orks can repopulate it with the various fungi they carry with them, but the to the Tyranids, it is completely useless.

Tyranids can also use the same tactic on the Orks. Throw asteroids at the Ork ships, with trails of mycetic spores full of heavy assault creatures to board Ork ships. Or even, you know, catch those roks and throw them back, which would be the same as catching a moving asteroid to throw at a planet.

But Tyranid roks do not have Dakka, do they? I think that using Roks as ship-to-ship ammunition would likely remain the domain of the Orks.

Concering catching the Roks; there is a subtle difference between catching a chunk of rock and ice moving relatively slowly in orbit and catching a typically much larger chunk of ice and rock with deflector shields and blazing guns hurtling along at incredible speeds, accelerated by the Hive Ship's gravity and the force of the Rok-Cannon.

Of course, if I was the Hive Mind, the whole thing would be over by now

A Rok cannon filled with Orks blasting away may seem like a good thing to launch in to the middle of a Hive Fleet... But the Tyranid ships don't rely on standard naval combat tactics like the Imperium or other races who stay distant and launch missiles etc.... Tyranids use basically the same tactic as the Rok cannon, the Hive ships actually close in on the enemy ships to grab a hold and suck out the biomass inside. The Hive ships also have huge massive tentacles every where that could potentially harmlessly catch the Rok being shot at them... So shooting Rok cannons at them really only brings the biomass closer.

Which is why you should try throwing stars at them instead... It works better... The first few times any way

Good thinking by the way Shrouger, I can tell you kind of feel the same way I do: If only you where Ghazkul this would all be over by now right?

This is actually kind of fun, trying to out think each other.

I agree the Ork would eventually band together for the greatest WAAAGH! of all time! And the battle could actually be a stalemate that lasts for hundreds of years with out ever getting resolved. Not just because GW wants to boost sales, but because Orks and Nids are so well matched for complete universal carnage.

I still say Tyranids have the upper hand with the instant evolution though.

I was kind of joking before when I was talking about making the Nids so small the Boyz can't shoot them... But really think about that. A swarm of billions upon billions of mosquito sized Nids clouding out the sun and eating everything in their path. Swarming into your mouth and nostrils, climbing down in to your lungs while you are being stung by hundreds of biting venomous bugs.... The Nids already have this bio-technology, they already shoot bugs like this out of other bug guns, so why not just make an army out of them instead. The biomass from one Carnifex could produce a couple million easily.

Good thinking by the way Shrouger, I can tell you kind of feel the same way I do: If only you where Ghazkul this would all be over by now right?

This is actually kind of fun, trying to out think each other.

Exactly. I am truly enjoying this as well.

Which is why you should try throwing stars at them instead... It works better... The first few times any way

The Orks could probably upgrade their ships with that kind of technology; they use it to draw space hulks toward their worlds, after all. It would require a huge amount of resources, but with the materials they would have scavenged from the IOM's worlds, it would certainly be possible.

I do think that swarms of mosquito sized Tyranids would be a deadly weapon, but there is an issue with creating them, however. Given the extremely fast metabolisms of most small Tyranid bio-constructs (Raveners, for example), it is likely that they would die within a few seconds/minutes of leaving the nourishment of a larger organism. That aside, the Orks could find some relatively easy ways of countering them. All the orks need are some burnas and/or enclosed vehicles, the former because they would make short work of these 'Nid, the latter because they would offer protection against them long enough to bring adequate weapons to bear.

Something like a zzap gun would be even better, come to think of it; it transfers electric current through the air. The organic material (water, iron etc) in these mosquitos would make them excellent conducters of energy; and if they happen to be flying in a dense swarm...

As far as superior evolution is concerned; the GW team do not represent it for obvious reasons of cost and time, but Meks are constantly creating new and deadly weapons. With literally trillions of metric tons of looted AM tech, a good team of Meks and Lootas (probably numbering in the thousands) could cobble together hundreds of new weapons each day, ranging from a faster shoota to a Shock Attack gun that always rolls double sixes for strength (getting the Rargh! effect, of course, which seems possible given the intense activity in the Warp now that the IOM has fallen). Just beginning to consider what Orks could do with plasma tech, I've found some uses;
Plasma-burnas: why not? The technology is probably already there, just waiting for some Meks to convince the Boyz to use it.
Plasma-Dakka: Literally dozens of IG plasma cannons welded to ships or Stompas to create massive cannons capable of blowing a major hole in virtually any Tyranid formation, whether on the ground or in space.

In one of the ultramarine books, the imperial navy grabs two huge plasma converting space stations and rig them as bombs. The first one gets thrown at the hive fleet, then while the fleet is attacking it the navy bombbards it, blowing several hive ships and a nice chunk of the fleet to bits.

The next time they try it the hive ships avoid it and four specially designed ships grab hold and fling it back at the imperial lines. By screening it with drones and lesser ships they prevent the imperial bombardment from destroying it until the tyranids detonate it, taking a good percentage fo the imperial fleet with it.

Really good tactics tend to only work once against tyranids. I don't think flinging Roks would be effective for long. In the end, each battle tyranids win they grow much stronger. Each battle orcs win, they grow much stronger. In the end its gonna be a stalemate with the losser lossing because of huge mistakes or just being outwitted.

I still say tyranids win out, orcs have to much infighting between the clans and can be baited into traps to easily.

I still say tyranids win out, orcs have to much infighting between the clans and can be baited into traps to easily.

When faced with a common enemy, Orks rarely fight amongst themselves. Inter-clan warfare is the result of boredom on the part of the Orks when they are unable to find other foes to vanquish. As far as being baited into traps; though the common Boy will certainly be tricked easily, Warbosses, particularly Blood Axes, are actually the ones who set the traps. Consider Gazhkul Thraka (actually a Goff, interestingly enough); during the War for Armageddon, he took a seemingly useless stretch of corrosive water in the industrial wastes far away from the Hives. Even Commissar Yarrik, a well respected strategist, did not know what to expect, and was entirely surprised when Ghazkull overwhelmed a Hive along the coast with a fleet of submarines he had his meks cobble together in the "useless" waters further upstream.

And yet, Skarfang, the Pirate Warboss on Ghorala in the same system, was assassinated by the Tyranids simply because he didn't use tactics. The Tyranids pissed him off by using simple feint attacks. When he got pissed off and charged out, they trapped his entire bodyguard using Venomthropes to obscure their vision, and then Lictors to kill them.

Which is why I remarked in a previous post that after a few decades to weed out the idiots, the average Ork leader would be significantly more intelligent.

How useful is a "few decades" anyway? If the Orks would want to stand a fair chance against Tyranids they need good generals now, not later. We constantly change, even during the same battle. How useful is an army led by "idiots" against the devious intellect of the Hive Mind? Just food for thought.

And they do have them; Gazhkul Thraka, for instance. He has exhibited extraordinary strategic intelligence, even by human standards, and it is likely he will survive to lead the Orks against the Tyranids. The issue is more with regard to the tribal level; it is at this point that the Orks do have time on their hands; the Hive Ships are slow compared to Ork Space-Hulks, and so long as they have a good leader to direct general movements, individual battles will hinge less on the intellect of the Warbosses directly involved. It certainly helps, but it will not be so essential that the Orks cannot afford a few years for natural selection to take its course.

wrote: We constantly change, even during the same battle. How useful is an army led by "idiots" against the devious intellect of the Hive Mind? Just food for thought

We constantly change, even during the same battle...

We...

Has a brood brother unwittingly revealed himself to us? Is earth, even now under assault by the nefarious tyranid menace? Call the bloodaxes! No more words! This contest will be decided by force of arms!

Time traveling 'Nids... And I wanted to see middle age.

Scrabb wrote:

wrote: We constantly change, even during the same battle. How useful is an army led by "idiots" against the devious intellect of the Hive Mind? Just food for thought

We constantly change, even during the same battle...

We...

Has a brood brother unwittingly revealed himself to us? Is earth, even now under assault by the nefarious tyranid menace? Call the bloodaxes! No more words! This contest will be decided by force of arms!

OMG, your right. They could be all around us!

Yes, there is obviously a limit to what the Hive-mind can do. However memories have no downside.... being able to recount your loss and death to a foe and learning from that has no negative effects and this is what every Tyranid creature can do. Someone said earlier that the arrival of the Swarmlord meant the 'nids are losing or something along those lines. This is far from why it would show up, stress induced is a broad term, there is no doubt the Orks will be the toughest fight in this galaxy so far so the Hive-mind is going to want to get it over with. So why not send your second in command into a green thriving area of space just FILLED with biomass?

There are a few things I'd like to add to this discussion. Firstly, in the numbers game between orks and nids there are more known orks than nids in the galaxy. The number of nids in galaxy may be 40%, 10%, 5% 1% or almost zero percent of all nids total ever. They may all already be here. They may be running from a greater power, they may not be. So right now, orks can completely overpower what nids there are in the galaxy.

This is true, but not all these Orks will be in every battle, they simply cant be. If the 'nids are attacking an Ork occupied planet the Orks 500 million light-years away don't matter. The thing about the Tyranids is that they are all in this Hive fleet and a good portion of a tendril is released onto just one planet. I dont know much of Ork populations but a Tyranid assault consists of billions of creatures in a single battle, wouldn't they outnumber the Orks of a single world?

Also, I think I may have already pointed this out (I cant remember) but the theory on 'nids running from something greater really doesn't make sense, when do they run from battles they are losing?

Can orks 'sporify' inside of hive ships? Or inside other beings at all?

Can orks 'sporify' inside of hive ships? Or inside other beings at all?

As far as I know, spores can reside virtually anywhere. If the Orks were able to take control of a Hive Ship, they could hypothetically redesign it to their own tastes using the rapid growing fungus that springs up around settlements.

If a Hive Ship became infested with Orks, the Hive mind would probably just destroy the ship. They know when there's something they don't want (eg the Ymgarl Genestealers).


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Shrouger wrote:

While they need to store the information of what they are fighting to recall later, they still do evolve quickly to new threats. The bit about fighting the Tau - that's the first time they were fighting against Tau. They had never been shot by those weapons or fought against those tactics before. Yet they evolved protection simply in the short time between engagements. They couldn't recall those evolutions, since they didn't exist yet.

Who's to say they had not encountered a similar race at some point? The Imperium has discovered and destroyed countless races not disimilar to the Tau; it would not be impossible for the Tyranids to attack and devour some race that either traded with the Tau or had developed similar tech independently (it's bound to happen when you have thousands of races all trying to live in the same galaxy)

Just saw this, so...

They have vanguard organisms that infiltrate ahead of the fleet, and send back information (eg Lictors). If they saw that Tau were using similar technology to what they'd previously encountered, then they'd have shown up with suitable defensive mutations, not reactively adapted after each battle to whatever new weapon the Tau brought out.

The spores cannot "infest" Hive ships. How would Ork spores survive in space? Devoid of Oxygen, and no pressure? Can a normal ork jump out into space without a helmet?

Footsloggin wrote:The spores cannot "infest" Hive ships. How would Ork spores survive in space? Devoid of Oxygen, and no pressure? Can a normal ork jump out into space without a helmet?

Don't know much about spores do you, and yes Orks can for short amout of time servive in space.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Footsloggin wrote:The spores cannot "infest" Hive ships. How would Ork spores survive in space? Devoid of Oxygen, and no pressure? Can a normal ork jump out into space without a helmet?

Apparently Fighta-bombers operate fine with the crew compartment being unpressurised and semi open to space. So Surviving in space for short periods doesn't seem much of a problem for orks.

I'd like to take a side moment to discuss the fact that the Nids come from a different unknown galaxy. It is not too far off topic since we are talking about the far future in the future of the 40k future. LOL.

Some people speculate, and think it is "speculated" in the codex as well, that the Tyranids are on the run from something. I don't have my codex with me at the moment, but if it is mentioned in the codex, then it is most likely a marketing ploy of GW to keep us on our toes. Then again, what isn't a GW marketing ploy.

But let us explore that idea a little bit... If, and I do mean IF, the Nids are running from something, then what ever it is, has got to be at least 20 times worse than the Nids themselves. Anything that can put fear into the heart of the Hive Mind would be able to over power the Orks and the Nids combined IMO. If this unknown force is actually and actively chasing after the Nids, we would have a whole new can of worms to talk about which would be off topic. I think it was mentioned by some one on this thread that it could be Orks the Nids are running from. Doubt it... Why would the Hive Mind run from one group of Orks, just to stop and fight a different group of Orks? So if they are being chased out of the galaxy by something, IMO it is beyond our mortal comprehension to know what that thing is, and let us pray it wont follow the Nids.

So let us put the Nids running scared idea out of our mind. Logically, I would say the reason the Nids left their home galaxy in the first place is because all the food is gone. Nids are like locusts moving from crop to crop, devouring and moving on to the next. So I propose that these first Hive Fleets we see are really just scouting parties sent out in all directions until a suitable food supply is found. At that point the main Hive Fleet, if not the Hive Mind itself, will arrive for the final feast. Since we are talking about the future of the 40k future, I would say it has been plenty of time for the main fleet to arrive. This would spell disaster for every other race. These scouting parties we've seen so far, are sizable enough to simply get the party started, and keep the Tyranid party going long enough for the main fleet to arrive. I would say The main Hive Fleet is a lot worse than anything we have seen thus far. The main Hive Fleet has the entire collected biomass of an entire galaxy, aside from what was initially spared to create the scouting parties, who are self sufficient from then on. Plus, the main fleet has the entire army of what ever type of army that was needed to devour said previous galaxy. This means more Tyranid creatures we have never seen before, who knows, these new ones might have the equivalent of a dozen starship sizes plasma cannons strapped together to blast wholes through planets... Who knows? Certainly not GW, and if they do the certainly are not telling us.