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.

Harriticus wrote:

Commisar Von Humps wrote:

And plus, i have no idea why the Tyranids haven't just eaten all the Tau yet, i mean did the nids just completley miss the majority of the Tau empire ?

I don't think there's much in the way of genetic bonuses they could gain from wasting a lot of resources consuming the Tau. They're a small/physically weak race.

But by consuming the Ethereals, they could literally make the other races line up to be devoured...

the T'au wouldn't have any useful DNA to assimilate, but there is still Biomass.


the Kroot might be worth a nom though.


the Nids might be avoiding the t'au because of the Tendril that got beaten. they could be waiting for that tendril to assimilate it's knowledge into Anti-t'au forms that are resistant to their weaponry.

or they might be surrounding the t'au for an epic 129,600 degree(360 squared) nomfest

Grey Templar wrote:the T'au wouldn't have any useful DNA to assimilate, but there is still Biomass.


the Kroot might be worth a nom though.


the Nids might be avoiding the t'au because of the Tendril that got beaten. they could be waiting for that tendril to assimilate it's knowledge into Anti-t'au forms that are resistant to their weaponry.

or they might be surrounding the t'au for an epic 129,600 degree(360 squared) nomfest

I like that idea, but I dont think they are avoiding them though. I read a post in another forum that more 'nids are moving towards them.

Grey Templar wrote:the Kroot might be worth a nom though.

Nope.

It was mentioned in 3rd ed in a WD that Tyranids and Kroot both tend to stay away from the genetic material of the other because of the fact that they both have mutable DNA.

you might get a constantly changing tyranid running after you!

xXSir MontyXx wrote: you might get a constantly changing tyranid running after you!

*shudders*
now THAT would be creepy!

Revenent Reiko wrote:

xXSir MontyXx wrote: you might get a constantly changing tyranid running after you!

*shudders*
now THAT would be creepy!

Ymgarl Genestealers say 'Hi'.

-Loki- wrote:

Revenent Reiko wrote:

xXSir MontyXx wrote: you might get a constantly changing tyranid running after you!

*shudders*
now THAT would be creepy!

Ymgarl Genestealers say 'Hi'.

No, I mean a Tyranid that is morphing right in front of your eye's. Growing extra arms and dropping them off .

-Loki- wrote:

Revenent Reiko wrote:

xXSir MontyXx wrote: you might get a constantly changing tyranid running after you!

*shudders*
now THAT would be creepy!

Ymgarl Genestealers say 'Hi'.

oops!

Couldn't the Imperium to defend against Nid Hive ships just fire canisters full of a really powerful acid (Lets say Hydroflouric acid(H-F)) at hive ships and have them split open as soon as they get near the ships and sit back and watch the biomass dissolve before their eyes

Hlaine Larkin mk2 wrote:Couldn't the Imperium to defend against Nid Hive ships just fire canisters full of a really powerful acid (Lets say Hydroflouric acid(H-F)) at hive ships and have them split open as soon as they get near the ships and sit back and watch the biomass dissolve before their eyes

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Bolt_weapon
see 'Hellfire Rounds'
but since this would instantly evaporate in the vacuum of space...it wont work on the Hive ships unfortunately

The Hive Fleet would also instantly react and grow Acid Resistant carapaces on all their ships.

Grey Templar wrote:The Hive Fleet would also instantly react and grow Acid Resistant carapaces on all their ships.

Everyone loves the 'nid's

The problem that people would have with beating nids would be thier adaptability and thier relentlessness. I mean, look at Macarrge. The Nid's brought the fourth most important Imperial planet to its knees. Terra being the most important, the Mars, then Cadia, then Macarrge.

Well it is possible isn't it. The galaxy has an up and a down. Sol could be attacked from both directions at once (assuming a communication between fleets, which is not even hinted at). As many posters have pointed out; virtually every soldier and ship in the galaxy would be recalled. However what if these soldiers were already engaged? Can the grey knight afford to permit the summoning of one of the 666 to stop nids? Can Cadia really be emptied leaving the eye open? Can ultramar be abandoned by the sons of Guilliman if that area of space is already crawling? Can the regiments in the damocles gulf abandon all those planets to the expansions of the tau? What if a tomb of necrons awakens? Can they truely afford to recall everyone? Even if they can, this lesson was learned in the Horus Heresy. The enemy is at the gates, it would take weeks for even the nearest legions to arrive, years for the furthest, by which time nids would have nommed everything down to the emperors bones. And with no head honcho, the gak hits the fan.

xXSir MontyXx wrote:

-Loki- wrote:

Revenent Reiko wrote:

xXSir MontyXx wrote: you might get a constantly changing tyranid running after you!

*shudders*
now THAT would be creepy!

Ymgarl Genestealers say 'Hi'.

No, I mean a Tyranid that is morphing right in front of your eye's. Growing extra arms and dropping them off .

... um, Ymgarl Genestealers say 'Hi'.

They morph their arms between different weapons and their carapace thickness and shape in seconds.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Hlaine Larkin mk2 wrote:Couldn't the Imperium to defend against Nid Hive ships just fire canisters full of a really powerful acid (Lets say Hydroflouric acid(H-F)) at hive ships and have them split open as soon as they get near the ships and sit back and watch the biomass dissolve before their eyes

For one, after the first few hit, they'd know what the toxin was and they'd start altering their ships in defense of it. Their ships are quite capable of it, BFG has fluff describing them changing to be resistant to different weapons between engagments. Like, not growing new, resistant ship, just the ships adapting.

Secondly, the canisters wouldn't even hit the important ships. They have swarms of millions of spores around them which form a solid wall, like an organic void shield.

(assuming a communication between fleets, which is not even hinted at).

What? The hivemind controls ALL tyranids, how is communication not hinted at?

... um, Ymgarl Genestealers say 'Hi'.

They morph their arms between different weapons and their carapace thickness and shape in seconds.

I had no idea, I always wondered why the ymgarls where mentioned so much.

Inquisitor Bond wrote:(assuming a communication between fleets, which is not even hinted at)

One hive mind. There is one hive mind, the collective conciousness of every Tyranid organism in every fleet.

How is that not a clear enough hint?

The is a Hive Mind for every fleet, not one Hive Mind. Tyranids are cells in the organism of a fleet of hive ships. The hive mind is the collective consciousness of these cells communicating. It causes the "shadow in the warp" because all these lack of sentient cells communicating is a lot of "thought" data, like static.

there is ONE hive mind controlling all Nids.


the Shadow is the presense of the Hive Mind's signiture in the warp.

I don't think it is positively concluded either way, it was just my assumption, but if you have a source for your way please do enlighten me.

Grey Templar wrote:The Hive Fleet would also instantly react and grow Acid Resistant carapaces on all their ships.

What about the Life eater virus?

Inquisitor Bond wrote:I don't think it is positively concluded either way, it was just my assumption, but if you have a source for your way please do enlighten me.

there is one Hive Mind, THE Hive Mind, theres never been any question.
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Hive_Mind
a la Lexicanum

-Loki- wrote:

xXSir MontyXx wrote:

-Loki- wrote:

Revenent Reiko wrote:

xXSir MontyXx wrote: you might get a constantly changing tyranid running after you!

*shudders*
now THAT would be creepy!

Ymgarl Genestealers say 'Hi'.

No, I mean a Tyranid that is morphing right in front of your eye's. Growing extra arms and dropping them off .

... um, Ymgarl Genestealers say 'Hi'.

They morph their arms between different weapons and their carapace thickness and shape in seconds.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Hlaine Larkin mk2 wrote:Couldn't the Imperium to defend against Nid Hive ships just fire canisters full of a really powerful acid (Lets say Hydroflouric acid(H-F)) at hive ships and have them split open as soon as they get near the ships and sit back and watch the biomass dissolve before their eyes

For one, after the first few hit, they'd know what the toxin was and they'd start altering their ships in defense of it. Their ships are quite capable of it, BFG has fluff describing them changing to be resistant to different weapons between engagments. Like, not growing new, resistant ship, just the ships adapting.

Secondly, the canisters wouldn't even hit the important ships. They have swarms of millions of spores around them which form a solid wall, like an organic void shield.

Ok, I didn't know that. My knowledge of nids aint that great.

Couldn't the Imperium just use nukes like the US do in SGA against the Wraith ships, ehich seem to function similarly to hive ships. (They're even called the same thing)

unfortuntely not, the Hive Ships are followed/covered by spores and defending drone creatures which serve to stop many if not all enemy munitions. So, a single projectile would be stopped far short of its target.
There is also an example in the fluff of special drones which fire arcs of lightning at an Imperial shell (from a Nova cannon) and strip its outer casing, causing the charge to ignite (Courage and Honour i think)

Inquisitor Bond wrote:I don't think it is positively concluded either way, it was just my assumption, but if you have a source for your way please do enlighten me.

Are you sure you've actually been reading GW's fluff?

Every single reference to the hive mind has been about one hive mind. I've never read any fluff at all that alludes to there being a hive mind for each fleet, so I'm not sure where you got the idea. Care to give some page references?

I admit I don't have any, I just assumed that since each hive fleet behaved independently, and GW made a big deal about synapse, the range of the hive mind's communication was limited, so each hive fleet was an organism in the race that was the tyranidsss.

Inquisitor Bond wrote:I admit I don't have any, I just assumed that since each hive fleet behaved independently,

This doesn't mean they have their own hive mind. While no fluff has explained why they've been attacking in waves, no fluff has said that there is more than one hive mind. Theories range from they're the tips of a large force that is arriving early in some areas to the current hive fleets testing the galaxies defenses.

Inquisitor Bond wrote:and GW made a big deal about synapse, the range of the hive mind's communication was limited, so each hive fleet was an organism in the race that was the tyranidsss.

Don't take the tabletop synapse range at face value. it's just there as a gameplay mechanic.

Synapse does still have a limited range from synapse creatures to lesser creatures, though in fluff it's never described as short as it is in the game. Synapse creatures are always 'plugged in' though, so the range of the hive mind to creatures actually tapped in to it doesn't have any range that has ever been described. if they're a synapse creature, they are a hive mind link.

The shorter range to lesser creatures from synapse creatures is likely due to the psychic potential of the synapse creature itself. It's just the range is kept the same in gameplay to be less confusing.

think of the Hive fleets as arms. So, each one moving independantly, but controlled by the same mind.
And +1 to what Loki said.

Revenent Reiko wrote:unfortuntely not, the Hive Ships are followed/covered by spores and defending drone creatures which serve to stop many if not all enemy munitions. So, a single projectile would be stopped far short of its target.
There is also an example in the fluff of special drones which fire arcs of lightning at an Imperial shell (from a Nova cannon) and strip its outer casing, causing the charge to ignite (Courage and Honour i think)

Couldn't you just fire enogh that eventually one will slip thorugh, I know it wouldn't be that efficient but the Imperium as a whole isn't.