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So it was that I jumped up the bandwagon of 'Niddy goodiness, and started collecting a suitable Tyranid force.. Oh great, another jerk who's fooled by GW's new Tyranid franchise and blindly buys two-three Trygon kits..

On the contrary..

When I first encounterd Tyranids, it was in the -almost forgotten- third ed. of Warhammer 40.000, with all those gritty, lovely second ed. Tyranid miniature range, wich still hold their tendrils thight around my heart. -darn symbionts!- Anyhow, seeing that Tyranids are the Ultimate predators, and that they can rapidly evolve to counter the many obstacles they meet (Tau with their fancy slingshot weaponry, Guard with their massed Artillery/Mechanised assault, and Astartes who generally kick their butts over and over again just because they suffer from Xenophobia) there was always something that bothered me; THEY ARE NOT SCARY ENOUGH!

Being a fan of Lovecraft and Giger, I began drawing concept scetches of Cthulhu/Xenomorph 'Nids, and started to smack together a Zoanthrope made from a Plastic Warrior Body, 2nd. Ed. Zoanthrope head with sculpted feeder tendrils and Hormagaunt scything talons. Whilst building "Zoey", I watched Neon Genesis Evangelion, and a Idea so far-fetched and possibly so original began to develop in the depths of my warped mind; What if Tyranids were a Bio-Mechanical lifeform?

We have all seen General Grievous, the EVA-mechs in NGE, and several other concepts of cyborg/Bio-Mechanical lifeforms in various movies and other sources.. But how could I explain why Tyranids were a Bio-Mechanical lifeform? Already before that question manifested itself in my brain, the answer was as clear as daylight; What if a group of Rogue Magos Technicus, Magos Metallurgicus, Magos Alchemys, Magos Physic, Magos Biologis, Magos Genetor, Magos Cybernetica created these Bio-Mechanical Tyranids in order to deal with the Great Devourer treath on a whole new level? Thus was Hive Fleet Toruk born, in form of Bio-Mechanical Tyranid organisms counterparts, from the lowly Ripper to the massive hulking form of a Carnifex.

I haven't ironed a suitable fluff-background yet, only the basic "What If?" theme.. so, without further ago, I give you Tyranicus Mechanii Battlefield Command Unit Alpha 00, codenamed "Ripley"

Ripley's face.. Note the Cyclone rocket launcher system that counts as a twin-linked Devourer with Brainleech Worms


A side view of Ripley.. a lot of parts from my bits box came to use here..


A fron view of Ripley.. Note the Astartes jump packs that are cut up and alligned so that they look like those chimney/vent things on the backs of larger tyranid organisms, and count as Toxic Miasma..


Another side view of Ripley.. can you spot the Adrenal Gland and Toxic Sacks?


Ripley's arm of business. Counts as a Bonesword -in a stowed position, that is-


Another shot of Ripley's Bonesword arm.. note the little generator used to surround the blade with a power field.

Note that Ripley isn't finished at all, as she requires a little Green Stuff here and there to give her some curves.. i.e; make her more "Giger-ish".
C&C more then welcome,
Cheers, FerrumIgnatus

this reeks of awesomeness

Have to see more, I like the fluff sofar,..rogue Magos and friends building, Mech nids!!

It looks pretty big, do you have scale pics?


Subscribed!!

Oh, that's realllll cool!

You should check out the TWAR Systems log that was floating around a while back - his version was a much cleaner, anime-inspired take on reimagining the nids.

Looking good!

Oh My :O thats nice....

Subbed!!

Ooo... I like the idea, and what you've done so far is very promising.

I'm very big on the idea of techno-organic systems, a sort of limited nanotechnology where they can grow more or grow back limbs and the like.

whoa!

That's really superbly awesome! I can't wait to see more.

This looks surprisingly like the "Prawns" from Distrcit 9.

I'm a fan, the fluff that you have worked out is incredibly cool!

The only thing I could ask for is... MOAR!!!

Looking cool. Inventive use if of a SM backpack for the head. Looking at your setup, have you consider getting some sentinel legs? They would seem to fit the theme.

oh my goodness, its like a spliting image of the Slig from abe's odyssey, Look;

Well, one can say that i was inspired by the Prawn Mecha in district 9, as well as the EVA's in Neon Genesis Evangelion. The fact that it is striking similar the Slig from Abe's Odyssey is pure luck, although i have played that game on my PS1..

I've been asking my friends as well for their support in terms of bits they don't use any more for my "Spare Parts for a Tin Can 'Nid" fond.. and yes, I am thinking of using sentinel parts, but I have to think out a concept.. that's the downside of this project; You have to visualise the model inside your head with the parts you've intended to use, and that alone takes up a great amount of time..

I'm also tinkering with the idea of building a Trygon, using Defiler bits, Aegis Defence line bits, some scratch build Hades siege drill parts and a lot of cut-up tubing.. (Think Devastator from Revenge of the Fallen, only with a serpentine body.)

I'm going to post some more pics today, but I am quite busy doing some enforced labor in form of spring cleaning.. (bah)

Thanks for the comments!

Your kitbashing-fu is strong!

This is shaping up to be a great project. I especially like the SM backpack in Ripley's face. It's so well integrated that it took me a few seconds to realize what bit it actually was. Good stuff so far, I'm looking forward to more updates.

Looking good!

I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

Time for updates, my fellow dakkaites.


Did some more work on the legs today, and at last, Ripley stands on her own!


An unfortunate Iron Warrior fails to notice Ripley..


Ripley standing beside my beloved Dreadnought, Reijo. Even I was surprised over how big Ripley had become..

That's it for now, folks..
Cheers, FI

Definitely a cool idea, but there's one thing that interests me.

Tyranids harvest biomass to create more Nids, correct? Clearly, your Nids are not made of biomass, so what do they harvest? Are they suddenly going to start attacking Necrons for their parts (who would normally be left alone, Necrons have no biomass)?

My 'Nids DO have biomass, actually, but that is protected inside their armoured shells.. I must confess, I haven't thought out just how EXACTLY they harvest the biomass/metal needed to create themselves, although the Replicators from Stargate SG1 provide a reasonable excuse here..

Love the idea!
I think Ripley looks a tad anarexic though, add some extra armour and stuff imo!

FerrumIgnatus wrote:the Replicators from Stargate SG1 provide a reasonable excuse here..

Replicators for the WIN!! maybe they (magos and friends) had a sample of necron living metal stuff thingy something,....crossed it with Tyranid DNA.... Tyranicus Mechanii was born, and went out of control and slowly started devouring worlds.....

FerrumIgnatus wrote:My 'Nids DO have biomass, actually, but that is protected inside their armoured shells.. I must confess, I haven't thought out just how EXACTLY they harvest the biomass/metal needed to create themselves, although the Replicators from Stargate SG1 provide a reasonable excuse here..

So it's sort of like a lobster.. XDD Sounds good!

Haha, brilliant example, anooci! Simple, yet so true.. Mecha-Lobster-'Nids. Just brilliant.. XD

Your nidz need to scavenge junk yards and harvest from Forge Worlds. Its brilliant I love the idea but I wanna see your gaunts

Haha, this is great, this has to rank up there with that ork ridden carnifex 'ive seen floating around here

Question: What does Ripley count as? I'm a little confused.

I think it's a Licotr or a fex.

Boss 'eadbreaka wrote:I think it's a Licotr or a fex.

Wrong, as she has a bonesword. She's a Hive Tyrant.

FerrumIgnatus wrote:

I give you Tyranicus Mechanii Battlefield Command Unit Alpha 00, codenamed "Ripley"

Its a tyrant.

Jupp, Ripley is a Tyrant with the following;

Twin-linked devourers w/ brainleech worms, implant attack, toxic miasma, armoured shell and has the Hive Commander ability and The Horror and Leech Essence Psychic powers.

This makes Ripley as pricey as the Swarmlord, which stomps in at a whopping 280 pts, so Ripley will be accompanied with a brood of Tyrant Guard..