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After debating with myself over what my new army was going to be (for the fourth or fifth time), I began thinking of how perhaps there could be another extra-galactic race that is trying to stop the Tyranids. Now, I know that no one likes the Tyranids, but then I found this on the Lexicanum:

The Tyranids are seen as a grave threat to the entire galaxy. As of now, they have consumed one thousand galaxies and are responsible for the annihilation of millions of intelligent species.

Is this true? The quote is supposedly from UK WD 145, but while I don't doubt the Lexicanum, I kind of doubt the Lexicanum. I mean, that would put the Tyranid force at far beyond ancient, perhaps even more ancient than the Necrons, simply because that would mean that the Tyranids have not only consumed part of the local cluster of galaxies, but at least part of the local supercluster, meaning that they would had to spend at least 90% of their existence travelling between galaxy clusters. 55mly is not a short distance, and unless they have one hell of a hyperdrive, it would take tens of millions of years to cross. Even in a universe where everything is turned up to 11, this would put the Tyranids at a 12 (including the Hydraphant profile located here: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=409729), and meaning that the Tyranid forces attacking the Milky Way are barely a fraction of the full Tyranid force.

So i guess I have three questions:
1. Do the Tyranids simply float from galaxy to galaxy, or do they have some sort of FTL capability other than Warp travel?
1a. Because if Warp travel is all they have, perhaps the warp spreads far, far beyond the Milky Way? (sorry if this has been explained before).

2.Would it be possible that the Tyranids are some sort of genetically engineered superspecies, like the Zerg of Starcraft?

3. Would it then be possible for the creators of the Tyranids to have fled from their now infinitely out of control creation to other galaxies, in hopes that they can rally each galaxy to arms against the Tyranids? This race would be like the Grey Knights to the Daemons, except the daemons are Tyranids, and the Grey Knights aren't xenophobic. Or grey.

1/.
They use Narwhals (imperial name for them) which create a stable wormhole effect, IIRC. The Hive fleet travels along the wormhole, mostly shut down.

1a /. The warp extends anywhere the universe does. Its a parallel dimension.

2/. Thats one very popular theory. No proof, but it's possible..

3/. Posisble, but no proof again. They could have gotten et too

I'm an avid editor on Lexicanum and I'm highly skeptical of that quote too (I've done most of the 5th Edition Necron units on there for instance). I have no access to WD 145 so I can't verify it

It's outdated fluff even if the quote itself is real, Tyranid origin/history has (correctly) been left more ambiguous in 4th/5th edition codex's.

Though in both of the newer codices, they point to Imperium conjecture that the waves of 'Nids hitting their planets are just little splinter scout fleets of a much, much larger wave of doom.

Kirbinator wrote:Though in both of the newer codices, they point to Imperium conjecture that the waves of 'Nids hitting their planets are just little splinter scout fleets of a much, much larger wave of doom.

I read this as well, and there's also the theory that because of the various directions the hive fleets are entering the galaxy in, then perhaps each fleet might be from a different galaxy. Given that there's about 30 galactic bodies in ourr local cluster, this would make sense, at least more sense than "thousands of galaxies" which, as I said earlier, is ridiculous, even by 40k standards.

How do we know they consumed the galaxy/galaxies they are coming from. maybe they are fleeing, like roaches from a bug bomb , maybe they were drove out by the other galaxies, or maybe even the last place they were was full of pansies...now they have a fight!

All in a fun spirit dont get your chitin all in a uproar.

I believed that the Tyranids were the 'last resort' created by the Old Ones to starve the C'tan by eating every bit of organic matter in the galaxy, but now the threat the C'tan impose has been retconned of course. Actually, the idea might be a little silly, as the C'tan could easily just return to devouring stars.

Soo'Vah'Cha wrote:How do we know they consumed the galaxy/galaxies they are coming from. maybe they are fleeing, like roaches from a bug bomb , maybe they were drove out by the other galaxies, or maybe even the last place they were was full of pansies...now they have a fight!

All in a fun spirit dont get your chitin all in a uproar.

There is something about them being driven into our galaxy by the outsider IIRC

Deathly Angel wrote:I believed that the Tyranids were the 'last resort' created by the Old Ones to starve the C'tan by eating every bit of organic matter in the galaxy, but now the threat the C'tan impose has been retconned of course. Actually, the idea might be a little silly, as the C'tan could easily just return to devouring stars.

I also believe that the tyranids were created as a last resort "clean sheet" scenario for the Old ones after the were all dying off and created the warp on accident. Also as a Feth You to the C'tan and Necrons

The problem with that theory is that there's nothing to support it, or indeed to demand any other explanation for the Tyranids than that they are ravenous extra-galactic aliens who have come to consume our galaxy. Their history, prior to their contact with the Imperium has been left deliberately blank by the studio for the sake of emphasising how "alien" they really are, and differentiating them as an external threat.

I'd add that it obviously cannot have originally been the studio's intention to connect the Tyranids with the C'tan, since their background (as it now exists, ignoring Rogue Trader) was established back in 1993, the best part of a decade before the Necrons, C'tan and Old Ones were added to the background. I have to say that I would find it unwelcome indeed to have the Tyranids retconned into "having been the Old Ones' pawns all along".

McNinja wrote:Now, I know that no one likes the Tyranids, but then I found this on the Lexicanum:

The Tyranids are seen as a grave threat to the entire galaxy. As of now, they have consumed one thousand galaxies and are responsible for the annihilation of millions of intelligent species.

Is this true? The quote is supposedly from UK WD 145, but while I don't doubt the Lexicanum, I kind of doubt the Lexicanum.

From what I have been able to gather by trawling through the webternet (my collection of "close to 20 year old White Dwarfs" is, sadly, a bit lacking ), WD 145 does state that. However, that issue is from Jan 1992 and 1st edition 40K, the days when Ultra-marines were a third founding chapter with the gene-seed of a traitor legion, half- eldar were running rampant and other such nonsense was commonplace. Things have changed a bit, and the current main rulebook contains this snippet instead:

"Behind the Hive Fleets lie the barren husks of a dozen galaxies already consumed." - p. 166

So, whether or not the Tyranids were once said to have consumed a thousand galaxies, that number has been retconned down a fair amount. Fortunately Lexicanum is a wiki, so I've updated the page. e: Or not, since there are apparently policies forbidding the removal of unverifiable and long since retconned fluff.

McNinja wrote:1. Do the Tyranids simply float from galaxy to galaxy, or do they have some sort of FTL capability other than Warp travel?

Tyranids don't use warpspace for travel. Instead, they use creatures called Narvhals who detect the 'gravimetric signals' of distant star systems and use that systems own gravity to create a corridor of compressed space-time. The Tyranids then travel through this corridor at subluminal speeds, and are ejected a few years of conventional transit outside the system as the 'subtle traces that the Narvhal uses to navigate' are drowned out by more conventional gravitational forces.
At least, that's how they travel between stars. I don't believe their method of intergalatic travel has ever been expanded upon beyond taking a really, really long time, so maybe they use the same method and travel at the same speeds between galaxies. Or maybe they just go into hibernation and slowboat it in regular space.

Soo'Vah'Cha wrote:maybe they are fleeing, like roaches from a bug bomb [...]

That's a fairly popular theory, enough to get mentioned in the Tyranid codex. Trouble is, other fluff pointing to them already having nommed other galaxies and the codex also claiming that the Astronomicon is what's drawing the Tyranids here make that theory kinda unlikely.

TheAngrySquig wrote:There is something about them being driven into our galaxy by the outsider IIRC

I think you're thinking of the 'anomolous hivefleet movement' of Leviathan to avoid the supposed Dyson shell that the Outsider supposedly resides in. Supposedly.

English Assassin wrote:I'd add that it obviously cannot have originally been the studio's intention to connect the Tyranids with the C'tan, since their background (as it now exists, ignoring Rogue Trader) was established back in 1993, the best part of a decade before the Necrons, C'tan and Old Ones were added to the background.

Though it would be possible for the studio to have intended to connect the C'tan with the Tyranids, no? d:
Also, I feel obliged to mention that the C'tan were first mentioned as early as '95, the Necrons showed up a couple of years later and the Old Ones have been part of the background (in some form or another) ever since Rogue Trader came out.

How dose this theory fit with with the Catachan devil? My codex (3rd ED) suggest that it's a left behind of an earlier hive fleet before recorded history.

Comparing the new Necrons fluff with the current Tyranid fluff, it certainly seems possible that the outsider is herding the 'nids into the Milky Way since:

a) he would have fled the galaxy when the necrons began enslaving the C'tan and

b) he would be looking for revenge but would need to get rid of the galaxy's living species before he could begin a final showdown.

c) The end result of the tyranids' successful consumption of the milky way would leave both the necrons and stars (a C'tan's food source) relatively untouched. Coincidence?

The tyranids could even be the Outsider's own creation, since their hive mind is not unlike a biological version of the necrons' command programming.

Ultimately, we can only base the origins of the nids on conjecture but all of these suggestions are really great

Maybe the Imperium, Eldar, Tau, etc. should just band together to beat the Tyranids. By which I mean tell all the Orks in the galaxy about the biggest fight in the history of combat, against creatures with a massive overabundance of teeth. It's like praying and spraying with a gatling gun. But each bullet is seven feet tall, green, and carries a hatchet. And it costs you nothing.