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By which I mean co-opt a sentient human, mutate them and place them inside the greater hive mind. Not become overlord of the tyranid race or anything silly like that. Sort of like an alien version of chaos corruption; but not like genestealer hybrids which are just slaved drones.

Can and have. See Genestealer cults.

Also, that predates Starcraft by a decade.

DarknessEternal wrote:Can and have. See Genestealer cults.

Are stealers sentient beyond James Camerons Aliens level? I know that in the old rules they could operate guard weapons and armour. Would that include residual traces of human emotion and memory?

Totalwar1402 wrote:

DarknessEternal wrote:Can and have. See Genestealer cults.

Are stealers sentient beyond James Camerons Aliens level? I know that in the old rules they could operate guard weapons and armour. Would that include residual traces of human emotion and memory?

Hybrids possessed a measure of the host race's technological capability, hence their ability to use weapons and vehicles, I don't recall purestrain 'Stealers ever doing so.

First Ciaphas Cain novel.

(Big spoiler if your planning to read)


That should pretty much solve that.

Genestealers and their hybrids are extremely intelligent. They don't just set up shop, skulk in shadows, and abduct people to use as hosts. They infiltrate the government structure, putting hybrids in positions of power until they can manipulate their way into putting either a hybrid or their broodlord in the governors seat.

The goal of which is, when a hive fleet turns up, they can just tell the military forces 'alls good, don't worry about the skies thickening with spores, nothing bad's going to happen' and the fleet can just mosey in. The 5th edition book even talks about them being so good at the infiltration that they've convinced entire planetary populations to accept their new insect overlords and walk into a waiting landed hive ship.

DarknessEternal wrote:Can and have. See Genestealer cults.

Also, that predates Starcraft by a decade.

Not only that, but several of the original artists and writers played WH40k and used many ideas from 40k, such as Zerg (Tyranids) and the Terran Marines (Adeptus Astartes).

Don't genestealers have a strong sense of self preservation? So as to spread their influence to more planets?

Some do, some don't. When the Tyranid attack arrives, some will seek out fleeing transports and hide, which lets them spread to other planets. Some will attack from within the defenses, acting as infiltrating shock troops.

Isn't it the farther the Genestealers are from the Hivemind, the greater amount of autonomy they have?

infinite_array wrote:Isn't it the farther the Genestealers are from the Hivemind, the greater amount of autonomy they have?

Yes, up to and including the centuries-long game of ping-pong the Ymgarls have been playing. Their group mind and instinct drives them to seek out worlds in the path of a Hive Fleet, so that they can be embraced by the Synapse web and rejoin the Tyranid "race". The Hive Mind then dominates them, uses them and promptly leaves them on the scoured worlds. If said Ymgarls are ever picked up by other life, then they resume their search for a Tyranid Hive Fleet.

Regular Genestealers, as much as you can call them that, simply work in reverse. Their independent instincts drive them to preserve their own lives, and this includes them hitching rides off of doomed planets. This would imply that they are smart enough to know that the Hive Fleet will consume them, and that they would prefer to avoid this fate. The Hive Fleet would of course be fine with this, because what could be better than a bioweapon that actually loads itself into the bomb, loads the bomb into a launches, carries thhat launcher to the target and then fires itself all on its own?