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.

Ok so im utterly confused about tyranids. so i have som questions
1: Biomass, How, in the field do the consume it and re purpose it?
2: How do their Projectile weapons work?
3: Genestealers, They in general confuse me. Sending in an advance wave of an army that relies on swarm tactics makes no sense to me.
4: Hive mind. Does it control ALL tyranids? and what is it?
5: IS all they exist to do is eat? and did they exhaust all biomass in their galaxy?

If you go to lexicanum they tell you everything you need to know about 40k. Thats always the first place i go to check fluff.

hotsauceman1 wrote:Ok so im utterly confused about tyranids. so i have som questions
1: Biomass, How, in the field do the consume it and re purpose it?
2: How do their Projectile weapons work?
3: Genestealers, They in general confuse me. Sending in an advance wave of an army that relies on swarm tactics makes no sense to me.
4: Hive mind. Does it control ALL tyranids? and what is it?
5: IS all they exist to do is eat? and did they exhaust all biomass in their galaxy?

1. Well, biomass is the flesh of every living thing, In the field they don't eat the biomass stores on the ship. If a Tyranid in the field is hungry it'll catch a bird or fish, though I think a Carnifex would need to eat a cow.
2. Read the description of the gun, it'll tell you.
3. Genestealers and Lictors serve as scouts, in essence the Genestealers and Lictors direct the swarm to prey planets.
4. Yes. No one knows, he hasn't shown up yet.
5.Yep, and they're exploring the universe by taste.

hotsauceman1 wrote:
1: Biomass, How, in the field do the consume it and re purpose it?

See section "Planetary Assimilation"

2: How do their Projectile weapons work?

See here

3: Genestealers, They in general confuse me. Sending in an advance wave of an army that relies on swarm tactics makes no sense to me.

They gather intelligence on the local species and undermine it through the creation of Genestealer Cults see here

4: Hive mind. Does it control ALL tyranids? and what is it?

See Here

5: IS all they exist to do is eat?

Yup, that's all they do. They have no other goal, motive, or purpose.

and did they exhaust all biomass in their galaxy?

It's unknown.

hotsauceman1 wrote:Ok so im utterly confused about tyranids. so i have som questions
1: Biomass, How, in the field do the consume it and re purpose it?

Rippers follow the attack waves like a living carpet. They simply eat everything they pass over. Wounded and dead from both sides, and anything else that is immediately edible. Once they are 'full', they make their way to a digestion pool, throw themselves in, and get broken down into 'biomass' along with that they ate. This biomass is then sucked up through capillary towers to hive ships in orbit. How they use it isn't written about much.

hotsauceman1 wrote:2: How do their Projectile weapons work?

Gas emissions and muscle contractions propel them from the weapons. The ammo itself is another organism that has some kind of lethal ability (Stranglethorn ammo explodes outwards like a net, and contracts quickly, crushing those caught, Fleshborer ammo is a little beetle that eats whatever it burrows into, Devourer ammo is little worms that make their way to the victoms brain, etc).

hotsauceman1 wrote:3: Genestealers, They in general confuse me. Sending in an advance wave of an army that relies on swarm tactics makes no sense to me.

It's called a vanguard. They send out Genestealers and Lictors to assess planets that would be good targets. Once they have reproduced to the point where their psychic beacon is strong (showing that theyere's biological assets to live on, and thus convert to biomass), a hive fleet reacts to it. Don't think of them as an advanc wave of attackers, they're scouts.

hotsauceman1 wrote:4: Hive mind. Does it control ALL tyranids? and what is it?

It's a psychic collective conciousness of every Tyranid creature. It controls all Tyranids that are either synaptic or in range of a synapse creature. Anything outside its influence reverts to its base instincts.

hotsauceman1 wrote:5: IS all they exist to do is eat? and did they exhaust all biomass in their galaxy?

They've eaten their way through a dozen galaxies. Their motives are not known, GW keeps them a mystery. We know they relentlessly eat, and we know they continually use what they learn to adapt into the ultimate predator, but beyond that, their motives are unknown.

Also remember, biomass may well include some metals like Iron. Our bodies have half a dozen metals we could not live without. When they leave a planet behind, that planet is truly nothing but an empty rock that can not never support life again.