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Well, inspired by the necron and alliances thread, it got me thinking.

Could/would tyranids EVER ally with a race?

Discuss

Von Chogg

Most definitely!!! Well indirectly I guess...

After they've consumed their biomass...

Well IG and Tau could work, genestealer infestation effects a large part of the population, especially the upper levels, the Guard or FWs are sent into battle against an enemy and tell the ill informed soldiers that the Tyranids are temporary xenos allies or a new race for the greater good. After the battle the Tyranids turn on the Guard or Tau. That actually sounds really awesome, a genestealer infestation effects the nobility of an Imperial world, guard regiments, under the command of a general from the world or their colonel if they are from the world are ordered to attack a xenos world that the Tyranids "just happen" to be invading and are ordered not to attack. After the planet is conquered the Tyranid turns on the Guard and they are forced to execute their tainted leaders and fight for their life.

I could possibly work with Eldar, but SM and Chaos aren't really possible, and Necrons are the opposite of the Tyranids and cannot be infected.

There was a lot of talk about psychic wackiness influencing or disrupting the hive mind or something like that among my friends when this would come up.

The genestealer cult sort of reasoning works alright too. Who knows, maybe there can be come communication with a brain bug some day to work towards a common goal, sort of the way eldar would twist minds and fate to prevent futures unforeseen by all but them.

Last resort, just look up some Starcraft fluff and find what you think works best. Its a cheap trick but it works.

Ah right, thanks guys

I figured for eldar it could be some psychic mindf*!# heh.

But I was just wondering what others thought

Von Chogg

Tyranids don't ally with Genestealer cults, they take control of the Brood conciousness of the Genestealer cult and consume it's members including the Genestealers themselves. The Hive mind itself has killed all who have made contact with it save Tigurius. Due to it's power and complexity having influence over it or messing with it would be beyond the characters in 40K, it would be like trying to control a Chaos god or worse.

Tyranids don't ally with other races, they consume them. However they do have the Cortex leech, also known as a mind slave. This takes people over allowing the Tyranids to control them or eat them without resistance. People under such influence may simply think that their interests are with the Tyranids and even if they begin to be consumed they will still reason it out in some way that it is what they want.

Ask Mat Ward he is the official KING of making up alliances in 40k....

You can contact him at GW and get his opinions.

Milisim wrote:Ask Mat Ward he is the official KING of making up alliances in 40k....

You can contact him at GW and get his opinions.

Yes, let's go down this avenue again... *sigh*

Back on topic, the Tyranids won't ally with anything. They are looking for food and regeneration, not friends. Tyranids cause other people to ally against them, like the aforementioned Blood Angels/Necron alliance. While short lived, the two armies realized it ass better to team il to kill the hordes than face mutual destruction.

In Heart of Rage by Jame Swallow there is a tyranid alliance with another race. (trying not to give any spoilers)

It seems to be only under a specific circumstance and on a very small scale.

There's nothing in theory to preclude Ork, Tau or even Eldar communities (in addition to human ones) from becoming infected by Genestealers, but that's the closest you're going to get.

In theory, if Tzeentch really wanted to, he could mindcrush a group of Tyranids into following a Sorceror. Though it would involve blocking the Hive fleet's signals and preventing them evolving the higher levels of the race.

I don't see it happening

SoloFalcon1138 wrote:

Milisim wrote:Ask Mat Ward he is the official KING of making up alliances in 40k....

You can contact him at GW and get his opinions.

Yes, let's go down this avenue again... *sigh*

Back on topic, the Tyranids won't ally with anything. They are looking for food and regeneration, not friends. Tyranids cause other people to ally against them, like the aforementioned Blood Angels/Necron alliance. While short lived, the two armies realized it ass better to team il to kill the hordes than face mutual destruction.

Still, they do have ways of forcing the hand of another side (genestealers and the cortex leeches or whatever) which they could use to their advantage. They wouldn't just let their former allies leave peacefully, but they would perhaps use them and their equipment to their advantage.

They never would.

If you want a game where they are allies, just either make some crazy/ridiculous stretch of fluff (like these Tyranids are under the control of their allies through blah blah blah) or preferably not bother with Fluff at all.

You want something thats goal is to destroy and consume all life to ally?

That's like asking a Lion to help a Zebra with groceries. It's not gonna work, no matter how you look at it.

Technically, Necron mind shackle scarabs could render a tyranid an unwitting slave, but I can't say how the interplay between that technology and the psychic presence of the hive mind would work out.

The Tyranid even consume themselves when they're done with a planet (in order to retrieve the biomass of their thousands of soldiers left on the now-stripped planet). A Genestealer Cult, being one of the weapons of the Tyranid, could, potentially, convince the populace of a world that there was nothing wrong with the clouds of mycetic spores raining down, but this is less an alliance and more just keeping the populace from defending itself.

Durza wrote:In theory, if Tzeentch really wanted to, he could mindcrush a group of Tyranids into following a Sorceror. Though it would involve blocking the Hive fleet's signals and preventing them evolving the higher levels of the race.

This would be incredible difficult to pull off. I really think no one less that Tzeentch himself could do this, seeing as how most weak psykers go crazy in the shadow in the warp and even powerful psykers have alot of trouble performing powers there as well.

Chowderhead wrote:That's like asking a Lion to help a Zebra with groceries. It's not gonna work, no matter how you look at it.

Dunno. Sounds like it would work out quite well for the lion.

Absolutely. Just ask Kryptman.

A small number of tyranids could be used as war-beasts under the proper circumstances by almost anyone. On the large scale, one important thing to an alliance is communication and the tyranids proper cannot speak.

CuddlySquig wrote:A small number of tyranids could be used as war-beasts under the proper circumstances by almost anyone. On the large scale, one important thing to an alliance is communication and the tyranids proper cannot speak.

Erm no... Tyranids starve without synaptic control.