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.

Of course the simple answer is to eat everything.

But what brought them here? I have three guess.

1. The overran the last galaxy they were in and exhausted the food supply. So the created the huge hive fleets and put them in a hibernation state and sent them off to all the neighboring galaxies. In other worlds they are simply migrating predators.

2. They are fleeing something that threatens their existence that they cannot fight off.

3. They were created by something outside our galaxy as a weapon to attack us. In other worlds they are just a weapon for some else.

Maybe the Giant Psychic Beacon that the Big E has been screaming out into the void for the last 10,000 years. It's like a big "Food Available here" sign!

The Shadow always follows the light?

^agreed, its probably how they find most of their prey.

Do you think that they came as soon as the Astronomican turned or more recently. Or were they even coming before that?

Yummy

Quite obvious, Silent King lead them here by accident when he stumbled upon them... jk

It could be the Alpha Legion's doing? If it walks like a 'nid, squarks like a 'nid, and fights like a 'nid it's probably an Alpha Legion marine.

You've missed the most likely options: Holiday

Let me explain, the Tyranids, after conquering their own galaxy and installing a benevolent democracy, they decided to go on holiday to the Butlins galaxy, unfortunately the daddy dominatrix couldn't read the map right and wouldn't pull over for directions so after driving around a while between galaxies they spotted a MASSIVE neon service station sign, it said astronomicon 500 light years this way, their repeated so called attacks on our galaxy are just hive fleets trying to get to the service station (Terra)

Actually, while the Astronomicon serves to keep them moving, the initial spark in the powder keg occured millenia before the Emperor's internment in the Golden Throne of Terra.

It is explained by the vast, vast distances involved in interstellar travel. For the Tyranids to be attacking when and where they are, they must have been drawn towards the galaxy by a signal that first had time to reach them, and then given that, for them to travel to us. Given that, we can easily narrow down events that could cause such a mass migration to occur, by tracing back significant events and pairing them against how long it would take for the Tyranids to receive and respond to the message.

Narrowing down the options available, we can rapidly eliminate most events as either inconsequential, poorly timed, or not of a nature that would possibly attract the Tyranid.

Thus I believe there is but one possibility of such power and lure.

http://freestuffpage.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/kfc.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYCT77YNHsk

The only hope of the Imperium... is the Colonel.

The theory explains everything. The timing is right. The great swarms are being directed at Terra. The Hive Mind, in all reality, surely believes the Emperor to actually BE the Colonel. Both use their rank as their title, and what else could inspire such fanatical loyalty in his trillions of followers? Who knows, perhaps the Hive Mind is entirely correct...

Would the psykic scream that Slaanesh let out at birth caused them to fly this way?

If not they might just have the munchies

They could be drawn by gravity. It is likely our galaxy was the nearest one to the last stopping point. The combined gravity of stars is like a massive load stone saying "go that way"

They came to our galaxy because we are tasty

Midnight snack for the Hive Mind.

They're fleeing the Borg!

Zookie wrote:1. The overran the last galaxy they were in and exhausted the food supply. So the created the huge hive fleets and put them in a hibernation state and sent them off to all the neighboring galaxies. In other worlds they are simply migrating predators.

This is obvious, since the rulebook states they've devoured previous galaxies already.

Zookie wrote:2. They are fleeing something that threatens their existence that they cannot fight off.

One reasonable explanation.

Zookie wrote:3. They were created by something outside our galaxy as a weapon to attack us. In other worlds they are just a weapon for some else.

No. We're just next on their way. Sheer time contraints go against this. They've hit a dozen galaxies before ours - that means even the War in Heaven wouldn't have started before they were finished with the previous galaxy - travel time between galaxies puts the war in heaven during their journey here, actually when they were getting quite close. They would have left the previous galaxy before the major players in this galaxy were even created by the old ones.

mwnciboo wrote:Maybe the Giant Psychic Beacon that the Big E has been screaming out into the void for the last 10,000 years. It's like a big "Food Available here" sign!

The Shadow always follows the light?

The astronomican doesn't even reach the edges of the galaxy, so they definitely didn't see it before they got here. They're just attracted to it now, which makes sense. It's a psychic beacon, the same thing their vanguards project when they've found a tasty planet. Only massive. Which is like saying, as you said, 'huge vanguard found huge tasty planet here!' to any hive fleets in the galaxy. But any outside the galaxy wouldn't see it, so it didn't bring them here.

-Loki- wrote:The astronomican doesn't even reach the edges of the galaxy, so they definitely didn't see it before they got here. They're just attracted to it now, which makes sense. It's a psychic beacon, the same thing their vanguards project when they've found a tasty planet. Only massive. Which is like saying, as you said, 'huge vanguard found huge tasty planet here!' to any hive fleets in the galaxy. But any outside the galaxy wouldn't see it, so it didn't bring them here.

Personally I go on the "filter theory". That the very first Tyranid vanguard organism that made it to the milky way sniffed and found out about the Astronomican, which then filtered the info back to the fleet, and then back to the hive-mind. at which point they have been thinking of every way possible to much on the emperors/astropaths brains.

I understand that most fleets so far have been veering towards the astronomicon. I don't know if it's why they showed up, but it certainly caught their attention / might have led to a larger swell of activity.

There's also a lot about the emperors devices he was tight lipped about. And the nature of the cabals plans for the milky way. For all we know it's those donkey-caves trying to wipe out our galaxy with something easier to control and then get things going again once chaos is less threatening.

LORD_PANTERA wrote:Would the psykic scream that Slaanesh let out at birth caused them to fly this way?

If not they might just have the munchies

This. A lot of people say that the tendrils are pointed towards Terra. Those same lines also lead them in the direction of the Eye of Terror. An event like the fall of the Eldar and the birth, of Slanesh. A Giant Rift between the Warp and regular space is probably a much more noticeable psychic beacon than the emperor.

Zookie wrote:

Of course the simple answer is to eat everything.

But what brought them here? I have three guess.

1. The overran the last galaxy they were in and exhausted the food supply. So the created the huge hive fleets and put them in a hibernation state and sent them off to all the neighboring galaxies. In other worlds they are simply migrating predators. Probably. According to the 'nid codex, they have eaten the entirety of 12 galaxies, which is almost half of the galactic bodies in our local cluster. Migrating predators on a galactic scale indeed,

2. They are fleeing something that threatens their existence that they cannot fight off. Doubtful. The size and ferocity of the fleets encountered so far have been unlike anything seen before, so it would take something akin to the Necrons at their full strength (plus some) to cause the Tyranids fear.

3. They were created by something outside our galaxy as a weapon to attack us. In other worlds they are just a weapon for some else. Actually, this is extremely likely. A unique bio-weapon that simply went out of control. I actually use this as "canon" in my homebrew codex, and one of the species in the codex is actually responsible for creating them. Either they were created around the same time as the Necrons/Eldar and simply evolved (for some reason, I feel like the Tyranids are the evolutionary path the dinosaurs would have taken had they not all died), or they were created by another species with a far greater understanding of biology and genetics than anyone ever. It's most likely a combination of 1 and this one.

We're probably a little brighter and a little louder than the other neighbouring galaxies.

Mr Nobody wrote:We're probably a little brighter and a little louder than the other neighbouring galaxies.

There is that, but, I think personally our galaxy was just the highest probability out of the ones they destroyed most recently. But also, I think our galaxy isnt the only one under threat from the Tyranids. After consuming 12 galaxies so far, they must have attained enough biomass to grow quite considerably.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
As a side point, if every planet they came across was proportional in biomass as earth is in present day terms. Then each planet they consumed would roughly be 4 TtC (Trillion tons of Carbon). and if that is proportional to how much tonnage of Tyranids that is produced... you are looking at a lot of Tyranids out there in the void.

maybe it's part of some complicated plan, where the tyranids wait for a civilization to build a gigantic lighthouse in the middle of the beefy buffet galaxy every few million years. Oh god, that reminds me of mass effect... 3.

Dingdoodah wrote:maybe it's part of some complicated plan, where the tyranids wait for a civilization to build a gigantic lighthouse in the middle of the beefy buffet galaxy every few million years. Oh god, that reminds me of mass effect... 3.

Or maybe the Tyranids were the inspiration for mass effect


in truth, both the Reapers and Tyranids are based on the idea of Primordial Fear. That evil "thing" we are all afraid of, but have no idea what "it" is.


Remember kids, no idea is original

AnUnearthlyChilde wrote:Remember kids, no idea is original

Everything you have ever thought of has been thought by someone else already at some point.

Ignatius wrote:

AnUnearthlyChilde wrote:Remember kids, no idea is original

Everything you have ever thought of has been thought by someone else already at some point.

Your preaching to the converted my friend, I'm an Artist. Thats something we artists learn on day one

I have one theory but I'm probably way off on the timing, but could it have something to do with the war between the Necrons and Old Ones? To me that seems like the forces being unleashed at that time (both psychic and the universe being warped on itself) could call out to the nids that far out.

nurgl wrote:I have one theory but I'm probably way off on the timing, but could it have something to do with the war between the Necrons and Old Ones? To me that seems like the forces being unleashed at that time (both psychic and the universe being warped on itself) could call out to the nids that far out.

As no one knows how old the tyranid race is, it could be a possibility, but I think the Nids have been around a lot longer. as to consume 12 galaxies would take some time.

Cause they didn't have Nutella in their galaxy



Soooo gooood.... *drools*

AnUnearthlyChilde wrote:

Ignatius wrote:

AnUnearthlyChilde wrote:Remember kids, no idea is original

Everything you have ever thought of has been thought by someone else already at some point.

Your preaching to the converted my friend, I'm an Artist. Thats something we artists learn on day one

I love that quote. I thought it was highly appropriate in this situation

I'm doubtful that there's been enough time since the Tyranids first came into being(of even since the Big Bang) for them to conquer 12 galaxies in a row before this one, considering travel time between them. I'm guessing they spread and hit more than one galaxy at a time, and the Milky Way is one of several under attack at the moment. If 12 is actually canon now, they probably did so by consuming two or three at a time, maybe even more.

As for the Emperor and the Astronomicon, I think that is just a coincidence, or at least somethng that just happens to be enticing to them once they get to the Milky Way. Mostly because who knows what other forces they could have encountered in other galaxies. Maybe compared to some of the stuff in other galaxies, the Astronomicon is pretty tame/mundane.