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The Tervigon can I guess birth Termagaunts, but why only Termagaunts?
Why not some Hormogaunts or even warriors? I sure they they fit in there and would be better I believe.
So dose any one know why they can only spawn Termagaunts?

I think its only for gamebalance reasons, that there are no hormas in there. But warriors? There would not very many fit in a single Tervigon, I suppose.

In the previous Codex, only Termangants could get "without number" and become an almost endless horde. This edition replaces this rule with introducing tervigons. Endless hordes of Warriors, Carnifexes or Dooms would not make sense and kill game balance.

Well what about hormogaunts then? They are the same size of termangaunts.

Cause a bunch of assault 1 guns isnt that bad, several waves of hormagaunts with several attacks each with adren glands and such from the terv would be much more annoying.

Plus its prob the reason of the 'Without Number" rule.

Horvigons would be awesome though, I must say...

It's just for gameplay reasons.

In the fluff there's no reason they can't spawn Hormagaunts and indeed it makes sense they would.

Even in the bestiary entry for the Tervigon, the fluff says they only produce Termagants, and if they are on a hive ship (they're basically hive ship patrol cops) and there's a boarding assault, they wake up other Termagants nearby. Only Termagants, even going by fluff. Though why they only produce Termagants with Fleshborers is simply to reduce confusion on the tabletop. Suddenly producing Devilgaunts would be a tad unbalanced.

Hormagaunts have their own method of generating an endless swarm, which doesn't include a clown car. Unfortunately, it isn't represented in gameplay.

Basically, when the mycetic spore containing Hormagaunts spews out its load, the Hormagaunts being transported immediately lay eggs. They mature quickly, and the basic principle is by the time the first wave of Hormagaunts have been wiped out, a second wave has hatched, laid its own eggs, and is being gunned down, creating a self sufficient, recycling series of attack waves that needs no outside assistance.

Hormagaunt-making Tervigons probably exist, but as people said, it's not available for game-balance reasons.

Tyranids can't field Horvigons (or whatever they'd be called) for the same reason Space Marines can't field Thunderhawks and Contemptor Dreadnoughts.

Tyranids can't field Horvigons because they don't exist. Tervigons are designed to produce and support Termagants - this is even in their fluff, and their rules! Synapic backlash from a dying Tervigon only hurts Termagants in synaptic range, not other Tyranids. The gameplay limitation is on only being able to produce standard Termagants with Fleshborers (which probably could have been expanded to Devilgaunts and Spinegaunts if Cruddace put an ounce of effort into the book through upgrades).

Hormagaunts self replicate through laying eggs, which creates a Hormagaunt nest.

If GW decide in 6th edition to create a Horvigon, then they exist. Right now, they don't, and no fluff points to anything like them existing.

Just because they haven't been discovered in the fluff doesn't mean they haven't existed all along. Retcons work.

Malanthropes and the like have had that trend.

Absolutionis wrote:Just because they haven't been discovered in the fluff doesn't mean they haven't existed all along. Retcons work.

Malanthropes and the like have had that trend.

Were we discussing Tervigons in 4th edition and stating they exist as a future retcon? No, because in 4th edition, Termagants weren't produced by Tervigons. They are now - at least, they can be now.

Can a Horvigon exist in a future codex? Yes. Does it exist now? No, it doesn't, not officially. So saying they might exist can be right. if by that you mean they don't, and won't unless GW makes one. Right now in 40k fluff, they don't exist, not even as a name, and Hormagaunts have a set method of reproduction, so claiming in a fluff thread that Horvigons might exist to explain the production of Hormagaunts is wrong. They don't exist now, and Hormagaunts method of reproduction is documented.

kinratha wrote:Well what about hormogaunts then? They are the same size of termangaunts.

Fluff-wise Hormagaunts can actually breed themselves, so they wouldn't need a brood mother creature.

Whats a Horvigon?

Aside from the sound you make when clearing your throat.

-Loki- wrote:

Absolutionis wrote:Just because they haven't been discovered in the fluff doesn't mean they haven't existed all along. Retcons work.

Malanthropes and the like have had that trend.

Were we discussing Tervigons in 4th edition and stating they exist as a future retcon? No, because in 4th edition, Termagants weren't produced by Tervigons. They are now - at least, they can be now.

Can a Horvigon exist in a future codex? Yes. Does it exist now? No, it doesn't, not officially. So saying they might exist can be right. if by that you mean they don't, and won't unless GW makes one. Right now in 40k fluff, they don't exist, not even as a name, and Hormagaunts have a set method of reproduction, so claiming in a fluff thread that Horvigons might exist to explain the production of Hormagaunts is wrong. They don't exist now, and Hormagaunts method of reproduction is documented.

You're thinking of the real-world Games Workshop and I'm thinking of the fluff.

There is nothing in the fluff that says they don't exist. That doesn't mean they'll never exist as a future species or a "they were there all along!" Malanthrope/Tau/Necron reveal.

Contrast this with things in the fluff that have evidence to not exist such as Imperial Robots, Squats, Zoats, etc.

As an aside, Termagants are not 'produced' by Tervigons. Tervigons are just another way of deploying Termagants to battle. Termagants being hatched from eggs and deployed via Mycetic Spore has'nt changed at all.

Absolutionis wrote:There is nothing in the fluff that says they don't exist. That doesn't mean they'll never exist as a future species or a "they were there all along!" Malanthrope/Tau/Necron reveal.

Contrast this with things in the fluff that have evidence to not exist such as Imperial Robots, Squats, Zoats, etc.

As an aside, Termagants are not 'produced' by Tervigons. Tervigons are just another way of deploying Termagants to battle. Termagants being hatched from eggs and deployed via Mycetic Spore has'nt changed at all.

The thing is, there is fluff that syas a Horvigon is not needed. They are sent down in waves by mycetic spore or created by a Dominatrix. That wave lays eggs, which creates another wave that lays eggs, which creates another wave that lays eggs, etc. Hormagaunts sheer numbers are explained. The issue with Termagant was that their numbers weren't explained. They're sent in large numbers! But we don't know how those numbers are sustained!

They created the Tervigon to explain how they sustain Termagant populations. They wrote in the whole laying eggs thing to explain how they sustain Hormagaunt populations. The Horvigon is, on a fluff level, completely redundant. If they wrote out the eggs and added the Horvigon, I could accept it, but as it is? Tyranids specialise. Horvigons are a redundant specialty, made to sustain the population of a self sustaining population. There's simply no reason for them to exist, which means the hive Mind wouldn't create them.