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Mr Nobody wrote:The weakness of the chaos gods is that tyranids kill their source of power and the hivemind represses the warp. As the tyranids gain ground, chaos loses ground.

Yep sadly the ultimate race is the Tyranids. I cannot defeat the entire Nid race. We have only seen scouts. If the real Hive Fleets arrive in full force with the hives greatest creatures the galaxy is screwed. We have only had a drop of its power. Imagine an entire wine glass of vodka given to a upstart 5 year old boy who is so smart but when he takes a drink of this he dies instantly.
That is basically the power of the Tyranids if it was a alcoholic beverage. (sorry for the metaphor. I can only think of that)

my issue with nids is that the imperium will develop a virus that targets their dna then theyll be fethed

Tyranids, with their ever-changing genetics, will either develop an immunity or change their genetic makeup to such a degree that the virus doesn't recognize their DNA any more.

Assuming they can do it fast enough.

I doubt they can. They've taken decades to produce bio/pyrovores out of Ork DNA, and they haven't really harnessed any of the inherent strengths of Orks in a new type of Tyranid in all that time.

the virus that the american military is producing can kill a cow in 10 minutes, advance that to 40K tech and you have a virus that could wipe out all the enemies of the imperium in one go

They already have that weapon, the problem is that it wipes out all life on a planet unless deployed in EXTREMELY careful and controlled ways. Heck, just a very small deployment in the Armageddon wars nearly destroyed Imperial lines when they screwed up while trying to use it on the Orks (it worked on the Orks... and then on the humans, too).

Tyranic Marta wrote:the virus that the american military is producing can kill a cow in 10 minutes, advance that to 40K tech and you have a virus that could wipe out all the enemies of the imperium in one go

That there is called the Life-eater virus. It's used as a method of bringing about Exterminatus on a planet, by eating away all the biological matter on said planet until it is nothing more than a husk.
Problem with it is that it's indiscriminatory; it'll kill anything in the area of the attack. So no, not really a weapon to be used lightly, kind of like modern nukes.

EDIT: Melissia, you talking about the bombs Von Strab used?

Immunity works like this:

You have a species with slight variations in genetics, and a few of them just happen to have the right genes to resist the right disease. This allows an immunity to eventually develop. This immunity is carried on to the next generation, eventually starving the disease, until the disease changes too.

In the Tyranids case, they would either a batch of Tyranids or hivefleet to have a resistance or immunity. The immune hivefleet must then jump ahead of the spreading virus and share with other fleets.

Another hope is that the infected hivefleet sends out a distress signal to other fleets, telling them of the disease. If they can modify their genes to a great enough degree, then the disease cannot be transmittable. But Melissia is correct in that time is an issue and the deciding factor in all this.


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Don't they use life eater virus in their scorch and burn tactic?

Gorskar.da.Lost wrote:EDIT: Melissia, you talking about the bombs Von Strab used?

The ones fired in defense of armageddon's hives, yes. They were described, if I remember my Ork fluff correctly, as being an incredibly deadly viral weapon, which reduces an Ork's biology to a puddle of goo within seconds. Humans? MUCH faster.

yeah we know how immunity works ... well i do anyway, the point is that the weapon would work to quickly for the nids to reproduce, there would be NO new generations to pass the immunity on to

Couldn't you use the virus debate on every race, except necrons and daemons.

Lol, they actually noted that. They wouldn't use exterminatus on a daemonworld because they don't want to give them ideas.

If nurgle was less lazy and a little less "artsy" with his viruses, he could really do some damage.

mhm yeah thats why i said in one of my posts that the imperium could easily win

But what if someone makes a human virus?

thn everbody is screwed


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whos is the last race standing? necrons hahahahaha

Melissia wrote:Assuming they can do it fast enough.

I doubt they can. They've taken decades to produce bio/pyrovores out of Ork DNA, and they haven't really harnessed any of the inherent strengths of Orks in a new type of Tyranid in all that time.

In one of the fluff stories in Codex Tyranids, it describes a war against the Tau. Each time the Tau brought a new weapon up to fight them, the wave after that had alterations to defend against it. Tyranids can certainly adapt their defenses very quickly. I doubt they conquered another entire galaxy, and probably countless more, if a simple virus could wipe them out.

I must say, The Imperium would survive longest. Look at all they have faced and come up standing. no matter what, the imperial forces will always thrive.

TheGentleman wrote:I must say, The Imperium would survive longest. Look at all they have faced and come up standing. no matter what, the imperial forces will always thrive.

Well, they're on the decline. They've had their time in the sun. Now, they're a bunch of superstitious shut-ins, whose only big innovations come from finding old technology. Their only method of reliable warp travel (which also happens to be their God, and the center of their entire belief structure, which is also the basis of their entire society) is worn beyond repair, and will soon break down for good. The Imperium is on the brink of falling.

got to agree

-Loki- wrote:I doubt they conquered another entire galaxy, and probably countless more

THIS, I agree with, but only when taken out of context and viewed just as is in this quote.

I'm more likely to believe that the Tyranids are on the run from someone



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TheGentleman wrote:I must say, The Imperium would survive longest. Look at all they have faced and come up standing. no matter what, the imperial forces will always thrive.

Orks ahve lived through longer and and survived through far more horrific wars.

Melissia wrote:

-Loki- wrote:I doubt they conquered another entire galaxy, and probably countless more

THIS, I agree with, but only when taken out of context and viewed just as is in this quote.

I'm more likely to believe that the Tyranids are on the run from someone

If they are, and something as powerful as the Tyranid race is scared of it, I can't see much hope even for Orks surviving when they get to this galaxy.

i agree with both points and will add that whatever the nids are running from must be pretty frelling epic

Systematic comsumption of every planet in the galaxy isn't exactly screaming "running away" for me.

maybe they need some more juice to beat up whatevers following them

Mr Nobody wrote:Systematic comsumption of every planet in the galaxy isn't exactly screaming "running away" for me.

If you're hungry, you have to eat.

Tyranids don't produce, they only consume. Thus, they HAVE to consume whole worlds.

I wonder if gw will introduce the nid enemy in a later edition?

They won't, because GW don't advance the storyline.

true, gr

Melissia wrote:Assuming they can do it fast enough.

I doubt they can. They've taken decades to produce bio/pyrovores out of Ork DNA, and they haven't really harnessed any of the inherent strengths of Orks in a new type of Tyranid in all that time.

It is quite possible that we just haven't seen the Tyranids in a situation where they think "yeah, this situation calls for some Ork attributes". They don't create creatures for the sake of it - always for a purpose.

It could always be a lot more subtle as well - perhaps the Tyranids have enhanced their Tyrannoforming techniques through the use of the Ork sporing knowledge they've gained? Perhaps very toxic "chimney", be it on the ground or on the back of a Carnifex, is a subtle, unseen tribute to Ork DNA?