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I've decided to re-read the HH series from the beginning and have got the the expedition where they arrive in support of BA on the planet Murder.

Simple question really. The Xenos encountered on the planet, was this a first encounter with Tyranids? The description of them is very similar although it was never suggested that they actually were them.

They're not tyranid.

There are lots of insectoid xenos in the galaxy, especially back during the Horus heresy before a couple million of them were wiped out.

The megarachnids I think they were called? They definitely don't behave the same way as the Tyranids. Once those trees were blasted down they seemed more interested in repairing them than in eating the marines, that definitely doesn't sound like Tyranids to me.

Tyranids have 6 limbs.
Arachnids have 8.

Also I've no idea how the Interex could maroon Tyranids on a planet without wiping them out. All Tyranids come from the Norn Queen, without that you have no Nids, and with it they would start growing ships.

SerQuintus wrote:
All Tyranids come from the Norn Queen, without that you have no Nids,

This is not correct.

There are tyranid biomorphs that are capable of independent reproduction. Termigants lay eggs, Genestealers hijack the reproductive systems of sentient beings, etc...


There is evidence that small groups of tyranids entered the galaxy long ago. Scout organisms. Genestealers are one such confirmed scout organism, whose to say there weren't more?

Maybe there were some small Nid fleets that came thousands of years ago, but were defeated, leaving behind remnant biomorphs that adapted and became part of various planetary ecosystems.

Remember that the Hive Mind would have had thousands of years to adapt itself, so the Tyranids of today might look vastly different from Nids that came tens of thousands of years prior.

Some theorized Tyranid descendents are the Catachan Devil, the Water-Wyrms of Ithaka, and the Kraken of Fenris.

No, the Mega-arachnids were not Tyranids, even though their martial capabilities seem to be similar.

All I could envision were the Starship Troopers bugs on this planet!