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Hi guys, so I have made this thread in order for us to discuss what we do know about the tyranid species, and to present all our theories !
I am particularly interested by the new behaviour of the tyranids settling on a planet: was it planned all along ? It this a shift (maybe they didn't expect such a resistance and so need to breed more tyranids directly in our galaxie, or maybe they found this galaxie to be suitable so they are building an Astronomicon of their own to bring all their species here ?).
I find this one on the Internet, which is pretty interesting (posted by u/llllllllll-lllllll 4 months ago on Reddit):
Spoiler:
Here's what we know:
TYRANIDS STRATEGY-
Float in on organic ships
Attack planet full of life
Strip all organic/useful materials from the planet for consumption
Float off into space
Doesn't this seem really inefficient in terms of energy usage? I mean, if we consider life on Earth as an example, life ultimately comes from converting the energy of stars into molecular structures. But the Tyranids don't do this. It's the most efficient and sustainable way to feed their "hunger" but they just want to grab material and move on to attack other parts of the galaxy. Like if we compare the Tyranids to the Zerg (from starcraft). the zerg are much more sustainable in that they conquer planets and use planets as sustainable breeding grounds to harness energy. Tyranids rather just drift away from sources of energy after consuming all bio material. So here lies my theory. What if Tyranids DO take planets like the zerg do? After all, the reason why life does just randomly form in space (that we know of) is because it needs a foundation. And planets all for that foundation near an energy source alone with a giant rock to act as structural support. Tyranids just lose valuable material while floating through space in their giant organism ships. But what if Tyranids do colonize planets but choose not to, because the ones that showed up in the Milky way is designed specifically for war against local galatic lifeforms? To destroy the natural resources (planets with life) but leave them open to recolonize for Tyranids when the war is done (stars near the planets)?
We know that the Tyranids are seemingly traveling across the void of space while hungery to the milky way. They don't colonize planets. They don't take energy from stars. They just float around. But that doesn't make sense. We know that there is a hivemind. Would the hivemind really screw itself over floating in the void in the hopes of finding a galaxy? This is what I think the Hivemind is trying to do in the Milky Way.
HIVEMIND STRATEGY-
Send in Tyranids specializing in destroying local resources to limit growth of local powers. Leave behind barren rocks so local powers will give up on those areas and become weaker.
Once the main force arrives (with the Hivemind), repopulate the barren rocks with life (of Tyranid organisms) and began harvesting the energy of local stars. Have these barren rocks become sustainable foundations for the Tyranids. Add these local areas to become sustainable parts of the Hivemind.
Now before we address the arrival of the Hivemind, you might wonder why not just float around ship organisms to harvest star energy directly? Tyranids could do that but by targeting planets, Tyranids can specifically destroy local resistance.
Now the arrival of the Hivemind. If the tyranid's goal is to colonize the Milky Way, why don't they start doing so? Why wait for the main force to come and colonize everything when each fleet could potentially do that themselves. Because the goals of the fleets are not to colonize but to destroy resistance. And this is where my theory kicks in. I think that the Hivemind doesn't bother colonizing the Milky Way because its already on its way to the Milky Way to colonize it. All the fleets are there to test out local powers. The Hivemind has already conquered its galaxy and is on its way (with its colonized galaxy) to conquer the Milky Way. Does this sound familiar? Because there is a galaxy on its way to the Milky way already. That's right:
Andromeda–Milky Way collision!!! Wiki that. It's an actual event.
When the Hivemind took over the Andromeda galaxy, it probably made every planet its own, every star is harnessed. But enough is never enough. Eventually the Hivemind needed more stars, more space, and more material. So its hunger is directed to the Milky Way. It moves with the galaxy (perhaps even speeding up the galatic collision with its great power), drifting with its galactic size body seeking to devour the milky way whole. However. it needs to figure out what exactly is awaiting it in the Milky Way. So it sends fleets to explore and test what opposes it. After all, what if its another Hivemind? That's why the tyranid fleets are so destructive.
It's also why the Chaos gods can't corrupt the Hivemind. The Chaos gods are manifestations of thought in the entire Milky Way. But how does that compare the the united mind of another galaxy three times the size of the milky way? A beast on a galactic scale that seeks ever larger growth and plans on making the Milky Way a part of its body. A mind so vast that it would dwarf the united consciousness of the Milky Way three times over. A being that is hungry because it's reached the peak of its growth in one galaxy and requires another for further expansion. A creature so gigantic in size that it even leaves the Necrons trembling, knowing that if the Milky Way isn't united, even the return of the Ctan may not stop the great devourer
Additionnally, there are the classics: tyranids are Old Ones constructs (some add that they may not even come from anothers galaxies, and this would explain why they don't have any warfare experience, and are evolving right now. It is not stupid, as a galaxies wide conqueror should not "discover" new tactics just now) And tyranids are deamons of Malal,
What about you ?
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/12/13 21:16:51
Yeah, I just don't like the idea that Tyranid ships can starve. If starvation is such a hazard, why do they not devour all the comets and rocky asteroids in a system and plant hardy, photosynthesizing microfauna on everything else?
I've read hints that Chaos exists far beyond the Milky Way (we know that it at least leads to the reality of the Age of Sigmar). In the novel Dead Sky, Black Sun, Uriel Ventris has a vision of other galaxies that had been rendered lifeless from the predations of Khorne. If this is the case, the Tyranids and the Chaos Gods might not simply be two forces that randomly bump into each other in the Milky Way and just don't understand each other, but might in fact be ancient enemies, with Chaos on a rampage across the universe to enslave/kill/possess as many bodies and souls as possible, as the Tyranids are robbing them of their crucial food source.
I was unaware Tyrranids were changing their behavior. In some other thread where someone was asking about who they could possibly ally with, I did suggest that it's always possible to work in Norn Queens who have very different takes on what to breed. Ones that act more like ants that essentially turn worlds into efficient biomass farms along the path of the Hive fleet that spawn them was one. The idea was to have a variant Nid force with different units and goals from a fleet based Nid force.
If they have changed from the locust swarm, it could be that the ravenous eat everything in its path is just a result of traveling between galaxies. They start off trying to replace what they lost from traveling before switching over to colonizing.
Skaorn wrote: I was unaware Tyrranids were changing their behavior. In some other thread where someone was asking about who they could possibly ally with, I did suggest that it's always possible to work in Norn Queens who have very different takes on what to breed. Ones that act more like ants that essentially turn worlds into efficient biomass farms along the path of the Hive fleet that spawn them was one. The idea was to have a variant Nid force with different units and goals from a fleet based Nid force.
If they have changed from the locust swarm, it could be that the ravenous eat everything in its path is just a result of traveling between galaxies. They start off trying to replace what they lost from traveling before switching over to colonizing.
I did express poorly, my bad. One hive-fleet on one planet alone IIRC are settling a world with a continent-sized structure. Most of the tyranids are still hungry space locust.
I like the idea that the tyranids are running away from something scarier.
I always thought as well that it wasn’t energy from biomas that they wanted but more the raw materials to build more things. The genetics and the molecular structures. Not just eating to sustain. Sorry if I’m not explaining my self well.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: Yeah, I just don't like the idea that Tyranid ships can starve. If starvation is such a hazard, why do they not devour all the comets and rocky asteroids in a system and plant hardy, photosynthesizing microfauna on everything else?
Because giving locusts a hive mind and hyper adaptive powers doesn't teach them the merits of sustainable farming.
The hive mind has been described as sapient and very intelligent. In older fluff, it was capable of communicating with others, either psykers or through intermediaries. Even current fluff has Genestealers and their hybrids, whose knowledge far exceeds that of locusts. The hive mind has access to concepts like sustainability and utilizing asteroids for raw materials.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: The hive mind has been described as sapient and very intelligent. In older fluff, it was capable of communicating with others, either psykers or through intermediaries. Even current fluff has Genestealers and their hybrids, whose knowledge far exceeds that of locusts. The hive mind has access to concepts like sustainability and utilizing asteroids for raw materials.
Ripping up all the biomass might be a short term tactic to agitate all the local space powers to come at you and get ground up. The, when you beat them out of an area and have torn the worlds up enough that they are difficult to use as staging posts against you if reclaimed, you bring in (or birth) the star eating organism which are probably costly and vulnerable. Then you start consuming the galaxy.
You need to whack the locals hard enough to create an exclusion zone or extinction of resistance first though.
I do like the theory that they are building their own pylons to project the hivemind as a blanket over the galaxy, choking off the warp to make it easier to feed. The idea that they are some sort of Old One bio-weapon (a sort of doomsday weapon, last resort type thing) certainly has credence considering that they released the Orks into the galaxy (if you accept that, I personally always liked the theory that snotlings were once an intelligent race and created the Orks to defend them but they revolted and enslaved them in return). Considering that the Old Ones seeded life throughout the galaxy in the first place, it seems within the realm of possibility that the Tyranids' purpose is to exterminate life, so that the Old Ones can start over. Or...maybe that was the purpose originally but, after the Old Ones fell from power, the Tyranids were set loose and bred uncontrollably, etc.
Anyways, Tyranids running from something scarier never quite made sense to me. We are talking about a colony of creatures numbering in the...basically infinite, controlled by a single unfathomably powerful hive mind. If there is something that is not only more powerful than that but actively pursuing such a vast colony...well...game over I suppose.
Active armies, still collecting and painting First and greatest love - Orks, Orks, and more Orks largest pile of shame, so many tanks unassembled most complete and painted beautiful models, couldn't resist the swarm will consume all
Armies in disrepair: nothing new since 5th edition oh how I want to revive, but mostly old fantasy demons and some glorious Soul Grinders in need of love
BobtheInquisitor wrote: The hive mind has been described as sapient and very intelligent. In older fluff, it was capable of communicating with others, either psykers or through intermediaries. Even current fluff has Genestealers and their hybrids, whose knowledge far exceeds that of locusts. The hive mind has access to concepts like sustainability and utilizing asteroids for raw materials.
You are still examining it from a human perspective. Consider consumption not the means to an end but the goal itself, and everything about Tyranid logic falls into place. The fluff is pretty clear on that. WHY consumption is the goal, that is the real question.
It's possible they were put on the path by something else (Old Ones, who knows) or are just eating on the run from something else, or even that there is no real why; Tyranids consume because that is what they do.
That is possibly the most simple theory/explanation: Tyranids originated as an organism which adapted to succeed by consuming other organisms in its local ecosystem and did so too well. They depleted the local biome and invaded others for resources, eventually graduating to invading other planets, then systems, and eventually galaxies. Without any emotion there is no desire or even concept of doing anything else, just a biological imperitive. In such a case the end 'goal' of sorts would be simple reproductive success like any other organism and one would be right to observe that depletion of resources is a less effective method. However, that is not how motivation works. Consider us; we are highly motivated to consume fat & sugary foods in order to ensure reproductive success. We are even aware that motivation only exists to serve a different purpose. But that does not change the motivation itself.
So basically the hive mind just wants to eat candy and planetary defenses are the wrapper
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/12/16 15:47:08
To see the origins of the Tyranids one need only look at the ...... KRORK!!!!!
dum dum duuuuuuuuum, shocking I know right.
So lets start at the ...start. the war in heaven, so we know the old ones went around and created races, mucked with primordial goo and generally played god with nearly every species in the galaxy/universe.
Step in the Krork, the species created by the old ones to be shock troops that will never stop, never give up and self replicate on a massive level. lets looks at there traits
Self replicating through spores
all psychic
large amount of orks creates a ... Shadow in the warp!
innate knowledge of technology
becomes more powerful the more they fight
psychic lynchpin (warboss)
this all sounds very familiar and it should because lets look at the tyranids
All psychic
Shadow in the warp
innate knowledge of technology (biology in this case)
becomes more powerful as they fight (adaption)
psychic lynchpin (norn queen)
So while we know that these species are very very different in terms of looks, in terms of warfare and history, they are at the base level, the same, we know the orks were designed to be this way, and given the same thought process behind how the nids work, could they too have been a creation of the old ones?
I think there is a common misconception about what Hive Mind is/means, in that most people I see posting about Tyranids imagine Hive Mind to be some kind of a superbug akin to Starship Troopers Brain Bug, that psychically controlls all of the lesser bugs. But hive minds in nature work in totally different way and GW actually utilizes the very idea: ant colony does have the breeding queen, but queen is not controling an ant colony. Instead, entire colony is a functional brain - individual ants function as mobile neurons, communicating with eachother through chemical signaling, exactly as human neurons do. ENTIRETY of ant-to-ant interactions in a hive is a thought process of an ant colony. And exactly the same, with just a bit more nodal structure and organisms variety applies to Tyranids. The Great Devourer is not a synonym for some singular Hive Mind organism or Tyranid equivalent of Warp based god, it is for the entire Tyranid species that is invading 40K galaxy. Infathomable consciousness of Hive Mind is infathomable exactly because of this - every other faction in 40K universe is based on conscious individuals that have their own agendas and tools. Tyranids have singular consciousness and all are the tools of this consciousness at the same time. Only Genestealers are an exception in that they have their own "inner structure" of psychic control and are partially external entities indeed psychically controlled by Hive Mind in Starship Troopers way. They were introduced first in the lore, and originate from our own galaxy, so it is safe to assume, that due to their control structure they were the first species from our galaxy to fall to invading Hive Mind.
As to motivations of such Hive Mind - it is similar to one of Ego from Guardians of the Galaxy. When you are a consciousness not only above all other, but your thought process and possibilities are dependent on numbers of individual "cell organisms" that constitute you, then your only goal and motivation is to grow larger. In case of Tyranids this means devouring biomass (it is much more efficient to devour biomass than to photosynthetize, and it is exactly the same in earth biosphere - we have quite linear food chain and the most intelligent species are carnivorous, exactly because of "nutrients acquisition economics") and there is no reason to ally with anyone or to "settle" in any long term and/or peaceful/synergistic way until there is easier biomass source available. So if some Hive Fleet is establishing a colony, then most certainly it is to support some sort of stationary organism required for further conquest.
Do tyranids use the warp though? I read that they don't actually use the warp, its just that their telepathic presence is so great it drowns out people's psychic abilities. This is probably really old fluff though.
What I have
~4100
~1660
Westwood lives in death!
Peace through power!
A longbeard when it comes to Necrons and WHFB. Grumble Grumble
CthuluIsSpy wrote: Do tyranids use the warp though? I read that they don't actually use the warp, its just that their telepathic presence is so great it drowns out people's psychic abilities. This is probably really old fluff though.
In older fluff they did, and even travelled through the warp like everyone else. Current fluff, I'm not sure. They do not travel through the warp anymore, but do they use it for psychic powers? Certainly the hive mind is able to communicate at ftl speeds.
MY personal Headcanon about tyranids is they are the Old one version of Star -Trek V-ger.
During the War on Heaven an Old one had to retreat far beyond the galaxy seriously wounded due some emergency or after some serious attack by the Necrontyr.
So IT went into stasis mode while after enginering some system/species (nids) to *heal* him properly in the meanwhile, but something went rogue and the Tyranids remains *gathering materials* to heal the Old one non stop.
Ironically it ties in with the Silent King going beyond the galaxy (trying to finish this last Old one or maybe the leader of all Old one) and then returning after he witnessed the Tyranids going full rampage.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/12/16 23:32:07
Lord Perversor wrote: MY personal Headcanon about tyranids is they are the Old one version of Star -Trek V-ger.
During the War on Heaven an Old one had to retreat far beyond the galaxy seriously wounded due some emergency or after some serious attack by the Necrontyr.
So IT went into stasis mode while after enginering some system/species (nids) to *heal* him properly in the meanwhile, but something went rogue and the Tyranids remains *gathering materials* to heal the Old one non stop.
Ironically it ties in with the Silent King going beyond the galaxy (trying to finish this last Old one or maybe the leader of all Old one) and then returning after he witnessed the Tyranids going full rampage.
Mine is similar. The last of the Old Ones fled far and in a last ditch effort to set the balance worked on the final race, the Tyranid, to wipe the slate clean and start again. Unfortunately before he could finish his project and due to his own machinations the enslavers destroyed the project and unleashed an unfinished Tyranid race into the Universe, knowing only hunger and to scour it clean of life.
I like the question of weather the intelegence of the hive mind is an emergent quality of the sheer number of synapse creatures in the cosmos. Almost like a bunch of computers slaving together. In that senario did it become aware of itself and took controll of its evolutuon?
Or is the hive mind not an emergent propperty but is a will of it's own. Where did it then come from, and how was it connected to the nids?
Skaorn wrote: I was unaware Tyrranids were changing their behavior. In some other thread where someone was asking about who they could possibly ally with, I did suggest that it's always possible to work in Norn Queens who have very different takes on what to breed. Ones that act more like ants that essentially turn worlds into efficient biomass farms along the path of the Hive fleet that spawn them was one. The idea was to have a variant Nid force with different units and goals from a fleet based Nid force.
If they have changed from the locust swarm, it could be that the ravenous eat everything in its path is just a result of traveling between galaxies. They start off trying to replace what they lost from traveling before switching over to colonizing.
I did express poorly, my bad. One hive-fleet on one planet alone IIRC are settling a world with a continent-sized structure. Most of the tyranids are still hungry space locust.
I have never heard of that. Source please.
There is a story in a former tyranid codex about a splinter fleet having its ships destroyed, forcing it to reproduce on the planet to conquer it (occupied by orks).
- and the story repeats itself in "Catechism Of Hate". The ultramarines face a tyranid factory on the ground, after the hive fleet has been destroyed.
Ergo, they are doing it to survive, not to colonize.
Additionnally, there are the classics: tyranids are Old Ones constructs (some add that they may not even come from anothers galaxies, and this would explain why they don't have any warfare experience, and are evolving right now.
It's clearly stated in the fluff that:
1. They are not of this galaxy
2. That they have already destroyed multiple galaxies.
Niiai wrote: I like the question of weather the intelegence of the hive mind is an emergent quality of the sheer number of synapse creatures in the cosmos. Almost like a bunch of computers slaving together. In that senario did it become aware of itself and took controll of its evolutuon?
It is stated in "The devastation of baal" that the hive mind is the combined psyke of every living tyranid, and that its power rises and falls depending on the number of tyranid organisms under "its" controle.
This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2018/12/19 11:10:42
The very "Synapse Creature" name is directly based on the concept of emergent Hive Mind. I don't really think that it is a question open to interpretation.
There is a story in a former tyranid codex about a splinter fleet having its ships destroyed, forcing it to reproduce on the planet to conquer it (occupied by orks).
- and the story repeats itself in "Catechism Of Hate". The ultramarines face a tyranid factory on the ground, after the hive fleet has been destroyed.
Ergo, they are doing it to survive, not to colonize.
Cant remember the name of the hive fleet but there is one that has colonised a world and is building "something"
It's clearly stated in the fluff that:
1. They are not of this galaxy
2. That they have already destroyed multiple galaxies.
Chaos deamons have the same description, as do Necrons and the old ones, but that is pretty recent.
It is stated in "The devastation of baal" that the hive mind is the combined psyke of every living tyranid, and that its power rises and falls depending on the number of tyranid organisms under "its" controle.
pretty much Exactly like the Orks shadow in the warp, or shadow in the Waaagh as im gonna call it, the main difference is the warboss does not have direct control of the boyz.
A lot of people don't seem to like the Tyranids because they are "boring, lack motivation, are a force of nature." But, I think they add something quite interesting to the setting. Psykers/Chaos are "man-made" catastrophe that is rapidly destroying the galaxy, ripping at the fabric of reality itself. They are the bacterial infection or virus that is reaching critical point, about to kill the host. Tyranids are the force of nature that will reestablish the balance, create a clean slate. It is interesting to note that the Shadow in the Mind quells warp rifts as a hive fleet passes by. They are a poorly understood corrective.
I think the biggest question that GW has left unanswered (thankfully) is why they are attracted to psychers (think the Astronomicon) in the first place, if they in fact have this nullifying effect on the warp. It might very well be that they liked the idea of a "moth being attracted by the candle flame" imagery or just wanted to add the usual apocalyptic threat to the setting. But, the oppositional relationship between the Tyranids and the Warp is genuinely interesting. It also confirms the idea that the warp is present in other galaxies, as must be chaos, since the Tyranids originated elsewhere.
Active armies, still collecting and painting First and greatest love - Orks, Orks, and more Orks largest pile of shame, so many tanks unassembled most complete and painted beautiful models, couldn't resist the swarm will consume all
Armies in disrepair: nothing new since 5th edition oh how I want to revive, but mostly old fantasy demons and some glorious Soul Grinders in need of love
There is a story in a former tyranid codex about a splinter fleet having its ships destroyed, forcing it to reproduce on the planet to conquer it (occupied by orks).
- and the story repeats itself in "Catechism Of Hate". The ultramarines face a tyranid factory on the ground, after the hive fleet has been destroyed.
Ergo, they are doing it to survive, not to colonize.
Cant remember the name of the hive fleet but there is one that has colonised a world and is building "something"
Can you please provide a source?
Chaos deamons have the same description, as do Necrons and the old ones, but that is pretty recent.
Neither the old ones, nor the necrons have ever been stated to stem from outside the 40k galaxy (and we KNOW that the necron homeworld is in the milkey way). Deamons have been stated to exist in other realities (like age of sigmar) but never outside the 40K galaxy.
pretty much Exactly like the Orks shadow in the warp, or shadow in the Waaagh as im gonna call it, the main difference is the warboss does not have direct control of the boyz.
Every ork functions as an individual - tyranids do not. They are nothing alike.
This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2018/12/19 16:45:27
Grumblewartz wrote: A lot of people don't seem to like the Tyranids because they are "boring, lack motivation, are a force of nature." But, I think they add something quite interesting to the setting. Psykers/Chaos are "man-made" catastrophe that is rapidly destroying the galaxy, ripping at the fabric of reality itself. They are the bacterial infection or virus that is reaching critical point, about to kill the host. Tyranids are the force of nature that will reestablish the balance, create a clean slate. It is interesting to note that the Shadow in the Mind quells warp rifts as a hive fleet passes by. They are a poorly understood corrective.
I think the biggest question that GW has left unanswered (thankfully) is why they are attracted to psychers (think the Astronomicon) in the first place, if they in fact have this nullifying effect on the warp. It might very well be that they liked the idea of a "moth being attracted by the candle flame" imagery or just wanted to add the usual apocalyptic threat to the setting. But, the oppositional relationship between the Tyranids and the Warp is genuinely interesting. It also confirms the idea that the warp is present in other galaxies, as must be chaos, since the Tyranids originated elsewhere.
Well, as I've reckoned Warp ain't as much as present in other galaxies as much as it's present everywhere but only living things energize it and make it move with their... living-ness, which eventually creates Chaos Gods from those beings clumped up similar thoughts and emotions. This way the Warp in our galaxy is the way it is with its navigable currents and eddies because all the life in the galaxy is similar enough, which highlights Tyranids alieness since even their version of the Warp is different and inimical to ours and drowns it out.
Makes me wonder though, since it's noted that Chaos Gods get nothing from killing Tyranids, maybe that's the case with all extra-galactic creatures if they travel in large enough numbers to generate their version of the warp, like parasites and bacteria need a host they're compatible with. So if enough humans travel to another galaxy would they be mostly unaffected by its version of Chaos like Nids are with ours.. And yes, I know that Ventris had that one vision of galaxies getting depopulated by Khorne, but that might have just been a a false vision to demoralise him, since Chaos is tricksy and tries to exploits peoples insecurities.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/12/19 16:19:44
Grumblewartz wrote: A lot of people don't seem to like the Tyranids because they are "boring, lack motivation, are a force of nature." But, I think they add something quite interesting to the setting. Psykers/Chaos are "man-made" catastrophe that is rapidly destroying the galaxy, ripping at the fabric of reality itself. They are the bacterial infection or virus that is reaching critical point, about to kill the host. Tyranids are the force of nature that will reestablish the balance, create a clean slate. It is interesting to note that the Shadow in the Mind quells warp rifts as a hive fleet passes by. They are a poorly understood corrective.
I think the biggest question that GW has left unanswered (thankfully) is why they are attracted to psychers (think the Astronomicon) in the first place, if they in fact have this nullifying effect on the warp. It might very well be that they liked the idea of a "moth being attracted by the candle flame" imagery or just wanted to add the usual apocalyptic threat to the setting. But, the oppositional relationship between the Tyranids and the Warp is genuinely interesting. It also confirms the idea that the warp is present in other galaxies, as must be chaos, since the Tyranids originated elsewhere.
Well, as I've reckoned Warp ain't as much as present in other galaxies as much as it's present everywhere but only living things energize it and make it move with their... living-ness, which eventually creates Chaos Gods from those beings clumped up similar thoughts and emotions. This way the Warp in our galaxy is the way it is with its navigable currents and eddies because all the life in the galaxy is similar enough, which highlights Tyranids alieness since even their version of the Warp is different and inimical to ours and drowns it out.
Makes me wonder though, since it's noted that Chaos Gods get nothing from killing Tyranids, maybe that's the case with all extra-galactic creatures if they travel in large enough numbers to generate their version of the warp, like parasites and bacteria need a host they're compatible with. So if enough humans travel to another galaxy would they be mostly unaffected by its version of Chaos like Nids are with ours.. And yes, I know that Ventris had that one vision of galaxies getting depopulated by Khorne, but that might have just been a a false vision to demoralise him, since Chaos is tricksy and tries to exploits peoples insecurities.
It seems that the tyranids have never encountered the warp before:
From "the devastation of baal".
"From across the cold gulfs of intergalactic space the hive fleets had come, moving from one feeding ground to the next. The hive mind did not know and did not care what its food called itself, but noted, in its alien way, the strangeness of this prey-cluster; an environment where the realities of the mind and form were intermingled. There was risk there, but good hunting in the dangerous shoals."
I think the biggest question that GW has left unanswered (thankfully) is why they are attracted to psychers (think the Astronomicon) in the first place, if they in fact have this nullifying effect on the warp. It might very well be that they liked the idea of a "moth being attracted by the candle flame" imagery or just wanted to add the usual apocalyptic threat to the setting. But, the oppositional relationship between the Tyranids and the Warp is genuinely interesting. It also confirms the idea that the warp is present in other galaxies, as must be chaos, since the Tyranids originated elsewhere.
That question is answered in "pharos - the dying of the light".
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/12/19 16:40:40
The thing I wonder about is why Tyranid hive fleets fight each other, if there's 'One Big Hivemind'? While you could argue it's a means to test the superiority of various evolutionary adaptations, it's a colossal waste of energy, if not biomass (b/c the loser and winner are both rendered down anyways). It's like if you had two competing ideas in your head, so your neurons started killing each other and you'd just regenerate the losing neurons later.
Delays and other problems in warp communication would basically necessitate the splintering of the hive mind anyways, and they may well not sync up again as the hive mind fragments 'diverge' Even if the Tyranids started as a monolithic hive fleet, they aren't one anymore.
The only reason I can think of that the Nids bother with consuming planetary ecologies is for unique DNA patterns they can use to improve themselves. They could easily build thousands of time the biomass from harvesting comets and small moons without pesky gravity wells. It makes me wonder if Rippers don't have built-in DNA analyzing glands so that everything can be sorted and uploaded to the hive mind prior to proper digestion.
John Prins wrote: The thing I wonder about is why Tyranid hive fleets fight each other, if there's 'One Big Hivemind'? While you could argue it's a means to test the superiority of various evolutionary adaptations, it's a colossal waste of energy, if not biomass (b/c the loser and winner are both rendered down anyways). It's like if you had two competing ideas in your head, so your neurons started killing each other and you'd just regenerate the losing neurons later.
Well, that is actually an apt description of neuronal adaptation in developing human brain.
Delays and other problems in warp communication would basically necessitate the splintering of the hive mind anyways, and they may well not sync up again as the hive mind fragments 'diverge' Even if the Tyranids started as a monolithic hive fleet, they aren't one anymore.
And this is also a phenomenon known to neurology for more than half of century.
First and greatest love - Orks, Orks, and more Orks 
largest pile of shame, so many tanks unassembled 
most complete and painted 
beautiful models, couldn't resist 
the swarm will consume all
nothing new since 5th edition 
oh how I want to revive, but mostly old fantasy demons and some glorious Soul Grinders 
in need of love 
~1660
