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So a random thought that came into my head today, "the new Tryanid codex will allow Tryanids to ally with its own codex". By this I mean the Tryanids will be able to go into the allied FOC. I believed this because I was thinking how the allies system is an advantage to other armies, and I tried to think how the Tryanids will be able to get a piece of this. Since they are a bio-mass eating monster, they really can't reason with any one to fight for a common cause. But they do have the hive mind, and the hive mind can move other Tryanids to join in a common cause. With the hive mind pulling the strings of the nids, there would be more nids to come join the fight, and this can be taking the place of more force org charts and accessing the allies FOC.

What do you guys think?

No. I'd rather we got actual Genestealer Cult allies. Not access to Guard, an actual Genestealer Cult list like the good old days.

 -Loki- wrote:
No. I'd rather we got actual Genestealer Cult allies. Not access to Guard, an actual Genestealer Cult list like the good old days.

This would be a nice option and there is no reason other than laziness for GW to fail to put a genestealer cult list in the book.

I think it is very unlikely that the tyranids will gain the ability to ally with themselves even though I dont think it really would be bad for the game considering how screwed up the current ally system is.

I understand why Tyranid players are slightly peeved about no allies when they could use them pretty bad, but I cant imagine the uproar on here if any race somehow allied with them. I too like the genestealer cults, and i found them really interesting to read about, probably the most interesting Tyranid fluff ive ever read honestly.

I think they missed an opportunity with the Allies Matrix. Make Imperial Guard unable to ally with Tyranids, sweet as. But then they should have made Tyranids able to ally with Imperial Guard. And, as easy as that, you have a rough way of showing Genestealer Cult, even if it is far from the best version.
There's no reason the Allies Matrix should be the same horizontally as vertically. I think some fo the other races ARE different aren't they?

The big problem with allies for Tyranids is Tyranids rely on a synergy between units to function properly.

Tyranids need synapse to make sure their army, which has categorically low leadership, doesn't run away or go hide in a ruin for the whole game. It relies on Biomancy to get much needed buffs to its more fragile creatures - Endurance top keep the army up under fire, Iron Arm and Warp Speed for Hive Tyrants and Tervigons to make them a tad better for their points.

These needed links between units are provided by expensive synapse units - even psychic powers. These units are also expensive, and are pretty irreplaceable by allied units. By the time you've built your core of synapse and core of Tyranids, you don't really have the points left over until you hit games greater than 2000pts. And in that case, you're generally better off making use of a second FOC than trying to shoehorn in allies.

Tyranids need allies that operate under the same synergistic values as they do - hence a Genestealer Cult. Simply letting them take Guard allies, while tempting, would end up making the Tyranid protion of the combined army weaker.

Under the current matrix, no, I don't see any way to make Tyranids have allies reasonably.

They're the bug race that's here to devour all life, aligning yourself to a race like that seems pretty silly.

And in that case, you're generally better off making use of a second FOC than trying to shoehorn in allies.

what do nids do If they dont play 2k points or double FoC ? here most games are played at 1500 points , sometimes 1750 and we never used 2 FoC , even big games use 1999points.

Makumba wrote:

And in that case, you're generally better off making use of a second FOC than trying to shoehorn in allies.

what do nids do If they dont play 2k points or double FoC ? here most games are played at 1500 points , sometimes 1750 and we never used 2 FoC , even big games use 1999points.

-Loki- wrote:By the time you've built your core of synapse and core of Tyranids, you don't really have the points left over until you hit games greater than 2000pts

It's like, literally, the sentence before the one you quoted.

Tyranids suffer from their key units being expensive. Overexpensive in a lot of cases. For example - you bring your Tyrant/Flyrant. There goes ~300pts. Fill out elites - there goes ~300pts. Troops, you're going to want a Tervigon or two in there. There goes ~200pts per Tervigon. Heavy Support, you'll probably have a Trygon or two. There goes ~200pts each.

So lets take a 'normal' 1500pt list. Dakka flyrant, two Tervigons, I'll be conservative and say four of the usual elite choices (zoanthropes/hive guard). One Trygon. That's roughly 1100pts. You'll need at least two minumum squads of Termagants, so 1200pts. That leaves you 300pts. Not much to take advantage of allies. With Guard, you'll barely squeeze in a CCS, Infantry platoon, and an inexpensive tank. Those points could have been better spent on actual tyranid units that add value to other Tyranids - more Zoanthroes for more biomancy, perhaps. Another Tervigon for more gant spewing and even more biomancy perhaps. Another Trygon for much needed target saturation, maybe.

Once you start expanding to 1750, 1850 and 1999+1, you're still better off with more Tyranids. Another dakka Flyrant, more Trygons, Tervigons, Hive Gard, Zoanthropes, Gargoyles... Tyranids don't need allies because allies add nothing they need until they've filled up their FOC with their better choices. Once they have filled up their FOC with better choices, they've hit the 2000pt mark and get another FOC to bring more of their good choices which add more to the overall effectiveness of the army.

People that want allies like Guard are generally looking for a way to squeeze a Manticore into their army without realizing they are diluting the strength of the Tyranid portion, and not gaiing enough to make up for that. The few who have an actual Genestealer Cult I doubt have any problems getting opponents to let them use it as a fluffy matchup anyway.

Well, we don`t actually know if Nids are gonna get a new codex do we? If they are, the allied FOC would make sense to make it balanced.

MarsNZ wrote:
Under the current matrix, no, I don't see any way to make Tyranids have allies reasonably.

They're the bug race that's here to devour all life, aligning yourself to a race like that seems pretty silly.

A bug race that has at least a dozen novels off the top of my head that have fluff dedicated to genestealer cults with full faculty of shipment including weapons and tank in races that include but are not limited to non genetically enhanced humans, orks and Tua... In total honesty the moment I saw the matrix I sighed (not for the first or last time) at the fact that GW ignores its own fluff on a daily basis...

 Spazamataz wrote:

MarsNZ wrote:
Under the current matrix, no, I don't see any way to make Tyranids have allies reasonably.

They're the bug race that's here to devour all life, aligning yourself to a race like that seems pretty silly.

A bug race that has at least a dozen novels off the top of my head that have fluff dedicated to genestealer cults with full faculty of shipment including weapons and tank in races that include but are not limited to non genetically enhanced humans, orks and Tua... In total honesty the moment I saw the matrix I sighed (not for the first or last time) at the fact that GW ignores its own fluff on a daily basis...

You aren't the only one who's read the 2e Tyranid codex there chief, thing is, I can't see Genestealer cults in the Allies matrix, please point out where I can find them. If they aren't there, which is what I suspect, why are you bringing up imaginary codicies?

MarsNZ wrote:

 Spazamataz wrote:

MarsNZ wrote:
Under the current matrix, no, I don't see any way to make Tyranids have allies reasonably.

They're the bug race that's here to devour all life, aligning yourself to a race like that seems pretty silly.

A bug race that has at least a dozen novels off the top of my head that have fluff dedicated to genestealer cults with full faculty of shipment including weapons and tank in races that include but are not limited to non genetically enhanced humans, orks and Tua... In total honesty the moment I saw the matrix I sighed (not for the first or last time) at the fact that GW ignores its own fluff on a daily basis...

You aren't the only one who's read the 2e Tyranid codex there chief, thing is, I can't see Genestealer cults in the Allies matrix, please point out where I can find them. If they aren't there, which is what I suspect, why are you bringing up imaginary codicies?

.. hmm lets see.. where were those genestealer codices..... OH THAT'S WHERE I PUT THEM... *pulls out Tyranid Codex*... lets see now.. *flips through codex*.. yep there it is ... big letters and all... hey they even spelt Genestealer right and everything...

I can do sarcasm too 'chief'

Nids have had allies before, wouldn't be supprised if they have allies again in the next Apoc.

It does irk me that Nids don't have allies in BRB, it wouldn't be difficult to fluff it out so seems more like a balancing issue.

 TechmarineNic wrote:
Well, we don`t actually know if Nids are gonna get a new codex do we? If they are, the allied FOC would make sense to make it balanced.

We can only go on past editions, but Tyranids are the only xenos race to get a book in ever edition of 40k so far. Make of that what you will.

Genestealer cults aren't really Tyranid battlefield allies. They sow disruption in the target world, cause revolt and generally weaken defence. When the Hive Fleet arrives everything on the world is consumed.

What would be the point of Tyranids taking allies from their own codex? You'd be driving it up towards the 2000 points limit, and at that point you can get double FOC.

JWhex wrote:

 -Loki- wrote:
No. I'd rather we got actual Genestealer Cult allies. Not access to Guard, an actual Genestealer Cult list like the good old days.

This would be a nice option and there is no reason other than laziness for GW to fail to put a genestealer cult list in the book.

I think it is very unlikely that the tyranids will gain the ability to ally with themselves even though I dont think it really would be bad for the game considering how screwed up the current ally system is.

Agreed completely with Loki here.

The good thing about genestealer cults is that they would do what allies do for every other army, give them access to different units that are unlike those of their parent FOCs and give them new combinations and options. Frankly the nids need something to make up for being denied this. I appreicate that they are utterly alien and can realistically not ally with anyone BUT the same argument could easily be made about necrons. I still think Eldar/Dark Eldar allies are ludicrous and totally at variance with all sense and logic.

Also and on a very similar issue nids cannot use weapons on fortifications. My experience of 6th ed sees fortifications as vitally important to the game. Being denied this is another area in dire need of balancing. They'll need to make a nid specific fortification.

If they decide to balance this another way, they will have to add plenty of new units to the nid dex to make up for it and give nids some angles that other races don't have in order to give them a fair payoff.

My point was the fact that not even members of the host race can tell th einfested apart... So what is the reasoning behind this new 'genestealer Dex I keep hearing about.. Infested human look and fight so much like normal human it's almost impossible to tell the difference if you don't know how to already.. In fact even orks are fooled by infested orks... So tell me again? Why bring out a genestealer Dex when human and genestealer allies would do fine?..??

I would do a lot to get another elite choice with Nids. If you could ally with yourself you could get a 4th elite. That seems awesome to me.

 Medium of Death wrote:
Genestealer cults aren't really Tyranid battlefield allies. They sow disruption in the target world, cause revolt and generally weaken defence. When the Hive Fleet arrives everything on the world is consumed.

And that's easily represented by giving them access to Outflank. and Deep Strike You're right in that Genestealer Cults fighting in the main battle line is unlikely - it wouldn't be unheard of, as the Tyranids wouldn't outright attack them until the world was theirs and they were consuming everything, but having an allies list made up of the old Cult type units with Outflank and Deepstrike would work. Deep Strike to represent them appearing from earthwork defences, sewers, tunnels, etc. Outflank to represent them unveiling their true nature and launching suprise attacks on the defenders. Of course this only makes fluff sense if the enemy is an Imperial force, but there's plenty of stuff that defies fluff logic anyway.

A Genestealer Cult should be more than just Guard allies. Mostly because Guard allies are just boring, but also because there's some great scope for new models.

they should be able to have cron allies. No biomatter to harvest=no interest in killing them. It makes sense both fluffwise and gives them access to fliers and allies, making everyone happy!

Here's a few thoughts. Wouldn't Tyranids and Chaos be ally material considering that both love killing and fighting (blood for the blood god)? Or perhaps the Hive Mind could 'manipulate' the orcs into doing what they want like I've herd the eldar do to the orcs. I mean, siding with a monsterous force that wants to kill everything sounds crazy to Humans like us, but to orcs, Tyranids are like BFFs. Orcs love to fight, Tyranids love to fight. I can even see a way for the Necrons to ally with the Tyranids. Necrons and Tyranids both have a goal to wipe out all life. The Tyranids would have no reason to try to kill the Necrons cuz they have no bio-mass. The Hive Mind would just let the Necrons help it kill all the life-forms it wants to consume. Just some thoughts.

I personally am not a fan of the allies system, and havent ever used it.

I get it from a competitive standpoint. You want to remove the weak points of your army with a force that has those as i strong points. I just feel it dilutes the whole experience and removes the challenge from trying to win with your codex, letting you steal the good bits from another.

Anyway, id prefer it if the Tyranids stayed the only race to not be able to take allies. It fits with their fluff just right, and gives them some more individuality and makes them a greater challenge. OldCrons would have been the same.

I wouldnt mind a something incorporating Genestealer Cults into a new codex, but Im not sure how it would be done. Or even if it would work very well.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 xPAINxxxKINGx wrote:
Here's a few thoughts. Wouldn't Tyranids and Chaos be ally material considering that both love killing and fighting (blood for the blood god)? Or perhaps the Hive Mind could 'manipulate' the orcs into doing what they want like I've herd the eldar do to the orcs. I mean, siding with a monsterous force that wants to kill everything sounds crazy to Humans like us, but to orcs, Tyranids are like BFFs. Orcs love to fight, Tyranids love to fight. I can even see a way for the Necrons to ally with the Tyranids. Necrons and Tyranids both have a goal to wipe out all life.

Tyranids dont love to fight. They dont love anything. They dont think in the same way as any other race. Everything is just prey to them. Only the Genestealers who form the Genestealer cults operate differently, and for very specific reasons.
Chaos would get a messed up by the Shadow in the Warp if they were daemons/sorcerers/warp tainted. Plus they are still just prey as are all other racers.
And its really OldCrons who where the omnicidal killbots. NewCrons are a bit more...nuanced. Yes the nids get no biomass from them (though as its living metal I wonder why, as the nids can breakdown almost any material to useful biomass) but they get biomass from any planet the crons are on. Its only if its not worth expending the resources to take the planet that the nids will leave it be.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Thatguyhsagun wrote:
they should be able to have cron allies. No biomatter to harvest=no interest in killing them. It makes sense both fluffwise and gives them access to fliers and allies, making everyone happy!

But no interest in killing them does not = allies. And they are still aggressive and would attack the crons if they were in the way. Or if the crons are on a planet worth harvesting, and just need to be wiped out to get at it.

1. Considering all they do is wage war and consume planets, they do 'love' to fight. Yes, I realize that the Tyranids don't Actually 'love' anything, it's just a turn of phrase, but my point remains: The Tyranids and Chaos/Orks could easily work together because the Tyranids constant fighting obviously helps Chaos. And because Orks just love fighting, they wouldn't even care that the Tyranids would eventually betray them, because the Orks would just relish in the Waaaggghh! You seem to be implying that two races have to literally be in love with each other to be allies. If that were actually the case then NO one would be allies with each other -_-

2. Yes, everything is prey to the Tyranids, but that doesn't mean the Hive Mind wouldn't try and use certain races and then eat them when their usefulness runs out. You seem to be forgetting how intelligent the Hive Mind is. The Tyranids aren't just mindless animals. They do see everything as prey, but the surely the Hive Mind could see the advantage in using other races to weaken a planets defense and such. And Most of the alliances in 40K are just alliances of convenience. Humans and Eldar will fight against a common threat, but then stab each other in the back when their common enemy is defeated.

3. Yeah, they get bio-mass from the planet...NOT the Necrons. So, again, the Tyranids wouldn't have much motive to kill the Necrons themselves because they can't eat the Necrons. I don't know much about Necron, but aren't their Tom Worlds mostly dead? And again, the Necron and Tyranids want to destroy all life, would the Necrons really care if the Tyranids wanted to eat all the plants and stuff on one of their worlds? I don't think so.

4. "But no interest in killing them does not = allies.".....Again, this is Warhammer 40K we're talking about. You don't need to be best friends to have an alliance. If two sides have a common interest and don't want to kill each other, then what is stopping them from having some sort of tenuous alliance? And remember the alliance system itself takes these things into account. Necrons/Ork/Chaos and Tyranids wouldn't be 'Battle Brothers Till the End!", but it's easily possible that those two sides could temporarily work together to get what they want. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

I haven't used 3 elite slots since 6th edition dropped. I use 1 every game and I'm thinking about using a second, but I don't think I need 3 Zoeys.

Also, I don't want allies. Even if I was allowed to ally with Necrons I doubt I'd do it - besides MSS there's nothing I want in there, and I don't really need MSS.

Tyranids lack the emotional states that mortals have when entering combat... fear, battle-lust, rage, hatred, etc... the bugs simply do all this as a reflex action. Their brand of violence does nothing for the Ruinous Powers.

Actually, the Tyranids *are* just mindless animals. However, en mass, they are greater than the sum of their parts, and that gives rise to the Hive Mind. They make use of other races via the Genestealer Cults, true, but that is a specific strain of the Tyranid biomorph being used in a specific manner. This is not a Hive Tyrant trying to speak Low Gothic to parlay with an Imperial Guard Commander.

Necrons view the galaxy as theirs to rule, excluding all other races, who are fit only for extermination or to give tribute to their ancient masters. With their phase out and resurrection protocols, I cannot imagine a situation where the Necrons would become even desperate allies with the Tyranids. They also can't speak to one another, so how they could even arrange such a situation is pretty dicey. The Necrons are also not about to surrender to the Hive a world they view as theirs by right of conquest and rulership.

 xPAINxxxKINGx wrote:
1. Considering all they do is wage war and consume planets, they do 'love' to fight. Yes, I realize that the Tyranids don't Actually 'love' anything, it's just a turn of phrase, but my point remains: The Tyranids and Chaos/Orks could easily work together because the Tyranids constant fighting obviously helps Chaos. And because Orks just love fighting, they wouldn't even care that the Tyranids would eventually betray them, because the Orks would just relish in the Waaaggghh! You seem to be implying that two races have to literally be in love with each other to be allies. If that were actually the case then NO one would be allies with each other -_-

2. Yes, everything is prey to the Tyranids, but that doesn't mean the Hive Mind wouldn't try and use certain races and then eat them when their usefulness runs out. You seem to be forgetting how intelligent the Hive Mind is. The Tyranids aren't just mindless animals. They do see everything as prey, but the surely the Hive Mind could see the advantage in using other races to weaken a planets defense and such. And Most of the alliances in 40K are just alliances of convenience. Humans and Eldar will fight against a common threat, but then stab each other in the back when their common enemy is defeated.

3. Yeah, they get bio-mass from the planet...NOT the Necrons. So, again, the Tyranids wouldn't have much motive to kill the Necrons themselves because they can't eat the Necrons. I don't know much about Necron, but aren't their Tom Worlds mostly dead? And again, the Necron and Tyranids want to destroy all life, would the Necrons really care if the Tyranids wanted to eat all the plants and stuff on one of their worlds? I don't think so.

4. "But no interest in killing them does not = allies.".....Again, this is Warhammer 40K we're talking about. You don't need to be best friends to have an alliance. If two sides have a common interest and don't want to kill each other, then what is stopping them from having some sort of tenuous alliance? And remember the alliance system itself takes these things into account. Necrons/Ork/Chaos and Tyranids wouldn't be 'Battle Brothers Till the End!", but it's easily possible that those two sides could temporarily work together to get what they want. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Apologies if this seems aggressive. It is not intended in an aggressive tone. Im purely addressing your points and countering them based on what I consider to be true.

1. You are thinking of the tyranids in human terms. They do not think and feel in a way that translates to the way we do. They exist to feed. They do not love it. They do not hate other races. They just eat. The only reason they attack anything it because they want the biomass, and the only way to get that is by killing you.
And im not implying races need to be best buddies to cooperate. They can be as strenuous as you like. But if one side is so alien and incomprehensible, and also is completely incapable and un-needing of allies, then there is no hope of an alliance. Genestealer Cults only function as long range cells, separate to the lions share of the Hive Mind.

2. The tyranids are mindless in general. Their intelligence is gestalt, not individual. The hive mind is intelligent beyond reckoning, but it isnt a human mind. It doesnt work like one. They dont need allies to weaken their targets. Even the Genestealer cults only weaken a planets defences as a by-product of them expanding the cult to increase the power of their psychic beacon. Your reasoning for the Hive Mind allying with races is flawed from the ground up.

3. The Nids dont need motive. Again, they do not think in those terms. If the Necrons are in the way, or they attack the nids, they will destroy the crons. If they move out of the way they will ignore them unless there is a suitably tasty amount of biomass to be gained by attacking them (i.e. they will get more out of the attack then they will expend in the attack).

4. No you dont need to be best friends. I have said nothing to suggest that. In fact I have noted the opposite. Marines and Eldar have allied often in the fluff. If you have a common need, then an alliance, however tenuous and temporary, can be forged.
Nothing has a common view to the Nids. Nothing wants to just devour all existence. The Crons want to rule it, assimilate it, thats not the same. Other races can comprehend each other, can understand their way of thinking or at least communicate. No-one can do this with the nids.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Psienesis wrote:
Tyranids lack the emotional states that mortals have when entering combat... fear, battle-lust, rage, hatred, etc... the bugs simply do all this as a reflex action. Their brand of violence does nothing for the Ruinous Powers.

Actually, the Tyranids *are* just mindless animals. However, en mass, they are greater than the sum of their parts, and that gives rise to the Hive Mind. They make use of other races via the Genestealer Cults, true, but that is a specific strain of the Tyranid biomorph being used in a specific manner. This is not a Hive Tyrant trying to speak Low Gothic to parlay with an Imperial Guard Commander.

Necrons view the galaxy as theirs to rule, excluding all other races, who are fit only for extermination or to give tribute to their ancient masters. With their phase out and resurrection protocols, I cannot imagine a situation where the Necrons would become even desperate allies with the Tyranids. They also can't speak to one another, so how they could even arrange such a situation is pretty dicey. The Necrons are also not about to surrender to the Hive a world they view as theirs by right of conquest and rulership.

Exactly. You put it a lot more succinctly then I did

 xPAINxxxKINGx wrote:
1. Considering all they do is wage war and consume planets, they do 'love' to fight. Yes, I realize that the Tyranids don't Actually 'love' anything, it's just a turn of phrase, but my point remains: The Tyranids and Chaos/Orks could easily work together because the Tyranids constant fighting obviously helps Chaos. And because Orks just love fighting, they wouldn't even care that the Tyranids would eventually betray them, because the Orks would just relish in the Waaaggghh! You seem to be implying that two races have to literally be in love with each other to be allies. If that were actually the case then NO one would be allies with each other -_-

Tyranids 'fight' in order to consume. If a prey world has no defenses, they still consume it, but just don't deploy their armed organisms.

The reason Tyranids fight so much, and consume so much, is not because they enjoy it, but because they need to feed. The Tyranid race is one giant organism, and just like you need to eat regularly or you'll starve, the same is said for Tyranids. Most of the biomass wouldn't realistically go to making new Tyranids, but feeding the bioships.

You need to stop thinking of Tyranids doing their fighting because they want to. They do it because they need to. Tyranids fighting and consuming a planet is akin to you having a bowl of oats for breakfast, but that bowl of oats is the planet. And that's exactly how they see a planet, as a bowl of oats.

They're not going to fight with other races, because the races themselves are completely insignificant to the Tyranids. They're as much like ants to the Tyranids as ants are to us. If we get bitten by a large ant as we're preparing the oats, we'll kill it and continue to prepare and eat them. Just like Tyranids will kill defenders of a planet so they can prepare and eat the planet.

You need to stop thinking that the Tyranids care one jot about anything any other race wants. They don't, because they don't even consider the races to be anything more than, again, ants.

 xPAINxxxKINGx wrote:
2. Yes, everything is prey to the Tyranids, but that doesn't mean the Hive Mind wouldn't try and use certain races and then eat them when their usefulness runs out. You seem to be forgetting how intelligent the Hive Mind is. The Tyranids aren't just mindless animals. They do see everything as prey, but the surely the Hive Mind could see the advantage in using other races to weaken a planets defense and such. And Most of the alliances in 40K are just alliances of convenience. Humans and Eldar will fight against a common threat, but then stab each other in the back when their common enemy is defeated.

The Tyranids do use other races, but you have the order backwards. The way they use a race is consume it, and sort through its genetic code to find anything it might find useful. Tyranids aren't mindless animals, but they're so, so, so far evolved beyond any other race that they simply don't consider any other race to be anything but food.

They have no need whatsoever to use other races to weaken planetary defenses - that's why they send out their Vanguard. A Vanguard consists of Lictors and Genestealers, which assess the planet and infiltrate the armed forces. In the case of the Lictors, they generally assassinate high level military figures to absord their brain matter to understand them. Genestealers will start a Cult and generally end up taking over significant chunks of the planetary government.

 xPAINxxxKINGx wrote:
3. Yeah, they get bio-mass from the planet...NOT the Necrons. So, again, the Tyranids wouldn't have much motive to kill the Necrons themselves because they can't eat the Necrons. I don't know much about Necron, but aren't their Tom Worlds mostly dead? And again, the Necron and Tyranids want to destroy all life, would the Necrons really care if the Tyranids wanted to eat all the plants and stuff on one of their worlds? I don't think so.

Just so you understand - the Tyranids get almost no biomass from the defenders of a planet either. The entire biosphere constains so much more potential biomass. Tyranids are there to eat the planet, not the defenders. They attack the defenders because they are stopping them from consuming the planet.

If a Necron tomb world has a significantly rich biosphere, they definitely will attack the planet simply for the biomass in the biosphere.

 xPAINxxxKINGx wrote:
4. "But no interest in killing them does not = allies.".....Again, this is Warhammer 40K we're talking about. You don't need to be best friends to have an alliance. If two sides have a common interest and don't want to kill each other, then what is stopping them from having some sort of tenuous alliance? And remember the alliance system itself takes these things into account. Necrons/Ork/Chaos and Tyranids wouldn't be 'Battle Brothers Till the End!", but it's easily possible that those two sides could temporarily work together to get what they want. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Tyranids don't ally at all. Think of it like this - if you find a hornet nest, go up to them and say 'hey, want to be buddies and help me kill that snake over there?'

You'll get much the same reaction from the hornets as you'd get from the Tyranids.