Kain wrote:The jaws of the deep. (Ruiner of Megyere, Tremorbeast) (Apocalypse only)
Codex: Tyranids
Points: 1500 pts
Type: Gargantuan creature
WS 7
BS 4
S 8
T 8
W 8
I 5
A 8
Ld 10
Sv 2+ 5++
FNP
Biomorphs: x2 Scything Talons, Armored Carapace, Regeneration, Toxin sacs, Adrenal Glands, Adamantium tusks, Dread Containment spines, Bio-plasma barrage, Warp shield, Scythe tail
Adamantium tusks: A biomorph commonly seen on Carnifexes, this allows the creature to impact on a charge with greater ferocity, allowing it an additional attack upon entering combat.
Dread containment spines: As this creature is to the Trygon as the Trygon is to the ravener, this beast has even greater containment spines with which to unleash upon it's foes, it's body storing up incredible amounts of electricity before discharging them in a cataclysmic storm of charged death. The sheer volume of fire this monstrosity can unleash is staggering, leading some to proclaim it as a living thunder storm. It has the following profile.
Range 24',
Str 6, AP4, Assault 18.
Bio-plasma barrage: With an ululating shriek, the terror of the deep may release a burning gust of deadly plasma to accompany it's thunderous lightning, vomiting out green death at short range that can burn through the toughest armor with the following profile
Range 24",
Str 7,
Ap 2, Assault 6, blast.
Warp shield: A potent node in the psychic web of the Hive Mind, the jaws of the deep possesses some measure of psychic ability that allows it to generate a shield around itself, certainly not as strong as that of the Zoanthrope of telekinetic hive tyrants, but enough to occasionally deter lascannon rounds, as such it has a 5++ invulnerable save.
Scythe tail: Another biomorph commonly associated with carnifexes, the Scythe tail allows the Jaws of the Deep to make 2d3 additional attacks at half strength with no
AP value in assault.
Special Rules:
Deep strike, Fearless, Fleet, Shadow in the Warp, Synapse creature, Subterranean assault (as Trygon), Unstoppable frenzy, titan crusher, Tremorbeast, Burrow
The endurer: The last it was seen, the beast managed to claw and tear it's way through a Titan legion before finally being brought to heel, it shrugged off grievous wounds, pushing forward to slaughter it's foes with a hateful frenzy and slamming into them like an angry god. As such it is treated as having Feel no pain and Rage.
Titan Crusher: Infamous for single handedly tearing apart a Titan legion, this creature's body seems well adapted to the task of ripping open the hulls of superheavy vehicles, it's strong talons capable of cutting through adamantium and piercing into vital systems and seems equally effective against similarly large monsters. Treat it as being AP1 in melee and having Armorbane and monster hunter in assault.
Tremorbeast: Much like the lesser mawlocs, this colossal beast's emergence from the earth below is immensely destructive. If it deep strikes into a space occupied by other models, do not roll on the deep strike mishap table, but instead do the following.
Place a 10' blast template directly over where the Jaws of the Deep is emerging from. Every unit caught by the marker suffers a number of S9 AP1 Armorbane hits equal to the number of models either fully or partially covered by the template. Vehicles are always struck on their rear armor. If any unit still has surviving models from the furious assault, move that unit the minimum distance away to clear all models from beneath the blast template while still maintaining unit coherency and avoiding impassable terrain. Units that were locked in combat before the Jaws emergence must remain in base contact if possible, but otherwise the model cannot be moved within 1' of an enemy model. Vehicles, including immobile vehicles, retain their original facing if moved. Any models that cannot be moved out of the way are destroyed. After all casualties are determined replace the 10' blast template with the Jaws of the Deep.
Additionally, mark the position under the Jaws of the Deep's base. Any Tyranid unit (excluding those with wings or Gargantuan creatures) may attempt to utilize this tunnel network and emerge from it instead of arriving as normal. If they chose to do so, place the entire unit so that all units are within 6' of the marker and are in unit coherency. If any models cannot be placed because of enemy models within 1' or impassable terrain the excess are removed as casualties. The unit may assault on the same turn as it arrives as well as move and shoot due to the sheer size of the tunnel created. No more than two units may emerge from each tunnel entrance per turn. If a second unit emerges from the same entrance during the turn, then neither may assault on that turn.
Unlike most units, the Jaws may assault on the same turn it emerges from reserves.
Burrow: The Jaws of the deep can at any time if it is not locked in close combat, elect to re-burrow into the earth. If it chooses to do so, remove it from the table and place it back in reserves. It automatically emerges via deep strike on your next movement phase. Note that the Jaws may not deep strike and burrow on the same turn.
Fluff: First seen as a massive, reaver titan sized Trygon like beast tore into an entire Titan legion on it's own, ripping apart the god machines in a ravenous frenzy to tear a hole through the Adeptus Mechanicus lines and open a path for the forces of Hive Fleet Leviathan to bring about the fall of Megyere. Single mindedly devoted to the task of putting an end to the manufacturing of weapons on Megyere after the Hive Mind determined that the destruction of such a major forgeworld would render countless other worlds easy prey, the creature ignored pain and injury and laid waste to dozens of Titans and Leviathans. It's surprising speed allowing it to rapidly lock itself into combat with the dreadful god machines and rolling cathedrals of the machine cult.
The vaunted shielding that they so relied on proved useless when faced with a foe so close to it, the forty meter tall serpentine monstrosity hacking off massive limbs and ripping into plasma cores while weaving around mighty chainfists and bayonets and pushing past the fire of defensive batteries in it's mad frenzy to rid the world of it's potent defenders. It's wounds sealing themselves as it went from god machine to god machine, systematically destroying them all before throwing itself at the Bastion walls that presented the final obstacles to the planet's destruction by the hive mind.
Pushing past the techno-sorcery and unmatched firepower that only a major forgeworld could bring to bear, the Creature launched itself at the shielded walls and hammered at them relentlessly, slamming it's claws and jaws into the shields and adamantium structure with no regard for the injuries it was suffering. Even as chunks of it's flesh were ripped asunder and it's warp shield collapsed it kept on slamming into the wall. Finally, a hellstorm blast tore out it's heart and ended it's life, but not before it tore down a massive chunk of the wall.
But like other supposedly unique Tyranid organisms, this creature has an odd habit of appearing wherever it would be useful, once again hacking into the largest machines and monsters of it's foes, killing huge Daemons, Squiggoths, Gargants, Titans, and massive tanks all alike in service to the eternal hunger of it's species.
Battle of forgefane:
On forgefane it lead the push past the Iron Warrior's defenses, earning it the moniker of "tremorbeast" from the fearful Iron Warriors as it terrorized them. The Chaos Space marines and their legions of traitor guardsmen, dark mechanicus, daemons, and cultists soon grew to fear the creature more than their own gods as it would emerge without warning, lay waste to all in it's sight, then disappear just as suddenly.
"We thought we were safe.We had our mighty engines, and obliterators, our legions of guardsmen and cultists, our great daemons and sorcery, our dark fleet in orbit, our own mighty armor and weapons. We had held this world for ten thousand years against xenos and the slaves of the corpse emperor. When our world shook and churned, we dismissed it as abnormal geological activity, nothing for the warriors of Chaos to fear. But then our sorcerers started to scream...not of the scratching of daemons or the gnawing of our gods, but of the voices of a billion billion hungry mouths, clawing and biting and casting a dark shadow. We thought the gods were testing us, until our scanners and sorcery revealed them, a Tyranid fleet a thousand hive ships strong with more Krakens than we could fathom.
We dismissed them, what threat could mere hungry beasts pose to the scions of Perturabo? We were veterans of ten thousand years of defense. We engaged in a defense throughout the system, striking at their fleet as our dogma dictated, pulling back as they came in their multitudes. But On the third hit and run assault, what we mistook for clouds of gas passing through the system revealed themselves to be spores hiding the other half of their fleet. Most of our ships were caught in the vise, and they descended upon them like savage animals. Ships that had seen thousands of years of battle, mighty chaos leviathans, and xeno mercenaries all wiped out in a few hours. The sorcerers said they all died screaming.
The rest of our fleet hung above us, our defense lasers and batteries filled the void with death. But they smashed through without pause or heed. Some of us requested to flee, but that fool. That warp damned fool Kolvax bid us to stay, proclaiming that we would not fall. At first it was glorious, to kill so many writhing, screaming and mewling xenos. They ground theirselves against our defenses as every other foe had. Dying in piles so thick we used their corpses to make ramparts. But they never stopped coming. They came in waves and we pushed them back, again and again and again.
But the gifts became harder and harder to receive. The voice of our gods quieter and quieter, until it was drowned out by the scratching hunger of a race that outnumbered the stars. We fought and killed, we sacrificed their corpses to the Dark Gods, we gloried in their deaths, but whereas every tide before them broke, they only seemed to feed on our efforts. They were beyond mere beasts, they learned and adapted, each wave better suited to our slaughter than the last. But we didn't know our doom until that thing appeared. We rallied around a bloodthirster we had summoned, cutting through them like a scythe through chaff.
But then the ground itself betrayed us, crumbling into the abyss below before the tremorbeast as it rose and devoured a dozen battle brothers and slaughtered our cultists. The Bloodthirster roared it's challenge and bellowed chants to Khorne, but the creature simply reached over and impaled it with one of it's claws before biting it in half. And following it came the Great Devourer in all it's multitudes. Thousands of lesser serpent beasts rose and let forth more of them through, our fortresses began collapsing as they ate away their foundations.
Kolvax, damnable fool, thought to slay the beast himself. Even as it destroyed our Titans and slew our Daemons, he sought to fight it. When he finally found it after it slaughtered four bloodthirsters and reduced two of our titans into scrap and sent a lord of change screaming into the warp, he still sought to charge it. The imbecile only got off a single swing before it ran him through with it's tail and tossed him into it's mouth before ripping the walls of our fortress down like cardboard. Six hundred defilers lost in two hours, hundreds of brothers eaten, billions of slaves, dozens of titans, thousands of daemons, millions of mercenaries all lost to us!
Before I fled on a stormbird, I saw one of them...like the Hive Tyrants but with four swords and a malevolent intelligence to it's eye. Looking at the Tremorbeast lay waste to our defenses approvingly. Later I would learn the loyalist's name for the beast, Swarmlord. And that the creature that shattered our defenses helped the devourer Shatter Gryphonne IV, a world Kolvax long dreamed of claiming for himself. Know this cretin, we are warriors of chaos, but we are not invincible, do not underestimate the Xeno, they are a more dogged threat to us than the false Imperium, and now they are at your doorstep.
Over a thousand iron warriors died on that world, their geneseed forever lost to us and the enemy now aware of all our weaknesses. You think yourselves peerless for overwhelming this subsector a scant century ago. You dismiss the Hive Fleet battering down at your walls as simple beasts. You have not learned how to properly scorn the devourer with the gifts of Chaos.. And that is why I came to your wretched subsector, to warn you of the threat these aliens pose. To whip you dogs into shape and form a proper defense against the greatest threat to Chaos...*distant rumbling*...What was that?....
*Room shakes* No...it cannot be....*screeching and roaring* No...The Tyranids could not have advanced so quickly! *sound of masonry collapsing* No! The beast returns! *Firing of reaperautocannon and screaming* I WILL NOT BE TAKEN BY YOU BE-*Sound identified as terminator armor being penetrated, low growling, and teeth chomping*-AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH" Iron Warriors Chaos Lord Argentik Solemnbane's last known words during the fall of the traitor held subsector Jyrl, lost to the Imperium following the "Descent of the Ravagers" to Hive Fleet Hydra, over four thousand traitor marines belonging to several renegade chapters, the Iron warriors, Word Bearers, and Emperor's children traitor legions, roughly three hundred fifty billion cultists, and eight hundred million traitor guardsmen and chaos PDF elements estimated to have been slain. Recording found by Grey Knights purgatory squad following the arrival of a crusade fleet dispatched earlier to reclaim or exterminate subsector for the Imperium. The Grey Knights detachment reportedly informed the Inquisition that they were extremely disappointed, a sentiment held by everyone involved in what has become known as "The non-crusade" among other more farcical nicknames.
"What a bloody waste of our time." - Warmaster Rodrick bitterly reported upon finding that the subsector was stripped clean of all life by Tyranids a year before arrival.
The Administratum officials in charge of organizing the crusade who failed to authorize further intelligence into the subsector were promptly sent to Gulags in northern Valhalla as penance.
