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Tyranids & Orks, can they work together? And I'm not talking about an Ork-style Genestealer Cult (to easy).

If you look online you can find pictures of looted carnifex, with brainimplants so it works for it's Ork masters... I don't really like that idea.

Orks have strong psychic powers or aura. That way there weapons work and there vehicle don't fall apart. That's common knowledge.
Tyranids are controlled with psychic powers by the hive mind. If there is no connection to the hive mind they fall to a feral primative state.

So what I was thinking. If some nids got lost by the hive mind and are stranded on a ork planet (or in an ork hulk) there should be a possiblity that the orks can take the role of the hive mind. What do you guys think?

No. Not-ever. Don't even contemplate it.

But then I'm a person who thinks orks should just be orks. Though a buddy of mine has a beautifully converted and painted nurgle army made with ork models. I give him a hard time about it and call it an abomination every time I see it.

But fluff-wise: I suppose if they are truely feral, then orks could possible control them to a limited extent. Maybe have a wyrdboy(z) who act as controllers for them. I think the more liekly scenario is that they would try to kill each other on sight - possibly the orks could capture them and use them in pit-fighting for a laugh.

Why nids? they are the most standalone force of 40k.

As budro said: as pets for the orks

As allies for any 4ok faction:

So it's totally unheard of that Orks could use Ravengers as bikes? (a red alien must be born to go fast ).

But a Warboss with a enslaved thermaguant bodyguard (aka pets) could be oke?

The reason I ask offcourse is because I'm thinking of making a 'nid themed ork army. Story goes like this: Orks fought of a tyranid horde on a planet; a new spacehulk flies by; the meks teleport the orks on the hulk together with some nids; they fly millions of light years through the galaxy, away from the rest of the hive; the 'nids get influenced by the ork psychic aura and they become like dangerous squigs/squigoths. The End.

Voron79 wrote:So it's totally unheard of that Orks could use Ravengers as bikes? (a red alien must be born to go fast ).

Red is fasta use every red thing as bike ?

But a Warboss with a enslaved thermaguant bodyguard (aka pets) could be oke?

If you use them as squigs / with the rules of a squig / not as nid =>

Story goes like this: Orks fought of a tyranid horde on a planet; a new spacehulk flies by; the meks teleport the orks on the hulk together with some nids; they fly millions of light years through the galaxy, away from the rest of the hive;

wouldn't the orks fight the nids so enthusiastic (only non-ork opponent) that no nid survives?
orks flying millions of lightyears?

the 'nids get influenced by the ork psychic aura and they become like dangerous squigs/squigoths

ork "auras" *shudders* may only affect orks. see => <= he IS affected by ork *shudders again* auras.
Your ork may enslave some minor feral nids by pure brutality and power.This will only hold until the next contact with the
Hive-"mind" is established.Then your pets turn against the orks.

What's wrong with Ork Aura's? The Green Spirit That Connects All Orks? What's a better name then?

So Tyranids are a no go with Orks? With some exceptions...

Other question then: Is it true that Gazghkull enslaved the Old One Eye and is using him as a sparring partner?

Your problem is that nids are No go with anything but nids.And even thats questionable.

Didn't ol Ghaz play cards with yarrick? ask him not me.

If you want to use the 'nid models, personally, I'd just say they are Big Squigs that happen to look a bit 'niddly.

Oh ye of little long term memory, let daddy tell you a story, via the wayback machine.


The original Tyranids used Ork DNA to create squigs. The first ripper swarm type model the Tyranids had were actually squig bases. As the old fluff goes, the Orks encountered the little bastiges, and recognizing that they were fundamentally "Orky" they took them in. From there, squigs became the ever popular, wuvable adorable ravenous maws with legs that all Orks have been in love with since. I see no problem with what you suggest, especially if your nids are, say, divorced parts of Hive Fleet Leviathan fighting Orks in the Octavian sector that had absorbed massive amounts of orky genes.

Except that orks had squigs long before the nids even came into the galaxy. Kinda like saying wraithlords/guard were created to fight the necrons back before slannesh was created and soulstones didn't exist...

Straight reaction to OP: aren't Tyranorks called Biovores? Or did they change the fluff again?

budro wrote:Except that orks had squigs long before the nids even came into the galaxy. Kinda like saying wraithlords/guard were created to fight the necrons back before slannesh was created and soulstones didn't exist...

Except that isn't quite the case. As per the Ork Wikipedia section

"In the first and second editions of the game, squigs were the result of Tyranid manipulation of Orkish gene-matter and could be present in either army. Orks were said to have discovered the first squigs aboard a Tyranid bio-ship and recognised them as being "Orky", subsequently taking the little creatures home. Squigs then spread throughout Ork space. However, since this conflicts with the more recent descriptions of the Orkoid ecosystem, this has been dropped. Squigs are now exclusively orky, with ripper swarms replacing them in the Tyranid list."

What you are describing is a situation wherea retcon infers that something existed before it logically has, where this situation involves a retcon that infers something didn't exist when it in fact was "canon" at one point.

The man has a precedent for orky Nids. The precedent for Wraithlords existing that far back was created after the fact.


Honestly, I think it would be stonking awesome to see some Nid pets that had picked up orky behaviour.

orkz iz orkz, nids are nids.
ork based nids are still hivemind controlled, and without some sort of frontal lobotomy nids wont work for orks.
on second thoughts, bring on the mad doks

But a Warboss with a enslaved thermaguant bodyguard (aka pets) could be oke?

If you use them as squigs / with the rules of a squig / not as nid =>

But if you read the fluff, Squigs originally are nids' enslaved by orks, but now they are orkoid from living with orks for so long they were infected with the orkoid fungus.
Originaly Squigs looked alot like Rippers. So that being said it would be plausible if you created a wild a$$ but believable story behind how the orks got nids, and use them in a game, i would say be permission only.

But im not going to lie i think that orks should be orks.
But i also think an army of orks(feral, or maybe snake bites) could use a bit of nids in a game. of course there would be alot of work to make your rules fair.
But hey its your idea run with it if you want to, just dont ask me to play you in a tourny or something cuz most would cry cheese.
And on a last note, if your wanting to run hordes of something, just take tons of boyz now that there only 6 pts each you can out number nids easilly anyhow.

Hey i got the quote and my text backwards oh well lol

I say go for it. Ignore 1hadhq, he likes to point out every single minute flaw in anyones thoughts...ever. If you can come up with halfway believable fluff for it then sure why not?

I also seem to remember some old fluff saying Genestealers could assimilate just about anything - just stick an Ork head and open-handed harms on a Stealer body and you're got...something.

edit - I'm sorry, OP, I don't know why I post before I finish my coffee...

Go right ahead. Orks riding Raveners as Bikes sounds like a really cool looking conversion.

Does it make sense, fluff wise? Who cares. The fluff changes every couple editions anyway (though obviously it's becoming more and more set as the game ages). Just make up something you like and and sounds decent and people should go for it, especially if the models look nice. Psychic is Psychic is Psychic - Orks do all sorts of crazy stuff Psychically...but controlling some hive-mind-less tyranids is out of the question? Sorry, that doesn't make sense to me.

Everyone's 40k universe is not the same one - it's just a game and a setting for things you or anyone else comes up with to happen. Sure there is history and maybe a such thing as going too far with a change, but really if the army looks cool and is fun for you to make who cares.

As for actual in-game justification, how about: Tyranid force shows up on Feral ork world or in some Ork-controlled section of space (exisiting, known Tyranid fleet? Smaller, unnoticed one? One that arrived unnoticed by the imperium, ran smack into these orks, and was decimated? Who knows, whatever). Orks and tyranids fight. It's looking bad for the Orks, blah blah. Some crazy ork weirdboy or warboss starts having visions/speaking in tongues/channeling Gork (or is it Mork?). People make fun of him/run in fear/worship him/tell him cut i' out, wez fightin' here. Eventually leads Orks to one final battle against the tyranids wherever vision leads (some big rock that looks like Mork/Some crazy volcano with some weird energy vortex over it/The Bat Cave). Battle commences, just as it looks worst for the orks they start one last huge WAAAAGH and something happens, Mork (or is it Gork?) Pyschically pops the heads of every tyranid hive mind and most of the weirdboys, and most of the remaining tyranids are subdued, and the orks live! (and it takes them maybe a week to repopulate the planet, yay for orks). The same psychic surge that popped all the Hive Mind heads gives some of the orks (or just the ork leader, or only orks named Shirley, or whatever) the power to control certain tyranids (specifically raveners, since you want to ride them, but hey go to town with orky tyranids). Maybe part of the vision let the feral orks figure out how to fly in space using leftover tyranid parts (basically orks using tyranid "technology" instead of imperial).

Is this ridiculous? Maybe, I don't know....it's not any worse than a lot of existing GW fluff though. It's pretty derivative, and purposefully vague - I'm sure you can do better, but I don't know anyone who I play 40k with who would look at the army completed and listen to my explanation and say "NO THAT CANT BE!!!! TYRANID PSYCHICS ARE TOO DIFFERENT! I WILL NOT PLAY WITH YOU/LOOK AT YOUR ARMY/SPEAK YOUR NAME AGAIN!"

Just do it! And post pics!

i love the iea
and just for those people that think squigs came 1st:

read the 1998 parts maual.
it shows old ripper bases and they have oil squigs and spider squigs on them.
so there is a connection, if using a ravener as a bike i would say go heavy on chains and armour.
just because the ork has some control of it doesent mean it tells it what to do, it will still try and fight back.

someone had the loted fex conversion on here a few weeks ago.

but the orks psych and hive mind are 2 very ifferent things,not even close.
best off using term's as pet squigs.

thesuperiorninja wrote:. Ignore 1hadhq, he likes to point out every single minute flaw in anyones thoughts...ever.

No. I like to point out flaw in your thoughts.


@ OP:

The "nids mind controlled by orks" won't do good.
You will lose too much time with explanation or discussion.

Nids enslaved by orks will do much better.
Model it pretty and take ork rules for all your models (counts as!) and your theme must not be explained all the time.

Looks like a lot of support for your "rides" .

1hadhq wrote:

thesuperiorninja wrote:. Ignore 1hadhq, he likes to point out every single minute flaw in anyones thoughts...ever.

No. I like to point out flaw in your thoughts.


@ OP:

The "nids mind controlled by orks" won't do good.
You will lose too much time with explanation or discussion.

Nids enslaved by orks will do much better.
Model it pretty and take ork rules for all your models (counts as!) and your theme must not be explained all the time.

Looks like a lot of support for your "rides" .

Rather than model them as-is, with the Ork riding a ravener like it aint no 'thang, say that an 'entaprizin' Mad Doc got togetha wif a Mekboy, sum red stuff, gubbinz and a coupla' dead bugboys. Dem wot tink deys as good as a SNAKEBITE ORK (haw haw haw!) are ded killy an almost az fast az a red bike. Make 'em MORE RED an' de'll be even fasta - wot about a wheel and sum real strong plates on 'em to make 'em tuffa?'
Ergo - Orky Nids.

I heard the genes used to make the Biovores come from Orks, so in a way they are already working together.

Just make it believable and make sure your opponent knows what everything "counts as"

Add some crazy fluff, model an ork riding a Ravener, add rein and saddle, add red body paints to ravener, and there you go, one excellent looking model with a fluffy reason.

Only problem I see is if you want to fight a tyranid player as logically the hive mind would regain control of anything tyranid.

I think, as a Nid player, that if you can convincingly convert either 'pet' nids or 'lobotomised' nids then go for it. i dont really like the idea of a controlling 'ork aura' simply because its all gain no pain (you get to use nids withoput hours of passionate converting!) and its a bit bo**ocks to me. Sorry!

I also think that this would also be, from a fluff point of view, the only time the two would work together, other than if the orks got infected with brain slugs......

Now theres an idea for you!

The fluff is set? That's news. Biovores come from Ork DNA like Zoanathropes come from Eldar and Tyrant Guard come from Space Marines, at least according to one of the old books.

If you take a Tyranid and an Ork and they make a baby, you don't really get a Tyranid-Ork. It is more like Tyranids eat everything, take the DNA and use it to inspire them to create new nasties. Orks start as spores, go on a new planet, start as Feral Orks and work their way up to Ghaazkul and his army of Mega-armoured Nobz.

Well, not as such, but there's obviously alliances that are pretty much forged.
Its not like Marneus Clagar and Abbadon go down to the pub quiz every thursday night together after a long day of scrapping, although im sure that Commissar Yarrick sends Marneus a card at christmas.

'ets get sum 'tings strait'
Orks, snotlings, gretchin and squigs share the same genetic base.
Squig didint't come from some tyranid ship. Becuase orks would not survive without them.

I would love to see something like that just the idea makes me want to include nids in my ork army too(though I am too much of a machine lover to do so). You know what i like the idea of, a slaver with a tyranid Termegaunt or Hormaugant tied to a chain thats been beaten for weeks and is hungry just threatening any grotz who wanna run. That would be quite frightening worse then a squidhound mind you!\

Fluff wise I don't buy the psychic thing, now i came onto this scene during 4th edition so i don't know much about Ork psychic abilities, but I thought that Orks get their psychic power from the minds of otther orks? I wouldn't see how they would be able to tap into the hive mind which I believe is similar and can only be linked to other tyranids.

However when the lesser creatures breakaway from the synapse creatures they revert back to natural instincts of preservation. Orks could starve and mistreat the creatures untill they do their bidding, which I can see Orks doing. This would probably subdue the creature untill let loose on all other enemies. I think taking that route you could use Nid's no problem

What would be cool for campaigns or games with friends would be if you were facing a Tyranid player that when within range of a Syanpse creature you roll a D6 on a 4+ your Orks control their beasts but on 1-3 you can't move or attack that turn? just some fun rule I felt like suggesting good luck

I don't think it's their psychic powers that prevents the vehicles from falling apart, it's their hereditary knowledge passed down to the Meks.

I think Nids and Orks together would rape the galaxy, but the fluff wouldn't make much sense, unless they used feral nids somewhat how tau use Kroot, but it would be useless, I mean, what if they fall back into range of the Hive mind?

Seggi wrote:I don't think it's their psychic powers that prevents the vehicles from falling apart, it's their hereditary knowledge passed down to the Meks.

No it is their psychic powers. say an ork drops a slugga, and a marine picks it up...it won't shoot. Another ork picks it up, it shoots again. That's because from a strictly mechanical sense the gun doesn't work, but thanks to the psychic nature of the orks they make it work. Ork tech works because they believe it will. They unwittingly use psychic powers to make their stuff function.