Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hi there. I'm planning to make a small nid army based around FMC's and Spore mines (Biovores, Harpies etc.).
I believe hive Fleet Jormungandr would suit my theme: a Hive fleet that disdains headlong charges and wars of attrition. I also like the colour scheme which is a plus.

The thing is, Jormungandr seems to mainly use burrowing creatures to strike behind the lines.

Therefore my request for help is for any ideas as to why a Jormungandr splinter would switch, from the burrowing tactics, to striking from the skies and using long range bombardment.

My own potential ideas so far (I'm not quite happy with these) -
1. They encountered Imperial Worlds that used a lot of artillery, and the subsequent barrages killed any organisms below the surface with the concussive forces. Leading the Fleet to adapt by mostly leaving the ground or hiding units out of sight and returning fire.
2. They came across a group of worlds unsuitable for burrowing (massive plateaus of solid granite etc.) and adapted to circumvent defences through other means; flying and bombardment to remove AA.
3. They came across worlds with high numbers of flyers and their burrowing units were unable to harm said flyers. That way they adapted to engage the flyers on their own terms and brought biovores etc. to harass fliers on the ground and to make airfields unusable.

Any ideas that could make this work? I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with something I really like Thanks in advance.

Well then, lets get cracking shall we? First off, since you have a splinter fleet, go ahead and find yourself a new mythological creature to name it after. When you talk about new tactics across a fleet, the Imperium quickly declassifies it from the main fleet and start giving it a new name.

Think of the more biological reasons of why, rather than geological. For instance, having some sort of durable rock being on the mantle isn't really all that much of a problem to a group of creatures that also happens to have specific breeds designed to burrow to a planet's core to tap into geothermal energy.

Here is one nice little theory you might enjoy; The Conquering of Rocklandia

Your wonderful little hive fleet lands in the low valleys on the extremely mountainous world of Rocklandia. The Imperial citizens on the world live in fortress cities on the highest peaks and mountain tops. After several very badly planned pushes, the Hive Mind takes pause to assess the situation and comes to Plan B. Since ground travel is too slow in these mountains and offers too much time for the defenders to wipe out the charging Tyranids, the Hive Mind orders the Norn Queens to start bringing out the old patterns of Tyranid organisms with flight capabilities. And so in the next battles, hordes of Harpies, Gargoyles, etc, etc, manage to do far greater damage to the fortresses, but still something is missing. Breeding biovores, the slow beasts scale the surrounding mountains and proceed to endlessly pound the fortress cities with spore mines. Then the next waves of flying Tyranids hit, carrying yet more spore mines, leading to the rapid destruction of the cities. Two weeks later, the last fortress city on Rocklandia falls.

The End.

Ty for this information. I'll have to come up with a name for this splinter then. I'm planning to go with a Bumblebee theme, so I considered Ah-Muzen-Cab, but that's a God not a beast.

As for the reason for its adaption.... I really like your idea and thanks a lot. I will be using it.