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Tyranid

2021-01-20T07:48:15Z

2600:8800:1502:5000:DD47:D553:9835:A6E3: /* Overview */

{{Heresy}}
[[File:Tyranids Logo.png|200px|center]]
[[Image:Nids3rdEdCover.jpg|400px|thumb|right|OM NOM NOM!!!]]
{{Topquote|This isn't a war," said the artilleryman. "It never was a war, any more than there's war between man and ants.|H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds}}
{{Topquote|An alien threat has risen from beyond the abyss, a swarm so vast that it blots out the stars. This horror fights neither for power nor territory, but rather to feed a hunger so insatiable that it will eventually devour the entire galaxy.|[[Inquisitor]] [[Kryptman]]}}
{{Topquote|Imagine a miniscule flea, so small that it’s barely visible. Why is it they bite humans who tower over them without a single thought to their own safety? Would you call their behavior “courageous”? Of course not, it’s hunger compelling them. I will tell you what courage is, JoJo! Courage is to look your fear in the eye and know that it has no dominion over you!|Will A. Zeppeli, [[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]}}

The '''Tyranids''' (often shortened to simply '''nids''') are a race of extragalactic "alien locust" in [[Warhammer 40k]], that seemingly exist only to devour [[Human|biomass]], evolve into a more perfect species and grow in numbers. They are extremely adaptable, and frequently engineer and modify traits and characteristics in their genome, by devouring other unfortunate species into their own, in order to [[Gene-seed|improve their combat effectiveness and survival.]] As a result, they are constantly evolving and becoming more dangerous. The Tyranids are most commonly seen in the galaxy in the form of [[Hive Fleet]]s, large collections of space faring organisms that are capable of transporting and birthing the smaller strains of the species, as they travel from world to world, attack and consume all biomass on/in that planet, leaving it a lifeless rock. Even bacteria and archaea are consumed from the atmosphere. They are probably one of the oldest races when you think about it, and are, together with Orks and Necrons (if they don't nom the Orks and maybe destroy the Necrons), probably going to win this galactic war. For this reason pretty much every faction in the galaxy sees Tyranids as the ultimate threat and [[Blood Angels|would ally even]] [[Necrons|with their sworn enemies]] to fight them. Thus the race is called The Great Devourer. They're named after planet Tyran, where they were first officially sighted by the [[Imperium]].

==Overview==

Before they arrived to this galaxy, the Tyranids were probably lying dormant in intergalactic space because there was nothing there to consume (probably). Despite this, they had sentinel organisms, looking constantly for any sign of life in distant galaxies. We actually don't know how many galaxies they have already left bare - most of the facts behind their origin and backstory that we have on them are simply not more than speculation and conjectures. It could be that we have only seen a fraction of their numbers, or that said current numbers are all there is. We simply don't know.

The Tyranids have hibernated until they were triggered by, and attracted to, concentrated sources of psychic energy like moths to a lightbulb. One of them was the [[Astronomican]], the psychic signature of the [[Emperor of Mankind]] spanning throughout the entire galaxy. Also, In the 30k [[Horus Heresy]] era, an alien device known as the Pharos on the Ultramarine realm planet of Sotha sent up a huge psychic energy pulse, effectively giving the Milky Way a big neon sign that called it an all-you-can-eat buffet (note that this is only known to the reader--the multitude of characters in the 30k and 40k eras had no inkling of just what was coming nor who or what actually called them). Thus the Tyranids set off, taking roughly the next 10,000 years to do so, but just who would be insane or evil enough to summon such an apocalyptic force of alien nature to the Milky Way? [[Barabas Dantioch|A pretty cool guy who had no idea about what he would eventually call to dinner, actually]]. Still, the possibility that the Tyranids are retreating from [[Games Workshop|''something'' more terrifying than even them]] remains open as of now.

The Tyranid species is mentally connected and controlled by the extremely powerful and near godlike [[Hive Mind|HIVE MIND]]. The Hive Mind is the collective consciousness of the entire Tyranid race, a psychic embodiment of Tyranid instincts and racial imperatives: to devour and evolve. It is so powerful that its mere presence (the Shadow in the Warp) makes even psykers and [[Chaos]] [http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/0/07/Shadow_in_the_Warp_.jpeg/revision/latest?cb=20160531070506 shit their metaphysical brains out in terror.] The power of the Hive Mind is such that it casts a stifling influence over the Warp in the area, and therefore, warp travel becomes almost impossible. Hence it is that a world that finds itself a target of a Hive Fleet is unable to call for help or receive reinforcements by the time it detects the Hive Fleet's presence. This super consciousness allows their forces to move with a unity of purpose and cohesion that makes them extremely dangerous. The individual intelligence of different strains of the species is variable, however, and many of the smaller species lack the psychic power to communicate over long distances, and so the swarm relies on larger organisms, the so-called "Synapse Creatures", to act as relays and communication nodes in the psychic network (if the Hive Mind is the Internet (Internid), then synapse creatures are ISPs (ISynaPse) and routers (router-warriors)?). Outside of the range of a synapse creature, such as a Tyranid Warrior or a Hive Tyrant, smaller varieties such as those found within the Gaunt genus revert to animalistic behavior. However, certain strains, such as the [[Genestealer]] or the Lictor, are designed to be able to spend long periods of time beyond the reach of the Hive Mind, and are consequently considerably more intelligent and autonomous than other Tyranid organisms.
[[Image:KillEmAll.jpg|300px|thumb|left|DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA!]]
The normal Tyranid modus operandi is to locate a delicious looking planet, usually by following the psychic emanations of vanguard organisms like the Genestealers, who are sent ahead as scouts to infiltrate and form cults while obtaining genetic information about the local species (hence the name Gene-stealer), drawing the fleet towards a viable target. The Tyranids are capable of non-[[Warp]]-based FTL travel, which they achieve by using gravity to manipulate spacetime and travel extremely quickly towards large gravity wells such as stars, and once they are relatively close, they must rely on STL travel to close the gap with their target. Once they reach the world, infinite swarms of creatures flood down to the surface to overwhelm all resistance and consume the planet's population and resources in a manner reminiscent of a Korean StarCraft champion performing the devastating "Zerg Rush" (Note that the Zerg were supposedly based on Tyranids, which in turn were based on aliens from movies like ''Starship Troopers'' and ''Alien''. All these organisms are based on eusocial Hive insects such as the order ''Hymenoptera'', which includes ants, bees etc.) In the later stages of the invasion, the Fleet manipulates the planet's biosphere and seeds it with aggressive plant life that grows extremely rapidly and assimilate all nutrition/life left on the planet, which is then consumed by the creatures of the swarm and massive feeding tentacles/tubes, dropped by Tyranid bio-ships in low orbit, and hence conveyed to the Hive Fleet as a whole. The fleet literally grows in size and mass, and moves on to the next planet.

This makes the Tyranids a very dangerous foe to fight. Even the Imperial Guard and Orks will find it difficult to beat them in a war of attrition, as individual losses are meaningless to the bugs (actually gribbles, according to Warhammer 40k' official Facebook page). As long as they are able to recover the biomass of the dead, it is simply recycled into new warriors and ships. It's worth noting that going against technological species results in less and less recycled biomass, so a Hive assaulting a high-tech heavily fortified fortress loses some of its total biomass bit-by-bit, but there are few cases where the Tyranids really bite off more than they can chew (well... as per the backstories of the codices, tyranids are good only for one thing: to be beaten by literally everything. And as per the rules.... well, same here). Even a Hive Fleet that has taken terrible losses and is forced to retreat may soon return to terrorize strong worlds as capturing and consuming a few poorly defended backwater planets is all that is required for them to replenish their forces. Even Hive Fleets considered defeated by the Imperium may still be dangerous, as the splinter elements that have survived may continue to infest worlds in the region. It is worth noting that in the rare event that two different Tyranid fleets encounter each other, they are apt to attack each other. This is generally believed to be some sort of Darwinian selection mechanism to compare the competitiveness of the traits the individual fleets have accumulated, with the victorious fleet consuming the other, absorbing their best traits, and culturing a deadly hybrid with the best of both worlds.

[[File:1389680259601.jpg|thumb|450px|right|Who doesn't love a scuttling swarm of space locusts?]]
So far, only fragments of Tyranid Hive Fleets have made it to this galaxy, and they were given monstrous names such as "Behemoth" and "Leviathan" and ate untold numbers of planets before finally being destroyed or stalled. It's also known that these are merely scouting fleets for the unimaginably large swarm that has yet to arrive, still currently in transit from another galaxy ([[Imperium|Imperial]] scholars suppose them to be either en route from a galaxy they successfully scoured of all life, or retreating from some force even nastier than they are). Noted Imperial scholars believe that the only possible plan that stands any chance against the arrival of this force involves giving a [[melta]] gun to everyone that has hands and praying to the God-Emperor for the best. They have been expected to arrive on Terra's doorstep any day now for years, being stalled by a force even more malicious then they are: [[Games Workshop|GW]]'s refusal to move the story forward.

And if they intend to retcon the above so that Leviathan is in fact the main force, they can easily write it off as ravings of a crazed Inquisitor.

Following in the footsteps of the Hive Fleets before it, Leviathan has been destroyed at Baal by the Blood Angels and the Ultramarines, apparently with a little help from [[Ka'bandha|Ka'Bandha]] the Bloodthirster. Admittedly, that campaign only involved the tendril not engaged in war with the Orks on Octarius, meaning that there may be significant elements of the fleet still roaming around the galaxy. However, since GW has been officially referring to this as the 'Fall of Leviathan', it's probably safe to say that Leviathan too is now splintered like Behemoth and Kraken. Of course, this still isn't good news for the rest of the galaxy, because there are four new Hive Fleets in the neighborhood, one of which has apparently dedicated itself to vacuuming up all the splinter fleets left behind by Kraken, Behemoth, and Leviathan, thus gaining all their tasty biomass and DNA.

This new hive fleet is known as [[Hive Fleet Kronos|Kronos]], after the Greek titan who fathered the gods, and with Warp Rifts and Chaos Daemons now running amok in the galaxy, the Hive Mind has turned it towards a previously untapped niche: fixing the mess left by Chaos. Its take on the Shadow in the Warp is one of a complete and total "HAHAHA FUCK YOU!" towards the Ruinous Powers, capable of smothering psychic abilities of any kind, causing Daemons to wither in its presence and closing Chaos portals and small Warp Rifts just by proximity. In other words: Chaos energy is arguably the most malevolent, most corrupting, most powerful force in the galaxy... [[Awesome|and the Hive Mind has produced a Hive Fleet with the primary mandate of telling it to shut up and go to its room.]]

On a smaller note, thanks to the Devastation of Baal, it has been confirmed that Tyranid troops and monsters aren't even singular organisms. Instead, each is a collection of symbiotic species working in tandem with one another to create a killing machine. Tyranid blood? [[Wat|A living parasite.]] Tyranid weapons? [[Tyranid Bio-Weapons|Well, that's self explanatory.]] Tyranid organs? [[Squig|A separate critter that could survive just as easily outside of its hosts when it is needed to swap gibblets.]] This means that those giant Hive Fleets you see aren't just one massive creature, but a multitude of smaller creatures working as one (this has some basis in real life biology; colonial organisms such as the Portuguese Man O' War are composed of multiple interdependent organisms). This realization kind of solves some of the bizarre-looking Tyranids that would be biologically impossible, but isn't actually much of a big deal, since most living things are technically made up of a collection of cells which are living things unto themselves. Tyranid creatures can then be thought of as multi-bodied organisms, the same way we are multi-cellular organisms, only our various organs, tissues, and limbs can't be freely transplanted with no rejection issues across similar <s>bioforms</s> individuals.

It remains to be seen whether this new backstory element will retcon some earlier reveals about the Tyranids, such as their observed tendency to throw themselves into digestion pools to recycle themselves into raw materials when they are too damaged to fight or no longer tactically useful. For one thing, why bother reducing Tyranids into liquid biomass that requires precious time and energy to be remade into new bioforms from the cells up, when the Hive Mind can skip a step and conserve its resources by simply tearing out reusable organs and bio-weapons from crippled or unneeded bioforms, and then install or graft those organic parts into new or less-damaged bioforms, while throwing only the bare skeletons and the too-damaged parts into the digestion pools for recycling? For another thing, if this becomes widespread knowledge among the Imperium, will it become the new standard procedure to either completely vapourize or thoroughly incinerate Tyranid corpses whenever possible, so as to keep the Hive Mind from reusing this grisly "salvage" should Tyranid forces take the field or advance their battle-lines far enough to retrieve those corpses? All we can say for certain is, prepare yourselves for another round of the evolutionary arms race.

But even worse than all of this is the fact that perhaps it is not the Tyranids the galaxy should be fearing, ''but what they're running from''.

==Chaos and Tyranids==

Its an interesting fact to note that while the warp affects both flora and fauna, the Tyranids are notably highly resistant, if not outright immune, to its influences.

When the Hive Fleet invading Baal got sucked into the Warp by Ka'Bandha's entrance, the hive ships that emerged from this elsewhere were noted to have suffered little to no mutation when examined. Tyranids stuck in space hulks that spent centuries in the warp more-or-less got out unchanged, with no chaotic influences or mutations. Hell, even Genestealers, who are designed to operate independently from the Hive Mind, suffer no ill effects from warp exposure, still utterly devoted to the swarm after all that time.

Additionally, when pitted against daemons (like the Quadrifold Abominatum), the Tyranids are outright disruptive to them due to their warp-smothering powers, preventing daemons from mustering their full strength when under a large-enough fleet. Consuming tainted chaos flesh also does not seem to have any real negative effect on them.

Both sides have a mutual disdain for each other, though, and do their best to stay out of each other's way unless forced into a confrontation. The 'nids hate fighting Chaos due to their use of daemons, which has no biomass to harvest. Chaos hates the 'nids for having no emotions to feed upon, so their conflicts with them are ultimately about as productive as fighting non-sapient wildlife. They did fight once, and it was [[Fall of Shadowbrink|hilarious]].

Whether this is due to their "Shadow in the Warp" that prevents warp entities from doing any real effect on them, or the specific design of another god-entity we've yet to meet, is unclear. More info about their relations [[Malal#Malal_and_the_Tyranids|here]].
[[image:AdvancedSpaceCrusade.jpg|300px|thumb|Right|An image of the original appearance of Tyranids. Why yes, that thing has a dick. No, we don't know why.]]

=='Masters of Evolution'?==

In real life, evolution is not about being the strongest/fastest thing around. It means adapting to fill specific niches that aren't already full.

So, it should be noted that the Tyranids have been hit with the idiot ball a couple of time recently, which has led some to believe and fear that the Nids are quickly approaching [[Avatar of Khaine]] levels of [[Star Trek|Worf]] [[Nerf|nerfing]]. From an entire [[Hive Fleet]] being ''somehow'' tricked into an [[FAIL|evolutionary dead-end]] by the [[Bullshit|TAU]] of [[EPIC FAIL|ALL PEOPLE]] to the [[Swarmlord]] getting its shit kicked in just before attempting to use its killing blow on whatever random hero of the day. The status of the Great Devourer being a threatening force seems to be chipped in little by little. Indeed, when you hear statements that entire Hive Fleets could literally ''STARVE'' to death if they don't Nom constantly or that the [[Harridan]] [[EPIC FAIL|DIES by just simply landing on the ground,]] it kind of undermines the horrors that Dark Library writers and GW themselves like to sell on the Nids.

This is made worse with the recent release of the Belisarius Cawl novel, in which it outright confirms that the Nids ONLY consume the surface of a planet, whilst leaving organisms living beneath the surface mostly unmolested because the Hive Mind [[Wat|physically could not penetrate deep enough onto the planet's crust,]] which is why Cawl was able to literally re-terraform Nommed worlds like Sotha and Baal Primus. Mix in the fact that the Nids consume a typical world for a lengthy 60-100 days on average and it turns out that the Great Devourer isn't even really that great at devouring shit, if sub-surface life could literally weather a Nid invasion.

The crux of the problem (And a problem that GeeDubs is quickly realising as a major fuckup, narratively speaking) lies in balancing. Despite contrary beliefs, the 40k universe is not an omnipotent, overpowered force that could crush everything in their way because BIGGATONS! No, if this was the case, Chaos would have won a long time ago. The reality is that WH40k lies on the foundations of the balance of power; no faction (Other than the Tau who are irrelevant) have absolute domination among the others, to do so would break the status quo. Hence why the Chaos Gods aren't omnipotent, neither is the Imperium, the Orks, Necrons and most definitely Tyranids. If one breaks the status quo, the balance of power is broken and that would destroy 40k as we know it. This means that the power of the Tyranids needs to be capped or the balance would be broken. In the hands of a good or decent writer, one could still pull off why the Nids are a threat whilst gimping its ''potential'' power levels (See [[Devastation of Baal]]). But in the hands of a bad writer (See [[Robin Cruddace]]) it makes the Nids absolutely downright pathetic as they constantly self-sabotage themselves because the [[Hive Mind]] pulled a [[Derp]] and the opposing teams has a shit ton of [[Plot armour]]. So while GW has been trying to make the Nids threatening (Silent King returning to wake up his folks to deal with them, main Hive Fleets are merely scouting tendrils, Nids could out-adapt everything, etc), the actual given subtance has been...[[Skub|a mix bag at best.]] Compared to the [[Necrons]] who have been consistently been kicking ass since day 1, it is ironic that the Hive Mind seems to be encountering all of the same problems that [[Failbaddon]] did before Gathering Storm: ie, the inability to show the Nids' true potential because it would upset the status quo and therefore, needs to be gimped by the writers so as to not overwhelm the other factions. In other words, having a species based on a rather misunderstood view of (accelerated) evolution that simply eats everything and moves on to the next galaxy in a IP where every damn faction is a threat to the existence of every other faction tends to produce some narrative issues.

==On the Table==
[[Image:No Retreat.jpg|300px|thumb|left|KABLOOIE!]]

===2nd Edition===
Printed in the ancient past of 1995, the first Tyranid codex brought the hive mind to the tabletop of 40k and instantly won over the hearts of a thousand vile xeno lovers. Or not. It's hard to tell as most of those original fans have since moved on to collect power armor armies or died from several decades of soul crushing disappointment. Either way, the codex was notable for including both Genestealer Cults and Tyranids in the same book. It was at this point in the Tyranids history that the army was at its most [[Cheese|butt fuckingly]] [[White Scars|ultra rapid]] [[Doom|rip and tearing]] form. Tyranids were '''THE''' fucking army that could go toe to toe with other cheese like the [[Eldar]] or [[Necron| March of metallic doom]] and tear them a new asshole. Naturally this made them '''THE''' army for players to [[Butthurt|sperg on about how they were completely overpowered]] and countered armies like the Space Marines and general Imperial factions with complete EASE. [[Robin Cruddace| And then one of those fuckos]] was given a job at GW and it all went downhill from there for the space bugs.

===3rd Edition===
6 years after the 2nd edition codex came out, a new one burst onto the scene in 2001. Again, not much is remembered from this time, aside from the fact the strong and fast Tyranids from the 2nd edition were turned into slow, clumsy beasts, a move that nerfed them into oblivion. It was also notable for introducing silly looking metal miniatures that vanished soon afterwards (like the ever popular grinfex) and cool new plastic ones that are still used to this day. This codex was extremely limited, but did feature some...interesting rules for customizing your models. None of these would last to 4th edition, but the nostalgia would linger for a long time after.

===4th Edition===
In 2005, a new Tyranid codex emerged along with an entire host of redesigned units and metal kits. It was at this point that the modern designs for the Lictor, Genestealers, Raveners, and Hive Tyrants were introduced. Also, the first plastic Carnifex kit was released, and GW capitalized by giving the unit a cubic metric shit ton of options. Indeed, this was the theme of fourth edition 'nids. The codex deliberately axed 3rd edition characters like Old One Eye or the Red Terror in favor of giving players a wealth of options for customizing their models. Want a hive tyrant with a 2+ save? Go ahead. Want a Carnifex with a better BS? there you go. Few of these would last into 5th edition and the flaws were pretty glaring as time went by. 'Nids simply did not have the tools nor the depth of an army design to succeed against every opponent, and many of the options turned into expensive traps.

===5th Edition===
When the 5th edition Codex released, it was met with [[skub|split opinions]], as usual. Some were angry at how overpowered the army looked, citing the facts that the [[Tervigon]] could create more units out of thin air using "broken" special rules, that the anti-psyker powers were so broad, and that the [[Hive Guard]] and [[Zoanthrope]]s were so good at tank hunting at a time when tanks were kings.

However, after some time passed, people who decried the cheesy aspects of the army faded from view as people began to realize the army only seemed cheesy on paper, and that, in truth, any cheese the army had was drowned in the army's drawbacks. The Termagants the Tervigon could spawn? Stats like a [[Imperial Guard|Guardsmen]] in close combat, but with half their weapon range and weaker armor. And to get Tervigons to the Troops slot from the HQ slot (where they were practically useless), you had to pay Guardsman prices for a unit of them. In other words, you ''had'' to use the "cheesy" special rule or they were overpriced into uselessness.

Then there were the special powers that supposedly buffed the army. Again, at a first glance, they looked broken. Certain upgrades allowed any unit within 6" of certain models to gain rules like Feel No Pain, Furious Charge, Poison, cover saves, and so on. It sounded like a serious boon, but it had a funny effect. Aside from the fact that most Tyranid models are too expensive unless you capitalize on the bubble-buffs, it also does a horrible thing to your freedom to play the army. Mainly, it forces players to keep all their units bunched up within 6" of a few key models, requiring them to spend the entire game in a rigid formation that can spell disaster for the army when broken. Tyranids already suffered from this problem somewhat due to their synapse rules, but the 6" range on the mandatory buffs only shortened the leash. Not to mention it also made blasts even worse for an army already vulnerable to them.

Tyranids do seriously lack effective long range support as well. While they possess some weapons capable of mincing infantry units, most things with a range over 12" come at a premium. With an army so focused on close combat this shouldn't be such a problem, but synapse and buff leashes actually make it a valid concern. Mainly, the short buff leash pressures a player into a castle formation, but the lack of medium and long ranged weaponry pressures the player to advance the entire castle towards the enemy, which has a way of creating chinks in the formation. And you can't just move a few key units - when a unit moves forward, the model providing the buffs has to follow them, and then the other units relying on the buffs have to follow the model providing the buffs; it just makes the army obscenely inflexible.

Tyranid monstrous creatures, their heavy support, also got drastically [[Nerf|nerfed]] in the 5th edition update. The Tyrannofex, for example, has a 2+ save and six wounds at a toughness of six, the damn thing is almost indestructible, but the weapons are short-ranged, and if you buy it an expensive long-range cannon to shoot at tanks, you can't change any of its other short-ranged weapons which are designed to kill infantry. You just can't quite kit your heavy support to do the things you specifically want.

Which brings us to the final problem: on top of mountains of tactical inflexibility, the Tyranids also suffer from the drawback of design inflexibility. Unlike Guardsmen or Space Marines, the Tyranids don't get a lot of options to change the way the army works. When you buy Hormagaunts, you get them at face value - you can't equip them with frag grenades, give them pistols, add heavy weapons, or mess with their gear in any way. You can buy them the poison special rule if you want, or maybe the Furious Charge special rule, but those are your two choices. Almost the entire army is that way, which is vastly different than the way they worked in 4th edition. The Carnifex alone lost eighteen weapon and biomorph options between 4th and 5th edition and it doubled in points value. And with no upgrades taken! And for twenty points more, you can get a Trygon. Which is better than the Carnifex in almost every way. Cept looking good. It's possible that Tyranids are now the least adaptable army in the game.

The last kick in the teeth is that Tyranids are one of the more expensive armies to collect, requiring a larger number of models than most. Their HQ choices, short of the Tyranid Prime, are big monsters which run at prices edging nearer and nearer to $100 each. For the fact that most Tyranid armies will play exactly the same way, having all the same exploitable weaknesses and no unique wargear surprises, it's not a wonder that the army has seen a huge drop in sales since the release of their 5th edition codex. The shorter lesson to take from all this is, if you're thinking about beginning a 40k army, even with how expensive it's all gotten, Tyranids are not the best army to start with.

The one good legacy of the 5th edition codex was the radical expansion of the army list. The previous codex had featured the addition of a single new unit (the brood lord) and the removal of two special characters. Both were brought back for the 5th edition codex and the total units jumped from fifteen to thirty-four. While several of the characters (the doom of malan'tai and the parasite of mortrex) did not survive past this codex, many others did and eventually grew into popular options in their own right.

===6th Edition===
[[Image:Haruspex.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Is it me, or does the [[Haruspex]] look like it belongs in a [[/d/|bad hentai movie?]] ]]
----
Again, this one was a mix of good and bad. On the bad side, Tyranids no longer had Mycetic Spores, the Doom of Malan'tai, Ymgarl Genestealers or the Parasite of Mortrex (GW lost a court battle with Chapterhouse Studios and simply deleted all their models from the game). They even lost the ability to use psychic powers from the Biomancy table along with their Hive Mind powers being nerfed. Why GW thought that the most underpowered army needed even MORE nerfing will remain a mystery, but odds are that Cruddace had something to do with it. A perfect example of unnecessary nerfing is the Tyranid Prime; it was rarely fielded in 5th edition, and the 6th edition codex inexplicably increased its cost by over 56%.

On the good side, this one introduced the first piece of lore that showed Tyranids actually winning for a change (the [[Fall of Shadowbrink|Shadowbrink]] campaign, during which they own the Chaos Daemons) rather than coming close to winning but failing at the last minute due to the 'heroic' actions of some character who appears out of nowhere (looking at you Calgar and Yriel), and also gave us the Hive Crone, a killer anti-flyer unit that finally gave us a reliable option to beat Kelly's supercharged Dark Eldar (first by walking over their paper planes and then by liquefying infantry in and outside transports with the flame template). Carnifexes got to use crushing claws as power fists (as they have crap initiative Unwieldy doesn't matter, especially when you get to raise their Strength to 10) and the Exocrine was introduced to become the bane of Space Marines with its AP 2 cannon.

To compensate for Cruddace's additional nerfing, GeeDubs released some Dataslate formations which allow you to ignore the force organisation chart and spam flying monstrous creatures to overwhelm an opponents anti-air defenses because the flyer rules are an even bigger catastrofuck than the Tyranid codex. '''**SSSS rippaaaahhhssss will be put in crudfacessss bedssss for what he hasssss done to ussssss**'''

===7th Edition, DLC, and white dwarf updates===
Geedubs finally noticed how badly nerfed Tyranids have been during the last editions so they took opportunity to get your money by releasing new waves of Tyranid units supported by White Dwarf updates. Things started poorly with a pair of monstrous creatures who really didn't bring anything new to the table. The [[Toxicrene]] was fine on paper, bringing Poisoned 2+ Instant-Death-on-a-6 attacks, but as yet another floot-slogging MC it had trouble catching the things it WANTED to kill. The [[Maleceptor]] was just an overcosted, overcomplicated, and underpowered hunk of plastic that would be lucky to kill more than 20 points worth of models in a given turn.

The most unexpected announcements came from GW around Fall 2014, coinciding with the coming of [[The End Times]]: New models for the Tyranids. The first pack that was announced was a Dual Kit for the Maleceptor and Toxicrene. While the Maleceptor proved to be unpopular within ''minutes'' of having its rules announced in White Dwarf as it was an overpriced drain of warp charges, the Tocxicrene proved to fare a bit better, as the copious amount of poison and Instant Death on a 6 to-wound using said poison made it a menace against Monstrous Creatures (though its intended targets, the [[Riptide]] and [[Wraithknight]], merely scoffed at it because they're jumping monstrous creatures, and thus able to kite it like a toy). The second release proved to be the most popular by far: The return of Mycetic Spores (now [[Tyrannocyte]]s), the living fortifications known as [[Sporocyst]]s, and new [[Mucolid Spore]]s that not only assault flyers, but are also the cheapest troop choices, making starting an army of Tyranids a much simpler task. While the Tyrannocyte proved an incredible weapon that made several units (including the infamous [[Pyrovore]]) suck slightly less, that power came with a hefty price tag (for a Transport, not as a Monstrous Creature), and Sporocysts are completely immobile and are equally pricey in exchange for synapse bonuses and the ability to spam spore mines. Needless to say, people actually thanked GeeDubs for this rare show of intelligence.The third release gave new Sprues for the [[Zoanthrope]]/[[Venomthrope]] as a multi-part kit with a new set of rules for the Zoanthropes: The [[Neurothrope]], a sergeant that gave the brood a new power that could potentially give them more Warp Charges to spend on Warp Lance. Not bad, but the new sprue was still welcome. After these releases, it became clear as to why the 'Nids got new shit: promotions for a new Campaign called ''Shield of Baal'', which involves 'Nids chomping through a system near the territory of the [[Blood Angels]], meaning that [[Dante]] has to call all the successor chapters to stop the mob. He had to take help from [[Anrakyr]] to save even part of the system. This now concludes the awesome part of all things Tyranid. If you look at the gallery below the Cutenids, you will require a mind scrubbing and be lobotomized into a servitor. No exceptions. Of course you now have players mocking 'Nids as being a DLC faction.

===Return in 8th Edition===
Tyranids were an early-middle codex release of 8th and at that time were a contextually powerful army mostly due to how fast they were, like, "My Hormagaunts just moved 20" in one turn and my Stratagem can give them a second Movement Phase," fast. This speed has given them absolutely amazing board control combined with their easy access to deep striking units, good mix of swarms and big monsters for heavier damage. Carnifexes received a less-nerfed range of biomorphs, and proved to be useful and cheap Swiss-army knives capable of fulfilling a variety of roles.

Nevertheless, despite ostensibly being a melee focused army, Tyranids continue to suffer from relatively low strength melee attacks which compensate for their lowered wound chance by having higher damage. This means that while they deal a lot of damage when they wound a vehicle it's a toss-up as to whether or not they can actually wound it; ''Space Marines'' have easier access to Anti-Tank melee than us. Some of the big beasties are still overcosted and underpowered for their roles, and the flyers aren't too good either. While the little guys still die in droves and our big guys are either very good or just suck, the mid-sized bugs are decent but tend to require some planning to make the most of them. For example, Lictors are fragile but are useful as deep strike beacons, Warriors and Raveners are a bit overcosted but can stick around much longer than before now that Instant Death is gone, and Zoanthropes are stuck as the obligatory Smite spammers.

As of 2020 Tyranids are once again severely hampered by ongoing codex creep and FAQs, with and have reverted to a reputation of being lacklustre. It was hoped that Blood of Baal would bring some updates, and indeed it did, but as usual everything else got more and stronger updates, and even new models in some cases.
It would have been good to put Genestealer Cults and 'nids in one book, like Eldar and DE, but nope, you can buy two, yay.

===9th Edition===
The changes made to the core rules of the game is something of a mixed bag for the Tyranids. On the plus side, Monsters received two huge buffs; they can move and shoot heavy weaponry without penalty and can even fire these (non-blast) weapons ''while'' they're in melee. Getting into melee is also much safer than ever before, since Overwatch is now a once-per-phase stratagem (unless you're the [[Tau]]). However, the addition of blast weaponry and the changes to unit coherency have severely punished swarm builds while additional changes to melee combat hamper the damage they can deal when tarpitting other units. Other than that, the power creep left over from 8th edition is still very much in effect and much of what the Tyranids have access to simply pales in comparison to the slew of shiny toys and abilities being handed over to the Space Marines.

==See Also==
*[[Tyranid Bio-Weapons]]
*[[Lolifex]]
*[[Hive Fleet]]
*[[Unyuufex]]
*[[Harridan]]
*[[Tyranid RPG]]
*[[Hive Fleet Nidhoggr]]
*[[Hydraphant]], the biggest bio-titan the nids can field, which just got fan-made 8E rules. If you're playing apocalypse as the nids, and you need something to take out Warlords beyond fielding several billion Harridans and Hierophants, look no further (you will have to make the model yourself though).
*[[Tyranid Hive Fleet Creation Tables]]
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Tyranids (9E)|Tactics on how to play them.]]
*[[Tyranid /tgbrew modifications|/tg/'s homebrew modifications that make 5E nids get awesome]]
*[[Codex - Tyranids: /tg/ edition|Another /tg/brew 'Nid modificaton, now based on 7E and made into fully blown codex]]
*[[Genestealer Cult]]
* Unlike other 40k factions, there is no clear Warhammer Fantasy counterpart for the Tyranids. They seem to combine the [[Skaven]] and [[Ogre Kingdoms]] for tactics and lean closer to the Ogres for motivation, namely 'eat it all'.
*[[Phyrexia]], a faction/category from [[Magic:_The_Gathering|Magic: the Gathering]] with some similar fluff
*[[Slivers]] a creature type from M:TG that bares some similarities with 'nids.
*[[Gland War Veteran]]

{{Tyranids-Creatures}}
{{WH40k-Factions}}
{{Template:Important Species in 40k}}

== Gallery ==

{{Promotions}}

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Image:20141009_193455.jpg There's always a bigger fish, And the tyranids are no exception [[cat]]
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Thus far the Cutenids. From down here there be many [[promotions]]. Abandon all hope ye who enter here.

<center>
<gallery>
Image:Tyranid maid.jpg|I'd let her clean up my biomass, if you know what I mea-{{BLAM}}
Image:Beachnid.jpg|Fun in the sun.
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Image:Tyrantxfire prism.JPG|[[Eldrad]] leaves no woman unsatisfied.
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Image:Taunid4.jpg
Image:Tyranid_f_(9).jpg| Some speculations on the nature of Norn Queens are more [[heresy|heretical]] than others.
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[[Category: NSFW]]

[[Category: PROMOTIONS]]

[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Xenos]]

[[Category: Tyranid]]

[[Category: Monstergirls]]

Tyranid

2021-01-20T07:36:04Z

2600:8800:1502:5000:DD47:D553:9835:A6E3: /* 'Masters of Evolution'? */ You don't really need to compare how much the Tyranids suck by using the logic of about three other different completely unrelated IPs.

{{Heresy}}
[[File:Tyranids Logo.png|200px|center]]
[[Image:Nids3rdEdCover.jpg|400px|thumb|right|OM NOM NOM!!!]]
{{Topquote|This isn't a war," said the artilleryman. "It never was a war, any more than there's war between man and ants.|H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds}}
{{Topquote|An alien threat has risen from beyond the abyss, a swarm so vast that it blots out the stars. This horror fights neither for power nor territory, but rather to feed a hunger so insatiable that it will eventually devour the entire galaxy.|[[Inquisitor]] [[Kryptman]]}}
{{Topquote|Imagine a miniscule flea, so small that it’s barely visible. Why is it they bite humans who tower over them without a single thought to their own safety? Would you call their behavior “courageous”? Of course not, it’s hunger compelling them. I will tell you what courage is, JoJo! Courage is to look your fear in the eye and know that it has no dominion over you!|Will A. Zeppeli, [[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]}}

The '''Tyranids''' (often shortened to simply '''nids''') are a race of extragalactic "alien locust" in [[Warhammer 40k]], that seemingly exist only to devour [[Human|biomass]], evolve into a more perfect species and grow in numbers. They are extremely adaptable, and frequently engineer and modify traits and characteristics in their genome, by devouring other unfortunate species into their own, in order to [[Gene-seed|improve their combat effectiveness and survival.]] As a result, they are constantly evolving and becoming more dangerous. The Tyranids are most commonly seen in the galaxy in the form of [[Hive Fleet]]s, large collections of space faring organisms that are capable of transporting and birthing the smaller strains of the species, as they travel from world to world, attack and consume all biomass on/in that planet, leaving it a lifeless rock. Even bacteria and archaea are consumed from the atmosphere. They are probably one of the oldest races when you think about it, and are, together with Orks and Necrons (if they don't nom the Orks and maybe destroy the Necrons), probably going to win this galactic war. For this reason pretty much every faction in the galaxy sees Tyranids as the ultimate threat and [[Blood Angels|would ally even]] [[Necrons|with their sworn enemies]] to fight them. Thus the race is called The Great Devourer. They're named after planet Tyran, where they were first officially sighted by the [[Imperium]].

==Overview==

Before they arrived to this galaxy, the Tyranids were probably lying dormant in intergalactic space because there was nothing there to consume (probably). Despite this, they had sentinel organisms, looking constantly for any sign of life in distant galaxies. We actually don't know how many galaxies they have already left bare - most of the facts behind their origin and backstory that we have on them are simply not more than speculation and conjectures. It could be that we have only seen a fraction of their numbers, or that said current numbers are all there is. We simply don't know.

The Tyranids have hibernated until they were triggered by, and attracted to, concentrated sources of psychic energy like moths to a lightbulb. One of them was the [[Astronomican]], the psychic signature of the [[Emperor of Mankind]] spanning throughout the entire galaxy. Also, In the 30k [[Horus Heresy]] era, an alien device known as the Pharos on the Ultramarine realm planet of Sotha sent up a huge psychic energy pulse, effectively giving the Milky Way a big neon sign that called it an all-you-can-eat buffet (note that this is only known to the reader--the multitude of characters in the 30k and 40k eras had no inkling of just what was coming nor who or what actually called them). Thus the Tyranids set off, taking roughly the next 10,000 years to do so, but just who would be insane or evil enough to summon such an apocalyptic force of alien nature to the Milky Way? [[Barabas Dantioch|A pretty cool guy who had no idea about what he would eventually call to dinner, actually]]. Still, the possibility that the Tyranids are retreating from [[Games Workshop|''something'' more terrifying than even them]] remains open as of now.

The Tyranid species is mentally connected and controlled by the extremely powerful and near godlike [[Hive Mind|HIVE MIND]]. The Hive Mind is the collective consciousness of the entire Tyranid race, a psychic embodiment of Tyranid instincts and racial imperatives: to devour and evolve. It is so powerful that its mere presence (the Shadow in the Warp) makes even psykers and [[Chaos]] [http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/0/07/Shadow_in_the_Warp_.jpeg/revision/latest?cb=20160531070506 shit their metaphysical brains out in terror.] The power of the Hive Mind is such that it casts a stifling influence over the Warp in the area, and therefore, warp travel becomes almost impossible. Hence it is that a world that finds itself a target of a Hive Fleet is unable to call for help or receive reinforcements by the time it detects the Hive Fleet's presence. This super consciousness allows their forces to move with a unity of purpose and cohesion that makes them extremely dangerous. The individual intelligence of different strains of the species is variable, however, and many of the smaller species lack the psychic power to communicate over long distances, and so the swarm relies on larger organisms, the so-called "Synapse Creatures", to act as relays and communication nodes in the psychic network (if the Hive Mind is the Internet (Internid), then synapse creatures are ISPs (ISynaPse) and routers (router-warriors)?). Outside of the range of a synapse creature, such as a Tyranid Warrior or a Hive Tyrant, smaller varieties such as those found within the Gaunt genus revert to animalistic behavior. However, certain strains, such as the [[Genestealer]] or the Lictor, are designed to be able to spend long periods of time beyond the reach of the Hive Mind, and are consequently considerably more intelligent and autonomous than other Tyranid organisms.
[[Image:KillEmAll.jpg|300px|thumb|left|DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA!]]
The normal Tyranid modus operandi is to locate a delicious looking planet, usually by following the psychic emanations of vanguard organisms like the Genestealers, who are sent ahead as scouts to infiltrate and form cults while obtaining genetic information about the local species (hence the name Gene-stealer), drawing the fleet towards a viable target. The Tyranids are capable of non-[[Warp]]-based FTL travel, which they achieve by using gravity to manipulate spacetime and travel extremely quickly towards large gravity wells such as stars, and once they are relatively close, they must rely on STL travel to close the gap with their target. Once they reach the world, infinite swarms of creatures flood down to the surface to overwhelm all resistance and consume the planet's population and resources in a manner reminiscent of a Korean StarCraft champion performing the devastating "Zerg Rush" (Note that the Zerg were supposedly based on Tyranids, which in turn were based on aliens from movies like ''Starship Troopers'' and ''Alien''. All these organisms are based on eusocial Hive insects such as the order ''Hymenoptera'', which includes ants, bees etc.) In the later stages of the invasion, the Fleet manipulates the planet's biosphere and seeds it with aggressive plant life that grows extremely rapidly and assimilate all nutrition/life left on the planet, which is then consumed by the creatures of the swarm and massive feeding tentacles/tubes, dropped by Tyranid bio-ships in low orbit, and hence conveyed to the Hive Fleet as a whole. The fleet literally grows in size and mass, and moves on to the next planet.

This makes the Tyranids a very dangerous foe to fight. Even the Imperial Guard and Orks will find it difficult to beat them in a war of attrition, as individual losses are meaningless to the bugs (actually gribbles, according to Warhammer 40k' official Facebook page). As long as they are able to recover the biomass of the dead, it is simply recycled into new warriors and ships. It's worth noting that going against technological species results in less and less recycled biomass, so a Hive assaulting a high-tech heavily fortified fortress loses some of its total biomass bit-by-bit, but there are few cases where the Tyranids really bite off more than they can chew (well... as per the backstories of the codices, tyranids are good only for one thing: to be beaten by literally everything. And as per the rules.... well, same here). Even a Hive Fleet that has taken terrible losses and is forced to retreat may soon return to terrorize strong worlds as capturing and consuming a few poorly defended backwater planets is all that is required for them to replenish their forces. Even Hive Fleets considered defeated by the Imperium may still be dangerous, as the splinter elements that have survived may continue to infest worlds in the region. It is worth noting that in the rare event that two different Tyranid fleets encounter each other, they are apt to attack each other. This is generally believed to be some sort of Darwinian selection mechanism to compare the competitiveness of the traits the individual fleets have accumulated, with the victorious fleet consuming the other, absorbing their best traits, and culturing a deadly hybrid with the best of both worlds.

[[File:1389680259601.jpg|thumb|450px|right|Who doesn't love a scuttling swarm of space locusts?]]
So far, only fragments of Tyranid Hive Fleets have made it to this galaxy, and they were given monstrous names such as "Behemoth" and "Leviathan" and ate untold numbers of planets before finally being destroyed or stalled. It's also known that these are merely scouting fleets for the unimaginably large swarm that has yet to arrive, still currently in transit from another galaxy ([[Imperium|Imperial]] scholars suppose them to be either en route from a galaxy they successfully scoured of all life, or retreating from some force even nastier than they are). Noted Imperial scholars believe that the only possible plan that stands any chance against the arrival of this force involves giving a [[melta]] gun to everyone that has hands and praying to the God-Emperor for the best. They have been expected to arrive on Terra's doorstep any day now for years, being stalled by a force even more malicious then they are: [[Games Workshop|GW]]'s refusal to move the story forward.

And if they intend to retcon the above so that Leviathan is in fact the main force, they can easily write it off as ravings of a crazed Inquisitor.

Following in the footsteps of the Hive Fleets before it, Leviathan has been destroyed at Baal by the Blood Angels and the Ultramarines, apparently with a little help from [[Ka'bandha|Ka'Bandha]] the Bloodthirster. Admittedly, that campaign only involved the tendril not engaged in war with the Orks on Octarius, meaning that there may be significant elements of the fleet still roaming around the galaxy. However, since GW has been officially referring to this as the 'Fall of Leviathan', it's probably safe to say that Leviathan too is now splintered like Behemoth and Kraken. Of course, this still isn't good news for the rest of the galaxy, because there are four new Hive Fleets in the neighborhood, one of which has apparently dedicated itself to vacuuming up all the splinter fleets left behind by Kraken, Behemoth, and Leviathan, thus gaining all their tasty biomass and DNA.

This new hive fleet is known as [[Hive Fleet Kronos|Kronos]], after the Greek titan who fathered the gods, and with Warp Rifts and Chaos Daemons now running amok in the galaxy, the Hive Mind has turned it towards a previously untapped niche: fixing the mess left by Chaos. Its take on the Shadow in the Warp is one of a complete and total "HAHAHA FUCK YOU!" towards the Ruinous Powers, capable of smothering psychic abilities of any kind, causing Daemons to wither in its presence and closing Chaos portals and small Warp Rifts just by proximity. In other words: Chaos energy is arguably the most malevolent, most corrupting, most powerful force in the galaxy... [[Awesome|and the Hive Mind has produced a Hive Fleet with the primary mandate of telling it to shut up and go to its room.]]

On a smaller note, thanks to the Devastation of Baal, it has been confirmed that Tyranid troops and monsters aren't even singular organisms. Instead, each is a collection of symbiotic species working in tandem with one another to create a killing machine. Tyranid blood? [[Wat|A living parasite.]] Tyranid weapons? [[Tyranid Bio-Weapons|Well, that's self explanatory.]] Tyranid organs? [[Squig|A separate critter that could survive just as easily outside of its hosts when it is needed to swap gibblets.]] This means that those giant Hive Fleets you see aren't just one massive creature, but a multitude of smaller creatures working as one (this has some basis in real life biology; colonial organisms such as the Portuguese Man O' War are composed of multiple interdependent organisms). This realization kind of solves some of the bizarre-looking Tyranids that would be biologically impossible, but isn't actually much of a big deal, since most living things are technically made up of a collection of cells which are living things unto themselves. Tyranid creatures can then be thought of as multi-bodied organisms, the same way we are multi-cellular organisms, only our various organs, tissues, and limbs can't be freely transplanted with no rejection issues across similar <s>bioforms</s> individuals.

It remains to be seen whether this new backstory element will retcon some earlier reveals about the Tyranids, such as their observed tendency to throw themselves into digestion pools to recycle themselves into raw materials when they are too damaged to fight or no longer tactically useful. For one thing, why bother reducing Tyranids into liquid biomass that requires precious time and energy to be remade into new bioforms from the cells up, when the Hive Mind can skip a step and conserve its resources by simply tearing out reusable organs and bio-weapons from crippled or unneeded bioforms, and then install or graft those organic parts into new or less-damaged bioforms, while throwing only the bare skeletons and the too-damaged parts into the digestion pools for recycling? For another thing, if this becomes widespread knowledge among the Imperium, will it become the new standard procedure to either completely vapourize or thoroughly incinerate Tyranid corpses whenever possible, so as to keep the Hive Mind from reusing this grisly "salvage" should Tyranid forces take the field or advance their battle-lines far enough to retrieve those corpses? All we can say for certain is, '''prepare yourselves for another round of the evolutionary arms race''' . .

==Chaos and Tyranids==

Its an interesting fact to note that while the warp affects both flora and fauna, the Tyranids are notably highly resistant, if not outright immune, to its influences.

When the Hive Fleet invading Baal got sucked into the Warp by Ka'Bandha's entrance, the hive ships that emerged from this elsewhere were noted to have suffered little to no mutation when examined. Tyranids stuck in space hulks that spent centuries in the warp more-or-less got out unchanged, with no chaotic influences or mutations. Hell, even Genestealers, who are designed to operate independently from the Hive Mind, suffer no ill effects from warp exposure, still utterly devoted to the swarm after all that time.

Additionally, when pitted against daemons (like the Quadrifold Abominatum), the Tyranids are outright disruptive to them due to their warp-smothering powers, preventing daemons from mustering their full strength when under a large-enough fleet. Consuming tainted chaos flesh also does not seem to have any real negative effect on them.

Both sides have a mutual disdain for each other, though, and do their best to stay out of each other's way unless forced into a confrontation. The 'nids hate fighting Chaos due to their use of daemons, which has no biomass to harvest. Chaos hates the 'nids for having no emotions to feed upon, so their conflicts with them are ultimately about as productive as fighting non-sapient wildlife. They did fight once, and it was [[Fall of Shadowbrink|hilarious]].

Whether this is due to their "Shadow in the Warp" that prevents warp entities from doing any real effect on them, or the specific design of another god-entity we've yet to meet, is unclear. More info about their relations [[Malal#Malal_and_the_Tyranids|here]].
[[image:AdvancedSpaceCrusade.jpg|300px|thumb|Right|An image of the original appearance of Tyranids. Why yes, that thing has a dick. No, we don't know why.]]

=='Masters of Evolution'?==

In real life, evolution is not about being the strongest/fastest thing around. It means adapting to fill specific niches that aren't already full.

So, it should be noted that the Tyranids have been hit with the idiot ball a couple of time recently, which has led some to believe and fear that the Nids are quickly approaching [[Avatar of Khaine]] levels of [[Star Trek|Worf]] [[Nerf|nerfing]]. From an entire [[Hive Fleet]] being ''somehow'' tricked into an [[FAIL|evolutionary dead-end]] by the [[Bullshit|TAU]] of [[EPIC FAIL|ALL PEOPLE]] to the [[Swarmlord]] getting its shit kicked in just before attempting to use its killing blow on whatever random hero of the day. The status of the Great Devourer being a threatening force seems to be chipped in little by little. Indeed, when you hear statements that entire Hive Fleets could literally ''STARVE'' to death if they don't Nom constantly or that the [[Harridan]] [[EPIC FAIL|DIES by just simply landing on the ground,]] it kind of undermines the horrors that Dark Library writers and GW themselves like to sell on the Nids.

This is made worse with the recent release of the Belisarius Cawl novel, in which it outright confirms that the Nids ONLY consume the surface of a planet, whilst leaving organisms living beneath the surface mostly unmolested because the Hive Mind [[Wat|physically could not penetrate deep enough onto the planet's crust,]] which is why Cawl was able to literally re-terraform Nommed worlds like Sotha and Baal Primus. Mix in the fact that the Nids consume a typical world for a lengthy 60-100 days on average and it turns out that the Great Devourer isn't even really that great at devouring shit, if sub-surface life could literally weather a Nid invasion.

The crux of the problem (And a problem that GeeDubs is quickly realising as a major fuckup, narratively speaking) lies in balancing. Despite contrary beliefs, the 40k universe is not an omnipotent, overpowered force that could crush everything in their way because BIGGATONS! No, if this was the case, Chaos would have won a long time ago. The reality is that WH40k lies on the foundations of the balance of power; no faction (Other than the Tau who are irrelevant) have absolute domination among the others, to do so would break the status quo. Hence why the Chaos Gods aren't omnipotent, neither is the Imperium, the Orks, Necrons and most definitely Tyranids. If one breaks the status quo, the balance of power is broken and that would destroy 40k as we know it. This means that the power of the Tyranids needs to be capped or the balance would be broken. In the hands of a good or decent writer, one could still pull off why the Nids are a threat whilst gimping its ''potential'' power levels (See [[Devastation of Baal]]). But in the hands of a bad writer (See [[Robin Cruddace]]) it makes the Nids absolutely downright pathetic as they constantly self-sabotage themselves because the [[Hive Mind]] pulled a [[Derp]] and the opposing teams has a shit ton of [[Plot armour]]. So while GW has been trying to make the Nids threatening (Silent King returning to wake up his folks to deal with them, main Hive Fleets are merely scouting tendrils, Nids could out-adapt everything, etc), the actual given subtance has been...[[Skub|a mix bag at best.]] Compared to the [[Necrons]] who have been consistently been kicking ass since day 1, it is ironic that the Hive Mind seems to be encountering all of the same problems that [[Failbaddon]] did before Gathering Storm: ie, the inability to show the Nids' true potential because it would upset the status quo and therefore, needs to be gimped by the writers so as to not overwhelm the other factions. In other words, having a species based on a rather misunderstood view of (accelerated) evolution that simply eats everything and moves on to the next galaxy in a IP where every damn faction is a threat to the existence of every other faction tends to produce some narrative issues.

==On the Table==
[[Image:No Retreat.jpg|300px|thumb|left|KABLOOIE!]]

===2nd Edition===
Printed in the ancient past of 1995, the first Tyranid codex brought the hive mind to the tabletop of 40k and instantly won over the hearts of a thousand vile xeno lovers. Or not. It's hard to tell as most of those original fans have since moved on to collect power armor armies or died from several decades of soul crushing disappointment. Either way, the codex was notable for including both Genestealer Cults and Tyranids in the same book. It was at this point in the Tyranids history that the army was at its most [[Cheese|butt fuckingly]] [[White Scars|ultra rapid]] [[Doom|rip and tearing]] form. Tyranids were '''THE''' fucking army that could go toe to toe with other cheese like the [[Eldar]] or [[Necron| March of metallic doom]] and tear them a new asshole. Naturally this made them '''THE''' army for players to [[Butthurt|sperg on about how they were completely overpowered]] and countered armies like the Space Marines and general Imperial factions with complete EASE. [[Robin Cruddace| And then one of those fuckos]] was given a job at GW and it all went downhill from there for the space bugs.

===3rd Edition===
6 years after the 2nd edition codex came out, a new one burst onto the scene in 2001. Again, not much is remembered from this time, aside from the fact the strong and fast Tyranids from the 2nd edition were turned into slow, clumsy beasts, a move that nerfed them into oblivion. It was also notable for introducing silly looking metal miniatures that vanished soon afterwards (like the ever popular grinfex) and cool new plastic ones that are still used to this day. This codex was extremely limited, but did feature some...interesting rules for customizing your models. None of these would last to 4th edition, but the nostalgia would linger for a long time after.

===4th Edition===
In 2005, a new Tyranid codex emerged along with an entire host of redesigned units and metal kits. It was at this point that the modern designs for the Lictor, Genestealers, Raveners, and Hive Tyrants were introduced. Also, the first plastic Carnifex kit was released, and GW capitalized by giving the unit a cubic metric shit ton of options. Indeed, this was the theme of fourth edition 'nids. The codex deliberately axed 3rd edition characters like Old One Eye or the Red Terror in favor of giving players a wealth of options for customizing their models. Want a hive tyrant with a 2+ save? Go ahead. Want a Carnifex with a better BS? there you go. Few of these would last into 5th edition and the flaws were pretty glaring as time went by. 'Nids simply did not have the tools nor the depth of an army design to succeed against every opponent, and many of the options turned into expensive traps.

===5th Edition===
When the 5th edition Codex released, it was met with [[skub|split opinions]], as usual. Some were angry at how overpowered the army looked, citing the facts that the [[Tervigon]] could create more units out of thin air using "broken" special rules, that the anti-psyker powers were so broad, and that the [[Hive Guard]] and [[Zoanthrope]]s were so good at tank hunting at a time when tanks were kings.

However, after some time passed, people who decried the cheesy aspects of the army faded from view as people began to realize the army only seemed cheesy on paper, and that, in truth, any cheese the army had was drowned in the army's drawbacks. The Termagants the Tervigon could spawn? Stats like a [[Imperial Guard|Guardsmen]] in close combat, but with half their weapon range and weaker armor. And to get Tervigons to the Troops slot from the HQ slot (where they were practically useless), you had to pay Guardsman prices for a unit of them. In other words, you ''had'' to use the "cheesy" special rule or they were overpriced into uselessness.

Then there were the special powers that supposedly buffed the army. Again, at a first glance, they looked broken. Certain upgrades allowed any unit within 6" of certain models to gain rules like Feel No Pain, Furious Charge, Poison, cover saves, and so on. It sounded like a serious boon, but it had a funny effect. Aside from the fact that most Tyranid models are too expensive unless you capitalize on the bubble-buffs, it also does a horrible thing to your freedom to play the army. Mainly, it forces players to keep all their units bunched up within 6" of a few key models, requiring them to spend the entire game in a rigid formation that can spell disaster for the army when broken. Tyranids already suffered from this problem somewhat due to their synapse rules, but the 6" range on the mandatory buffs only shortened the leash. Not to mention it also made blasts even worse for an army already vulnerable to them.

Tyranids do seriously lack effective long range support as well. While they possess some weapons capable of mincing infantry units, most things with a range over 12" come at a premium. With an army so focused on close combat this shouldn't be such a problem, but synapse and buff leashes actually make it a valid concern. Mainly, the short buff leash pressures a player into a castle formation, but the lack of medium and long ranged weaponry pressures the player to advance the entire castle towards the enemy, which has a way of creating chinks in the formation. And you can't just move a few key units - when a unit moves forward, the model providing the buffs has to follow them, and then the other units relying on the buffs have to follow the model providing the buffs; it just makes the army obscenely inflexible.

Tyranid monstrous creatures, their heavy support, also got drastically [[Nerf|nerfed]] in the 5th edition update. The Tyrannofex, for example, has a 2+ save and six wounds at a toughness of six, the damn thing is almost indestructible, but the weapons are short-ranged, and if you buy it an expensive long-range cannon to shoot at tanks, you can't change any of its other short-ranged weapons which are designed to kill infantry. You just can't quite kit your heavy support to do the things you specifically want.

Which brings us to the final problem: on top of mountains of tactical inflexibility, the Tyranids also suffer from the drawback of design inflexibility. Unlike Guardsmen or Space Marines, the Tyranids don't get a lot of options to change the way the army works. When you buy Hormagaunts, you get them at face value - you can't equip them with frag grenades, give them pistols, add heavy weapons, or mess with their gear in any way. You can buy them the poison special rule if you want, or maybe the Furious Charge special rule, but those are your two choices. Almost the entire army is that way, which is vastly different than the way they worked in 4th edition. The Carnifex alone lost eighteen weapon and biomorph options between 4th and 5th edition and it doubled in points value. And with no upgrades taken! And for twenty points more, you can get a Trygon. Which is better than the Carnifex in almost every way. Cept looking good. It's possible that Tyranids are now the least adaptable army in the game.

The last kick in the teeth is that Tyranids are one of the more expensive armies to collect, requiring a larger number of models than most. Their HQ choices, short of the Tyranid Prime, are big monsters which run at prices edging nearer and nearer to $100 each. For the fact that most Tyranid armies will play exactly the same way, having all the same exploitable weaknesses and no unique wargear surprises, it's not a wonder that the army has seen a huge drop in sales since the release of their 5th edition codex. The shorter lesson to take from all this is, if you're thinking about beginning a 40k army, even with how expensive it's all gotten, Tyranids are not the best army to start with.

The one good legacy of the 5th edition codex was the radical expansion of the army list. The previous codex had featured the addition of a single new unit (the brood lord) and the removal of two special characters. Both were brought back for the 5th edition codex and the total units jumped from fifteen to thirty-four. While several of the characters (the doom of malan'tai and the parasite of mortrex) did not survive past this codex, many others did and eventually grew into popular options in their own right.

===6th Edition===
[[Image:Haruspex.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Is it me, or does the [[Haruspex]] look like it belongs in a [[/d/|bad hentai movie?]] ]]
----
Again, this one was a mix of good and bad. On the bad side, Tyranids no longer had Mycetic Spores, the Doom of Malan'tai, Ymgarl Genestealers or the Parasite of Mortrex (GW lost a court battle with Chapterhouse Studios and simply deleted all their models from the game). They even lost the ability to use psychic powers from the Biomancy table along with their Hive Mind powers being nerfed. Why GW thought that the most underpowered army needed even MORE nerfing will remain a mystery, but odds are that Cruddace had something to do with it. A perfect example of unnecessary nerfing is the Tyranid Prime; it was rarely fielded in 5th edition, and the 6th edition codex inexplicably increased its cost by over 56%.

On the good side, this one introduced the first piece of lore that showed Tyranids actually winning for a change (the [[Fall of Shadowbrink|Shadowbrink]] campaign, during which they own the Chaos Daemons) rather than coming close to winning but failing at the last minute due to the 'heroic' actions of some character who appears out of nowhere (looking at you Calgar and Yriel), and also gave us the Hive Crone, a killer anti-flyer unit that finally gave us a reliable option to beat Kelly's supercharged Dark Eldar (first by walking over their paper planes and then by liquefying infantry in and outside transports with the flame template). Carnifexes got to use crushing claws as power fists (as they have crap initiative Unwieldy doesn't matter, especially when you get to raise their Strength to 10) and the Exocrine was introduced to become the bane of Space Marines with its AP 2 cannon.

To compensate for Cruddace's additional nerfing, GeeDubs released some Dataslate formations which allow you to ignore the force organisation chart and spam flying monstrous creatures to overwhelm an opponents anti-air defenses because the flyer rules are an even bigger catastrofuck than the Tyranid codex. '''**SSSS rippaaaahhhssss will be put in crudfacessss bedssss for what he hasssss done to ussssss**'''

===7th Edition, DLC, and white dwarf updates===
Geedubs finally noticed how badly nerfed Tyranids have been during the last editions so they took opportunity to get your money by releasing new waves of Tyranid units supported by White Dwarf updates. Things started poorly with a pair of monstrous creatures who really didn't bring anything new to the table. The [[Toxicrene]] was fine on paper, bringing Poisoned 2+ Instant-Death-on-a-6 attacks, but as yet another floot-slogging MC it had trouble catching the things it WANTED to kill. The [[Maleceptor]] was just an overcosted, overcomplicated, and underpowered hunk of plastic that would be lucky to kill more than 20 points worth of models in a given turn.

The most unexpected announcements came from GW around Fall 2014, coinciding with the coming of [[The End Times]]: New models for the Tyranids. The first pack that was announced was a Dual Kit for the Maleceptor and Toxicrene. While the Maleceptor proved to be unpopular within ''minutes'' of having its rules announced in White Dwarf as it was an overpriced drain of warp charges, the Tocxicrene proved to fare a bit better, as the copious amount of poison and Instant Death on a 6 to-wound using said poison made it a menace against Monstrous Creatures (though its intended targets, the [[Riptide]] and [[Wraithknight]], merely scoffed at it because they're jumping monstrous creatures, and thus able to kite it like a toy). The second release proved to be the most popular by far: The return of Mycetic Spores (now [[Tyrannocyte]]s), the living fortifications known as [[Sporocyst]]s, and new [[Mucolid Spore]]s that not only assault flyers, but are also the cheapest troop choices, making starting an army of Tyranids a much simpler task. While the Tyrannocyte proved an incredible weapon that made several units (including the infamous [[Pyrovore]]) suck slightly less, that power came with a hefty price tag (for a Transport, not as a Monstrous Creature), and Sporocysts are completely immobile and are equally pricey in exchange for synapse bonuses and the ability to spam spore mines. Needless to say, people actually thanked GeeDubs for this rare show of intelligence.The third release gave new Sprues for the [[Zoanthrope]]/[[Venomthrope]] as a multi-part kit with a new set of rules for the Zoanthropes: The [[Neurothrope]], a sergeant that gave the brood a new power that could potentially give them more Warp Charges to spend on Warp Lance. Not bad, but the new sprue was still welcome. After these releases, it became clear as to why the 'Nids got new shit: promotions for a new Campaign called ''Shield of Baal'', which involves 'Nids chomping through a system near the territory of the [[Blood Angels]], meaning that [[Dante]] has to call all the successor chapters to stop the mob. He had to take help from [[Anrakyr]] to save even part of the system. This now concludes the awesome part of all things Tyranid. If you look at the gallery below the Cutenids, you will require a mind scrubbing and be lobotomized into a servitor. No exceptions. Of course you now have players mocking 'Nids as being a DLC faction.

===Return in 8th Edition===
Tyranids were an early-middle codex release of 8th and at that time were a contextually powerful army mostly due to how fast they were, like, "My Hormagaunts just moved 20" in one turn and my Stratagem can give them a second Movement Phase," fast. This speed has given them absolutely amazing board control combined with their easy access to deep striking units, good mix of swarms and big monsters for heavier damage. Carnifexes received a less-nerfed range of biomorphs, and proved to be useful and cheap Swiss-army knives capable of fulfilling a variety of roles.

Nevertheless, despite ostensibly being a melee focused army, Tyranids continue to suffer from relatively low strength melee attacks which compensate for their lowered wound chance by having higher damage. This means that while they deal a lot of damage when they wound a vehicle it's a toss-up as to whether or not they can actually wound it; ''Space Marines'' have easier access to Anti-Tank melee than us. Some of the big beasties are still overcosted and underpowered for their roles, and the flyers aren't too good either. While the little guys still die in droves and our big guys are either very good or just suck, the mid-sized bugs are decent but tend to require some planning to make the most of them. For example, Lictors are fragile but are useful as deep strike beacons, Warriors and Raveners are a bit overcosted but can stick around much longer than before now that Instant Death is gone, and Zoanthropes are stuck as the obligatory Smite spammers.

As of 2020 Tyranids are once again severely hampered by ongoing codex creep and FAQs, with and have reverted to a reputation of being lacklustre. It was hoped that Blood of Baal would bring some updates, and indeed it did, but as usual everything else got more and stronger updates, and even new models in some cases.
It would have been good to put Genestealer Cults and 'nids in one book, like Eldar and DE, but nope, you can buy two, yay.

===9th Edition===
The changes made to the core rules of the game is something of a mixed bag for the Tyranids. On the plus side, Monsters received two huge buffs; they can move and shoot heavy weaponry without penalty and can even fire these (non-blast) weapons ''while'' they're in melee. Getting into melee is also much safer than ever before, since Overwatch is now a once-per-phase stratagem (unless you're the [[Tau]]). However, the addition of blast weaponry and the changes to unit coherency have severely punished swarm builds while additional changes to melee combat hamper the damage they can deal when tarpitting other units. Other than that, the power creep left over from 8th edition is still very much in effect and much of what the Tyranids have access to simply pales in comparison to the slew of shiny toys and abilities being handed over to the Space Marines.

==See Also==
*[[Tyranid Bio-Weapons]]
*[[Lolifex]]
*[[Hive Fleet]]
*[[Unyuufex]]
*[[Harridan]]
*[[Tyranid RPG]]
*[[Hive Fleet Nidhoggr]]
*[[Hydraphant]], the biggest bio-titan the nids can field, which just got fan-made 8E rules. If you're playing apocalypse as the nids, and you need something to take out Warlords beyond fielding several billion Harridans and Hierophants, look no further (you will have to make the model yourself though).
*[[Tyranid Hive Fleet Creation Tables]]
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Tyranids (9E)|Tactics on how to play them.]]
*[[Tyranid /tgbrew modifications|/tg/'s homebrew modifications that make 5E nids get awesome]]
*[[Codex - Tyranids: /tg/ edition|Another /tg/brew 'Nid modificaton, now based on 7E and made into fully blown codex]]
*[[Genestealer Cult]]
* Unlike other 40k factions, there is no clear Warhammer Fantasy counterpart for the Tyranids. They seem to combine the [[Skaven]] and [[Ogre Kingdoms]] for tactics and lean closer to the Ogres for motivation, namely 'eat it all'.
*[[Phyrexia]], a faction/category from [[Magic:_The_Gathering|Magic: the Gathering]] with some similar fluff
*[[Slivers]] a creature type from M:TG that bares some similarities with 'nids.
*[[Gland War Veteran]]

{{Tyranids-Creatures}}
{{WH40k-Factions}}
{{Template:Important Species in 40k}}

== Gallery ==

{{Promotions}}

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<gallery>
Image:Cuteid_(1).jpg
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Image:Genestealer_purple.jpg
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Image:Tyranid_s_(0).png
Image:40k_Oh_My_Emperor_by_Sebbythefreak.jpg
Image:F5ASTER.jpg
Image:Tyranid_s_(1).png
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Image:Tyran_dont_work_that_way_by_eccma417.jpg
Image:Tyranid_hugsies.jpg
Image:Jean_toys.png
Image:Tyranid_Kool.jpg
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Image:Rocking_Tyranids.jpg
Image:Tyranid_wrestler.jpg
Image:Gangstagaunt.jpg
Image:Hormogaunt_by_kriegsmachine14.jpg
Image:20141009_193455.jpg There's always a bigger fish, And the tyranids are no exception [[cat]]
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</gallery>
</center>

Thus far the Cutenids. From down here there be many [[promotions]]. Abandon all hope ye who enter here.

<center>
<gallery>
Image:Tyranid maid.jpg|I'd let her clean up my biomass, if you know what I mea-{{BLAM}}
Image:Beachnid.jpg|Fun in the sun.
Image:Hardworkingtyranidmaid_anonib.jpg
Image:1230051355300.gif
Image:Tyranid_f_(1).jpg
Image:Tyranid_f_(2).jpg
Image:Tyranid_f_(3).jpg
Image:Tyrantxfire prism.JPG|[[Eldrad]] leaves no woman unsatisfied.
Image:Tyranid_f_(4).jpg
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Image:Tyranid_f_(6).jpg
Image:Tyranid_f_(7).jpg
Image:Tyranid_f_(8).jpg
Image:Assnid.jpg
Image:Dat_tyranid.png
Image:Tyranid_Princess.jpg
Image:Taunid4.jpg
Image:Tyranid_f_(9).jpg| Some speculations on the nature of Norn Queens are more [[heresy|heretical]] than others.
Image:Colorassnid.jpg
Image:Sexynid.jpg
</gallery>
</center>

[[Category: NSFW]]

[[Category: PROMOTIONS]]

[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Xenos]]

[[Category: Tyranid]]

[[Category: Monstergirls]]

Genestealer

2021-01-20T07:26:32Z

2600:8800:1502:5000:DD47:D553:9835:A6E3: /* Eldar */

[[Image:GenestealerBroodlord.jpg|thumb|right|They're not just called Genestealers for nothing!]]
{{Topquote|Iä! Iä! Tyrannicus fhtagn!|One of many unholy Genestealer Cult prayers}}

{{Topquote|Praise be! The star children deliver us!|White Dwarf October 2016}}

{{Topquote|Mankind has always looked to the stars for salvation...and finally, THE STARS HAVE ANSWERED!|Unnamed Magus}}

'''Genestealers''' are [[xenos|alien]] creatures in the [[Warhammer 40,000]] universe. They have undergone many [[fluff]] revisions since their inception, but they have always been lethal in melee (so deadly that [[Space Marine]] [[power armor]] is like tissue paper to them, no exaggeration), preternaturally fast, pseudo-insectoid in form, protected by a thick shell of [[Carapace]] and reliant on other species for reproduction.

Basically what would happen if the Xenomorphs decided to run a Lovecraftian doomsday cult... IN SPAAAAACE!

== Rogue Trader ==
[[Image:Oldschool genestealers.png|thumb|right|The 2nd edition pic that has defined the identity of Genestealer Cults for decades.]]
In [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader]] (the first edition of Warhammer 40,000), Genestealers were simply one of many creatures encountered in space, spreading from the moon of Ymgarl. They could be extremely dangerous in close quarters, as each of their six strong limbs ended in sharp claws, and they had a gruesome lifecycle reminiscent of the Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise, but otherwise had little to distinguish themselves. Most notably, they were not connected with the [[Tyranids]] at all. Indeed, the core rulebook noted that Genestealers with [[human]] ancestry could be intelligent, and even friendly! Their natural form had an almost leech-like head, and they were specifically described as "vampirish." They also ignored armour saves until 4th ed. That was annoying.

== Space Hulk ==
When the [[Space Hulk]] board game was released a few years after 40k: Rogue Trader, Genestealers received a significant bump in their threat level. The game made it clear that the Genestealers were a much more virulent and widespread menace than their initial description, and their head was changed to have a much toothier mouth. In keeping with GW's ripping off the Xenomorphs, Genestealers would use stealth to approach the Marine player's [[Terminators]] as "blips" of some unknown number of Genestealers, and then come out of hiding once they had a good ambush prepared. They achieved a super-human level of coordination via a [[Hive Mind|hive mind]], represented by the Genestealer player having unlimited time to move his pieces.

== Later Editions ==
In later editions of [[Warhammer 40,000]], the Genestealers were revealed to be (or [[retcon]]ned into, depending on your point of view) vanguard organisms for the [[Tyranid]] Hive Fleets. They are capable of thinking for themselves and operating without the Hive Mind's leadership, a rare trait among Tyranids, although they are not synapse creatures. [[Space Hulk]]-era Genestealers were re-designated "Purestrain Genestealers," created by the Hive Fleets themselves.

Genestealers are sent to infest Space Hulks and spread among the stars. Their long tongues contain a barbed ovipositor; when they encounter sentient humanoids, they [[Rape|use this ovipositor to inject a "seed" into the host's body]], combining the host species' genome with the greater Tyranid genome (hence the name Gene-stealer.) This is a method called the "Genestealer's Kiss," which is either a face-biting parody of a kiss or an injection under the ribcage. More recently, the Genestealer Cult of the Twisted Helix has discovered how to extract this "seed" for use in contaminating food and medicine, allowing the Genestealer curse to spread to locations far removed from any actual Genestealer.

Regardless of the vector, the seed greatly alters the host's body on both physical and psychological levels over the course of a few hours, causing them to forget all about the infection and become subservient to the Purestrain's brood. The host is also driven to have children, even if they didn't want any before becoming infected; their partner does not have to be likewise infected, but it doesn't hurt. After a pregnant host (or whoever they impregnated) gives birth, their viciously malformed offspring creates a hive mind connection between itself, its parents, and the Genestealers (though this raises the question of how anyone else in the room during the birth, such as midwives, would react.) This connection and the mutations brought on by the Genestealer's seed proceed to subliminally twist the minds of both parents so that they unconditionally love their child and revere the Genestealers either as gods or as creatures sent by gods (the exact interpretation varies, you understand), usually fleeing into darkened tunnels, catacombs or sewers to avoid discovery. It is not even uncommon for Genestealer Cults to present, at least outwardly, as Emperor-worshipers, although inevitably they have some funky iconography like the whole four arms thing. Some of them, at least the rank and file, may even ''believe'' they're worshiping the Emperor instead of spacebugs. And, when not doing dastardly Genestealer things, they may really be about the overall work of the Imperium on a day-to-day basis, which is of course part and parcel with their infiltrationist aspects.

Eventually these infected individuals and their growing brood of offspring will come together with kindred spirits (that is, other Genestealer hybrids and their infected parents) to form a community/family dedicated to the Genestealers in both body and soul. As the family grows, they will continue to isolate themselves, eventually forming a Genestealer Cult. What follows is an ongoing process of hybrids breeding with captured and infected humans, with their human parents kept around both as breeding stock and for nursing and child-rearing. The second generation hybrids aren't as ugly as their parents, appearing more "normal"-looking but still obviously alien. However, that becomes a moot point once the third and fourth generation roll around, the fourth actually being virtually indistinguishable from actual full-members of their parent species. The uglier members and Purestrain Genestealers typically lurk in the shadows far away from civilisation, while the intelligent and "human" members infiltrate and spy in almost every sector of society. Their psychic network lets them communicate with one another, even though some of the less-human hybrids (and the Purestrains) are incapable of speech, and when the brood mind becomes powerful enough, it will act as a beacon to [[Tyranid]] Hive Fleets. These fleets travel at various different speeds according to various different authors although generally always slower than Imperial warp drives, which means it is impractical for them to travel blindly, so they home in on the signal created by a large Genestealer Cult. When their arrival is imminent, they will directly contact the Cult, which will then engage in a full rebellion, sabotaging their planet's defenses in preparation for the fleet. This scenario is usually a win-win for the Tyranids, as even if the insurrection is crushed, they still probably went down swinging and cost the defenders valuable manpower and resources they needed to fight what's coming.

The exact manner in which a Cult reacts to the arrival of the Tyranids varies. According to the backstory for [[Hive Fleet Kraken]], a planet called Larnarno was infiltrated by a Cult calling themselves the Celebrants of Nihilism. When the Tyranids showed up to consume the planet, 75% of the population ''calmly marched towards and aboard the bio-ships where they gladly accepted being brought to the digestion pits''. However, a Cult generally has no idea what is about to happen to them, fully believing that the Tyranids are wonderful, enlightened beings and when they show up they'll all become one big happy space family. And for a bit, [[troll|the Hive Mind actually leads them on and doesn't target the cult]]. For a brief moment the cultists get to live their dream of fighting alongside their beloved star gods, but as soon as the planet's defenses are basically done for, they are on the menu just like everybody else. Even worse, the Hive Mind overrides the independence of the Patriarch and Purestrains, at which point the glamour surrounding the Tyranid horrors fades, the cultists get a good look at what their angels ''really'' look like and they have just enough time to [[Call of Cthulhu|fail their SAN checks and scream]]. Any cultists that try to flee are [[grimdark|consumed by the very father they worshiped and the very children they raised]].

Some may ask, why would GW do this? Does GW ''hate'' the idea that anyone who is not of an Imperial faction might be allowed to have a happy ending? If you have to ask these questions, you probably don't understand the situation. The Genestealer Cults are literally nothing more than convenient tools that the Tyranids use to prepare worlds for consumption. The very genetic fabric of each Cult member, right down to the most lowly cultist, has been hijacked to achieve this end. If they fail, they will be destroyed by the civilizations they are attempting to infiltrate. If they succeed, they will be assimilated by the Hive Mind. Therefore for the Genestealer Cults, one way or the other, there can be no happy ending.

Way back in the days of Rogue Trader, Genestealer Cults also used to be able to be devoted to Chaos. That disappeared from the tabletop along with the old incarnation of the army, but in the fluff, this can apparently still happen, in certain very rare circumstances. One account describes a truly hilarious case of turnabout when a Cult's ship is sucked into a Warp storm and dumped on the edges of Nurgle's Garden, where the Genestealers and their minions get taught a thing or two about ''real'' corruption and parasitism by the Chaos God who wrote the book on it. Nurgle does eventually let the Cult go, because he's a nice guy, ''after'' he's thoroughly had his way with them of course, and they come back into realspace as basically a Plaguestealer Cult. What might've happened if the Cult had fallen into Slaanesh's domain, officially, we'll never know, because family-friendly GW doesn't have the balls to go there. Unofficially, [[Hivestrain Azure|we can make a pretty good guess]]. As a contrariwise example, there's a genestealer cult in a Inquisitor Czevak story who, marooned on a daemon world in the [[Eye of Terror|Eye]] after their [[space hulk]] was unfortunate enough to crash there, nonetheless hate and resist chaos and maintain a lot of Imperial iconography and so on (although they ''do'' consort with xenos and mutants, which, while heretical, is probably still well above par for the course given their living situation).

Interestingly, it appears that the rare Genestealer Cults that fall to Chaos worship may become decidedly unappetizing to the Tyranids, to the point where a hive fleet will ''ignore'' the cult's call and merrily skip past them to go chow down on some forest-moon instead of the world the cult had been desperately calling them towards. This ends up pushing a cult even further into Chaos worship, unaware that they are not in fact following the Hivemind but instead possibly a demented purple whore or a bloated pus-covered maggot man.

=== Genestealer Variants ===
The first Genestealer to infect a host (or hosts) grows larger and more intelligent with each mind added to the cult/family/whatever, eventually far surpassing its kin in strength, size and cunning, even becoming a powerful psyker. This Genestealer is known as the [[Genestealer Patriarch|Patriarch]], and acts as both the cult's leader and the object of its devotion. The Patriarch's psychic connection to the Hive Mind allows it to maintain iron control over his brood as well as other lesser Tyranid organisms.

After the Purestrain infects a host, a Genestealer Cult will end up with members with various levels of Genestealer ancestry. In general, Genestealer Hybrids will breed with their non-Genestealer parent species, and their descendants will resemble that species, until the fourth hybrid generation, whose children will be Purestrain Genestealers capable of "founding" new Genestealer Cults.

The [[Rogue Trader]]-era Genestealers also get a special mention, in the form of "Ymgarl Genestealers," a strain that supposedly comes from a population of Genestealers that got isolated on the moons of Ymgarl. They have tentacled, lamprey-like mouths and the ability to partially transform themselves depending on the circumstances, at the cost of being genetically unstable and only being able to feed on blood. In fact, they're so unstable that the Hive Mind deliberately abandoned them for fear that they would contaminate the Tyranid gene pool. Because of this, they compulsively seek to reach planets that have recently been visited by the Tyranids in a futile attempt to be reabsorbed into the Hive Fleets. If they weren't horrible monstrosities, their predicament would almost be sad. However, at some point between 5th and 6th Edition, the Ymgarl Genestealers lucked out and got absorbed into a Hive Fleet by some very desperate/caring Norn Queen. The result of this is that 6E Tyranids now have a Bio-Artefact (If you feel unclean about the name, that's natural) called the ''Ymgarl Factor'' that gives any Tyranid unit the same unstable properties rule, but now lack the assaulting from Outflanking.

=== Non-human Hybrids ===

As a final note, [[Warhammer 40,000]] fiction is very [[human]]-centric, and so most Genestealer infestations depicted have occurred among human populations, but the [[Ciaphas Cain]] novels have suggested that [[Tau]] and [[Orks]] are also susceptible to Genestealer infection. The novel ''Death of Integrity'' also confirms that Genestealers will attack and assimilate other xenos, though this plot point lasts about one paragraph. What, exactly, a Tau Genestealer Hybrid would look like is the subject of much speculation. There is old canon art of Ork Genestealer hybrids, but given the vast amount of retcons since then its canon status is questionable...

==== Orks ====

It should be noted that Orks reproduce asexually by way of fungal spores they secrete both at a perpetual slow trickle from their skin while alive and ''en masse'' while a decaying corpse (and also that "Ork" is but one of many many different Orkoid phenotypes that a given spore might develop into depending on environmental conditions, so one has to wonder how the genestealer mutations might interact with a spore that grew into, say, a mushroom), so it's pretty hard to envision an Orkified Genestealer Cult actually working, or lasting beyond the first generation or two, since they have no ways of mixing genes to produce purestrains in time. Even if they could, the Orks have an inherent ability to determine if one of their own isn't proppa Orky and will inevitably krump the gits. Some old, old fluff portrayed Purestrain genestealers descended from Ork hybrids as having denser musculature (and most likely greater physical strength). In another of these dusty accounts, an incident on the fringe of the Octarius system had a massive, purple, six-limbed Gargant attacking a Guard regiment. When it was melta'd open, purestrain genestealers emerged to eat the Guardsmen. You are encouraged to take these older bits of fluff with a generous pinch of salt. In any event, ancient and likely non-canonical fluff aside, the unique quirks of Ork biology boil down to the fact any attempt to infest an Ork warband would almost certainly fail and not be worth the effort in the first place. Commissar Cain encountered a genestealer infested space hulk in which genestealers were using infested orks to guard their hibernation chambers.

==== Tau ====

Tau, similarly, have certain complications which may prevent Genestealer infestation. Firstly, their Kroot allies can tell if a person is infected or not simply by tasting some of their blood, and secondly, Tau-tech is certainly advanced enough to scan for this threat once they know about it. Furthermore, Tau explicitly practice caste-restricted bureaucratically arranged breeding processes; Tau don't have kids until their higher ups decide they should, and they don't even get to pick their own partners. Two Tau get paired up by the decision of a committee, spend a couple of days off work having sex, then separate and go their separate ways. This means the genestealer taint is seriously difficult to spread amongst the race. The caste-based structure of Tau society also poses problems to any potential Tauified Genestealers, and that's without presuming the caste-system is now so inherent that different castes can't even physically breed with each other anymore. All that being said, according to the new Genestealer Cults Codex, not only can Tau-Genestealer hybrids happen, but one time they were ''deliberately'' created by a team of Earth Caste researchers who wanted to see what would happen. The infection got out of control and actually ended in violence. It's even implied that they may have produced a hybrid Ethereal, which would be a disaster for the Tau given how obedience to the Ethereal caste is basically hard coded into their DNA.

==== Eldar ====

While it is possible for Genestealers to infect the [[Eldar]], it's extremely hard for them to get anywhere with any of the four varieties due to their highly advanced medical technology (all four, yes even the Exodites), universal emphatic abilities, very regimented lifestyles (Craftworld), slow breeding rate and the fact that irregular psychic activity amongst them gets located and dealt with very quickly (all four, heck mind bulletry is pretty much the only thing the [[Dark Eldar]] ban). Even when they are infected, the taint spreads much more slowly due to the Eldar's prolonged gestation period, which makes infecting them more trouble than it is worth in most situations.

So far the only examples among Eldar are those who knowingly and openly embraced their pants-thieving overlords. In the novel "Ghost Warrior", we have Genestealer Eldar on a lost [[Craftworld]] named [[Yvraine#Craftworld_Zaisuthra|Zaisuthra]]. Needless to say, the other [[Ynnari]] who contacted them were ''pissed.'' This was done in their misguided attempt to avoid getting consumed by Slaanesh because this Craftworld had left before the Infinity Circuit was invented and thus didn't have one; their logic was that if they gave themselves over to the Broodmind, their souls would be assimilated before Slaanesh could consume them. There is also something of a Genestealer cult growing among the Dark Eldar in Commorragh. After a raid with lots of captives taken to Commorragh, the Haemonculi found out some of them were Genestealer cultists. The hybrids were singled out and experimented on so their mutations would emerge. When some bored Dark Eldar among the social elite found out about this, they paid the Haemonculi to graft these Genestealer body parts on them for kicks (given how Genestealer reproduction involve a genetic re-write of infected hosts using the Stealer's own DNA, you can see what a stupid idea this is). It looks like the Hive Mind might find a way into Commorragh given how these Dark Eldar, who collectively call themselves the Vorgani, started forming tight-knit groups and share a singular obsession over a Tyranid-infested planet trapped in the Webway.

And of course, the haemonculi know this and think this is just a jolly and amusing thing because of course the sickest fucks in all the galaxy would look at this and think, "what an interesting turn of events!".

==== Others ====

As for the [[Necrons]], they're goddamn undead robots. If you even consider this possibility you're the biggest idiot since [[Magnus the Red]]. Seriously, fuck that guy.

Finally, and perhaps most troubling, is the mention that Tyranids have been targeting [[Hrud]] warrens. Hrud lack the defenses of the above races and are naturally predisposed towards infesting a planet and migrating en mass to a new one. The Genestealer hybrids, likewise, gain enhanced stealth and reaction speed (such as those 5++ saves the 'stealers now enjoy.)

== Dawn of War 2 ==
[[Image:Jeanstealers.jpg|250px|thumb|right|An Assault Terminator trying to protect his jeans from Jeanstealers]]
Genestealers are pretty lore accurate in Dawn of War 2. They eat whatever they face. They act as the ultimate melee troops for Tyranids '''in tier 2.''' Let's run some numbers: A regular Tactical Marine starts with 60 melee skill, a standard melee squad starts with 70. These motherfuckers are starting with 80 by default! And this even gets worse if they have any synapse support. If they are under Improved Synapse of the Hive Tyrant, their health increases by 25%. If they ever get into the melee synapse of Warrior Brood, their health increases by '''75%''', and melee skill by 10, and you can combine these 2 synapses together! Yeah, they can basically murderfuck anything in melee combat. And this gets even worse if they use their Adrenal Rush ability. Gains increased speed and damage, gains small amount of health in each hit they make, and decreases incoming ranged damage.

Everything aside, the most simple solution to deal with them is to get a walker out. Genestealers can't purchase their anti vehicle klaws until tier 3. That makes them balanced right? I hope so. But when they get them, they can solo a Dreadnought! Thankfully, they have light infantry armour, which means that they can be killed easily with most ranged weaponry and struggle against melee fighters that are able to survive long enough to get a few hits in themselves. AoE melee attacks are your friend against them.

== On the Tabletop ==
===Tyranids===
[[Image:Genestealers-in-the-grass.jpg|250px|thumb|right|[[Fist of the North Star|You're already dead]].]]In battle, both Ymgarl and Purestrain Genestealers are ridiculously deadly in melee, both in fluff and on the tabletop. On the tabletop, when a brood of Genestealers charges something, it's very unlikely to survive to the next turn unless it's a [[Land Raider]] due to their massive number of good strength attacks, rending, and high weapon skill that means they hit most things on 3s (seriously, these guys have higher weapons skill than a lot things made out to be close-combat experts), not to mention that they are fast little fuckers. A Zerg rush has ''nothing'' on these guys. In the fluff, their claws are so damned sharp that they might as well be power weapons (back in 2nd Edition and pre-codex 3rd Edition they WERE power weapons), slicing through armor and walls like a chainsaw going through a rice paper wall. Their hypnotic eye powers show up irregularly in the fluff, showing up in the Dark Disciples Novel but not Ciaphas Cain; Hero of the Imperium for example. The fact they are '''[[derp|faster than Eldar]]''' lets them laugh at any unit they charge/charging them, and they are usually deployed a-la Kroot Carnivores (parking them behind a windowless wall 12-18" from the enemy). Unlike Kroots though, they are not there to slow the enemy, they provide a hazardous area for the first turns and then, when the main force has reached their position, they jump out to help OMNOMMing.

In some editions Genestealer broods could upgrade one of the members to a [[Broodlord]], which formerly had a major role due to the biomorphs it could use and psyker powers, but being reduced to a sergeant basically made it just add an extra punch, though it still had a better statline than any non Special-Character Space Marine HQs (except the CSM's daemon prince). Sixth Edition turned Broodlords into rape machines in challenges, as they are able to bring down almost any independent character in the game without eternal warrior, while costing much, MUCH less.

In 8th Edition, Genestealers are still great, but other armies have some melee options that are pretty on-par with them. A horde of Ork Boyz, for example, can pump out 30 more melee attacks in a turn, and cost 110 points less. Granted, they don't have the 5++ invuln, but they still will wreck a horde of Genestealers' shit if they get the first attack. On the other hand, the Genestealers are also very speedy and can rocket to the other side of the board with the right Stratagems. They can also charge after advancing (or lose that ability in exchange for a better armor save that can go up to MEQ-tier if in cover or under the benefits of Jormungandr's Hive Fleet Attribute) and can take Acid Maws for a few extra MEQ-killing attacks. Oh, and they also get a Deep Strike similar to a Terminator's teleport homers. They're especially potent with Hive Fleet Kraken since they'll have better advances as well as the ability to charge after falling back, which not only saves them from running the risk of being trapped in melee with something too tough for them to deal with but also improves their already impressive maneuverability and ensures that they'll always get the first swing in.

===Genestealer Cults===
[[File:Inquisitor-hybrid.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Uh? What do you mean Inquisitors don't have [[StarCraft|an additional set of wing-claws]]?]]

A very small range of really terrible looking Genestealer Cult minis were produced during 1st/2nd Edition, and the legendary 2nd Edition Tyranid Codex also featured a Cult army list. However, the vast updates wrought by 3rd Edition in 1998 basically eliminated Genestealer Cults as a playable force. As a result, while the Genestealer Cults were a frequent mention in the lore they were completely absent from the tabletop for nearly two decades (aside from the Genestealers themselves, of course). This all changed in 2016, near the end of 7th Edition, when long-suffering Genestealer Cult fans (yes, all three of them!) were finally rewarded with a beautiful new range of minis and a brand new Codex, chock full of disturbing and characterful units. And there was much rejoicing.

Cults get a super-genestealer called a Patriarch, the progenitor of the cult, as the main HQ choice. There's also the <s>[[Magnus the Red|Magnus]]</s>Magus, acting as the cult's psyker, and the Primus, their version of a general/champion. You also get regular genestealers, though they're actually much better than Tyranid genestealers as they're hardier and stealthier. The troops themselves are roughly similar to Chaos Cultists, Neophyte hybrids being armed with guns and improvised equipment, with Acolyte hybrids fighting better in close combat. The Cult can also steal Guard vehicles, namely the [[Leman Russ Battle Tank]], [[Chimera]], and [[Sentinel]], as well as their version of a Technical called the [[Goliath Truck]]. You can also just straight up steal Guardsmen and field them as Neophyte Hybrids. All cult members specialize in ambushing opponents, and get major bonuses from their leaders, but much like the [[Tau]] they fall into disarray should their HQ be killed. However, this is alleviated by the fact that HQ automatically pass "Look Out Sir!", meaning so long as you have enough meatshields you can keep them alive (hilariously enough, this can even be used in challenges for some serious trolling). And since cult leaders can summon in large numbers of reinforcements, you could be in for some real foot-slogging.

Genestealer Cults are able to ally with Tyranids (though, as mentioned before, they're not Battle Brothers as the Tyranids view their cultists as dessert rather than the main course). Curiously, they can also ally with Guardsmen, as a way to represent the fact that they will infiltrate Guardsman/PDF forces prior to the invasion, so if you feel so inclined, you can augment your forces with ''even more'' Guard vehicles.

== Unofficial codices ==
*Fly Lords of Terra Genestealer Apoc codex [http://www.box.com/shared/lyyxvnpk48]
*So not only do Genestealer Cults have a codex now, but this man, Chris Showers, actually made an army of them! You'll have to Google Search them yourself, though, since the GamesWorkshop website *cough* [http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?community=true&catId=&categoryId=300005&aId=11600017] *cough* is slowly deleting anything that isn't the webstore.

==The Plague Returns ==
Guess who's back, bitches! http://www.spikeybits.com/2016/02/breaking-new-genestealer-cult-rules-pictures.html

Deathwatch: Overkill started us out with rules and models for cultists, in this case various hybrids wielding mining equipment and a general leadership structure of a Genestealer patriarch, with hybrid preachers and enforcers. Then GW announced that they were doing a full codex, and if early impressions and rumors are anything to go by, it's gonna be ''fun''. Genestealer Cults are gonna be getting their own psychic discipline with 7 powers, 8 formations, wargear options, their own vehicle (a limo no less!), ''and'', it's looking like they'll have access to Imperial Guard vehicles too. Genestealers and hybrids catching a ride in Chimeras, or advancing alongside Leman Russes? ''Oh hell yes''.

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Genestealer_orks.jpg| ORKY NIDS!!!!!!!!!!!
File:Warhammer 40k the tyranid outcast by randize-d4jl7lq.jpg|
</gallery>

== See Also ==

*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Genestealer Cults (9E)|Tactics on how to play them.]]
*[[Genestealer Cult Creation Tables]] - why not generate your own Cult?
*[[Jeanstealer]] - One of /tg/'s creations. A rather confused Tyranid genestealer that is only driven to steal denim trousers.
*[[Hivestrain Azure]]- A fapfic about a particularly unusual strain of genestealer, likely part of a cult tainted by [[Slaanesh]].
*[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Deathwatch/40k-rules-deathwatch-en.pdf Genestealer Cult Rules] 40k Rules for the new Genestealer Cult from Deathwatch: Overkill
*[[Zoats]]

[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Dawn of War]]

[[Category: Xenos]]

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[[Category: Genestealer Cults]]

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