Hive Fleet Dagon

Hive Fleet Dagon is a small Tyranid Hive Fleet first discovered in the Jericho Reach region of the Ultima Segmentum around 812.M41.

Interrupting the Achilus Crusade

Hive Fleet Dagon was first encountered in the Jericho Reach, an area of the galaxy filled to the brim with heresy and alien species. The Imperium had launched decades ago a crusade to try and push back the forces of Chaos, the Tau and other minor xenos species advancing into that border. The arrival of Dagon threw a wrench into the crusading forces's plans, difficulting and/or outright blocking space travel with the Shadow in the Warp (and, you know, eating Imperial planets). With at least nine Imperial worlds consumed, the Tyranid forces quickly became a top priority threat to the Imperial authorities. Luckily, there were a decent amount of Deathwatch forces in the area already, so they managed to push most of the Tyranid incursions back, to regroup, reorganize and rethink their strategy against this new foe. The Imperial losses were considerable, however. Their leadership in certain areas had been almost fully destroyed and left out of commission, with similar losses in regards to their troops. And on top of that, Tau and Chaos forces decided to take advantage of this and push their effords against Mankind's borders even further.

It took the combined forces of the Deathwatch, the Imperial Navy and a lot of Imperial Guard regiments to push back Dagon. A desperate concentration of forces on the planet Treyen managed to keep in check the tyranid's advance, and the quick and decisive effect of the Imperial Navy managed to make a dent on the Great Devourer's advance. Right now, they are trying to surround Hive Fleet Dagon in order to stop them from spreading to some other sector.

Strategy of Dagon

Hive Fleet Dagon has kept a very fast pace when it comes to attacking worlds. Focusing on planets instead of void stations and ships, Dagon makes extensive use of vanguard drone ships, seeding the planets with psychic bioforms like Lictors or Genestealers. Once the planet has been infected, it moves on and repeats the process elsewhere. These drone ships have proven to be a particulary nasty thorn in the Imperium's side due to their speed, their ability to go undetected until its too late and the fact they unload their infiltrating bioforms in multiple planets, dividing the military's forces between multiple planets simultaneously.

Once in orbit, Hive Fleet Dagon uses a very safe approach to their invasion. First swarming the planet with massive Mycetic Spores and lower-class bioforms, more easily produced and disposable. However, when Dagon finds itself against well entrenched forces that the Hive Mind considers it would take a considerable efford to take down, they usually retreat to other, less defended objectives. This behavious meant that many planets were able to hold off the Tyranids' advance by deploying great amounts of militar personnel. However, this has a negative side: by keeping large amounts of forces concentrated on a planet, the Imperium leaves other outposts undefended, which is used by Dagon to attack them. This, combined with the fact Dagon usually launches its forces in multiple planets, means the Imperium has to choose which planet has to save, assuming the ones less defended will be lost.

Unique Tyranid bioforms

Imperial forces deployed against Dagon have reported sighting some Tyranid units never seen before. Whether they are just variations of already existing strains or are whole new bioforms, the experts are not sure. All of these beings have gained a fearsome reputation, and the Deathwatch takes exceptional care to find and destroy them whenever possible.

• Dagon Overlord: Thought to be a Hive Tyrant variant, this monster is able to drive lesser Tyranids into raging frenzies, and it's constantly dripping in venom. Notorious for going out of its way to kill members of the Deathwatch, to the point that some Astartes see it as a manifestation of the Hive Fleet's hate for the Deathwatch and the Jericho Reach.
• Mist Reaper: Thought to be a Lictor variant, this creature always acts behind enemy lines on the planet Xyan, killing objectives it thinks vital to the defenders's efforts or simply butchering anyone who goes too far into the mists of the planet it dwells upon. Ordo Xenos scholars note that it seems to be unusually adept at bypassing Imperial security measures given reports of it abducting Imperial citizens right out of their own homes, although they cannot explain how it does so. For the most part the locals are unaware of its presence, as it rarely leaves any identifiable trace of its victims.
• What Lies Beneath: Thought to be an unusually large Trygon variant, this beast drives massive forces of Hormagaunts to the enemies's rear, hitting them when they least expect it- especially since it often appears long before other burrowing Tyranid bioforms make their presence known. It has a noted preference for attacking stores of volatile compounds such as plasma reactors or promethium stores, and actively targets those which have received substantial chemical stores or have recently altered their containment mechanisms. The ensuing attack inevitably destroys massive amounts of Imperial supplies and personnel, and despite multiple reports of it being killed in the subsequent explosion it always seems to reappear on a different planet or system some time later.

Tyranid Hive Fleets
Major Hive Fleets:	Hive Fleet Behemoth - Hive Fleet Kraken - Hive Fleet Leviathan
Minor Hive Fleets:	Hive Fleet Colossus - Hive Fleet Dagon - Hive Fleet Gorgon - Hive Fleet Hydra - Hive Fleet Jormungandr Hive Fleet Kronos - Hive Fleet Moloch - Hive Fleet Naga - Hive Fleet Ouroboris - Hive Fleet Tiamet