THE TYRANIDS - Devourer of Worlds | WARHAMMER 40,000 Lore / History

[Music] there are many Horrors facing humanity in the 41st millennium few they rival the physically nightmarish alien race known as the Turin it's also known as the great devourer [Music] terminate Zara xenos race best described as a bio formic ecosystem all have genetically similar elements but regularly diverge and evolve unlike most races in the galaxy the tyrannies have no social or ideological goal their goal is survival collectively they form fleets of these bio forms known as high fleets or biomechanical structures known as hive ships they move through systems stripping planets of biomatter like locusts then using this collective matter they fuel their further evolution and expansion this rapid development enables turrets to make astounding leaps in evolution that would take other species millions of years to complete terminates share a powerful ability in that form of the hive mind this enables them to share information react and make large-scale decisions near instantaneously from the masses of forms that make up their collective they also have a common psychic bond known as the synapse this enables them to move and coordinate with other tyranids around them as if one greater organism the behavior likened more to the conscious and unconscious muscle contractions of a larger entity than actual individual behavior the reactive movement of flocks of birds causing a natural spatial shifting is not entirely unlike the way in which the tear net synapse behaves this collective reactionary cooperation is especially important when you consider the Turner's approach to warfare is simply often to overwhelm through weight of numbers a tidal wave of seething vicious corrosive biomass with numbers beyond estimation forming the tyranny fleets of a hive mind is critically important as the organisms sentient or otherwise who compromised the Turnage would just return to a state of rapid disorder and survivalist instincts without some intrinsic link to keep them focused and organized unlike many species in the 41st millennium the turrets are far from xenophobic in fact they actively seek genetic transfer of material across species they will absorb and utilize any useful genetic traits they discover in life-forms or on worlds that they consume this information will then be used to improve their effectiveness either in bio Matic consumption and efficiency or combat Altera needs are produced from a single life form within the hive fleet known as the Norn Queen without this bio form they would be unable to continue to replenish their forces much like any life-form that lives in a colony the queen is to be found at the center where she's most difficult to reach a most well defended she essentially not only reproduces but bioengineers the life-forms in a tyranids swarm the Queen's will also relay information to one another psychically through the hive mind and enable them to create better suited or more powerful life-forms they also transmit orders and information to the lesser entities in order to continue reproduction of the Terran it bio forms the non Queen's require a constant supply of biomass and this is literally pumped from a planet that has been harvested by a tyranids swarm and back to their hive ships in orbit disgusting reclamation pools are formed on the planet's surface we're all biomass is dissolved together collectively the queen will then continually produce new turnit forms in a variety of ways from eggs to live birth larvae or grown in amniotic sacs most forms produced they do require further nurture from a worker class who as with most colony life forms provide them with the nutrition and care needed until they can survive for themselves in the case of tyranids this usually happens very quickly the most significant encounters with the tyrannous have occurred relatively recently and in the scheme of things there are a fairly new threat having first been truly encountered around 7:45 in millenium 41 but rumors and fragments of information can potentially trace their impacts to anything in the region of the 35th million or before they believed to have been attracted to the galaxy due to the Emperor's psychic beacon the astronomic on which acts as a lighthouse for Imperial ships traveling the warp Imperial navigators use it to calculate their courses through dangerous warp space the first major incursion by the tyrannies was hive fleet behemoth which after causing catastrophic damage on countless worlds was ultimately repelled by the ultramarines chapter but this battle was barely a victory the losses so high they would take hundreds of years to replenish and recover from these events gave a whirring glimpse to the Imperium of the power wielded and damage that could be inflicted from a Terran at high flight it's feared and suspected that much worse is even to come and the tyranids have really only begun to scout through the galaxy turn it high flight and their subsequent tendrils move quickly through systems consuming all biomatter but they never entered the warp nor do they possess actual faster-than-light technology in the standard sense they instead use psychic powers of a specialized hive ship known as a novel that manipulates gravity fields of any star system they are in to achieve faster-than-light travel the novel ships are more scouting than combat focused and they use clusters of monofilament to assess electromagnetic and gravity information this enables them to detect the direction and location of new systems containing potential biomatter for the fleet the details on how the novel ships actually use this are not clear but in essence what may happen here is a novel somehow create a huge gravity well enabling the fleet to then move speeds equivalent to fast and like tech as used by the Imperium this huge distortion of gravity has a devastating impact though on inhabited planets in the system with the gravity well cause of Planets to swell creating subsequent earthquakes tsunamis volcanic eruptions and any number of damaging consequences the two-minute fleet then essentially fall through this compression allowing them to reach their destinations immense speed the physics of this are all pretty spurious but not much more than anything else around this kind of travel the one problem for two minutes is that on arriving after traveling through the gravity well they are then only capable of sub Lightspeed and so this can mean that they will still take many years or even decades to actually reach their final destination if they're able to be detected in time this window may give whatever worlds they're headed for time to prepare evacuate or call for defensive reinforcements the all-encompassing effects of the psychic hive mind of the tyranids forms a phenomenon known as the shadow in the warp this some others and envelops whole star systems whenever a turret fleet is near this effect will become apparent as psychist will struggle to manifest their abilities navigation and communication become nearly impossible for the Imperium this apparently ambient effect of the tuna trace is especially devastating as they rely on psychic communications heavily if a planet becomes enveloped by this effect they will unlikely be able to call for help and are then left with the sobering prospect of facing the inevitable tyranids swarm alone the Imperium perceives the tuna fleets as separate forces competing with one another for resources much like any other organism of the same species will compete with their own for resources however in reality this is not the case the tyranids through their hive mind form a much more complex construction of organisms perhaps the most terrifying fact about the tyrannies though is their drone like single focus much like any large predators are looking into those black black eyes you know that they have no feelings about their actions only that they know what they must do and their instincts and synapse led instructions from the hive mind tell them all they need to know the strength of the hive mind in its localized area of effect will actually wax and wane but its strongest around some of the more significant bio forms like turn aid warriors hive tyrants which will cause this amplification effect of the hive mind without these synaptic linchpins many of the lesser turn aid forms would actually revert to unfocused animalistic behaviors but for that reason there is no one commander within a terry node force most often but multiple senior forms that secure the network of the hive mind uniting and focusing the lesser forms this synapse linked bonds tyrannous together like an invisible rubber banding effect the larger warriors and tyrants are capable of some level of decision making although this is still relative to their role within the hive mind and is much more reactionary or preemptively instinctual than actually tactical with that said they can learn and react from their enemy which can again give the impression that they are actually reacting to that but it's a more kind of genetic instinct the whole thing is more a chorus of chaotic input that runs through specialized synapse entities who act as hubs to convey no silly at the distribution and collection of this mass synaptic data these creatures though are undoubtedly powerful psychic organisms and any psychic entity of power usually will attract attention from the dark beings who reside within the warp and this has been established for a long time but why is it then that the tyranids psychos seem not to attract the nightmarish from within the warp when the opposite is true for almost all other races it simply is a mystery to needs use a unique method of construction to create their ships weapons and general mechanical requirements this means that they do not need to be concerned with locating metals or fabrication of plastics instead as with everything they utilize biomass collected from the worlds that they ravage this biomass is then genetically engineered to grow the structures or components they require this means that everything they use or inhabit is in essence a part of the tyranide collective down to the smallest glands or connective tissues right through to gargantuan bioengineered starships the very worst of their creations are of course the combat focused entities to a human they embody everything that is xenos they are literal nightmares made real while they do possess ranged weapons many - innate creatures are fighters and melee focused a great deal of turreted weaponry are these creatures own teeth and claws but simply bioengineered to appalling degrees of effectiveness these claws will slice clean through all but the toughest armor and eviscerate their enemies in seconds they also carry ranged bio cannons firing invasive venomous parasitic projectiles that will burrow into the flesh of their enemy being very much as unpleasant as it sounds they usually also fire a good shower of acidic poison as well that will melt and dissolve through almost anything including the armor of a wearer in seconds suddenly normal projectile weapons don't seem quite so bad often as well - needs do not carry their weapons in the strictest sense more they are usually fused extensions of their own bodies creating an appalling parody of form some will have spines on their bodies that can also expel and impale their targets pinning them in place or just dismembering them where they stand most turn aid weapons conform to this formula of a sharp implements or acidic spray some creatures though like the lictors will fire tendrils with razor hooks pulling the hapless enemy into close range of its powerful claws whereupon it would obviously be torn to pieces Sumter innate creatures like the term against will fire live creatures from their bio weapons the term against flesh borer is one such weapon and as the name implies it fires beetles that unpleasantly bore through Armour and into the flesh and beyond other weapons like the shock cannon fire sinews much like a Taser and then electrocute their targets with by electric pulse energy another interesting weapon in the turret Arsenal are the barbed strangler seed pods these are fired out and then upon impact grow to maturity in seconds with barbed tendrils reaching out in all directions trapping strangling eviscerating anything they come into contact with - and it even have bio Minds known as Spore mines and these are automatically triggered when a non terminate into close proximity these mines are not embedded in the ground but rather float around after being deployed until they come near a target and activate as with most mines mechanical or otherwise the detonation releases in Spore mines a nasty cocktail of acid toxic gas and chitin shrapnel with relative consequences to its target now turn it obviously do not wear Armour in the normal sense as with everything they have bioengineered reinforced carapace Azur body shells larger organisms will also likely have strengthened exoskeletons these armored shells turn their wearer from bio machine to bio tank form these shells are harder than Imperial ceramide and only the heaviest anti-vehicle weaponry is going to be able to begin to scratch the surface smaller turret forms will sport strengthened chitin and this is more akin to a tough hide than a bone like carapace this is the standard for the smaller more disposable organisms in a tyranids swarm and will only really prevent melee attacks and small weapons fire anything more and its defensive abilities are actually to be pretty limited the larger creatures will though have a kite in covering a carapace this can cover sections or all of the creature and is much more effective at protecting the tinted organism that use this form of protection on top of these natural defenses and bio weapons - needs also have plenty of attributes offensive and defensive that they wield as part of their own bodies acid being pretty common among tyranids with acidic jaws spitting venom that consumes and dissolves enemies in seconds chameleons excursive tyrannous to stealthily blend into surroundings to launch ambush attacks on passing enemy enhanced neural senses enable turn it's to detect hidden enemy using tech to cover their appearance or location and powerful leaping appendages allow them to fly into battle crushing enemies in the process many have increased regenerative abilities that enable the fast healing of even catastrophically severe wounds some tyranids simply just possess very spiky and thorny cara places so when they charge into battle any enemy not already physically crushed will be lacerated or impaled by the creatures own surrounding body armor a thorax swarm is another particularly nasty contained weapon some turrets feature in their swollen chest cavities many creatures are amassed a bulging swarm of parasitic creatures and when in proximity of the enemy this thorax sac will just erupt in a huge burst throwing the parasites hurtling towards and drowning the unwitting victims in thousands of these smaller very aggressive tearing it forms these will then proceed to crawl inside armor down enemies throats and chew through eyes and exterior flesh they were then emit either arcs of electricity charring their victims or suck all the moisture out of their body desiccating them in seconds or just climb in and around the bodies of the enemy exploding with needles of chitin literally bleeding them to death in general terminate forms are sharp acidic and hazardous in general to your health but it's not just the small life-forms the living ships themselves also have offensive and hazardous attributes they will generally feature the common acidic weapons that will burn through the hull of enemy ships and ordnance that will actually burrow its way inside of enemy vessels to then launch smaller tyranids from these small or large alternates are formed from the reconstituted biomatter of the unwilling victims splice together and reformed in their own image part of the horror is not simply that they would destroy you and everything you know but that all of this and yourself will become tyranny in a horrific parody but form and evolution the two needs main means of acquiring new bio matter is as previously mentioned to secure a planet and then proceed to forcibly rape the land of all it's life forms and resources in usually a wholly unpleasant process let's see what that entails now firstly that turn its will for want of a better word recon the world they intend to harvest they will instigate initial stages of infection by deploying tyranids species known as lictors also gene stealers and Vanguard drone ships these creatures focus mainly on concealment and stealth but are undoubtedly still horrific and dangerous in their viciousness they'll also unusually focus on staying alive as opposed to in later full-blown assaults which are much more like a tidal wave of turreted form literally clogging the enemy with acidic death these species are also unusual compared to most main assault turret life-forms because of their independence they exhibit more self-awareness and more situational choices than the swarms that will likely follow this is no doubt being decided as the most effective course of action and behavior for these early scouting turn AIDS the vanguard drone ships are simply the transportation for these early Scouts they are small independent ships and only will periodically return back to the main hive fleet vessels lictors are the masters of stealth using feeder tendrils they analyze all the environmental elements and constituent bio matter that is available to them they may also choose to kill and devour life-forms to absorb their memories as is one of the tyranny traits these memories may give them further relevant information or acquire locations to explore gene stealers though would not simply acquire biomatter Intel they'll also begin the infection of the two in its forms in the local ecosystem this corruption will eventually result in the first to need hybrid creatures from the planets native species being formed once these initial recon periods are complete the two minutes will quickly switch their behavior from somewhat passive investigation to full on planetary infestation and excessive aggression a psychic call emitted to the swarm will alter the fleet and subsequently pull the hive ship toward the planet any humanoids on said planet at this time would be advised to panic because infestation will now begin as the high fleet draws near it will as previously stated disrupt much if not all communication from the target planet and its inhabitants and they will now be cut off from the widest systems surrounding it unable to call for help or give warnings to others any evacuations that can be made would probably be advised to do so but even they may not escape with the high fleet monitoring movement in and around their target planet even if ships were sent to counter and defend a planet they may not be able to actually exit into warp space because of the turrets psychic effect the shadow in the warp once arriving at the planet mice edik spores are released into the atmosphere raining down these spores cede the planet with microorganisms which will alter and distort the planet's natural organic life-forms they'll also begin to break down complex organic molecules and alter them to be more suitable for absorption by the swarm this first is one of many unpleasant processes can affect complex and simple life forms meanwhile other spores will actually contain the more complex tyranny life-forms and these will begin to group together preparing to assault when commanded to do so others they will burrow underground planting more spores that will then grow into capillary towers these vast chitin towers raise up out of the ground and reach as high as the upper atmosphere reclamation pools will then appear near to them linked to via underground root systems these towers will then later connect via the tubes from the hive ships to suck up biomatter from the planet capillary towers can grow almost anywhere environmental conditions seem to not have affect them the reclamation pools are the unpleasant pools where all the planets biomatter is gathered and broken down collectively it's essentially a thick soup of dissolving life forms both sentient and non the suck dry but Terra needs will not just reap the organic surface of a planet but also its underground mineral wealth so this initial infestation phase will mean creatures underground begins seeking and mining outer planets mineral wealth to again be dissolved and consumed by the swarm as this is all happening the concealed infiltrators the lictors and gene stealers will now emerge bursting from their hidden positions around the planet to attack anything that they have deemed to be a vital defensive system from their intelligence collection efforts they may target senior leaders officers critical infrastructure all are going to be prime targets and these attacks will also start to cause fear panic confusion from further hindering a planet's attempt to keep control of any kind of public order once the two nerds have begun this initial phase it will not be long before the more severe and far more aggressive assault will begin these initial stages while terrifying and unsettling are just a pale taste of what's to come swarms of torrid forms will thunder across the planet slaughtering anything native that stands in their way all the small forms like the gene stealers and those seeded like gaunt gaga's etc are going to be present but now also will come the bigger forms carnufex is in higher offense the true nightmare creatures the capillary tires will also start to burst from the planet's surface as well reaching up into the skies and vast swathes of turn is scouring the planet the towers will start to begin the process of consuming biomatter because there is no standing on ceremony for victory from the initial assault to the final Exodus the process of absorption and consuming biomatter will begin the capillary towers themselves are far from inert systems they'll actually throw out tendrils and tubules that can absorb life forms and native species for more civilian planets that turn it will usually just allow the gene stealers and gaunt genus to do most of the work term against their will make up this battle force as will the tearin' it warriors keeping the swarms coordinated and focused relying the hive mind among them more heavily defended planets however are going to require more significant firepower and the turn is unfortunately have this at their disposal in the form of higher effects these bio Titans are terrifying enemies towering over the battlefield there are some of the largest forms in the turret arsenal comparable in size to imperil Titans armed with some of the largest bio cannons in the tyranide weaponry a large electric chemical discharge spews corrosive maggots that upon impact of any structure or enemy will in combination with a highly corroding acid will burn burrow and dissolve whatever they come into contact with inevitably reducing it to a pool of dissolving screaming collapsed bio matter it also is supported by heavy armored chitin as well as any number of blades and claws their own hide also exudes spores of poison and its belly scattered with spines tendrils lashing out and impaling any enemy who attempts to get close to it it can as with most tyranids also rapidly evolved even on the battlefield to adapt to whatever it might be faced with these assaulting forces are mainly suppressive in their objective they're not there to collect or break down biomaterial for the hive they are there to crush resistance to the swarm all materials will be later collected with ease one of the most efficient elements are the turret assault is that simply nothing is wasted death means very little to the turrets swarm because any deaths will simply just be reabsorbed into the biomatter pool and then later reconstituted this high level of efficiency and minimal waste explains why the turrets are more than happy to win battles through sheer weight of numbers with apparently little to any downside a worrying prospect to any force attempting to repel an enemy with no real appreciation for the horrors they're inflicting and certainly no moral compass of any kind but then what does have a moral compass in the 41st millennium they are unrelenting nearly unstoppable an irresistible force of violent evolutionary design as with the orcs a planet suffering from this level of infestation is in critical state even if arriving defenders were able to somehow destroy the high fleet main ship the existing tyranids on the planet's surface will cause ongoing devastation for potentially millennia to come to any planetary infections occur at a microbial level so truly eradicating them can be nearly impossible short of full-scale exterminators which would somewhat defeat the point of trying to save a colony or planet in the first place but as the Imperium you're probably certainly keeping that option on the table with much of the planet overrun with tyranids and any defenders likely beginning to buckle if not already collapsing under the weight of nightmarish violence and body ruining acidic bio weaponry the collection process for the planets prior matter will now be well underway and the world now entering a downward spiral that it will struggle to if not already be unable to reverse we're still if a battle is proving especially challenging and continuing the turrets will then start to utilize bio matter on the surface to form new creatures and effectively use the planet against itself Ripper's will begin a swathe of fowl consummation sweeping across the surface and consuming and devouring all matter in their sight once these Ripper's have had their fill they will proceed to the bio pools around capillary towers yet instead of bringing up their consumed mass into the pool or depositing it by some other means of excretion the Ripper's will shockingly throw themselves into the bio pause to simply be dissolved and then consumed back into the biomass of the hive fleet this disturbing act demonstrates how the turrets hold little to any regard for their own individual entities and view their form as a singular collective a whole organism one and the same new Ripper's will be continually produced until the planets matter is exhausted ocean sea life mineral wealth surface fauna it's all one in the same will all be consumed but this stage the planet is now far beyond any rescue or redemption and is essentially doomed at this point in time if the Imperium had the option to do so this would be the point to perform exterminate us on the planet but it's just as likely that they wouldn't actually be able to reach or assist the no doubt highly traumatized scraps of remaining humanoids hidden somewhere underground in deep bunkers if no action is taken they may survive by chance but more likely will be dug down to and extracted by the nightmarish alien force still not all hope is lost in the grand scheme of things a defensive move is possible at this point and would actually be somewhat useful it would be entirely possible that the tyranids at this juncture may be at a point where they have to expend more biomatter than they are yet to have been able to consume meaning they're actually at a net loss in terms of their overall collection of biomatter so to launch an attack at this point will actually be tactically sound from a generally defensive point of view for other worlds in the system and may even mean the to need threat can either be repelled if not potentially defeated the turrets goal is always to gain more biomatter than they began an assault with to profit from each encounter to leave with less matter than they arrived would certainly not demoralize them they have no concept of such a thing but it would potentially slowed down their reproduction of forms and possibly even make further assault more survivable for a planet so even though a singular planet may well be completely lost for the Imperium or whoever is fighting back against the high fleet there is a real purpose to still fight and try to mitigate whatever damage they have inflicted in a larger sense and this is true of the wars and conflicts in the 41st millennium they're often part of a larger picture and so these efforts are not as pointless as they might appear to be they could mean that future to night assaults are successfully repelled before reaching a point of no return meanwhile though turn aid forms would be far from concerned with such grandiose concepts and instead be wholly focused on their task of extracting biomatter an orgy of consummation continuing across the entire planet after the capillary towers are across the surface the oceans and below-ground life-forms and resources are being reaped from the subdued world the tyranids will then begin the process of absorbing the accumulated bio matter to their hive ship tendrils are extended from the hive ship to connect with the capillary towers which are now high in the atmosphere and the biomatter from the pools around the capillary towers will now be pumped up to the ship but now comes a most shocking twist to the story once all the planet's defensive forces are completely destroyed even the surviving T renewed forces will begin to throw themselves suicidally into the digestive bio pause surrounding the capillary towers they are immediately broken down by the highly acidic liquids and devoured by the hive ship all genetic material is consumed their matter memories and innovations as part of this planet's assault once all the bio matter has been pumped to the ship the towers will begin to draw the water itself from the planet then the capillary towers themselves will begin to break down and be reabsorbed by the hive ship lastly and perhaps most shockingly of all even the planet's atmosphere is consumed by the hive ship before the final capillary towers are reabsorbed [Music] some Imperium biologists speculate the hive ships using unseen processes transform the planet's atmosphere into a solid matter state as the turret fleet slowly begin to move away from the planet with their sublight speed limitations left behind is a barren desert-like rock a ravaged and destroyed world that we'll likely never see life on its surface again nor any installations as all resources have been extracted as the hive fleet planned their next target the time spent in between on the journey will be utilized in consolidating the information and new genetic profiles gathered from the last devouring this may lead to the development of new bio forms or the improvement of existing ones making the Terran it either more combat effective or improving their harvesting efficiency because of the turrets psychic force that often prevents ships from exiting the warp in a system under assault by a hive fleet as they leave it may be that this is when Imperial forces first learn a world has been destroyed and with the utmost urgency warnings and emergency action will attempt to be executed at this point but with no way of knowing their destination Imperial forces will need to move swiftly if they would have any hope at all of repelling wherever the tinted threat next decide they wish to devour [Music]

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Keywords: Space Marines, Army, Custom model, Tabletop, Warhammer, Imperium, Astartes, Ultra, Macragge, Battle, Dreadnought, Terminator, Scout, assassin, Dropship, Luetin09, overview, Discussion, Librarian, Psyker, Psychic, Elite, Veteran, Assault, Heavy weapons, Warhammer 40000 (Interest), Imperium of mankind, The Emperor, Tyranids, Great Devourer, Ripper, Carnifex, Hierophant, Titan, Bio-cannon, Hive, Hive Fleet, Behemoth, Leviathan, Tyrannic War, Tyran, Inquisitor, Forms, Gaunt, Termagant, Genestealer, Spore, Infection, Acid

Id: intJPrVtNh4

Length: 33min 57sec (2037 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 04 2018