I think Queens have some psychic bullshit going on in the comics, so it might be able to mess with people's brains a little bit. But nothing on the level of 'nids.
Composite xenomorph/s run/s a gauntlet
- Thread starter IndyFront
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IndyFront
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I feel like the Tyranids and xenomorphs would converge in their goals a bit, making it a bit murky and grey-area as to where nids end and xenomorphs begin. They'd effectively be a united front I think, slightly divergent but united in their similarities and convergence. Think orcs and goblins in LOTR lore.
Yeah I don't think the Nid's and Xenos would get along, especially with the Nids being more on the consume side of the relationship but it's a nice thought if they collaborated. I was mostly thinking of how this Composite Xenomorph would rank up with a better known monster/unit from a familiar setting.
Seeing Xenomorph Army Lists would be a neat thought exercise though.
Hmm no. I don't know if there's any official lore on what the Engineers were thinking when they made the Xenomorpths, but the result was a biological species with the "goals" of, well, living and multiplying.
The Tyrannids are more like a "kill everyone and then ourselves" cult - they are deployed to eat everything edible, then be re-absorbed by the mothership.
IndyFront
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You guys seriously don't think the Nids wouldn't see the xenomorphs as useful cannon fodder? They're remarkably similar, and the nids could almost grant the xenomorphs through their queens a form of quasi-sapience. By that points the xenomorphs are basically the goblins to Nids' orcs.
Oh I see what you mean now. So the Tyranids and Xenomorphs would be one and the same with more Tyranid forms that are more Xenomorphness.
That could be true.
The main issue with the Tyranids as opposed to say... the Zerg from Starcraft is that the Tyranids tend to invade a world and then consume everything, including their own dead and whatnot so there isn't really much permanence... especially in the lower life forms. This is not true for all Tyranid forms since there are Lictors and AFAIK Hive Tyrants that have been around for a while, so that might be true for some co-opted Xenomorph Queen form as well.
The other thing is the rapid evolution concept of the Tyranids where they adapt rapidly to whatever environment or tactical situation they are currently facing. Xenomorph adaption is typically through whatever they use as a host body but not always so of course and they too are capable of intelligence and learning things. Tyranids just do it at a larger scale.
I think both issues can be overcome of course if needbe.
But Xenomorphs could find utility in a Tyranid Army list for sure. Especially in the infiltration part for most of the forms. And a subgenus of Tyranids that has acid blood and black carapaces and are under a more localized control of an egg laying Queen as opposed to Norn Queens spawning clones and often having to deploy them from bio-ship to surface via spores and the like.
IndyFront
Well-known member
Yeah I could see the Tyranids deploying XX121 to a planet or system ahead of a main fleet, perhaps by sacrificing some of their own grunts and cannon fodder to be hosts for the xenomorphs and sending the ship in, as effectively a Tyranid bio-weapon of sorts psychically controlled by the Tyranid Hivemind through a queen. Then, by the time it gets there, its crawling with composite xenomorphs! And what's more, is they don't even have to send any more of their main forces in until the infestation has been defeated or neutralized/contained in some way, and by that point the last thing they'd be expecting is a further even larger second invasion composed of entirely of Hive Fleets. Imagine a Space Marine or Ork Xenomorph! It'd be a beast, something like this:
That's somehow not too impressive for a nid though, roughly comparable to a Warrior which aren't regarded as being particularly nasty for a nid. Especially because your usual marine+ nid has some form of ability be it melt-your-brains psychic powers, the ability to shoot some sort of projectile, and sometimes flight.Imagine a Space Marine or Ork Xenomorph! It'd be a beast, something like this:
Yeah I could see the Tyranids deploying XX121 to a planet or system ahead of a main fleet, perhaps by sacrificing some of their own grunts and cannon fodder to be hosts for the xenomorphs and sending the ship in, as effectively a Tyranid bio-weapon of sorts psychically controlled by the Tyranid Hivemind through a queen. Then, by the time it gets there, its crawling with composite xenomorphs! And what's more, is they don't even have to send any more of their main forces in until the infestation has been defeated or neutralized/contained in some way, and by that point the last thing they'd be expecting is a further even larger second invasion composed of entirely of Hive Fleets. Imagine a Space Marine or Ork Xenomorph! It'd be a beast, something like this:
There definitely could be some interesting variations of Xenomorphs if they're used as hosts by Xenomorph eggs. The most common one for infiltration would probably be Genestealers and Genestealer Hybrids. Multiple limbs... hypnotic gaze... and tongue ovipositors. And the super sharp claws. Later generation Genestealer Hybrids might even have psyker powers.
For other forms, it'd probably be more of a Tyranid form... but maybe more wall crawling ability and acid blood as bonus effects.
And while Space Marines would be gnarly, another good target would be Abhumans like Ogryns for example.