vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Tyranids - The Hive Fleets: The Tyranids are a space-borne species that have inveigled their way into the realms of Mankind, as well as those of other xenos, like a disease spreading through a healthy body.Tyranid hive fleets consist of millions of biomechanical craft, each serving as host to an untold number of symbiotic organisms. These creatures evolve and spawn from a variety of geno-organisms in the ships' reproductive chambers.All these creatures are born to service the ship, and the ship in turn exists only to service the needs of the Hive Fleet. Whereas other armies like those of the Imperium and the T'au fight for conquest or self-defence, and the forces of Chaos and the Ork tribes battle merely for the chance to wreak violence and havoc, the Tyranid hive fleets are driven by the will of the Hive Mind, which itself is motivated by the most ineradicable instinct inherent to all lifeforms -- reproduction, and through reproduction and the acquisition of new genetic traits, evolution to a better adapted form.A fully mobilised Tyranid Hive Fleet strikes shock, awe, and terror into even the most stalwart of humanity's defenders. Even when the xenos threat is eliminated (at great cost), it will not be long before another Tyranid migration emerges to take advantage of the situation.This is what makes the Tyranid species such a threat: it is an evolved meta-predator capable of out-producing, out-consuming, and out-lasting all other species it encounters, having done so on a disquietingly unknowable number of prior occasions across a vast swathe of intergalactic space.
Tyranids - The Hive Mind: The Magos Biologis of the Imperium categorises each Tyranid hive fleet as a separate force, an individual entity that competes with other hive fleets for resources. Indeed, each is self-sufficient, appearing to exhibit different strategies and developing unique creatures to overcome its prey.However, the truth is more complex, for each hive fleet is but a splinter of one greater assemblage. The Tyranids' numbers are vast beyond counting, swarms so large that they block out the very stars, yet each and every creature is but a single cell in the living body of a single super-organism.Every thought and action, every spark of life in the Tyranid species, is bound and interlinked into a single unfathomable consciousness, a great entity that stretches across hundreds of light years of space. This gestalt sentience is known as the "Hive Mind."It holds all Tyranids in a psychic bond that enables them to act together in perfect unison. Under the influence of this ancient consciousness, the Tyranids have fed on countless planets and devoured intelligent civilisations since time immemorial.The majority of Tyranid organisms have no distinct minds as a human would understand it, having been created to perform a single task to the exclusion of all else. Unless the implacable will of the Hive Mind instructs them to do otherwise, these organisms simply fulfill the functions for which they were created, acting on nothing more than instinct.Larger, more complicated, Tyranid bioforms have been grown to make limited decisions appropriate to current stimuli and situations, but even these actions are subordinate to the goals of the Hive Mind.The Hive Mind's influence is strongest in the vicinity of creatures such as Tyranid Warriors and the feared Hive Tyrants. These beings are able to communicate with their kin, not through language, but by a synaptic form of telepathy through which they relay and channel the will of the Hive Mind.Under the command of such creatures, the Tyranids operate in perfect unison, slaved to the psychic imperatives of a single communal intelligence. However, should these "synapse" creatures be slain, the link between individual creatures and the Hive Mind will be severed -- many of the lesser organisms will revert to their baser, animalistic behaviours.For this reason, the Tyranid swarms do not have only a single commander, but many, to ensure the Hive Mind's synaptic control is maintained across the entire Tyranid species.
Tyranids - The Shadow in the Warp: The coming of a Tyranid hive fleet is preceded by a smothering psychic signal that envelops entire star systems and disrupts all forms of Warp travel and communication.Swallowed up by psychic-static, whole worlds suddenly go deathly silent, giving no clues as to what is unfolding on the surface below, or of what terrors are about to befall. This is the Shadow in the Warp, and it heralds imminent invasion and horror.It is unknown if the Shadow in the Warp is created deliberately by the hive fleets, or if it is simply a by-product of the Hive Mind's innate synaptic control. In any case, the Shadow in the Warp creates fear and panic wherever it falls, instilling a pervasive dread into the minds of a prey world's defenders, plunging entire planets into misery and despair.For highly psychic species, such as the Aeldari, or for luckless psykers caught within this enervating effect, the malaise is magnified tenfold.Should a psyker attempt to use their otherworldly abilities, the cerebral cacophony worsens even further; the psychic sound of a billion alien thoughts scratch at their mind, and unless they are particularly strong-willed they will be pitched into an insanity where they will repeatedly utter phrases in a tongue too alien to properly pronounce.For species such as the humans of the Imperium of Man, whose means of interstellar communication and travel rely upon highly specialised psykers such as Astropaths and Navigators, the Shadow in the Warp is one of the deadliest facets of the Tyranid menace.Bereft of their means to call for reinforcements or safely navigate surrounding space, the worlds of the Imperium are easily isolated from the wider galaxy.This means that, by the time the Shadow in the Warp falls, it is already too late; these beleaguered planets are effectively on their own. They must fend for themselves and face the Tyranid swarm with the weapons they have to hand, or die in the attempt.
Tyranids - The Super-Organism: All Tyranids possess a common psychic bond, known as the "synapse." This bond enables the Tyranid swarms to think, perceive, and act as a single great super-organism, providing nearly seamless co-ordination and control within a Tyranid invasion force so numerous and extensive as to be completely uncontrollable otherwise.From the smallest feeder organisms, to the microbes that decompose new biomass; from the sessile and rooted flora-like forms, to the huge tendril-like shoals of the hive fleets, every Tyranid organism has a place within the will of the Hive Mind.The lesser and smaller Tyranid creatures are mindless and instinctive animals, plants and bacteria, performing functions with no conscious oversight or commitment, while larger and more complex creatures can make decisions appropriate to the situation and form an integral if minuscule part of the Hive Mind's distributed sentient awareness.
Tyranids - Synaptic Web: Functioning in perfect unison, coordinated by powerful psychic imperatives transmitted through the Tyranid communal sentience that is the Hive Mind, Tyranid hive fleets, planetary swarms, and broods do not have a singular command structure, but rather form a synaptic web of psychic influence and feedback.Situated within this tangled web are specialised "synapse creatures" whose slightly more advanced brains contain cortex alterations that function as psychic routers, buses, and hubs, co-ordinating and policing the riotous cacophony of the collective brain power of a mass organism that is sometimes larger than most planets.Without the localised control provided by these organisms, the swarm can quickly falter, and some Tyranid creatures may revert to animalistic behaviors, when individual will and situational instincts come into conflict. Often swarms will subdivide into smaller packs of creatures still capable of consensual behavior among themselves.The synapse creatures that channel the commands of the Hive Mind are mostly, if not all, potent individual psykers. How any of this is done without drawing the attention of countless Daemons of Chaos or the other psychic predatory entities of the Warp into the midst of the Tyranid swarm is unknown and possibly unknowable to the humans of the Imperium.
Tyranids - The Narvhal: Tyranid Hive Fleets do not travel through the Warp like Imperial starships. Yet, the hive fleets' incredibly fast rate of advance into the galaxy belies the argument made by some that they do not possess a mode of faster-than-light travel.Whilst it is true that the Tyranids are forced to remain at sublight speeds while within the gravitic boundaries of a planetary system, they are capable of superluminal velocities when travelling through interstellar space. This capability is the result of a small Tyranid bio-ship classified by the savants of the Imperium of Man as a "Narvhal."Unlike most Tyranid bio-ships, the Narvhal is almost completely defenceless, and possesses almost no bio-weaponry and only a very thin protective carapace. A cluster of monofilament spines on the Narvhal's bow allow it to take in a wide variety of sensory input, including a broad spectrum of gravimetric and electromagnetic signals.Using these sensors, the Narvhal can detect new planetary systems at extreme interstellar distances. In some unknown manner it then makes use of the origin star system's own gravity and creates a compressed space-time transit corridor through which the Narvhal and other Tyranid bio-ships can traverse interstellar distances. This form of space-warping travel cannot be used near strong gravitational sources as they overwhelm the Narvhal's hypersensitive navigational sensors.As a result, a Tyranid Hive Fleet must use more conventional forms of biologically-induced reaction-based propulsion during the final approach to a new star system, which can slow their arrival by Terran years or even entire solar decades. Whilst this form of propulsion is ultimately slower than a reliance upon the Warp-Drive, it is a great deal more reliable and allows the Tyranids to move slowly, if implacably, across the galaxy.However, the Narvhal's manipulation of a star system's gravity does sometimes produce unintended side effects. A destination world can suffer from earthquakes, solar flares, tidal waves and other natural disasters produced during the interval during which the Hive Fleet is in transition through the space-time transit corridor.This chaos only further benefits the Tyranids' invasion, however, as the defenders of the target world will have their resources bound up in dealing with these problems when the swarm finally arrives in orbit and the first Mycetic Spores begin to fall.
Tyranids - Biomechancial War Machines: The Tyranids do not build their starships and weapons from metal and plastic like the other intelligent races of the Milky Way Galaxy; instead, they use gene-splicing and bioengineering to grow them from the organic biomatter harvested from the planets they consume.Every weapon, gland and projectile used in their armies is a bioengineered Tyranid organism in its own right, from the spores polluting the atmosphere, to the grotesque spires that burst from the tortured ground during an invasion.Tyranid warrior-organisms are creatures of visceral horror, implacable monsters with razor-sharp claws, which can tear a man apart in the blink of an eye, and grotesque bio-cannons that fire hungry, parasitic projectiles into their prey's flesh.Every weapon and projectile used by the hive fleets is a living organism or "biomorph," grown from the reconstituted biomatter of previous invasions. The Tyranids have no form of mechanical technology and, instead, harness an advanced form of biotechnology to create organic equivalents of the tools, weaponry and ammunition used by other intelligent species.These creatures live in a highly symbiotic fashion, fusing into each other's flesh so that it is often impossible to say where one Tyranid creature ends, and another begins. In this way, Tyranid warrior-beasts wield living weapons that are literally extensions of their own bodies, each one a killing machine, perfectly adapted to slaughter its victims.The bio-construct nature of the Tyranids makes them a terrible foe to face, for their armies contain a creature specialised for every conceivable facet of warfare, which can be altered and re-grown to suit a battle's needs in a short span of time.Thus can a hive fleet adapt to generate a force capable of overwhelming any opposition, unleashing a vast throng of ferocious alien monsters that can fly, run, burrow and stalk through the defences of any foe.
Tyranids - Tyranid Invasion Process: The Tyranid threat is unprecedented in its ability to transform a planet thriving with nature's bounty into a barren orb of lifeless rock devoid of a once-verdant biosphere. When a Tyranid hive fleet descends upon a prey world to strip it of life, it does so in a series of distinct stages.Each wave of the invasion unleashes a fresh menagerie of biological nightmares, perfectly designed to sow despoilment and death. In mere solar days, a once-thriving planet is scoured of every drop of organic matter.Hunger briefly satiated, the hive fleet drifts away in search of its next meal, leaving nothing but an airless tomb behind.
Tyranids - Subjugation: Even as the more militant warrior bioforms continue to battle the planet's defenders to eliminate all resistance, others begin sweeping up behind them, collecting all available biomass. Some of the substrates collected are used to generate additional Tyranid bioforms to complete the conquest.In this manner, the prey planet's natural resources are turned against it, providing additional tools for the swarm. The majority, however, is set aside to feed the Hive Ships orbiting the planet. Those massive creatures generally delay their feeding until after the planet has been secured.Near the battlefront, untold thousands of maggot-like Rippers are deployed from the sky in Mycetic Spores to form massive, tightly packed swarms. With fang-filled jaws, they devour every organic substance they can find -- living or dead.Once these abominations have eaten all they can, they slowly drag their bloated bodies towards digestive Reclamation Pools formed by the Capillary Towers. Rather than spewing the devoured biomass into the pools, the Rippers hurl themselves in, to be digested along with all that they devoured.New Rippers are continuously created to propagate the cycle of gluttony. As the target planet's surface biomatter is depleted, similar Tyranid bioforms to the Rippers deplete all of the life in the oceans and within the planet's crust. Eel-like Rippers swarm through the oceans in massive swarms devouring all of the native sealife. Burrowing variants expand the tunnels dug by Trygons and Raveners, consuming subterranean fungus, root systems, microorganisms and any burrowing fauna. Mineral reserves are also depleted, particularly rare ores that may be incorporated into the exoskeletons of the various weapon biomorphs.Massive Capillary Towers develop in even the deepest parts of the planet's oceans. These towers, which may stretch several kilometres up through the sea, are capable of withstanding the crushing pressures of the depths and thriving in even the coldest of waters.As they grow, they may even modify the planet's tidal flow as their powerful metabolic filtration systems draw in all maritime biomass. The only effective recourse to prevent total consumption of the world's biomass at this stage of a Tyranid assault is Exterminatus. Planets which have been subdued by the Tyranids are no longer salvageable, but their biomass can still be denied to the hive fleet, to prevent it from growing larger and stronger.The only hope for the Imperium or another faction is to destroy the feeding system before the biomass can be used to feed the fleet for further attacks. The one positive aspect is that at this stage of a planetary assault, the Tyranid hive fleet may have expended its resources in preparation for the gluttony the Hive Mind expects as the planet's entire biosphere is absorbed. As a result, attacking the voidfaring bioforms and annihilating the bioforms on the planet may be easier than it would have been at an earlier stage of the invasion.
Tyranids - Absorption: As the last of the target star system's defenders fall, the Capillary Towers begin to feed the world's absorbed biomass back to the orbiting Hive Ship and its escorts. The massive living vessels extend tendrils through the upper atmosphere which make contact with the Capillary Towers, as they grow to pierce the edges of the atmosphere.Biomass is drawn up the towers, through a combination of massive pumping organs and suction. Once the last of the defenders have fallen, the surviving bioforms of the Tyranid swarms hurl themselves into the digestive enzymes of the Reclamation Pools near the Capillary Towers. Their bodies are broken down and devoured so that their biomass may be returned to the fleet to be recycled by the Hive Mind into new Tyranid organisms for future conquests.Along with their biomass, the memories, genetic innovations, and the gene patterns of all of the planet's native life forms are also absorbed. After the last vestiges of the world's biosphere have been absorbed, the Capillary Towers begin to absorb the planet's water systems. All of these liquids are transferred into the hive fleet's voidfaring organisms, some of which may grow dramatically in size as their storage vesicles expand to accommodate the newfound resources.As this happens, many of the Capillary Towers are also broken down so that their biomass may be reabsorbed. Finally, the planet's atmosphere, and then the last few massive Capillary Towers, are absorbed into the Hive Ships.Some Magi Biologis of the Adeptus Mechanicus theorise that atmospheric absorption may require even more massive voidfaring Tyranids than those previously identified. Others postulate that the bioships use previously unseen techniques to compress a target world's atmosphere into a liquid or solid state. Though the precise mechanism is unknown to the Imperium, the outcome is certain: nothing is left behind on a prey world but a barren, airless rock of little value.As it travels between systems, the Hive Mind analyses the new genetic patterns it has identified in the victim world's former biosphere. Some of these may be used to develop new bioforms. Of course, these new strains may not appear immediately. The Hive Mind may save them for deployment at a time when a new strategy is required. Clearly, adaptation is a key factor in the Tyranids' long-term success and survival.By this point in a Tyranid assault on a world, the battle is well and truly lost. Any defenders who arrive are far too late to save the target planet. Their only possible hope is to spread word to neighbouring star systems, in the hopes that they might prepare more effectively before the Tyranid threat makes itself known on yet another world. Yet, attacking the voidfaring bioforms of a hive fleet immediately after they have fed on a world is to attack them at the very height of their power and resources.
Tyranids - Hive Mind Psychic Powers: Dominion - The Tyranid bioform uses its prodigious psychic strength to channel and amplify the will of the Hive Mind.Catalyst - Through its synaptic conduits, the power of the Hive Mind reaches out to infuse the organisms under its control, invigorating their metabolic systems with such unnatural vitality that they can ignore the most grievous of wounds.The Horror - The terrifying psychic presence of the Hive Mind radiates from a synapse creature, flooding the minds of the Tyranids' enemies and causing them to quail and panic.Onslaught - A synapse creature reaches out its mind and seizes control of the lesser creatures' biomorph weapon symbiotes, guiding their fire whilst simultaneously driving the swarms towards the enemy at a breakneck pace.Paroxysm - The Hive Mind debilitates its enemies by triggering every nerve and pain receptor in their bodies, overwhelming their senses with wracking fits of agony.Psychic Scream - Through its vassal organism, the Hive Mind unleashes a piercing shriek of undiluted psychic energy that shreds the minds of those caught in the wake.Synapse - Synapse is the Tyranid psychic ability which unites all of the Tyranids within the gestalt self-awareness that is the Hive Mind. It is projected across the local Tyranid swarm by synapse creatures which usually also serve as leader organisms, such as Hive Tyrants, Tyranid Warriors and Broodlords or specialist psyker organisms such as Zoanthropes. These creatures have greatly increased synapse networks within their own cortexes created at the direction of the Hive Mind and these organisms act as psychic conduits and network nodes for the Hive Mind to control and order any troops within the psychic range of the synapse creature. Without the synapse creature present to guide them and include them within the Hive Mind's psychic gestalt network, most Tyranid bioforms will revert to a feral, instinctive state, although some, such as Genestealers, who can generate the similar gestalt among their cultists known as the "Broodmind," can perform just as well without synapse creatures to connect them to the Hive Mind as they do when in their presence.Warp Blast - The Tyranid organism taps into the raw power of the Hive Mind, unleashing it as a blast of pure Warp energy that arcs from its cranium and vaporises its prey.
Tyranids - Bio-Artefacts: The Bio-artefacts of the Tyranids are symbiotic organisms and biomorphs of incredible rarity. Only one of each of the following biomorphs is usually found in each Tyranid force, as there is only thought to be one of each of these items in existence, or so the indigenous intelligent species of the galaxy hope...Maw-Claws of Thyrax - During the destruction of Thyrax, the dread beast that spearheaded the assault bore a symbiotic pair of fang-lined pincers. These terrible claws tore apart and consumed the bodies of those brave enough to stand against the monstrosity, absorbing their memories and assimilating greater knowledge of its prey.Miasma Cannon - The Tyranids utilise all manner of biomechanical weapons, but none that have earned more dread than the Miasma Cannon. Unlike other Venom Cannons, this weapon fires gobbets of toxin-laden slime so virulent that it reduces squads of soldiers into shapeless puddles of organic goo in seconds. Whether vomiting noxious fluids in great torrents or liquefying targets in gouts of acid, the Miasma Cannon has been responsible for deaths beyond counting.Norn Crown - First named by Inquisitor Kryptman, the Norn Crown is a unique parasitic organism that clings to the armoured crest of the host organism's head with dozens of tendrils. Burrowing needle-like cerebral bores directly into the brain of its host, the Norn Crown forms a neuro-synaptic link that acts as a hyper-conduit for the Hive Mind. Through this abhorrent union, the Hive Mind's indomitable will can pour forth to augment and control the hordes of lesser Tyranids that scuttle in the leader-beast's wake.Reaper of Obliterax - The Reaper of Obliterax was first encountered amongst the re-emergent Tyranid swarms of Hive Fleet Jormungandr. A deadly biomechanical weapon resembling a Bonesword, this sentient blade is commonly wielded alongside a Lash Whip. The Reaper discharges highly concentrated bursts of destructive energy, and even the lightest blow can result in the blade's target being rent asunder.Ymgarl Factor - The Ymgarl Genestealers have long been a cancerous blight on the worlds of the Imperium. Their insatiable voracity is legend amongst those that have had the misfortune to encounter them and live. Now, dark rumours have surfaced of another Tyranid leader-beast that appears to share the unfathomable adaptability of the Ymgarl Genestealers.
Tyranids - Forces of the Tyranids: Tyranid ForcesCommandNorn-Queen • Hive Tyrant • Neurotyrant (Neuroloid) • Broodlord • Neurothrope • Dagon Overlord • Malanthrope • Maleceptor • Swarmlord • Tervigon • Tyranid Warrior Prime • Trygon PrimeElitesHaruspex • Hive Guard • Lictor (Neurolictor) • Leaper • Biovore • Pyrovore • Venomthrope • Ymgarl Genestealers • Zoanthrope • Hive Guard • Tyrant GuardTroopsGaunt (Termagant • Hormagaunt • Barbgaunt• Neurogaunt) • Rippers (Sky-slasher) • Genestealer • Tyranid Warrior (Tyranid Shrike)Fast Attack & Flying BioformsGargoyle • Harpy • Ravener • Hive Crone • Harridan • TyrannocyteHeavy SupportBiovore • Carnifex (Thornback • Stone Crusher • Screamer-Killer)  • Dimachaeron •  Exocrine • Mawloc • Haruspex • Pyrovore • Trygon • Tyrannofex • Sporocyst • Maleceptor • Psychophage • ToxicreneSporesMeiotic Spore • Mycetic Spore • Mucolid Spore • Spore MineOthersBio-Titan (Hierophant • Nautiloid • Vermis • Viciator • Dactylis • Dominatrix) • Cerebore • Hierodule • Malefactor • Norn Emissary • Norn Assimilator • Capillary Tower • Reclamation Pool • Spore ChimneyUnique TyranidsDeathleaper • Old One Eye • Parasite of Mortrex • Doom of Malan'Tai • Red Terror • Mist Reaper • What Lies Beneath • Death's Shadow
Tyranids - Game History: The Tyranids were initially described in the 1st Edition of Warhammer 40,000 (Rogue Trader) in 1987, with their basic form not too different from that used today. Their only additional troop type was an enslaved alien race, the Zoat. At that time they were not an important faction in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.In later editions the Tyranids became a playable faction in their own right, and it was revealed that the Genestealers (first popularised in the board game Space Hulk) were in fact part of the advance reconnaissance element of the main Tyranid hive fleets.
Tyranids - Trivia: The Tyranids bear a great many similarities to the xenomorphs designed by H.R. Giger for the Aliens film series, such as their hive mentality, innate hostility and the appearance of a large number of the different bioforms.The Zerg from the Blizzard Entertainment video games StarCraft and StarCraft II are very similar to the Tyranids in conception and function, though StarCraft concept artist Maxx Marshal said he had no knowledge of the Warhammer 40,000 franchise when designing the Zerg and based their designs off of his interest in comic books. Similarly, Bob Fitch, the lead programmer and technical director of StarCraft, has stated that he had not heard of Warhammer 40,000 until after StarCraft was shipped in 1998, after which a rumour began to circulate that StarCraft was based on the Games Workshop intellectual property.
Tyrannic War Veteran - Tyrannic War Veteran: A Tyrannic War Veteran is a Veteran Marine who is a member of the Ultramarines Chapter's specialised strike force dedicated to the eradication of the Tyranid menace from the galaxy.The Tyrannic War Veterans were forged from the remnants of an atrocity committed by Hive Fleet Behemoth against the Ultramarines on their homeworld of Macragge in a series of campaigns collectively known to history as the Battle of Macragge.During the Battle of Macragge, a good portion of the Chapter was heroically sacrificed to stop the menace of the Great Devourer during its first known incursion into the Milky Way Galaxy. Numbering only in their dozens, these Veterans are experts in the art of Tyranid warfare, and have saved many worlds from being completely devoured by the hive fleets.Whenever Tyranid bio-horrors begin to ravage a planet, these Ultramarines can be relied upon to strike a blow back against the swarm. Often in the face of impossible odds, they launch disciplined strikes against monstrous horrors and shred incessant bio-forms with a blaze of bolter fire. The presence of the Tyrannic War Veterans is enough to rouse other Imperial forces to achieve great deeds in their darkest hour.Though each squad of Tyrannic War Veterans is led by a sergeant, the entire strike force is commonly directed by Chaplain Ortan Cassius, the Ultramarines' Master of Sanctity, a noted Deathwatch Veteran, and the oldest living member of the Chapter. Scarred by countless conflicts, Cassius leads his Veterans from the front.Cassius was chosen to lead the Veterans not only because the idea of the strike force was his in the first place, but also because he is still afire with righteous fury at the violence the Tyranids committed against his Chapter during the First Tyrannic War.To attempt to rid the galaxy of that xenos scourge is a sacred duty for any Ultramarine. To see the Tyranids continue to rampage throughout the galaxy is a reminder of the Ultramarines' ultimate failure to have truly defeated them during the First Tyrannic War.But for Chaplain Cassius and his strike force, taking the fight to the Tyranids, whenever and wherever they appear, has become a way of life.
Tyrannic War Veteran - Cleansing of Espandor: During the subsequent Cleansing of Espandor, the Tyrannic War Veterans were organised into three detachments by Chaplain Cassius and together he and Captain Agemman led them to the site of the most recent Tyranid attack. Having specially modified their auspexes to detect Tyranid pheromone trails, the Ultramarines were able to track the aliens into the dark depths of the world's primeval forest.The trail continued for many kilometres, eventually ending at a great, bio-organic structure enmeshed within the trees that resembled a great insect hive.Hissing Tyranid creatures poured from the hive and attacked the Ultramarines, but with Flamers and disciplined Heavy Bolter fire, the aliens were forced back and the warriors of the Ultramarines pursued them within the blasphemous structure.Inside was a warren of caves formed from Tyranid biomass, each tunnel a potential hiding place for a Tyranid bioform. With great discipline, the Ultramarines fought downwards through the hive, cleansing and burning everything before them.At the heart of the hive they discovered a wounded creature that obviously still served as some kind of synpase creature that controlled the lesser beasts. Only its crippling injuries prevented the Tyranids from spreading further across the surface of the planet, but the alien monsters that protected it were no less fierce than any other.The Tyrannic War Veterans fought their way through the creatures and Captain Agemman himself slew the beast. The expertise learned in previous engagements with the Tyranids proved invaluable, as each Astartes knew precisely where to strike their foes to cause maximum damage and understood how the aliens fought.Such was their skill and training that not a single Ultramarines warrior was lost in the battle. With the aliens expunged, the hive and the surrounding area was destroyed by a sustained orbital barrage to ensure that no taint from the aliens survived.
Tyrannic War Veteran - Formation of the Tyrannic War Veterans: Upon returning to Macragge, the value of the Tyrannic War Veterans could now not be doubted and with the Chapter Master's sanction given, for the first time in the Chapter's history, the dictates of the Codex Astartes were re-written, and the elite cadre of Tyrannic War Veterans was incorporated into the military organisation and order of battle of the Ultramarines Chapter.Chaplain Cassius gathered his corps of Tyrannic War Veterans. Under Cassius' leadership, those Battle-Brothers who had fought the hardest against the Tyranid swarms that had assaulted Macragge were elevated and afforded additional duties, until each was eventually judged worthy of joining the ranks of the slowly reconstituted 1st Company.These so-called "Tyrannic War Veterans" make up the first and most powerful squads of the Chapter's reformed 1st Company, and are second to no other warriors of the Imperium because of their experience, training and upgraded Power Armour.Though a minor deviation from the Codex Astartes, Marneus Calgar tolerates his mentor's divergence from its sacred tenets, sensing that someday there shall be a final reckoning between the Ultramarines and the Tyranids, and that Cassius' Tyrannic War Veterans may be the key to final victory.Soon, the expertise gained from fighting the Tyranids was included within the training of all Space Marines of the Ultramarines Chapter. Those who excelled in this field of warfare are now often seconded to units likely to see action against the Tyranids, in order to further hone their skills.
Tyrannic War Veteran - Era Indomitus: Cassius' veterans could be forgiven for wondering what fate would meet their order when Roboute Guilliman was resurrected and altered his Codex Astartes. Would he end their organisation? Would he tolerate it? None dared believe he might embrace it -- but that he did.After learning of the Tyranid threat, Guilliman immediately saw the value of the Tyrannic War Veterans, praising his sons for their adaptability in the face of such a dangerous foe.With the Primarch's blessing, the Tyrannic War Veterans took to their task with renewed vigour, with ever more Successor Chapters embracing their own Tyranid hunters as a result.
Tyrannic War Veteran - Role: The Tyrannic War Veterans serve in every part of the Chapter, often as squad leaders where they can pass on their knowledge to their Battle-Brothers. Under their command, the expertise they gained at such cost during the Battle of Macragge has been passed on and disseminated throughout the ranks.Fire support Astartes are taught where to aim their weapons to bring down the mighty warrior beasts of the Tyranids, or how best to use rapid-firing heavy weaponry to hold a seemingly endless swarm at bay.Battleline warriors are taught the optimum combination of firepower and manoeuvrability, and which creatures to attack to the disrupt the whole.Close support Space Marines are taught how to engage this most fearsome of close-quarters enemies in the deadly storm of close combat, countering every attack the enemy tries to make and in turn dealing it the killing blow.While the Tyrannic War Veterans tutor others in their knowledge, they seek also to learn more about the Tyranids. It was the Codex Astartes that provided the inspiration for this quest, as Roboute Guilliman had committed his own wisdom and experience to its pages so that others might learn from his example.Each squad is composed of a Space Marine Sergeant and four to nine Space Marines, armed with a Bolt Pistol, a special-issue Bolter, Frag and Krak Grenades, wearing their distinct Power Armour displaying Purity Seals and, should they earn it, Terminator Honours.One squad member may take a Heavy Bolter, while another may take a Flamer, in place of their special-issue Bolter. They may also use a Rhino or Razorback from the Chapter's Armoury for transportation.Tyrannic War Veterans are specially trained in how to kill Tyranids, both with close-combat and long-range weaponry, by targeting known weak points in the different bioforms' anatomy for maximum penetration and damage.Tyrannic War Veterans have honed their reflexes to incredible heights to better combat Tyranid warriors in hand-to-hand combat, particularly through the use of Krak Grenades normally reserved only for armoured vehicles.They also use special Hellfire Rounds in their Heavy Bolters, and are trained to work with other Space Marine squads to bring down both large and small Tyranid creatures.
Tyrannic War Veteran - Combat Doctrine: The Tyrannic War Veterans fight with a mix of close combat weapons and long-range firepower that best exemplifies how to defeat the Tyranids. They carry special ammunition for Heavy Bolters, known as Hellfire Rounds, which were developed by the Magos Biologis of the Adeptus Mechanicus working in tandem with the Ordo Xenos.These shells are designed to shatter upon impact, shredding their targets with thousands of needles coated with a powerful mutagenic acid that is lethal even to Tyranids. Flamers are an important part of their arsenal, as such indiscriminate weapons are deadlier to the smaller, but no less dangerous, Tyranid organisms.But firepower alone will never be enough to halt a Tyranid assault, and each warrior is highly trained to recognise and strike weak points in a Tyranid's body. Every warrior has had his reflexes honed to incredible heights, that he might better fight the Tyranids in close combat.In addition, Tyrannic War Veterans are trained to utilise Krak Grenades in close combat, something normally only possible when attacking armoured vehicles. They have proved that larger Tyranid creatures, those that would normally be too large to defeat with conventional close combat weaponry, can be brought down by the careful placement of a grenade somewhere vital.Tyrannic War Veterans are trained to work with other squads of Space Marines to utilise their skills most effectively, driving larger broods of Tyranids towards the guns of Devastator Squads or guiding smaller ones onto the blades of Assault Squads.Having now fought successfully in several major engagements, it would seem the Tyrannic War Veterans are now an established and accepted part of the Ultramarines Chapter.
Tyrannic War Veteran - Deathwatch Service: In the centuries since the First Tyrannic War, those who survived have passed on the grim lessons they have learnt to those Astartes who have not faced the Great Devourer. Since the earliest days of their impromptu brotherhood, it has been a tradition of the Tyrannic War Veterans to teach as much as to fight, spreading hard-won insight amongst Astartes of every Chapter, and to swear the Apocryphon Oath is one more route for this knowledge to be passed on.Thus it was that the first of the Tyrannic War Veterans presented himself at Watch Fortress Erioch in the Jericho Reach. His duty is to disseminate what he knows of the Tyranids and their methods, tutoring others, even the elite of the Deathwatch, in how best to counter the Hive Fleets' advance.By joining the Deathwatch, the Tyrannic War Veterans increase their chances of encountering the Tyranids on the field of battle, and in so doing learn more of their enemy's ways. Finally, what he learns of the Tyranids whilst undertaking his Vigil can be taken back with him to his Chapter, disseminating his hard-won knowledge still further.Several Tyrannic War Veterans are currently serving the Long Watch in the ranks of the Deathwatch of the Jericho Reach. One, Brother Scelus, is considered likely to be granted the rank of Watch Captain, though whether or not he will accept this honour given his need to return to his Chapter and pass on his knowledge remains to be seen.It was Brother Scelus who mastered the technique of using a cluster of sync-fused Krak Grenades to slay the very largest of Tyranid monstrosities, and he has passed this unique tactic on to several Battle-Brothers he has served alongside.Other Tyrannic War Veterans have mastered the use of various xenos-keyed poisons, coating their combat blades with deadly venom or delivering them by way of special ammunition.All of the Tyrannic War Veterans are masters of fighting the Tyranids, and to serve in the same Kill-team as such a warrior is to fight alongside both a trusted Battle-Brother and a masterful tutor in the arts of death.
Tyrannic War Veteran - Sources: Battlefleet Gothic 10 (US), "The Defence of Macragge", pp. 6-10Battlefleet Gothic 15 (US), "The Ultramarines", pp. 16-23Codex Supplement: Ultramarines (8th Edition), pp. 47, 69Codex: Tyranids (5th Edition), pp. 12-15, 57Codex: Tyranids (4th Edition), pp. 8-9Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition), pp. 32-33, 40, 87Dataslate: Tyrannic War Veterans (6th Edition) (Digital Edition), pp. 1-14Deathwatch: First Founding, pp. 69-70Warhammer 40,000: Apocalypse, pp. 25-32Warhammer 40,000 Chapter Approved - The Book of the AstronomicanWarhammer 40,000: Planetstrike (5th Edition), pg. 54White Dwarf 306 (US), "Return to Macragge", pg. 92White Dwarf 305 (US), "Purge the Alien - Ultramarines Tyrannic War Veterans" by Graham McNeill, pp. 84-89White Dwarf 300 (US), "The Battle Rages On", pg. 168White Dwarf 299 (US), "The Battle Rages On", pg. 86White Dwarf 298 (US), "The Battle Rages On", pg. 80White Dwarf 297 (US), "The Battle Rages On", pg. 82White Dwarf 256 (UK), "Codicium Imperialis: Defenders of Ultramar - Volume IX, Part I of the Liber Victorum: Battle of Macragge"The Chapter's Due (Novel) by Graham McNeillGames Workshop Online Catalogue - Space Marine Ultramarines Tyrannic War Veterans
Tyrannofex - Tyrannofex: The Tyrannofex is a massive, fortress-like Tyranid fire support bioform that exists purely to spread destruction to the hive fleet's foes. Created for service on the most grueling battlefields, the Tyrannofex is clad in a dozen layers of ablative chitinous armour and supported by three pairs of massive legs. It is as unyielding in battle as any war engine constructed of steel or crafted from more conventional technology.The Tyrannofex has the armour and fortitude of a living battle fortress and its bio-weaponry eclipses that of its foes' most powerful main battle tanks in both quantity and destructive potential. Worse, its body houses several breeding chambers, nurturing all manner of ferocious Tyranid organisms that it can unleash onto any enemy foolish enough to come too close.Its main weapon is a massive bio-cannon fused with its torso, among the largest and most destructive to be carried by any Tyranid bioform smaller than a Bio-Titan. The precise nature of this weapon differs from Tyrannofex to Tyrannofex. Each represents a particular pinnacle of Tyranid bio-weaponry and is as efficient as it is unearthly in its design. The Magi Biologis of the Adeptus Mechanicus speculate that the Tyrannofex, like the Hierophant, was derived from the combined genetic strains of the Tyranid Carnifex and the Dominatrix.Given its massive size, the Tyrannofex is ungainly and prone to being overwhelmed when engaged in a long melee battle. However, the Tyranid Hive Mind has adapted this bioform to compensate for this weakness. When the Tyrannofex finds itself in difficulty, it can emit a stress pheromone that attracts other Tyranid bioforms more suited to close combat. Once the primary threat is eradicated, the Tyrannofex can then return to its primary goal of blasting the enemy with its fearsome bio-weaponry.
Tyrannofex - Tyrannofex Bio-Weapons: A Tyrannofex has a massive  biomechanical cannon fused with its torso, the largest and most destructive Tyranid weapon carried by anything smaller than a Bio-Titan. The nature of the main cannon varies between different Tyrannofexes. There are three notable variations:Acid Spray - This version of the Tyrannofex's bio-cannon stores huge reservoirs of caustic digestive fluids used to break down organic matter at a rapid rate. This acid corrosion is sprayed over the Tyrannofex's victims, melting through their body armour with horrifying ease and reducing its victim to a puddle of liquefied flesh.Fleshborer Hive - The Fleshborer Hive variant of the bio-cannon is a seething colony of the very same Tyranid borer beetles found in a Termagant's fleshborer. The fanged creatures stored in the bloated sacs of the hive lay thousands of eggs that hatch and mature at an astonishing rate within the cavernous chambers of the brood nest. Indeed, the Fleshborer Hive must eject the beetles at regular intervals to prevent the Tyrannofex from bursting apart as a result of the actions of the smaller creatures birthed within it.Rupture Cannon - When fired from this version of the Tyrannofex's bio-cannon, two different cannonball-sized organic projectiles are launched in quick succession. The first is actually a bloated tick-like organism that bursts upon impact, showering the target in an oil-like substance. The second is a seedpod covered in a virtually indestructible biopolymer shell. As the seed smashes the target, it is coated in the viscous remains of the tick. When combined, these inert fluids rapidly dissolve the toughened shell of the seedpod which produces a massive biochemical implosion powerful enough to wrench even armoured vehicles inside out, essentially serving as a form of biomechanical artillery.
Tyrant's Gate - Tyrant's Gate: Tyrant's Gate is a world dedicated to many forms of corruption and heresy located in the Imperium Nihilus in either the Segmentum Obscurus or the Segmentum Ultima.In the Era Indomitus Tyrant's Gate serves as a major naval base for the piratical Chaos Space Marines called the Red Corsairs and other Chaos forces under the command of the Chaos Lord Huron Blackheart, the former Tyrant of Badab.
Tyrant's Gate - History: The naval power of the Red Corsairs Heretic Astartes under the command of their Chaos Lord Huron Blackheart has grown to the point that he is capable of threatening entire Imperial sub-sectors and defeating even large Navis Imperialis flotillas in open void warfare.With the opening of the Great Rift in the Era Indomitus, the Warp rift of the Maelstrom where the Red Corsairs long made their lair has become but a part of a far larger empyric anomaly and Blackheart and his raiders have become expert at negotiating the greatly expanded fringe regions between the Immaterium and realspace.Blackheart has established numerous secret staging bases throughout these liminal zones, and at least one significant base deep within the Imperium Nihilus.Known as Tyrant's Gate, this world seethes with corruption and heresy of many different kinds. Every vice imaginable can be found within its dense, towering cities. Circling the planet like a dark crown are dozens of orbital docks, weapon shops and defence batteries, all under te authority of Blackheart, while in the Immaterium a sorcerous Warp anchorage allows the largest voidships to translate to and from the world's orbit swiftly.
Tyrant's Legion - Tyrant's Legion: The Tyrant's Legion was the Human Planetary Defence Force auxilia that Lufgt Huron, the rogue Chapter Master of the Renegade Astral Claws Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes, reforged under his command to his own specification when he first assumed the mantle of the "Tyrant of Badab" in 718.M41.The Tyrant's Legion were a highly effective force, allowing the Secessionist cause to defend the Maelstrom Zone territory to which they had laid claim, and provided the Tyrant of Badab with what was effectively a shadowy parallel to the Astra Militarum, loyal only to Huron and the Astral Claws who to the Human conscripts in its ranks were no less than living gods touched by the Emperor.As the Badab War raged (901.M41-912.M41), the role of the Tyrant's Legion proved vital, enabling the Secessionists to hold ground, a task for which Space Marines were generally unsuited in temperament, not to mention number. But as mere mortal men and women forced to take the battlefield against the the transhuman warriors of the Adeptus Astartes, they were to pay a heavy price for their loyalties; their lives spent in the tens of thousands before the war's end in a cause both lost and damned.