Why we play tyranids?

[Uprising]

Doh, was it my turn to feed them? I forgot.

 

I think they might need a new guardsman soon.

You had one job, just one job.  Basically feed the swarm is our own job. 

 

I just want to say, I thank everyone for sharing.  I hope to see many hives fleets in wip, showcase, and this sub-forum.  Let show those other races why we are taking over the 40k universe. 

 

 

By a happy accident. 

http://i.imgur.com/svGtbhf.jpg

 

ADB you need to paint tyranids more often.  The warriors looks great, how you paint it? 

[Karthak]

This is going to be the best subforum. Deep down, we all know it's true.

What is this, what is happening? I don't pay attention for a few days, and B&C is allowing xenos to be discussed in positive terms?

[Greenz]

 

 

This is going to be the best subforum. Deep down, we all know it's true.

What is this, what is happening? I don't pay attention for a few days, and B&C is allowing xenos to be discussed in positive terms?

 

Haha, yup! Embrace the change!

 

For me it's how absolutely alien Tyranids are to us. I wouldn't even classify them as "villains". They just simply feed. They can't be reasoned with or bargained with, they don't make alliances or pacts. They don't take prisoners, slaves or torture people (well, someone with acidic worms burrowing through them might contest that).

They don't care about strategic importance of worlds, religious significance, resources or even if the planet has nice beaches. They just want to eat. And every battle against them isn't just for survival, it's for your very existence.

Big beasts, little beasts. Stabby beasts and beasts that spit acid. What's not to like???

[Aothaine]

I was introduced to 40k back in 1993. The movie Aliens is what I thought of and loved the 'apex' predator look and feel of them. Also, the tails were awesome!

 

I will have a Tyranid-based army eventually in 8th but my first list that I'm making is Custodes. The forge world contemptor dreadnoughts are to good to pass up. 

 

Still trying to decide if I want to run Tyranids or Genestealers though. My good friend plays imperial guard so either way I go will be a ton of fun!

[Karthak]

 

 

This is going to be the best subforum. Deep down, we all know it's true.

What is this, what is happening? I don't pay attention for a few days, and B&C is allowing xenos to be discussed in positive terms?

 

Haha, yup! Embrace the change!

 

 

But how? Did something get into the Admin's water supply?

[Uprising]

 

 

 

This is going to be the best subforum. Deep down, we all know it's true.

What is this, what is happening? I don't pay attention for a few days, and B&C is allowing xenos to be discussed in positive terms?

 

Haha, yup! Embrace the change!

 

 

But how? Did something get into the Admin's water supply?

 

They explain the reasoning here, enjoy:  http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/334857-8th-edition-and-the-new-bolter-and-chainsword/

[Redtoof]

 

 

 

This is going to be the best subforum. Deep down, we all know it's true.

 

What is this, what is happening? I don't pay attention for a few days, and B&C is allowing xenos to be discussed in positive terms?

Haha, yup! Embrace the change!

But how? Did something get into the Admin's water supply?

The admins have definitely not be infiltrated by a genestealer cult.

[ChromeZephyr]

I got really bored with constant Marine vs Marine battles and decided to pick up a Xenos army. Space football hooligans and pointy-eared sissies held no interest for me and T'au didn't exist yet so Tyranids it was. Never looked back.

[Reyner]

Films like Aliens and Starship Troopers fuelled my interest of the Tyranids and then when I first read about the Battle for Maccrage and the Fall of Sotha they seemed amazing. When I first started collecting I wasn't a massive fan of the models (other than the crazy old Hormagaunts! They were ace!) until mid 3rd Edition when the Tyranids got their plastic Gaunts and Warriors and the new Hive Tyrant, Carnifex and Zoanthrope got released. I loved their look and the colour schemes were great. 

 

Examples I found on a blog here: http://www.modernsynthesist.com/2012/02/tyranid-archive-3rd-generation-2001.html look at the smiley faces of the Tyrant and Carnifex! :D Loved them. 

[codyrstuart]

Man, I've been gone a month, and all the sudden, I can post about my guilty pleasure on the BnC. There goes the neighborhood

[Freakiq]

The Tyranids didn't really stand out to me until I saw the black and red paint scheme of their 3rd edition codex as well as the way their weapons looked like they grew out of their hands rather than being two wholly separate entities. It reminded me of the creepy feeling of watching Alien at a very young age and being fascinated and terrified by the biomechanical look of the monster and the alien ship.

 

Tried to get a Tyranid army started several times but I've always found my skills couldn't live up to my aspirations.

Now with 8th edition here I decided to take a break from my Minotaurs until their place in the new background is explained a bit more.

 

Background is very important to me and I have to at least on some level empathize or at least understand the motivations of the army I play. My army in 30k is the sons of Horus and I struggled a lot with understanding Horus' reasons for rebellion on a deeper level than just accepting that chaos manipulated him. With the Tyranids their motivations and goals are much more simple, I can just focus on making my army look good and enjoy playing the big bad monster.

[Uprising]

 My army in 30k is the sons of Horus and I struggled a lot with understanding Horus' reasons for rebellion on a deeper level than just accepting that chaos manipulated him. With the Tyranids their motivations and goals are much more simple, I can just focus on making my army look good and enjoy playing the big bad monster.

But, are Tyranid so simple?  Tyranids in 40k is symbolic to life.  Is life so simple?  Do we just give it categories to give our self a sense of understanding we do not understand?  Would it not be simpler to understand the motivation of a character(Horus) that was created by man, than time to understand the will or motivation of a species that was craft through billions of years of progress in the madness of life. 

 

This is a pet peeve of mine.  Tyranids are not simple, they are complex, beyond the point of our limited understanding them.  They are 40k version of nature with a twist of lovecraft/aliens thrown in, even if you can categories them as that in implies in the most basic terms. 

[Reyner]

It's always interesting to wonder what if the Tyranids aren't coming to our galaxy because they have eaten everything in theirs but what if they are fleeing from something else :P The Pharos book drops the hint that this may not be the case but it is intriguing. Like the Swarm from Stellaris - if you can communicate with them they tell you they are fleeing something.

[Freakiq]

 

My army in 30k is the sons of Horus and I struggled a lot with understanding Horus' reasons for rebellion on a deeper level than just accepting that chaos manipulated him. With the Tyranids their motivations and goals are much more simple, I can just focus on making my army look good and enjoy playing the big bad monster.

 

But, are Tyranid so simple?  Tyranids in 40k is symbolic to life.  Is life so simple?  Do we just give it categories to give our self a sense of understanding we do not understand?  Would it not be simpler to understand the motivation of a character(Horus) that was created by man, than time to understand the will or motivation of a species that was craft through billions of years of progress in the madness of life. 

 

This is a pet peeve of mine.  Tyranids are not simple, they are complex, beyond the point of our limited understanding them.  They are 40k version of nature with a twist of lovecraft/aliens thrown in, even if you can categories them as that in implies in the most basic terms.

I'm not going to stop you from reading deeper into the working of the hive mind or keep you from writing a compelling background for your army.

 

For me though the basic drive behind the hive fleets is simple enough that it can take a back seat.

I don't have to worry about how the Swarmlord morally justifies his actions or what political ambitions he has.

[Indefragable]

For me there's just something about a ravenous, unrelenting tide of monsters devouring everything in their path. I also really like their fluff and the various bits of artwork produced.

 

...that said, i don't actually have a Tyranid army... yet.

1) +1

 

The answer is simple - Starship Troopers. 

 

Having an antagonist faction that has no personality really appeals to me as a contrast to the other more human factions. 

2) What he said exactly.

 

3) 

 

4) Reading about the fall of Tyran http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Tyran  really did it for me. Something about that alien feel. The smugness of the defenders when they wipe out the first few waves. Until they realize that was the scouting party. When the laws of math state that the amount of ammunition they have simply, mathematically, is not in their favor against what they face.

 

5) This might be the strangest of all, but reading about the fall of Tyran above, and subsequent material on them has awoken the inner scientist in me. Emperor help me for sympathizing with the Brad Dourif character in Alien: Resurrection, but there's a certain fasincation. A need to learn, a need to study them that makes them so interesting. Perhaps even stranger is the fact that I somehow sympathize with the chronicler of Tyran. The idea that you are already dead but must chronicle, and catalogue, and document every detail you can so that others may learn from your demise is oddly appealing.

 

6) Playing Tyranids teaches you about your opponent. Though I have only used my tiny force a few times, there's something scientifc about it. Seeing how your opponent reacts to genestealers on the flank. When the Carnifex shrugs off hits and comes barreling at his commander. Etc.... Perhaps it's because I can get too attached to my other forces, but there's something pleasurable about expending units without giving a :cuss

 

7) ....which makes their named characters all the more intriguing. Like stories about Nelly the Loch Ness monster. Or "Brownie," the biggest gator in the pond. Humans have instinctively labeled other creatures to try to rationalize or understand them. "Old One Eye" is such a brilliant glimpse into the human psyche. You can hear the tone of almost reverence the old grey-bearded Sgt uses when he talks about how Old One Eye wiped out his unit.

 

8) You can't really :cuss them up modeling/painting wise. "Oh crap...that was the wrong arm? Oh well. This is a brand new strain."

[sockwithaticket]

 

 My army in 30k is the sons of Horus and I struggled a lot with understanding Horus' reasons for rebellion on a deeper level than just accepting that chaos manipulated him. With the Tyranids their motivations and goals are much more simple, I can just focus on making my army look good and enjoy playing the big bad monster.

But, are Tyranid so simple?  Tyranids in 40k is symbolic to life.  Is life so simple?  Do we just give it categories to give our self a sense of understanding we do not understand?  Would it not be simpler to understand the motivation of a character(Horus) that was created by man, than time to understand the will or motivation of a species that was craft through billions of years of progress in the madness of life. 

 

This is a pet peeve of mine.  Tyranids are not simple, they are complex, beyond the point of our limited understanding them.  They are 40k version of nature with a twist of lovecraft/aliens thrown in, even if you can categories them as that in implies in the most basic terms. 

 

Does anyone have a number for the Ordo Xenos? We might have evidence of GSC propaganda...

[Indefragable]

 

Does anyone have a number for the Ordo Xenos? We might have evidence of GSC propaganda...

 

 

There is no number for the Inquistion. They know when you* need** them.

[Sawtooth]

My introduction to the 40k universe was Space Hulk, so I've always had a soft spot for Blood Angels and Genestealers killing each other. I also enjoy Tyranids as an antagonist because they're so Lovecraftian, even compared to Chaos. I've always found the Genestealer Cult angle in particular very creepy. Since they've been brought back and I have an Imperial Guard regiment...I just miss the Limo.

But an army of freaky inbred space Deep Ones is just fun. And who doesn't love family :)

[dwez]

I've been playing 40k since Rogue Trader and in those early days we had the original Space Hulk and then Advanced Space Cusade where we had our first encounter with Genestealers and then Tyranids and I can honestly say I hated them both, specifically from a painting perspective as just the extra pair of limbs made them a nightmare to paint - more to do and harder to get in all the nooks and crannies with the paintbrush. I was more than happy to stick to my Dark Angels - although I never really completed anything more than an Assault Squad, a Devastator Squad, Chaplain on a Bike and a Rhino.

 

Round about the time I went to university I finally kicked the 40k habit and had around 13 years hobby sobriety. It was a good time, I had money, free time, loads of room in my house and I wasn't getting gried from the missus about paint pots in the dining room. Then my 10 year old son got interested because his cousin started going to a school 40k club. He knew there was definite kudos to be had tapping his old man's extensive collection... except he didn't want any of it! He was mesmerised by the new wave of Tyranid miniatures - the Trygon being his favourite.

So he invested heavily with some Christmas money and next thing you know I'm painting gaunts and Trygons, Gargoyles and Biovores. As I continued to paint his army so he had something decent on the table I would use them myself as I only really like to play with painted miniatures. I'm not sure I've ever fully reconciled my enjoyment of using them with the all-pervading hatred of the xenos and first impressions of the nids in particular. They are by far my favourite army and so easy to paint but that hatred of the alien still runs deep.

 

One other really good reason I liked to play with them was because they were so bad. Using a massively handicapped army really helped ensure I didn't go back to those childish ways of win at all costs. They were also really easy to play - with all their shooting weapons Assault. That's one of the issues with 8th I have, as much as it appears they've gone for a streamlined approach so much of the Tyranid army has been complicated - massive ranges in movement, wounds, toughness and weapon types whereas before most of the big guys were all T6, W6 or W4. Lots to remember and get my head round.

Edited June 30, 2017 by dwez

[Xenith]

 

For me though the basic drive behind the hive fleets is simple enough that it can take a back seat.

I don't have to worry about how the Swarmlord morally justifies his actions or what political ambitions he has.

 

In the same boat. Baddies are more fun to play with, and as. 

 

I like playing an army where I don't feel bad for sending my troops to their deaths, I can always spawn more. Those gaunts were like 3 days old anyway, not the centuries old sternguard veteran. 

 

I'm looking forward to Meat Grinder missions with nids. Need more gaunts though.

[House Taranis]

I got into 40k after I walked into games workshop instead of game when I was eleven.

 

Fast forward a year and for some unknown reason I asked for the Tyranid Hive Swarm for Christmas after I was tired of my orks being systematically anhillated by the Eldar. I then fell in love with them and two years later you can barely see my desk under my scene of a knight and a few BA fighting off hordes upon hordes of Tyranids. In 7th games the 4+ cover from the venomthrope helped my carnifex survive all but one match. One though, I had an entire Guard tank squadron with Pask shooting at my Zoanthrope and it destroyed them all. The other guy still has a vendetta against that zoanthrope.

Edited July 14, 2017 by House Taranis