Other Xenos, Expanded Upon

[40k_fan]

Forget the T'au, forget the Orks, forget the Eldar, forget the Tyranids. Today we are focusing on the other guys.

 

And not even the smaller guys. The Q'Orl are perhaps the second largest civilization in the galaxy in M42, after the Imperium of Man, of course.

But who are the Q'Orl? They are a hive-mind alien species. Not a true psychic hive like the Tyranids though, they are just normal, they use pheromones or something. But outside of that, individual members have demonstrated that they still some level of autonomy, they are hardly mindless.

They have advanced technology, but warp drives or even spatial compression drives are not part of that. So their expansion is slow.

They have a queen, but the current queen is actually the second. There was a queen before her, who was taken by the Eldar for experiments. I think it's safe to say that they don't like those guys...

It's possible they have a sort of sub-queen rank as well, that act as extensions of the main queen's power, since due to space distances, the queen can't control all of her people at once.

 

And let's not forget our lovely friends the Rak'gol. Ugly weird lizard spiders who steal and pillage and have dangerously unreliable tech, often considered comparable to Ork tek, and even these guys have warp drives. That's a big L for the Q'Orl... But back to the Rak'gol. They are basically part Borg part Yautja, basically cyberpunk space vikings I guess? They go on hunts and the most successful among them get cybernetic upgrades. Their social structures are barely known, outside of them being complete degenerates, and having a language of grunts and screeches that the Imperium doesn't bother to decipher. They have clutches of eggs, we know that much about their life cycle.

 

So how can be LIBERify these guys? I think different sub-hives of the Q'Orl and Rak'Gol ships/fleets would be their organizational structure. For example, there could be 'Sub-Hive Cequuth' or something for the Q'Orl, or 'The Great Fang' as the name given by Imperial civilians to a particularly notable Rak'Gol flotilla.

[40k_fan]

Also, we can't forget the Hrud, Khrave, Slaugth, and Stryxis.

Hrud have their weird spacerat warrens (which are apparently really bad at dealing with Genestealers.)

Khrave probably have subterranean psychic vampire bat colonies, of course. Probably ruled by some lord-figure, but more fractured after the death of their original leader.

Slaughth, the classic worm-that-walks knockoffs. They canonically do have syndicates that prey on the vulnerable. Not really big on fighting in armies though.

And Stryxis have... merchant fleets I guess? Stryxis also aren't really going to be much frontline fighters I imagine. They probably aren't great at forming big groups.

[Felix Antipodes]

GW really need to bring a stronger focus on their xenos races.  Can’t see them getting the same amount of models as the big four, but maybe Kill Team?  Would have fit in well with the gallowdark, space hulk scenarios.

[40k_fan]

28 minutes ago, Felix Antipodes said:

GW really need to bring a stronger focus on their xenos races.  Can’t see them getting the same amount of models as the big four, but maybe Kill Team?  Would have fit in well with the gallowdark, space hulk scenarios.

 

Honestly, imagine how cool it would be to see a massive space hulk with the population of a hive world or craftworld (in the trillions), full of all sorts of weird xenos, ships flying from one part of the hulk to the other.

Nomadic Rak'gol bands maurading around and raiding communities, or living around broken reactors where nobody else can survive.

Hrud hiding in the shadows and pipes and tunnels because spacerats.

Stryxis merchants peddling their wares around the many cities in the hulk, and mugging one another.

Slaugth crime syndicates plague the vulnerable.

Eldar pirates doing whatever it is they all do.

T'au rebel enclaves extending their mission of good on the outermost regions of the ship.

Humans all somewhere in between all of this too.

 

So yeah, I think it would be cool to see a giant multi-xeno space hulk. The Imperium of Man would absolutely hate it lol.