The Tyrandis. The Great Devourer. The greatest Menace to the Galaxy. I dont’ play Nids yet, but someday I will. Here are my Reasons why …
1. „The proper study of mankind is life.“ from the Ribofunk Manifesto. Technology is fine, it gave Mankind and the Xenos Races the Reign over the Galaxy … but … nothing beats Life, or to Quote the famous Dr. Ian Malcolm …
“If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us it’s that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, it expands to new territories and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously, but, uh… well, there it is.”
Life is suprior to Technology and the Tyranids are the proof for that. High speed Evolution … really the coolest thing.
2. They come from another Galaxy. Well actually this is impossible, but just the Idea of it freaks me out. Having eaten one or even several other Galaxies before, then crossing the extreme Void between the Galaxies to devour ours. This alone marginalize everyone and everything in our Galaxy including the existing Conflicts there …
3. … and they really marginalizes everything. They are so much more then any other Faction. Great. A threat beyond all previous dimensions.
4. They eat whole Planets, with everthing. All Biomatter, all Water, all Air. This is not jus annihilation, it’s the complete and irreversable destruction of even the fundamentals for Life. No other Faction is that radical.
5. The Hive Mind. Or to quote Starship Troopers …
“We were learning, expensively, just how efficient a total communism can be when used by a people actually adapted to it by evolution.”
6. They are purest high octane Nightmare Fule. I consider most of the Demon and Chaos Factions either ludicrous or disgusting, but hardly ever horrible. But the Tyranids are pure Horror. Teeth and Claws and Acid and Toxis and alien Speed – all that only to devour you, to devour everything.
7. They are only Antagonists. Orks can be funny. T’au can be hopeful. Eldar can be mystical. Even Dark Eldar can be … uhm … whatever. But Tyranids can’t be Protagonists, there can be no story about them. I am still fascinated by the Idea of a “Chronist of the Great Devourer”, someone, who writes down their Victories, who praises their Way of Life, but noone will probably ever write a book like this, and probably that’s just what makes them the coolest.
8. Tyrandis are the best Reason to play Space Marines (or T’au). Fighting the Tyranid imho is the epic battle of 40k, the most challanging and heroic battle to fight. Of all the archetypical stories that make up the Hobby and the Stories within it, the fight against the Tyranids is the most existential, the hardest and the least hopeful. But … the Size of the Foe has some relation to the size of the deed of fighting against it.
9. Space Hulk. I already had that within my 10 reasons for the Blood Angels: For me Warhammer 40.000 started with Star Quest and Space Hulk. Genestealers and Tyranids will always be a part of that first Experience, that first Impression, the Thing everything started with.
10. All in all they are the Absurd. In view of the Tyranids, all human endeavour are meaningless. But they are undertaken none the less. This is what (human) Life is all about.
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