The Tyranid Invasion is done through the Tyranid organism has the capacity to turn a planet flourishing with nature’s bounty into a desolate sphere of lifeless rock, which is unprecedented.
When a Tyranid Invasion uses a hive fleet to attack a prey world to rob it of its life, it does so in stages.
Each wave of the invasion unleashes a new zoo of biological monsters, each one precisely engineered to wreak havoc and death.
A once-thriving planet is cleansed of all organic substances in a handful of solar days.
With its hunger temporarily satisfied, the hive fleets depart in pursuit of its next meal, leaving behind nothing but an airless tomb.
Epidemic
The arrival of the Hive fleet and its escort vessels signals the start of the next phase of the Tyranid Invasion. The Hive Ship is a powerful synaptic node of the Hive Mind, disturbing it’s warp in many light years. When an ast ropathic or other psychic screams for rescue by the time one of these huge void farming animals arrives, it’s typically too late.
Even the vast majority of space marines assigned to defend a system under Tyranid invasion may be unable to leave the Immaterium in a system where the Shadow in the Warp has taken hold. As soon as the Hive Ship is within range of a target planet, it begins raining Mycetic Spores into the atmosphere and towards the planet’s surface of entire worlds.
Microbial life can be found in some of these pods. The atmosphere, oceans, soil, vegetation, and fauna of the world are all altered as a result of these hostile microbes. Complex organic compounds are disassembled and reassembled in configurations that are best suited for swarm absorption. Tyranid organisms with more complexity can be found in other spores.
Some of them, such as the many strains of Gaunts and Gargoyles, begin preparing for the impending invasions right away. Other strains begin to penetrate the planet’s surface.
Mawlocs and Trygons are two examples. As they burrow, these organisms plant spores that will eventually grow into Capillary Towers. Other species may use the tunnels created by these huge bioforms to gain access to a planet’s mineral richness and subterranean life.
Those Genestealers and Lictors who have already infested the planet unveil themselves at the same time as this rain of destruction begins. These creatures cause confusion among the defenders by using the knowledge they’ve acquired and the hybrid fauna they’ve spawned. The infiltrators can easily delay or even compromise a planet’s defenses by deliberately targeting officers and communications nodes.
The defenders of a planet must act quickly and decisively at this phase of the incursion, or all hope may be lost. Only solution is to stop the onslaught at its source. If the Hive Ship is destroyed, the Tyranid fleet as a whole may lose its cohesion and disintegrate. The defenders will be able to separate and conquer the remaining forces as a result of this.
Destruction of Mycetic Spores when they fall to the Earth, while less efficient, may also aid the cause. Even a Hive Ship’s vast bulk has a limit to its resources. Each spore eliminated could indicate a significant reduction in the number of creatures on the ground.
Every Tyranid Invasion begins with the Tyranid Hive Mind that has the ability to analyze its tactical situation and adjust its plan. A fleet meeting unexpectedly strong resistance may, on rare instances, abandon the assault and retire to attack a different objective.
At this point, countermeasures against Genestealers and their kin are critical. With astro telepathy disabled, any more loss of communications on the planet could spell disaster for the defenders. To maintain the integrity of all communication and command centers, extensive security measures must be employed.
Subjugation
While the more aggressive bioforms continue to fight the planet’s defenders, others close in on them, scavenging all available biomass. The Tyranid collective has the ability to grow and adapt, as evidenced by their extensive collection of biomass.
The planet’s natural resources are therefore turned against it, supplying the swarm with more tools. Most is used to feed the planet’s Hive Ships. Those huge animals usually wait until the planet has been secured before eating.
Thousands of maggot-like Rippers drop from the sky near the battlefront, forming huge, closely packed swarms. They eat everything organic they can find, living or dead, with fang-filled jaws.
Once these abominations have consumed everything they can, they slowly drag their bloated corpses towards the Capillary Towers’ digesting pools. Rather than dumping the digested biomass into the pools, the Rippers throw themselves in, where they will be consumed along with everything else.
To keep the gluttony cycle going, new Rippers are created on a regular basis. Similar bioforms devour all life in the oceans and within the planet’s crust as the planet’s surface is depleted. Rippers that resemble eels invade the oceans in enormous swarms, consuming all of the natural sea life. Burrowing varieties consume subterranean fungus, root systems, and any burrowing wildlife as they deepen the tunnels created by Trygons and Raveners.
Mineral reserves are depleted as well, notably rare ores that may be used to make the exoskeletons of the various weapon biomorphs.
Even in the deepest reaches of the world’s oceans, massive Capillary Towers form. These structures, which can extend several kilometers into the sea, can survive the crushing pressures of the depths and thrive in even the coldest of environments.
As they expand, their enormous metabolic filtration systems may alter the planet’s tidal flow, drawing in all biomass. Exterminatus is the only viable option at this point. Planets that have been conquered by the Tyranid invasion race can no longer be reclaimed.
The Space marines or another faction’s only hope is to destroy the feeding system before the biomass is used to feed the fleet for more attacks.
One bright spot is that the Tyranid invasion swarms may have depleted its supplies in anticipation of the expected gluttony once the planet’s biomass is devoured.
Attacking the void faring bioforms and destroying the planet might be easier now than it was early in the invasion.
Reconnaissance
The intricacy of the early phases of a Tyranid invasion is the best way to describe them. The xenos assess the planet’s suitability for attack at this point and begin infecting the native life forms.
Vanguard Drone Ships, Lictors, and Genestealers are the three Tyranid species that are most active at this period. These bioforms share two important traits for locating new target worlds and infiltrating them: stealth and independence. The physiological abilities of all of the creatures involved are geared toward hiding. These abilities are fully utilized so that they can safely study the natural surroundings at first. Because there are usually just a few Tyranids active out of the whole entire species at this stage, these specimens show an unusual level of self-preservation.
The creatures understand that they must survive and reproduce in order for the invasion to continue. These species differ from the majority of Tyranid horrors in that they can also function in a stable and independent manner. If they are taken out of the psychic emanations of the Hive Mind, the great majority of known Tyranid species are incapable of coordinated behavior.
Because these organisms must be able to act when they are light-years away from the swarm, they show more intelligence and animal cunning than would be expected. This is most visible in their schemes’ often unexpected subtlety.
Vanguard Drone Ships rely on speed, tiny size, and low psychic and propulsion signatures to investigate new star systems silently. A Vanguard Drone Ship will frequently deposit a portion of its payload on the surface of a promising planet before leaving the system to scout prospective prospects in other systems.
Imperial agencies may be fully oblivious of the ominous infiltration due to their brief and stealthy stay in the system. When a drone ship is discovered, it must be treated as the system’s top priority target, as killing it before it can deliver its cargo could considerably delay any Tyranid invasion.
Lictors are experts at scouting without being noticed. These xenos are inserted from a drone ship and immediately begin scouting the newly discovered planet’s wilds. With their Feeder Tendrils, they analyze the atmosphere and mineral availability to find out if it is an ideal place for them. Furthermore, these ferocious predators prey on isolated animals and even humans, absorbing their memories while devouring them.
As soon as a synaptic node within range is accessible, this data is assembled and delivered back to the Hive Mind. Lictors are a significant threat to any Xeno invasion. If they can be removed prior the start of an entire fleet, then that would lessen what is thrown at you and your people’s planet!
The most cunning of the early invaders are the Genestealers. They infect the planet’s species with Tyranid genetic material while they scout the world. The Tyranid Hive Mind gradually corrupts the planet’s native gene-code, resulting in hybrid native-Tyranid beings who are subservient to the will of a Broodlord or other Tyranid Hive Mind representative.
Genestealers are also thought to be capable of infiltrating planets without the need of a drone ship, thanks to their cunning and stealth. Specimens have been discovered in the cargo holds of Warp-capable ships and on abandoned Space Hulks.
Before they can form a breeding nest and a society of dedicated hybrid beings, these animals must be eradicated with severe brutality. When the Tyranid Invasion gets a foothold on a planet, their tactics quickly shift.
These infiltrators send out a psychic call to the swarm after successfully integrating the planet’s biodiversity. This signal attracts a fleet of ships to the system, including a Hive Ship and other hive fleets. The arrival of the Hive Ship and its escorts marks the beginning of the invasion’s second phase.
Assault
Once the Tyranid invasion forces have gained a footing on the planet’s surface, they immediately set about destroying any resistance. The neverending swarms of lesser bioforms, such as Gaunts, Gargoyles, and Genestealers, wreak havoc in the skies, on land, and beneath the seas. Larger bioforms, such as Carnifexes, Tyrannofexes, and even Hierophant Bio-Titans, are strewn among these species, wreaking havoc on the earth.
These diverse species congregate in enormous swarms that charge forward, forming battlefronts that can stretch for hundreds of kilometers. Capillary Towers, several thousands of meters tall, erupted from the planet’s crust behind the battlefront. The biomass that the swarm has already consumed is consolidated in these towers, which is then used to generate more creatures to aid in the assault.
While the towers resemble Tyranid plants in appearance, they are just as hostile as the more mobile bioforms. Capillary Towers send out tendrils over the globe that can absorb native species, including plants and other small, slow-moving animals. The towers filter the planet’s atmosphere while they do this, absorbing the biomass of microorganisms and small flying species.
Termagants employ their ranged weaponry to annihilate opponents on the battlefield, while Hormagaunts engage in close combat with anyone. These xenos, as well as other Gaunt genus varieties, can be found in swarms of hundreds, led by Tyranid Warriors.
The Hive Mind has the ability to send in larger strains of Slividon when sheer numbers are insufficient. The swarm may develop unusually enormous species on worlds with substantial defenses. Specimens of the Dominatrix and Hierophant strains have been discovered that are equal to Imperial Titans in size and strength.
When a defense point appears insurmountable, the Hive Mind adjusts its tactics quickly. Raveners and Trygons are frequently utilized to burrow beneath defenses and attack from behind or beneath enemy lines. Shrikes or Harpies may also strafe from above in some instances.
While the swarm is willing to lose thousands of bioforms in order to gain a single meter of land, it will not do so in vain. Because the Tyranid invasions are masters at adapting, they continuously adopt alternative techniques. It’s worth mentioning that the planet’s defenders are rarely devoured by the battlefront swarms that cross the planet’s surface. Rather, they leave a trail of trash in their wake, which the following wave of organisms will consume.
Of course, this carpet of the dead could include any Tyranid invasion organisms that the defenders have managed to defeat. The Hive Mind is unconcerned with their deaths. They’ve served their purpose and will return to serve the swarm once their bodies have been consumed.
Gargoyles and Harpies swarm the planet’s skies in such quantities that they shut out the light of the system’s star. While they can help in land-based warfare, they also have two other functions. These flying entities, like the Capillary Towers, consume the biomass of the skies and return it to the Tyranid swarm when they die. They also function to keep any photosynthetic life from receiving sunlight.
The Earth’s atmosphere is a vital component of our planet, providing us with life and breathable air. But what if there was no oxygen? This can have serious effects on the climate over time as well! At this point in the invasion, all-out war is the only viable option. The forces of evil have firmly established themselves on the planet as their foothold. The harm done would not be mitigated by destroying the Hive Ship.
Furthermore, the Hive Mind may persist depending on the amount and types of animals on the surface. Even if the Hive Mind is defeated and the majority of xenos are killed, the fights to entirely cleanse the Earth could last millennia.
Tyranid genetic taint extends to bacteria, and all of these xenos bioforms are highly resistant to biological and chemical toxins. Given enough time and chance, even the tiniest Tyranid entity may produce more hazardous organisms.
Absorption
The Capillary Towers continue to feed the biomass back and forth, as if creating some sort of endless cycle. As they grow to pierce the atmosphere’s borders, the gigantic living vessels stretch tendrils through the atmosphere that establish touch with the Capillary Towers.
Through a combination of large pumping organs and suction, biomass is dragged up the towers. The Tyranid hordes’ surviving monsters plunge themselves into the pool where they digest near the Capillary Towers once the last of the defenders has fallen. Their bodies are broken down and devoured so that the biomass can be regenerated into new species for future conquests by the fleet.
Along with their biomass, all of the planet’s native life forms’ memories, genetic advances, and gene patterns are absorbed. The Capillary Towers begin to absorb the planet’s water systems after the final vestiges of life have been consumed. All of these liquids are absorbed by voidfaring organisms, which may enlarge considerably in size as their storage vesicles expand to make room for the newfound supplies.
Many of the Capillary Towers are also broken down as a result of this, allowing their biomass to be reabsorbed. Finally, the planet’s atmosphere is absorbed into the Hive Ships, followed by the last few huge Capillary Towers.
This, according to certain Magi Biologis, may necessitate even more enormous voidfaring Tyranids than those previously observed. Others believe the ships compress the atmosphere into a solid state using previously unknown processes. Though the Imperium is unaware of the exact process, the result is certain: nothing but a barren, airless rock of little worth is left behind.
The Hive Mind analyzes the new genetic patterns it has discovered as it travels across systems. Some of these could be put to use in the development of new bioforms. Naturally, these new strains may not arise right away. They may be saved by the Hive Mind for use when a new approach is needed. Clearly, the Tyranids’ long-term prosperity and survival are dependent on their ability to adapt.
The battle is effectively lost at this point. The arrival of any defenders will be far too late to preserve the planet. Their only option is to spread the information to nearby solar systems in the hopes that they will arrive before the Tyranids. Attacking the void faring bioforms right after they’ve eaten a world means attacking them at their most powerful.
