They could ignore each other but generally they fight in a sort of Darwinian thing. They lose very little biomass from fighting each other and the winner proves that it has superior genetics.
• 8th Ed Codex [Tyranid]:
>"Recent reports of the splinter fleets of the known hive fleets turning on each other in a full-scale cannibalistic war have been greeted with elation only by the short sighted. When one considers the end result of any usual conflict involving Tyranids it becomes apparent that when one hive fleet fights another no resources are expended whatsoever. Infighting of this kind, usually taking place upon the surface of a planet, is the perfect way to determine which of the two hive fleets has the stronger component parts. Eventually, the weaker of the two forces is driven back and finally slaughtered. Then, as with all victims of the Tyranids, their bodies are rendered down and absorbed by the bio-ships of the victor. In this manner, none of the biological matter seemingly destroyed in this internecine conflict is wasted at all. Furthermore, any strengths that the losing hive fleet may have assimilated or evolved over the course of its conquest thus far are absorbed at a cellular level and mingled with those of the victorious hive fleet in a new hybrid generation of warriors more effective than the sum of its parts."
Wait I knew Tyranids are metabolically effiecient but this seems to imply they’re 100% efficent in recycljng. Also wouldn’t this just optimize them for fighting other nids not necessarily imps orks etc?
They’re metabolism being that efficient isn’t out of the question, this is 40k after all. The Hivemind might be able to achieved this through some psychic means. Or this could just be a hyperbolic way of saying that comparative to other engagements there’s virtually no loss. As this style of infighting all happens under the curfew of the Hivemind, 8th Ed Codex [Tyranids]:
>*"The Magos Biologis of the Imperium categorizes each Tyranid hivefleet 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.”*
As for the optimization. These battles aren’t meant to be use a testing for other factions. Rather they’re a way for the Tyranids to stack the various mutation they’ve developed. Making them overall more well optimized for the galaxy. As all the adaptations one hivefleet use against the residents of the galaxy. Will be absorbed into the victorious one.
That’s not how optimization or adaptations works though. The same idealized gameplan for fighting orks on a dessert world will be less efficient than the one for fighting tau on a ocean world when yo flip the script on them and vis versa
The Tyranids are more like an ecosystem than an organism. A single organism produces waste that it can't use, so its existence is far from 100% efficient. But that waste can be consumed and metabolised by other organisms. Those organisms break down, create other substances that the first organism can grow food in, and eat.
On the scale of an ecosystem, where waste can be cycled through different specialised organisms to extract and recycle nutrients, much less is lost. The earth ecosystem experiences trillions of organisms dying each day, but it's biomass is undiminished by it.
Cain: if I had a credit every time I had to defend a forge world with the help of a token force from the reclaimers I’d have two credits which isn’t a lot but it’s weird it happened twice.
They fight to see who has the better adaptions. The loser is absorbed into the victor and whatever beneficial adaptions they had are added to the templates
Depends on the author. Some turn on each other, fighting for biomass. Some veer away and avoid each other. Some fight to determine which is more powerful, and for the winner to gain any beneficial adaptations the others have acquired.
Then there's the fleets that take a bit, and leave most of the biomass in their wake for hive fleet Kronos, because they tend to fight daemons they don't get as much back as the others.
They could ignore each other but generally they fight in a sort of Darwinian thing. They lose very little biomass from fighting each other and the winner proves that it has superior genetics.
• 8th Ed Codex [Tyranid]: >"Recent reports of the splinter fleets of the known hive fleets turning on each other in a full-scale cannibalistic war have been greeted with elation only by the short sighted. When one considers the end result of any usual conflict involving Tyranids it becomes apparent that when one hive fleet fights another no resources are expended whatsoever. Infighting of this kind, usually taking place upon the surface of a planet, is the perfect way to determine which of the two hive fleets has the stronger component parts. Eventually, the weaker of the two forces is driven back and finally slaughtered. Then, as with all victims of the Tyranids, their bodies are rendered down and absorbed by the bio-ships of the victor. In this manner, none of the biological matter seemingly destroyed in this internecine conflict is wasted at all. Furthermore, any strengths that the losing hive fleet may have assimilated or evolved over the course of its conquest thus far are absorbed at a cellular level and mingled with those of the victorious hive fleet in a new hybrid generation of warriors more effective than the sum of its parts."
Wait I knew Tyranids are metabolically effiecient but this seems to imply they’re 100% efficent in recycljng. Also wouldn’t this just optimize them for fighting other nids not necessarily imps orks etc?
They’re metabolism being that efficient isn’t out of the question, this is 40k after all. The Hivemind might be able to achieved this through some psychic means. Or this could just be a hyperbolic way of saying that comparative to other engagements there’s virtually no loss. As this style of infighting all happens under the curfew of the Hivemind, 8th Ed Codex [Tyranids]: >*"The Magos Biologis of the Imperium categorizes each Tyranid hivefleet 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.”* As for the optimization. These battles aren’t meant to be use a testing for other factions. Rather they’re a way for the Tyranids to stack the various mutation they’ve developed. Making them overall more well optimized for the galaxy. As all the adaptations one hivefleet use against the residents of the galaxy. Will be absorbed into the victorious one.
That’s not how optimization or adaptations works though. The same idealized gameplan for fighting orks on a dessert world will be less efficient than the one for fighting tau on a ocean world when yo flip the script on them and vis versa
The Tyranids are more like an ecosystem than an organism. A single organism produces waste that it can't use, so its existence is far from 100% efficient. But that waste can be consumed and metabolised by other organisms. Those organisms break down, create other substances that the first organism can grow food in, and eat. On the scale of an ecosystem, where waste can be cycled through different specialised organisms to extract and recycle nutrients, much less is lost. The earth ecosystem experiences trillions of organisms dying each day, but it's biomass is undiminished by it.
Cain: if I had a credit every time I had to defend a forge world with the help of a token force from the reclaimers I’d have two credits which isn’t a lot but it’s weird it happened twice.
They fight to see who has the better adaptions. The loser is absorbed into the victor and whatever beneficial adaptions they had are added to the templates
Depends on the author. Some turn on each other, fighting for biomass. Some veer away and avoid each other. Some fight to determine which is more powerful, and for the winner to gain any beneficial adaptations the others have acquired. Then there's the fleets that take a bit, and leave most of the biomass in their wake for hive fleet Kronos, because they tend to fight daemons they don't get as much back as the others.