Bereft of their means to call for reinforcements or safely navigate surrounding

space, the worlds of the Imperium are easily isolated from the wider galaxy.

This means that, by the time the Shadow in the Warp falls, it is already too late;
these beleaguered planets are effectively on their own. They must fend for
themselves and face the Tyranid swarm with the weapons they have to hand, or die in
the attempt.

The Super-Organism
All Tyranids possess a common psychic bond, known as the "synapse." This bond
enables the Tyranid swarms to think, perceive, and act as a single great super-
organism, providing nearly seamless co-ordination and control within a Tyranid
invasion force so numerous and extensive as to be completely uncontrollable
otherwise.

From the smallest feeder organisms, to the microbes that decompose new biomass;
from the sessile and rooted flora-like forms, to the huge tendril-like shoals of
the hive fleets, every Tyranid organism has a place within the will of the Hive
Mind.

The lesser and smaller Tyranid creatures are mindless and instinctive animals,
plants and bacteria, performing functions with no conscious oversight or
commitment, while larger and more complex creatures can make decisions appropriate
to the situation and form an integral if minuscule part of the Hive Mind's
distributed sentient awareness.

Synaptic Web
Functioning in perfect unison, coordinated by powerful psychic imperatives
transmitted through the Tyranid communal sentience that is the Hive Mind, Tyranid
hive fleets, planetary swarms, and broods do not have a singular command structure,
but rather form a synaptic web of psychic influence and feedback.

Situated within this tangled web are specialised "synapse creatures" whose slightly
more advanced brains contain cortex alterations that function as psychic routers,
buses, and hubs, co-ordinating and policing the riotous cacophony of the collective
brain power of a mass organism that is sometimes larger than most planets.

Without the localised control provided by these organisms, the swarm can quickly
falter, and some Tyranid creatures may revert to animalistic behaviors, when
individual will and situational instincts come into conflict. Often swarms will
subdivide into smaller packs of creatures still capable of consensual behavior
among themselves.

The synapse creatures that channel the commands of the Hive Mind are mostly, if not
all, potent individual psykers. How any of this is done without drawing the
attention of countless Daemons of Chaos or the other psychic predatory entities of
the Warp into the midst of the Tyranid swarm is unknown and possibly unknowable to
the humans of the Imperium.

The Narvhal
Tyranid Hive Fleets do not travel through the Warp like Imperial starships. Yet,
the hive fleets' incredibly fast rate of advance into the galaxy belies the
argument made by some that they do not possess a mode of faster-than-light travel.

Whilst it is true that the Tyranids are forced to remain at sublight speeds while
within the gravitic boundaries of a planetary system, they are capable of
superluminal velocities when travelling through interstellar space. This capability
is the result of a small Tyranid bio-ship classified by the savants of the Imperium
of Man as a "Narvhal."
Unlike most Tyranid bio-ships, the Narvhal is almost completely defenceless, and
possesses almost no bio-weaponry and only a very thin protective carapace. A
cluster of monofilament spines on the Narvhal's bow allow it to take in a wide
variety of sensory input, including a broad spectrum of gravimetric and
electromagnetic signals.

Using these sensors, the Narvhal can detect new planetary systems at extreme
interstellar distances. In some unknown manner it then makes use of the origin star
system's own gravity and creates a compressed space-time transit corridor through
which the Narvhal and other Tyranid bio-ships can traverse interstellar distances.
This form of space-warping travel cannot be used near strong gravitational sources
as they overwhelm the Narvhal's hypersensitive navigational sensors.

As a result, a Tyranid Hive Fleet must use more conventional forms of biologically-
induced reaction-based propulsion during the final approach to a new star system,
which can slow their arrival by Terran years or even entire solar decades. Whilst
this form of propulsion is ultimately slower than a reliance upon the Warp-Drive,
it is a great deal more reliable and allows the Tyranids to move slowly, if
implacably, across the galaxy.

However, the Narvhal's manipulation of a star system's gravity does sometimes

produce unintended side effects. A destination world can suffer from earthquakes,
solar flares, tidal waves and other natural disasters produced during the interval
during which the Hive Fleet is in transition through the space-time transit
corridor.

This chaos only further benefits the Tyranids' invasion, however, as the defenders
of the target world will have their resources bound up in dealing with these
problems when the swarm finally arrives in orbit and the first Mycetic Spores begin
to fall.

Tyranid Combat Doctrine

Tyranid Weapons
Some common Tyranid weapon biomorphs.

The Tyranids often attempt to first conquer a planet through subterfuge and
infiltration. Space hulks and other derelict voidcraft are often infested with
Genestealers, which quickly familiarise themselves with the layout of their new
home, then enter a state of self-induced hibernation.

When the hulk is eventually discovered by Imperial authorities, the Genestealers

attack the exploration crew, sometimes killing some crew members, but always
leaving at least one survivor who is implanted with a seed, a form of Genestealer
reproductive virus that contains specially-engineered Tyranid DNA.

This infestation is never fatal, but instead the virus' genetic material subtly
alters the victim's DNA, producing in them a strong urge to mate created by the
stimulation of the individual's sex hormones.