Venomthrope
Many Tyranid creatures carry toxins on their claws and fangs,
but none more so that the Venomthrope; a veritable factory
of poisons, its tendrils drip with vile substances and it is
constantly surrounded by a cloud of lethal vapours. Held aloft
by numerous gas-filled bladders (also the source of the toxic
cloud that fills the air around it) it moves along by using its
tentacle-like hooked tendrils to drag itself across any surface.
These same tendrils are also used to snare enemies and drag
them into its poison cloud, where it holds them fast until
their feeble struggles cease and it can devour them at its
leisure. Not as powerful a combatant as a Tyranid Warrior or
Ravener, the Venomthrope relies mostly on its poisons to do
its work, expecting only mild resistant from its prey once it
gets close enough to envelope them with its cloud or touch
them with its deadly tendrils.
Venomthropes are not just toxic to non-Tyranid life
forms, but also to any environment they enter. Over time
their miasma of toxic spores infects the very ground and air
of a world, rendering it hostile to even its own indigenous
species. The Hive Mind uses this aspect of the Venomthrope
by gathering them together in large numbers and unleashing
them on a region to gradually poison it, making it harder for
non-Tyranid life forms to continue the fight. Venomthropes
can be especially deadly in enclosed areas or underground,
where their toxins can fill ventilation systems and foul airscrubbers,
making the corridors and chambers of a fortress or
void ship deadly to its garrison or crew. In efforts to combat
these tactics, the Adeptus Mechanicus has tried repeatedly to
study the Venonthrope and develop either more sure methods
of protecting troops against its venoms or to discover an
antidote to them. So far no successes have had any large or
lasting effects on the Imperium’s efforts against the Tyranid
swarms, and as soon as a new method or antidote is found
to counter the Venomthrope, it seems the creature quickly
adapts and overcomes it.
A Venomthrope’s feeding instincts means that it can
operate quite effectively even while beyond the range of the
Hive Mind, drifting into formations of troops and spreading
its deadly toxins or lashing out at exposed warriors. In battle,
Venomthropes are therefore often found on the flanks of the
swarm, or exploiting gaps to get at rear-echelon troops where
their toxic presence can cause as much havoc as possible and
they can force troops to abandon defensive positions lest they
become caught up in its slowly spreading mist of death. As a
general rule, the only sure way to deal with such an attack is
a quick response from heavy weapons and a sustained blast
of fire to tear the creature apart before it can get to close,
even then it still leaves a toxic corpse which can be almost as
deadly as the creature was in life.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
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