Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-14745711-20130906234048/@comment-6078851-20141205162823

there's some nice ideas there and i think you're not as unfamiliar with 40k lore as you think you are. although while the astronomican seems to be drawing the tyranids, gaining emps' powers isn't what the hive mind is after, nor likely possible (the hive mind probably doesn't even see emps as an intelligent being, but simply food): tyranid psychic abilities are derived from their own species rather than from the warp like the milky way's native races, although they can 'siphon' some power from the warp it isn't the source of their psychic power. undoubtedly tyranids would gain a greater degree of ability to 'siphon' power from the warp if they get to eat emps - i imagine that's how they gained access to the warp in the first place, they arrived in the milky way without such access, ate a few psykers and with the new genetic blueprints gained from such food were then able to create bioforms with the ability to access the warp - but they wouldn't have anything resembling emps' powers. the thing tyranids would gain most from eating emps would be access to his genetic code, which would then result in insanely powerful bioforms - think uber-primarch hive-tyrants, carnifexes, harridans etc :P

the only thing that motivates the hive mind (as far as anyone knows) is the ploriferation of tyranids, and even without the astronomican tyranids would still be here (as they were on their way here long before emps was even born) relentlessly masticating their way through the galaxy, hence.. nomnom :P