Tyranid Warrior Prime

The leadership cast of the Tyranids is often difficult for Imperial commanders to identify, and there is often the mistaken assumption that larger Tyranid creatures are more important; a mistake that has cost more than one officer his rank and countless men their lives. This is especially true of Tyranid Warrior Primes, an evolution of the Tyranid Warrior genus with elevated intelligence and a stronger link to the Hive Mind.

It has in fact only been in recent times that the Primes have been identified and reported among the ranks of the hive fleets, though as many scholars and magos are quick to point out, this is less likely to be because they are a recent evolution and more likely because they blend in with the rest of a Tyranid Warrior brood. Primes are also being encountered in greater and greater numbers within Hive Fleet Dagon, perhaps as a direct response to the constantly evolving tactics of Imperial forces and the hive fleet’s need to deal with the elevated Deathwatch presence in the Orpheus Salient after several costly encounters.

In function, Tyranid Warrior Primes take on the role of commanders and captains within the swarm. Much in the same way as a Hive Tyrant might lead a host of Tyranids, a Prime will oversee a smaller section of the battlefield or direct a smaller strike force of warriors. When close to a more powerful synapse creature they will defer their control, acting as lieutenants and sergeants, often personally leading broods. However, should they find themselves alone, they can easily bind together those Tyranid creatures nearby into an effective fighting force and carry on with little trouble. In this way, a Tyranid Warrior Prime is just as capable of directing a swarm as a Hive Tyrant and many an Imperial officer has suffered as a result of underestimating their ability to project the Hive Mind and lead lesser Tyranid creatures.

Tyranid Warriors Primes have also earned a fearsome reputation as resourceful and cunning tacticians, directing nearby Tyranid creatures through the Hive Mind to take advantage of terrain, enemy movements and other prevailing battlefield conditions. It is often the failing of the Imperium (and even some xenos races such as the Tau and the Eldar) that the Tyranids are seen as mindless animals, driven forward by the will of the Hive Mind with no thought to tactics or strategy. The truth is of course that creatures like the Tyranid Warrior Prime and the Hive Tyrant are just as capable as any other commander, perhaps more so as they have unshakable faith in their troops and are fearless in battle, making them almost the perfect battlefield leaders.