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'''Hive Fleets''' are massive locust-like [[TyranidsTyranid]] swarms, comprising billions of creatures including the actual bio-ships, living spacecraft used to cross interstellar space and the voids between the [[galaxy|galaxies]] and . Each creature of the massive voids in between in massive, locust-like '''Hive Fleets''' hive fleet is inseparably part of millions of sentient bio-shipsthe hive mind.
An entire hive fleet is directed by the single coordinating will which is its [[Hive Mind]], formed from untold billions of individual consciousnesses, each of which is a living creature in the fleet. Mankind still searches vainly for the higher beings they suppose control the hive fleets, and though such mighty creatures exist they no more control the hive mind than single brain cells control a man's body. It is the sum of the hive mind which motivates it, not its constituent parts. Three major Hive Fleets have invaded the galaxy, each coming into conflict with the [[Imperium]]. Of the 3 three major Hive Fleet invasions, two entered the galaxy through the [[Eastern Fringe]], but one is moving up from below the galactic plane. The bio-ships contain everything required to sustain the fleet; some ships being purely for crushing resistance, the larger ships contain birthing pools to create the huge land armies of the Tyranids and even more ships when the need arises. The nutrients used as food and raw material are replenished by scouring conquered planets of every cell of biological matter, including all the Tyranids it seeded onto the planet. Because the Tyranid forces are recycled in this way the "design" of the Tyranid warriors can be altered by genetic engineering, allowing the Tyranid forces to rapidly adapt to overcome any enemy. Further, the Tyranids absorb the DNA of defeated enemies, allowing for further genetic diversity. It is believed the [[Genestealer]] and [[Broodlord]] are derived from [[human ]] DNA, the [[Zoanthrope]] from [[Eldar]] and the [[Biovore]] from [[Ork]] DNA.
By the nature of the hive fleets, fierce resistance on a planet will only make the fleet stronger in the end; for this reason only a few tactics have been found to work. The first is to draw the Tyranids into a large ground battle, forcing the fleet to deploy as large a ground force as possible. Once this is achieved, the planet is evacuated, following with [[Exterminatus]] as the Tyranids strip the life of the planet. This tactic is effective as Hive Fleets are dependent on the impetus gained from absorbing each conquered planet; the Hive Fleet will also have lost the biological "energy" expended to conquer it, including all of the bio-material of the ground forces and by the nature of Exterminatus will not be able to recover any from the planet. This tactic is extreme and also damaging to the Imperium, as it destroys a valuable and habitable planet every time. It has been projected that there may not even be enough habitable planets in the galaxy to stop the Tyranid threat, especially if more Tyranid fleets arrive from outside the galaxy.
The process of stripping a planet of life usually occurs by:<br>#Insinuating [[Genestealer]]s in the population. This step isn't always necessarily present, but [[Genestealer Cult]]s are frequent enough to warrant mention.<br>#[[Mycetic Spores]] are launched from the Hive Ships, and [[Lictor]]s and other Tyranids, such as the Genestealers, begin the attack.<br>#The Hive Fleet moves into close orbit, having defeated local resistance in space.<br>#The Tyranid Forces land in full, and begin the attack.<br>#The bodies of the slain on the planet are thrown together into [[digestion pools]], where [[Capillary Tower]]s are lowered from the Hive Ships to gather nutrients.<br>#All forms of life are extinguished, all nutrients are gathered, and the Hive Fleet leaves the empty husk of the world for another.<br>
==See Also==
