30 years of Tyranid SECRETS in UNDER 23 minutes

[@OldenDemon]

Use code oldendemon at the link below to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan: incogni.com/oldendemon

[@Glaaki13]

Trying to make a video longer is fine, yet you are a boring little man

[@dekai7992]

In the late 90s and early 2000s, everything Andy Chambers touched turned to gold. He slways found the perfect balance of the Rogue Trader weirdness and the grim-dark ridiculousness that is 40k, and the way he reshaped existing material always advanced the world and made it even more interesting and bigger. I will forever be greatful for Battlefleet Gothic.

[@JPR3D]

Something I love about long-living gaming settings and why the "X stole from Y" argument is moot, is that these settings were made by a bunch of nerds all riffing from each others' creative works and pop media. It still happens today because one of the biggest creative inspirations is making your own version of something you love, but it tends to be more subtle. Great video.

[@crapparc]

You are completely correct. Anything you write is added to a great big pile of parts that everybody rifles through then mixes and matches as he or she sees fit.

[@adamlakeman7240]

The White Dwarf with the Tyranids vs. Eldar & Guard battle report was my first introduction to the hobby. It was a hell of an introduction.

[@rp7155]

That is one of my fondest white dwarf memories

[@Anarcho_slimer]

🎵 "Who do you think you are kidding Mr hive mind? If you think old Ichar's done"

[@YatzeeWillWearAGreenHat]

It's so weird to listen to an essay that assumes you're in their age and not a confused 20 year old that has no idea how he got here

[@wanderingpaws3111]

I still to this day have no idea why a Mawloc would be Skibidi.

[@codycurtin2295]

As one of the old men who are the target for the essay I want to welcome you to Hell.

[@MrDaveyboy1985]

You're one of us now!

[@jordcarter2359]

The channel is called olden demon.... you're certainly confused about something.

[@rafale1981]

Welcome to Gen X tube son!

[@brianwalsh1339]

Always good content, Mr. Olden! It’s always interesting to see how these old armies evolved over time. A video on how radically the squats from Rogue Trader vs the Squats from Necromunda/Leagues of Votann would be absolutely interesting.

[@OldenDemon]

My working theory is to do one of these types of video for every army in the game at the moment

[@brianwalsh1339]

@@OldenDemonlovely! I can’t wait to see it! Also really interesting that Andy Chambers basically birthed what would be come modern Warhammer. He seems like a radical dude.

[@kerbal666]

Talking of GW stea..being inspired by other media. Who else thinks the Haurspex, Malefactor and Dactylis broods look like the Ohm from Nausica: Valley of the Wind but with funny arms tacked on?

[@CocoHutzpah]

That was my thought exactly

[@drhapi5308]

I like this. My own Jormundgandr splinter fleet, Hivefleet Nidhogg, have sand bases like Arrakis and their carapace is also Sand. They like to hide and slither. No one knows why Tyranids would need to adapt to hide like this, but they invaded through the ghoul stars and apparently needed to hide when they were there.

[@dukeofdarlo5896]

The funniest thing to me is that the old Genestealer hybrids are pretty much what we have now with the Genestealer Cults. I'm sure there might even be an old sculpt in there somewhere, given GW's penchant for cost cutting. They even have the obligatory 50 mismatching colours on every singular model. 😂

[@Vulpes89]

Clicked for the tyranids, stayed for the dads army

[@paulbarnes8905]

An ork version of this would be my favourite video ever. Fantastic job.

[@steweygrrr]

Hive War was truly what got me into 40k in general. I had exactly no money so we used to use the force org cards that came with the Epic starter box and Hive War to play skirmishes on our decidedly unsuitable bedroom floor mak8ng things up as we went along. Fun times.

[@warjackedsworkshop]

Nicely done and well broken down. Been looking at 40k alot more myself lately and where all they got their inspiration from. I never looked that close at the game until recently. When I look at the Eldar Striking Scorpions I see Predators. (Talking the SciFi ones in the movie not what people get in trouble for.) Necron as a whole screamed Terminator especially when they had their special rule "We'll Be Back" just none of them looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Imperial Guard's At-ST I mean Sentinel got a remodel after Star Wars if I remember right. The Eldar and how they warp around reminds me of Aura Battler Dunbine. (Don't watch it if you don't like Tragic Hero stories you won't get your life back) Speaking of Eldar the more modern look reminds me of Guyver. Tau weren't made until after the cartoon series Exo Squad was discontinued if I remember right. But then it's not uncommon with all the hidden inspirations. Look at Blood Bowl. It was released in 1986 but the first Fantasy Football game was released in Dragon Magazine by TSR in 1982. Even Star Wars was technically inspired by something else. George Lucas got his inspiration to make Star Wars from Buck Rogers.

[@ThisIsYourGodNow]

clicked on this out of desperation for some content and was surprised to find out its really good

[@dist0rted320]

"Their purpose served, the eyes died..." That's got to be one of the BEST lines in all of Warhammer. Just that one quote conveys so much dread, the ruthless efficiency of the tyranids, it plays into the theme of the 'nids reconstitution of biomass and perfectly conveys that the milky way is now nothing but a target on on the radar of an unknowably huge force, the tyranids KNOW where we are, and they're so sure of it that (both literally and metaphorically) using their eyes is a waste of fuel and energy. If that's not horrifying, then I don't know what is

[@thecactusman17]

1:40 STOP IT! STOP IT! HAVE SOME MERCY!

[@jedibasschoke8909]

So many forgotten memories, so many unpainted old box sets. I had a bunch of these models in the early 90’s

[@erraticuk]

The 1991 25mm game "Kryomek" may have had a bit of influence on the look of Tyranids. A lot of GW staff worked on that game.

[@joadams8022]

Fun fact 1: 'Mind slaves' were invented for Advanced Space Crusade, so you could use your CSM, orks and gretchen from un-advanced Space Crusade. Fun fact 2: Termagant, Harridan and Dominatrix are all words for an angry or controlling woman.

[@TheShauntrainor]

That battle report with the allied Eldar/Imperials was amazing. I loved that issue

[@sterlingnorthum3911]

I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you starting this channel of yours when I first started demoing space hulk here in North Texas

[@OldenDemon]

@@sterlingnorthum3911 Awesome, there is always more to come

[@marojiv]

I normaly dont comment on youtube but this is by far one of my favorite topics and execution of that said topic. Very well done sir, please do more.

[@emily-alicewolf196]

That intro with Dad’s Army made me immediately subscribe. Good work!

[@TobiasBroad]

7:48 As my old war gaming club used to joke, “If you ever see a mushroom cloud coming from Nottingham, you know someone at GWHQ has just had an original idea”.

[@tannergee]

It may be an unpopular opinion, but I don't think there is some other foreign threat. I think the tyranids like locusts or piranhas ate everything in the system they are coming from. In order to survive they either needed to eat eachother or themselves to survive or move on. So the nyds shot scouts out to watch for evidence of other galaxies and therein a new source of food and survival.

[@kwest9747]

Also, in swarming locusts, they move so fast as they are starving. They’ve ran out of grass and turned cannibalistic. The ones at the front are fleeing the ones at the back until other sources of food can be found.

[@tannergee]

@kwest9747 Exactly how I imagine the nyds!! But it's smart enough to plan ahead a little

[@tepecwho]

Great video, despite my delusional hope for the return of the Malanthrope in some form being crushed; I wouldn't say exactly why, but even watching that screenshot in your video now, to this day it still feels like the "least-dynamic-yet-most-menacing" creature to me as it did all this time ago; it's such an amazing and inspired sculpt that embodied and "personified" so perfectly the way I sort of visualise the Tyranid threat. I instantly loved the creature and would be really curious to see a modern but more importantly non-resin version! Anyway, thank you for this episode!

[@daroth7127]

You should do this for the other factions, going over their progression and release. you have a real good video concept here

[@OldenDemon]

This is the plan

[@scalion44y22]

sweet, this vid got reccomended to me when it has 40K views, feels good man :)

[@Shredow2]

I'm so happy that you're very fair regarding the connection to the Zerg and Tyranids. Too often I see 40K fanboys dismiss Zerg as a wholesale Tyranid copy when, in actuality, while the Zerg are conceptually inspired by Tyranid or at least took from the same sources, alot of modern Tyranid design queues were present in Starcraft first.

[@waynegoddard4065]

If your old like me, do you remember the feelings of just holding a space Marine or tyranid back in the day? There was something really cool about them. Old metal chaos terminators? It was a treat. Now they've made it all clean and crisp. Brilliant models but chaos were chaos just because of naff arrows. Now primaris carry bigger guns than themselves. I liked the old gothic stuff. The old metal legion of the damned? Brilliant stuff. Even the old rhino was mint.

[@superblobfish2567]

Really really pleased with this video, I'm glad you didn't linger too much on any particular thing even though you could have

[@jacob_swaggerz]

Love these dives back into the original lore from Rouge Trader and the early editions. Can you do more of these? And make them 3 hours long?

[@Squirrelsquid]

That Tyranid Dominatrix goes hard, though. Especially with the Alien Jockey pilot.

[@simonpeaty]

Brilliant, once again. Great pay off with the Dads Army - Jones is acting strangely reference!!

[@boot_boy_6945]

Im rather fond of this clever British man. I think I will subscribe.

[@patricksharpe1148]

10:47 And as your waiter, your still paying for that Pepsi pal.

[@richtheunstable3359]

Horrors of the hive mind, a short story from the early days of black library. Psyker ends up aboard a hive ship. Sees the nids cutting up and experimenting on people. He then manages to glimpse into the hive mind. Sees that they are driven not just by hunger but the desire to survive. To survive they must be able to adapt and so are collecting DNA from across the galaxy. So that they can adapt to whatever the universe throws at them. This is early BL (so only sort of canon even when released and shouldn't be taken seriously now)and written by Barrington J Bailey and that dude had some mad ideas. Has 1 novel to his name to "eye of terror" well worth a read.

[@user-zp4ge3yp2o]

I like that original carnifex with the four big arms, it really stuck out to me when i saw it in whitedwarf as a nipper

[@mrtalos]

Congratulations, you have made me feel more ancient than the Necrons in under two minutes than anyone else. But then Necrons are a newer faction than Tyranids, so I'm all right.

[@Mr.Glitch]

Remembering the OG tyranids, it was quite a shock when I came back to the hobby after 30 years. They killed my zoats! Where where the warriors wasp butts?! Where's da squigs?!

[@elsistemamackenzie]

3:45 - the panicky feeling in the pit of my stomach when i think someone from a KZbin recommendation video is about to try to sell me something

[@theylivewesleep.5139]

Cool, been thinking about their place in the setting lately

[@glyngreen538]

My Epic tyranid army gets used at UK Epic tournaments sometimes and they’re a solid list. Epic Armageddon is an out of production game but still gets played and lets you run Dominatrixes and the other big old stuff on the tabletop.

[@davidmorris5561]

Really great work, thanks for your work and keep it up!

[@Horseman_04]

Damn. Dad's Army, that brings me back. Love that show.

[@owenwhite333]

Great vid, I remember getting a scythed at launch, forgeword still feels like a new thing. Wow I feel old😂

[@CocoHutzpah]

I've been fighting the urge to get a few Tyranid models for a very long time. I know if I get a few, I'll end up with a swarm.

[@gavinbaker7421]

Fab little vid! While I get why genestealers were packaged in with Tyranids back in the day to make a somewhat functioning list, a part of me wishes that genestealers (and their little cultist fellows) had managed to endure as a separate xenos entity to the Tyranids. With the success of Horus Heresy, it would be cool to explore more of the Rangdan Xenosides. With their brief bits of lore describing them as a collective and controlling other races, I always thought that the Rangdan echoed gene stealers. Heck, it would be pretty cool if Gene stealers were the last remnants of the Rangdan! Could be a very serious reason why the Emperor ordered the II Legion destroyed, if its Primarch and half the legion got the Hybrid treatment! Alas, mere speculation...

[@Ungantor]

The timeline is wrong for them to be actual Tyranids since it predates the pharos- But somebody related could be interesting. What if the "enslavers" were somehow related? What if some precursor to the tyranids was defeated in the time of the old ones, and what we are seeing now is merely a weapon run amok? As for the genestealer cults in specific, I really just miss how they played from 7th to 9th. The whole thing with radar blips really changed the way the entire game played, giving it strong Space Hulk vibes.

[@Wijkert]

That sponsor spot is so well integrated that I don't even notice the transition.

[@CyberSammael]

Very happy to see the Tyranids in the spotlight, and doubly so that Epic features prominently - it's different scale often resulted in new vehicles and units to meet the needs of the game and this is too commonly forgotten. However, 23 minutes of Tyranid lore and creatures and absolutely zero mention of the Grabber-Slasher? How is this even possible? How can such an iconic troop be overlooked? It would, at first glance, seem to fit the sombre and very serious tone of this channel generally.

[@OldenDemon]

I forgot about the Grabber-slasher, I might have to try and squeeze that into another video somehow

[@kwest9747]

The wife won custody of the grabber-slasher. OldenDemon only gets to include it in videos every other weekend.

[@krinkrin5982]

What I would love to see is a model of the tyranid burrower organisms.

[@heralds]

i loved the late 3rd and 4th aesthetic, still recognizably the GW design, wheras the newer stuff is about 50/50 for how i enjoy the sculpts. Although the new screamer killer and psychic thing are homages but they were models that i didn't like in their original incarnation either lmao.

[@mazimadu]

2:21 this is by far the funniest delivery I have ever seen!

[@rupertcortes3980]

Bugs with proper weapons like organic guns, and organic swords.

[@jimmydesouza4375]

The funny thing is that the bugs from the starship troopers book were more like techno-jellyfish than actual bugs.

[@tabletopsidekick]

Great video. Well done!

[@lukecrockett467]

Really great video. Thanks for make such funny and interesting content.

[@Dumnonia]

Hive Wars came out when I was about 13. At the time I thought "how do GW come up with all these amazing names for things?". Names like Dominatrix

[@wescha]

Aaaah yes, I fondly remember the game where i rolled countless sixes for "Jones behaving strangely" against my opponent playing Chaos space Marines. A lot of Terminators died that Day.

[@pit_shost]

"was it starcraft" lmao

[@MrZauberelefant]

You're wrong on the Jones is acting strangely bit. It says that nothing happens if the model is already dead. Pick a dead guy after the first one chestbrusted, done.

[@OldenDemon]

Yes you are right

[@newtybot]

I think Starcraft taking the idea of Tyranids for their Zerg only to inspire the Tyranids to redesign more like the Zerg is EXACTLY what would happen if the two factions fought for real. They'd eventually just become one faction, and it would probably happen overnight

[@jalenwebb8695]

This dude is crazy. Subbed

[@jhandlediihggdfhg]

I'm just glad they never got the Nucron's treatment... I don't want my unknowable extragalactic alien to be relatable.

[@YatzeeWillWearAGreenHat]

Trayzn being a thing counteracts all mystic that has been ruined

[@christopheraaron1255]

It's getting there, unfortunately.

[@cactus_judy3929]

Necrons lucked out, they are their own cool thing now. Tyranids would not be so lucky

[@crapparc]

Don't forget that Starcraft was going to be a Games Workshop game until GW pulled out. That's why the Zerg seem so familiar.

[@Right_Meowww]

8:48 Slaanesh approves of that codpiece.

[@dudeoftherock1183]

Didn't this guy used to sing for Crowded House? Some fall from grace that

[@OldenDemon]

He’s on Top of the Pops 2 right now

[@waynegoddard4065]

You earned a subscriber. Well done you.

[@GangstaMonkey214]

Are you going to add that Tyranid Attack artwork to your recovered artwork page on your website? The image you have in your video is much higher quality than any I've seen online

[@OldenDemon]

@@GangstaMonkey214 that’s a good idea, I need to look at that page again

[@aimmoth13]

But which carnifex model is the best?

[@FnRenner]

GW should combine GSC and Nids in the same way they did with Agents. Lore wise, it makes sense

[@stephenwood6663]

I remember how 2nd edition Tyranids had a rule that let them kill psykers just by standing within bolter range of them. It was supremely annoying.

[@ph0n1k]

I have same kind of issue with Tyranids as I do with the droid army from the SW prequel trilogy. Why build a tank that requires a number of droids to operate it, rather than build a tank that's a droid? I think that Tyranids would have fully evolved bio-weapons that are part of their bodies rather than develop /manufacture /grow ones they hold and manipulate. Some of them do, but not all of them. It annoys me more than it should do. Great content btw.

[@micmac274]

The fires of Zeus? Surely it should be "by the Mark of Khorne" or "by the Emperor" if we're talking about 40K.

[@Reddotzebra]

Oh yes, I remember the old art now... The Hive Tyrant, (is that a Hive Tyrant or a warrior?) it has a crotch-beak, it makes so much sense... (It even has those little rasping plates that the Screamer-Killer does, so it's a crotch-beak that can spew bio-plasma?) "All the better to eat you with..."

[@Feroce]

The warrior is the one with the crotch beak. Man, those things were truly alien looking.

[@Grymtydeify]

Arnold Rimmer probably thought he was like captain Mannering too 😉

[@noops9220]

11:00 you could do a mean emperor palpatine impression

[@SpydrXIII]

I NEVER NOTICED THE BEAK CROTCH! Tzeentch would be proud.

[@MrZauberelefant]

Don't you shit on Alien 3, that one was brilliant! And very 40K, I might add. 10:45 aaah, fell for it :((

[@Mechwario]

I would also suggest "you vs the guy she tells you not to worry about" for the thumbnail

[@chitzkoi]

I've always thought "running from something worse" was so cringe

[@rusty_from_earth9577]

What, you don't want primaris 'nids?

[@jonathanpandolfi4607]

Fun fact: there were at one point chaos genestealer cults. So weird but interesting

[@wanderingpaws3111]

I love Zoats so much. I wish we could get more.

[@SteelRob21]

I always thought Zerg were inspired by tyranids, as a Zerg fan I'm "proud" to hear that it was the opposite

[@donnylurch4207]

Warriors and Gargoyles are too significant to remain without a model refresh for long, especially with how much bad I hear about the flight stands for the Gargoyles. A Kill Team including Warriors, winged or not, would be a great way to roll them out sooner rather than later. Tyranids lost their Compendium team in the new edition and never got a bespoke team, so they have to be due for one soon.

[@marcashman9767]

WOOOOO 2ND edition and the first nid codex!!!! And I actually took part in the icore campaign at my local shop God damn it I'm old

[@LWD-Hidden-Links]

I remember that squig story!

[@drjandethlefs2257]

Should mention Kryomek...very similar and wonder who stole the designs from whom. Back in the days they were the much better looking aliens

[@EtherRich23]

2:45 Fimir were from Warhammer Fantasy Battle, they never appeared in the Rogue Trader book

[@theemissary1313]

Hey, Olden Demon, can we get a closer view of the shelves behind you and their contents? That 500 box has me curious...

[@OldenDemon]

@@theemissary1313 it’s just the merch box for the 500th edition of White Dwarf, I think it’s out of stock now though

[@theemissary1313]

@@OldenDemon Ah right, cheers there boss, love the channel :)

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

Yes inquisitor, this is the video I was talking about.

[@gantorisdurran710]

The zerg in Starcraft were literally Tyranids, Blizzard wanted to use the GW IP but Games workshop in their infinite wisdom refused so Blizzard invented Starcraft and warcraft instead.

[@treesandgeeking]

Yay, love your vids

[@kevscott8123]

That first description can be directed at humanity to

[@MajorSvenGaming]

Anyone know the issue number of the white dwarf in this episode. I remember having it and would love to read the report again.

[@OldenDemon]

@@MajorSvenGaming 189 for the battle report

[@OrakelofDeath]

ca. 0:26 : Oh... grabbing the junger Franchise, which was a 4ßk Ripof in the first Place out of the example-box. Don't know, if this is a good idea.

[@mattias969]

Cosmic lotuses sounds pretty nice.

[@ericduan19]

I stumbled upon your video by chance. Great content, I love it. I'd like to point out that maybe you should aim your camera a bit downward, framing your head a bit higher. The current camera angle is a bit awkward.

[@OldenDemon]

I will try it out

[@ThommyofThenn]

On the subject of "borrow" or "inspired, it's odd how sometimes people get sued for IP theft. Then we will see something that is basically a direct copy be ok. I should check into the legal precedents of copyright law soon!