Just How Powerful is the Swarmlord Really? | Warhammer 40k Lore

[@majorkill]

"Is the Swarmlord the Most powerful warrior in the galaxy?" "The Swarmlord isn't even the most powerful Tyranid" Not sure how to segway that into a plug about great skincare products so here we are : geolog.ie/MAJORKILL70

[@gabrielbelouche3954]

Nah its not as bad as bedbugs.

[@casbot71]

Mate, as a balding redhead in Australia, my skincare routine is to try and live a nocturnal lifestyle as much as possible. And carry 50+ in my pocket everywhere... Nice one to my ancestors who decided to make this our homeland.

[@gabrielcurraj3994]

Can you do a lore units ranking for each faction ?

[@gabrielcurraj3994]

Can you do an Assasin vs Custodes video

[@vladthemanpire5894]

​@@casbot71 They may have not gone willingly bud

[@logangrimnar3800]

The swarm lord is basically just a gamer, which explains his chaotic, inconsistent behavior. Feels no pain in battle, respawns after dying and can customize his stats before respawn. He's having fun. Lord save us when the nids find the Adderall and Mountain Dew factorums.

[@kwentynhook2309]

Gotta look out for those platinum league Swarmlords, bloody sweaty lot them

[@bennyb.1742]

But loses every time, just getting angrier and angrier. Analogy checks out.

[@remygallardo7364]

Bro is literally playing a 40k Fromsoft simulation

[@Michael-pn6rn]

Nah, Great Unclean One is much more like it

[@Brother_O4TS]

Pretty sure a lot of fanfics have been made of this lol

[@amanofnoreputation2164]

*Small brain:* Using your galaxy brain to easily destroy your enemies from far away. *Big brain:* Augmenting your melee potential with devestating psychic attacks from the huge galaxy brain you were bioengineered to possess when your opponents least expect it. *Galaxy brain:* Never using your galaxy brain and arrogantly indulging in melee combat by challenging the most heavily plot-armoured space marines you can find to a formal duel.

[@kingbasilisk7880]

Warhammer 40K is perfect for using melee so why wouldn’t he do melee instead of long range combat like a cowardly tau

[@refugeehugsforfree4151]

@@kingbasilisk7880 To save BioMass.

[@FateDarkess]

​@@kingbasilisk7880glorious melee combat.

[@lface7426]

​@@refugeehugsforfree4151to save biomass? Look, I get it. Its fiction. But anything that uses its own life resource as ammo is going to skimp on bullets and go hard on beautiful melee. I won't get into how much energy is needed to create the velocity needed to move something really fast 20 feet to effectively end something (like a hangun) as opposed to the amount of energy to swing an axe. The whole concept of long range from a bio usage perspective is ridiculous. They shouldn't even have the option. Its just not cost efficient.

[@xJM37x]

​@@lface7426 The amount of energy needed to use ranged projectiles is not too high. A person can easily throw something like a javelin and be effective at 20 feet and beyond. If a tool is used that is more efficient than regular throwing (e.g., an atlatl to throw the same javelin, or a bow to shoot an arrow), then it's even more effective. Now, something as light as the bullet you used as an example needs to be going pretty fast to be effective. Could an organism ever produce that velocity with muscles? I suspect not, but I don't know enough about the subject to be certain. Regardless, for a Tyranid that is bioengineered for a specific purpose, I think it makes some sense. I presume their bodies are supposed to have some kind of sack that holds projectiles and propellant, not unlike a soldier carrying magazines filled with cartridges. As for using their own "life resource", i.e. biomass, their whole deal is expending some biomass to get more. I think they are able to recycle some of it if they win. It's all a bit far-fetched, but bringing real considerations into 40K is a headache.

[@brickwall9781]

My theory is the Swarmlord sees melee dueling as the ultimate way to learn, hone skill, and gain combat data for the Hive Mind, especially using to its advantage the ability to respawn. Maybe going harder with psychic attacking is perceived as not as much of a way to help the Tyranids' virtue of adaptation

[@slimjim877]

The swarm lord exists to facilitate feeding the hive fleet. If it can kill something with a mind bullet then that should be good enough for it. Having it just Leroy Jenkins named characters so it dies is lazy.

[@Fordmister]

@@slimjim877 could be though that its a consequence of its expanded freedoms. We don't know exactly how the tyrranid hive mind works. It may well be the case that the hive mind needs to give the swarm lord much greater mental freedom to facilitate its tactical brilliance at the head of the swarm, but that extra freedom may well leave it with more primal tyrranid impulses. Without a synapse creature lesser bio forms devolve into much more primitive predators . Its entirely possible that without the hive mind keeping something as intelligent as the swarm lord on a tight leash its reverting to its own personality more and more, whilst as its to smart to devolve into just a primitive predator the looser the leash the more personality more complex bio forms might show. Hell for all we know the swarm lord has a similar personality to the hivemind, and that personality might be that of a bloodthirsty nutjob that personally quite enjoys cutting people up with 4 massive swords. Given we know so little about the true scale of the swarm the hive mind may well have so much natural resource available to it its having a bit of fun vicariously through its swarm lord. The swarm lord running into mele with 4 blades in its hands risking the entire invasion force if it falls might just be the hive mind playing with its food enjoyi9ng a good old bit of hack and slash

[@DioLT]

​@@slimjim877 To be fair gathering the most information on its prey may be considered the best way to feed the hive mind I guess. He's just playing the long game

[@austintaylor1378]

No. He does this cuz whoever he fights and kills is by far the most important person. Lord wouldn’t risk death otherwise.. the hive mind is starving all the time. When she deploys her Lord, she means its job is to win the war not “learn”… it’s almost like a gamer activating a power boost and then her hive mind can look elsewhere while knowing Swarm Lord is there locally to maintain cohesion. Tyranids don’t want things to take long. The mind is working on a million worlds and when things take too long, the hive mind has to move on to other tendrils or focus elsewhere. Swarm Lord is a shard of hive mind I believe left locally to sustain momentum overall for the race. BAAL is the only instance I believe where the hive mind truly turned its gaze onto one point one battle as if the blood angels die, the rest of the galaxy surely falls… also.. hive fleet hydra is a sleeper baby hive mind on the world. My theory is to boost the tyranids beyond omega level, like geth, they need a synapse hub in the galaxy to reduce “ping” … this baby hive mind will grow into the ruler of the fleets in Milky Way as the hive mind another distant galaxy away, releases control to their child… the true reproduction of the tyranids is to produce more hive mind planet size bio forms. They never leave that system or place of origin. They just psychically know how to reproduce and once a galaxy is reaped, the next generation leaves the galaxy throw their new ping to reach further stars

[@slimjim877]

@@DioLT but if he can kill it quickly, there's not much to learn. It's there because it's a tough foe and the fleet wants to eat to multiply. That's why it exists, to crack open the defences quickly because things are taken too long. The writers having it drop that just because they need it dead and the space marines need to win is just dumb. It's lazy and cheap writing for a spectacle they can give to literally anything bigger than a warrior.

[@the-wanderer111]

Khaine: Sup, you the new guy. Swarmlord: *Tyranid Noises* Khaone: I know, right? Fucking bullshit blueberries.

[@user-kc5gf3rw3n]

😂😂

[@swarmlord6121]

I do hate Blueberry Bob

[@williamhanna9718]

What’s funny is the Swarmlord still did something no else has done and bodied the main Ultramrine before Guilliman returned

[@Ozzy08018]

It depends purely on whether it's facing a named character or not. If it's an Unnamed army, it's insane. If it's named, the Swarmlord explodes.

[@Santisima_Trinidad]

Heres my theory about the swarm lord often dieing in duels: in order to upload it's memories and experience to the hive mind, it has to die. As such, whenever it thinks it's gathered enough data to be useful to the hive mind, it engages the nearest high tier enemy combatants, and dies facing them to upload it's memories to the hive mind. In the face of the custodies holding off a million nids in a chokepoint, the swarmlord engaged them to find how powerful the custodians are in 1v1, as the million nids just getting slaughtered clearly indicated swarms wouldn't work. Killing 2 it gained data about them being absolute monstrosities in 1v1s, and dieing to the third after wounding them. Showed they had killer instinct, a will to go on after massive wounds, and handidly uploaded it's memories to the hive mind. The reason it doesn't get regular nids to kill it is both a matter of pride, additonal data gathering, and the fear that if commanded to kill a hive tyrant look alike, and then lacking the authority figure which told them to do, the nid swarm would go and kill all the other hive tyrants in the area and proceed to implode, burning itself out and wasting toms of biomass for no actual gain.

[@dadbod808]

This is now my head cannon. It actually makes a lot of sense

[@justinanderson2460]

This guy beat me to it but yes, this is my headcanon now. It also adds another layer of "even when you win, you lose" because even if you manage to kill the fucking thing, then everything it's learned just gets uploaded and the Hive Mind can adapt at a much higher/faster rate - something likely to fuck you over later. Plus, it will just respawn anyway if the battle goes on long enough. So killing it is catch 22. You either allow the advanced strategy of such a high tier synapse creature ro keep commanding the swarm and eventually you get overwhelmed or, you kill it and it only comes back layer stronger and even more capable - advantages it passes onto the swarm anyway. Awesome theory mate. 👌🤘

[@Vallarok117]

"What kills you only makes you stronger"

[@logangrimnar3800]

Nah.

[@thejuiceking2219]

it's a theory about why the avatar of khaine gets krumped so much the eldar can see the future to an extent, and Khaine is known for murdering eldar by the many, and khaine is durable in a way most eldar units aren't so the idea is the eldar deliberately set it up to die, because if they don't there's a chance it'll survive and turn on the eldar once everyone else is dead

[@ChillerMan.]

Swarmlord: Exists Random Protagonist: Is for me?

[@EPICLIGIT]

I hate the mental image of a named space marine, you pick em, pointing their index fingers together while being pigeon toed.

[@akumaking1]

Trazyn the Infinite has one

[@fersho450]

Random Named protagonist*

[@patrickdees5256]

So the main issue with a swarmlord is: it's basically a ork that loves a good krumpin.

[@Corrivalchain45]

The biggest threat to the swarm lord is a ruthless and feared entity that nobody has bested in combat that calls itself…black library

[@alecryan5962]

While I agree that plot armor is likely a better explanation, a more lore friendly explanation could be the fact that the hive mind sees every bio-organism it produces as expendable. Even if they die, the hive mind can always make more. This mindset may be preventing it from creating organisms with the necessary survival instincts to not make small mistakes like over-extending in a duel or turning your back on a wounded opponent.

[@histrogeek]

A theory on its lack of psycher powers may be that it needs to use most of its psycher ability to coordinate the hive fleet, so it only uses limited, either in power or duration, attacks. So an attack is like repurposing radar as an emp or a communications array as a jammer.

[@SillyLegz]

Swarmlord, the greatest manifestation of the Hive mind. Gets one shot by repulsor on the tabletop

[@user-KR386]

To be fair that is a lot of guns shooting at it before it gets close. A one shot kill from a Laser equipped Repulsor Executioner makes sense.

[@husseinA.]

Swarmlord sees Marneus calger "Guys! Avoid that dude with bullshıt hacks."

[@mrckapm2241]

TBH the whole Carnifexes vs Avatar of Khaine thing always makes me chuckle cuz I am just imagining the Avatar getting pumped for the most epic boss fight he has had in a long time only to instead get mogged unceremoniously

[@thelonelyregigigas6126]

Swarmlord: Rattle em boys!

[@mrckapm2241]

@@thelonelyregigigas6126 Swarmlord: “I’m gonna do what’s called a ‘pro-gamer move!’”

[@s.k4713]

Swarmlord “release the hounds”

[@groovyhoovy2606]

Jojos part 5 curb stomp scene

[@phantomwraith1984]

I wanna see swarmlord vs norn emissary. My boy, the emissary, killed 4 custodes before Trajan and another 6 custodes finally brought it down

[@goldendoomslayer6301]

Not too mention the one killed a "score" of dreadnaughts. If i remember right a score is 20 like holy shit lol that's alot of coffin bots

[@bloodangel19]

I've seen some folks who want so see Guilliman duel the swarm lord in the new space marine game. Lmao what duel the swarm lord gets one shot.

[@slimjim877]

The funny part of that is it only killed them because they were in it's way.

[@TheEmperorsLegion]

Not even 6 Custodes left, it was just Trajann and one random one left standing. Norn Emissary handles its business

[@williamhanna9718]

Yeah the Custodes only died cause they got in it’s way, it wasn’t even paying attention to them cause it was trying to kill Lord Solar Leontus. Imagine if the Custodes were it’s target

[@Alaric11]

The three Lt. Worf's of 40k: avatar of khaine, swarmlord, and angron.

[@trixus4768]

At least, Angron is only getting clapped by Primarchs. In Arks of Omen, Dante, drops down near him only to get nearly killed by halfed-measured bitchslap from Angron...

[@KDPenland87]

It would be great if the final boss of Space Marine 2 was the Swarm Lord! Then Captain Titus could perhaps go down fighting him, taking the swarm lord with him, and it would be like a win-win. Captain Titus would have a concluded story, the grim darkness would be upheld (only in death does duty end), and the swarm lord could kind of get in a win against a named marine. (Wishful thinking)

[@chrismanx]

Would be great but unlikely since Thousand Sons are involved.

[@fuchsmichael93]

Winning against a named Ultramarine that doesnt wear a Helmet? Nothing but Fanfic

[@Thymalous]

Finally a Video about my precious and cute bugs!

[@thebean6496]

Hersey you’ll be sentenced to death Heretic (I also like trynaids)

[@xzenitramx666]

Who are you ian watson?

[@Vegeta8300]

Yeeessss! Nids are best! For the Hive Mind!

[@redluke8119]

The hive will consume all we hunger for life

[@withlovefromlightindust591]

Hello Majorkill, Would you kindly make some lore videos on the Imperial Truth, the Imperial Creed, the Ecclesiarchy? Pretty please? Thank you.

[@BeepTheDull]

Oh that’s a good one.

[@AbhimanyuSunilkumar]

This is a good topic

[@gunthergiel7088]

❤ good one ❤

[@TheCorrodedMan]

Would you kindly…powerful phrase. Familiar phrase?

[@lord_inquisitor_flietch]

​@@TheCorrodedMan "Now, would you kindly pick up a crowbar or something?"

[@Endofnames]

Imagine the swarmlord getting super jacked because it fights the lion over and over and learns from the best swordsman walking the galaxy at this moment. That'd be scary, I think it'd be cool too if the lion noticed this happening and had to adjust his tactics/strategies to avoid accidentally giving the swarmlord too much of a buff.

[@user-KR386]

The image of Calgar beating the Swarmlord to death with his super badass power fists is epic. Dante blasting it in the face with his pistol is also epic. The Swarmlord is definitely the most badass Tyranid.

[@AveSicarius]

Just one thing about the Swarmlord, its actually a supremely powerful Psyker (stronger than Zoanthropes that can melt Custodes with a glare) that forgets to use said Psyker Power's The Swarmlord actually WINS all the fights it's in, against both Dante and the Custodes Shield-Captain in that absurd short story (after slicing two Custodes apart in seconds). It then decides to Villain Monologue (it literally raises the Shield Captain up and lets him stab it in the face in a very cheesy way), forgets it has a variety of other abilities, and tends to just let people it could easily finish kill it for whatever reason. It gets worfed because it can respawn, just like the Avatar of Khaine, because writers don't seem to know how to make their characters look supercool outside of them killing more powerful opponents in ridiculous ways through Plot Magic. It's actually around a Primarch's level of strength, probably stronger physically, but with more limited innate Warp Abilities though with stronger active abilities (it can use a Void Shield that can block a ridiculous amount of damage, it just forgets it can do this for some reason). The Swarmlord is better than the Norn Emissaries if we assume that the Hive Mind gave it more gifts, and an Emissary cut through 4/5 Custodes in a flash while focused on getting to its target over just, you know, killing them all. The Emissary also forgot that it has Psyker Powers which would be very effective on Custodes, so it can be assumed to be even more dangerous. If the Swarmlord didn't keep Villain Monologuing and actually used its full potential it would be far, far more dangerous.

[@om9959]

No zoanthropes has ever killed custodes.Custodies consistently wash swarmlords.Psykers powers dont affect custodes very well.Norn emissary far stronger than swarm lord and far better fighter.In nowhere in lore it is stated that swarmlords rival primarch.This is pure bullshit done by fans nothing more.

[@pipeline789]

I think it makes sense that he doesn't use his psychic powers in duels that much, as he telepathically commands a planet wide army simultaneously and probably needs his psychic powers for that.

[@dsurfer]

To add in to the reasons why the Swarm Lord dies so often. It doesn't fear death, but not like a Kriegsman or a fanatic. It doesn't fear death because the consequence of death has been removed. It only fears the loss of a battle/war which is a weaker motivator. As with Lucius the Eternal, The Swarm Lord KNOWS it can and will come back. That massive boost that someone gets when they are in a life and death situation is beyond the reach of someone looking at a fight from an intellectual position. I would even say that the Hive Mind likely knows about this shortfall, but dismisses it out of (not undeserved) overconfidence in it outpowering most foes.

[@lonekirin905]

Marneus Calgar: "Round 2, cockroach"

[@Zayamad]

Ah yes, Captain Plot Armor himself.

[@fuchsmichael93]

and then we won

[@daswordofgork9823]

In the lore, the Swarmlord was about to fight an Avatar of Khaine but it chicken out and just ordered a swarm of Carnifexes to fight him instead.

[@shawn6860]

In the Swarmlord's defense. he was watching The temple of doom and remembered that scene with the guy with the sword and a revolver.

[@daswordofgork9823]

@@shawn6860 I mean he’s got more swords than the Avatar of Khaine.

[@shawn6860]

@@daswordofgork9823 Ya, you'd think he would not worry.

[@wilhelmpetzold6904]

As strong as GW needs him at the Moment

[@joshsmith1179]

Great video. As a Tyranid player, it was great to hear this broken down objectively. Keep up the great work

[@Zso-VIII]

It is a perfectly designed bio-organism, engineered for one dread purpose; to prop up the Ultramarines even further.

[@jayallen5599]

I'd like to hear more about the Lion meeting the Nids for the first time, that sounds sick as fuck

[@thorshammer7883]

I would like to see a Swarm Lord use tactics to try to outsmart a Supreme Commander's constant respawning army of robots, tanks, mechs, gunships, orbital lasers, and fleets of fighters, long range bombers, nuclear missiles silos, and a ever expanding military base with infrastructure backing and supplying it with endless resources right at the dime.

[@redluke8119]

Nids are my favorite faction glad to see a lore video on the big bad bugs

[@reillycurran8508]

Worth mentioning that Marneus beating the thing to death came AFTER it ripped 3 of his four limbs off and ate his entire bodyguard accompanyment. Marneus wasn't just Mary Suebberrying his way through that one.

[@colorblindwizard7200]

That joke about the 2023 Tyranid Power Meet gave me a good chuckle, thank you for the laugh on this rough day!

[@LuciusSicarius]

Hopefully we get a Swarmlord boss fight in the upcoming Space Marine game.

[@Vantud391]

Warhammer's The Exodite got me intetested in Tau Navy. Please make a video about them, their strategy and battles they fought against Imperium Navy.

[@quarantinezone2844]

Old One Eye is what the Swarmlord should have been.

[@dalaminaubis7822]

I feel that it's Psyker abilities are more passively spread out over the swarm around it, and it's propensity for quad sword melee is because at it's heart, the Tyranid super organism is a monster that instinctually wants to rip into other things and tear them apart. It knows ranged weapons are effective, but it desires to go head to head against the controlling enemy units on the field, being the personal sword of the Hivemind itself, and in a manner, it's ego.

[@oddball_2887]

I love when majorkill covers none marine things in 40k, the detail and comedy about how good or sucky things are in lore and table top makes every watch worth while😁

[@NoxFlex]

If a hive tyrant managed to survive having a huge statue dropped on top of it then just imagine how powerful the Swarm lord is

[@adeimousragnarok8150]

How Powerful...I imagine that even were one to Crash a Craft World into it, it would survive

[@bryonayres]

Swarmlord is such a cool tyranid type. They need more love in the lore lol.

[@dub4sam95]

My head canon as to why the Swarm Lord losses to some many Space Marines and duels them. Is that it's actually a smaller Tyradid, and people miss classify it

[@evanfish4505]

Cassius is actually a really interesting character a video on him would be rad Also, his mindset going into the fight certainly helped

[@sirhigglesworth]

Putting the Swarmlord at standard greater daemon level means it is inferior to Gotrek & Felix.

[@om9959]

Swarmlord is nowhere near greater demon level. A custodie level at best.

[@sasanahadian2859]

Superb video as always @majorkill. Could you make a video dedicated to the Navigators, the major houses, their politics, relation to the overall Imperium and factions, etc

[@IronWarhorsesFun]

"HELLO THERE" "General Calgar, your power fists will make a fine addition to my collection!"

[@Archy11102]

Swarm Lord - appears. Death Corps of Krieg: It's a good day to die - CHARGE!

[@TMoDDD]

Avatar of Khaine: Its duel time! Swarmlord: Im gonna head out.

[@A_sentient_Rubiks_cube]

"Your biomass will make a fine addition to my collection!" -The Swarmlord

[@AhzekAhriman.]

Can you do a video ranking the Primarchs by intelligence and/or duelling ability?

[@justinanderson2460]

Now we just need another video like this for the Avatar of Khaine. The OG Warhammer 40,000 Warf.

[@princeofpokemon2934]

I'd say the Swarm Lord is as close to a faction leader as you can get. I mean, it's the most powerful of the tyranids and it's a living Nightmare on the battlefield. The only problem is that it requires a metric shitload of biomass in order to create and it takes a long time

[@WolfJarl]

Swarmlord: *chuckle* "Can't beat me the same way twice."

[@fasteddy9789]

MajorKill MY MAN!!! thnx for the work you do bro

[@tabbymonster66]

It’s also worth noting every Hive Fleet has their own Swarm Lord all with their own personalities and tactics

[@maxkogan3785]

The melee proclivity was likely by design. The information is transferred upon its death. It's likely made to seek out the strongest close-quarter combatants on a battlefield and continue to do so until it meets its match, the information it gained in battle most likely used to create an even stronger swarmlord.

[@ReinaSaurus]

as each tyranid creature is made after a steadily improved template, we can certainly assume that each and every hive tyrant is at least a match for creature of the same mass and skill, like space marines dreadnought, multiple librarians, terminator squads, necron overlords and ork warbosses or droves of deff dreads. the swarmlord being the high end of the hive tyrants with an enhanced mind and psychic abilities reminds more of the weaker members of the primarchs like alpharius or lorgar. showing that he goes toe to toe with the custodes shows that he might actually want to get more insight and experience firsthand against the most competent adversaries he can find.

[@diamondhamster4320]

In the final mission Swarm Lord is going to the final boss of Space Marin 2 SP campaign.

[@michaelfain6866]

A video where you talk about what the primarchs would be like if they all reached their full potential would be cool

[@redfoxninja3173]

The terror of the tyranids is not in them having a single all powerful entity, its there is a endless sea of claws, fangs and chitinous hunger that returns better and better each time

[@Alcoholfreebeer]

A video on Valerian and the Hexarchy would be pretty cool.

[@legio-IV-Cataphract]

A video of the top ten community made wholesome moments would be great

[@jaredwilkie6413]

I think the swarm lord is perfect for what it is, it can be very versatile yet still be durable, it can be very fast and can out pace most foes. (I think) the swarm lord prefers melee cause it’s collecting data, if it’s able to be revived/remade while remembering it’s past lives it seems to me it’s serving a purpose a few nids can test…individual prowess. I think yes it has more freedom and yes it has more of its own personality BUT I think it knows this and is given the task of determining how and where it stands on the battlefield. The hive mind knows it has the numbers and swarms tactics down to a tee but it might need a lot more data to put together a more up front prowess army. Is the storm lord weak or getting dunked on (maybe) or is the swarm lord just testing who it can beat and who he can’t, I doubt a lot that the hive mind has not thought through what it’s doing with a big near unbeatable monster that just happens to get dunked on time after time and I think has uses far more deeply than the nids let on. That to me would give great depth and meaning to one of the greatest nids on the field. Great video loved it ❤

[@remygallardo7364]

I like to think that the hive mind births a swarmlord only in the event that it has a very specific objective it requires completed and the moment it is satisfied that the job has been done stops supporting the swarmlord, making it more vulnerable. While it is understood that the swarmlord is capable of autonomy and commanding/organizing the hive around it independently I have no doubt that it still heavily relies on the full might of the hive mind's influence to work together and achieve a greater goal. Everything in the tyranid swarm is a disposable tool, including it's most powerful units.

[@thebonusboss6038]

Honestly I would love a Marnius Calgar video man sounds badass here and is good enough to be the backup commander and the better commander in the imperium of man mtg precon

[@alienstar2088]

So if the Swarmlord is equivalent to a higher class Astartes, does that make the Norn Emissary the Primarchs of the Tyranids? I think it's rather interesting that the Norn Emissary seems to be an evolved bioform of the Swarmlord, both hold a credible amount of intelligence and tactics, both are massive hard to put down bugs and both have access to psychic abilities. It would be interesting to find out if the Norn Emissary has the mind similar of a Swarmlord in the fact that it can think and do things without the need of the link between it and the Hive Mind. Kind of makes you wonder that if the Tyranids continue to be defeated if the Hive Mind will consider "reproducing" or making a new separate Hive Mind in order to take control of the Galaxy.

[@om9959]

No tyranid is on par with primarch.

[@j.t8529]

Swarm Lord: hehe what wrong little Marine... Do you need an adult? Marneus Calgar: No....I am an Adult *Gut punches the swarmlord*

[@secondarytrollaccount666]

A custodes can run like 155 mph or atleast more than 100mph. The fact that the swarm lord can match three of these guys and kill two of them is actually insane.

[@DISTurbedwaffle918]

My view of the Swarmlord is that its purpose is to occupy the enemy's greatest champions. By keeping such critical individuals distracted, the relentless hordes of Tyranids can hopefully overwhelm the rank and file troops. Essentially, the Swarmlord doesn't have to win his duel, he just needs to keep the enemy champion distracted long enough for the other bugs to find a way to expose and exploit weak spots that would normally be occupied by said champion.

[@venkelos6996]

I have to confess I've always been surprised that the "ultimate" Space Bug of Death wasn't more like a giant Zoanthrope, hanging back, with a HUGE synapse field, puppet mastering other Nids. I think the version of the Swarmlord we have is simply because this an assault-based game, and it's good up close. The thing that does annoy me, about this, is that because it is a Special Character, it lacks the very ability it is renowned for; it's adaptability. It's a shame it CAN'T learn from past mistakes, and get respawned with things like regeneration, or flamer AoEs, for while it closes with the enemy. I don't think it's bad, but sometimes feltike it's another 40k scaling thing. The Nids would have to ve losing galactically hard to lack the biomass to replace ANY one bug, yet this one gets respawned almost like Angron, so maybe it's as complex as it can be, and still be able to be refabricated at that speed? Beyond that, the Nids really shouldn't be worried; they wage war via numbers, and attrition, so even impeccable tactics, in one place, on a planet should hardly shift their bigger victory. I'm honestly surprised the Hive Ships aren't just brimming with organic planetary bombardment cannon, and just soften up the defenders from space; it's all getting absorbed, anyway.

[@ezekcerve]

Thanks for making a vid about genestealer cult Jesus!, is a most important gsc events lore vid possible in that future?

[@chimeric7774]

"Every time a swarm lord dies, a custodies gets its wings"

[@drunknnirish]

I would love to see Tu'Shan or Tyberos fight the swarm lord.

[@Bongdingalingus]

lore aside, in a game I played a swarmlord one-turned the lion (funnily enough, straight after the lion had bodied a screamer killer)

[@HondoHoss77]

I’d love to see a Calgar video

[@thedayidied]

Funny enough, the Worf Effect was canceled out in Deep Space 9. Worf was so badass in DS9, and I think it was because the writers realized the error of TNG's ways and made Worf the epic warrior he was always meant to be. But even though Worf himself overcame the Worf Effect, it doesn't matter because TNG's writers permanently scarred Trek canon permanently.

[@fluffly3606]

I hereby headcanon that the Hive Mind would prefer to keep its field general safe in an untouchable backline hardpoint but logistical practicalities and plot armor mean it has to give it some relatively limited self-defense capability and hope for the best

[@Primarch_Corvus_Corax]

Ah yes, the Swarm Lord. Lord of the Swarm. Nothing another wall couldnt handle.

[@Neversprinter]

I love the Swarm Lord and that’s one of the models that got me in during leviathan. With a few games, I kind of think Swarm Lord should have a return ability similar to Angron, but I’m still knew so maybe that’s a bad idea 🤷‍♂️

[@seanshultze220]

I could say perhaps the Psychic ability went to the Physical attack buffing of sorts, like the Swarmlord would rather protect itself with some kind of Psychic Warp shield, amplify the strength of the Boneswords or just able to tank everything by putting some warp spaghetti all over its body This could help the Swarmlord to actually use its physique and its 4 swords in battle to the fullest of its might

[@CteCrassus]

In respect to the Swarmlord not using enough psychic powers, the dude is projecting a powerful psychic barrier 24/7 while mind-controlling literal trillions of minions at the same time it's engaging in high-stakes duels, and he still has focus to spare to throw the occasional mind bullets around, all with no visible effort. The thing is one of the most powerful psykers in the galaxy; It's just that most of its abilities are not particularly flashy.

[@sanguinius3938]

Too bad that Mephiston can SOLO it while Netflixing and Chilling

[@phantomwraith1984]

And Meohiston is a psyker, who are handicapped against nids because of the shadow in the warp

[@benjamincorak7071]

I think the Chapter Master of the Minotaurs would be a good match for SwarmLord what do you think?Love your vids.

[@om9959]

Moloc will destroy it ,moloc is comparable to a wardan custodies and now even became a primaries.

[@itzrycheebchess]

I'd love to hear what you think the result of a battle between Lucius and the Swarmlord would be. Would Lucius win, and the Swarmlord becomes a better duelist? Or does the Swarmlord kill Lucius, and then Lucius becomes a Tyranid/Astartes hybrid?

[@CteCrassus]

It doesn't matter what kills Lucius; They always turn into Lucius, power armor and all. Also, since the Swarmlord respawns with all its memories intact, it doesn't matter whether it wins or loses; It'd become a better duelist either way.

[@omega1543]

To skip shilling go to @2:00

[@EbenTheCrow]

Crazy video idea: "Which faction could Rick Sanchez from Rick and Morty beat ?"

[@itsjustaline]

I have a question : Is the Norn Queen stand higher in the hierarchy chain compare to the swarm lord ?

[@cody1570]

The swarm lord isnt just made and its a new one. It is born as all the other swarm lords of the hive at the same time. Downloading all previous and such memories of all its battles over the span of the tyranids existence. It is legion in thought and it is never truely killed. Like the lictors, they are all one entity. Every lictor is the same conciousness shared as one mind. Not apart of the hive mind but its own VIP sweet for its own conciousness that it can tap into the hive mind like the internet

[@thegreaterclaush8292]

CARL JUNG MENTIONED, WHAT ARE CALM NIGHTS WHERE ONE IS BEING CAPABLE OF SLEEPING WITHOUT BEING TORMENTED BY DIVINE ARCHETYPES

[@coriganbemis7144]

Do an episode on the theory that each Chaos God DIDN'T get the primarch they truly desired. AND delve into who it was they wanted and why and how the Horus Heresy might have changed

[@johnnyscifi]

I think its ability to respawn is why it dies allot, and why it goes in melee wise

[@identity7536]

Maybe alot of the payker potential goes into passivly upholding the swarm-mind link all the time. I mean it is a psykic link after all right ? Maybe it‘s a sort of continous drain on the mana-bar so to say and it will always choose to keep the link up over attacks by design so the main reason of it‘s presence on the field will be upheld

[@Ollaniusperrson]

My brother is new to 40K but came up with a solid tyranids theory. They partially assimilated one of the missing primarchs (11th) who was saved by his legion which was sacrificed to the hive mind who's bioforms were called Rangda at the time. The partial assimilation creates a connection to the hive mind and is calling the swarms to Terra like Kerrigan in StarCraft. Between that and coming in contact with the Lions blood I wonder if we see a primarch tier tyranids specifically created to combat primarchs?

[@CteCrassus]

The 'Nids weren't even close (relatively) to the Milky Way during the Great Crusade; Also, the books suggest that the lost Primarchs were put down and for good reason. The thing that's drawing the 'Nids to Terra is the Astronomican; It's like a giant, galaxy-sized bug lamp.

[@phattadontungtrongsit4137]

As a Tyranid fan this video is a big W

[@AbbeyHeap]

Thank you for the content.

[@seankillingsworth8618]

Swarmlord vs named Greater Daemons (Skarbrand, N'kari, Kairos, Ku'gath) when?

[@buoyantsalmon]

Was there a swarm Lord in the space marines 2 trailer? He got bodied by Titus being blocked with a chain sword and shot with a plasma pistol

[@krampus9983]

The swarm lord getting wharfed is the perfect balance to a faction the writers are trying their damndest to carry. Tyranids are essentially that kid on the playground that goes “nuh-uh” and makes up new powers when playing make believe.

[@slimjim877]

How i imagine the writers go about making these uber beasts and then just shitting on them. Writer one "Oh ge, I've made this monster that is the physical manifestation of 'insert entity here' I sure do hope people like it. It's bigger than a primarch, stronger than anything else, and can kill anything with a flick of its wrist." Writer two "oh that's a cool monster, which random character do you want to kill it?" Writer 1 "I don't know, get the dartboard out and we'll see. Oh its 'insert random marine that's only alive because he's the writers personal favourite Mary sue'"