Codex: Tyranids (2nd Edition) - Codex Compliant

[@Kirioth]

I can never decide whether I like 90s Tyranids or not. On the one hand, they look goofy AF. On the other hand, they're just so WEIRD. And weird is good. Aura of Torment is awesome, and scary.

[@theswampus670]

I like the Art, but the models just don't work for me.

[@bigbodge]

I feel like on the model side of things (and sadly thats literally it) the tyranids have significantly improved. As you say, the old ones look weird, and weird is good, but not particularly menacing, just weird. That being said, the whole constantly evolving thing makes it kind of make sense lore wise why the tyranids look different. Why they havent changed in years however despite being shockingly bad on the tabletop doesn't really fit so much into the lore. Maybe the hive mind decided it'd be better to look cool than actually win anything

[@pcppbadminton]

I stopped playing and collecting after 3rd edition so I guess I can't really speak for the current models, but I liked how each Tyranid model type was unique back in the 90s. Like they were designed from scratch for whatever purpose the Hive Mind needed. It probably makes more sense that they all mostly look the same, like they're tweaked versions of the same blueprint, but seems like it kind of lacks imagination IMO.

[@vincentmuyo]

@@SusCalvin After. Zoats are Rogue Trader era.

[@alienatedbeing7513]

I loved them when I was kid, the carnifex was my favourite nid model

[@MidwinterMinis]

I love those angry beavers 90s Tyranid Warriors. Goofy and terrifying.

[@CitadelSavage]

Goofy and terrifying is the best kind of horror monster!

[@jerrywhoomst1116]

You should use your grimdark voice on one of the passages in one if these videos, that would be awesome.

[@Skull-Render]

It's the opera singer carnifex that cracks me up

[@anotherzingbo]

They were an early example of GW's "red period", and I remember thinking that they looked quite a bit more goofy and less convincingly alien than the Protonid briefly featured in the Rogue Trader rulebook. It didn't help that they first arrived in Advanced Space Crusade, with its technicolour board tiles and goofy Space Marine scout models. I'd only been in the hobby for a couple of years by the time they showed up but I remember being a bit unconvinced about the direction that GW was starting to go with its paint schemes, because even a 16 year old can be a grumpy curmudgeon about things changing from what they were used to into something new.

[@gjb81216]

They reminded me of Modulok from the He-Man toy line!

[@SimonClark]

Huh, I never would have guessed that the genestealer cult had an army list this far back!

[@YossarianVanDriver]

Yeah, as they indicate here they got one in White Dwarf supplements even in 1st ed, they just went away for a long time (certainly by the time I started playing)

[@nakenmil]

The limousine was glorious! (EDIT: also fun to see your here, Dr. Simon Clark.

[@ratspike8017]

Indeed - the Rogue Trader era army list appeared in White Dwarf, true, but was then compiled into the er, "Compilation" book, of which I am still a proud owner. Only a few of the pages have come out.

[@anotherzingbo]

The first White Dwarf I ever bought was White Dwarf 116, dated August 1989. It contained the Genestealer Chaos Cult army list. Not only that but the previous issue contained a Genestealer Invasion Force army list - basically a horde of purestrains and a handful of hybrids that have just made planetfall from a space hulk. This means that Genestealers had two army lists 2 or more years before Tyranids got theirs and those lists were available for 4 years out of Rogue Trader's 6 year run. Remember that Space Hulk originally came out in 1989 and basically established a look for Genestealers that continues to this day. It's probably unsurprising that GW chose to leverage the models they made for that game by bringing them into 40k too. They in fact did something similar with the Tyranids, the original Tyranid Warrior models were first released in the board game Advanced Space Crusade in 1990 and got brought into 40k a little later. Advanced Space Crusade didn't have anywhere near the longevity of Space Hulk though.

[@mr.pavone9719]

You haven't read your Rogue Trader? What are you, some kind of heretical born again christian evangelical?

[@marcwittkowski5146]

3:05 the bold initial letters combined are pretty much what every sane human would like to say as they turn around upon seeing a Tyranid hive.

[@philiphockenbury6563]

That’s genius. I hope that it’s intentional.

[@Appolyon]

Nice catch. I didn't even noticed.

[@dashiellgillingham4579]

Thank you for spotting that.

[@daedalus6796]

I hope Keith gets their book back one day, the poor lad deserves a break

[@rogerstewart5525]

I think my favourite thing in this book that wasn't mentioned was that ripper swarms could eat terrain. If you moved them through a forest, you had to remove that forest from the table

[@Phoenikuz]

I do enjoy that the capital letters on the introduction of the Tyranids spells out "B-Y-E".

[@shadowstrider8295]

I was half expecting Snipe to say "I'm sorry Keith, but I'm afraid we can't do that."

[@noamtepper456]

The best KZbin videos usually involve Snipe, Wib and a second edition codex.

[@Therealblacktux]

And an oversized plush ona sofa

[@aidanfarnan4683]

Last time I was this early, Genestealers were still a separate thing.

[@andyj2k]

I am 38 years old. I was in the hobby in my teens and have just got back into it in the last 18 months. I just got the Sly Marbo thing 😵

[@KabinMiniatures]

The "soft" retcon of the genestealers was a clever way of doing it! I much prefer that way of handling the lore than simply erasing the past...

[@anoninunen]

10:10 - Genestealers steal squat weapons, Tryanids steal the Squats. That's some circle-of-life right there.

[@stephanenguyen8786]

Oh no ... You forgot to mention by far my favourite thing in the whole codex : "JONES IS ACTING STRANGELY !!" XD

[@jackp492]

what's that a reference to, like a parasite creature?

[@Rynewulf]

@@jackp492maybe the genestealer cult?

[@dmeep]

reading disapproving headmistress snipe is my new favorite snipe

[@kiernanmcclelland7212]

Such memories. Who could forget the old Carnifex or: Stubbed Toe the Miniature.

[@wyattking3240]

Tyranids also had a boat load of ways to hinder the enemy..like “Jones is acting strangely”, where a barbed strangler bursts out of a model in a group and attacks them to “They’re all around us!” Where the group can’t deploy normally and comes in on turn two with the added bonus of models going missing before they do so..don’t forget most tyranids caused fear but if you got the “We can’t take anymore!” Result they caused terror for that group instead! The tyranids even had a chance to have a random bug slink into a tank and eat the crew, meaning you could start your game with an unmanned and immobile tank that you had to sacrifice valuable manpower to get running again. Tyranids were scary as all get out!

[@MasterShake9000]

The 2nd ed Tyranid army is one of my all-time faves of the 40k ranges over the years. 1 - I love the somewhat cheesy 80s low rent sci-fi vibe of some of them, esp the Tyranid Warriors 2 - I love the differing designs - I feel that in the absence of individual personalities like Marine Captains or Elder Farseers get in the lore, it helped provide some personality to the Tyranids that a Hive Tyrant and Carnifex and Lictor all look very different 3 - Related to that, I feel like modern Tyranids often look like the same model at different scales to me, both because of how similar they look in design but also in paint job Similarly loved the Epic Tyranid range too.

[@Vespuchian]

4:21 As a Lamenters player, I get this. I'm also pleased to report they're most definitely still around as of the latest Blood Angels Codex and only reinforced with Primaris marines and entirely not refounded from the ground up because there's barely enough of the old Badab War veterans left to fill a Thunderhawk these days.

[@tigeriussvarne177]

I still remember standing in front of a bookshelf, trying to figure out what army to play. As you can see on my avatar, I went with Ultramarines. But the Tyranids where my 3rd choise. Good times. ^^

[@ultramarinescaptain3840]

Understandable, have a nice day.

[@tigeriussvarne177]

@@ultramarinescaptain3840 You too captain.

[@baynemacgregor8441]

I’m shocked, SHOCKED, that the random tables of things that happen to your opponent before the game even starts and the special Tyranid Attack mission weren’t discussed! They were such a radical difference from playing any other faction in 2nd edition as to being a big part of my building a Tyranid army as well as my Genestealer Cult I’d been playing through 1st edition.

[@philipmoore1409]

Oh my Hivemind I think that was my codex I owned back in the day! The bad hand writing and it's were I used to put in my younger days put my name! If it is my old copy I'm so happy you guys have it. 😁

[@philiphockenbury6563]

That’s incredibly wholesome.

[@SnipeandWib]

I would never in a million years have thought one of previous owners would see this haha We promise to take very good care of it :)

[@supremetarantulasorcerer165]

Wow😳

[@SymbioteMullet]

I really like the old Carnifex, i much prefer it to it's newer forms. The old garish colour schemes were fun too, and make sense if you consider that lots of creatures in nature (like highly poisonous frogs, snakes, and insects) are also very brightly coloured.

[@DrumsTheWord]

That intro Space Crusade music is just the best. Took me right back...as did this codex. One of the few codex's I purchased as a child with pocket money.

[@Garrot]

Love how the intro blurb spells "BYE"

[@HiveLordLusa]

I THOUGHT NO ONE ELSE HAD NOTICED! I was so confused that they just... missed that?

[@vyanesh6487]

Nothin’ like waking up in the morning and happening to be EXACTLY just in time for a new Snipe and Wib video.

[@cianwalsh9137]

I love hearing the Star Trek cloaking noise for the lictor

[@jonb1172]

I've still got a whole load of 2nd Ed Tyranids painted up in the original scheme with the classic flock and Goblin Green bases. You've inspired me to pull them out of storage! Here's a little bit of trivia regarding colour schemes: the Tyranid Warriors specifically were originally described as always being a bright red when they're younger which fades to a pale bone/white as they age, which is why you'll always see the GW studio 2nd Ed warriors painted mainly red/orange with just a few white ones scattered here and there, regardless of which Hive Fleet they belong to (I like to think of this as the precursor to Hive Fleet Kraken's scheme). Similarly, Genestealers - both purestrains and hybrids - were always painted in the classic 'Space Hulk' scheme of blue/purple (which these days is associated with Hive Fleet Hydra). Of course that changed completely in later editions.

[@gratuitouslurking8610]

Feels weird as a later arrival to the 40kverse, I first learned of it around 5th edition and basically the two schemes I was always aware of for Nids was blue/red (Behemoth) and when I actually got to modeling, white/purple (Leviathan) who are basically the poster fleet. Just funny how GW in the past seemed to jiggle around who was where and the focus at the time.

[@wolvz7081]

🥂🎉Happy Codex Compliant day everyone!!!! 🥳🍻

[@telenNG]

Absolutely love this one I never thought I'd be watching your video where "firing colon" would be something that could be said in any kind of context

[@felis1977]

You should look into the Advanced Space Crusade than. On the hive ship there are no doors - only sphincters ;)

[@PelinalDidNothingWrong]

The old Tyranids aesthetics feel like something out of Toxic Crusaders or some other 90's saturday morning cartoon. It's what makes the older stuff cool to me

[@Recovery15]

I love the fact that the brilliant opening passage that opens the intro reads out "BYE" if you read the first letters, as if the author was subconsciously prepping to bolt

[@williamaitken7533]

Yooooooo I was wondering when y'all would be looking at old school Tyranids stuff! Wonderful!

[@GentleBen_86]

This is a very nostalgic video. It was this codex's launch issue of White Dwarf (issue 188) that got me into the hobby back in 1995 after I stumbled upon it in a newsagent's. I still have that issue too. Nice to see the 90's minis again.

[@danesorensen1775]

Last time I was this early this meme was still alive. Not just a new Codex Compliant, it's a codex I haven't already collected in pdf form! Thanks guys.

[@kentuckyfriedwargaming5527]

What a delightful trip down nostalgia lane.

[@hannahdawg6829]

Probably because I have a splitting headache today, but I could physically feel that "blunt razor blade scraping across glass" description

[@MrPooleish]

Yes! YES! FINALLY! MY SPACE LOCUSTS!

[@BlindedbyDaylight]

'...a little old nibble on the imperium' - simply amazing!

[@thomassaxon8254]

I have both the metal and plastic version of the 1st and 2nd ed Nids, including the Warriors. They were born mincers those lads. I still enjoy playing 2nd. Especially with Nids. They're proper terrors on the field. Unlike every edition since Cruddace started writing them (5th essentially).

[@Kmodal]

Really love this series. What about a series just going through old white dwarfs?

[@mykegreenlese8471]

The instant I first found out about this series, I felt shame and regret for having thrown out my 2nd edition Codex: Tyranids because I knew you would have a field day with it. Alas, the book was water damaged and full of mildew, and I got rid of a long time ago. I realized eventually you would do an episode on this book, and you did not disappoint. Thank you!

[@CocoHutzpah]

That end card made me notice the beak full of teeth in between that warrior's legs.

[@Dracowinges]

These models definitely look way spookier than their modern cool looking ones. The warriors and mr screamer especially.

[@antonpreacher2900]

I love second edition codex ! Those books were full of a lot of things beside the stats. And the second edition colorful art is my shit. I miss it so much. Nostalgia for me is playing Tyranids 2nd edition in 40k and some weekends playing first edition Space Hulk (with Deathwing and Genestealers) with my dad. He sold those games…I’ll do anything to get Space Hulk 1st edition and the extensions back but being in France (those things are RARE here) and poor (and expensive) means I’ll never do. So thank you for all those videos, I live my dream through those :)

[@mattshaw5179]

I first got into Tyranids when they appeared in the first issue of white dwarf I bought (145, it also had an advert for the d-rok album!) I've loved them ever since, but I'll always have a soft spot for those early 90s goofy looking metal models!! Great video!!

[@CaptainRufus]

Dammit stop making me nostalgic for the mid 90s.

[@colinmasterson666]

0:45 The Blood Ravens chapter in a nutshell.

[@danrichards9516]

You cover enough of the older stuff I subbed. I haven’t played since 3rd edition, but it’s nostalgic to see the old packages and pictures and models.

[@U2QuoZepplin]

I love those old Coven Limousines. They're probably kitbashed from some old model car kit from a model shop but they were so memorable and cool! I want some!

[@stunitech]

Around this period there was a guy who would regularly turn up to our local GW games night with 4 biscuit tins chock full of genestealers. The legend of Hivefleet McVitties haunts us 25 years later.

[@1985slipstream]

Nid players were usually pretty good I thr shop as it wasn't an army for newbies. Most marine players had no idea how to deal with them . I had guard and when the deployment zone of 12 inches from the edge of the table was the limit I'd only be using 1 inch right at the back with heavy bolter weapon teams auto cannon teams and 1 or two squads of ten man cannon fodder to hold them up in the middle.

[@stunitech]

@@1985slipstream Indeed. I remember that the standard anti nid tactics of the time revolved around either doing exactly the kind of thing you describe doing yourself or Castling up in a corner using the old "denied flank" tactic. IIRC, there was a mission you could pick from the 2nd ed nid codex where they would just continuously recycle units you completely destroyed right back into their deployment zone in never ending waves. Everyone got smashed in those games until they figured out the key was to whittle the nid squads down to a few models and play your objective cards properly rather than follow your usual instinct as a 12 year old and try tabling an army you can't table because of the scenario rules. Ah, 2nd ed how I miss thee!

[@DarkLordFoamy]

Ahhh the 2nd ed Tyranid codex. How I started 40k and probably still my favorite iteration of the tyranids... even though it is really weird putting the 2nd ed models onto the table now next to some of their current range with the size differences.

[@TesseractMinis]

This might just be my favourite CC yet! Great work, folks!

[@malteschaper3782]

This was the first clip I watched from your channel and I loved it!

[@darrenivey4273]

Great video. I've got a large nid army based mostly in 1st and 2nd Ed models, as I think this was a great style. Although I've nothing against the newer nids, it's just that 2nd Ed was when I got into the game so that's the look I prefer.

[@deathcorefreak93]

The perfect thing to watch while building my new Warmaster Titan

[@kglguy]

Enjoy the build! I'm looking forward to startung mine.

[@GJ203]

I love how they just hold bone saws like regular humanoids.

[@justarandomname420]

Olde-Hammer is still the best Warhammer. Squats for the win!

[@chibizion]

I've very happy to see that Snipe and Wib are still filming in the vaporwave dimension. It looks fabulous as always.

[@animeator]

Excellent timing for I needed some fun codex talk today. May your biomass have been reasonably priced and arrived within the hour.

[@nikkicoyotie8431]

it was really nice of you two to track down a Squat engineer to read the intro for you c:

[@johnheater6697]

I actually have a Tyranid army thats mostly models from this Era. It certainly gets some looks!

[@Mrkabrat]

In the bright colour scheme of 2nd-3rd ed 40k?

[@johnheater6697]

@@Mrkabrat The original models- They aren't the same color scheme that is shown in the book but it's something similarly bright and gaudy lol

[@Digitaaliklosetti]

oooohh! do you have photos if the army online anywhere?

[@Mrkabrat]

@@johnheater6697 Still, it's the brightness of the colour scheme that adds to the 2nd-3rd ed 40k and 4th-5th ed WF. That, and the screaming face of the Carnifex

[@johnheater6697]

@@Mrkabrat It's definitely cool, but it's also super hard to replicate

[@zyglotopbrol5492]

The pseudo-reanimation rule sounds so badass and unique, a real shame it's not still in the game for the big armored bugs. Would make them stand out more from the other armies rules-wise

[@Trashloot]

I just love the style of this book. The cover, the layout, the artworks... its just perfect :3

[@endtimestcg5146]

You two are the BEST! Needless to say! The old stuff is the best! 2nd Edition Codex COVERS!!! YEAAAHHHSSSSSS!

[@thra-x1855]

one of the few rulebook covers to feature unnamed horrors in the background that actually got rules (down the line)

[@U2QuoZepplin]

I'm glad you're glad we asked Snipe. 😊

[@Jonathan_Green_Gamebook_Author]

I enjoyed your video. It was fun taking a trip down memory lane as I wrote much of the colour text for the codex.

[@Kaiyanwang82]

FYI - Fly High was also an important rule in pre 6th edition WHFB, with all the consequences you can imagine for your warmachines, let alone your lines when w terror-inducing dragon lands nearby your goblins in a game in which you cannot just turn willy-nilly your units and charge.

[@nightfire734]

I was at a con a few years ago and played a non 40k game with some of the OG Tyranid Warrior models and had no idea they were Tyranid, or GW for that matter, models at all. Just so wacky and cute.

[@martincann5052]

I saw that Robot Wars cameo! Don't think you can slip that sort of thing past me!

[@ThomasMurch]

A Robot Wars cameo?! And I missed it?! How shameful of me... Can you recall where it was in the episode?

[@OrakelofDeath]

Well... this video remindet me, that there were some pretty great monstrous Tyranids back in the day, I alweays wanted to get my hands on... looks like I have to search ebay once again.

[@snakemont]

Thank you so much! Those early editions really rocked!

[@alisonpurgatory85]

You two did a great job as always, and I'm so happy to see my beautiful bug babies get some spotlight. Those second ed models and artwork are simply gorgeous.

[@Sparkap]

1:14 I just love how every single model in that picture had received new sculpts... Except Baharroth, that still has the same model in the year of our Emperor 2021 XD For all that people talk about the Necrons being the old grumpy folks of the 40k universe, model wise all the Phoenix Lords, with the obvious exception of Jain Zar and Drazhar, are quite older than a great deal of the people playing, let alone the sculpts being used. Probably muttering about the good old days, with scatter dice, flamer templates and units deep striking out of the board or on dangerous terrain

[@madmachanicest9955]

I like how this old models not show up now is covered in the lore.the names are gave by the emipram and the Tyranids change and adapid there unites over time based on what thy encounter. so the mold line changing is just the hive fleets adapting.

[@stalker1983]

Typing this before I start the video. I have very fond memories of this codex. Particularly the time when a young danish lad in 4 or 5th grade came into his english class and asked (I was fluent in english already) if he could sit in the reading couch and read the Tyranid codex he had brought and cross reference with the rules in the 2nd ed rule book. Those were great times (Partly because I no longer had to sing along or read the text to london bridge falling down), so I will now start this video and remember the good times when Carnifexes looked silly, you could play genestealer cults and the tyranid warriors looked something like....well a beaver wasp?

[@stalker1983]

And almost forgot the Brood lord always fascinated me with the " armed with Jaws claws and a mean attitude" XD

[@samaeldesolado]

Thank you guys for sharing these amazing old stuff , brilliant !

[@neubtuber]

I love how the intro to the book says BYE

[@MaylottPaints]

Oh cool, it's Codex: Desk Dinosaurs!

[@sonnytubbs2536]

My first codex ever. Love the screamer killer. He brought me into the hobby.

[@SheolAbaddonus666]

I think it's cool that the old Carnifex model became the Screamer-Killer.

[@animemanXLK]

The part that gets me is that second edition tyranids actually use held weapons that aren't fused to their hands like third edition onwards. This implies other species could steal and use their weapons

[@toxofoz6233]

The best codex ever. I prefer those old characterful sculpts over the generic feeling more recent Tyranid stuff any day.

[@MichaelAlthauser]

Much love for those OG Hive Tyrants and Screamer Killers on their square bases.

[@AFnord]

I actually like 2nd edition genestealer models more than the current ones. There's just something about the design that makes them stand out a bit more, in a good way. The rest of the range though I would describe as quaint.

[@TheBargles]

I tried to brace for whatever goofy title you greeted us by but for some reason, Biovores broke me instantly.

[@00naruhina]

I can't watch you guys and not smile. You're so charming and great!!!

[@Ramsimation]

A story from the tyranids' perspective would just be the lyrics for "food, glorious food" but in a fancy font

[@pigmanpiggypiggyman3732]

I love the Carnifex in particular because it's like a Quake yeti

[@Appolyon]

Oh, the good ol' Tyranids. To this day the only 2nd edition codex in my possession. I think i have some models as well somewhere. One old weapon of a warrior is looted and taped onto an Gorka Morka vehicle (which itself is scratched built out of a M.A.S.K. car). Hey, don't judge me! It was the 90s, i was a child and eager to customise every model i could get my hands on.

[@garethwood8332]

A Tyranid called a Dominatrix? I imagine that led to some awkward conversations.

[@DaiMongar]

Ah, my first ever Codex! I read that thing cover to cover and backwards, and I immediately became obsessed with the Genestealer Cults.

[@stefanp6480]

After month I finally found why this chiptune in the end makes me feel nostalgic in a good way. It´s from C64´s "RoboCop 3 from Jeroen Tel if I remember, right ?

[@Joth4851]

I would love if you would take a look at the 2nd edition Codex: Chaos. It was when the lore of the non-dedicated legions appeared (And where I fell in love with the Word Bearers) and it also had some lovely wonky bonus army lists at the back!

[@matthewberryman6609]

I love how bright the old tyranids were.

[@danegustafun]

Is that the standard pronunciation for "Behemoth" in England?

[@richtheunstable3359]

I would say yes. Buuuut the whole be-hee-moth pronunciation is also accepted.

[@squidcultist0022]

Chaos going along with genestealer cults: "we do a little trolling"

[@mintyfreshmetagross5437]

I know the patron list is just in alphabetical order, but I choose to believe that Snipe and Wib put ADB at the top of the list as a massive flex on the rest of us.

[@ratspike8017]

This video is kinda sorta nostalgic for me. I remember buying the book and indeed all the models way back in 1995. Alas, I am still finishing off painting a few, with my Gargoyles up next. It is sorta not nostalgic too as I am mixing and matching them currently with more modern minis... 2nd ed Codex: Chaos next?