Warpshadow.com

Hello everyone. This concludes the entry portion for the sixth contest. This month we received 4 great entries.

Of course the winner of this contest will win a fabulous Trygon kit from our sponsor and dear feeder-beast: Sofacoin!

A few things to remember when voting:
1. You only get one vote so make sure it counts.
2. You may- if you wish, vote for yourself, as all voting is anonymous.

Also make sure to keep in mind the point of this competition: to create a converted unit of models that best represents the constantly evolving nature of Tyranids, specifically in the Troops force organization slot. Pick a model, which you think best represents this theme, as well as one that you think presents the greatest artistic merit.

On to the entrants:
Swarm Diversity Gallery

Lovecraftian Genestealers by Asplund
Two ‘eaded Dakka Bugs by KrewL RaiN
Tentacled Genestealers by DeGraff
Pteroshrikes by djHg

So there you go! Choose wisely and keep in mind that voting ends July 15th.

If you have any questions or comments about the entries and their backgrounds, feel free to share them here

Good entries, it was a bit tricky to decide what to vote for.

I also noticed that the link to DeGraffs genestealers is broken, it has an extra "http" in front of it.

Suppose I should share ideas behind my design...

The 'typical' appearance of Shrikes is that of a generic warrior where wings replace the upper limbs while also acting as scything talons.
I never really liked that... So fluffed my way out of it and into a different idea.

My Hive Fleet (Munc'Kin) was initially little more than a tiny tendril on a much larger fleet.
That tendril was ultimately defeated in orbit above a T'au world, however in the process the T'au sent various hive ships to oblivion via atmospheric re-entry.

1 Hive Ship survived and a tiny remnant impacted a remote section of the worlds ocean. That Hive Ship held a Norn Queen.
That Norn Queen from the abyssal depths had practically limitless biomass with which to heal, re-build and evolve.

The native fauna of the T'au world of Munc'Kin was largely prehistoric and the evolution of various Tyranid strains represented the biomass from which they were harvested.
Oceanic 'Plesiosaurs' initially became the Trygon strain of the Hive Fleet before later evolving to the land based snake like organisms, later on in the consumption of the world the 'Pterosaurs' would become the basis of the Shrike's template, and eventually the Whole Warrior strain.

The Pteroshrike evolution had forelimb wings that were exclusively used for flight, and as such the beast required less and less use of hoofed feet, instead the were re-evolved by the Norn Queen into scyting Talons, allowing the Pteroshrikes to engage in flying hit and run attacks as they no longer needed their wings to attack effectively.

The evolution was so successful that it has been kept for a significant period of time now despite numerous worlds being lost to Hive Fleet Munc'Kin the Shrike form has only changed slightly, the overall bodyform still outperforming variants created from other, newer biomass.
Munc'Kin's Shrikes are rarely seen with ranged bio weapons, instead appearing with swarms of Gargoyles and winged Tyrants that prefer to engage their prey in close quarters.

I present for the competition my initial brood of Shrikes with twin Bone Swords for hunting down large, tough prey.
Your death comes from above!

Wings were made using this tutorial

I'll keep it supershort. They're amphibian.

I will copy paste over my little blurb. I forgot to mention the air intakes on their backs lol. Adds a little more pew to the pewpew!

HF Cicada, when it was a splinter, crashed onto a Deathword. Only a few ships and the Norn Queens vessel survived. There they encountered a strange group of Orks, and if the Queen was to survive and rebuild the fleet, they had to devour these Orks and whatever else they could on this planet.

As the two forces collided, some new strains of Tyranid were developed to take out as many Orks as possible, while staying alive themselves to converse biomass. One of these strains was an elite genus of Termagaunt specially designed to combat Orks. The Orks called these new gaunts "two 'eaded dakka bugs" They appear to be of the Termagant genus, with some genes of the Hormagaunt mixed in for a speed boost. They have a massive devourer symbiote grown into their chest cavities, and to the Orks, they thought it was a second head! The Queen noticed the Orks uneasiness with the gaunts appearance, so she did alter the symbiote to make it look like a second head. The gaunts middle set of legs are grown into this symbiote, while their main upper arms are used for stability, speed and to claw at any Orks if they should be caught in close combat. These gaunts prefer hit and run tactics and are usualy lead by a larger "dakka bug" mutant with synapse capability (I will be making this count as tyranid prime later). Should the leader bug be slain, the lesser bugs tend to lurk away until another synapse creature contacts them. A new leader will be instantly grown to bring the squad back to full potential.

Evening every one. I thought I would be a little more active in the forums. First I would elaberate on the conversions of the stealers.

I procured some of the blue plastic stealers on ebay (my favorite place to shop might I add), and used parts from the 4th ed stealers and began the hacking, pining, and reconecting everything. Not one nid is in the same pose, reduncany is a pet pieve of mine, and is not tollerated. (laugh)... So then began the fun part, filling in the small gaps with the ever so popular green stuff and also so magic sculpt. (white stUFF) the texture and modlability of magic sculpt is rather nice, and allows for un godly detail. So yeah, There it is. Not as creative as the other entries, but I tought it was a great way to recycle the old bugs. I infact like the older stealers, great models, just the same pose. not good., very borring....

Now, for my little bio and history...

Years ago, in a gallaxy far far away.. Just kidding.... lolz...

Deep in the abyss of space, beyond the system in which Tyran orbited, a space hulks wreckage drifted in to the dark cold emptyness of space. Once it carried fleets of Ultramarines, ready for battle, but now it only was the nesting place of Genestealers, scutling across its ruined hull. These Tyranids, long forgoten by the Norn queen and advancing fleets, lurked only now inside the icy hallows of its ceramite shell.
First of their kind, the genestealers evolved, mutating and addapting to their envirnment. After the bloodshed and battle with the Ultramatines, the genestealers harvested the new biomass into their alien bodies. Now they wait, for their nect victoms, more powerfull and stronger than any strain of tyranid to have ever been encountered. These genestealers, Ultranids, or Ultrastealers patiently stand by, eager, and thirsty for the flesh and blood or their next victom.