I remember my first time going up against nids on the table top, having no experience what-so-ever with the faction figured, hey, my Khorne berserkers'll deal with those genestealers in no time...I was wrong..oh I was so very very wrong lol.
I know how you feel. I stuck my Obliterator ontop of a ledge, thinking he'd be really hard to reach and just gun down their really tough customers. I had no notion of how Lictors worked. I was pretty suprised.
I think the hive mind is immune, like most animals, but mostly because they build a psycic shield. However if an Iron Warrior hijacks the Dominatrix (Tyranid Queen of a Hivefleet) he can controll the whole Fleet...
I'm still not sure how that's working, since the hivemind is the only thing controlling the Tyranids and it is doing so by using synapse creatures, not the dominatrix itself. I know that it is one of the strongest connects to the hive mind itself and therefore allows to control a horde of lesser tyranids in it's vicinity, but I cannot wrap my head around how you are supposed to use it, hijack the hive mind and control the rest of the fleet, especially the parts that are not in control range. Could you tell me where the story about the Iron Warriors is, where this happens? Maybe it can shed some light on the issue for me
sadly I don't have the reference at hand, but I can search for it. However the Dominatrix is the biggest synapse creature, which controlls and coordinates every other synapse creature in her hive fleet. (basically like the Swarmlord^1000) So if you kill her, every Tyranid would turn feral (like Gaunts without Warriors or Tyrants) Anyhow, the real problem is not to kill the Dominatrix or hijack the Hivefleet's mothership, it is more to connect with the Hivemind and replace it with you own mind (because a weak mind wouldn't stand that)
No, a Norn Queen directs the fleet. And if you go onto the ship it's on and kill it, nearby hive ships will create their own as a survival instinct. This is how splinter fleets are created. And just because you kill the Norn Queen (which is no easy feat, mind you) there are still Hive Tyrants, Tyranid Primes, and Dominatrices (although rare) to carry out commands from the Hive Mind. If all of these are slain, then synapse creatures (warriors, zoanthropes, trygon primes, etc.) take command of tyranids within the immediate vecenity and act as packs. Large tyranids can also act as pack leaders as Old One Eye has demonstrated.
The Norn Queen then, I thought they were one and the same (long time past since I last read Tyranid fluff) However they somehow did replace her. Maybe they put a psychic barrier arround her, nullifing the psychic scream, or they carved out her Brain and put someone into the head (note: joke) I don't know.
