Hormagaunt
Hormagaunts (Gaunti gladius) are the Tyranids' basic assault organism (read: tarpit). Equipped with a pair of Scything Talons, their job is to rush into close combat and either slice things into nice small pieces, or keep enemy walkers from walking anywhere. They can be assisted in the former role by the addition of Toxin Sacs or Adrenal Glands, making them even more killy. They can be assisted in the latter option by keeping some Synapse nearby. As they're members of the gaunt genus, they're unsurprisingly most effective when fielded in numbers, though they don't need quite the same numbers termagants do. Good for drowning your enemies in poisoned attacks.
Despite wanting to be run in large groups, gaunts are juuuust a bit too costly and too fragile to serve as true horde-wave forces. Upgraded, they have a similar cost and stat line compared to daemonettes but without the nice rending, fear, or invulnerable save. They are probably best used as a support unit to back a larger push or to block for a specific unit.
Their Role for the 'Nids[edit]
Before the full attack of a Tyranid Hive Fleet, Hormagaunts are often dropped in Mycetic Spores in such large numbers that even if many are destroyed by orbital defences those that make planetfall will pose a serious health problem to any inhabitants.
Hormagaunts have a deadly instinctual ability to hunt that needs little direction from the Tyranid Hive Mind. They are so single-minded in hunting that they will ignore personal injury and tiredness until they have run down their quarry. Unlike Termagaunts, Hormagaunts can actually eat food; once they've run the puny humans down they feed upon their prey, ripping pieces of flesh apart with razor sharp teeth. However their extremely fast metabolism will always drive them to constantly seek out new victims. They are usually left to their own devices once a Tyranid attack is underway, though occasionally the Hive Mind will intervene and direct them towards a more distant and more important target.
Hormagaunts, unlike other Tyranid creatures, are female hermaphrodites females that are capable of Parthenogenesis and have the ability to lay hundreds of fertile eggs in the ground to reproduce independently of a Hive Fleet. Each Hormagaunt has a short lifespan but once one generation has died a fresh wave will have hatched and grown to maturity, ready to carry on ravaging a world where the previous generation left off. So like ants or Orks, clearing a Hormagaunt is a colossal pain in the ass and may require sustained orbital bombardment filled to the brim with Prometheum. Otherwise the surviving population will have a new sport or training program for the Planetary Defence Force.
Other Variants of Gaunt[edit]
Because the Hive Mind loves reusing bioforms, there are a number of variants of the gaunt:
- Termagant: Their ranged siblings.
- Spinegaunt: Termagants that are fanboys of the bug cowboy.
- Gargoyle: Their flying siblings.
- Barbgaunt: One of the new Tyranid models coming out of 10th edition, these unfortunate gaunts are artillerists and thus have been enslaved by parasitic bio-weapons, much like the other variants of Nid artillery.
- Neurogaunt: Much like the above, the Neurogaunt is both a new model from 10th edition and enslaved by another parasitic Nid. In this case, it's a Neurocyte, a biological internet router for the Hive Mind.
- Nightgaunt: Defined by the 3rd edition codex as a Gargoyle with Scything Talons and an Implant Attack.
- Deathgaunt: Likewise defined by the 3rd edition codex, a Hormagaunt with Scything Talons and Toxin Sacs.
Additionally, there are many, many gaunts mentioned in the fluff but not fluffed out beyond the name and some artwork that portrays them all as regular Hormagaunts or Termagants. A chance for /tg/ to get shit done, especially since a good number can be guessed based on their name and those of the other Nid organisms:
- Crucigants
- Exegants: Given the similarities in name to the Exocrine in name, they're probably a Barbgaunt variant with a small Bio-Plasmic Cannon instead of the Light Bio-Cannon.
- Genogants
- Hellgaunts:
Similar to Hellgun, so clearly a form carrying a Multilaser. This pleases them. *BLAM* - Lashgaunts: Probably Hormagaunts with Lash Whips, like the Spinegaunts are to Termagants.
- Malgants: While the name is similar to the Maleceptor and thus implies some form a psychic variant, the Neurogaunt already fills that role. So they're likely either a variant name for them in the new fluff or some form of offensive psychic repeater.
- Mortegaunts
- Protogaunts: Perhaps the original gaunt genus?
- Pyrogaunts: Some form of flamer variant and probably as shit as their elder brother.
- Razorgants
- Rendergants
- Slashgaunts
- Terrorgaunts
- Toxigaunts: Given the resemblance to the name of the Toxicrene, probably something like that and the Venomthrope, a gaunt with Feeder Tendrils and spore chimneys on their backs. Given the similarities of the Toxicrene and Venomthrope with the Maleceptor and Zoanthrope respectively, one could even convert some from the Neurogaunts.