It made them a kind of forward scouting force, which would settle in on planets and create the mafiosa-like cults I previously mentioned. I think - and here I'm getting a little hazy - that it was towards the end of the life of the second edition of 40K that the first Codex Tyranids came out, and finally linked the Genestealers to the Tyranids. The only way I can describe that list was 'mafia meets xenomorphs for good times and gore'. That paved the way for a Citadel Journal unofficial army list for Genestealers, which had the Patriarch Genestealer riding in an armoured limousine if you wished. With the first and second Space Hulk expansions ('Deathwing' and, imaginatively enough, 'Genestealer') they introduced hybrids and went into how Genestealers can threaten a society by subverting it with a familial cult. The original Space Hulk board game was made between Rogue Trader and 40K 2nd Edition, and portrayed Genestealers as a kind of spaceborn parasite that was simply there, in the way of all that lovely Dark Age of Technology loot that dwells on Space Hulks. Nasty things, but not much more said about them other than their lifecycle and the fact that they're close-combat nasties - they were not linked to the Tyranids at all. If I recall correctly - and it's been 25 years or more - in the original Rogue Trader, Genestealers were from a moon somewhere. I definitely enjoy games that are designed for co-op, so will keep my eye on this one.Īh, you and your fancy post-second-edition 40K lore. I'm guessing you see multiple types of Tyranids (and possibly other Xenos), not just Genestealers? Genestealers are just one of the types of Tyranids.

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