Consuming death guard

[udoaver]

I'm not well versed in the lore but my friend and I recently got into Warhammer 40k, he plays death guard and asked me how Tyranids consuming them would actually work. Do we generally become infected from their diseases?

[Hive Bahamut]

While Cultists get corrupted all the time, Tyranids are kind of like a leech to corruption. They can actively remove Daemonic Taint, target it specifically (Kronos) and cleanse it from "realspace."

This is not to say there are exceptions, but as much as it is implied, Nids are kind of the Daemon Anithema. They feed them no emotion, cleanse their taint, and do not care what they get to eat.

If Nurgle has Isha, that should say something about their resistance.

[dkng]

Corrupted biomass is still biomass

[infornography]

Daemon birthed bacteria are still mostly proteins. Tyranids are the true masters of geneforging. Beyond the limits of even Nurgle himself. Any disease he can concoct, they can consume. It does make me wonder though, why don't Tyranids use diseases as weapons more... Is it just because they don't really have to or is it that it would make transporting the biomass to the hive fleet less convenient? I wonder if anything has ever been said about that in the lore.

[zimko]

Constructing a disease to combat a specific species requires more time and effort than just killing them with brute force and eating them for Tyranids?

[infornography]

Well given the sheer quantity of Orks, Humans, Astartes, and Eldar they have consumed and integrated DNA from over the centuries, coupled with the longer transit times their fleets take to get from place to place, you would think if they were so inclined, they would easily be able to do so. My conclusion is they are not inclined to do so for whatever reason.

[Hive Bahamut]

Microscopic phage cells, from the Toxic Miasma is never addressed either.

I suppose having two armies farting at each other does less for narrative than the plot armor chads of the imperium.