Topic: Naming a Hive Fleet?

[Ajo79]

I've started collected tyranids, it's time to get a painting scheme and name for my hive fleet.

This quote from the Codex says: "As dicated by Imperial tradition, the alien hive fleet had been codified with an ancient and forbidding name from legend: Behemoth"

Can someone explain what this realy means? What kind of words fall into this category?

[Benandorf]

 No idea, but I named mine Hive Fleet Hydra, because it fit into the general naming process.

Pretty much any monster from mythology would be a good name for a hive fleet.

[ShaneM]

Yeah, GW names their Hive Fleets after mythical monsters. Kraken was a vicious sea monster, Leviathan a generic term for anything huge, same for Behemoth. I suppose Titan would be logical, but I think I've seen that one floating about the boards here somewhere.

Basically, any name that relates to Alien-ness or Implied threat sounds good. A notable fleet is Michael Casavent's Hive Fleet Phage, (his website has an extensive database of battle reports, and his win/loss ratio is impressive to say the least. I'd recommend studying them to see what he did, even though the rules are 3rd edition.)

My fleet is Hive Fleet Wraith, which fits my army fluff as it's a small splinter of Leviathan that has eluded destruction for years, striking and disappearing.

As long as it sounds someway cool, go for it!

[soupman]

pour through wikipedia. any articles on demonology, greek mythology or norse mythology will be full of possible names. But remember all the obvious ones will be taken.

[Ajo79]

My first chose would have been Wraith  Too bad it's already taken, don't wanna step on any toes so I'm gonna find something else.

I've been looking through a few pages, lot of god names but not that many obvious monster names, and the good ones are already taken.

[Locarno]

How about Typhon? A huge monster out of greek mythology - I don't believe that's yet been used for anything in 40k...

Other possible suggestions that I don't think have a big 40k presence:

Nordic:
Garm
Grendel

Greek:
Scylla
Charybdis
Minotaur

[Ajo79]

That's a good suggestion. But he seems to be a uber-monster, father of many other gods. Feels like the name doesn't justify a small splinter hive fleet from Levathian.

There are a few cool norse monsters to consider.

[Mr Wall]

Abonimation?
Mamoth?
Dave?

[Locarno]

At one point we had Hive Fleet Morph at a club I went to - somone proxied a tyranid BFG fleet out of modelling clay, and the name kind of stuck...

[ShaneM]

Well along the lines of Wraith, there's Spectre, Shade, Phantasm etc.

And don't worry if you want to call it Wraith! I can share! Who knows, we might even start a trend

[Mr Wall]

Basilisk?
Manticore?
Craven?


Still think Hive Fleet Dave is the answer though

[ShaneM]

It deffo has a scary ring to it alright. Or Hive Fleet Cher? That would give you a bit of a psychological advantage I'd say

[Jester (Hadn't Changed His Profile Recently)]

Any of the fates would work.

Except Atropos.

That one's taken.

[WingedGaunt06]

Echidna - Greek mythology's mother of all monsters.  I think I'll use that one but I don't mind sharing either.

[TheGreatAvatar]

My fleet is named Bookwyrm:  Old English for dragon.

[Chuckles, The Space Marine Clown]

My fleet is named Bookwyrm:  Old English for dragon.

Wyrm is Old english for dragon. I don't know where the book came from

[Irandrura]

Leviathan a generic term for anything huge,

Biblical, actually.

1 "Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook
       or tie down his tongue with a rope?

 2 Can you put a cord through his nose
       or pierce his jaw with a hook?

 3 Will he keep begging you for mercy?
       Will he speak to you with gentle words?

 4 Will he make an agreement with you
       for you to take him as your slave for life?

 5 Can you make a pet of him like a bird
       or put him on a leash for your girls?

 6 Will traders barter for him?
       Will they divide him up among the merchants?

 7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons
       or his head with fishing spears?

 8 If you lay a hand on him,
       you will remember the struggle and never do it again!

 9 Any hope of subduing him is false;
       the mere sight of him is overpowering.

 10 No one is fierce enough to rouse him.
       Who then is able to stand against me?

 11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay?
       Everything under heaven belongs to me.

 12 "I will not fail to speak of his limbs,
       his strength and his graceful form.

 13 Who can strip off his outer coat?
       Who would approach him with a bridle?

 14 Who dares open the doors of his mouth,
       ringed about with his fearsome teeth?

 15 His back has rows of shields
       tightly sealed together;

 16 each is so close to the next
       that no air can pass between.

 17 They are joined fast to one another;
       they cling together and cannot be parted.

 18 His snorting throws out flashes of light;
       his eyes are like the rays of dawn.

 19 Firebrands stream from his mouth;
       sparks of fire shoot out.

 20 Smoke pours from his nostrils
       as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds.

 21 His breath sets coals ablaze,
       and flames dart from his mouth.

 22 Strength resides in his neck;
       dismay goes before him.

 23 The folds of his flesh are tightly joined;
       they are firm and immovable.

 24 His chest is hard as rock,
       hard as a lower millstone.

 25 When he rises up, the mighty are terrified;
       they retreat before his thrashing.

 26 The sword that reaches him has no effect,
       nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.

 27 Iron he treats like straw
       and bronze like rotten wood.

 28 Arrows do not make him flee;
       slingstones are like chaff to him.

 29 A club seems to him but a piece of straw;
       he laughs at the rattling of the lance.

 30 His undersides are jagged potsherds,
       leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.

 31 He makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron
       and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.

 32 Behind him he leaves a glistening wake;
       one would think the deep had white hair.

 33 Nothing on earth is his equal—
       a creature without fear.

 34 He looks down on all that are haughty;
       he is king over all that are proud."

That's right kids, the Bible has more to it than just preaching morals - it also has descriptions of large and powerful monsters. Though there are some who say it's talking about a crocodile there... but really, are crocodiles that scary?

Echidna - Greek mythology's mother of all monsters.  I think I'll use that one but I don't mind sharing either.

I know it's a real mythological monster, but as an Aussie I would laugh at any Hive Fleet named after that cute, snuffling little burrowing creature. They're quite common, and little plush versions are sold at tourist-y stores. Like spiky koalas.


Oh, I should say something productive. You can find some lists of mythological creatures here and here. Just be sure to click on the link for the creature first, so you don't name it after a legendary fluffy bunny or something. And no matter how fearsome the actual animal is, Hive Fleet Bunyip won't inspire fear in anyone, so look for something with a fearsome name and appearance.

[Locarno]

so you don't name it after a legendary fluffy bunny or something

Hive Fleet That-bunny-rabbit-From-Monty-Python?

Actually quite menacing......

[ShaneM]

Apologies, my religous knowledge isn't up to scratch.

Was looking through the creatures, got sidetracked and wound up with this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacoleo_carnifex

A marsupial lion, latin name Thylacoleo Carnifex. As far as I can discern, Carnifex is the genus name, Thylacoleo means 'Marsupial Lion."

[Locarno]

Carnifex - if this has never been mentioned - is literally translated latin for 'meat maker' (carni - meat, as in 'carnivore', fex, maker from fex/facto, as in 'factory').

The Roman word meant either 'slaughterman' or 'executioner', depending on the context. (more commonly the latter)