Forge World Hierophant Bio-titan of Splinter Fleet Muggis

Anyone who has followed our blog for a while knows that I have quite a few Tyranids. I've made it a point to really be able to filed my own Splinter Fleet; not just a small patrol or node.

At this point I consider myself a collector of Tyranids, not just a player. I've purchased pretty much the entire Citadel range and moved on to Forge World. I have almost all of the Forge World models. The elusive one was the Hierophant Bio-titan. I had heard it was the worst model ever to put together. It sat on Tyranid players' desks for years un-assembled. Once you got it assembled, it was a pain to pin and support.

I didn't feel like the model really evoked that much of a 'Tyranid' look, either. It was much different from any of the models out. Then they came out with the new Tervigon and Tyrannofex kit... and those models showed a clear lineage to the Hierophant. I had to pick one up.


I sold quite a few of my other hobby stuff that I wasn't using so I could put in a Forge World order (it also included my 10 tartaros terminators and Storm Eagle). When it arrived, I couldn't wait to put this model together. The Tyranid players on the net weren't lying - it was really tough to put together and support. I had to come up with any idea.

Not my image; but this is what it looks like at first. The legs and pincers are much too spindly to hold up the huge resin body.

Since I had played Blood Angels before I still had a few things available from that army. I had put dead Death Company models on my Harridan's base. For this guy I chose a Blood Angel Predator I received for my bachelor party gift (lol). It was going to be the base that would hold up the body so the legs didn't have to support it.

A clear cylinder (flight base from Dragon Forge) comes up out of the Rhino hatch and is glued / green stuffed to the body of the Hierophant. This was my plan from the start; smoke would hide the cylinder and make it look like the Hierophant is striding over a tank it just blew up with its amazing martial prowess.

Painting the model itself was not that tough. It is large, so the details are large. I went with my normal scheme but added black lines because this dude is the heart of the hive mind. I dipped him as normal and I like how it came out.

I built a huge base out of foamboard for him. The base will make sure his legs don't get damaged and hold the rhino down. It'll also make determining his assault radius easier. I did it up in a jungle theme just like my other bases.

This guy is now the centerpiece to my army. The harridan is great but this one will REALLY scare people. Check him out this weekend at Gamers Sanctuary at the 6th Edition Release Party.