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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
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Large capillary towers and hive ships extending their feeding tubes typically marks the The latter stages of a Tyranid invasion, being the "consumption " and "assimilation" stages, is marked by enormous capillary towers and bio-ships deploying their feeding tubes. Although this This typically marks the death of a worldwhere the only recourse is [[exterminatus]]. However, it's also the point at which a typically when bio-ships and [[hive fleet'ship]]s bioships are most vulnerable, more-so than at any other stage having likely expended a significant amount of biomass in an invasiontheir initial assault. Destroying or damaging the Tyranid Hive Fleet (via exterminatus or other means) while it is feeding system during this fleeting window can potentially deny the hive fleet biomass for a new to fuel to renew its assault. Attacking Destroying the towers, feeding tubes, or sometimes even the bioships themselves, before the biomass reaches a bioship and is assimilated by a bioship leaves it, and will deny the fleet biomass to assimilate. Thus leaving the hive fleet as a whole, in a weaker state.{{Fn|2c}}
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'''Capillary Towers''' are a [[Tyranid]] bioform that acts as reservoirs of for biomass collected by their swarms during an assault. These potentially monolithic bioforms erupt from a world's crust{{Fn|2a}} and form sites that are ultimately collected by a [[bioship]] in low orbit. The ship's feeding system consists of many titanic tubes{{Fn|2c}} twisted together to make up multi-pronged system of proboscises.{{Fn|1}}
==Overview==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px">
HiveShip-CapillaryTower.jpg|Hive Ship consuming biomass from a capillary tower.{{Fn|2c}}
File:Tyranid Ships Feeding.jpg|Tyranid Ships Biovessels tethered to larger bioships feeding from enormous capillary towers jutting from the world's surface.{{Fn|4}}
File:Tyranid-CapillaryTowers1.jpg|Tyranid feeding system; capillary towers and bioship tube tendrils.{{Fn|3}}
File:TyranidCapillaryTower-IcarusLascannon.jpg|Bioship feeding tube towers seen on day 4 of the [[Leviathan]] splinter fleets' invasion of [[Kadaku]].{{Fn|3}}
