Unit Spotlight: Chimera Mothership

Of all the Xin ship breeds, it is the Chimera motherships which perhaps present the greatest threat to undefended but populated worlds. Although it does not sport the fantastic firepower of an Emperor battlecruiser, or the immensely strong armor coating of a Tyrant battleship, the mere presence of a Chimera in a theatre of war can none the less often turn the tide of battles.

A Chimera mothership in the middle of a Xin Battle Group

The primary purpose of a Chimera is to seed new worlds for the Xin. For that purpose it can grow specialized pods in the bioform vats located throughout the vessel, and release them into the atmosphere of a planet once all defenses have been taken care of.
However, even if the planet is inhabited, the Chimera can still claim it for the Xin. But in that case, instead of seeding a desolate world with new lifeforms, the seeding pods release specialized organisms custom-tailored to wipe out existing eco-chains and reform them to better serve Xin purposes.

In other words, instead of scorching the surface of a planet like a Sovereign planetary assault ship would do, the Chimera can effectively create a Mass Extinction Event by introducing extremely aggressive agents into a world's biosphere. This process, however, takes longer to complete than simply glassing the planet, although once started it is difficult, if not impossible to stop, even if the Chimera is chased away or destroyed in the meantime.

Although poorly armed, the Chimera is fairly well shielded.

In combat, the Chimera fares considerably poorer than more dedicated ships; it is not designed for front-line duty. Its primary weaponry consists of quad guided plasma ejectors located behind the "head" - like most Xin ships sporting these, the Chimera can attack targets both to the front and to the sides, although the low firing speed and number of ejector ports means it will be at a disadvantage against more combat-ready ships.
In addition, the Chimera can also release periodic swarms of gestated proto-drones; small, larvae-like creatures which are meant to one day become full sized Xin drones. These creatures still do possess the ability to move on their own, and can utilize their rudimentary weapon apparatuses to attack targets by latching onto their hull or blasting their shields point-blank range.

Last but not least, the Chimera can release clouds of specialized spores through the cracks in its outer layers of armor and skin. These spores can then be ingested by other Xin vessels, whereupon they can perform various maintenance tasks, providing rapid regeneration of damaged Xin ships and even being metabolized for a quick boost in energy replenishment.

yummy <3

Oh god, the Cthulhu's utilize Tyranids now...

Excellent work as always, sir.

I don't know if this has been asked already yet or not. But as I was watching the trailer and reading your description of the Chimera and your other ships, I couldn't help but wonder. Are these the guys that the Vasari have been running away from all this time?

Yes. Mwahahahahaha

Well, the galaxy is a big place. Maybe these are the guys from whom the guys Vasari are running from are running from?

Lore wise, the Xin have annihilated thousands of species. They do not seem to be concerned with notions of compassion, empathy or remorse. In a way, they are like a force of nature - completely unmoved by the pleas of those struck by their power.
They are also unimaginably powerful - literally millions of worlds are subjugated or colonized by the Xin. The only reason why the vanilla races won't get insta-stomped in the mod is because the Xin in the mod are just a small advance force which managed to break through an experimental wormhole from half a galaxy away.

Behind the scenes, when I first drafted the concept of the Xin, I wanted something so big it would dwarf the conflict between the three vanilla races - a real nemesis in fact. Of course, not knowing what Ironclad planned for the future of Sins, I couldn't just say "ok, these are the guys the Vasari are running from" - but since the Xin are so vast, ruthless and powerful, I didn't have to.

As I said, these guys own half the galaxy. *Everyone* runs from them.

Actually, I think a case could be made that they annihilate so much to facilitate their own expansion because of a deep-seated fear that someone else will get big enough to rival them, and then squish them like they squish everyone else.

It's a variation of that age-old adage:

Do unto the other guy before he does unto you.

Well but werent there some mumbo-jumbo with the guys chasing the vasari, i seem to recall that all communication were suddenly cut off and their worlds went dark. Oh the mystery the mystery. Also from the huge fleet sent in after them, didnt only a few survivors return scared vitless and unable to speak. Maybe i have dreamt all this up, but the Xin dont seem to be the kind of guys that would scare hardened vasari into shock, unable to speak of what they had seen. When i see the Xin i just feel like annihating them.

Here's the question manshooter, with the Xin, do you start out on a planet, or as one large craft with a planet recently invaded?   I'd like the vast slow moving ship idea that moves around colonizing each planet and sending out it's little underlings to build up an occupation force and "structures"  rather than building from scratch

I'm all for either one, so long as my video card can keep up with it

Ive been looking forward to this for a long time, they are gonne be my favorite beasties to take on. So how abouth a progress report? I know modders dont like "when is it done! when is it done!" but it sure sucks sitting in the dark aswell.

I really hope this project is continuing.

I highly doubt that it is not ...

He's too busy!!!!
NOOOO!!!!!!

Of course it is continuing! But, since I'm not getting paid to do this, sometimes I have to, you know, do some work which actually helps pay bills.

Recent lapse in updating is for two reasons. One, designing awesomesauce websites is a time-consuming work. Second, Titans are big.

And yes, that's a plural.

And to answer a few questions.

@Malanthor, well, one Xin drone can wipe the floor with two Vasari assault frigates. A Xin Titan, depending on the species, can either wipe out an entire gravity well in an single blast or take on a whole fleet on its own, chew it up and spit it out. How about its main weapon punching a hole through a starbase in one shot? Sounds terrifying to me.

Well, that, or great fun to take on. Depends how you look at it.

@BadTune, how the player starts the game is coded in the game engine and, as far as I know, can't be changed. So you start the game as usual. That said, some of the most powerful Xin ships do have the ability you describe (act as a mobile base of sorts). But you definitely do not start the game with one of those, they're too powerful for early game.

Also, a phat update is coming soon.

then you had better feed the update so it is phat enough to stun, then crush those that see it.

harpo

^ This!!!!

That's the general idea.

Wow, so I came back after like two years and noticed you still grinding away at this project with the usual quality.

Keep up the work, and give me something good to play once LoL gets boring!  

agreed flankers - also what is your LoL ID?  I'll add you to my friends list

im still here too!  love the new look manSh00ter.  but, i don't quite understand the whole story. are the ships all completely conscious and doing this all on their own?, or are they controlled by little dudes inside of them?

Just one quick question.  I love the idea, I love the ships, but how much of the idea did you take from the Yuuzhan Vong of the Star Wars galaxy? 

Extragalactic invaders in living ships, a Warmaster-class ship, terraforming and mass exterminations...it's all very similar.

No complaints, of course, the Vong are an amazing idea as it is.

You'd be amazed with how much they also coincide with the Tyranids of the 40k universe

And they predate the Yuuzhan Vong of SW fame.

By a lot.