Zoat lore is all about the strangest giant lizards of the 40k Universe. Were they ever working for the Hivemind or following their own agenda?
With their release in the new Blackstone Fortress, we wanted to understand a little more about the giant lizards. They are unaligned in the rules so we can only guess a bunch of them have broken free of the Hivemind’s influence. And who cares what army they fight for, it’s just nice to see old units coming back to life. This is going to be a quick history because they are a very mysterious race of beings.
Let’s all get out our scouting gear and try to find some new technology with the Zoats!
Tyranid Diplomats?
It isn’t clear whether the Zoats were specifically engineered by the Tyranids or later enslaved by them. What is known is that they are an ancient race and have appeared in the annals of history for millennia. Whether they were engineered or enslaved, they served the Hive Mind on many worlds as diplomats.
The Tyranids are not very good at communicating with other races. Unless eating the enemies’ diplomats is considered solid policy. That’s where the Zoats came in since they can have independent thought, actually make noises other than screams, and deploy something bordering on diplomacy. The Hivemind would send them to worlds to find out if harvesting the biomass was worthwhile or not.
If a Zoat diplomat comes to your planet, you really don’t want to impress them. Better to let them believe you are a useless world with nothing interesting for the Hive Mind to assimilate. If your world is too awesome, it will soon just become an evolutionary footprint of the hive. At least an Ork world is probably more enticing than an Imperial one in terms of evolution.
Too Free Spirited
The Zoats are a kind of war-like hippies. They love to travel, have a good time, kill some weaker races, and were strong enough to escape the psychic influence of the Hive Mind. The ones who freed themselves from the psychic tethers now pursue their own goals across the Universe.
After too many of the giant lizards freed themselves, the Tyranids stopped creating them. Because of that, they disappeared from all Imperial records for nearly all of the 41st millennium. Can’t have free-spirited lizards running amok, can we?
Reappearance
You can’t keep a strong Zoat down! They are a strong independent race that don’t need no Hive Mind. The Zoats have reappeared aboard the Seventh Blackstone Fortress, apparently completely free of all Nid influence.
They have been spotted a few times now but seem to have no homeworld or population center. Where they come from or live now, we have no idea. They could be hiding away on some random world, or just be living where they can as a nomadic society clinging to the edges of their existence.
A Hidden Agenda?
It is hard to know whether or not the Zoats are trying to accomplish something big as a race or are just obsessed with artifacts. No matter where they are in the Universe, every Zoat is on the lookout for rare technological artifacts.
It does seem strange for a whole race, so dispersed, to be hunting the same treasure. Are they looking to rebuild their society with some ancient tech? Or do they just love shiny things? We will just have to wait and see what they are after. We say the giant lizards seem to have something up their sleeves. And the fact that they don’t have sleeves won’t stop them!
More on the Zoat
About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
