There was a bit of moaning when Farsight's ability to take crisis suits as troops was 'lost' in the Codex update and Kauyon books. But with Mont'ka, it's back.Farsight's Dawn Blade Contingent is able to take a Retaliation Cadre as his core formation.That Cadre consists of:1 Commander3 units of Crisis Battlesuits1 unit of Broadsides1 unit of RiptidesTack that onto the 'Eight' as your Command Choice, and maybe a Rapid Insertion Force or a Drone-Net full of BS-3 Marker Drones for your Auxillary, and Boom.
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Jetpack JSJ goodness all over the place without the need for pathfinders.Broadsides excepted, of course.:0You could always take a Firebase Support Cadre (or two) to beef up your all-battlesuit army swag.Yeah, that's right. The Big Red Battlesuit Boys are back. Here are some more educated guesses.Command:Well, we get a new commander battlesuit, I believe to be roughly based on the Enforcer suit from last edition. That, plus some bits to make an Irridium version. He can also be the Coldstar, which I think will never see any action. I play tau, but the flying ColdStar will be a huge target, die easily, and make me cry in front of my enemies.He only packs a six-shot burst cannon and a missile pod, and no signature systems. He is not good for much and is bad at a whole bunch of things.
I cannot be certain, but I think we have a new battlesuit sighting. I followed one of the links on Faeit 212 and it led me to this image (Thanks Natfka!).
It is not a standard Crisis Suit (new or old), and if it is a customized one it is very good. I believe it may be the new Coldstar battlesuit (though I am hoping for better). Check it out, not counting the Ghostkeel suit, it is the second battlesuit from the left.
The shoulder and sensory 'head' are easily swapped in from another kit, but the torso/cockpit area is not. The viewport is distinctly different as are the vents on the breastplates. The rest of the model apprears to be the same as the new crisis suits. (Click the article title to see more) Here are the links, and I'm not trying to walk on Natfka, just spreading the word. I love his website! Jim Worthington posted the following comment, A few things to notice.
The Internet's largest gallery of Painted Miniatures and Miniature Painting art - Site. CoolMiniOrNot - Warhammer 40k Tau Empire Tau Riptide Battlesuit #1. Aug 6, 2019 - Explore dragonl0rd132's board 'Tau Battlesuits' on Pinterest. Tau conversion inspired by titanfall artwork Warhammer 40k Figures, Warhammer.
In the first picture the last suit between the stormsurge and ghost keel has a different torso. This is the only model like this in either shot. It appear that the suits have similar arm construction like the riptide. By that two piece construction that meets at the elbow allowing greater poses. Weapon options seem to be the same but the flamer has been redone.
![Warhammer 40k tau battlesuits art 2017 Warhammer 40k tau battlesuits art 2017](/uploads/1/2/6/8/126858815/264169651.jpg)
As mentioned larger bases but that helps the suits look more dramatic than gen 1 models. Fingers crossed that the commander is not in a static pose as shown and can be altered. When the Riptide came out, I swore I'd never buy one. It went against the fluff and I thought it was ugly too. Then the R'varna came out and I said, 'Well this one looks better, I can get behind that' and then the Y'vahra was released.
This is how the Riptide should have looked all along. I did a post earlier on the Y'vahra when it was first released HERE. I picked on of these bad boys up because I felt it was too awesome to pass up. Rules-wise, it has all the right elements that the XV-9 should have had. It is risky but can be devastating if used correctly.
Sounds perfect to me! I already run a high-mobility, battlesuit-heavy army and I am hoping that this guy will give me what my list lacks: instantaneous response.The XV109 Y'vahra battlesuit The 24' thrust move (which currently can be used every turn until it is FAQ'd) is insane and allows you to threaten stuff your opponent normally would think safe, and on turn 1.
Imagine your opponent is using an invisible, gating Centurionstar (boo!). You get first turn. You pop your Nova and try to get the 3+ invulnerable in close combat.
You thrust your Y'vahra right up to the star, hit it with two full templates of S6 AP2 ignores cover. If the psykers are the closest model, the S8 ion weapon could be insta-gibbing if they get unlucky with their LOS. You are probably going to kill some stuff. Then, when your opponent thinks it's over, you charge the Y'vahra right into combat. He is essentially helpless this turn against you, because he hasn't had a chance to cast Force on his psyker weapons.
You do some damage and get stuck in with your 2+/3 or 2+/4 if you failed the Nova roll. His super deathstar is now hurt and tied up in combat for his first turn. He can't shoot your Y'vahra and will have to hope he can get an instant-death force attack through your invulnerable shield. Either that or commit a close combat unit to help kill it and waste precious movement time. If the Y'vahra dies, you've bought yourself time and probably caused a fair bit of damage to the star before it goes invisible and starts gating. If it doesn't die, you can try to Nova jump out of combat to come back later.
You aren't really hurting your chances of shooting the Centurionstar in the second turn, because it would have been invisible by now anyways. Now, let's say you are more conservative and you worry you'll end up going 2nd. You can put it in reserves and use it as a quick response model. When it arrives from reserves it can move on 24' and roast stuff before your opponent can respond, still granting you first strike with your potent model, even if you won't be able to roast that Centurionstar. My name is Skyler and I am a conversion addict I can't leave models alone.
I have to cut them up, magnetize them, customize them, improve on them. You'd think an expensive model like the Y'vahra would dissuade me from risking total loss of resin gold, but no. Like the R'varna, I wanted this to be usable as a regular Riptide so I had to scratchbuilt arms and magnets. It also required a sufficiently awesome base. Base WIP Starting with the base, I wanted this to convey a sense of blowing past entrenched positions to get at the real hard targets. A scorched Astra Militarum position was just the ticket.
Poor burned guardsmen, all they ever did was stand between the Y'vahra and the Leman Russes. GS flames added, and the R'varna stepping over the defensive line.
I swapped the head with the targeting piece from the Aegis Quadgun. I felt it scaled better with the model, and fits perfectly with Tau aesthetic. This Jetpack is 90% of why I bought this model.
So, I now needed some arms to hang weapons from. I scratch-built the forearms/hands and added some bits, bobs and paneling to make it look more Tau. Notice that I preserved the elbow portion of the weapons. I cut this piece away from both weapons before converting the weapons to be under-slung versions. I also magnetized the little wings to futher distinguish between XV104 and XV109 I built the arms in such a way that they could hold either of the regular Riptide main weapons. So now I needed the weapons. I had already cut away the elbow portion, but they needed a bit more work before I could add the large magnets.
I replaced the shafts on the Ion weapon with wire. Straighter and less bulky. The Riptide shoulder pauldron on the right forearm covers where the Riptide Shield Generator will go What's Next?
The conversion is not complete, and I have yet to paint it (only basecoated so far). Currently I am in painting mode to get my army ready for an upcoming tournament, in which my Y'vahra will make its first appearance. After that I can focus on completing the Riptide crossover portion of the this model. Since I already had the weapons prepared from the R'varna all I have left to make is the Riptide Shield Generator. I will make it a bit fancier since it can double as the Ravelin Shield Generator (Y'vahra only) if I make it to work alongside the Y'vahra weapons, which shouldn't be a problem.
The Y'vahra's guns could use some refining as well to make them look a bit more integral, but that will be low on the priority list. I'll post pictures of the finished model after it's painted. Let me know what you think so far!
From the Forgeworld websiteHello All!Today, instead of my occasional contribution of a battle report, I will be showing off my latest model: the XV107 R'varna by Forgeworld.With all the new monstrous creatures and Imperial Knights running amok, it is a good thing that the Tau have the Riptide to compete. The R'varna is a heavier defensive variant of the Riptide. It sacrifices mobility and versatility for increased firepower and survivability. The R'varna is an awesome model, but I wanted to make a few changes to it. The new Tau Christmas bundle is on the way. I just received a call from my favorite local game store employee informing me that it was going to be available in the next week or two, and that if I wanted it then I needed to let him know.
I simply cannot find a container large enough for my joy! The Tau Firebase Cadre will cost $290 (plus tax) for six Broadsides Battlesuits and a Riptide. Separately, these babies would cost about $385, for something I wanted anyway. That is a savings of almost two broadsides. Maybe not so great for those who rushed out and got all this stuff when it was released in April anyway, but I only bought a few items last spring.
I still had my Eldar, Lizardmen, and Black Templar habits to support. Too many good things at once can be a bad thing, and all four armies were within about six or seven months of each other, so. Let's just say that my kids are starting to bitch about the cardboard crackers with cheese whiz dinners I've been feeding them lately. But I have resolved to get the Tau Firebase Cadre and possibly the Space Marine flyers -starving rug-rats or not.
The jury's still out on the Eldar bundle, as it will probably be about $260 for that baby (considering an average 25% discount) and I don't really need any more Wraith Lords. I think I will just pass on that one and save a little Christmas money for my precious reptiles (the Lizardmen, not necessarily the children). Actually, I've gotta spread the wealth a little, and it's getting harder to justify feeding the Tau and Eldar armies when my human children are getting a little thin. So, my point is, I think the Tau deal is well worth it. Ignore what you are seeing on the Interwebs. 25% is nothing to sneeze at, and the models are all useful, (if you need or want six brand new Broadsides).
It breaks down to $37.50 per Broadside, and $63.50 for the Riptide (assuming a 25% discount on each). And that is less than you will pay Discount Wargames or Destroyer on eBay. And if you purchase it through your local store (as you should) there is no shipping.:) Skeet Skeet Skeet!
I'm just thinking of how awesome it will be to field an all Battlesuit army (Farsight) that includes up to ten broadsides and up to four Riptides in a single force org. Dress two squads up with missiles, and the other up with railguns. And Ob'Lotai. It'd be equally nice to throw a R'Varna or three into a heavy support slot on a second force org (but I'd have to put on a red wig and sleep with Daddy Warbucks or someone pretty important to get three of those. And R'Varna is not a character thus exempt from the one per army rule. As for the bundle?
Get a R'Varna, too. A few weeks ago I posted some pictures of my XV-8s, and was immediately asked for a tutorial. Well here it is.First, I need to acknowledge Adam, the originator of this blog. These conversions are based on his tutorial that can be found over on the right side of this page under the heading Tau Crisis Battlesuit Conversions.I've added a few bits and pieces here and there, in particular elongating the torso, (making it look less squat). This also allows for better articulation making more dynamic poses easier. ♪♫-♪ Longstrike, the tank-head general, Had a big and shiny gun,And when the guardsmen saw it, They would even turn and run.Then there’s the old school stealthsuits, Everyone should have one squad, For infiltrating imperial bunkers, And raising hell with their own quad.Let’s not forgo the other stealthsuits, The -25 and -22, They’re both 3 up in cover, And really mess with you-know-whoAnd everybody loves crisis teams, With hardpoints all o'er the place, They let you jump-shoot-jetpack, And leave blue goodness in their face. Wait, I’m getting a little brain-freeze here, so enough with the Rudolph schtick.Here’s the list in numerical order by nomenclature.
XV-02 Commander Longstrike. The battlesuit of an infamous Tau tank Commander (yes, it’s technically a battlesuit) XV-8 Crisis. Tried and true workhorse.
These guys, along with drones and Hammerheads, are one of the Holy Trinity Tau. That said, even among the trinity Crisis teams are the mainstay of the Tau Battlesuit inventory. These battlesuits are one of the most flexible units in the entire game with more weapon and wargear options than practically any other unit, and the manuverability to make the most of them.
If you're starting new, get plenty of these. You can field up to 15 in a standard, single FOC army. XV-9 Hazard (Forgeworld) These models take the Tau to a new level of bad-assery. I can just see a squad of three laying waste to a huge squad of gaunts, imperial guardsmen, or other vermin. XV-15 Stealth Battlesuit - Old school, but still cool. This is a small battlesuit with minimal armour, it is barely larger than a fully armored FireWarrior, but has the same rules as its XV-25 brother. In fact, they look so similar to firewarriors that presumptious enemies have often mistaken the two.
To their peril. XV-22 Experimental Command/Stealth Battlesuit worn by Commander Shadowsun. But it doesn't have to be her. It can be a misogynist’s version of Shadowsun, with the helmet instead of the red flowing hair.
I like to use three of these as the command team in the Apocalypse Rapid Insertion Force or Night Hunter Stealth formations to drop in large groups of battlesuits without scatter. Of course they are “counts as” regular stealth suits, but they looked really cool and these models clearly distinguish them as the command team. We’ll see how these formations fare in the new Apocalypse. XV-25 Stealth Battlesuit - the standard stealth battlesuit, recently made more awesome by bumping up the burst cannon from three shots to four, and the range of the fusion blaster from 12 inches to 18. Since these are the only two weapons these suits are allowed, they scored on both counts. XV-88 Mark II Broadsides (Forgeworld) - Arguably not much more than a regular old style XV-88, but with a distinctly different design. Particularly around the torso.
I want two, to slightly remodel as bodyguards for R’myr who has the same smooth contouring and rounded torso/cockpit (I actually like the new broadsides better). The rules now allow you to take iridium armor, so the concept of them looking slightly different from the other battlesuits in your cadre is supported. The extra armor also matches fluff with the armored legs on these guys. R'myr and two of these models would look pretty awesome together, don’t you think? Only problem is that the jetpack is all wrong and they’re a little pricey for conversions so there would be no room at all for mistakes. Maybe someday when I have more time, cash, and creativity XV-89 (Forgeworld Heavy Armor Battlesuit) Now rendered somewhat obsolete by the ability to take irridium armor as a signature system, but this is still a very cool forgeworld variant.
Commander R'myr can take two of these guys as bodyguards. XV-104 Riptide - Who doesn't love this thing? It is so much beefier than the Eldar big fella, and you don't need a dead twin to drive it! Uugh, imagine the smell in that thing after a day on a toasty little demon planet. Once again, the Greater Good is just, well, better. XV-107 - R'Varna - Forgeworld has released a Riptide character, and are calling it the XV-107. This suit does not have the articulating sensor pod 'head' but instead has the sensor suite moulded into the upper cockpit/torso.
This variant also carries more powerful versions of R'Alai's weapons. See Forgeworld for details. Commander Farsight - Look for more details on him in the Codex Supplement later this month (digital edition will be available in late July, 2013) Commander R’Alai (Forgeworld) Commander R’Myr (Forgeworld) Commander Shadowsun Battlesuit Commander in XV-805 (I am considering a second model, but converting it to a different pose) So, call that eighteen, seventeen, fifteen, or sixteen-and-a-half, whatever, it’s still a lot of battlesuits. I have learned that when you get two wargamers together, there will be at least three opinions about everything and anything. I guess I am just a battlesuit kinda guy, and I say it's 17 18. The relationship between an hobbyist and his models, is a special thing. Your miniatures can develop personalities and characters over the course of several games.
This tank, for some reason, is exceptionally hard to kill, that unit, for some reason, always seems to die right away, and so on. These oddities allow us to create stories for our little men and strengthen the bond between us (the relationship, not superglue.). The more real we make them, the more fun it is to let our imagination run wild. We are, after all, pretending little pieces of plastic on a table are vast armies clashing in epic battles on distant and alien planets!Naming crisis suits based on their weapon loadout has been around for some time. The method of naming them was derived from a White Dwarf (the exact number escapes me) that described several Crisis Team configurations based on popularity and their Sept's tactical tendancies. The naming gave crisis suits depth of character, created a secret language amongst Tau players, and was downright fun to boot.With our new codex and FAQ, the Tau crisis suit has more options than before, despite having no new weapons available.
The changes to configuration possibilities needed to be incorporated into the existing system for naming XV-8's.
Close-quarters paintingThe Tau disdain in favour of, which renders them instantaneously in the eyes of most of /tg/'s playerbase. The reasons behind this are complicated. 90% of Tau comes in the form ofThe Tau, again, boast some of the most powerful ranged weaponry on the tabletop game, and can crank out more concentrated firepower than any other faction with the lone exception of the Imperial Guard and maybe the orks if you only count number of bullets in the air, and even then, the Tau's weapons hit quite a bit harder. They have pathetic hand-to-hand combat skills, however, and so the Tau bolster this by using several inducted races (the, Vespid, and even some ) to act as buffers against assault troops to allow Tau Fire Warrior teams and their heavy, long-ranged firepower to tear enemies apart. The most pivotal, and perhaps most infamous, part of the Tau army are their, which can mount multiple heavy weapon systems and provide excellent mobility to their pilots, all on a fairly durable unit.They also have an extremely powerful navy, though not quite as formidable as the Imperium's, if largely because of number differences. Tau air units are among the best in the game, with aircraft superior or equal to Imperial Guard equivalents, including a stealth fighter, multipurpose heavy fighter, a superheavy fighter with guns that can one-shot a Titan, and their own (which is a small starship). Unlike the Imperium, they usually deploy swarms upon swarms of flyers, with only Orks, Tyranids, and Necrons able to rival them in numbers when things come to dogfights—kind of the way the Imperial fleets' atmospheric support craft were supposed to work if fleet officers weren't a bunch of assholes who do everything they can to provide as little air support as possible.On defense, the Tau are a bit unusual: they leave only token garrisons at their colonies to protect them.
These garrisons are intended for scouting rather than combat, avoiding engagement in order to observe and report on invaders using Pathfinders, scanning towers, and drones. Because the Tau have fairly powerful spacefleets and usually keep their forces within reasoned distance of potential hotspots, any potential threat can be quickly dealt with by organizing a hunter cadre to be sent to deal with the situation. For those of you who don't get it, it's Frederick the Great's 'he who tries to protect everything protects nothing' strategy.Of course, this strategy means Tau must have some worlds actually being heavily defended - and in fact they do. Contrary to what believe, what this picture shows might just be the future for the entire galaxy if the TauThe Tau were a new race/culture found by the Imperium of Man during their 'slash and burn' exploration of their galactic neighborhood. The Tau were still pastoral, had just discovered flint tools and charcoal, and the Imperium had them scheduled for ' (Low Gothic for “ruthless genocide”) to make sure they never got off-world and developed into an entity capable of threatening humanity. Needless to say, that plan was promptly.
By an unfortunate (or fortunate, depending on your feelings towards a species' right to not be mercilessly exterminated for no reason whatsoever) coincidence which almost certainly involved the dickery of or or, a warp storm occluded the Tau homeworld, so nobody could get in or out. Since the Tau were virtually invisible in the warp, the warp storm didn't have much of an effect on them as they were immune to the influences of Chaos.and cleansing was.
Then happened, and almost all records about Tau were lost in the ensuring of civil war. Only the Adeptus Mechanicus still had records of this first contact when the storm died down 6,000 years later. The Damocles Crusade relocated the Tau, who were completely untouched by the warp storm and now using interstellar colony ships and pulse rifles. The extermination order still stood—it was just going to be much more difficult than the Imperium expected, seeing as the Tau, instead of and Space Marines, were now throwing, and at their tanks and Space Marines.Tau history is pretty typical up through the iron-age: a knack for engineering, warfare between 'urban' farmers and 'barbarian' nomads, and unrestrained growth causing a series of plagues, leading to a dark age. Here's where things go sideways, though the Tau see it as the start of their endless Golden Age: the arrival of the Ethereals.
Legend tells of a five-year siege at the castle of Fio'taun, with both sides starving and succumbing to disease, when two foreign Tau entered the battlefield. One went to the castle, the other to the barbarian tribes.
Each of these Tau had a quiet grace and irresistible authority. In just a few hours, the castle was persuaded to open their gates, and the barbarians laid down their weapons, and both parties met to parley a truce.These strange Tau called themselves 'Ethereals,' and stressed the importance of peace and understanding between all Tau. They described a 'Greater Good' that each Tau must strive towards.
Soon after, soon enough to seem simultaneous, more of these strange new Tau emerged across the continent with their message of peace and co-operation for all Tau. Their quiet authority was always respected, and their message of harmony was universally embraced. Wait a minute.Perhaps uniquely for the setting, Tau-human interactions bear the whiff of realpolitik. On the one hand, the Imperium wants to exterminate them eventually, but the upper management generally realizes that the Tau are going to be a giant drain of resources and manpower to get rid of, given the stiff resistance they put up in and their. Furthermore, they serve as a useful buffer state against various threats on the Eastern Fringe, from Orks and Chaos raiders to Tyranid hive fleets to alien forces the Imperium hasn't had (recorded) contact with.
Their existence deflects danger from Imperial space, and in a place and time when the Imperium is, that's more important than dogma.This strategy is not unique to the Tau only though, as the Imperium allows countless other (much more dangerous) xeno empires to prosper in the Eastern Fringe to serve as an ablative shield against much nastier shit. Amongst those is (for example) the Charadon ork empire, which is older than the Imperium and spawns a Waaagh! Or two per millennium (even with the routine warboss assasination raids that the Ultramarines make).
Even after the emergence of the genius warboss Snagrod and his Waagh on Rynn no one cared to issue a crusade against them. So yeah, the Tau empire is not even close to being spotted by the High Lords, not to mention recognized as a threat dangerous enough to actually do something about.Conversely, the Tau have realized just how massive an undertaking expanding through the entire universe would really be, and are taking it slow. They mostly absorb Imperial buffer worlds stripped of manpower and armament in the face of massive redeployments to face other threats, offering the Empire's protection in return for annexation and outright conquering the places that don't take the deal. The Tau have claimed that they are engaging in this sort of aggressive behavior because someone's going to those settlements up sooner or later, and if they don't do it, then whoever does won't be.
While baldly self-serving, that logic is.well, mostly correct, really.There's no lost love between the Imperium and the Tau, but open full-scale war is probably unlikely in the near-future.And then the Second Damocles Crusade happened. Even the imperium isn't that stupid, so this almost certainly involves that tricky dick Tzeench trying to stop the greater good from ruining all his plans.Or nurgle.or, well any of the ruinous powers really. Or that ancient scheming old sperg, for that matter.Looking at the new galactic map, where the Tau are now sandwiched between their own eye of terror and a Necron dynasty, they are soon to be fucked.Castes. Join the Greater Good, lose your virginity to a hot alien babe! Unapproved of sexual contact is an offence to the greater good Gue'La.
Now get back to work or you won't get your overtime pay!Tau society after the arrival of Ethereals was organized into castes; everyone with a place, and a place for everyone. Is one of the most severe crimes in the Empire, in other words,. This was outlawed by the presumably to preserve the biological differences between castes, and as part of this effort they have taken over the practice of sex entirely. Tau society has been manipulated so that Tau do not form romantic bonds of a long-lasting nature and do not even consider sex to be anything other than a state-mandated act meant only, like everything else, to serve society and the Greater Good. In essence, Tau are conditioned to never have sex until and unless their superiors say they are worth breeding.Their superiors pick their breeding partners (the Tau get NO input into this) and the couple basically spends a few days off from work screwing around before going their separate ways to never see each other again. If a Tau did somehow get over their social conditioning and thought of sex as something more than a mandated duty, they'd be.
An Imperial genetor's report in the fourth edition Tau codex observes the presence of synthetic proteins in Tau internal organs and suggests them as evidence that their evolution has been accelerated, though he might have been confused by synthetic proteins that the Tau were given. Seems to be under the strong impression that they are mammals, as you can see in the picture further down the page, despite the complete implausibility of this theory. The frequent of the Tau by fa/tg/uys is a mystery to many, but clearly not all., in fact.Shas (Fire) The Fire Caste consists of the various of the Tau Empire. The miniatures of a Tau army in a game are almost exclusively Fire Caste. Other castes think Shas are overly-aggressive hotheads due to their tendency to solve all problems by applying more plasma (when Tau encountered other sentient species, Fire Caste representatives immediately voted to hunt down and exterminate them, just like they hunted down dangerous local life forms on the other world they colonized), although for Humans and Eldar, who's history knows numerous, individuals and groups, mention of the 'Aggressively Hotheaded' Tau would end up with them collectively pointing fingers and laughing at them.
On the other hand, it also shows how calm and disciplined other castes are.They are taller than Earth Caste Tau, and physically stronger than the Air and Water Castes, though still shorter and weaker than a typical Human. They pretty much compensate for this by giving their basic Fire Warrior a, which is sort of like an automatic sniper- gun, and employ heavily armed and sophisticated battlesuits for their elite infantry.
Company -sized Tau forces are called 'Hunter Cadres'.Fio (Earth) The Earth Caste are the laborers and engineers; they are the 'civilians' of Tau society. Their appearance can vary widely, though other Tau would describe them as 'plain.' They all have a stoic outlook, with little ambition other than to excel in their career of choice and work for the Greater Good. Unlike the Imperial worker classes, whose quality of life generally starts at working 14-hour days seven days a week while living off of dried, recycled dung chips and goes, the Earth caste is mostly concerned with technological planning and engineering.They have robots to do the grunt work. The Farsight Enclaves field some Earth Caste pilots for their battlesuits, demonstrating their more flexible caste systems and/or their desperation for manpower. Doing so makes them even worse in close-combat than Tau already are, but they make up for it with technical training and tweaks to the suits' software and mechanics, re-rolling missed shots and equipment failures.Kor (Air) The Air Caste are the intermediaries between Tau. In more primitive times they served as messengers and couriers, and sometimes scouts/explorers, gliding on membranous anatomical surfaces through T'au's atmosphere.
When the Tau started exploring offworld, it was the Air Caste that took charge of the vessels traveling between the stars. Now the Air Caste are the Tau stellar navy/airforce/mailmen, piloting the Empire's various carriers, warships, and emissary cruisers.
Air caste Tau tend to be tall and slender like runners or dancers, and this is frequently exaggerated by the years the Tau navy spends in low-gravity.They are much less likely to be eaten by due to a faulty Geller Field than their Imperial equivalents, but only because their ships are much slower, using a 'slingshot drive' to temporarily enter the Warp and bounce back into real space. Despite their slender stature and lack of muscle mass, Air caste pilots are extremely resistant to G-force, making them excellent void and atmospheric fighter pilots (simultaneously, as small Tau voidcraft also double as atmospheric craft).Por (Water) The Water Caste are the emissaries to non-Tau. They are diplomats, merchants, civil servants.
The most open-minded Tau can be found among the Water caste, with some even showing individual ambition (but still for the greater good of the Tau Empire). When a new culture is encountered, the Water caste are sent in first to negotiate. If talks break down, the Water caste are withdrawn from the area and it's time for the Fire Caste to then start negotiating with pulse weapon fire. Also, unlike their Imperial equivalents in bureaucracy, the, they are brisk, efficient, and very good at their jobs. No dumping valuable ammo on an uninhabited dust world because no one signed the paperwork not to.It's a less known fact that Pors also run the Tau intelligence and espionage network, and Por'Os and Por'Els from this branch are pretty much Tau Inquisitors except more competent, much saner, and not nearly as good at kicking asses personally. As of the second Damocles Crusade the Imperium has designated the Water caste as a primary threat above any other Tau caste, as their subterfuge, diplomacy and propaganda has cost the Imperium more worlds and manpower than the Fire and Air caste's military prowess combined, and they even managed to totally outplay the Inquisition on its own field, which royally pissed them off.Aun (Ethereal) The Ethereal Caste are basically the philosopher-kings described by Plato in 'The Republic'. They are selfless and always focused on what is best for the Greater Good ('Tau'va') for all Tau and every Tau without exception.
The Ethereals are inspirational to all Tau caste members, and merely being near one will inspire a Tau soldier, engineer, pilot, or diplomat to work harder.In the case of the Fire Caste, some Ethereals accompany hunter cadres in battle during important deployments so as to better lead/inspire the troops, which works because all Tau in the combat zone will fight to their bitter deaths. They also seem to have semi-magical powers (don't ask how they work, none of the Tau know themselves) that allow Tau around them to do special things, like running while shooting. The theorizes that the respect the Ethereal Caste gets from all other Tau is caused by a pheromone. ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTAU.Also, relates a story from a major, insectoid race called the which alleges that the stole one of their queens. Given that these queens have a magic, yellow, diamond-shaped sack that produces mind-control pheromoneswell, let's just say the characters in the story figure it out quickly enough.
Look up fuckers! You're invited to the latest imperial party and we're not taking 'no' for an answer!The Tau are the only faction that willingly accept other races into their ranks. Typically, the races are extended a hand from the Water Caste first, and if they still pose a problem or otherwise refuse to be reasoned with, the Fire Warriors are sent in. It should be noted that tau usually are not in haste of annexing the world, and if the aliens don't want to join right now but aren't immediately hostile and open to trade, Water Caste would slowly but surely convert them into a Greater Good to the point that one day they themselves would ask to join the Empire. The species, when annexed or conquered, are usually allowed to keep their planet, but must answer to the authority of the local Ethereal and possibly the local Shas'o.
Most of them are fluff and don't show up on the tabletop, but it would get a little ridiculous if you could purport to play a 'single' 40k race that included, like, twelve different races. Demiurg - reborn. NOT ANYMORE the Squats are back and not Demiurg at all!
They are a race of space-faring miners specializing in ionic weaponry who serve the Tau with their engineering and mining abilities. They make an appearance in Battlefleet Gothic: Armada though, so that's nice. Galgs - Frog/Toad People who are regularly hired as mercenaries. No other information available. Probably In Space. Humans who have not only defected to the Tau, but chosen to take up arms and fight alongside them to serve the Greater Good. Rules for them are found in Imperial Armour Volume 3.
(If the current trend goes on we may see Sisters join up with the Tau, which might be an improvement for the Sisters.).BLAM. HERESY!.
Hrenian - Alien mercenaries employed for their skills as light infantry. No other information available. Probably In Space. Ji'atrix - A spacefaring race. No other information available. (Dammit, GW.).
Predatory gene-assimilating avian humanoids. They are the first alien race to be actively recruited by the Tau as mercenaries, and are so regularly hired that they have officially progressed to being considered Auxiliaries of the Tau forces. Insectoid aliens, also known as Vespids, who are native to a gas giant planet within the Tau Empire. Serve as Auxiliaries.
Morralian - Also known as 'Deathsworn'. No other information available. A voidfaring race of and the only psychically-gifted species in the Tau Empire. The Tau have carefully hidden them away from the Imperium due to their (actually justifiable) psyker-phobia. Were the second alien species to join the Greater Good.
Ranghon - No information available. These guys are basically IIIIN SPAAAAACE!!!!!! Not really part of the Empire, but rather mercenaries who will gladly fight humans and Tyranids on the cheap since the Imperium virus-bombed their home world and the Tyranids nommed their biggest colony.
Poctroon - The first sapient species to be found by the Tau, and their planet just by coincidence was a great place to set a Sept World. Nagi - Brain worms that, due to their horrific appearance and inability to communicate, were attacked by the Fire Caste. They managed to sort it out, though, and now they work with the Ethereals as advisors (because having brain worms about as 'advisors' isn't a bad idea or anything). They have been shown in a few books so far, and were involved in a 'mind-rip' (guess outright calling it 'rape' was too much) of a space marine POW, while being so self-righteous and smug about their mental superiority they could give Eldar a run for their money. Apparently they can also at least perceive the Warp (which they call 'extra-dimensional space'), and probably manipulate it as well, and know enough about it to outright refuse to go anywhere near demonically-tainted Agrellan when the Tau invaded it. Ji'atrices, Morralians, or Ranghons are probably other Warhammer Fantasy Races In Space, such as or Trolls, given the overall tendency of the Tau to incorporate Fantasy races missing from 40k.The usually genocidal actions of the other races, most notably the, also serve as a motivating factor for less-powerful races to join the Tau.
While the Tau do seem a minor threat to the Imperium now, if the current policy continues, there will be more and more races joining up with the them if for no other reason than avoiding. Of course, the Tau are just coming to realize how vast and powerful the Imperium really is, and while a lot of their member races really are the victims of crazy, evil, fascist extermination protocols, there's always the chance that someone responsible for a 'Hell World' or 'Nightmare World' might join up, and the damage might be done before they realize their mistake.,In a Nutshell The Stated Reason Why People Hate TauWeeaboo space confucianists (Asian Commies)—not grimdark enough.The Real Reason Why People Hate TauUntil the edition update, this would, most assuredly, be. Fuck, even most Tau players felt this was bullshit. Post-edition update, it was that certain felt that they were trying to take the mantle of the 40K universe's 'rightful' Imperial protagonists. And because they are not enough. And then 6th Edition codex came, and Tau became one of the shootiest armies in the shootiest edition ever, not to mention their ability to bitchslap cheesmongers, having straight counters against any of the Wardex bullshit.
When the 7th edition came out they became overpowered AF and they took the title as the chedder cheese of Warhammer.More generally, the Tau battle philosophy is 'deny your opponent the chance to interact with you,' which is a good philosophy for real soldiers but can make for frustrating or uninteresting gameplay.Of course there's also the fluff side of things, and as mentioned above the Tau are given massive amounts of plot armour compared to everyone else in the setting, even the Space Marines which should give you an idea of how ludicrous it is. To use some examples and keep it short, The Tau have comparatively slow non-warp travel that would LOGICALLY mean the Imperium and everyone else have a gigantic advantage in space combat and logistics, never mind hit and run tactics, yet after the first few retcons of the Damocles Crusade this stopped being an issue.
Even in cases where the Tau are stuck in a planet engulfed in a burning nebula that it's established they cannot fly through, they just go back home by flying through it. Add in battlesuits that are immune to anti-titan weaponry, the capability to conquer (in one day no less) and deport a hive world, where one human hive city has more humans than the entire T'au race and you start to see some issues. And of course none of this is even touching the fact that they have never lost a major battle, the worse fate they suffer being a stalemate, a stalemate which eventually transforms into a victory when the Imperium withdraws its forces to other theatres of war where they are desperately needed and the Tau just roll in and accomplish what they wanted anyway. These aren't helped by an, that would require their own separate page just to cover them all. Suffice to say for those who are more interested in the fluff their blatant titan grade plot armour can become somewhat infuriating.A Real Reason Why People Like TauThe one race that isn't being a wall of dicks.
If the Tau are trolling done by Games Workshop, then the target of said trolling was any fatbeard that needs a constant supply of grimdark to stay alive. Of course, the mind-influencing pheromones they use to conquer new worlds and their psycho-indoctrination mass re-education facilities will just have to be ignored if you don't want destroy your wishful thinking for a half-way decent faction to exist in 40k. But people have always been good at ignoring shit that doesn't fit into their perceived image of something. Though even considering those, it's saying something that they're still the nicest faction in 40k; they're just an awful oppressive empire, rather than a hyper-ultra terribad megadeath awful xenocidally oppressive empire, or some flavor of omnicidal maniacs, or Eldar.Another Real Reason Why People Like TauUnlike many other Races in 40k the Tau are capable of fitting into many other Sci-fi Universes without much Problems. Such as Star trek where they would be at home along side other Peaceful yet also Tyrannical Factions like the Federation. Compared to the Necrons or Eldar which would be both Roflstomps and completely different from all other groups in that Universe.
(Unless it ).The Real Reason Why People Play TauArguably have the most powerful guns in the game. Often twin-linked. Often on cool-looking robot battlesuits. Tau players may also have a tendency towards sadism.A Solid Reason People Don't Play TauThey're fucking expensive.
On a points-per-pound level, they cost more than any other (plastic) army. This is doubly true if you like battlesuits, but of course you do because you're playing Tau.Helping Necrons? Or are they Necrontyr descendants?An often overlooked issue is that Tau have almost no warp signatures, just like Necrons, hate Warpspawns and Warp in general (despite the fact that in 6E they can work with them.I just.I don't.WAAAARD!!!), just like Necrons, have the exact same skull shape, stature and short lives, and the overwhelming need for Technology and beam weapons, JUST LIKE NECRONS. May have planned a race that simply prepares a pacified, multiracial galaxy for Necrons to feast upon, supported by Ethereals that have a C'tan phase blade. Then there is a reference of 'dark seed in east' by the Deceiver, so the tricky C'tan might give Tzeentch the finger in the competition.
Or maybe GW just has so little creativity that they simply made a new civ conforming to an Old One's standards without knowing it. Given that recent murmurs have suggested that something absolutely massive is in the works at GW, anything could be possible, though past experience has led us to believe that it will simply be a Tau wearing a silly.TL;DR The good guysHigh-tech, Mech-loving alien race who are the least of factions.
Can't melee for shit but can blow you back to the stone age with ranged weaponry if you have the misfortune of being downrange. You will either love them or hate them because of all this, and many neckbeards do feel the. For some reason Tau females are by a non-insignificant minority of fa/tg/uys, which has shown up in some draw- and writefaggotry.
As the saying goes: 'You can't spell TAUNT without TAU.' Warhammer Fantasy Unlike most other factions in 40k, Tau have no clear antecedent from. Some think the anime influences and rapid industrialization/militarization point towards Nippon; others feel the caste system might be related to the Kingdom of Ind. However, neither faction has ever been explored in great detail (or any detail at all), so it's impossible to say whether Tau are similar to those factions; instead, we must compare to the real-world equivalents of the Old World nations. Slightly more controversially, there are elements of Cathay (which is the Anglicized word for China back in the British Empire heyday, so yes) in the Tau. Cathay has been described as being technologically advanced (at least on par with the Empire), including terra-cotta automaton warriors (which the Chinese definitely used to make to pay homage to the First Chinese Emperor's over inflated ego, more than a millennia ago), although such comparison is stated by some to haveMore recently, some have connected the Tau and their subject races to other factions in Fantasy. The rapid evolution of the Kroot and their overall savagery is (somewhat) similar to the Gors of the Beastmen (although the Beastmen are in the 40k universe themselves).
The Empire also shares the xenos-friendly viewpoint of the Tau, although they're not expansionistic, and decidedly less concerned with a unified government structure so long as everyone pays their taxes, for better or for worse. Others compare them to dwarves: dwarves don't use Chaos magic, are short, technologically advanced, kinda casty and blue (understood in many countries as 'hopelessly drunk') basicly all the time.
Tau don't use Chaos warp magic, are short, technologically advanced, very casty and blue all the time (in regards to skin colour). Both also get seriously grudgy and angry when you piss them off.Trivia.
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FOR THE!. Some have said that Tau resemble the protagonist KYNE from the Amiga video game Brataccas, which was released in 1986. Tau were first added to Warhammer 40k in late 2001. Some would dismiss this as coincidence, but Games Workshop has a long history of ripping off designs from other games; are from, very large chunks of 40k are a little too similar to, and all of the Greater Daemon model designs are stolen from early.
These properties are understandable as Games Workshop was still selling games of those IPs when Warhammer was first created, but Brataccas is an obscure game from a forgotten system that was quite forgettable even at release, even if Amiga games tended to get fantastic cover art. This being said another of GW's early products was also puzzles of of this style of '70's/'80's Sci-Fi art.
The Tau cast system does resemble the Protoss caste from, which predates the release of the Tau by 3 years. You have the Templar (Fire/Air Castes) Judicators (Ethereals + Water Castes) and Khalai (Earth Caste).
In addition to a rogue sub-caste in the Dark Templar (Farsight Enclaves). This is Ironic considering that GW originally was making a deal with Blizzard to make games based on their properties.
GW asked too much/Blizzard didn't like the terms and left. To make Warcraft and Starcraft. Starcraft would have become a Rogue Trader RTS. It was probably a mistake on GW's part, as they REALLY missed out.
Stealing the Tau from the Protoss was probably done because GW was still salty. Tau are technically canon to the Marvel Comics universe, as the series Venom: Space Knight repeatedly used Tau vehicles for aliens in the scenery. In fact, they have the balls to even keep the Tau Sept symbol! Also, you can see what appears to be a Eldar tank, as well as a Necron.
The irony of the ripoff masters Games Workshop getting ripped off is juicy, even more so when its realized that lawsuit-happy Games Workshop (who literally tried to copyright 'pauldrons' while they plagiarized Eldar from Tolkien and had some contention between ) couldn't do shit about it because Marvel is owned by Disney, and nobody beats The Mouse™. (except Marvel/Disney settled out of court rather than risk the wrath of the Ordo Legalitus)Notable Tau.See Also.
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