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Mods I'm not sure where the best place to put this was as it contains a little bit of everything. If there is a better place for it please move it

After I complete my revisions of my 2k Tau army I am looking to eventually expand it into the Apocalypse range by adding 1k of Imperial Guard which will count as a mix of Auxiliaries and right now I am in the planning stages (I like to start early so I can figure out all of what I need and start saving up/writing back ground). I created this post for a couple reasons.

1. I'm not 100% sure on how allies work in Apocalypse. I'm fairly certain that you have to meet the requirements of both armies so 1 HQ and 2 Troops per ally, is this right? also how do special rules work across armies? for instance could I use a senior officers order on a squad of Firewarriors, marker light tokens on ratling snipers or the Astropaths Telepathic Relay for my Tau units arriving from reserve (I'm making a Ninja Tau force)?

2. I would like suggestions as to what units I should take to work in unison with my Tau army (I will post the list so people will know what I have) and some suggested tactics I could use with them. I want units that while in part are fluffy they will also support my Tau in their function. I have searched but I wasen't able to find any tactics concerning Apocalypse allies which I think would be very usefull if someone felt inclined to make one.

3. Also I am wanting to post some fluff ideas created by myself and another as well as show what some of my plans are for some of the IG models I will have in my army. These will mostly be for fluff and modeling purposes, I guess I can actually make this into a blog which would help motivate me into getting all my work done as I HATE painting.

TACTICS SECTION (units I have so I can recieve suggestions on what I should take from IG)

So to start here is my Tau list (note while suggestions are appreciated I'm not really looking to change the Tau portion of my list just see what I could add from IG to support it). And for some reason when I wrote the list I wrote it as if it was at the same points as a 5th edition WHFB list so it came out to 2250 points. I've cut it down to 2k for normal games but put it back the way it was for when I go Apocalypse. So if anyone has any suggestions as to which IG units would mesh well with this army please let me know.

HQ-
Helios Shas'o 142
Shield Generator, HW Multi tracker, Stimulant injector

Shas'el 113
TW Missle pod, Positional Relay, HW Drone Controller, 2x Shield Drones

Elites-
2 Helios Shas'ui 124
2 Multi trackers

3 Fire Knife Shas'ui 156
3 Multi trackers

6 Stealthsuits 302
1 Fusion Blaster, 6 Drone Controllers, 3 Marker Drones, 3 Gun Drones

Troops-
10 Fire Warriors 115
Shas'ui, bonding knife

10 Fire Warriors 115
Shas'ui, bonding knife

12 Kroot 114
5 Kroot hounds

12 Kroot 114
5 Kroot Hounds

16 Kroot

Fast attack-
8 Pathfinders 181
Devilfish, Disruption Pod

8 Pathfinders 181
Devilfish, Disruption Pod

Heavy Support-
Ionhead 120
Ion Cannon, Disruption Pod, Multi tracker

Ionhead 120
Ion Cannon, Disruption Pod, Multi Tracker

3 Broadsides 240
3 ASS.

STRATEGY
My Shas'el will join my Broadsides providing some long range support and protection and with the Broadsides will focus on Tanks/monsterous creatures, his positional relay will give me more control over my Reserve units.

The Ionheads will target infantry either already on foot or forced to footslogg after my railguns and battlesuits take out their tanks.

My Shas'o will join the Helios Shas'ui and Deepstrike near Tanks or MEQs. So will the Fire Knives though they will be more focused on infantry. I would like to keep my Shas'o as a Helios but battlesuit configurations are what I'm most open to as far as configuring them to work best with the rest of my force.

Stealthsuits will deploy as the mission dictates but they will be infantry hunters, the fusion blaster is just incase they have the oppurtunity to kill a tank and the Marker Drones will help whoever needs it.

The Fire Warriors will take the Devilfish from the Pathfinders and the Marker beacons will help my Deep Strikers land were I want them. They'll move to take objectives quickly.

the 2 12 strong Kroot squads will outflank and take objectives or tie shooting/cc footsloggers up in cc. The 16 strong unit will act as a counter assault/anti infiltrate unit for my tanks and broadsides.

The Pathfinders will scout move and use their markerlights as the situation deems fit.


TAU PLANS

Here is my paint scheme for my Tau which I will transfer out across all the units in my army, with variations to suit the look and urpose of the unit of course.


And this is the design that I will be basing my commander and the 2 Helios battlesuits off of.

I will of course use differant poses, heads and weapons to personalise my own suits, they will be mounted on the same size base as crisis suits and I am going to try to pose them so that they are as tall as a crisis either by having them fly or be standing on debris of some sort. My Shas'o will be the only one of the 3 without a helmit.

Counts as shield drones

Demiurg: Lord Dirks Design


IMPERIAL GUARD COUNTS AS AND FLUFF

Here are the IG units I'm looking at putting in my army, these first units and designs are not my own but Lord Dirks who has given me permission to use them (except for the Tarellian Dog Soldier/Niccissar below and the Demiurg above as you all know is GWs but I like his designs), descriptions come directly from his project log on ATT. Lord Dirks home grown rules will not be used for these units and these are what I would use to represent these units IF I take them in the army and just because they are listed here dosen't mean I will take them, it just means I'm thinking about it .

First up are my counts as Storm Troopers

FCST


Fire Caste Strike Team
"The very best infantry a Cadre has to offer, FCST teams are formed when terrain or mission makes a typical Firewarrior team unwieldy or impractical. FCST teams are adequately equipped for almost any mission, but unlike their more typical counterparts, Strike team members are trained in the close-quartered fighting that occurs typically in urban environments. FCST teams are either dropped from orbit or deployed via Manta or Orca, as the mission dictates. Operating on or within the enemy line, Strike teams eliminate high-importance targets with relentless resolve."

Now the counts as Ogryn

Chensou Auxiliary


With armor

"Chensou Auxilaries are my idea for making a tough close combat unit that can go toe to toe with even a space marine. Tau in general, as far as I have seen, are a defensive army. I wanted to make an assault unit, something that could brawl it out and surprise enemy units that were banking on the Tau's hit and run tactics. I didn't want to just make another space marine though, so I did some pondering (a pastime I practice often). Space Marines in their outlook are generally glorified suits of knights armor. To create a different silhouette, one that would work with the Tau, I looked to Samurai for inspiration. I also didn't want to make another lizard or bug, so I chose a primate for some hairy fun. Tau are influenced by Samurai deigns as well, but the mix with high tech weaponry makes them look odd when people add swords and straw hats to them. With the Chensou I could fully explore the samurai look without the restriction of being non-close combat oriented.

I imagine the Chensou as a warrior race of little technological advancement. All of their weapons and armor are gifts from the Tau. I imagined the Chensou weapon to be handled almost like a samurai sword/shotgun mix. The gun would be short barreled and rapid fire, terrible accuracy but good for surpressing an enemy when your running in. The guns bayonet would be extremely long,the length of a katana and similar in shape."

Counts as Penal Legionaires

Tarellian Dog Soldiers


OR

Farsight mercenaries, I'm still working out how these guys will work fluff wise with the rest of my army.


Counts as Valkyrie

Sawfish Troop Carrier

"The Sawfish acts as a medium between the Devilfish Troop Carrier and the Piranha support craft. Able to carry six firewarriors, armed with two gun drones, and boasting dual vehicle mounted sheild generators, the Sawfish turns normally static fire warriors into small mobile firing squads. Without the sheild it has medium armor and has one pilot, the firewarriors attach to the sides and are exposed, spare for the massive sheilding. Firewarriors can fire from the sides and count as firing from an open top vehicle."

Counts as Primaris Psyker

Nicassar Host Psyker

"Psykers who have willingly given themselves to the greater good are spared the surgical nightmare that is the warrior and immortal (2 other designs by Lord Dirk, this section of his log delves into Necron technology). By opening the backside of the Psyker, the Tau have allowed Nicassar young-lings access to the entire spinal cord of the volunteer Psyker within an armored, vacuum sealed back pack. This gives the Psyker advanced senses, powers, and other abilities far beyond that of normal warriors."

Counts as Armored Sentinel

Gue'vesa Battlesuit


I will definitly have Eldar Auxiliaries in my army that may count as Ratlings or I may have them be Pathfinders I haven't decided


If I can figure out how to model it this will be a type of super heavy of some sort

Morkabrikon devastator

"The Morkabrikon is a huge leather skinned beast that hides in asteroid caves on the farthest rims of the Tau Empire. Feeding on mineral ore found in the asteroids surface, low gravity and a hearty diet of rock have made these creatures into lumbering masses of muscle and rock like skin. Uncommunicative as a species, Morkabrikon rarely seek out the company of the other Morkabrikon except when they need to mate. Highly territorial it is inadvisable to place more than one of these on a battlefield at any given time. Thankfully their brains are housed close to the top of their skull, and are relatively primitive in nature. A simple drone controller implanted into their frontal lobe allows full control of their behavior, mood, and cognitive motor functions. This both eliminates them as a threat to passing Tau ships, and utilizes them as a powerful assault soldier."

And here is a line up for most of Lord Dirks biological creations, I believe that the scale on some of these creatures is off.


And now some of my own ideas, sorry there aren't pictures yet.

Conscripts/infantry platoon- Gue'vesa, these soldiers have either been subsumed into the Tau Empire or where later born into it and are of the lowist rank. They have yet to prove their full loyalty

Advisors: These will be represented as Drones controlled by the Gue'vesa commander (except for bodyguards if I take any)

Astropath- Communications Drone assigned to Gue'vesa commander, feeds updates to battlefield command allowing them to more accuratly position their forces. Also moniters the Gue'vesa commanders behavior and actions (this is of course unknown to the Gue'vesa Commander, no in game effect).

Master of Ordnance- Orbital Marker Drone, allows commander to call in airstrikes from the Kor navy

Officer of the Fleet- Surveillance Drone, advanced sensors recieve a constant stream of information from Tau forces which are then relayed to the required force which will move to intercept.

Commissar- Tau Overseer, due to instances of betrayel these individuals are tasked with insuring the loyalty of Gue'vesa troops

Ministorum Priest- Tau'va Orator, trained to inspire those around them the Tau'va orators instill a stoic belief in the Greater Good to all servants of the Tau Empire.

Veterans- Gue'vesa'ui, unlike those left stranded in the wake of Tau invasion these soldiers have never served the Imperium of man and have been born from loyal families who have been apart of the Empire for generations. True soldiers of the Greater Good these warriors have proven themselves time and again and are held as the standard to which all Gue'vesa should aspire.

Rough Riders- I'm designing a quadrupedal alien that will serve the same purpose.

CHARACTERS

This next section details characters from the IG codex that I am thinking of turning into Gue'vesa characters. I'm still fleshing out details and fluff for most of them. I'm also still making Tau names for them

Lord Castellan Creed- Will be a Gue'vesa'el which is the highest rank a Gue'vesa can reach in the Tau military (not supported by fluff). Born on a Tau sept he will be a firm believer in the greater good, a master tactician he is highly respected (as much as an auxiliary commander can be) and serves as the supreme commander of Gue'vesa forces.

Commissar Yarrick- A fanatical believer of the Greater Good this hero has led those under his command to countless victories against overwhelming odds. Such is his zeal that he will often refuse to fall back in the face of being over ran, this has often bought precious time for his Tau commanders to re-deploy and better engage the enemy resulting in victory. But these deffiant stands have also left him scared and he sports many bionics.

Commander Chenkov- He will actually be a Tau overseer from N'dras who dosen't exactly place a high value on lives (something the Tau find alien), I imagine he once had a higher rank but was demoted due to his brutal tactics. He believes that all must pay a price for the furtherance of the Greater Good even if that price includes their own lives.

Captain Al'rahem- For this character I almost think I want him to be a commander (probably Catachan) who once served the Imperium but when his force was abandoned do to a political rival he and his men where left to fight an enemy (probably orks) alone. Forced to watch his men die due to the tretchary of another caused him to have a growing hatred of the corruption of the Imperium. When the Tau arrived and defeated the Orks this captain and his men where offered a chance to join the Tau to which they agreed.

Well hopefully this will be the start of a very long project, I don't see it being complete before the end of next year. If anyone can answer my questions or just has any comments/suggestions on the ideas just let me know. Oh and I will be adding a conversion section later to show how I plan on converting many of the counts as IG units.