It can't be because they have little or no presence in the Warp. Chaos can corrupt the soulless Men of Iron and CSM vehicles, so that's right out. The Tau would have to be anathema to Chaos somehow.

Total faith in and dedication to the Ethereals.

Chaos only really effects inanimate objects when they have been subject to prolonged exposure to chaos or through ritual.

The Tau don't really know much of the warp. I'm sure the flesh can be corrupted and probably the soul too, but Chaos needs to make a physical connection with them as their presence is so negligible within the warp.

IIRC there was an article in a WD many moons ago explaining why Daemon Hunters/Grey Knights would fight the Tau. It essentially boiled down to a Daemonic artifact allowing possession of an Ethereal, the Tau now believing the Ethereal had been transformed still followed the code of the Tau and obeyed the Daemons commands.

Remember, the Tau homeworld was wreathed in Warp storms for thousands of years. Any planet even within the line of sight of a visible Warp disruption gets affected by Chaos - you get side-effects like Cadian purple eyes, or a large number of psykers. Besides, even during the Great Crusade, when militant atheist human chauvinism was essentially required, the Chaos gods were still a viable threat to the Imperium. Also, Chaos feeds off of emotion, sensation, anarchy and stagnation, and all civilizations except the Tau feed it just by existing.

There's something special - or, to be precise, wrong - about the Tau. Anything that can't be affected by Chaos is suspect.

Off topic, but in response to Hawkwind, do Cadians still have purple eyes? Or did that stop some time between Lorgar's visit and the fortyoneth millenium?

They're like gingers, they have no souls

But if it's something besides their low warp signature, than i don't know what it is.It seems like these days GW has stayed away from Chaos having too much of a corrupting influence on non humans. When was the last time you've read about Chaos corrupting an Eldar, Ork, Kroot, Tyranid?

I know the Eldar are scared S less of Slaanesh, but when was the last time you heard of a Demon worshiping/possessed Eldar?

Long ago they had Khornate Ork Storm Boyz, but that idea is pretty much as dead as squats.

Don't get me started on the Chaos Eldar. If I had my way, every Slaaneshi battleforce could take them as Elites.

And Orks should be buddies with Khorne! The only difference between them is that Khorne is red and Gork and Mork and Mindy are green, but that just means that Khorne will go faster!

I agree, the story behind the demon Prince for my Emperor's Children army is a corrupted Eldar female. I converted her out of the old Wood Elf Ariel model.

But i haven't read anything about the actual existence of "Chaos Eldar" from GW.
If you know of some please point me towards it so I may consume it with my mind

Actually... I really don't have any evidence to back up my claim right now. The sole bit of fluff I had to go on (I think) was a third or second edition Chaos sourcebook that mentioned Eldar trapped on the Crone Worlds, their bodies warped and twisted by Chaos.

I just find it sad that it wasn't developed. Can you imagine how cool looking a fully painted Chaos Eldar could look? With the fleshy armor and the carapace and the tentacles EVERYWHERE!

the main reason the Tau don't get corrupted is because their low Warp Signiture doesn't attract much attention.


the Tau are also pretty far from any major warp storms(aside from the one that shielded their planet from imperial colonists that disappated)

somecallmeJack wrote:Off topic, but in response to Hawkwind, do Cadians still have purple eyes? Or did that stop some time between Lorgar's visit and the fortyoneth millenium?

They still do.

Tau back ground hints heavily in the direction that someone engineered them. If that it true then it's probable that whoever did that was an enemy of chaos and new that the best way to fight an enemy like chaos is to make a race that would be impossible to corrupt (or at least too difficult to be worth their time/efforts).

I think de call dem chaos woshippin eldar dark eldar

Chamleoneyes wrote:Tau back ground hints heavily in the direction that someone engineered them. If that it true then it's probable that whoever did that was an enemy of chaos and new that the best way to fight an enemy like chaos is to make a race that would be impossible to corrupt (or at least too difficult to be worth their time/efforts).

Besides the codex, where is a good place to read about this background? I play Tau and I feel bad knowing so little about their fluff. Are there any books that dive heavily into Tau fluff?

I remember reading somewhere that the etherals just showed up one day and took control of the different castes....seems very odd to me!

Tau can be corrupted by Chaos, it's just that thus far they haven't (mainly by dint of being on the other side of the galaxy from the largest Warp-space overlap, and generally being too small and insignificant to attract much attention (seriously, why would the Chaos Gods try to focus on such a small Empire?)) Have the Demiurg every been corrupted?

There's absolutely nothing saying that the Tau are incorruptible as far as I know (unlike the Grey Knights, who are stated to be completely uncorruptible). As for the Warp Storm, they don't necessarily mean that mutations will take place (even if they did, that might explain the separations between the Castes, the appearance of the Ethereals, or the massive civil war that almost caused Tau extinction. Any of them could be explained by unknown influence from the Warp.)

Thelaugher wrote:I think de call dem chaos woshippin eldar dark eldar

Nope, Dark Eldar are as Slaanesh fearing as the regular Eldar. They just appease Slaanesh by feeding it souls in hopes that it won't eat theirs. They get no chaos granted powers from this, nor do they mutate.

They're not incorruptible but they are very, very resilient to both the temptations offered by the Ruinous Powers and their Warp-spawned effects.

In Fire Warrior, one Tau was eventually corrupted but only by the exertion of huge amounts of effort and the use of vast amounts of energy by the Gods.

Frankly it's not worth their effort, especially when there are easily-swayed humans in their trillions eager to serve...

Good luck trying to seduce a mind that wants nothing you have to offer.

Tau live to serve Ethereals and the greater good. They literally resent names until they have earned them. If an Ethereal ordered a Fire Warrior to kill himself he would be obeyed without question on the spot.

For their part, Chaos wants nothing to do with a race like that. They are more after races like Eldar and Humans which have no shortage of heavily registered souls in the warp that appease Chaos. If they really wanted to corrupt the Tau they would try, but all fluff points to this being a futile effort. Tau being a non-psyker race puts the plot armor on that at about 2+

Hawkward wrote:It can't be because they have little or no presence in the Warp. Chaos can corrupt the soulless Men of Iron and CSM vehicles, so that's right out. The Tau would have to be anathema to Chaos somehow.

I would not say that that the Tau are by any means incorruptible, mainly b/c there is no writing anywhere stating that they are not. Simply b/c Chaos has not made a major impact on them does not mean they are. I would say the reason there has not been a major impact of chaos on the Tau could be for 2 reasons that have not been mentioned

1.) The tau are a young race and have not been a real power for very long at all, the Chaos gods may no see much point to corrupting them b/c there may be little to gain
2.) The Ethreals, not really sure how. But the Ethreals are regarded as semi divine beings no? They came out of nowhere to lead the hunter gather old Tau from obscurity into a galactic Empire, albeit a small one at the moment. Perhaps there is some unexplained or unwritten power possessed by the ethreals that allows them to protect the Tau from Chaos? If for no reason other than there is no written evidence suggesting they do not have this power I could believe that they do.

Then who is to say that the have been no signs of chaos? Commander Farsight went against the tactics and teachings of the ethreals and has since broken away forming his own empire, could he perhaps have been tempted by chaos to do this? I personally do not believe so, but it is possible. Or in fact maby it was not he who was tempted by chaos but some of the other ethreals themselves, which is why his enclave broke away. I also do not personally believe this, but once again it is also possible lol

but to repeat a previous poster are there any sort of books that delve into Tau lore, besides the white scars one where it talks about the crusade against the tau. Im talking more about a tau flavored book, not space marine with some dead tau in it book

@darcloud92: Read Miraclefish's post.

In the book, Fire Warrior (yeah it's all about Tau); one half-crazy Tau turns to chaos but the amount of energy spent to do it was incredible; much easier to just take some of the willing, easily corruptible humans.
1) see above.
2) Ethereal's aren't seen as divine or godly or any other nonsense. There's nothing to indicate that Tau even follow anything like a religion. Ethereals are more along the lines of a patriarch in a confucianist society. Some say Pheromones, some say that they are just honored teachers/leaders. There's no strong fluff one way or the other.


Somewhat related. Are Orks immune because they're plants or because Gork and Mork are stronger than the Chaos Ghods?

SomeRandomEvilGuy wrote:Tau can be corrupted by Chaos, it's just that thus far they haven't (mainly by dint of being on the other side of the galaxy from the largest Warp-space overlap, and generally being too small and insignificant to attract much attention (seriously, why would the Chaos Gods try to focus on such a small Empire?)) Have the Demiurg every been corrupted?

There's absolutely nothing saying that the Tau are incorruptible as far as I know (unlike the Grey Knights, who are stated to be completely uncorruptible). As for the Warp Storm, they don't necessarily mean that mutations will take place (even if they did, that might explain the separations between the Castes, the appearance of the Ethereals, or the massive civil war that almost caused Tau extinction. Any of them could be explained by unknown influence from the Warp.)

There's nothing been said they can be corrupted. It's been stated a few times that Tau have little or no presence in the Warp, which means the Chaos Powers have to go to a lot more effort to corrupt the soul of a Tau. The body is still only flesh, so as susceptible to corruption as a human body. Tau also have no other real purpose than to serve the Greater Good. They would never abandon it, and wouldn't have to be far away from any Ethereals to allow it to happen.

It's never been stated that Grey Knights are incorruptible. They are EXTREMELY RESISTANT to the temptations of Chaos, and not one has as yet fallen. The Warp storm may well be the cause of the Ethereals, but the Castes are more down to basic evolution and a strict law of no inter-breeding than Warp corruption. It kind of poses the question of whether time flowed differently whilst they were trapped by the storm.

Hawkward wrote:Chaos can corrupt the soulless Men of Iron and CSM vehicles, so that's right out.

You are forgetting your fluff, in 40K vehicles have machine spirits and Men of Iron would have even stronger machine spirits, this is how they can be corrupted.

1.) There is no definite answer in the fluff.
2.) There seems to be a slight difference between ethereals and other Tau in this.
3.) The novel Fire Warrior is about a Daemon trying to corrupt Tau. He doesn't even see a chance with the ethereal, but he sees one in a million Tau to be emotional enough to crack him. In the end he doesn't even succeed with him, the exhausted Fire Warrior survives all attempts uncorrupted but broken.
4.) Xenology suggests the daring theory that Eldar manufactured the ethereals (adding the olphactory organ on the forehead) and send them to make the Tau "immune" to Chaos corruption. Never supported by any other book (and Xenology also features a Tau pic with feet instead of hooves).
5.) Tau have almost no presence in the warp, being low on emotions and having no psykers. So even if they were corruptable, it would be like searching for hard bread crumbs in a chocolate factory.

I could be wrong but I thought there was some hinting that commander Farsights sword was a daemonblade corrupting him and thats why he turned away from the etherials and takes a more aggressive stance in war.

The Tau thing is pretty settled, and I agree with "not incoruptable but damn near impossible."

So here's my 2 cents:

Orks have had Korne dedications in the past. This idea is pretty much dead, but it could be that their gods protect them from it. Don't really know.

Eldar are NOT incorruptable, it is just rare because of the Eldar Paths. The Paths are put there to focus an eldar's mind to make it less suseptable to Chaos, give him less emotions, so the Fall cannot happen again. Altansar was in the warp for 10,000 years and came up completely uncorrupted.

From Lexicanum: "Altansar is regarded with open suspicion and hostility, for how could any Eldar remain untouched by the predations of Chaos for so many millennia?"

Also: "Currently Altansar is somewhere close to Terra, although how it has managed to get there without Imperial retaliation is unknown."

Makes me think there's something else going here.

I think the ethereals keep the negative emotions that feed chaos in check through their pheromones.

bthom37 wrote:I think the ethereals keep the negative emotions that feed chaos in check through their pheromones.

Chaos is not fed my negative emotions alone. They are also fed by positive ones. Slaanesh, for example, also feeds on happyness, love, and pleasure. Slaanesh is excess of feeling. Nurgle is both life and death. Well, rebirth more than life, but it's still possitive. Tzeentch is knowledge. Can you honestly tell me that the desire for knowledge is a negative thing?

I can honestly tell you that the desire for knowledge is a negative thing as far as the Imperium is concerned.

Here are some "imperial thoughts of the day" from Dawn of War

"Blessed is the mind too small for doubt."
"Thought begets Heresy; Heresy begets Retribution."
"Educate men without faith and you but make them clever devils."
"A narrow view sees better."

Yeah, and most people can agree that the IoM ideology is bass ackwards as far as technology goes. It's like the Holy Roman Church burning "heretical" technology. That doesn't make the persuit of knowledge bad, just heretical in the eyes of the IoM.

bocirish wrote:I could be wrong but I thought there was some hinting that commander Farsights sword was a daemonblade corrupting him and thats why he turned away from the etherials and takes a more aggressive stance in war.

The Dawn Blade has been hinted to be of many numbers, including C'tan, Old Ones and Chaos

Sothas wrote:Slaanesh, for example, also feeds on happyness, love, and pleasure.

I know this is off topic but where is the fluff that Slaanesh is linked to love? Slaanesh was created by excess, decadence and sexuality, not love, if it was linked to love it wouldn't have taken till the Fall to develop in the warp.

I think that its faith in the Greater Good and that the warp simply does not "See" them.

Also: "An open mind is like a fortress with is gates unbard and unguarded."

They have little to no warp signature and therefore are useless to demons, this means no link to the god's..... of any race. They just arent interesting to Chaos, maybe to CSM's that just want to impale everything on their back spikes but not to the god's who find Eldar and Humans much more important.

agnosto wrote:@darcloud92: Somewhat related. Are Orks immune because they're plants or because Gork and Mork are stronger than the Chaos Ghods?

In Ere We Go or Waaagh!: orks the rogue trader books, I forget, it has something about gork almost destroying nurgle and then getting bored before he finished the job.


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I have found a tau with possible chaos connections, the great farsight! I wouldn't have guessed that.

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/O%27Shovah

I seem to remember reading that the reason that tau lack in psykers is because they don't warp travel, but warp "jump", warp "dive" or something the like. Maybe this lack of connection with the warp means they are harder to corrupt.


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NagothDaCleaver wrote: When was the last time you've read about Chaos corrupting an Eldar, Ork, Kroot, Tyranid?

Kroot have been corrupted. They are a gene stealing race who cannibalise their prey to gain aspects of the prey. When they cannibalise chaos marines or other heretics, mutants, the such, they, after a while become corrupted. Ref Lexicanum: kroot

Tyranids have the shadows in the warp to protect them.

Orks are incorruptible because of the fact that for them violence is not corruption, it is natural.

Hückleberry wrote:I remember reading somewhere that the etherals just showed up one day and took control of the different castes....seems very odd to me!

They didn't "just appear" one day, they stooped a huge civil war...They are a caste of elder and vise Tau leaders, they just stop fights, get leader to talk and shortly after - unite them.


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Miraclefish wrote:They're not incorruptible but they are very, very resilient to both the temptations offered by the Ruinous Powers and their Warp-spawned effects

I am sorry, but in Firre Warrior Severus tell that " Sadly Tau are resistant to Chaos, you have no psychic power. I thought I can use you - but I can't". And that's after holding Tau Etherial for hours...

See here strting from 3:22 :

Brother Coa wrote:

Hückleberry wrote:I remember reading somewhere that the etherals just showed up one day and took control of the different castes....seems very odd to me!

They didn't "just appear" one day, they stooped a huge civil war...They are a caste of elder and vise Tau leaders, they just stop fights, get leader to talk and shortly after - unite them.

Please actually read Tau fluff first, it is clearly described that the Etherals just turned up out of no where during the caste wars and within Days ended a planet wide war. Each caste is unique in physical apperance and it is written in fluff that the other tau did not know of them at all.

zilegil wrote:I have found a tau with possible chaos connections, the great farsight! I wouldn't have guessed that.

He has been connected to so many theories with very little evidence to back any of them up.

zilegil wrote:I seem to remember reading that the reason that tau lack in psykers is because they don't warp travel, but warp "jump", warp "dive" or something the like. Maybe this lack of connection with the warp means they are harder to corrupt.

You have it the wrong way round, the tau do not properly travel through the warp due to the fact that they are not psykers. but as stated by everyone else, it is pretty obvious that having little impact on the warp means that the warp will have little impact on them.

NagothDaCleaver wrote: When was the last time you've read about Chaos corrupting an Eldar, Ork, Kroot, Tyranid?

Eldar - they hate chaos, and are constanly in a battle for their souls, so its not hard to see that chaos eldar are few and far between.
Ork - the natural psychic field that orks create usually protects them, but there has been fluff showing orks beeing corrupted (not turning to) by chaos, usually through misguided worship of chaos sites believing that they are dedicated to Gork or Mork.
Kroot - fluff clearly states that if kroot eat choas infused meat they will become corrupted, this is why shapers exist to stop the kroot consuming 'bad meat' such as chaos followers or tyranids
Tyranids - pretty much the same as orks, the hive mind protects them, but their has been examples of bio-organisms being infected and corrupted by chaos viruses. you must remember that a single tyranid is nothing more than a non-sentient animal, what use has it in worshipping a chaos god, when it doesn't even understand what worship is, or any other sociatal activity.

Because they aren't worth corrupting.

BluntmanDC wrote:
Please actually read Tau fluff first, it is clearly described that the Etherals just turned up out of no where during the caste wars and within Days ended a planet wide war. Each caste is unique in physical apperance and it is written in fluff that the other tau did not know of them at all.

And what have I said wrong?

In the begging there was a huge war between Tau living in plains, Tau living at rivers and between Tau living in mountains. Then in the hight of the war, Eherials showed up, negotiate peace and after that take control over all of Tau...

What here is not Tau fluff?

That is definitely Tau fluff, Coa.

I doubt that the Chaos Gods or the Daemons can really sense their presence in the warp, if you will, and have staked their victory on the corruption of the Human species. I am sure that they are susceptible to mutation, though there is no backround information that I know of.

Brother Coa wrote:

BluntmanDC wrote:
Please actually read Tau fluff first, it is clearly described that the Etherals just turned up out of no where during the caste wars and within Days ended a planet wide war. Each caste is unique in physical apperance and it is written in fluff that the other tau did not know of them at all.

And what have I said wrong?

In the begging there was a huge war between Tau living in plains, Tau living at rivers and between Tau living in mountains. Then in the hight of the war, Eherials showed up, negotiate peace and after that take control over all of Tau...

What here is not Tau fluff?

And I quote your exact words "They didn't "just appear" one day, they stooped a huge civil war"


good back and read what you wrote!lol another poster said the ethreals came out of no where and you said they did not.
As a matter of fact the ethreals did appear from no where to get the tau to follow them, its a bit more complex then simple "negotiation"
the tau were mesmerized and put in awe by the ethreals. Take the way space marines or humans hold the Chapter masters and the Emperor in such high order and you have the same rate at which the tau regard the ethreals. So yes you got a very superficial basic understanding down, but not the whole meaning

Hawkward wrote:Remember, the Tau homeworld was wreathed in Warp storms for thousands of years. Any planet even within the line of sight of a visible Warp disruption gets affected by Chaos - you get side-effects like Cadian purple eyes, or a large number of psykers. Besides, even during the Great Crusade, when militant atheist human chauvinism was essentially required, the Chaos gods were still a viable threat to the Imperium. Also, Chaos feeds off of emotion, sensation, anarchy and stagnation, and all civilizations except the Tau feed it just by existing.

There's something special - or, to be precise, wrong - about the Tau. Anything that can't be affected by Chaos is suspect.

I remember the large warpstorm was one explanation for the Tau's rapid evolution, but other than that it doesn't seem to have affected them in any other way... that we know of.

Maybe the appearance of the Ethereals is caused by it too.

Tau can be corrupted by chaos... Not mentally but physically...

Let's say that a breakaway faction of the tau want to live the ways of close comvat, and start fighting with the worshippers of Khorne. They do not worship Khorne, only fight for him.

Kroothawk wrote:1.) There is no definite answer in the fluff.
2.) There seems to be a slight difference between ethereals and other Tau in this.
3.) The novel Fire Warrior is about a Daemon trying to corrupt Tau. He doesn't even see a chance with the ethereal, but he sees one in a million Tau to be emotional enough to crack him. In the end he doesn't even succeed with him, the exhausted Fire Warrior survives all attempts uncorrupted but broken.
4.) Xenology suggests the daring theory that Eldar manufactured the ethereals (adding the olphactory organ on the forehead) and send them to make the Tau "immune" to Chaos corruption. Never supported by any other book (and Xenology also features a Tau pic with feet instead of hooves).
5.) Tau have almost no presence in the warp, being low on emotions and having no psykers. So even if they were corruptable, it would be like searching for hard bread crumbs in a chocolate factory.

It may be that tau are super hard to corrupt because in their belief in their ideology "for the greater good"
and i don't know about that elder thing but it defiantly sounds like something the eldar would do

How Tau look like to the Chaos Gods.

sluggaslugga wrote:Tau can be corrupted by chaos... Not mentally but physically...

Let's say that a breakaway faction of the tau want to live the ways of close comvat, and start fighting with the worshippers of Khorne. They do not worship Khorne, only fight for him.

The Tau have a tiny presence in the warp, as a race and as single poeple, their actions do not feed the gods, as only beings with warp presence like humans feed the gods.

Jackster wrote:How Tau look like to the Chaos Gods.

perfect!

Because they aren't worth corrupting

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Holy_doctrine wrote: I doubt that the Chaos Gods or the Daemons can really sense their presence in the warp, if you will, and have staked their victory on the corruption of the Human species. I am sure that they are susceptible to mutation, though there is no backround information that I know of.

They can, but it's closer to say that Tau's soul is a single piece bland crustless white bread while a human soul is a bowl nice tasty pasta with an excellent sauce, and a psyker's soul is a huge intricately prepared feast worthy of a king.

So you can see why they ignore Tau. They just aren't worth the effort, much like the rest of hte universe's opinions on them.

BluntmanDC wrote:

sluggaslugga wrote:Tau can be corrupted by chaos... Not mentally but physically...

Let's say that a breakaway faction of the tau want to live the ways of close comvat, and start fighting with the worshippers of Khorne. They do not worship Khorne, only fight for him.

The Tau have a tiny presence in the warp, as a race and as single poeple, their actions do not feed the gods, as only beings with warp presence like humans feed the gods.

Why does chaos fight them then? Why not ignore them (unless they attack of course)

You misunderstood him. The actions of the Tau would never feed the Chaos Gods. However, a Chaos champion kills a Tau, he's still doing it in worship to his chosen deity. Khorne cares not from whence the blood flows, only that it flows.

Sothas wrote:

bthom37 wrote:I think the ethereals keep the negative emotions that feed chaos in check through their pheromones.

Chaos is not fed my negative emotions alone. They are also fed by positive ones. Slaanesh, for example, also feeds on happyness, love, and pleasure. Slaanesh is excess of feeling. Nurgle is both life and death. Well, rebirth more than life, but it's still possitive. Tzeentch is knowledge. Can you honestly tell me that the desire for knowledge is a negative thing?

Hmm, trying to remember the fluff - is it all 'strong' emotions, or 'excessive'? Either way, I do think that the Ethereals' pheromones do exert a 'calming influence' over the Tau, thus suppressing their attractiveness to the Chaos gods.

sluggaslugga wrote:

BluntmanDC wrote:

sluggaslugga wrote:Tau can be corrupted by chaos... Not mentally but physically...

Let's say that a breakaway faction of the tau want to live the ways of close comvat, and start fighting with the worshippers of Khorne. They do not worship Khorne, only fight for him.

The Tau have a tiny presence in the warp, as a race and as single poeple, their actions do not feed the gods, as only beings with warp presence like humans feed the gods.

Why does chaos fight them then? Why not ignore them (unless they attack of course)

Sometimes they are just in the way.

the obliterator virus might be compatible with tau tech and i dont think nurgles diseases would stop at the tau border.

their MENTALLY uncorruptable to chaos, but a tau dragged into the warp would mutate like every other being... or so i think. mind there are no facts to underline any of that.

sluggaslugga wrote:

BluntmanDC wrote:

sluggaslugga wrote:Tau can be corrupted by chaos... Not mentally but physically...

Let's say that a breakaway faction of the tau want to live the ways of close comvat, and start fighting with the worshippers of Khorne. They do not worship Khorne, only fight for him.

The Tau have a tiny presence in the warp, as a race and as single poeple, their actions do not feed the gods, as only beings with warp presence like humans feed the gods.

Why does chaos fight them then? Why not ignore them (unless they attack of course)

Skulls for Khornes throne are just that.... skulls for Khorne's throne.

Potential carriers of various pestilence are of at least SOME use to Nurgle.

Beings that take any pleasure in anything can attract slaanesh and make him think "Hey! let my perverse deamons show you how to use that thing you got there!".

Also Tzeentch can use them as pawns to play a part in his master plan, not through direct control but through manipulation and stimulus.

Sothas wrote:Yeah, and most people can agree that the IoM ideology is bass ackwards as far as technology goes. It's like the Holy Roman Church burning "heretical" technology. That doesn't make the persuit of knowledge bad, just heretical in the eyes of the IoM.

I know what you mean, it is as though they are frightened of technology which makes no sense whatsoever.


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tarnish wrote:the obliterator virus might be compatible with tau tech and i dont think nurgles diseases would stop at the tau border.

their MENTALLY uncorruptable to chaos, but a tau dragged into the warp would mutate like every other being... or so i think. mind there are no facts to underline any of that.

If exposed to the warp they will corrupt eventualy that is the power of chaos. The only way they wouldn't is if they were for some reason (probely through physcic protection) incorruptible.


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there isn't really much tau fluff is there and the codex barely says anything


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Interesting

The reason they are not corrupted by Chaos is that they are too insignificant for Chaos to bother with

The Tau are just too dedicated to the Greater Good.
Besides, there arent any Tau Psykers, are they? (anyways, I never heard of 1)

BluntmanDC wrote:

Kroot - fluff clearly states that if kroot eat choas infused meat they will become corrupted, this is why shapers exist to stop the kroot consuming 'bad meat' such as chaos followers or tyranids

True, strange that I had forgotten about that.

Example of corrupted Tau in Black library book, "Black Tide" by James Swallow

crazyK wrote:Example of corrupted Tau in Black library book, "Black Tide" by James Swallow

Spoiler:

The Blood Angels in pursuit of Fabius Bile find a colony of corrupted Tau that were experiemented on. The main character for the Blood Angels, Rafen, notes the savagery the corrupted Tau fight with. Fabius Bile had done many experiments on the Tau of this colony and many of them had grafted on daemonic limbs.

Being forcefully modified by Fabius Bile isn't really the same as being corrupted by Chaos. I guess it is in a very literal sense, but it's not the kind of corruption being discussed here.

I can't remember if it was 3rd or 4th ed Tau codex, but I believe it's alluded that Farsight's ethereal was killed. He also never turns on Tau, and doesn't actively purpsue corruption or challenges to them. It's pretty explicit that he's seen the galaxy, and is ardently hunting the enemies of Tau. Which, if he were fallen to Chaos the typical MO would be to muck about with his fellow Tau (which he seems to be ardently opposed to).

Ethereals don't have god like mind control. They can be resisted and ignored. In fact, until Shadowsun blows up Farsight's statue there appeared to be a possible rebellion against the ethereals brewing (and some of the Fire caste are still not happy with her or the abandonment of Farsight). Rather you could see them as highly revered leaders. They can be disobeyed, but it's highly unlikely as the culture and mindset has bread the Tau to see them as saviours.

I actually really rather like that Tau aren't susceptible to Chaos. It makes them different in 40k.

NagothDaCleaver wrote:They're like gingers, they have no souls

Jackass...



I'd love to see a good Chaos tau army...

All with Mark of Khorne !

It's also worth noting that in the Tau codex it says that given their limited exposure, the Tau had a difficult time understanding the hallucinogenic effects of the warp. In addition to just not having much of a psychic presence in the warp, they have a hard time even grasping what it is makes this warp thing so corrupting and mind bending in the first place.

Yes but you would think that the Ethereals at least would have some trouble with it wouldn't you?

Hawkward wrote:It can't be because they have little or no presence in the Warp. Chaos can corrupt the soulless Men of Iron and CSM vehicles, so that's right out. The Tau would have to be anathema to Chaos somehow.

They can be, they just aren't giant beacons for it. If you expose them to the warp they'll get corrupted/possessed/etc eventually just like anything else.

in one of the WDs that came out early when tau were first released it had a small skirmish fight of tau versus chaos tau and chaos kroot that had been corrupted by some warped planet.

So as per GW they can be corrupted by chaos. I don't think they have to worry about possession from just being noticed in the warp as a mirror to their physical being by a warp entity however.

fleet of claw wrote:I know what you mean, it is as though they are frightened of technology

It's not paranoia if it's true. And it is-- the dark age of technology was a golden age in truth... but it was ended by the rebellion of the robot servants and much other technologies.

Hawkward wrote:Remember, the Tau homeworld was wreathed in Warp storms for thousands of years. Any planet even within the line of sight of a visible Warp disruption gets affected by Chaos - you get side-effects like Cadian purple eyes, or a large number of psykers. Besides, even during the Great Crusade, when militant atheist human chauvinism was essentially required, the Chaos gods were still a viable threat to the Imperium. Also, Chaos feeds off of emotion, sensation, anarchy and stagnation, and all civilizations except the Tau feed it just by existing.

There's something special - or, to be precise, wrong - about the Tau. Anything that can't be affected by Chaos is suspect.

The reason that chaos was a threat during the crusade is that chaos is able to exploit the sins of men, which was easy considering how sinful we are and that we have strong souls.




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Medium of Death wrote:Total faith in and dedication to the Ethereals.

Chaos only really effects inanimate objects when they have been subject to prolonged exposure to chaos or through ritual.

The Tau don't really know much of the warp. I'm sure the flesh can be corrupted and probably the soul too, but Chaos needs to make a physical connection with them as their presence is so negligible within the warp.

IIRC there was an article in a WD many moons ago explaining why Daemon Hunters/Grey Knights would fight the Tau. It essentially boiled down to a Daemonic artifact allowing possession of an Ethereal, the Tau now believing the Ethereal had been transformed still followed the code of the Tau and obeyed the Daemons commands.

The only other chaos-Tau Empire related thing I can remember was when the kroot started eating daemons.

But yes, faith is the perfect weapon against Chaos. Anyone heard of the plague of unbelief?

blaktoof wrote:in one of the WDs that came out early when tau were first released it had a small skirmish fight of tau versus chaos tau and chaos kroot that had been corrupted by some warped planet.

So as per GW they can be corrupted by chaos. I don't think they have to worry about possession from just being noticed in the warp as a mirror to their physical being by a warp entity however.

This is actually either you bending the truth or misremembering an article,

The article in question was about Tau fighting chaos troops, after the chaos troops were repelled, the kroot went around feeding off of the corpses. This led to corrupted kroot (as already discussed in the thread) that turned on the very confused Tau. The article has no mention to corrupted Tau, so the point is invalid.

With the right circumstances, Chaos can corrupt anything that isn't a Blank or the Emperor.

Tau aren't Blanks, they aren't even close.

Thing is, Tau aren't worth the effort.

Melissia wrote:With the right circumstances, Chaos can corrupt anything that isn't a Blank or the Emperor.

Tau aren't Blanks, they aren't even close.

Thing is, Tau aren't worth the effort.

Ya, who would want 100 planets full of Tau, with 1/4 of them being soldiers, with a good portion of those being in suits only slightly weaker than dreadnoughts, and with the rest having weaponry that out-classes SMs?


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BluntmanDC wrote:

blaktoof wrote:in one of the WDs that came out early when tau were first released it had a small skirmish fight of tau versus chaos tau and chaos kroot that had been corrupted by some warped planet.

So as per GW they can be corrupted by chaos. I don't think they have to worry about possession from just being noticed in the warp as a mirror to their physical being by a warp entity however.

This is actually either you bending the truth or misremembering an article,

The article in question was about Tau fighting chaos troops, after the chaos troops were repelled, the kroot went around feeding off of the corpses. This led to corrupted kroot (as already discussed in the thread) that turned on the very confused Tau. The article has no mention to corrupted Tau, so the point is invalid.

Isn't that the battle where my Tau *sniggers* thought they killed Slaanesh?

im2randomghgh wrote:Ya, who would want 100 planets full of Tau, with 1/4 of them being soldiers, with a good portion of those being in suits only slightly weaker than dreadnoughts, and with the rest having weaponry that out-classes SMs?

And yet, for all of their material possessions, daemons don't care. Tau souls simply aren't tasty enough.

Melissia wrote:

im2randomghgh wrote:Ya, who would want 100 planets full of Tau, with 1/4 of them being soldiers, with a good portion of those being in suits only slightly weaker than dreadnoughts, and with the rest having weaponry that out-classes SMs?

And yet, for all of their material possessions, daemons don't care. Tau souls simply aren't tasty enough.

It must be the reason they were made..... a race made for the Asian populace must worship anime in all of its forms. Demons cant understand this

xXSir MontyXx wrote:

Melissia wrote:

im2randomghgh wrote:Ya, who would want 100 planets full of Tau, with 1/4 of them being soldiers, with a good portion of those being in suits only slightly weaker than dreadnoughts, and with the rest having weaponry that out-classes SMs?

And yet, for all of their material possessions, daemons don't care. Tau souls simply aren't tasty enough.

It must be the reason they were made..... a race made for the Asian populace must worship anime in all of its forms. Demons cant understand this

The Tau are no more cartoony than Astartes Shoulder Pads...

im2randomghgh wrote:

xXSir MontyXx wrote:

Melissia wrote:

im2randomghgh wrote:Ya, who would want 100 planets full of Tau, with 1/4 of them being soldiers, with a good portion of those being in suits only slightly weaker than dreadnoughts, and with the rest having weaponry that out-classes SMs?

And yet, for all of their material possessions, daemons don't care. Tau souls simply aren't tasty enough.

It must be the reason they were made..... a race made for the Asian populace must worship anime in all of its forms. Demons cant understand this

The Tau are no more cartoony than Astartes Shoulder Pads...

haha touche, but their goal of galactic puppies and flowers is inconceivable.

im2randomghgh wrote:

xXSir MontyXx wrote:

Melissia wrote:

im2randomghgh wrote:Ya, who would want 100 planets full of Tau, with 1/4 of them being soldiers, with a good portion of those being in suits only slightly weaker than dreadnoughts, and with the rest having weaponry that out-classes SMs?

And yet, for all of their material possessions, daemons don't care. Tau souls simply aren't tasty enough.

It must be the reason they were made..... a race made for the Asian populace must worship anime in all of its forms. Demons cant understand this

The Tau are no more cartoony than Astartes Shoulder Pads...

Why does everyone think Tau are for the asians?

Because they speak with a (badly done) Japanese accent, their gear looks like it came straight outta Robotech, they have hints of Chairman Mao political programs while *also* being... while not the "good guys" of 40k, perhaps the "least evil" or something... and everything about Tau-conquered planets seems to hint to Mega-Tokyo/AD Tank Police or Ghost in The Shell.

Really, though, it's the art. It's not that Tau are designed with "Asian Players' in mind, but more the "Anime Fan Player" in mind, at least IMO.

Psienesis wrote:Because they speak with a (badly done) Japanese accent, their gear looks like it came straight outta Robotech, they have hints of Chairman Mao political programs while *also* being... while not the "good guys" of 40k, perhaps the "least evil" or something... and everything about Tau-conquered planets seems to hint to Mega-Tokyo/AD Tank Police or Ghost in The Shell.

Really, though, it's the art. It's not that Tau are designed with "Asian Players' in mind, but more the "Anime Fan Player" in mind, at least IMO.

I really don't get the "Anime" argument.

That said, I'm a fan of Necron involvement. Using the Tau as a weapon against Chaos and psykers in general.

Artifact worlds are Tomb Worlds, Ethereals were engineered to unite the Tau, etc. etc.

fleet of claw wrote:

im2randomghgh wrote:

xXSir MontyXx wrote:

Melissia wrote:

im2randomghgh wrote:Ya, who would want 100 planets full of Tau, with 1/4 of them being soldiers, with a good portion of those being in suits only slightly weaker than dreadnoughts, and with the rest having weaponry that out-classes SMs?

And yet, for all of their material possessions, daemons don't care. Tau souls simply aren't tasty enough.

It must be the reason they were made..... a race made for the Asian populace must worship anime in all of its forms. Demons cant understand this

The Tau are no more cartoony than Astartes Shoulder Pads...

Why does everyone think Tau are for the asians?

because the release of the 1st Tau codex, and their appearence in 40k fluff from out of thin air, coencided with both the Anime craze wave and the opening of the 1st GW store in Japan.

Nerivant wrote:
I really don't get the "Anime" argument.

That said, I'm a fan of Necron involvement. Using the Tau as a weapon against Chaos and psykers in general.

Really? you see no commonalities between the overly stylised anime films of tech weilding robo-suits and the overly stylised tech wielding combat suits?

How are Tau anti-psyker/ they possess no anti-psyker abilities, if Necrons were involved wouldn't we see the pariah gene in the Tau.

BluntmanDC wrote:

Nerivant wrote:
I really don't get the "Anime" argument.

That said, I'm a fan of Necron involvement. Using the Tau as a weapon against Chaos and psykers in general.

Really? you see no commonalities between the overly stylised anime films of tech weilding robo-suits and the overly stylised tech wielding combat suits?

How are Tau anti-psyker/ they possess no anti-psyker abilities, if Necrons were involved wouldn't we see the pariah gene in the Tau.

No, because I don't see the Tau suits as being similar in style to the image most commonly associated with Anime mecha.

Maybe the Ethereals have a modified version of the Pariah Gene. Maybe the entire Tau race does. Who knows?

Nerivant wrote:

BluntmanDC wrote:

Nerivant wrote:
I really don't get the "Anime" argument.

That said, I'm a fan of Necron involvement. Using the Tau as a weapon against Chaos and psykers in general.

Really? you see no commonalities between the overly stylised anime films of tech weilding robo-suits and the overly stylised tech wielding combat suits?

How are Tau anti-psyker/ they possess no anti-psyker abilities, if Necrons were involved wouldn't we see the pariah gene in the Tau.

No, because I don't see the Tau suits as being similar in style to the image most commonly associated with Anime mecha.

Maybe the Ethereals have a modified version of the Pariah Gene. Maybe the entire Tau race does. Who knows?

You don't, but a whole load of others do.

So the necrons modified the pariah gene so that the tau still had a connection to the warp, do not scare the hell out of deamons and don't hurt/kill psykers just by being near them, WOW the C'tan really dropped the ball when they did that, didn't they.

BluntmanDC wrote:

Nerivant wrote:

BluntmanDC wrote:

Nerivant wrote:
I really don't get the "Anime" argument.

That said, I'm a fan of Necron involvement. Using the Tau as a weapon against Chaos and psykers in general.

Really? you see no commonalities between the overly stylised anime films of tech weilding robo-suits and the overly stylised tech wielding combat suits?

How are Tau anti-psyker/ they possess no anti-psyker abilities, if Necrons were involved wouldn't we see the pariah gene in the Tau.

No, because I don't see the Tau suits as being similar in style to the image most commonly associated with Anime mecha.

Maybe the Ethereals have a modified version of the Pariah Gene. Maybe the entire Tau race does. Who knows?

You don't, but a whole load of others do.

So the necrons modified the pariah gene so that the tau still had a connection to the warp, do not scare the hell out of deamons and don't hurt/kill psykers just by being near them, WOW the C'tan really dropped the ball when they did that, didn't they.

Well, this is a thread about Tau and becoming corrupted; immunity to Chaos is still quite useful. If they are, in fact, immune.

They have Little or no pressence in the warp. i bet there is a 0.001/ 1000000000000000000000000000 chance

Nerivant wrote:

BluntmanDC wrote:

Nerivant wrote:

BluntmanDC wrote:

Nerivant wrote:
I really don't get the "Anime" argument.

That said, I'm a fan of Necron involvement. Using the Tau as a weapon against Chaos and psykers in general.

Really? you see no commonalities between the overly stylised anime films of tech weilding robo-suits and the overly stylised tech wielding combat suits?

How are Tau anti-psyker/ they possess no anti-psyker abilities, if Necrons were involved wouldn't we see the pariah gene in the Tau.

No, because I don't see the Tau suits as being similar in style to the image most commonly associated with Anime mecha.

Maybe the Ethereals have a modified version of the Pariah Gene. Maybe the entire Tau race does. Who knows?

You don't, but a whole load of others do.

So the necrons modified the pariah gene so that the tau still had a connection to the warp, do not scare the hell out of deamons and don't hurt/kill psykers just by being near them, WOW the C'tan really dropped the ball when they did that, didn't they.

Well, this is a thread about Tau and becoming corrupted; immunity to Chaos is still quite useful. If they are, in fact, immune.

I was saying that why would the C'tan make a far weaker version of the pariah gene, it makes little sense. Tau are also not 'in fact' immune.

the Tau are just good at hiding from the deamons.


if there arn't any nice bright Eldar or Humans around then the Tau will do.


Think of the Tau like the Tofu of a Warp Deamon diet.

yea who could be bothered corrupting Tau when there are billions of PDF to feast on?

IIRC, it's stated somewhere that the Tau are (mostly) immune to chaos due to societal reasons.

Problem is, depictions of Tau society are sketchy at best. I'd bet it has something to do with a philosophy of asceticism and stoicism, combined with a lack of interest in the supernatural. Anyways, it's pretty much left for us to imagine.

I'm sure they wrote the Tau that way to emphasize that, while being inferior to the Eldar or the IoM in most ways, they don't have the critical weakness that caused the cataclysmic fall of the former and the slow rot of the latter. The Tau Either lack this blemish or it simply has not made itself apparent for now.

It seems like quite a few people think the Ethereals make the Tau immune to the depredations of Chaos (or at least resistant) but I think it goes a step further.

***Personal Opinion Warning: The following is backed up only minimally by the background. It is largely the opinion of JimSolo***

The warp requires sentience to affect it. Which is why animals don't go around worshipping Khorne and casting Vortices of Doom. The pheremonal influence of the Ethereals is only one reason they control Tau society. Much like the Amplitur in Alan Dean Foster's The Damned trilogy, the Ethereals have interfered with the rest of the Tau on a genetic level, making them even more pliable to the pheremones, as well as dulling their free will. Combine this genetic manipulation with the pheremones themselves and the undercurrent of brainwashing into 'the Greater Good,' and the Tau are left with essentially no free will. They are barely sentient. To them, 'the Greater Good' is thought of before themselves. And since self-awareness is the definition of sentience, it makes them a little more removed from the demons' sphere of influence. As supporting evidence, I point out the polar opposite, the Eldar. Each hyper aware of their self, to the point of feeling personal experience beyond the level that a human can comprehend. Also, the only known race whose excesses actually created a Chaos God. As their abberant psyche is more susceptible to (and influencing on) the Warp, so too are the Tau at the opposite end of the spectrum, a race nearly beyond the point of susceptibility to the Warp.

But that's just my take on it.

Jimsolo wrote:It seems like quite a few people think the Ethereals make the Tau immune to the depredations of Chaos (or at least resistant) but I think it goes a step further.

***Personal Opinion Warning: The following is backed up only minimally by the background. It is largely the opinion of JimSolo***

The warp requires sentience to affect it. Which is why animals don't go around worshipping Khorne and casting Vortices of Doom. The pheremonal influence of the Ethereals is only one reason they control Tau society. Much like the Amplitur in Alan Dean Foster's The Damned trilogy, the Ethereals have interfered with the rest of the Tau on a genetic level, making them even more pliable to the pheremones, as well as dulling their free will. Combine this genetic manipulation with the pheremones themselves and the undercurrent of brainwashing into 'the Greater Good,' and the Tau are left with essentially no free will. They are barely sentient. To them, 'the Greater Good' is thought of before themselves. And since self-awareness is the definition of sentience, it makes them a little more removed from the demons' sphere of influence. As supporting evidence, I point out the polar opposite, the Eldar. Each hyper aware of their self, to the point of feeling personal experience beyond the level that a human can comprehend. Also, the only known race whose excesses actually created a Chaos God. As their abberant psyche is more susceptible to (and influencing on) the Warp, so too are the Tau at the opposite end of the spectrum, a race nearly beyond the point of susceptibility to the Warp.

But that's just my take on it.

Actually, as stated in the codices, the Tau race is simply too young to have developed psykers or any meaningful presence in the warp, meaning they'd be nearly invisible to daemons, and when they die their souls would NOT go to the warp.

Also, the pheromones thing is not canon. In the Codex it says, in an IMPERIAL log, that it is strange that the Tau follow them so willingly, and that imperials THEORIZE that they may have pheromones or latent psychic powers.

From reading the first Tau codex and the second.

Not all of Tau society is without free will. In fact Water Caste diplomats and Earth Caste Engineers in some WD articles (and mentioned in the codex The Rail Rifle's introduction) indicate that these two caste have a need for reassurance and for compliments from the Ethereals that they openly show emotion when the rail rifle malfunctions and the observing Ethereal merely states the weapon isn't ready.

The fire caste show little emotion in the same way Space Marines do. They are both bred and trained for a single purpose, that of battle and war.

Oh and the Tau also have a fear to return to the dark times before unification. Fear is a pretty strong emotion.

It is likely that they are a young race not yet evolved to have psykers. In a lot of the fluff, chaos paid little attention to humans till they "evolved" and became much more interesting. And tasty.

Okay, but the human race developed psykers way before the Tau did, developmentally speaking. They weren't out in the open as such, but humans did have them. And while I concede that the pheremones thing isn't officially out as the truth, it is widely accepted as such. Even if it isn't the case, the control that the Ethereals exert over the rest of the culture goes far beyond persuasive speech and into something a little more nefarious.

Same. Whereas it's not officially cannon, it's hinted about a lot. I couldn't care less whose viewpoint it came from, obviously the Tau, being brain-washed and controlled, wouldn't say it themselves.

Jimsolo wrote:The warp requires sentience to affect it. Which is why animals don't go around worshipping Khorne and casting Vortices of Doom.

Unfortunetly there is a little problem with this, there are fluff examples of animals being able to use the warp.

I would also like to point out that not only is the pheromone thing not canon, it is also nonsensical.

If their loyalty were based solely on pheromones, the why do they become enreged when an Ethereal dies and seek to avenge him? Their loyalty extends even to dead Auns, which favours my POV.

Also, There are comparatively few Ethereals relative to the other caste, so unless they are constantly with a few feet of an ethereal, the pheromone point is moot.

Also, people are like "But when Farsight's/R'ymyr's ethereals died, they went crazy and left the empire". But think about the overwhelming grief of losing a loved one. Now imagine if you were a Christian Zealot and that were the pope. That would be unimaginably horrible for the individual, as well as suddenly have to deal with complete command. Plus Farsight was already Bat gak crazy. TRAINING TAU FOR MELEE IS POINTLESS!


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BluntmanDC wrote:

Jimsolo wrote:The warp requires sentience to affect it. Which is why animals don't go around worshipping Khorne and casting Vortices of Doom.

Unfortunetly there is a little problem with this, there are fluff examples of animals being able to use the warp.

I.E. the great beasts of Caliban.


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Jimsolo wrote:Okay, but the human race developed psykers way before the Tau did, developmentally speaking. They weren't out in the open as such, but humans did have them. And while I concede that the pheremones thing isn't officially out as the truth, it is widely accepted as such. Even if it isn't the case, the control that the Ethereals exert over the rest of the culture goes far beyond persuasive speech and into something a little more nefarious.

It is more religious devotion.

It makes fine enough sense, as it's hinted at. Obviously any possible Pheromone control wouldn't be the only thing that keeps the Tau together, The Greater Good is a fine enough Ideology, even if the Tau are basically brain-washed from birth to believe in it.
The Great Beasts didn't actually use The Warp; they were spawned of it or mutated by it, but the point that animals don't use the Warp is true, unless you can give an example of an ANIMAL using the it's powers consciously.

I never said the pheremones alone kept the Tau together as a culture. I think that some kind of mental control (pheremonal being the strongest possibility) is going on. There are all kinds of ways to exert mind control, including indoctrination, hypnosis, brainwashing, drugs, genetic manipulation, and a score of others. And I am sure the Ethereal caste uses many, and maybe all of them.

2random, it seems like you are a real fan of the Tau, and I don't want you to think I'm attacking you or your guys. In point of fact, I love the Tau. I think they are one of the more sinister forces in the 40k universe, because the keep their evil hidden. In 40k, there are no good guys. The Tau are just better at hiding it. I also think that the miraculous appearance and influence of the Ethereals hints at a far more malevolent reason for their unnatural control over the Tau society.

Either way, there isn't an official answer in canon, and your opinion is certainly as likely as mine. I think mine fits better into the world of 40k as I see it. There's no reason someone else couldn't see it a different way.



And as a side note, I A) don't recall the beasts of Caliban using the Warp as much as they were altered by it. Although it's been a while since I read that book, B) I also think there was more than a little evidence that the beasts of Caliban may have had some kind of alien sentience. I'm not saying that such examples don't exist, just that I don't know them off the top of my head.

The origins of The Beasts are never revealed. Throughout the book there are several hints towards a connection with The Warp, and they certainly have some form of sentience, although it's only motivations were stated as being "to kill", with nothing else in their eyes other than an implacable drive to kill those it encounters.

Well an example of chaos animals is after the first Tau vs. Slaaneshi daemon war, the kroot were eating the dead, as were the kroot hounds. The carnivores/hounds ended up eating dead daemonettes and being corrupted by chaos=chaos kroot doggies.

iproxtaco wrote:It makes fine enough sense, as it's hinted at. Obviously any possible Pheromone control wouldn't be the only thing that keeps the Tau together, The Greater Good is a fine enough Ideology, even if the Tau are basically brain-washed from birth to believe in it.
The Great Beasts didn't actually use The Warp; they were spawned of it or mutated by it, but the point that animals don't use the Warp is true, unless you can give an example of an ANIMAL using the it's powers consciously.

Chapter Approved, creature feature: described a pack reptilian alien that travelled from world to world using the warp. They would hit up a world and become the dominant species, eat, breed and then leave to the next.

im2randomghgh wrote:Well an example of chaos animals is after the first Tau vs. Slaaneshi daemon war, the kroot were eating the dead, as were the kroot hounds. The carnivores/hounds ended up eating dead daemonettes and being corrupted by chaos=chaos kroot doggies.

A chaos animal is different from an animal using the Warp. The Kroothounds were corrupted by an outside force, they don't use The Warp. But, Bluntman DC has provided, although there are no examples of animals choosing Chaos, unless, again, someone can provide.

I just think that GW is keeping other races from playable chaos is because the human vs. human aspect adds to the rivalry and it mixes things up from the human vs. alien

Jimsolo wrote:And while I concede that the pheremones thing isn't officially out as the truth, it is widely accepted as such.

It is also widely accepted that Tau are fish-cow nazi-commies led by a pope, loving peace and genocides. Even if all that is nonsense.

And an Imperial observer, looking at the relatively peaceful Canadian society next to the quite violent US society, would certainly recommend tin foil hats and suspect Stephen Harper to emit some strong pheromone

There's a difference between something hinted in the Tau's own codex, as in, it's there in writing, and weird internet hyperbole. I don't believe they are, they aren't fish, they could be bovine in origin, they are a mix of different government forms including Oligarchical, and are lead by a semi-religious figure-head, offering species they encounter with a choice of peaceful subjugation before force is used, which they definitely are afraid to use.

No psychic presence of any kind. The whole species are what amounts to blanks (minus the power-nullifying aspect).


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bocirish wrote:I could be wrong but I thought there was some hinting that commander Farsights sword was a daemonblade corrupting him and thats why he turned away from the etherials and takes a more aggressive stance in war.

Actually, from what I recall, his aggressive nature is based on the fact that all the Ethereals died and thus couldn't exert their pheromone mind-control over him anymore. We have objective evidence of this from the dissection of an Ethereal in Xenology.

Omegus wrote:No psychic presence of any kind. The whole species are what amounts to blanks (minus the power-nullifying aspect).

This is incorrect.

Tau do have a presence in the warp, it is just tiny when compared to humans. You also can't have a blank without the effects they have, an entire race of blanks would make the Tau far more dangerous.

Deathwatch: Mark of the Xenos has a little blurb in the Pathfinder section about the Tau's psychic presence wherein a Librarian talks about how the Tau minds "feel muted"

its more like they have as little soul as you can have without being a true blank.



I kinda like the Animal parallel. it doesn't completely work because there are animals who have warp powers(although these beasts tend to have been heavily exposed to chaos and might be an exception), but it can explain why the Tau appear to have little warp presense.


The tau do seem to have few emotions, which is the real source of warp presenses. perhaps because they are close to emotionless they have little signiture. The Eldar would continue to have bright signitures, dispite their self-denial, because of their psychic powers. and perhaps their lights are incredibly dim compared to what they were.

BluntmanDC wrote:

iproxtaco wrote:It makes fine enough sense, as it's hinted at. Obviously any possible Pheromone control wouldn't be the only thing that keeps the Tau together, The Greater Good is a fine enough Ideology, even if the Tau are basically brain-washed from birth to believe in it.
The Great Beasts didn't actually use The Warp; they were spawned of it or mutated by it, but the point that animals don't use the Warp is true, unless you can give an example of an ANIMAL using the it's powers consciously.

Chapter Approved, creature feature: described a pack reptilian alien that travelled from world to world using the warp. They would hit up a world and become the dominant species, eat, breed and then leave to the next.

Also Psychneunin and Enslavers.

Is it because they are incorrupTAUble?

Apologies
Will crawl away and hide in the cupboard for shame.

Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:Is it because they are incorrupTAUble?

Apologies
Will crawl away and hide in the cupboard for shame.

I'd smack you but your kitten avatar is so awesome that your pun became funny. lol.

Isn't it because they have their beliefs in the Greater good?

After reading A Thousand Sons but two days ago, I can't understand why I forgot the Psychneuein.


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Kravox wrote:Isn't it because they have their beliefs in the Greater good?

No. Humans believe in The Emperor, and are still able to be corrupted. It's the Warp Signature they have. Tau have a very small signature, so are generally harder to corrupt than humans or Eldar. Having a strong belief in your Ideology helps a lot though.

iproxtaco wrote:After reading A Thousand Sons but two days ago, I can't understand why I forgot the Psychneuein.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Kravox wrote:Isn't it because they have their beliefs in the Greater good?

No. Humans believe in The Emperor, and are still able to be corrupted. It's the Warp Signature they have. Tau have a very small signature, so are generally harder to corrupt than humans or Eldar. Having a strong belief in your Ideology helps a lot though.

As to belief in the Emperor, it is hardly as if every single Imperial Soul is a zealot worthy of Chaplainhood. And their beliefs are shaken pretty quick in the presence of Chaos (for the most part).

Tau belief is universal and single minded, so that does help a LOT (see: plague of unbelief).

You all know that there is a chance for Tau to be more suitable to Chaos in new codex?

Because M.W. will be writing it...probability for that is 90%.
I will say nothing until I see it, and read it.

Brother Coa wrote:You all know that there is a chance for Tau to be more suitable to Chaos in new codex?

Because M.W. will be writing it...probability for that is 90%.
I will say nothing until I see it, and read it.

Me and Wady gonna tear some s**t up!

Brother Coa wrote:You all know that there is a chance for Tau to be more suitable to Chaos in new codex?

Because M.W. will be writing it...probability for that is 90%.
I will say nothing until I see it, and read it.

There is also a chance for Tau to outnumber the IoM in the next codex. It is basically a blank slate that can be used in anyway the author wants. Hell, we could end up with melee-awesome Tau (unlikely as it is)

Maniac_nmt wrote:I can't remember if it was 3rd or 4th ed Tau codex, but I believe it's alluded that Farsight's ethereal was killed. He also never turns on Tau, and doesn't actively purpsue corruption or challenges to them. It's pretty explicit that he's seen the galaxy, and is ardently hunting the enemies of Tau. Which, if he were fallen to Chaos the typical MO would be to muck about with his fellow Tau (which he seems to be ardently opposed to).

Ethereals don't have god like mind control. They can be resisted and ignored. In fact, until Shadowsun blows up Farsight's statue there appeared to be a possible rebellion against the ethereals brewing (and some of the Fire caste are still not happy with her or the abandonment of Farsight). Rather you could see them as highly revered leaders. They can be disobeyed, but it's highly unlikely as the culture and mindset has bread the Tau to see them as saviours.

I actually really rather like that Tau aren't susceptible to Chaos. It makes them different in 40k.

This.

Also, it seems to me that farsight is not "turning his back" or corrupted....he just decided that a region of space needed defending.
Maybe the ethereals don't want him there for some reason...who knows. Also, Xeneology is an excellent book....has lots of great stuff on the tau (and every other race).

Dave Pak

im2randomghgh wrote:

Brother Coa wrote:You all know that there is a chance for Tau to be more suitable to Chaos in new codex?

Because M.W. will be writing it...probability for that is 90%.
I will say nothing until I see it, and read it.

There is also a chance for Tau to outnumber the IoM in the next codex. It is basically a blank slate that can be used in anyway the author wants. Hell, we could end up with melee-awesome Tau (unlikely as it is)

Or maybe it will have something like Kroot eating Tau flesh
Or Tau starting to question their Etherials...that would be great

im2randomghgh wrote:

iproxtaco wrote:After reading A Thousand Sons but two days ago, I can't understand why I forgot the Psychneuein.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Kravox wrote:Isn't it because they have their beliefs in the Greater good?

No. Humans believe in The Emperor, and are still able to be corrupted. It's the Warp Signature they have. Tau have a very small signature, so are generally harder to corrupt than humans or Eldar. Having a strong belief in your Ideology helps a lot though.

As to belief in the Emperor, it is hardly as if every single Imperial Soul is a zealot worthy of Chaplainhood. And their beliefs are shaken pretty quick in the presence of Chaos (for the most part).

Tau belief is universal and single minded, so that does help a LOT (see: plague of unbelief).

Tau aren't zealots either. The majority of humans believe in The Emperor and look to him as their savior, it inspires people even more than The Greater Good, but it's not as indoctrinated into them as hard. The Tau's faith hasn't been tested in the face of Chaos yet.

I bet that even if the tau could use psychers theyd be all "its uncivilized"