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Corporal_Reznov wrote:

Space Crusader wrote:A splinter fleet destroyed most of a fleet led by a veteran Ultramarine and then ate most of a heavily defended planet. Splinter fleets are dangerous to the Imperium since the IMperium reasons that sending men into the meatgrinder is a smart tactic against the nids.

Source? Its really beautiful how you Tau fans continuously howl about being attacked by fans of the other factions and yet when we have a nice civil discussion you spout out offensive nonsense. The Imperial plan of dealing with the Nids is strong defenses, not throwing men at the Nids by charging at them and if you think it is, it cause you're a fool.

The Imperial fleet has success in the begining but are then almost destroyed when the nids use the Imperials own weapons against them. Before that the nids had eaten a few worlds with Kryptman exterminating a world( he sure loves doing that) before the Tyranids invade Tarsis Ultra. The Ultramarines, Mortifactors, two Guard regiments and the PDF focus on defending the capital leaving other major cities to be eaten. They use a static defence and manage rather well. But then the tyranids evolve and push the Imperials back. Only thanks to Kryptmans aid coming up with a poison that kills the Norn queen in the last remaining Hive ship does the Imperium take the day. However, the PDF, Guard, navy and astartes forces were almost completly destroyed.

Jefffar wrote:

Yes they do, but how many times has the Imperium defeated a splinter fleet without taking a single casualty? To my knowledge, none.

The fact that the Tau can engage a splinter fleet successfully without suffering any losses indicates that the Tau are quite capable of fighting the Tyranids and winning handily.

I'm sure Tau Darkstar Warheads play a part of the anti-Tyranid strategy.

Very possible. But to be frank I think its nonsense and wankish but I think the same of Calgar punching Avatars or Kaldor Draigo with his walking around in the Warp and stabbing a Primarch Daemon Prince .

Now a protracted war with the 'nids is certainly looming and it will put the Tau forces to the test (as noted from another unnamed source they are calling in mercenaries and any other assistance they can. Perhaps they may even arrange a little enemy of my enemy is my friend action with either the Ultramarines (not likely), Eldar (reasonably likely) or Necrons (crazy talk, I know). However nowhere is it indicated that the current fear experienced in the Empire is based on a real possibility of the Empire being wiped out.

Why not likely with the Ultramarines? Unlike popular opinion, the Imperium will temporarily ally with alien races in the face of greater threats like they did with the Eldar in the Gothic War. As for the Eldar helping the Tau; ha ha ha ha ha. Thats only happening of the Eldar have an interest with the Tau like the Tau were created by Eldar or Tau space has something that belongs to Eldar otherwise they won't care.

Oh btw, the Source is from the Dark Eldar codex page 18. I believe I mentioned this earlier saying that according to the Dark Eldar codex they're not doing to well.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Space Crusader wrote:
The Imperial fleet has success in the begining but are then almost destroyed when the nids use the Imperials own weapons against them. Before that the nids had eaten a few worlds with Kryptman exterminating a world( he sure loves doing that) before the Tyranids invade Tarsis Ultra. The Ultramarines, Mortifactors, two Guard regiments and the PDF focus on defending the capital leaving other major cities to be eaten. They use a static defence and manage rather well. But then the tyranids evolve and push the Imperials back. Only thanks to Kryptmans aid coming up with a poison that kills the Norn queen in the last remaining Hive ship does the Imperium take the day. However, the PDF, Guard, navy and astartes forces were almost completly destroyed.

I assume that this is from the Ultramarine books by Graham Mcneil? I'll be checking them out soon to get the full story.

Yeah Kryptman sure does love exterminating worlds which is why the Inquisition is after his head .


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Space Crusader wrote:

Corporal_Reznov wrote:

Space Crusader wrote:A splinter fleet destroyed most of a fleet led by a veteran Ultramarine and then ate most of a heavily defended planet. Splinter fleets are dangerous to the Imperium since the IMperium reasons that sending men into the meatgrinder is a smart tactic against the nids.

Source? Its really beautiful how you Tau fans continuously howl about being attacked by fans of the other factions and yet when we have a nice civil discussion you spout out offensive nonsense. The Imperial plan of dealing with the Nids is strong defenses, not throwing men at the Nids by charging at them and if you think it is, it cause you're a fool.

The Imperial fleet has success in the begining but are then almost destroyed when the nids use the Imperials own weapons against them. Before that the nids had eaten a few worlds with Kryptman exterminating a world( he sure loves doing that) before the Tyranids invade Tarsis Ultra. The Ultramarines, Mortifactors, two Guard regiments and the PDF focus on defending the capital leaving other major cities to be eaten. They use a static defence and manage rather well. But then the tyranids evolve and push the Imperials back. Only thanks to Kryptmans aid coming up with a poison that kills the Norn queen in the last remaining Hive ship does the Imperium take the day. However, the PDF, Guard, navy and astartes forces were almost completly destroyed.

I still haven't read the book but according to Lexicanum the defense of Tarsis Ultra was defending an Imperum planet not because this spilter fleet was a threat to the existence of the Imperium. One of the defenders of the planet is a regiment from the DKoK which explains any meatgrinder tactics as the entire way of war the Kreig practice is meatgrinder. They know of no other way.

Corporal_Reznov wrote:
However, how is DOW 2 evidence of anything seeing as the entire war effort in that region was complicated due to Eldar manipulation, an Ork Waaaagh, a Corrupt politician being a douche and the SM fleet being away(no doubt something done by Kyras).

That's the point. Blood Ravens kicked Tyranid Hive Fleet, Ork WARGHHH, Eldar raides and manage to hold down 4 planet using only 1 ship and 6 squads of infantry together with 1 Dred.
I think that credibility of Tyranid invasion was so lowered in this game.

Soo'Vah'Cha wrote:and I am looking forward to when I can actually enjoy discussing the Tau on this forum, without the IoM hordes always wishlisting doom on them, but that likely will never happen, since it seems thats how alot of you guys get your jollies off.

Just keep the IoM out of your discussions would help a lot.
The IoM 'hordes' tend to reply to weird claims, not to jump in and start it.

Soo'Vah'Cha wrote:I have never stated once I want to see such and such race destroyed or removed, and I see each as a nice addition to the setting, I personally am bored to death of IoM , and chaos, but have tried a foray into marine terittory, will be building a Marines Malevolent force, just for giggles.

Anyone accused you of that?
The imperials/chaos combo may stay a basic part of 40k for a very long time, I don't see your chance on entertainment if you try to get around this.

Soo'Vah'Cha wrote:But you mentioned the stale brew of 40k..well Tau were one of the races implemented to shake things up, so by making them be "tested" i.e. molded to be yet another grimdark race in this stale setting, does nothing for its growth, just more of the same, with a different paint job.

Seems I am adressed here..
A company driven on skulls does not care if you spot their copy&paste behaviour. They opted to make necrons more tomb kings in space and thus took of them what made them special. GW altered DE to space vampire pirates and the only thing sparing the Tau from a fate like that is they don't have a direct fantasy counterpart. OtoH the kroot could count as lizardmen with their heritage...

Now, I am not the one to take your Tau from you.
But GW laid out the foundation of a new path as they never revealed who created the etherals for example. Its right there from start.

Soo'Vah'Cha wrote:So the next time there is a Tau thread, maybe, just maybe let it stay one...but that won't happen.

Isn't it still a Tau thread?
What makes it a Tau thread? The absence of any non-Tau posters?

CpatTom wrote:
The Orks have achieved their ultimate purpose, and thus are the winners of 40k.

Not news.

nomotog wrote:

The idea is basically an extension of how they currently do things. It's a massive space structure with several jump drives (I call tau warp drives jump drives because they don't work like a warp drive) They press down on the barrier between the material and the warp over a massive area around the ship. Then they let it go. As the barrier snaps back into place it launches the ship really really far.

You need to get back somehow...
Plus weakening the barrier invites demons.

Jefffar wrote:Several Tau allied races are known to be psyker capable (Gue'vesa, Kroot, Nicissar) and/or have warp access (Gue'vesa, Kroot, Demiurg) so using the conventional warp is not beyond their allies.

This is part of GW publications where and when?
Oh look they dropped the gue'vesa idea...and the kroot mercs lists and the nicassar are pure BFG and never made it into the main line of 40k.
I think your idea isn't presented just in time, its more too soon if it ever comes to pass at all.
GW kept the necrons psyker free and took their drives from them...you know the recent example of a fluff update.
DE also have no psykers. Both got access to the webway tough, could get crowded there..

Jefffar wrote:so a longer legged fast FTL could allow them to strike almost anywhere in the Ultima Segmentum.

Achieving what exactly?
To support the advance of the nids?
To supply enough upheaval and wars for Orks to thrive?
To keep eldar farseers busy?

KplKeegan wrote:

Unless the Ultramarines are of Legion strength, there's little they can do about aggressive Tau expansion. The Segmentum is vast, and Ultramar is but a blip amongst a sea of blips. Once Tau find away to make their ships faster, colonizing abused and forgotten Imperial Worlds in the upper Segmentum won't be far off.

The Ultras could call for support and cruddace could throw these billions of guard regiments at them, walzing them flat under marching army boots..
Seriously, the point was a certain author countering any fluff you could make up, and the hold the design team has on the fluff outmatching the fans is an undisputable fact.

KplKeegan wrote:Crowing about one incident in one occurance in the Dark Eldar Codex does not mean everything isn't going to well. And the Tau can manage the Tyranids quite well, even without the myriad of Forgeworlds and Imperial Guard regiments the Imperium needs, or pull a stupid stunt like the Octavian Wars. Good job Inquisition, you signed your own death certificate on that one.

One incident?
You don't like to stay in touch with fluff don't you?
Tau pretty much got the image of naive, easy to prey upon, newbies who have their heads smashed in because of their dreaded misconception of everyone joining their greater good. After all of the commonly known threats got a shot, you still run with this claim of Tau handling things well? They are rife for a change, and the course GW is willing to take may provide a really different result than you expect.

KplKeegan wrote:

The Second and Third Sphere Expansions? Unlike the whopping 6 Codicies you Emperor-Botherers get, the Tau have to wait a while for a fluff-update.

There is a section of dakka, called news&rumors. Tau got their own thread there....maybe visit it once in a while?
Generally its piss poor style to whine about the emperor botherers having more codices, as 40k is based on the setting of a fictional universe with human readers in mind and therefore a focus on the humans of this "era". Get over it.
If GW moves it to chaos country, you may as well face 6 chaos dedicated codices, all filled with spiky mutated humans...

KplKeegan wrote:There's no point in arguing over this anymore. It's like talking to a brick wall with an Aquila on it.

The brick wall had to be erected since some "fans" deem their view of the background the only valid one. The Aquila on it is just a mark it belongs to 40k...

They built trenches when the capital had two huge walls. Then they abandon the trenches after the first wave. They even suffered heavy casualties before the first wave due to gargoiles. The deathkorps here are not really deathkorps. These have feelings and dont wear their gasmasks. It was only thanks to Kryptmans assistant that the Imperium won. Nerds for the win!

Jefffar wrote:Several Tau allied races are known to be psyker capable (Gue'vesa, Kroot, Nicissar) and/or have warp access (Gue'vesa, Kroot, Demiurg) so using the conventional warp is not beyond their allies.

This is part of GW publications where and when?
Oh look they dropped the gue'vesa idea...and the kroot mercs lists and the nicassar are pure BFG and never made it into the main line of 40k.
I think your idea isn't presented just in time, its more too soon if it ever comes to pass at all.

All of those were a GW publication. Them not being 'main 40k' doesn't mean they are completely disregarded or don't exist.

1hadhq stop spitting your dummy out.. Soo'vah'cha i think he was saying that he was not accused of saying he wanted to exterminate a race, but using it as a comparison to all the people who are saying that they want to exterminate this race or that (usually imperium players). Secondly 40K is not through just human eyes if they wanted this they would of made a large scale dungeons and dragons type game where everyone is a human and all the other race's are just there to be shot at. Stop getting confrontational and taking things out of context or not reading things properly. Also if you have nothing constructive to say keep it to yourself. I dont go on Imperium threads and start crapping on your ideas or theorys let people have their fun.
And on the actual topic this thread WAS MEANT FOR I think the TAU although being a young race they have proven they evolve extremely quickly. They were naive at the start thinking they could deal with every race out there but they learned quickly and adapted. It's nice not to have a race that all it wants to do is just kill every other being out there. I think fluff wise instead of reading about a race that basically looks different but in the end is thinking about mass xenocide is boring. Being able to talk, deal and be diplomatic adds a nice new dimension to the game. P.S If anyone responds to this in a nit picky argumentaitive way i will ignore you and assume you have nothing better to do then make arguments over the internet because you have nothing better to do

Tadashi wrote:Imperium of Man - to ensure Mankind's survival and galactic dominance - successful
Chaos - to destroy the Imperium and subdue the galaxy for Chaos - not gonna happen
Tyranids - to consume all life - not gonna happen
Eldar - to survive and restore the ancient Eldar Empire - first goal success, second goal, not gonna happen
Dark Eldar - to continue to pillage and torment the galaxy - successful
Orks - to survive and get a good fight - complete success
Tau - to spread the Greater Good across the galaxy - not gonna happen
Necrons - to stop the Tyranids and ensure Necrontyr dominance - first goal guaranteed success, second goal, not gonna happen

And when I say dominance, I don't mean it becomes the sole race in the galaxy. I meant that it was the race with the biggest influence in the galaxy of 40k.

You are far from correct on chaos's goal. This might be what abbadon wants. However I would say that the gods of chaos have gotten exactly what they want. They plunged humanity from their golden age into an ass backwards emperor worshipping empire that hates everything and is in constant..... wait for it! CHAOS!

Chaos can be marked as a success.

Also, on necrons that is also wrong. Tyranids steer clear of their planets completely and are still THRIVING off of the orks. I'm not sure how their goal of Tyranid stopping is a guaranteed success by any stretch.

While I'm not familiar with necron fluff, I have never heard of their goal being to stop Tyranid. I was under the impression they were just good at it. Being robots and what not. But please if this is new fluff then correct me I have been out of the loop for a few months.

1hadhq wrote:
Tau pretty much got the image of naive, easy to prey upon, newbies who have their heads smashed in because of their dreaded misconception of everyone joining their greater good. After all of the commonly known threats got a shot, you still run with this claim of Tau handling things well? They are rife for a change, and the course GW is willing to take may provide a really different result than you expect.

They are still existing aren't they? They are naive, but they learn and adapt from their mistakes. Like all armies, they have moments that they shine (the Taros Campaign) and places they don't (first contact with Dark Eldar), the bad moments stick out more because of their naivity. But they learn. I don't understand where this notion of dire straights is coming from, can you give me a source?

There is a section of dakka, called news&rumors. Tau got their own thread there....maybe visit it once in a while?.

So I can get rumored and subjective fluff that's rumored to be in the Tau Codex? Wowzers, that sure sounds swell...

Brother Coa wrote:

Corporal_Reznov wrote:
However, how is DOW 2 evidence of anything seeing as the entire war effort in that region was complicated due to Eldar manipulation, an Ork Waaaagh, a Corrupt politician being a douche and the SM fleet being away(no doubt something done by Kyras).

That's the point. Blood Ravens kicked Tyranid Hive Fleet, Ork WARGHHH, Eldar raides and manage to hold down 4 planet using only 1 ship and 6 squads of infantry together with 1 Dred.
I think that credibility of Tyranid invasion was so lowered in this game.

Was Thule in a dred at the time, I can't recall. I thought he didn't become a dred till the chaos campaign. You shouldn't forget all the countless IG PDF and battle brothers that also are involved with the fighting. They also used 3 ships you can see them when you change planets. They also don't completely destroy the fleet rather they use a poison to separate it from the hive mind.

I might have to re check some of this stuff latter.

xXSir MontyXx wrote:

Tadashi wrote:Imperium of Man - to ensure Mankind's survival and galactic dominance - successful
Chaos - to destroy the Imperium and subdue the galaxy for Chaos - not gonna happen
Tyranids - to consume all life - not gonna happen
Eldar - to survive and restore the ancient Eldar Empire - first goal success, second goal, not gonna happen
Dark Eldar - to continue to pillage and torment the galaxy - successful
Orks - to survive and get a good fight - complete success
Tau - to spread the Greater Good across the galaxy - not gonna happen
Necrons - to stop the Tyranids and ensure Necrontyr dominance - first goal guaranteed success, second goal, not gonna happen

And when I say dominance, I don't mean it becomes the sole race in the galaxy. I meant that it was the race with the biggest influence in the galaxy of 40k.

You are far from correct on chaos's goal. This might be what abbadon wants. However I would say that the gods of chaos have gotten exactly what they want. They plunged humanity from their golden age into an ass backwards emperor worshipping empire that hates everything and is in constant..... wait for it! CHAOS!

Chaos can be marked as a success.

Also, on necrons that is also wrong. Tyranids steer clear of their planets completely and are still THRIVING off of the orks. I'm not sure how their goal of Tyranid stopping is a guaranteed success by any stretch.

While I'm not familiar with necron fluff, I have never heard of their goal being to stop Tyranid. I was under the impression they were just good at it. Being robots and what not. But please if this is new fluff then correct me I have been out of the loop for a few months.

According to the new Necron Codex, the reason the Silent King came back from his self-imposed exile in the inter-galactic void was because he realized the threat the Tyranid Hive Fleets posed, and so he came back to rally the Necrons to save the galaxy, even if only to ensure Necrontyr dominance. And good point about Chaos, although the gods can't just ignore the desires and wishes of their servants, and the Emperor being incapacitated may backfire on Chaos if the Star Child rebirth theory turns out to be correct.

The Silent king has a goal of fighting the Tyranids, but do the rest of the Necrons? I got the impression each of the Phaerons was more or less doing his own thing.

Yes, but it can be argued that the Silent King is the most powerful and influential of them all, so it can be presumed he speaks for his race.

ironhand45 wrote:Do the Tau have what it takes to defeat the untold horrors of the 40k universe? Will they be able to stop the green tide of orks and the floods of tyranids? Will there be a day when the tau banner flies over all of the universe? Or will the mighty Imperium or the Chaos forces crash down and completely wipe them off the map?

Personnally I think the Tau will get mauled when they become a greater threat.

Yeah, they will. Once they catch the Elder Races' (which by this point includes Mankind, despite what the Eldar and other races say) attention, they'll either be destroyed or put in their place.

Tadashi wrote:

xXSir MontyXx wrote:

Tadashi wrote:Imperium of Man - to ensure Mankind's survival and galactic dominance - successful
Chaos - to destroy the Imperium and subdue the galaxy for Chaos - not gonna happen
Tyranids - to consume all life - not gonna happen
Eldar - to survive and restore the ancient Eldar Empire - first goal success, second goal, not gonna happen
Dark Eldar - to continue to pillage and torment the galaxy - successful
Orks - to survive and get a good fight - complete success
Tau - to spread the Greater Good across the galaxy - not gonna happen
Necrons - to stop the Tyranids and ensure Necrontyr dominance - first goal guaranteed success, second goal, not gonna happen

And when I say dominance, I don't mean it becomes the sole race in the galaxy. I meant that it was the race with the biggest influence in the galaxy of 40k.

You are far from correct on chaos's goal. This might be what abbadon wants. However I would say that the gods of chaos have gotten exactly what they want. They plunged humanity from their golden age into an ass backwards emperor worshipping empire that hates everything and is in constant..... wait for it! CHAOS!

Chaos can be marked as a success.

Also, on necrons that is also wrong. Tyranids steer clear of their planets completely and are still THRIVING off of the orks. I'm not sure how their goal of Tyranid stopping is a guaranteed success by any stretch.

While I'm not familiar with necron fluff, I have never heard of their goal being to stop Tyranid. I was under the impression they were just good at it. Being robots and what not. But please if this is new fluff then correct me I have been out of the loop for a few months.

According to the new Necron Codex, the reason the Silent King came back from his self-imposed exile in the inter-galactic void was because he realized the threat the Tyranid Hive Fleets posed, and so he came back to rally the Necrons to save the galaxy, even if only to ensure Necrontyr dominance. And good point about Chaos, although the gods can't just ignore the desires and wishes of their servants, and the Emperor being incapacitated may backfire on Chaos if the Star Child rebirth theory turns out to be correct.

Ah I see, I know very little about necrons so I apologise. I have also been secluded from all kinds of fluff for several months haha. But I stand firm on my opinion of chaos. They did their thing and now they are feeding off of their cunning plan to throw humanity back into the medieval period of thought.

Brother Coa wrote:
That's the point. Blood Ravens kicked Tyranid Hive Fleet, Ork WARGHHH, Eldar raides and manage to hold down 4 planet using only 1 ship and 6 squads of infantry together with 1 Dred.
I think that credibility of Tyranid invasion was so lowered in this game.

They had 3 ships actually. The squads you had also fought alongside Imperial Guard stormtroopers and Imperial Guard artillery if took that item with you . All the squads managed to do was poison the main Hive ship, it was the returning main fleet that killed the Nids.

Space Crusader wrote:They built trenches when the capital had two huge walls. Then they abandon the trenches after the first wave. They even suffered heavy casualties before the first wave due to gargoiles. The deathkorps here are not really deathkorps. These have feelings and dont wear their gasmasks. It was only thanks to Kryptmans assistant that the Imperium won. Nerds for the win!

Still listed to be DKoK and what you posted are DKoK tactics of build trenches!

xXSir MontyXx wrote:
Ah I see, I know very little about necrons so I apologise. I have also been secluded from all kinds of fluff for several months haha. But I stand firm on my opinion of chaos. They did their thing and now they are feeding off of their cunning plan to throw humanity back into the medieval period of thought.

No, the Chaos gods main goal, if such beings can truly have goals, is to merge the galaxy with the Warp and thus end up killing everyone and themselves.

Tadashi wrote:Yeah, they will. Once they catch the Elder Races' (which by this point includes Mankind, despite what the Eldar and other races say) attention, they'll either be destroyed or put in their place.

HURR FANBOI! HURR! Grow up Tadashi. The Tau already have the Imperiums attention and when the Tau become big enough the IMperium will be to weak to stop them.

Space Crusader wrote:

Tadashi wrote:Yeah, they will. Once they catch the Elder Races' (which by this point includes Mankind, despite what the Eldar and other races say) attention, they'll either be destroyed or put in their place.

HURR FANBOI! HURR! Grow up Tadashi. The Tau already have the Imperiums attention and when the Tau become big enough the IMperium will be to weak to stop them.

BEHOLD! THE TAU WILL RULE THE GALAXY! thread. Yeah, no. As far as the Imperium is concerned, the Tau are just a relatively minor frontier threat. Not worth a Sabbat Worlds Crusade-type operation. We have more immediate concerns such as the 13th Black Crusade and Hive Fleet Leviathan. When the Tau become a galaxy-level threat, it's not just the Imperium. Even Chaos will be drawn to the Tau. Greater Good has a lot of similarities to the Imperial Truth, so the gods won't be pleased to see you rise. If the Imperium falls, I'll be more than willing to join Chaos (or in case of an Imperial Crusade) and kick the Tau's collectivist ass.

No thanks !

Reds8n

Space Crusader wrote:... when the Tau become big enough the IMperium will be to weak to stop them.

Basically your implying once the Tau Empire is big enough you'll replace the Imperium as the dominant galactic power and we can't do anything about it. Well, no matter. Even if you do replace the Imperium, I'll be a Chaos Champion leading daemons and chaos worshippers to sacrifice the worthless followers of the Greater Good to the Powers of Chaos.

No thanks !

reds8n

Yeaaah, obviously we can't fight everyone at the same time, so we have to prioritize out attention. Minor frontier threats don't need that much attention. Not to mention that if the Imperium ever expands, entire alien races are expunged and forgotten. And even a small Astartes Crusade has enough strength to bust Tau heads. The Nimbosa Crusade certainly seems to have given the Tau a bloody nose. And eventually you will end up too deep in Imperial space where we have the leisure of fighting on home territory.

Does it not say that the Tau defeated the Imperial NImbosa crusade? It says so in my codex.

Hey Space Crusader,

Take it down a notch, yeah? You're really not helping with the overall discussion here, and if anything, adding the fuel to the proverbial fire.

To be honest, is the imperium giving as much attention to the Tau sector of space? No. Will they pay for it? Maybe a little, but the loss to the imperium will not be much of consequence and they know this. Compared to a large or waaahgh! Or ANY of the major hove fleet incursions the loss would barely be noticed.

I would say the Tau will gain quite a big foothold into Imperium space. And force the imperium to pay attention. Once they have this attention the Tau advance will come to an abrupt stop. Then will be slowly pushed back, providing the imperium only uses standard ig defensive tactics. And not a massive crusade of space marines, which to me sounds plausible seeing as how the imperium could view the situation as "you have been asking for this for a long time now....".

I think one of the things we have to look at is the fading and possible failure of the Astronomicon. If 6th edition advances the story line, we may see no Astronomicon of very little of it outside of the Segmentum Solar. That would suddenly place the Imperium at a disadvantage to the Tau in terms of FTL travel.

That is one of the possible points I see for significant Tau expansion. Of course it has the side effect of giving Imperium bigger things to worry about than the Tau.

To be honest, looking at the whole picture I see the Tau as a potential eventual successor to the Imperium much the way the Imperium was the eventual successor to the Eldar. In both cases the destruction of the older empire will come from within rather than without.

xXSir MontyXx wrote:To be honest, is the imperium giving as much attention to the Tau sector of space? No. Will they pay for it? Maybe a little, but the loss to the imperium will not be much of consequence and they know this. Compared to a large or waaahgh! Or ANY of the major hove fleet incursions the loss would barely be noticed.

I would say the Tau will gain quite a big foothold into Imperium space. And force the imperium to pay attention. Once they have this attention the Tau advance will come to an abrupt stop. Then will be slowly pushed back, providing the imperium only uses standard ig defensive tactics. And not a massive crusade of space marines, which to me sounds plausible seeing as how the imperium could view the situation as "you have been asking for this for a long time now....".

Quite true, I would love to see Tau to try to take down Fortress world like Cadia. Tau best chance now is to stay small and take poorly defended worlds as they can. The moment they draw to much attention to themselves they will be finished.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Space Crusader wrote:Does it not say that the Tau defeated the Imperial NImbosa crusade? It says so in my codex.

"In the Nimbosa Crusade, the Black Templars and Imperial Fists fought alongside other Space Marines Chapters to reclaim the world of Nimbosa from the Tau after the third sphere expansion.
The initial battles with the Tau took place in space aboard the orbitals the aliens had locked in geo-stationary orbit around Nimbosa. The Black Templars' Strike Cruiser Dorn's Wrath used its speed to evade the incoming fire and close to attack range. Using boarding torpedoes and Thunderhawk gunships it penetrated the hull of the target, designated Orbital Primus, and allowed the household of Castellan Folkert to board.
The Tau Fire Warriors stationed abourd Orbital Primus turned the corridors of the space station into killing grounds with a warren of deadly ambushes, but the Black Templar force countered this by splitting up into small squads and attacked the defenders from multiple directions, using grenades and chainswords to smash their way through the bulkheads. This enabled them to outflank the defending Tau forces, who were pitiful at close combat, and crush the resistance.
After fighting their way through to the gunnery controls of the orbital, the Marines were able to turn the guns of the station on the other orbitals. This, combined with the assaults of the Imperial Navy, was too much for the remaining orbitals to withstand.
Meanwhile, the Ultramarines first company smashed into the defending Tau garrison, eliminating the Tau's anti air turrets and making short work of the Tau leaders. The campaign ended with the successful recapture of Nimbosa and the destruction of the entire Tau garrison."

This post proves otherwise.

Nimbosa was a part of the so called Second Sphere Expansion and while the Imperium did reclaim that world, there are 6 other noted Sept Worlds the Tau claimed during the same expansion phase.

So the Tau expanded into at least 7 Imperial worlds and the Imperium took 1 of them back.

At that sort of ratio the Tau will probably be able to gobble up a large portion of the Ultima Segmentum. Especially when the Astronomicon dims enough that long range Warp Travel becomes almost impossible in the area.

Jefffar wrote:Nimbosa was a part of the so called Second Sphere Expansion and while the Imperium did reclaim that world, there are 6 other noted Sept Worlds the Tau claimed during the same expansion phase.

So the Tau expanded into at least 7 Imperial worlds and the Imperium took 1 of them back.

At that sort of ratio the Tau will probably be able to gobble up a large portion of the Ultima Segmentum. Especially when the Astronomicon dims enough that long range Warp Travel becomes almost impossible in the area.

I wonder what happened to nimbrosa after the third expansion. assuming they are expanding the same direction, that would put nimprosa in space surrounded bu tau. Then again I doubt there is much left on the planet, seeing as the tau killed everyone.