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Veteran Sergeant wrote:Well it's important to note that not only did Farsight break free of the Tau Empire, but all of his followers too. It wasn't just Farsight that abandoned the Greater Good, but thousands of other Tau. It's possible that the Dawn Blade possessed him, but you still have to explain what happened to the rest of those who followed him.

They were just following their leader. He may have felt like the Empire abandoned him because of how his campaign against the orks went. He did not just abandom the Empire after his Ethereal died.

Lexicanum Says:

O'shovah was again called upon to defend the Tau Empire during the incursion of Tau space by the Imperium of Man in what the Imperium called the Damocles Crusade. After the Imperial forces withdrew he lead one of several reclamation fleets to recapture tau worlds lost to the Imperium eliminating Imperial deseters and abandend guardsmen then Farsight continued his explorations well beyond the known Tau space. Instead of returning to the Tau Empire, however, he established a series of fortified strongholds along the Damocles Gulf, a region of space forbidden to the Tau. Contact was severed between the Farsight Enclaves and the mainstream Tau Empire, and it was finally confirmed that O'Shovah had turned his back on the Tau Empire.


This happens after his Ethereal died and he found the DawnBlade, so he did not abandon it straight away.

Yes, but why did they follow their leader? Surely if the concept of the Greater Good is something all Tau willingly embrace, there had to be motivation beyond just following orders.

Exactly!

O'Shovah is just a visionary general...Farsighted some might say

Kilkrazy wrote:All pheromones do is give you a general feeling. A pheromone is just an airborne hormone.

When you haven't eaten for a while, your body generates hormones that make you feel hungry.

At that point, the hormones aren't compelling you to eat a bowl of soupe a l'oignion, followed by steak tartar and pommes frite washed down with vin rouge, a salade verte, Maroilles cheese, and a creme brulee with a half bot of Montbazillac, BUT, if someone proposed such a menu you would be more likely to accept than if you weren't hungry.

That is human Pheromones. The effect of Pheromones in other species is often much more dramatic.

Tau have a heightened sense of smell as opposed to humans who have a heightened sense of sight. This will emphasize Pheromones for communication unlike in humans where Pheromones have a very minor effect as far as we know.


I again go back to my ant theory. Ants are completely dependent on Pheromones for communication as well as touch. a Pheromone communication can control the ants from a great distance, traveling from ant to ant.

Now we put Tau into the equation who have the capacity for free thought, but this can be supressed by the Pheromones from an Etherial. Then we have Farsight who gets seperated. It is only logical that there will be a period of confusion following the Pheromone removal as their free thought begins to take over. During the period of confusion, Farsight went to take back those worlds and during that campaign the Pheromone withdrawel time was completed and he finally broke from the Empire and no tau with him objected.

Tau have a heighten sense of sight too. They can see several more colors then humans.

I don't think the control that the aun have is total mind control or that it's always required. The number of aun seems to be very low. Only about one per planet. At that level the vast majority of the population wouldn't be with in sniffing range. (Though if the effect is based around sight or voice.)

AtoMaki wrote:3. ed Tau codex has nothing about Etherals with pheromones (or it is really well hidden). 4. ed Tau codex has the following (page 9):

It is speculated that they exert some kind of pheromone based or latent psychic control over the other casters

But it is just outsider mish-mash and speculation.

Kroothawk wrote:In this case people are referring to the Ethereals entry on page 9, where an Imperial narrator speculates about some kind of pheromonic OR psychic control, because he can't understand the absolute authority ethereals have over other castes. On the next page it is said that Tau honour the ethereals for their wisdom and therefore follow their counsel, but you never find this quoted in Tau threads.

1hadhq wrote:

Kroothawk wrote:BTW if you think you have explicit proof of the pheromone thing, why not just quote the source? The wild speculation of a mad inquisitor in a book with obvious other fluff mistakes is not good enough for me.

This ball is still in YOUR half.
Either succeed in kicking it back with a quote disproving this pheromone based influence, or stop claiming it does not exist in any form.

See above. In my post you selectively quoted from.

And yes, I am used to false claims in tau threads that dissipate into nothing when checked.

nomotog wrote:Tau have a heighten sense of sight too. They can see several more colors then humans.

Yes and No.

Tau can see a wider spectrum, but this doesn't equal better vision. They have very slow reaction times with their lenses, which means they can't focus on quick moving targets very well.

They have ok overall vision, but the precision suffers for it.

If I recall correctly, the Tau also have worse depth perception than humans.

Brother Coa wrote:Same as Guardswomen, they are there but we don't see them much.

Don't know if they have boobs or not? That's the question that was bothering me from the beginning...

Post number 5 and Coa talks about boobs on Fire Warriors.

/thread

Grey Templar wrote:

nomotog wrote:Tau have a heighten sense of sight too. They can see several more colors then humans.

Yes and No.

Tau can see a wider spectrum, but this doesn't equal better vision. They have very slow reaction times with their lenses, which means they can't focus on quick moving targets very well.

They have ok overall vision, but the precision suffers for it.

I figured the wider spectrum was more relevant to the topic at hand. They could literally see something different in the aun.

nomotog wrote:

Grey Templar wrote:

nomotog wrote:Tau have a heighten sense of sight too. They can see several more colors then humans.

Yes and No.

Tau can see a wider spectrum, but this doesn't equal better vision. They have very slow reaction times with their lenses, which means they can't focus on quick moving targets very well.

They have ok overall vision, but the precision suffers for it.

I figured the wider spectrum was more relevant to the topic at hand. They could literally see something different in the aun.

What? Is his skin some dead sexy UV color or something?

Well ya. Hypnotic patterns, or maybe they literally shine.

8 pages? My god.

Crystal Geyser wrote:8 pages? My god.

Come on, with a Title like this its good for at LEAST 20.

I have never seen a tau thread with less. I also haven't seen one that stays on topic. I think the two are related.

1hadhq wrote:

Kroothawk wrote:
BTW if you think you have explicit proof of the pheromone thing, why not just quote the source? The wild speculation of a mad inquisitor in a book with obvious other fluff mistakes is not good enough for me.

This ball is still in YOUR half.
Either succeed in kicking it back with a quote disproving this pheromone based influence, or stop claiming it does not exist in any form.

Another fun fact taken from "Deathwatch: Rites of Battle " (special character section). Deathwatch captures an ethereal. They investigate him and find no evidence of any pheromonic organ. Reaction: "Sneaky Tau bastards have now developed genetic engineering and sent us a false ethereal with missing organs, so we are mislead to believe there is no pheromonic control." GW is allowing FFG writers to make fun of all those, who believe in pheromonic control.

1hadhq wrote:Its fascinating how hard people try to ignore an idea GW has run with all the time.
Not just in the release article in WD, codex TaU, codex Tau empire, multiple BL books...
The pheromone control is a given.
To say its pure speculation may have had a chance at release, but now?

Tau Empire Codex wrote:It is speculated that they exert some kind of pheromone based or latent psychic control over the other casters

BTW: Taking this sentence from the Tau Codex, eliminating and denying the word "speculated", taking (randomly?) one of two options, then claiming that this option is proven fact, shows how far Tau haters go with deliberately making up "facts" in Tau threads. Every neutral reader should be warned, that Tau threads are full of those made up things. Always ask for quotes and see how their arguments crumble to dust.

Kroothawk wrote:

AtoMaki wrote:3. ed Tau codex has nothing about Etherals with pheromones (or it is really well hidden). 4. ed Tau codex has the following (page 9):

It is speculated that they exert some kind of pheromone based or latent psychic control over the other casters

But it is just outsider mish-mash and speculation.

Kroothawk wrote:In this case people are referring to the Ethereals entry on page 9, where an Imperial narrator speculates about some kind of pheromonic OR psychic control, because he can't understand the absolute authority ethereals have over other castes. On the next page it is said that Tau honour the ethereals for their wisdom and therefore follow their counsel, but you never find this quoted in Tau threads.

1hadhq wrote:

Kroothawk wrote:BTW if you think you have explicit proof of the pheromone thing, why not just quote the source? The wild speculation of a mad inquisitor in a book with obvious other fluff mistakes is not good enough for me.

This ball is still in YOUR half.
Either succeed in kicking it back with a quote disproving this pheromone based influence, or stop claiming it does not exist in any form.

See above. In my post you selectively quoted from.

And yes, I am used to false claims in tau threads that dissipate into nothing when checked.

The only false claim is yours.
Its irrelevant who is the narrator, nor does it matter if you refuse to believe in 1 possible option.
The major and really noticable point is, GW has kept this idea around for years. Thus providing a source people can interpret the way THEY want, not the way Kroothawk allows them to. Whenever you see a thread containing info that isn't one way or the other, both are viable until GW decides to confirm one of them as "true".

Kroothawk wrote:
Another fun fact taken from "Deathwatch: Rites of Battle " (special character section). Deathwatch captures an ethereal. They investigate him and find no evidence of any pheromonic organ. Reaction: "Sneaky Tau bastards have now developed genetic engineering and sent us a false ethereal with missing organs, so we are mislead to believe there is no pheromonic control." GW is allowing FFG writers to make fun of all those, who believe in pheromonic control.

1hadhq wrote:Its fascinating how hard people try to ignore an idea GW has run with all the time.
Not just in the release article in WD, codex TaU, codex Tau empire, multiple BL books...
The pheromone control is a given.
To say its pure speculation may have had a chance at release, but now?

Tau Empire Codex wrote:It is speculated that they exert some kind of pheromone based or latent psychic control over the other casters

BTW: Taking this sentence from the Tau Codex, eliminating and denying the word "speculated", taking (randomly?) one of two options, then claiming that this option is proven fact, shows how far Tau haters go with deliberately making up "facts" in Tau threads. Every neutral reader should be warned, that Tau threads are full of those made up things. Always ask for quotes and see how their arguments crumble to dust.

Should I see this as a futile attempt to accuse me of making stuff up?
If so, epic fail. As usually. Shall I wait for an improvement?
The point still is, something kept as a possibility is not untrue, just because it isn't "confirmed".
Its also not untrue, just because some third party wrote it differently, since you could find BL sources who state it as existant. What now?
Fight to the death between subcompanies and 3rd party licensed product?
Plus this rant of selective and denying and so on....pretty far off and as usual a low BS de-rail-gun shot....
Sadly thats all you seem to have.
The same 08/15 rant of "tau haterz, of non existant quotes, of making up facts, etc" surely is easy to copy paste in again and again.

1hadhq wrote:

Kroothawk wrote:

AtoMaki wrote:3. ed Tau codex has nothing about Etherals with pheromones (or it is really well hidden). 4. ed Tau codex has the following (page 9):

It is speculated that they exert some kind of pheromone based or latent psychic control over the other casters

But it is just outsider mish-mash and speculation.

Kroothawk wrote:In this case people are referring to the Ethereals entry on page 9, where an Imperial narrator speculates about some kind of pheromonic OR psychic control, because he can't understand the absolute authority ethereals have over other castes. On the next page it is said that Tau honour the ethereals for their wisdom and therefore follow their counsel, but you never find this quoted in Tau threads.

1hadhq wrote:

Kroothawk wrote:BTW if you think you have explicit proof of the pheromone thing, why not just quote the source? The wild speculation of a mad inquisitor in a book with obvious other fluff mistakes is not good enough for me.

This ball is still in YOUR half.
Either succeed in kicking it back with a quote disproving this pheromone based influence, or stop claiming it does not exist in any form.

See above. In my post you selectively quoted from.

And yes, I am used to false claims in tau threads that dissipate into nothing when checked.

The only false claim is yours.
Its irrelevant who is the narrator, nor does it matter if you refuse to believe in 1 possible option.
The major and really noticable point is, GW has kept this idea around for years. Thus providing a source people can interpret the way THEY want, not the way Kroothawk allows them to. Whenever you see a thread containing info that isn't one way or the other, both are viable until GW decides to confirm one of them as "true".

[

So your proof of pheromones is that he can't disprove them?

If we were to believe everything BL writters put in their novels as absolute proof, Space Marines would be running around with Multilasers, Avatars/Daemon Princes/Greater daemons would be extremely weak if a Marine character is nearby, Black Templars could spit acid despite Imperial Fist successors not being able to do it Etc. There are many examples of things writters have got wrong or made up just to make the story better - and that does not mean it is true.

It's the same with many pieces of artwork featuring things that haven't been mentioned in fluff or anywhere at all, except for one specific peice of art.

Several places are against the idea of pheromones. Several are for it.

So as proof for the pheromones we have:
- Xenology
- Multiple BL novels (Unsure as to the Exact names - if someone could tell me which ones they are that would be great)
- A line in the Codex

Against it we have:
- Xenology makes several 'mistakes' - One being the Ethereal having feet, when there is nothing to suggest why - or there being any reason why - Female Ethereals would have feet with toes when Fire caste, Air caste Males, and Male ethereals all have hooves. Xenology also suggests the organ looks just like something the Inquisitor saw earlier, implying that it was the same as the Qo'orl pheromone organ he dissected earlier in the book.

- Farsight does not support this. His Ethereal died, and he found the dawn blade. It was not as simple as his Ethereal died, so he abanonded the Empire. Lexicanum also states fought in the Damocles Crusade after his Ethereal died, and then after that decided to abandon the Empire. I'm unsure if this is true though, as i cannot find a source for this.

- Black library writers make up what they think fits their story most.

- The line in the Codex is speculation by the Imperium. They do not believe the Tau would cooperate through choice, and think there must be some reason why. The other reason for this, is that without some sort of hint of a secret, the Tau would be a quite bland army to play. Same thing with Vespid mind control hints.
- The actual line in the Codex is " It is speculated that they exert some kind of pheromone based or latent psychic control over the other casters". This suggests that there is little evidance, otherwise they would know if it was Pheromones or Psychic control instead of not suggesting it could be either one.

- Deathwatch: Rites of Battle has a captured Ethereal who does not have the Diamond organ.

- None of the Ethereal models support the existance of the diamond organ. Aun'shi and the old Etheral model do have some sort of round object in the slit in their forehead, but it is more likely that this is just decoration, as Aun'Va's guard on page 43 has something similar, and there are several other peices of art in the codex of non-Ethereal Tau with similar things, and just as many of Ethereals without them.

It's the same with Tau Females (Which is what we are meant to be discussing). Several places suggest they look the same as male Tau, yet Shadowsun suggests this is not the case. It is more likely that to Imperials they look the same and they are just unable to tell them appart, or it's more likely that they just don't want to. Shadowsun shows that Tau females do not look the same as males, yet some writters still say they are. It's their story, and unless it is completely stupid and ruins the setting, they can put what they like in them.

There's evidence to support both theories, but they are just that - theories (although there is more to suggest they don't have pheromones). But until GW outright states in a direct, offical publication that is how they will stay.

Saying pheromones are fact (like you said earlier) and that everyone who says they aren't is wrong, is wrong.

Summary. He says "The pheromone control is a given", because one Imperial narrator speculates, pheromone control is one of two possible explanations. And he is unwilling to provide any other source to support his claim.

BTW I am not aware of any proof or indication in any BL Tau novel, that there is something like pheromone control actually happening.

Kroothawk wrote:Summary. He says "The pheromone control is a given", because one Imperial narrator speculates, pheromone control is one of two possible explanations. And he is unwilling to provide any other source to support his claim.

BTW I am not aware of any proof or indication in any BL Tau novel, that there is something like pheromone control actually happening.

I think some mention some sort of calming influence, but i haven't heard about actual confirmation of pheromones.

Well, I met the Dalai Lama. He had a calming influence but no pheromone control over me. Wisdom and charisma can do that to people.

Mentlegen324 wrote:- The line in the Codex is speculation by the Imperium. They do not believe the Tau would cooperate through choice, and think there must be some reason why. The other reason for this, is that without some sort of hint of a secret, the Tau would be a quite bland army to play. Same thing with Vespid mind control hints.
- The actual line in the Codex is " It is speculated that they exert some kind of pheromone based or latent psychic control over the other casters". This suggests that there is little evidance, otherwise they would know if it was Pheromones or Psychic control instead of not suggesting it could be either one.

This. To me it always seemed pretty clear that the Imperial agent writing this (the Imperium being what it is) could not believe or maybe not even imagine it was possible for the Tau to follow the Ethereals out of genuine good will or, Emperor forbid, trust, so he made a wild guess at an invisible means of coercion.
Anthropomorphism 40k sauce. I've always thought that pheromone thing revealed more about the Imperium than about the Tau, frankly. Humans in 41M think you can't exert authority without resorting to violence, fear, propaganda or brainwashing.

Then again, we are in a grimdark setting and in the end the Tau may or may not be enthralled by magic space pheromones. We should just keep in mind that so far, the only hints at this are heavily biased in-universe and thus should be taken with the proverbial spade of salt, which is basically the only "official" stance there is on each and every bit of fluff. (Yeah, that's sad, it's not worth getting personal over is what I'm saying.)

Well then what are we supposed to get all pissy and argue about now?

Kroothawk wrote:Summary. He says "The pheromone control is a given", because one Imperial narrator speculates, pheromone control is one of two possible explanations. And he is unwilling to provide any other source to support his claim.

BTW I am not aware of any proof or indication in any BL Tau novel, that there is something like pheromone control actually happening.

1) Unwilling? Or stuck with a lot of localized sources and looking at the flag there maybe those are not in english?

2) One narrator? Maybe the point was GW , this company called GamesWorkshop, the one writing what we call background and may use here, Published this idea of a "pheromone based control" not once, not twice but multiple times? Heard of consistency ?

3) BTW, tyranids have their background shown from a non-tyranid perspective 100%. Do you call all of it false because its not from a tyranid perspective? Want to wait for a Tyranid BL novel, so you "know" what is true?

4) BL tau novel...... Is there one? Last time I have seen a novel written by a person who wrote codices including Tau it was deemed "invalid" because it didn't float the boat of certain people....

Mentlegen324 wrote:
So your proof of pheromones is that he can't disprove them?

Can he?
I doubt it. There may be a new chance in their next codex. Until then, I will consider the possibility of a pheromone based control as existant, contrary to his claim it doesn't exist at all.
It is an option for GW to use, something they may or may not expand upon.

Mentlegen324 wrote:
If we were to believe everything BL writters put in their novels as absolute proof, Space Marines would be running around with Multilasers, Avatars/Daemon Princes/Greater daemons would be extremely weak if a Marine character is nearby, Black Templars could spit acid despite Imperial Fist successors not being able to do it Etc. There are many examples of things writers have got wrong or made up just to make the story better - and that does not mean it is true.

It's the same with many pieces of artwork featuring things that haven't been mentioned in fluff or anywhere at all, except for one specific peice of art.

Sure no absolutes.
Still a piece of fluff you can't ignore.
His claim of FFG "confirming" the non-existance of an organ is as weak or worse, he made it up as it lacks any details to find it , as any BL novel. Without a Canon, something we don't need to move as new subject if I dare to ask, we can't "confirm" anything on a level of yes/no.
There is however a level of authority of GW codices some 3rd party work can't compete with IMO.
The one unleashing this idea of a pheromone based control was GW themselves. Was also GW who kept it across publications in their own line of 40k products. Thus it is less likely to suffer from being artistic license of an author just to improve a story. I'll answer your breakdown of sources and we will see if I get it across.

Mentlegen324 wrote:
Several places are against the idea of pheromones. Several are for it.

So as proof for the pheromones we have:
- Xenology
- Multiple BL novels (Unsure as to the Exact names - if someone could tell me which ones they are that would be great)
- A line in the Codex

- xenology. Has been provided in this thread. I don't own it, but I consider it as a source based upon the first incarnation of Tau background.
- BL novels. Especially one from McNeill, who was involved in creating the Tau too. Most BL books may not count in Kroothawks world of "its all bolterporn if marines are inside" tough. I consider it a valid counter to the FFG stuff he mentioned but didn't provide correctly.
- lines in release articles, codices, etc. I consider this valid as its from GW themselves.

Mentlegen324 wrote:
Against it we have:
- Xenology makes several 'mistakes' - One being the Ethereal having feet, when there is nothing to suggest why - or there being any reason why - Female Ethereals would have feet with toes when Fire caste, Air caste Males, and Male ethereals all have hooves. Xenology also suggests the organ looks just like something the Inquisitor saw earlier, implying that it was the same as the Qo'orl pheromone organ he dissected earlier in the book.

Not sure if mistake or just a bad interpretation of the original source of inspiration. I'd guess first Tau release.
Plus toes are not so far away from hooves as many seem to think.

Original source of the design of Tau "feet" : White Dwarf october 2001. Page 26.
Interview with Jes goodwin about the kit design.

Beware. Non-english text ahead. Advance with caution...


Jes confirms the feet of the Tau are inspired by the feet of Camels. This may help the feet debate.

White Dwarf October 2001, page 28
index xenos: Tau

Beware. Non-english text ahead. Advance with caution...



The diamond-shaped "feature" is mentioned at release. May have been changed later but xenology seems to use this ass basis of the illustration shown.


White Dwarf october 2001, page 32
Etherals and o'shovah

Beware. Non-english text ahead. Advance with caution...



The etherals had 2 possible explanations put into their background at first release right there:
- pheromone
- latent psykers
No course set that early.

Farsight left after he lost his etheral at arthas moloch. Then went on into the gulf region to fight orks and not to return.
Arthas moloch is located inside Tau space actually. He didn't turn to get a new etheral....just moved on.

This was also part of their codex ( codex TAU / 2001 ), not just copy&pasted but close.
See here:

Codex Tau , page 9:
etherals

Beware. Non-english text ahead. Advance with caution...



In a general overview tone, no narrator involved...


There is a story close to the release one of o'shovah in the codex at page 51.
Identical timeline. First fight against orks, the move to re-establish colonies. Land on arthas moloch, lose etheral and move on to found colonies outside the empire.

However background has been added and a history but descriptions of Tau and their social network are not part of it.
Nothing about their feet or boobs or breeding.....

Codex TAU empire is mostly a copy paste effort of codex tau.
See etherals at page 9,
o'shovah at page 44/45 receives a few addtional bits, like ruins at arthas moloch of a pre-human civilization where he lost his etherals but it stays in the same order of events: artefact world, loss of etherals, leave empire.

Mentlegen324 wrote:
- Farsight does not support this. His Ethereal died, and he found the dawn blade. It was not as simple as his Ethereal died, so he abanonded the Empire. Lexicanum also states fought in the Damocles Crusade after his Ethereal died, and then after that decided to abandon the Empire. I'm unsure if this is true though, as i cannot find a source for this.

Generally, the english variant of lexi has some issues. You can't find the 'differently interpreted' story you seem to have read in german.
Its a wiki, and as this not 100% protected from mistakes. See sources used above to retrieve the story as provided by GW.

Mentlegen324 wrote:
- Black library writers make up what they think fits their story most.

So everything is false if found in a BL publication? Really broad statement here...
How do you sort it? Personal preference? Then we can just close this and consider it "true" and "false" at the same time as taste may vary..

Mentlegen324 wrote:
- The line in the Codex is speculation by the Imperium. They do not believe the Tau would cooperate through choice, and think there must be some reason why. The other reason for this, is that without some sort of hint of a secret, the Tau would be a quite bland army to play. Same thing with Vespid mind control hints.

Bland or not, its not a statement made by a character.
The etherals show up suddenly, the Tau show synthetic aminos and follow without question.
Consider even necrons had to program loyality and they are stuck in artificial bodies ,so its believable a absolute isn't natural.
IDK why it has to be without any sort of enhanced influence of etherals based on more than nice words for Tau.
If everybody got dissent, a secret isn't bad to have. Instead of a "choice" which is none as "choice" means more than 1 option.

Mentlegen324 wrote:
- The actual line in the Codex is " It is speculated that they exert some kind of pheromone based or latent psychic control over the other castes". This suggests that there is little evidance, otherwise they would know if it was Pheromones or Psychic control instead of not suggesting it could be either one.

This line is

Mentlegen324 wrote:
- Deathwatch: Rites of Battle has a captured Ethereal who does not have the Diamond organ.

Pic? page number? link?
May be as "true" or "false" as BL.

Mentlegen324 wrote:
- None of the Ethereal models support the existance of the diamond organ. Aun'shi and the old Etheral model do have some sort of round object in the slit in their forehead, but it is more likely that this is just decoration, as Aun'Va's guard on page 43 has something similar, and there are several other peices of art in the codex of non-Ethereal Tau with similar things, and just as many of Ethereals without them.

Its a structure hidden beneath the slit
Youre aware they got no external organ to smell? But they have one and its pretty potent. Guess where?

Mentlegen324 wrote:
It's the same with Tau Females (Which is what we are meant to be discussing). Several places suggest they look the same as male Tau, yet Shadowsun suggests this is not the case. It is more likely that to Imperials they look the same and they are just unable to tell them appart, or it's more likely that they just don't want to. Shadowsun shows that Tau females do not look the same as males, yet some writers still say they are. It's their story, and unless it is completely stupid and ruins the setting, they can put what they like in them.

Aliens are most likely hard to identify.
Shadowsun is a model. Not a naked one, so the debate of the original subject can't be resolved.
In BL terms , Tau genders smell differently. A good choice if you believe in their abilities and the influence of pheromones.
Not of interest or maybe incorrect if you subscribe to Kroothawks club of disbelievers of anything not written from a Tau perspective.

Mentlegen324 wrote:
There's evidence to support both theories, but they are just that - theories (although there is more to suggest they don't have pheromones). But until GW outright states in a direct, offical publication that is how they will stay.

Mentlegen324 wrote: Saying pheromones are fact (like you said earlier) and that everyone who says they aren't is wrong, is wrong.

I said its safe to assume the fluff piece of pheromones is true after so many years and publications where GW still ran with it and I stick with my point of deniyng the possibility of it based upon the way GW showed it to us as wrong.

Do you prefer they say the option of latent psi is "true" ? Tau as puppets of psykers is worse than a Tau "guided" by pheromones to consider the points presented by an etheral are so good its nigh unbelievable how lucky s/he is to have that wise leader to show it the right path.
Hints kept over 10 years.
Hints given from start.

Mar'tacus wrote:Well then what are we supposed to get all pissy and argue about now?

Oh, misunderstood ya at first.
Well, whatever floats your boat I say

(Did people discuss female Kroots already ? Do those even exist ?)

Hyd wrote:

Mar'tacus wrote:Well then what are we supposed to get all pissy and argue about now?

Oh, misunderstood ya at first.
Well, whatever floats your boat I say

(Did people discuss female Kroots already ? Do those even exist ?)

Yes we have gone over that kroot females exist but they look like males so it is hard to tell the difference.

Commander Ice Shade wrote:

Hyd wrote:

Mar'tacus wrote:Well then what are we supposed to get all pissy and argue about now?

Oh, misunderstood ya at first.
Well, whatever floats your boat I say

(Did people discuss female Kroots already ? Do those even exist ?)

Yes we have gone over that kroot females exist but they look like males so it is hard to tell the difference.

Why don't the Kroot models have wieners?

Mar'tacus wrote:

Commander Ice Shade wrote:

Hyd wrote:

Mar'tacus wrote:Well then what are we supposed to get all pissy and argue about now?

Oh, misunderstood ya at first.
Well, whatever floats your boat I say

(Did people discuss female Kroots already ? Do those even exist ?)

Yes we have gone over that kroot females exist but they look like males so it is hard to tell the difference.

Why don't the Kroot models have wieners?

They are an Avian-like species, Birds have internal gonads and no "wieners"

They simply put their vents together and transfer the semen.

This would explain no external differentiation.

Is that why their homeworld is called Pech?

*I always assumed it was pronounced "Peck".*

@1hadhq: you must be desperate if you even try to put manipulated false content into my posts hoping noone scrolls up to see the original post. If you try to bend facts even with short posts here, we can estimate how you deal with Codex and BL novel information. Still, can't cloud the fact that you made a wrong statement on pheromone control.

1.) As quoted, you call pheromone control a given. Not a possibility or a speculation, but a given. That is absolute. And all you can give us is the "speculation" in the Codex which also includes psychic control as the other option. The German GW article specifies that this speculation is "by some members of the Adeptus Mechanicus". So mechanics of a Faschist empire that repair engines by singing prayers are presented as experts on how a peaceful non-violent rule in a Xeno society works. This has been a running gag from the start.

2.) Camels are "cloven hoofed animals" or in other words "even-toed ungulate", so the Tau "feet" are indeed hooves split in the middle. And Xenology shows them wrong.

3.) There is only one Tau NPC in Rites of Battle, easy to find. Your accusations disqualify your argumentations. And the book "Savage Scars", which I called bolter-porn, characterizes Tau only in two ways: Tau that are splattered by ranged fire and Tau that are cut to pieces in close combat, so don't expect any deeper background information in this one.